Chapter 83.

The monks only need to deliver packages during the day and rest in their rooms on the second or third floor at night.

With them and the Lingyuan bird delivering the packages, more than 700,000 parcels were delivered in just two days, half the time Li Chang'an had estimated.

The next evening, they returned to Qingfeng Sect. The five leaders went to report to Li Chang'an and handed over the records of the cultivators' individual numbers.

Almost every cultivator delivered more than 6,000 orders, and the commission came to more than 10,000 yuan. They could receive it directly as a salary, or they could exchange it for vegetables, grains, or meat from Xuanling Immortal Mountain.

Most of the cultivators chose to receive a portion of the money, and then convert the remaining portion into spirit rice or spirit-grade vegetables.

Although the five team leaders did not deliver packages, they were still very tired from piloting the spirit boat and had consumed a lot of spiritual energy. Therefore, Li Chang'an took the average number of packages delivered by the cultivators and gave the five team leaders a commission.

The sixty-four cultivators exchanged for nearly seven thousand catties of spiritual vegetables.

Fortunately, Li Chang'an had anticipated this, so he did not sell all the spiritual-grade vegetables. There were still quite a few in stock in the warehouse's food storage boxes, but they were basically all exchanged by the cultivators.

Fortunately, the members of Xuanling Immortal Mountain do not require to eat spiritual vegetables every meal. The ordinary vegetables, shrimp, crabs, and various meats are already delicious, not to mention the fish in Ningjing River, which have an unparalleled flavor.

On New Year's Eve, after a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner at Xuanling Immortal Mountain, everyone went to Qingfeng Sect to set off fireworks.

Over the past year, the Qingfeng Sect has recruited several hundred new disciples. Therefore, this time, the fireworks display will no longer be watched from the Star Gazing Tower on the West Peak, but will be held on the training ground by the disciples themselves.

The five peaks of Qingfeng Sect were brightly lit, and fireworks bloomed in the night sky, making them even more dazzling.

The junior disciples tried to cast the spells they had just learned, while the senior disciples tested and guided them. In addition to the bright and dazzling lights and fireworks, these colorful spells were added to the scene.

Disciples at the Foundation Establishment stage and above led the Qi Refining stage disciples, using their spiritual power to protect themselves as they flew through the fireworks.

The air was filled with the laughter of children.

"This is so much fun! Senior brother, I want to fly again!"

"Wow! Senior brother, I touched a firework!"

"Senior sister, I want to set off fireworks in the sky and place them next to the stars!"

Li Chang'an, Tianxuan, Xie family uncle and nephew, and Wu Hui stood on the Star Gazing Tower on the main peak, all looking at the scene inside the sect with tender eyes.

This year is an exceptionally lively one.

*

Although the Lunar New Year has passed, the festive decorations in the streets and alleys have not yet been taken down. The LED strips on the trees and the lanterns on the streetlights are still intact, bright red and beautiful.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people began to visit relatives and friends to exchange New Year's greetings.

In Donglin City, a heavy snowfall had just occurred, leaving the streets cold and deserted with few pedestrians. Occasionally, mischievous children would set off firecrackers in the street, their playful noises carrying through the buildings.

He Ziyao was woken up early by the firecrackers, her empty, lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling.

On the bedside table next to me was a breakfast that had gone cold: a bowl of noodles with braised beef topping.

There was a gentle knock on the bedroom door, and He's mother's voice came through: "Yaoyao, have you finished breakfast?"

He Ziyao didn't say anything, but simply turned over, facing the closed curtains, and pulled the blanket up to cover her head.

Outside the door, after receiving no response for a while, Mrs. He gently opened the door.

Seeing the lump on the bed, Mrs. He looked sad. She tiptoed to the bedside and saw the cold breakfast noodles. Her eyes reddened slightly.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but swallowed the words back down.

She picked up the bowl of noodles and quietly left the room.

With the door closed and the blackout curtains tightly shut, the room became even darker.

In the kitchen, Mother He's hands trembled as she held the bowl of noodles. With great difficulty, she put the bowl down and leaned weakly against the cupboard.

When Mr. He walked to the kitchen door, he immediately saw the bowl of noodles that hadn't been touched.

"Yaoyao still hasn't eaten?" Father He asked, his face full of worry.

Mother He wiped away her tears and nodded with her back to Father He.

"Sigh, it's been so many days already, how can this go on? Should we take him to the hospital again?"

“I definitely want to see it, but I’m worried…” Mrs. He paused, “but my worry is probably useless.”

“That’s better than now, isn’t it? She’s not eating anything and she’s lost so much weight. What if, what if…” Mr. He’s hands trembled, and he couldn’t finish his sentence.

He's mother knew what he was going to say, and tears welled up in her eyes immediately.

Their daughter just started college this year. She is a gentle and kind girl, but she is a bit introverted, shy, and slow to warm up to people. She is not good at interacting with others.

Everything was fine when they first started university, but a little over two months later, their counselor suddenly called them and said that He Ziyao had gotten into trouble and asked them to come to the school.

Mr. and Mrs. He immediately bought plane tickets to their daughter's university, only to learn that their daughter had committed suicide in her dormitory. Her roommates discovered this and informed the counselor.

Upon hearing this news, He's mother almost collapsed, her legs giving way as she leaned against He's father.

How could this be? How could their daughter commit suicide?

The counselor said that He Ziyao had developed a mental illness, specifically moderate depression.

He was worried that He Ziyao's condition would affect her roommates, and he was also worried that He Ziyao might suddenly die in the dormitory one day. So he asked He's parents to arrange for He Ziyao to take a leave of absence from school and take her home for proper treatment.

Mr. and Mrs. He did not understand what mental illness was or why it was so severe.

But seeing that their daughter had lost 20 or 30 pounds, they still arranged for her to take a leave of absence from school and took her home for treatment, where she stayed in the hospital for a month.

Until recently, my daughter suddenly said she didn't want to be hospitalized anymore because the hospital fees were too expensive. She wanted to go home and just come to the hospital for regular check-ups and medication.

Mr. and Mrs. He thought their daughter was much better, so they brought her back.

But in less than a week, my daughter started to lose her appetite and couldn't eat. Even if she forced herself to eat something, she would vomit it all up soon after.

They took their daughter, He Ziyao, to the hospital for another checkup, and this time they were diagnosed with an eating disorder and were given some medication.

At first, He Ziyao felt better after taking the medicine, but after only two days, she started vomiting everything she ate again.

For Mr. and Mrs. He, going to the hospital seemed to be a pointless endeavor.

But they didn't know why their daughter had become like this, and they were at their wits' end.

In the kitchen, the two were in low spirits.

Mother He covered her face and cried for a while, when she suddenly heard a knock on the door.

She quickly wiped away her tears and said, "Oh right, my brother's family is coming to see Yao Yao today. They should have arrived by now."

Mr. He nodded, wiped his face, and went to open the door.

The visitors were indeed He Ziyao's maternal uncle's wife and her cousin's family.

"Happy New Year, Uncle! We've come to see Yao Yao," said Yao Ru, the cousin, with a smile.

Mr. He smiled and nodded, then quickly welcomed them into his home: "Alright, come in and sit down."

The family of three walked in. Yao Ru's father placed the gifts he was carrying in the living room, while Yao Ru and her mother carried several large bags of vegetables into the kitchen.

Mrs. He was boiling water to make tea when she saw this and quickly took the bag from Yao Ru's hand: "It's enough that you've come, why bring gifts?"

“On the first day of the Lunar New Year, how can you visit relatives and friends empty-handed? Little sister, don’t be so polite,” Yao’s mother said with a smile.

Mother He said, "You brought too much, with fruit, milk, and all these vegetables."

Yao Ru glanced at her aunt's red eyes, sighed inwardly, but still smiled and said, "Aunt, it's nothing valuable, just some vegetables. You can think of it as us bringing our own food."

Yao's mother slapped her daughter and teased, "Look at what you're saying. Do you think your aunt would ever let you go hungry?"

Yao Ru immediately covered her arm that had been slapped in an exaggerated manner.

Watching the mother and daughter playfully bickering, He's mother felt a little better, and a smile appeared on her face.

She took the vegetables out of the bag.

The cabbage leaves were tightly wrapped, the potatoes were large and free of any dirt, and the lotus roots were spotless...

Mother He grabbed a handful of soybeans and said, "These soybeans smell so good."

It doesn't have that raw, fishy smell, only a lingering fragrance.

Yao Ru chuckled and said, "Auntie, do you know about Xianshan Farm?"

"Fairy Mountain Farm?" Mother He asked in confusion.

"It's Xuanling Immortal Mountain. It was once mastered. That master farmed on Xuanling Immortal Mountain, and these vegetables were grown by him. They're delicious."

During this year-end clearance sale, Yao Ru and her parents squatted in front of their tablets to watch the live stream. Each of them had the Xianshan Farm app on their phones, and they frantically clicked the checkout button before the hour was up. In the end, she and her mother both managed to snag a deal.

I bought every type of vegetable and every type of meat according to the maximum purchase limit, which cost me a lot of money.

“Yes,” Yao’s mother said with a smile, “The food here is really delicious, and each vegetable has its own medicinal properties. For example, this Chinese cabbage can treat constipation, and this cabbage can treat weakness. And this lotus root is even better. A friend of mine said that her mother has diabetes, but she has controlled it very well by eating this lotus root. She has never had a flare-up, and her complications have improved a lot.”

"It can cure diseases?" Mother He hesitated. "How can a vegetable compare to medicine? You haven't been scammed, have you?"

"No, Auntie, these are all spiritual vegetables, meaning they have a lot of spiritual energy. The people from the Cultivation Alliance have confirmed it, saying that spiritual energy is beneficial to the human body, can regulate the body, and alleviate and eliminate negative states. It's not a lie."

Mother He looked surprised: "The people from the Cultivation Alliance have confirmed it?"

"yes."

Mother He was relieved. "That's good, that's good."

Things that have been confirmed by official organizations are more secure for them.

"Actually, we brought these dishes with us this time..." Yao's mother hesitated, "...to see if we could let Yao Yao eat some."

"Although she has a mental illness, perhaps the spiritual energy can improve her physical condition and allow her to eat again?"

They already knew about He Ziyao's situation.

They couldn't help with the treatment of mental illness, but they thought that the vegetables from Xianshan Farm might help alleviate He Ziyao's eating disorder.

When He Ziyao's illness was mentioned, a worried look appeared on He's mother's face again, and her eyes welled up with tears once more.

She wiped her face, turned around and looked worriedly at the door of He Ziyao's room, and sighed: "I hope so."

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Author's note: I'm late! [hugs] kneeling.jpg