Chapter 83 – Supporting Xiaosi to Collect Herbs in the Mountains
Ms. Zhong sighed helplessly.
With affectionate eyes, she looked at Yan Xiaosi and said, “You four siblings have grown up, and you all have your own ideas. If I control everything in your lives, it might not be good.”
Ms. Zhong agreeing to this easily made Yan Xiaosi feel very surprised.
She thought that hiding her trip to Big Sister Peak with Tian Dazhuang to gather herbs from Ms. Zhong would result in a severe scolding. However, not only did Ms. Zhong not scold her severely, she even easily understood her.
“Mom, thank you for considering all of us siblings.”
Ms. Zhong reached out and gently stroked her yellowish hair, saying, “Xiaosi, I won’t stop you from going to the mountains to gather herbs anymore, but you must promise me to always pay attention to safety.”
Even without Ms. Zhong’s reminder, Yan Xiaosi knew this herself.
How could she be foolish enough to put herself in danger just for gathering herbs and making money? That would be too stupid.
“Mom, I know, safety first, no matter what.”
Ms. Zhong pursed her lips, and a satisfied smile finally appeared at the corner of her mouth, “As long as you know.”
Gurgle…
Suddenly, Yan Xiaosi’s stomach let out a symphony of hunger.
The noise was quite loud, and Ms. Zhong, standing next to her, heard it clearly. She said, “You’ve been in the mountains for so long, you must be hungry. I’ll go to the kitchen to cook now. You go back to your room and rest for a while. When lunch is ready, I’ll have your elder sister call you.”
Just as Ms. Zhong was about to go to the kitchen to cook, Yan Xiaosi pulled her back.
“Mom, let’s have Dragon and Phoenix Soup for lunch today.”
Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, Yan Shuxue, and Yan Shuyun were dumbfounded, not knowing what Dragon and Phoenix Soup was. They had never eaten it, nor had they even heard of the dish. They all looked at Yan Xiaosi, puzzled.
Yan Shuqin asked curiously, “Xiaosi, what is this Dragon and Phoenix Soup you’re talking about?”
Yan Xiaosi didn’t want to scare Ms. Zhong, so she initially didn’t want to explain the term Dragon and Phoenix Soup too clearly. However, Tian Dazhuang spoke up first, “Shuqin, Dragon and Phoenix Soup is actually made by stewing chicken and snake together. Last night, Xiaosi and I went to the pond outside the village to bathe, and we caught a black-tailed snake on the dam. Today, I hunted two wild chickens on Four Sisters Mountain. We agreed to stew the two wild chickens and the black-tailed snake for lunch.”
Hearing that they were going to stew a black-tailed snake, Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, Yan Shuxue, and Yan Shuyun all changed their expressions, and the four women felt scared, getting goosebumps.
They had never eaten snake meat before… They had never seen anyone in the village eat snake meat either.
Ms. Zhong’s face was tense as she asked Yan Xiaosi, “Xiaosi, can black-tailed snake and wild chicken be eaten together when stewed?”
Over the years, Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, Yan Shuxue, and Yan Shuyun hadn’t eaten many good things, so Yan Xiaosi didn’t want the four of them to miss this rare delicacy. She tried her best to praise it. “Of course it can be eaten, not only can it be eaten, but it is also a rare delicacy. The black-tailed snake is not poisonous. Mother, Big Sister, Second Sister, Third Sister, you can eat it with confidence.”
Indeed, the black-tailed snake is not poisonous. In the summer and autumn seasons, when snakes and insects appear, people in the village even catch black-tailed snakes and sell them to snake buyers in the town.
She praised the Dragon and Phoenix Soup wholeheartedly, and Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, Yan Shuxue, and Yan Shuyun finally believed her words, but the four of them immediately showed a troubled expression.
Ms. Zhong frowned and said, “Xiaosi, where is that black-tailed snake now, and who will be responsible for killing it?”
She had never slaughtered even a chicken or duck, let alone a black-tailed snake.
Hearing Ms. Zhong’s words, Yan Shuqin, Yan Shuxue, and Yan Shuyun shook their heads one after another, indicating that they didn’t dare. Just as Tian Dazhuang was about to say that he would take responsibility for killing the snake, he saw Yan Xiaosi pat her chest and said loudly, “I will be responsible for killing the snake. Last night, I was afraid of scaring you with the snake when I brought it back, so I locked it in an abandoned cellar.”
As she spoke, she glanced at Tian Dazhuang and continued, “Dazhuang, leave the two wild chickens here and go back to call Aunt Tian.” Last night, Tian Dazhuang had witnessed Yan Xiaosi’s fierceness when she scared the Chen brothers with the snake, and he didn’t worry about her at all when she said she would take care of the snake. He readily agreed, left the two wild chickens for Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, and Yan Shuxue to take care of, and returned home with the bow and hunted hare.
Yan Xiaosi informed Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, and the others that she was going to the cellar to get the black-tailed snake. Shaoyao Village had several abandoned cellars, so when she said this, Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, and the others didn’t suspect anything.
After leaving the dilapidated grass temple, Yan Xiaosi headed towards an abandoned cellar in the village. In a deserted place, she quickly concentrated and entered her portable space.
Afraid of being discovered by Ms. Zhong and the others, she didn’t delay after entering the portable space and went straight to the basement of the small western-style building to find the basket holding the black-tailed snake.
After removing the hoe on top of the basket, she looked at the black-tailed snake inside through the gaps in the basket.
At this sight, she was startled.
The black-tailed snake was almost twice as large as it was yesterday, curled up and plump inside.
Clang!
Yan Xiaosi’s movement must have disturbed the black-tailed snake inside the basket. The snake suddenly stretched out its body and began to move around in the basket, making a clang sound and almost overturning the basket. Yan Xiaosi quickly used the hoe to press down on the basket again, then ran to the medicine shelf on the first floor and took a bottle of anesthetic powder back to the cellar. She mixed the anesthetic powder with some rice, then fed the snake by throwing the rice through the gaps in the basket.
It seemed that the black-tailed snake was hungry after a morning without food, so it extended its forked tongue and coiled the rice thrown in by Yan Xiaosi into its mouth.
The anesthetic powder in the space was quite strong, and the snake stopped moving after eating only a small amount of rice.
Yan Xiaosi breathed a sigh of relief, and then removed the hoe pressing on the basket and reached in to pick up the black-tailed snake.
If it weren’t for the anesthetic powder in the space, with her current weak body, she really wouldn’t have been able to handle the black-tailed snake that had absorbed the spiritual energy of the portable space.
She carried the snake and ran out of the portable space towards Tian Dazhuang’s house. In the courtyard of the Tian family, Ms. Wang saw that Tian Dazhuang had only brought back a not-so-big wild hare after spending the whole morning outside and felt disappointed. She asked Tian Dazhuang, “Dazhuang, you were out all morning, but you only brought back such a small hare. Tell me, did you give the prey you caught to that Yan Xiaosi?”
“Dazhuang, did you explain the Dragon and Phoenix Soup situation to Aunt Tian?”
The door of the Tian family’s courtyard was ajar, and Yan Xiaosi heard what Wang had just said. She rushed into the yard holding the plump black-tailed snake. Ms. Wang’s face turned pale as she saw the snake and she quickly hid behind Tian Dazhuang.
