"What?" Jiang Sanglang was, as always, unable to understand his daughter's speech.
"Qi, fish!" Yingbao only felt weary. "Fishy."
Spring Mother smiled and acted as a translator, "The young miss wants to eat fish."
Yingbao nodded repeatedly. Only her pretty mother was clever.
"Ah, Yingbao wants to eat fish, then!" Jiang Sanglang suddenly realized, "When Dad returns, he will catch one from the river!"
Yingbao: …
After purchasing brown sugar and weighing a few liters of rice, and spending ten coins on a bamboo basket to carry things, there was little money left.
Jiang Sanglang put his daughter into the bamboo basket on his back and, happily leading his wife, hurried home.
Upon arriving home, they promptly put the little girl on the kang bed, and the couple, one tending the fire and the other kneading dough, prepared to make noodle cakes to treat themselves.
Bored, Yingbao rolled around the kang several times, and then simply lay flat pretending to sleep.
She took out a handful of rice grains with husk from her small pocket and quietly conveyed them to the mystic space, placing them next to the stone wall, together with various seeds collected previously.
These were all quietly brought in from her family's stored grain in the last few days.
Yingbao counted them, including a few soybeans, a handful of wheat grains, a handful of millet, and the recently brought handful of rice.
It was just regrettable that she was too young, lacking the energy and consciousness to stay in the space for long; otherwise, she would have definitely planted them all.
Taking advantage of the energy she currently had, Yingbao carefully examined the surroundings of the cave.
The cave roof, the surrounding area, and even the ground beneath her feet were all composed of hard stone walls, as though she was placed within a space made entirely of rock.
There were no passageways in or out of the space, yet there she clearly stood, which was quite magical.
Yingbao also noticed that some crystal-clear white plants were growing out of crevices in the rock wall, resembling a bit like the legendary Wuding Fungi.
These crystal white leaves were only the size of soybean grains, plump and thick, clumped together and combining into bunches that looked like palm-sized flower bouquets. When the leaves were pinched, they burst open with a juice that was sticky, much like cactus fluid.
The juice had a faint, refreshing fragrance that soothed the heart and spleen and quickly dried when rubbed on the hands.
The skin smeared with it felt as smooth as if it had been coated with a layer of snow skin cream, the remaining scent lingering long.
This substance seemed non-toxic, though it was unknown whether it was edible or not.
However, according to the principles of tales, some divine natural treasures were just the kind that would grow in mysterious caves or secret realms, hence this crystal white plant might just be some kind of divine treasure.
Yingbao, lost in her wild thoughts, decided to take some out when she had a chance, to feed it to animals and see their reactions.
Unfortunately, she could not find a suitable opportunity recently, nor did she encounter any animals she could approach.
Of course, she could not use her family's hens for testing; should they kick the bucket or stop laying eggs as a result, both she and her parents would be heartbroken.
Yingbao lingered in the cave a bit longer, but soon couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and unconsciously fell asleep.
In her dream, she seemed to walk through a mist; suddenly, a golden light flashed before her and a giant book appeared, as big as a tabletop; the book's cover had several flamboyantly written characters: "Qian Palace Tender Charm."
Ah, this…
She hadn't read any tales for a long time, so even her dream turned into one, and with such a common title at that.
Upon opening the first page, Yingbao focused intently and read, several familiar terms jumping off the page.
Chuanhe Town, Xichen Village, Qinchuan County, Chen Tiantian.
Yingbao was taken aback.
This place she was in was Qinchuan County's Chuanhe Town.
And the place across the river, that was Xichen Village.
Also, the name Chen Tiantian sounded so familiar, but she could not remember where she had heard it.
As she pondered, suddenly a gust of wind blew, and the book in her hands instantly turned into paper butterflies scattering in all directions, beyond her grasp.
It was a pity, she had just about completed two chapters and now they were gone, leaving her clueless about what was to follow.
The content of these two chapters was actually quite simple, mainly describing Chen Tiantian's graceful beauty and cleverness, and also mentioning that she was a well-known beauty of Qinchuan County, the cherished little lucky star of the entire family.
One day, a group of poor relatives from the countryside suddenly arrived at the little beauty's home.
It was said that Chuanhe had experienced severe flooding, destroying many houses and estates, and these relatives had fled from the village to seek refuge with Tiantian's mother, little Han Family.
Yingbao frowned.
Xichen Village, flooding, going to the town to seek refuge with Han Family relatives.
This was exactly what had happened to her when she was nine.
Speaking of which, the town she lived in, Chuanhe Town, was adjacent to Chuanhe, and it experienced flooding about every few years.
However, East and West Villages were situated on higher ground, so each time when flooding occurred, only the crops and farmlands flooded, but the residential areas of the village remained unaffected.
When she was six and again when she was nine, Chuanhe had experienced two severe floods.
The year she was six, she remembered that as soon as summer began, there were continuous heavy rains, followed by rising water levels in Chuanhe, eventually inundating the villages of East and West and the surrounding areas.
People had to lead their cattle and sheep to flee to higher ground such as Houbei Mountain or Xiaonan Mountain, where they stayed for about ten days before the water levels gradually subsided.
The water in the village receded, but the crops that were about to mature were destroyed, and the fields were full of silt from the river, unable to be replanted immediately; as a result, many villagers fled with their families.
When she was nine years old that summer, there were also many sudden heavy rains, and the river water surged, not only destroying the stone bridge between the two villages of East and West but also reducing the houses in the village, barely one in ten remained, and many villagers died in that unprecedented flood.
Yingbao remembered that she, along with Chen Changping's family, had fled to the town, even staying at Aunt Han's house, who was her birth mother Han Family's sister.
Aunt Han was quite well-off; her husband also surnamed Chen, was said to be a close confidant of the County Magistrate, and had quite an influence in the town; even the stewards in the government office called him a brother.
Aunt Han had two sons and three daughters, and she usually called her daughters Big Girl, Second Girl, and Third Girl; Yingbao wondered which one Tiantian was among them?
She wasn't able to ponder long before Yingbao's mind began to blur.
The next day when she woke up, her thoughts were still filled with the dreams from last night, leaving her feeling lethargic.
Ah, if only she could continue reading, that feeling of being left hanging was very tormenting.
"Baobao, come eat."
Spring Mother had cooked a thick and sweet white rice porridge and also stewed an egg custard, mixing them together to feed her daughter.
Yingbao ate bite by bite, quickly finishing a small bowl.
She needed to grow up quickly, to be able to run and jump, no longer needing her mother's constant care.
"Baobao, you've been very good today, eating up a whole bowl."
Spring Mother put down the bowl, smiling as she rubbed her daughter's belly, "Let Mom check, is your little belly full?"
Yingbao, ticklish, giggled and dodged her mother's hands.
The mother and daughter were indeed having fun when Madam Jiang, carrying a basket, stepped through the door.
"Mom is here." Spring Mother quickly stood up to greet her.
After the partition of the family, although she lived in the same village with her father-in-law and mother-in-law, mother-in-law Jiang Liu seldom visited her home. Today was a rare occasion, as she had come over early in the morning.
However, Spring Mother was well aware that her husband must have told his mother about her pregnancy.
The old lady placed the basket on the table, sizing up her daughter-in-law with her eyes drifting across her daughter-in-law's abdomen.
"Sanlang told me you are expecting, so I came to take a look. Just in time, we had some eggs at home, and your sister-in-law asked me to bring them over."
The old lady and her husband lived with their eldest son, leaving the management of the household to their eldest daughter-in-law.
Fortunately, the eldest daughter-in-law was virtuous and sensible, who had gathered a few eggs early in the morning to send to her co-sister-in-law.