Chapter 129: Changes
Though this statement was absurd, upon careful consideration, it actually held a bit of reason.
Of course, Shang Wan did not believe in any marrow cleansing; she just thought that perhaps, like ability users, the spiritual spring water had gradually changed the three people’s physiques over time.
“I wonder if this change is temporary or permanent.” Lu Chengjing clenched his left hand and then released it, silently estimating for a moment, feeling that he could now lift at least thirty Yuan Yuans.
Shang Wan felt it was very likely permanent; after all, the spiritual spring water she fed them was not for nothing.
Xiao Huan worriedly said, “Sis, do you think Master He and the others noticed anything off about Bok Choy?”
“Probably not.” Shang Wan said, “Even if they did, we can say we added medicinal powder to the soup that strengthens the body, which can regulate the body.”
“I want to go out and find a tree to test it.” Shi Tou felt like he was now full of brute strength.
Shang Wan decisively stopped him, “Testing it now would make too much movement; save your strength for land reclamation tomorrow.”
Shi Tou could only wilt and sit down.
Shang Wan stood up and looked at Lu Chengjing, “You talk to them about the space; I’ll go pick up Yuan Yuan.”
Lu Chengjing agreed, “Okay.”
The morning light was dim, and a streak of fish-belly white had already appeared on the horizon.
Shang Wan shuttled through the mountain forest and found Yuan Yuan in a tree hollow, hugging the wolf cub and leaning against Xiao Hui, sleeping soundly.
Outside the tree hollow, a bunch of animals lay collapsed, sleeping as if dead.
At this moment, if anyone else entered the mountain, they would definitely have a huge haul.
Yuan Yuan seemed to sense something, opened her eyes and glanced over, and upon seeing it was her own mother, closed her eyes again, smacked her little mouth, and started snoring softly once more.
Clearly, her excess energy had been completely vented.
Shang Wan went forward and picked up the little one, carefully checking her over; aside from being a bit dirty, everything was fine.
She was unsure if her child’s abnormality last night was due to drinking too much spiritual spring water or an ability upgrade, and planned to ask carefully once Yuan Yuan woke up.
The four from the He family had slept soundly through the night, while Lu Chengjing and the others had barely slept, yet their spirits were better than if they had slept for three days and nights.
Xiao Huan felt like she had strength with nowhere to put it, so she chopped filling to make buns, but unexpectedly chopped the cutting board to pieces.
Luckily, there was still some log left at home; she picked up the saw and quickly sawed off a piece for herself, rinsed off the wood shavings with well water, and made do with it.
Gao Yan, who was washing up at the wellside, watched with his mouth agape.
Was that wood made of tofu? How was it so easy to saw?
Lu Chengjing, who was also washing up, silently turned the wooden basin around to hide the piece that had been broken off. To avoid others noticing something off, he was still sitting in the wheelchair.
Shi Tou tossed aside the shredded towel and fetched a new one from the bamboo pole. This time, he carefully controlled his strength, or else there wouldn’t even be a towel to wash his face.
Shang Wan watched and thought that if this strength was permanently increased, they needed to quickly arrange strength control training for the family, or else no amount of things would withstand it.
After breakfast, it was time for those who needed to work to go to work, and those who needed to do chores to do chores.
Shi Tou, who had been holding back for a long time, eagerly shouldered the hoe and went to the field, swinging the hoe so fast it left afterimages.
Xiao Huan squatted at the riverside, washing clothes with the posture of embroidery, afraid of rubbing the good clothes into shredded rags.
Lu Chengjing also ran into trouble practicing calligraphy; either he snapped the brush handle, or the characters he wrote were illegible, worse than the first time he wrote with his left hand.
He sighed lightly and simply put away the brush and ink, deciding not to practice calligraphy but to read a book instead.
Shang Wan came over with the bamboo basket slung over her shoulder, “Going into the mountain to gather herbs?”
The batch of medicinal herbs she and Shi Tou had gathered the day before yesterday had been processed and put out to dry, so they could gather more, and conveniently hunt a couple of small animals on the way back.
“Okay.” Lu Chengjing happily agreed, set down the book, and had Shang Wan push him toward the mountain forest.
Shang Wan handed him two sheets of paper, “The one on the left is medicinal herbs that sell for a good price at the apothecary; the one on the right is herbs that Brother Yuan needs.”
Yuan Musheng’s leg injury made it inconvenient for him to go up the mountain to gather herbs. Upon hearing that Shang Wan gathered herbs on the mountain, processed them, and sold them in the city, he wanted to ask her to help gather some fresh herbs he needed; he would process them himself and pay market price.
Considering his friendship with Lu Chengjing and his usual care for their family, Shang Wan naturally wouldn’t take his silver and just said to offset it against Lu Chengjing’s medicine fee and consultation fee.
The reason Shang Wan brought Lu Chengjing along was twofold: first, she couldn’t recognize all the characters on the paper; second, even if she could read them, she wouldn’t recognize herbs she hadn’t gathered before.
At the foot of the mountain, the two stopped.
Shang Wan looked around and listened carefully, saying, “No one around.”
Only then did Lu Chengjing stand up from the wheelchair. He watched as Shang Wan placed her hand on the wheelchair, and it vanished on the spot.
He blinked lightly; no matter how many times he saw it, such a thing still felt magical.
“Let’s go.” Shang Wan took his hand and plunged into the mountain forest.
This was Lu Chengjing’s first time entering the mountain with Shang Wan. Birdsong filled his ears, and small animals occasionally popped out from the bushes, spotted the two, and quickly darted back, running off.
Lu Chengjing glanced that way and puzzledly asked, “Not chasing them?”
Shang Wan disdainfully said, “Too small; not even two taels of meat after cleaning.”
She spotted a patch of familiar-looking mushrooms under a nearby tree, similar to ones Xiao Huan had picked. Whether stir-fried or in soup, they tasted fresh, and everyone liked them.
Since they had come across them, she naturally had to pick them.
But many mushrooms looked alike, and worried she might misremember, she beckoned to Lu Chengjing, “Come look; are these mushrooms poisonous?”
Lu Chengjing: ?
He squatted down and examined them carefully for a while. Though he didn’t want to disappoint Shang Wan, he honestly said, “I can’t tell.”
He could recognize some herbs, but as for mushrooms, he was powerless.
“Pick them first and take them back.” Shang Wan decided; after all, Xiao Huan would recognize them, and if they were poisonous mushrooms, they just wouldn’t eat them.
She collected the whole patch of mushrooms into the space, then continued leading Lu Chengjing to the several gathering spots she and Shi Tou had found.
Noticing the person beside her breathing a bit rapidly, Shang Wan turned her head, “Tired?”
“Not bad.” Sweat beaded on Lu Chengjing’s forehead, and a bit of color appeared on his pale cheeks.
For someone who hadn’t walked in a long time, going straight to mountain climbing was indeed taxing on the body.
A flash of white light appeared in Shang Wan’s hand, and a bamboo tube filled with water materialized, which she handed over, “Here, rest a bit before we go on.”
The water was mountain spring water, cool and slightly sweet.
Lu Chengjing took a couple sips, raised his eyes to gaze at the dense canopy above, and gently exhaled, a hint of contented smile appearing in his eyes.
This was his first time climbing a mountain on his own legs; though tiring, he was happy inside.
Shang Wan glanced sideways at him appraisingly. In theory, the spiritual spring water should improve one’s physique, and now even their strength had increased, so Lu Chengjing’s body shouldn’t still be this weak.
As if knowing what Shang Wan was thinking, Lu Chengjing lightly smiled, “This congenital weakness from the womb isn’t so easy to cure completely.”
He lowered his head, clenched his left hand and released it, “Being like this now is already much better than before.”
In the past, let alone entering the mountain to gather herbs, he had to stay in bed recovering from illness for half a month out of every month.
Being like this now was already very good; he couldn’t be too greedy.
