Chapter 41, Chapter 41: Crows

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Ludong Mountain has abundant vegetation. After searching for a while, She Ning found a Chinese toon tree. On the grayish-brown trunk, the purplish-red buds stood out against the bare branches, and there were many old and green Chinese toon leaves around the buds.

The best time to pick Chinese toon sprouts is generally from Qingming to around Guyu, especially before Guyu when the taste is the best. After she finished picking this batch, this year's Chinese toon sprout delicacies were sold out. If you want to eat them again, you will have to wait until next spring.

She Ning plucked all the toon buds from the tree. On her way down the mountain, she saw bracken fern growing all over the ground, so she took some with her. Bracken fern stir-fried with cured pork is an absolutely delicious dish.

After returning home, She Ning washed all the wild vegetables thoroughly and placed them in a bamboo basket to drain. Looking at the wild vegetables laid out to the side, she began to consider how to cook them.

The system requires a wild vegetable feast of ten dishes. With the ingredients she has now, she can probably make shepherd's purse dumplings, lamb's quarters soup, plantain stew with meat, scrambled eggs with toon, cold salad with horsetail, stir-fried fern with cured meat... and finally, a dessert drink, dandelion honey tea, which has a refreshing taste and is good for clearing heat and detoxifying.

After arranging the menu, She Ning got busy. She blanched bracken, toon, and bitter greens to remove their bitterness and set them aside. She washed the cured pork, boiled it, and then sliced ​​it. She chopped the chili peppers and garlic and set them aside.

She Ni wasn't home, so She Ning lit the fire herself, using two stoves simultaneously—one for soup and one for stir-frying. She worked efficiently, her spatula flying as she worked.

"Ding, system task: The ten-dish wild vegetable feast has been completed. Blind box draw is about to begin. 3, 2..."

As She Ning added honey to the tea after filtering out the dandelion, the system's cold, mechanical voice sounded. Putting down the honey jar, she pressed the blind box opening button on the interface.

The interface rotated, and fireworks sprayed. She Ning habitually watched the interface and waited for the blind box to open. According to the usual procedure, the contents of the blind box would be revealed after the fireworks were sprayed, but today the system seemed to be stuck, and the contents of the blind box were not showing up for a long time.

"System???" After waiting for about two minutes without anything appearing, She Ning called out in her mind.

...

The system, which had just notified her that the task was completed, was now completely unresponsive. She Ning's heart skipped a beat. Looking at the still-existing system interface, she opened the personal attributes, storage compartments, and other interfaces in sequence. Each interface opened smoothly, and she could freely take items from the storage compartments.

Seeing that none of the functions had failed due to the system's lack of response, She Ning felt a little relieved, but this incident also served as a wake-up call for her.

Clutching the Eye of Truth tightly in her hand, feeling the realism emanating from the object, she lowered her gaze slightly, her eyes calm and profound, her expression serene.

These days, thanks to the system's power, she has had a smooth journey and reaped many rewards. Unconsciously, she has become somewhat complacent.

However, relying on external energy is ultimately just external assistance. No matter how powerful it is, it is not truly hers. Only by being strong herself can she be truly strong.

She placed the Eye of Truth back into the system storage compartment, and the warm touch disappeared from her hand. She looked at the Eye of Truth, which had returned to its original position and was now quietly resting in the storage compartment, and her eyes showed a newfound determination.

"Sizzle sizzle..."

Amidst the crackling of burning firewood, a hissing sound rang out, and the disconnected system reconnected, as if nothing had happened. Continuing the process following the fireworks, a gift box appeared on the screen, opened with a "pop," revealing a red glow inside.

After putting on the lucky bracelet, her luck level increased to 90%, and the blind boxes she drew were indeed of a higher level. Rare items that were hard to find before were now easy to draw. Looking at the red light on the interface, She Ning thought to herself, and then her gaze shifted to the blind box description on the interface.

Rare blind boxes

Obtain the auspicious item, the crow.

Note: Crows are said to bring good news, which is the origin of the Zhou Dynasty. Legend has it that crows bring good omens and can bestow light and warmth.

Usage count: Permanent

On the panel, a black bird with multicolored markings stands quietly in the center. Under the red light of the gift box, its round, black pearl-like eyes give people a sense of peace.

She Ning took it out. The black bird flapped its wings and flew around the kitchen once, then obediently flew to her right shoulder and stood there, tilting its head and looking at She Ning. It chirped happily twice and then rubbed its head against She Ning's cheek.

"Master," it called out.

Produced by the system, they can communicate without the need for animal communication potions. She Ning touched its wings with her fingertips, feeling the warmth from them. More of the crow's abilities appeared in her mind, including the ability to grant light and warmth, as well as to foresee danger and become invisible.

People often say that crows are unlucky creatures, and that hearing their cries means something bad is about to happen. But this is not true. Crows can foresee danger and help people avoid disasters.

"A jinx" is a prejudice people hold against it.

She Ning didn't let Ya Ya stay in the storage compartment. The peach tree in the yard had already started to bear fruit, small and green, which looked pleasing. The lychee tree was lush and had also entered its flowering period, with clusters of small white flowers hidden among the green leaves. She Ning let it choose whichever tree it liked to stay in.

Under the sunlight, a bird soared high, its black wings shimmering with iridescent light. After circling a few times in the air, it disappeared into the green leaves of the lychee tree.

At noon, She Ning went to town to deliver lunch to She Hongmei and also helped out at the shop.

She saw She Hongmei seeing someone out of the shop when she was almost at the entrance. After leaving She's restaurant, the person turned and went into a noodle shop not far away.

Before opening the shop, She Ning had scouted out shops near the train station. She Ning remembered that the person was the owner of a noodle shop named Zheng Ling.

Not knowing what she was doing there, She Ning picked up her lunchbox and quickened her pace to approach.

"Mom, what was that person doing coming over here just now?" After putting the lunchbox in the kitchen, She Ning rolled up her sleeves to help tidy up the table outside. Together with She Hongmei, she put the tableware in the cleaning area and asked She Hongmei across from her.

"You mean Ah Ling?" After a busy day, with a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, She Hongmei wiped her face with a towel. Upon hearing this, she peeked half of her face out from under the towel.

"Yes, it's the one you just sent out."

“She came over to ask us if we could become agents for our braised food.” While wiping her face, She Hongmei replied, “Several groups of people have come over in the past two days asking about selling our braised food. Some even wanted to buy out the recipe. I didn’t agree directly. I just said I needed to go home and discuss it.”

She had originally planned to tell everyone when she got back tonight, but She Ning asked first, so she just told them directly.

"I thought she was here to challenge us," She Ning said, scratching her head, her face slightly flushed, a little embarrassed.

"You little girl," She Hongmei poked her forehead with her finger and said with a smile, "You've been influenced by those few people in the village. There are bad people, but most people are still good."

She Ning thought about it and realized that what She Hongmei said was indeed correct.

In her previous life, she met wonderful grandparents, teachers, and classmates, and encountered many helpful people along the way. In this life, she met Teacher Zhu, Director Xia, Aunt Guan, Sister Shengnan, Wang Weiwei, and many others, all of whom are very kind people.

"Mom, you're right." She was being narrow-minded.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, after the shop was tidied up, She Hongmei pulled down and locked the roller shutter, and She Ning waited for her with his bicycle.

"Mom, I have something to tell you." She Hongmei was riding her bike in front, and She Ning hugged her waist with both hands, pressed her face against her back, and said softly.

Since waking up from the dream and realizing that she was the original body all along, She Ning's feelings for She Hongmei have grown even stronger, and she has become very affectionate towards her.

"What did you say?" She Hongmei shouted as the wind whistled past her ears.

"I've discovered that there seems to be poaching going on in Ludong Mountain," She Ning dropped a bombshell.

At the same time, with a "squeak," She Hongmei gripped the brake lever and brought the bicycle to a stop.

"What did you say!" Suspecting the wind was too strong and she had misheard, She Hongmei turned her head in astonishment, her voice rising several octaves.

She Ning put her feet on the ground, looked up at She Hongmei sitting in front of her, blinked, and repeated what she had said very seriously, "I found out that it seems that someone is poaching in Ludong Mountain."

Regarding the treasure at Ludong Mountain last time, She Ning promised She Hongmei that she would tell her everything and not act alone so as not to worry her.

This time, she wouldn't hide it from She Hongmei.

She Ning recounted everything from Wang Weiwei rescuing the squirrel to her discovering something was wrong with the wound, and then to her own journey to Ludong Mountain to find clues. However, she omitted the conversation between her and the squirrel.

After listening to She Ning's words, She Hongmei's eyes were slightly complicated, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

She noticed that ever since she fell into the water, her daughter seemed to be involved in cases—human trafficking, treasure, and smuggling. Although she hadn't found any evidence that She Ning was involved, she had a gut feeling that her daughter was involved.

Now it's another poaching case, and it hasn't been that long.

She thought to herself, "I really need to sneak off to the temple to pray sometime to see if I've picked up anything." Then, her gaze met She Ning's expectant and restless eyes. She choked for a moment, then put on a stern face and said seriously, "You stay at home and don't go anywhere."

"I will go to the police station tomorrow to report the situation to Investigator Chen."

According to She Ning's description, those people clearly had guns. Poachers are all ruthless. With her small arms and legs, how could she possibly escape if she encountered them?

“She Ning, I’m serious, this is too dangerous. Professional matters should be handled by professionals. As citizens, the proper procedure is to report any illegal activities promptly.” Fearing she might sneak away, She Hongmei earnestly admonished her.

"Mom, I know, I won't go," She Ning said, raising her hand and holding up three fingers to assure him.

She wouldn't go; she sent Xiaosong and Yaya instead.

She can communicate with Ya Ya and even see things through Ya Ya's eyes. With this god-like advantage, why would she risk her life?

"You'd better keep your word." She Hongmei gave her a deep look. This girl was very determined and wouldn't easily give up on what she had decided. "Fine, you'll come with me to the shop these days."

She only felt at ease when the goods were right under her nose.