Chapter 194: Keep Up The Good Work
The field mouse squad and monkey squad, standing in neat rows, immediately ran toward the wasteland ahead, each performing their duties: some burrowed into the soil, some pulled weeds, some moved stones, with clearly defined division of labor.
Yu Da: ??
Yu Da: !!!
The man stood dumbfounded in place, his face full of shock.
—Dreaming, he must be dreaming. Haha, how could monkeys possibly help pull weeds and move stones?
He raised his hand and fiercely slapped himself across the face, producing a crisp “pa” sound.
“It hurts!”
The pain was real and unrelenting. Yu Da clutched his reddened cheek, lifted his eyes to look at the busy monkeys not far away, his mind blank.
These were actually real!!
Shi Tou turned his head to look at him. Does this guy have a problem with his brain?
“You… this… monkeys…” Yu Da gestured incoherently at Shi Tou, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.
Shi Tou grew impatient listening to him and slapped him across the face. “Speak properly.”
Good, now both sides of his face were symmetrical.
Yu Da took a deep breath, and with his flushed cheeks, asked, “What’s the deal with these monkeys and field mice?”
“It’s exactly what you saw.” Shi Tou shouldered his hoe and called to him, “Come on, let’s till the land.”
Yu Da instinctively shouldered his hoe and followed. After a few steps, he turned his head to look at the little baby girl on the gray wolf’s back.
He had always thought this wolf was close to the little baby girl because of that formidable woman, but now it seemed it was all the little baby girl’s own ability.
A little doll who could make wild beasts obey—if those noble people found out… Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, making his heart race uncontrollably.
With this little doll in hand, wouldn’t glory and wealth be within easy reach?
·
“Yu Er, come out.” Xiao Huan carried a bamboo basket of dried astragalus and called for him in the courtyard.
In the room, Yu Er impatiently flipped over on the kang, pretending not to hear. But thinking of Yu Da’s exhortation and their plan, he still got up, propping himself with a wooden stick, and limped outside.
He had a face full of impatience and gruffly asked, “What?”
“Cut these astragalus.” Xiao Huan pointed to the large cutting board and sharpened chopping knife under the eaves, grabbing a few pre-cut slices from the bamboo basket to show him. “Like this, uniform thickness, don’t cut them badly.”
Looking at the large bamboo basket of astragalus, Yu Er discontentedly pointed to his injured leg, indicating he was an injured person and wouldn’t cut.
“Your leg is injured, not your hand. Hurry up and cut.” Xiao Huan set the bamboo basket next to the cutting board. “If you don’t cut, no lunch.”
“What did you say?” Yu Er glared fiercely at Xiao Huan.
With such a fierce look, it could scare a timid person to tears.
Xiao Huan wasn’t intimidated at all. She drew the kitchen knife from her waist in one swift motion; the gleaming blade reflected the sunlight, making Yu Er squint.
“Cut cut cut, I’ll cut!” Yu Er raised his hand to shield his eyes and irritably said, “Put away the kitchen knife; it’s dazzling my eyes.”
Xiao Huan sheathed the kitchen knife and watched him cut.
Yu Er unwillingly sat down on the small bench, his long legs pitifully huddled together, picked up the chopping knife, and began cutting.
Dried astragalus was harder to cut than fresh, but with low moisture content after drying, it was easier to control the thickness and shape when slicing; the resulting round pieces were more uniform, looked better, and could fetch a higher price at the medical hall.
Yu Er practiced martial arts; though his leg was injured, his hand strength remained.
He cursed about how hard it was to cut while swiftly slicing away.
“Too thick, too thick, make it thinner.”
“Cut at an angle.”
“Don’t cut them into pieces.”
Xiao Huan’s voice chimed in from time to time. Yu Er gritted his teeth inwardly, venting all his anger toward Xiao Huan on the astragalus.
It was just cutting astragalus—he’d cut cut cut!
When this woman fell into his hands, he would definitely cut off her head too!
“Just like that, keep the thickness consistent. I’m going to the kitchen to marinate meat; cut properly, and I’ll check later.” Xiao Huan felt much more relaxed with extra labor, patted the dust off her hands, and returned to the kitchen.
Yu Er waved the chopping knife toward Xiao Huan’s back, itching to hurl it at her.
A small stone suddenly hit him on the head, “patta,” rolling to the ground.
“Who hit me?” Yu Er looked up and saw a boy poking half his body out from the small platform, making faces at him.
Chu Xu: “Nyah nyah nyah~”
“Hey, you little brat!” Yu Er stood up with the chopping knife, ignoring his leg injury, about to use his lightness skill to go up.
Another head poked out; Shang Wan stared at him eerily. “Who are you cursing?”
Yu Er felt a reflexive ache all over his body, gripped the chopping knife, and silently sat back down to continue cutting.
Chu Xu hummed softly, “Bully the weak and fear the strong.”
Utterly unconcerned that he was the “weak” one.
Shang Wan patted his head. “No need for you up here. Go down the ladder from the back and find your uncle in the study room.”
“Copying books again?” Chu Xu resisted from the bottom of his heart.
Shang Wan looked at him. “If not copying books, what do you want to do?”
Chu Xu grinned, hugged Shang Wan’s arm and shook it, acting cute: “I want to go play with Yuan Yuan.”
Shang Wan thought about it; copying books was just to keep the child occupied. At such a young age, if he wanted to play, let him play.
So she nodded in agreement.
Chu Xu cheered, spread his small hands and hugged Shang Wan hard, then climbed down the bamboo ladder to go play with Yuan Yuan.
Passing by Yu Er, the child held his nose like a little pig and made another face.
“Nyah nyah nyah~”
Yu Er: “…”
Damn kid!
At the foot of the mountain, two people and a group of monkeys were working energetically.
This morning they only needed to clear one mu of land; the field mice had finished their work. Since Yuan Yuan had given the reward in advance, the field mice didn’t linger and scattered away.
Shi Tou and Yu Da hoed the land; as they worked, Yu Da realized Shi Tou not only had greater strength but also hoed faster—unbearable!
The two competed like it was a race, heads down tilling furiously, their hoes blurring with speed.
The monkeys gradually had no scope for action and squatted on the side to watch.
Yuan Yuan got down from the gray wolf’s back and squatted to watch like the monkeys. From afar, she looked like a plump little ball, just like a glutinous rice ball.
When Chu Xu arrived, he saw this bizarre scene. He struggled to spot Yuan Yuan among the squatting monkeys, hurried over, squatted down, and smoothly joined the crowd of onlookers.
As the sun rose higher, the monkeys waved their paws to bid Yuan Yuan farewell and returned to the mountain forest.
The two in the field, competing with their hoes, reluctantly stopped, each having tilled half a mu—exactly tied.
Yu Da grabbed his shirt hem to wipe the sweat from his forehead, looked back at the land he had tilled, and thought to himself that he must have been possessed earlier.
Shi Tou tossed him a water skin. “Not bad, keep it up.”
Yu Da: “…”
What was there to keep up with in this kind of thing!
At noon, the two who worked well had a greatly improved meal—vegetables and meat, simply blissful.
The two brothers were still eating in the room, exchanging information while eating.
“Bro, that doll really has that much ability?”
“Of course, I saw it with my own eyes.” Yu Da pointed to his own eyes.
“Who would’ve thought this godforsaken place hid such a great treasure.” Yu Er grinned sinisterly. “Once we send this family down to the underworld, that doll is ours.”
