"Shao De, pinch me, am I dreaming?" Cai Lihua stared at the rapidly ripening wheat, its growth drastically different from the wheat that hadn't been watered with spiritual spring water.
Meng Shaode seemed deaf. He pinched himself hard, wincing from the pain, "Hiss... I thought I was dreaming too."
"It hurts?" Cai Lihua understood that her husband was also stunned.
"It hurts a lot," Meng Shaode rubbed his face. "Your daughter's spring water is truly amazing."
"Father, Mother, what are you waiting for? Hurry and harvest. Many villagers have gathered at the village entrance. Don't get discovered and arouse suspicion." A Jiu understood once she came down the mountain. These two were shocked by the growth.
"Right, right, hurry and harvest." But there was only one sickle. Meng Shaode spat in his palm, rubbed his hands, picked up the sickle, and got to work. Cai Lihua bent over and followed behind, bundling the wheat. A Jiu also busied herself, picking up fallen wheat ears behind them.
"I was wondering why it was so quiet today. What are so many people doing at the village entrance?" Cai Lihua asked as she worked.
"They might be investigating the incident of searching for meat on the mountain during the day," A Jiu replied. Otherwise, Hui'er's mother wouldn't have been taken in for questioning.
"We can barely deal with our own ancestral graves burning, why bother lighting paper at the mass grave," Meng Shaode panted, working quickly while talking.
They had irrigated less than a third of a mu. Meng Shaode, like a bull, plowed through the wheat field and finished harvesting in a short while. He dropped the sickle and hurried back, laying down the reins, piling the wheat bundles onto the rope, then pressing his knee to tie a knot and hoisting it to leave. "I'll have to make three trips. You two wait."
"Hurry up," Cai Lihua urged from behind. Once free, Cai Lihua had a sudden idea and pulled out more sprouted wheat. A Jiu was not tired. Cai Lihua sat down on a wheat bundle and wiped the sweat from her brow. "The weather should be cooler by now, why is it still so hot?"
"It'll probably be cooler after the Mid-Autumn Festival," A Jiu took out her water skin and gave it to her mother.
Cai Lihua took a big gulp. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she looked at the water skin. "Jiu'er, if you drink more of this water, do you think you'll grow taller?"
"Huh?" Her mother had always thought she was short, but A Jiu had been drinking this spiritual spring water for a long time and had never considered this problem. Recalling it now, she said, "It seems to be ineffective for human growth." Otherwise, she would have grown taller long ago after drinking it for so long. At this moment, she, Meng Jiu'er, only reached Tuoba Yan's chest. It seemed growing taller was hopeless.
"It's alright. When we have money and are settled, I'll stew bone soup for you every day to supplement your calcium. You'll still grow," Cai Lihua still cared about her daughter.
"Mother, you rest. I'm not tired. I'll go pick some fruit." She dashed to the edge of the field at the foot of the mountain. She walked around the pomegranate tree, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. It seemed her grandmother was right, each generation was worse than the last. This batch was the third generation of pomegranate seeds. She had planted three trees, but the harvest was less than half of what the first generation produced from one tree. A Jiu picked them one by one and stuffed them into her embrace, counting them carefully. There were fifty-six in total. As for the watermelons, she found that the large ones had four per vine, and the smaller ones had about six. She had only planted five plants in total. As she put them into her spatial storage one by one, A Jiu watched the seedlings wither on the spot. As for the peaches, the yield was similar to the pomegranates.
Meanwhile, Meng Shaode had already made three trips back and forth. On the last trip, he dealt with the remaining wheat stalks and packed up the baskets, tools, and bamboo crates.
"Jiu'er, Hui'er is waiting for you at our doorstep. She looks quite anxious," Meng Shaode said as he walked with the bamboo basket on his back.
"Oh, I'll go see," A Jiu sprinted a few steps towards home.
"Sister A Jiu, my mother is being taken away. The person who came is the same official who called you sister last time. My mother can barely get out of bed, and she can't endure any more hardship. Can you say a good word for her?" Although Hui'er didn't cry loudly this time, her eyes were swollen. She had clearly been crying earlier.
"What? Where are they taking your mother?" A Jiu was also puzzled.
"Jiu'er, she's talking about that Tuoba Yan kid, isn't she? Why don't you go and see?" Meng Shaode's words caused him to notice his wife glaring at him.