Granny Lei had been too excited to sleep last night, worried that upon waking, it would all have been a dream.
Ever since the old man died on the battlefield, the Ruo Family had been plagued by one misfortune after another, with sons going mad, becoming disabled, or going blind... The once prosperous household was steadily declining, and Granny Lei's heart was filled with bitterness.
Now Xuanbao had finally started talking, the only good thing in ten years, and she feared it was just a dream.
She dared not sleep all night, and before dawn, she suddenly heard the family's old hen "cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck..." as if it had just laid an egg! But that was a call the old hen would make only after laying an egg.
But the family's old hen was too old to lay eggs anymore, and she was just reluctant to kill it, planning to save it for the New Year's feast.
Figuring it was just hungry and squawking, and since she couldn't sleep anyway, she decided to get up and prepare breakfast for everyone, including a chicken egg custard for her precious granddaughter.
She went to the backyard first to feed the only old hen they had.
When the old woman got to the chicken coop, she saw two eggs lying quietly on the ground, while the old hen slept in a pile of straw.
She was so shocked that her eyes widened: Was this old chicken rejuvenated? Even when it used to lay eggs, it only laid one a day!
After feeding the chicken, she picked up the two still "scalding hot" eggs and went back to the kitchen stove. She used one to make the custard and put the other back into the pot.
In the pot, there were still a few wild duck eggs and bird eggs of varying sizes, collected by her grandsons from the river and the mountains. The family couldn't bear to eat them, so they saved them all for Xuanbao, who had special needs and could only consume liquid food.
Granny Lei also cooked a pot of white porridge and then went out to the yard to wash the wild vegetables left over from the night before, planning to make mixed grain and wild vegetable pancakes.
The daytime was not like the night, when a bowl of wild vegetable soup could stave off the hunger until sleep took over. But during the day, with farm work to do, one couldn't go without solid food for energy.
Granny Lei had just finished washing the wild vegetables when she turned around and saw Ruo Xuan standing with a "chicken coop head" of hair and rubbing her eyes sleepily as she walked out of the west wing.
The adorable sight softened her heart!
It wasn't a dream, Xuanbao could really walk and talk now!
Granny Lei quickly put down the basket she was holding, wiped her wet hands on her clothing, and after drying them, she went to pick up Ruo Xuan and gave her a kiss, "Why did Xuanbao get up so early?"
"Hungry, want persimmons and eggs," Ruo Xuan pointed towards the persimmon tree, then to the backyard.
"The persimmons aren't ripe yet, you can't....." Granny Lei's words were cut short as she swallowed the rest upon seeing the tree full of bright, weighty persimmons under the moonlight.
She widened her eyes, suspecting her old vision was deceiving her. Rubbing her eyes and looking again:
This...
What on earth is going on?
Weren't these persimmons still green yesterday?
How could they have ripened overnight?
Ruo Xuan, as if sensing her confusion, replied, "They're ripe, I made them ripe."
Granny Lei was startled, she made them ripe?
What... what does that mean?
She understood each word her little granddaughter said, but why didn't she understand when they were strung together?
"How did Xuanbao make them ripe?" She was a bit anxious, speaking very softly.
"With Immortal Technique, yeah! Just like this!" The Little Flower Fairy, who had never lived among humans and was unaware of the wickedness in their hearts, simply made a Fairy Technique sign with her hand and pointed at another date tree in the yard, tapping it several times in quick succession.
But with her Spiritual Power exhausted, the date tree did not change.
"I've used up the Spiritual Energy; I can't perform the Immortal Technique anymore. I'll show it to Granny tomorrow," Ruo Xuan said, slightly disheartened.
The Spiritual Energy here was too sparse!
She had cultivated all night, yet she was only able to perform one and a half Little Fairy Techniques.
How was that enough?
Back at the Ruoshui Riverbank, she could perform such ripening spells anytime without stopping all day long.
Being human, it was all too difficult!
As a flower, all you needed to do was bask in the sun and absorb the sunlight and dew.
Immortal Technique? Seeing her little granddaughter's fingers flying as she pointed at the date tree, going "zhuush zhuush zhuush," Granny Lei's heart pounded, and her head swam.
Immortal Technique, not a demon's spell!
But even if it were a demon's spell, Xuanbao was still her Xuanbao.
Having lived past fifty, what hadn't Granny Lei heard or seen? She quickly regained her composure.
Even though the date tree hadn't changed, she still believed Xuanbao's words—the persimmons that ripened overnight were the best proof.
She glanced instinctively at the east and west wings, relieved that it was still early and no one had risen yet.
She covered her granddaughter's little hands to prevent her from making any more Fairy Techniques and said seriously, "Xuanbao, from now on, you must not use Immortal Technique in front of anyone, nor tell anyone that you know it, understand?"
Ruo Xuan shook her head, her little face full of confusion, "Don't know, why not?"
Without Immortal Technique, what would she do when she was hungry?
"Because if others see you, they will burn you alive, thinking you're a demon," Granny Lei had to stress the severity.
People were wicked, and if anyone found out about Xuanbao's abilities, even if they didn't burn her to death, they might still kidnap her and exploit her.
Ruo Xuan was indeed frightened, as she had only just transformed and her cultivation was not yet sufficient to ascend and become a deity; she was still just a little Flower Demon.
She nodded, "I know."
She couldn't use Immortal Technique in front of others, only behind their backs.
"What should we do with these persimmons?" Ruo Xuan frowned as she looked at the tree full of bright red persimmons.
She had no spiritual power to change them back to their original form now!
Granny Lei watched her granddaughter's troubled face, her tender little face all scrunched up like a dumpling.
It was both adorable and funny.
She teased her deliberately, imitating her expression until her aged face was as wrinkled as an old dumpling, "What do you think we should do, Xuanbao?"
"Pick them and hide them, shall we eat them slowly just the two of us?" Ruo Xuan's large, clear eyes looked at Granny Lei with hope.
She had seen the squirrel spirit at the Ruoshui Riverbank hide pine nuts in a cave to eat gradually.
Plus, she had never tasted persimmon before and really wanted to try it!
When she was a flower, she didn't need to eat and was always being eaten by rabbit spirits, goat spirits, and other demons.
Those grazing animals would nibble on her until nothing was left but the roots, nearly killing her.
So, she particularly wanted to eat food, especially rabbit and goat meat.
She had thought that once she transformed into a human, she would be able to eat goat meat and rabbit meat.
But just as she had assumed human form, she encountered the Demon Lord of the Demon Clan and the Divine Monarch of the Heavenly Clan fighting a great battle at the Ruoshui Riverbank. While dodging, she had the misfortune of being pierced by the Demon Lord's Zhuxian Divine Sword, and her soul scattered on the spot, after which she was reincarnated as a human.
But being human was also good!
Humans could eat food too.
Last night's wild vegetable soup was delicious.
"Eat them slowly, just us!" Granny Lei, seeing her granddaughter's expectant gaze and her spirited appearance, was both exasperated and amused, and couldn't help but give her a kiss.
Granny Lei shook her head deliberately, "We can't hide them, they're too ripe and will go bad."
Ruo Xuan thought about it too, plants understand plants, and fully ripe persimmons indeed could not be kept for long.
At that moment, a memory about persimmons emerged in her mind; her family would pick the ripe persimmons and take them to town to sell for silver, to buy food.
She waved her small arm decisively, "Sell them! Pick them and sell them to buy food and rabbit meat."
Granny Lei really couldn't hold back at this point; she kissed her beloved granddaughter's tender little cheek even harder and chuckled, "All right, we'll sell them to get food, to buy rabbit meat for Xuanbao. Xuanbao is so clever!"
Looking at such a granddaughter, her love grew by the day!
"Does Xuanbao want to eat rabbit meat? Daddy will go up the mountain to catch some for you."
Ruo Shui came out in a hurry, tucking in the buttons on his clothes, and heard this.
Madam Liu had just woken up in a daze to find Xuanbao gone from her side, which gave her quite a scare, so both husband and wife came running out without properly putting on their outer clothes.
Ruo Xuan happily said, "Great! I want to go up the mountain to catch rabbits and goats too."
At this time, Ruo Chuan came out from the eastern room after hearing the noise, "Does Xuanbao want to catch rabbits? Uncle will take you up the mountain to catch them."
Granny Lei saw one after another come out and worried more and more people would get up, so she hurriedly whispered, "Lao Si, Lao Liu, hurry up and pick all the persimmons."
"The persimmons aren't ripe yet, they still need to....." Ruo Shui's following words trailed off automatically!
He couldn't help but rub his eyes.
Ruo Chuan did the same thing!
Madam Liu, however, exclaimed, voicing both men's astonishment, "How did all the persimmons ripen?"
Granny Lei waved her hands vigorously, signaling them not to make a fuss, "Keep it down! This is a blessing from the heavens. Last night, I dreamt of a fairy teaching me a secret method to ripen persimmons. When I awoke, I couldn't believe the persimmons were all ripe! Heaven has opened its eyes, the Ruo Family is turning its luck around! You all pick them quickly, get them down before dawn, and take them to the city to sell. Don't let others see."
Other adults in the family were okay, they couldn't let Zhao know, she was a troublemaker!
Nor could the other grandchildren know, Granny Lei worried that they wouldn't be able to keep their mouths shut.
Ruo Xuan blinked, so one could claim it was all seen in a dream? She knew how to send dreams too!
Ruo Shui didn't believe a word of it and glanced at Xuanbao.
This little expression made his heart skip a beat!
Ruo Shui had a suspicion that this had something to do with Xuanbao. He nodded gravely, "I'll start picking right away!"
Ruo Chuan didn't believe it either; if his family was blessed by deities, would they be in such a plight? But he thought the less said about such a miraculous event, the better, and so he asked no questions.
The three quickly took up long poles and baskets and began picking persimmons.
Ruo Shui was the first to give Ruo Xuan a big, red persimmon.
Granny Lei wouldn't let Ruo Xuan eat the persimmon on an empty stomach, as the egg custard was already stewed; she told her to eat that first.
After finishing the egg custard, Ruo Xuan finally got to taste the persimmon she had been yearning for.
It was especially sweet!
It was especially delicious!
Within half an hour, through their hard work, they had managed to pick all the persimmons before dawn.
Granny Lei had already laid out the wild vegetable pancakes. She came outside and looked at the several large baskets full of persimmons, feeling exhilarated.
This time, the persimmons were both big and red! There were nine baskets in total, three or four more than in previous years.
What was most important was that everyone else's persimmons were still unripe, nowhere near ready!
This was going to be a big moneymaker!