Zhang Guodong had just finished practicing Fengzong's techniques and left Taoyuan when Qingzhu called out to him with sharp back and strength.
In Qingzhu's hands he held five jade-white, tender seedlings, emanating a gentle, warm fragrance, like a spring breeze. This was the reason he worked as a laborer.
"The seeds of the Jade Spring Vine have sprouted. Senior Sister has entrusted you with the task of planting them. You must make sure they all survive!" Qingzhu handed the task over to Zhang Guodong.
The problem was, Zhang Guodong had never carried such a precious thing before, especially such a young seedling. Less than ten centimeters long, the kind that would break at the slightest touch.
He held it in his hand, feeling a bit hot. Zhang Guodong was somewhat doubtful. Was this really a task given to him by Xuan Qingban? Or was it just Qingzhu passing the buck to him?
After placing the bamboo stick in Zhang Guodong's hand, she seemed somewhat relieved. This was easily missed if one wasn't paying close attention. She secretly rejoiced, then turned and left.
"Qingzhu, wait! The problem is, I don't know how to plant this! Did Senior Sister really teach me to do this?" Zhang Guodong quickly called out. If he accidentally killed it, he would be in deep trouble.
Qingzhu's eyes darted around, and she grumbled with dissatisfaction, "Of course! Is there any doubt that the task of planting this jade spring vine is legitimate?"
"But the problem is, how do we plant these Jade Spring Vine seeds? Do we just dig a hole and bury them?" Zhang Guodong scratched his head, puzzled. There were only six Jade Spring Vine seeds. One of them had already taken root and grown in Peach Blossom Spring; this one, used as a seedling, hadn't been touched at all and was growing well. But these five needed to be planted.
"Oh dear, I forgot, the planting method is in this jade talisman. Take your time to look at it. I need to go find Li Yun!" Qingzhu stuck out her tongue and took out a jade talisman, feeling embarrassed.
After tossing it over, she ran towards Qin Lina without stopping for a moment, as if afraid of being even a step too slow.
As he ran, he muttered to himself, "Planting is similar to planting ordinary trees, except it requires more crystals. Fifty should be enough, hehe, this saves me fifty low-grade crystals."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Guodong nearly stumbled and fell. That brat had embezzled fifty low-grade crystals! But seeing her disappear without a trace, Zhang Guodong was frustrated; it seemed he'd have to pay for the crystals himself.
A quick glance at the jade talisman revealed the methods for cultivating and planting the Jade Spring Vine. Indeed, in places lacking spiritual energy, low-grade crystals are needed. Simply burying them at the base of the vine allows the Jade Spring Vine to gradually absorb the life force contained within the crystals, enabling it to grow quickly.
Even a single low-grade crystal worth ten coins can be quite a drain on your wallet.
It hurts!
Once the jade ivy recovers, the temperature over the large area it covers will gradually change, making it spring-like all year round, allowing plants to grow year-round. Therefore, Zhang Guodong dug five holes at intervals in the weeds behind the yard, surrounding it.
Not far away, a small snake gracefully crawled by, which made Zhang Guodong very worried. Would the Jade Spring Vine attract more snakes?
"It seems we need to plant a batch of insect-repelling bonsai and place them intermittently within the area covered by the jade ivy!" Zhang Guodong glanced around; dozens of snakes were lurking among the weeds. Some were poisonous, some were non-poisonous.
If this wasteland is used to grow vegetables, these snakes will have no choice but to retreat to the Snake Valley behind it.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Guodong was not in a hurry to plant the Jade Spring Vine in the pit. Instead, he went to Peach Blossom Spring and picked up more than a hundred insect-repelling plants, along with a bucket of spiritual water.
Starting from outside the yard, they dug holes and planted the plants layer by layer. The lurking snakes seemed to sense the danger and immediately slithered away. The insect-repelling herb was even more effective than expected.
Without a strong incentive, snakes wouldn't dare enter the area where the insect-repelling grass grows. Now that a large number of insect-repelling grasses have been planted, even with a strong incentive, snakes become too weak to move when they get close.
In fact, as the insect-repelling plants were planted layer upon layer, even the snakes in the burrows crawled out and fled. Zhang Guodong glanced around and found there were over a hundred of them.
By the time the insect-repelling grass was planted at the entrance of Little Snake Valley, there was no trace of snakes left in the weeds.
After planting the jade ivy, Zhang Guodong returned with a bucket of water. Not long after, he saw Qingzhu sneaking over with Li Yun and Qin Lina.
"Qingzhu. You've finally decided to come back?" Zhang Guodong was seething with resentment, but he smiled and glanced at Qin Lina before speaking vaguely.
A flicker of panic crossed Qingzhu's eyes. If her senior sister found out that she had swallowed fifty low-grade crystals, she would definitely be in trouble! Seeing that she couldn't avoid it, Qingzhu simply resorted to shamelessness, saying, "Consider it a favor I owe you!"
"That won't do! But if you do one thing for me, this matter will be wiped clean!" Zhang Guodong said slowly. If this girl isn't dealt with, she'll soon be seen as a corrupt official.
"Just one thing to do? Why didn't you say so earlier? You scared me half to death!" Qingzhu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, rolled her eyes at Zhang Guodong, and patted her already quite large chest.
"Sister Qingzhu, what kind of riddle are you two playing?" Li Yun noticed the situation and asked curiously.
"It's nothing. Qingzhu said she was in charge of clearing the weeds around the house and cultivating the vegetable garden; she took care of everything!" Zhang Guodong chuckled and said casually.
"We've been tricked!" Qingzhu shouted, glaring at Zhang Guodong. There were snakes inside that gave her the creeps. And more than one. After Li Yun's warning, Qingzhu was also somewhat afraid of these very ugly snakes, mainly because they were so ugly that they made her feel uneasy.
"Whether you do it or not is up to you. If you don't want to, I'll tell you later," Zhang Guodong said with a smile, not afraid that she wouldn't comply.
"I'll do it!" Qingzhu said through gritted teeth.
Finally, Qingzhu suffered a loss, looking utterly dejected. This made Li Yun and Beng Shiguodong incredibly happy. "He embezzled fifty low-grade crystals from me, Sun Zhi… how…"
OK?
Seeing Qingzhu pitifully carrying a hoe and walking outside, Li Yun pulled Zhang Guodong aside and said worriedly, "Guodong, there are snakes ahead. Will Sister Qingzhu be in danger?"
This girl is too kind-hearted! Zhang Guodong smiled helplessly and said, "I was just trying to scare her. The snakes in the weeds were driven to Little Snake Valley by the hundreds of insect-repelling plants I planted. In addition, five jade and spring vines have been planted, but Qingzhu embezzled fifty low-grade crystals. How can I not teach her a lesson?"
"Phew, hehe, so that's how it is, you're so naughty!" Li Yun burst into a radiant smile after scaring Qingzhu. She was relieved and picked up a hoe to help Qingzhu as well.
Zhang Guodong felt like he'd forgotten something, but seeing Qingzhu carefully hoeing the ground, he suddenly remembered.
What?
"Be careful, don't weed out the newly planted insect repellent plants. And be careful with the jade ivy that's been planted too!" Zhang Guodong hurriedly shouted.
After a morning of work, I thought the two women—no, the three women, plus Qin Lina—would be exhausted, but to my surprise, they were having a lot of fun. Carefully avoiding the insect-repelling herbs and the five jade vines, they actually cleared about a third of the land.
But I was exhausted!
"Zhang Guodong?" Zhang Guodong, who felt no guilt whatsoever, suddenly received a call from an unfamiliar number. The voice on the other end seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
"Yes, hello, may I ask who you are?" Zhang Guodong asked, puzzled.
"You've forgotten who I am, haven't you? Hmph! I'm Xu Jing!" the voice on the other end of the phone said indignantly.
That sound reminded Zhang Guodong of his long-lost university campus life. Xu Jing, that beautiful and charming girl? A very loyal, free-spirited, and straightforward girl.
Memories flooded back, and a delicate, beautiful face appeared in Zhang Guodong's mind. To be honest, Xu Jing and Zhang Guodong's relationship was only so-so, but she could get along well with many people, leaving Zhang Guodong with a rather good impression.
Last year, Fatty attended a small gathering of classmates, which was organized by Xu Jing. Zhang Guodong was busy in Sichuan at the time and naturally couldn't participate. Of course, Zhang Guodong dropped out of school halfway through, so perhaps nobody took him seriously.
Zhang Guodong suddenly realized and immediately laughed, "How could I forget? Committee Member Xu, it's been a long time!"
"Old classmate, are you free tonight? Li Rulong, Geng Hui and the others are also in the provincial capital, along with a few classmates from Class 5. Let's invite Wang Kang and have a little get-together?" Xu Jing said with a smile.
Now that they've both graduated and left school for several years, Zhang Guodong can tell that Xu Jing has changed. But more than anything, there's a sense of nostalgia for her university days, and that voice really resonates with Zhang Guodong.
"Yes, no problem, just give me a call then!" Zhang Guodong said with a smile.
"Then it's settled!" Xu Jing said happily.
Almost immediately after Xu Jing's call ended, the fat man called.
"Xu Jing called you just now, right?" the fat man said with a wry smile. "Guodong, are you going or not? To be honest, I really feel a bit out of place."
Zhang Guodong understood what Fatty meant. Fatty, in college, didn't have many truly close friends and was somewhat of a loner. In this respect, he was somewhat similar to Zhang Guodong.
However, given his classmate's invitation, the fat man couldn't bring himself to refuse. Deep down, he knew that the friendship between classmates was a precious memory in one's life.
“Go ahead, it’ll be too odd if you don’t,” Zhang Guodong laughed. “You went last time, right? How much have people changed? I’m actually a little nervous!”
Some faces are now blurry in Zhang Guodong's memory.
After chatting for a while, Zhang Guodong realized from their conversation that everyone had changed, including himself. However, the gathering was about reminiscing about their school days, which was still a precious thing. Sometimes you might need help from classmates, so you have to keep in touch regularly. Xu Jing had contacted mostly classmates who had stayed in the provincial capital. It wasn't a large group, but it had formed a small circle.
"By the way, Guodong, come here for a second. I went back yesterday and brought back some good stuff!" the fat man suddenly said mysteriously.
Zhang Guodong figured he had nothing else to do, so he headed towards the village.
When they arrived at the fat man's office, the fat man mysteriously brought out an exquisite little gift box. When Zhang Guodong opened it, he was taken aback!
"Red Heart Fruit?" Zhang Guodong exclaimed in surprise.
But what shocked the fat man even more was his words. The fat man stared in disbelief and said, "No way? You actually know about this? I got these from my dad. My dad got them from Grandpa. There were only four. I have two here, one for my older sister and one for me. I can't bear to eat them!"
Two round, bluish-green fruits, with a reddish ring at the bottom; if bitten open, they would reveal reddish flesh inside, like a heart. Zhang Guodong naturally knew this. However, this was a high-grade fruit only produced in the plant cultivation world; how could it appear in the outside world?
Editor's Note: First update! Tiandao is in a good mood today. He glanced at the reward list and was surprised to find an additional leader. "Old Qingsheng, your generous reward has moved Tiandao deeply! To be honest, most of the rewarders on that list are disciples, and very few are actually at the level of steward or above. I still envy the rewards from other books."
However, Heaven also knows that this cannot be forced.
Here, Tiandao would like to thank "Old Love Leftover" for the generous donation! We also thank all the other generous donors who have quietly supported this book. Thank you all!
The second update will be released later. Under revision.
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