"Ask my grandma about this. I'll go get her."
"Wait for me, let's go together."
Out in the yard, Mi Li's grandmother sat on a small stool, tearing bamboo shoots that had been dried and soaked last year. Huo Jincheng stood nearby, his arms folded, chatting idly with her.
Huo Jincheng really wanted to ask Mi Li's grandmother about Hua Rou, but he didn't know how to start the conversation. Jian Ning followed Mi Li out with a salt shaker in his hand. Seeing this, he narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Uncle Huo, would you like me to treat your arm?"
"Treat my arm?" Huo Jincheng was a little confused. He glanced at his arms and said, "I'm not injured, why should I treat it?"
"Oh, I thought you broke your arm."
Mi Li giggled, and Huo Jincheng finally came to his senses. He glared at Jian Ning angrily, but Jian Ning rolled her eyes and felt a tightness in her chest.
"Grandma, where did we get this salt jar? The princess wants to know, so please tell her." Mi Li squatted beside her grandmother, grabbed her arm with both hands and shook it.
"As for this, if the princess likes it, just take it." Mi Li's grandmother smiled so much that all the wrinkles on her face were smoothed out. She thought that Jane Ning liked this ordinary jar.
"Let me see." Huo Jincheng stepped forward, took the salt shaker from Jian Ning's hand, and examined it carefully. "This is a Ziding jar. Look, the glaze is not only pure and even, but there's also a distinct layer of yellow lines where the spiral lines are exposed. This line is a major characteristic of the Ziding kiln. This is something from our Central Plains Imperial Palace. It must have been used to make medicine in the Imperial Hospital."
"That's right, he's a eunuch. I thought he had a thin, high-pitched voice." Mi Li's grandmother glanced at the jar in Huo Jincheng's hand and said with a smile, "Since it's from the Central Plains, you can take it. There's no use for me to keep it."
Huo Jincheng and Jian Ning exchanged a glance, then leaned forward and asked, "Old man, could you please tell me in detail what that person looked like, when he came here, and why he gave you this jar?"
"It happened two years ago. I went up the mountain to dig wild vegetables and heard someone groaning in a cave. He'd been bitten by a snake and had applied some medicine on himself, but it didn't work. A huge hole had formed in his calf, and you could see the bone. His whole body was burning hot."
Mi Li's grandmother gave a brief description of his height and appearance, then continued, "Aunt Hua taught us some herbs that can cure snake venom. The old woman pulled some herbs for him, and he forced himself to use a knife to remove the rotten flesh, chewed the herbs, and applied the herbs to himself."
"What happened next? Do you know where he went?" Huo Jincheng asked.
"He didn't tell the old woman about this, so I didn't know about it. The next day, I went up the mountain to bring him food and herbs. He actually killed some bamboo partridges himself and left half for the old woman. What a ruthless and capable man! Even with his leg rotten like that, he could still walk around and pick a bunch of herbs based on the sample. The next day, when I went back, no one was in the cave. They only left this jar and two bamboo partridges. I took them all back."
"Do you know him?" Mi Li's grandmother looked at him and Jian Ning and asked.
"He should be my uncle-in-law." Huo Jincheng fiddled with the jar in his hand again. "Since my uncle-in-law left this jar to you, you should keep it well. This jar is worth some silver. If you are willing to exchange it, I can give you some silver."
"What nonsense is that? Poverty has its own way of living. Even if you give us silver, we don't have the ability to make money out of it. If we get used to it and can't live in poverty in the future, it will be bad. Just take it. It's not ours to begin with. We don't want a penny from you. Don't say anything more."
She insisted on not taking a penny and lived a very transparent life. After Jian Ning and Huo Jincheng had dinner and said goodbye, they led their horses back to the bamboo forest where they first arrived to wait for Tong Bajin and the others. Huo Jincheng tied up the horse, found a place to sit, and played with the jar in his hand. Since he told Weidong that he met his uncle's apprentice Xu Dali in Danyang, Weidong asked him to find out about his uncle.
As people get older, they become nostalgic. They miss their fellow apprentices especially since they haven't seen each other for decades. Huo Jincheng really wants to find his uncle and make Weidong happy.
"Master Huo, give it to me and let me keep it for you first. Don't let it break accidentally when you come back."
"Our two families are old friends. Can't you just call me by my name like we did when we were kids? Why do you have to be so distant?"
Huo Jincheng handed the jar to her and glanced at her with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"No! I'm Mrs. Ding now, so I can't call you that like I did when we were kids. Besides, you might not be Young Master Huo." Thinking of how he used to ignore Xiao Xinning, Jian Ning couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.
Huo Jincheng lowered his head and stared at his feet. The air became strangely quiet again. This guy was really good at creating an awkward atmosphere. Jian Ning felt bored and slipped into Baicaojian.
"Duan Xinning!"
"Duan Xinning? Speak out! Did you go in? Duan Xinning!"
After an unknown amount of time, Huo Jincheng realized he was the only one around. He stood up and looked around, but Jian Ning was nowhere to be found. He called out several times in a deep voice, but there was still no response from Jian Ning. He panicked for a moment. In the dim light, he felt as if countless demons and monsters were attacking him from all directions. He suspected that Jian Ning had been abducted without noticing, so he called out several more times: "Duan Xinning! Duan Xinning!"
The two horses also became agitated by his shouting, circling restlessly. Just when his heart sank to the bottom and he was about to despair, Jane Ning's voice rang out: "You're so noisy! I just fell asleep and you woke me up."
The next second, Jane Ning appeared on the big rock where she had been sitting before, yawning and stretching.
"You didn't even say hello, making me worry for nothing." Huo Jincheng's face darkened. Fortunately, the moon was blocked out, and it was dark all around. Jian Ning couldn't see him and didn't bother to pay attention to him. But remembering that he called her Duan Xinning, she scolded him, "Calling me Madam Ding is quite adult, and you still need me to teach you this little etiquette?"
Huo Jincheng flicked his cloak and walked aside, ignoring her words.
The moon gradually rose higher. Jane Ning squinted at the night sky, thinking that it was almost time for them to turn around, when she saw a small black dot moving quickly in the night sky.
"Here he comes!" Huo Jincheng also saw it. "It's a pity that there's no trace of my uncle. If I had seen him this time and told my master back, he would have been so happy. I'll have Brother Tong tell my junior brother to keep an eye out in Yue Country and see if he can get any more information."
"If you ask me, there's no need to go out of your way to visit. If he wants to see Uncle Wei, he'll naturally know to look for him in the capital. We'll meet when the time comes. Otherwise, even if you search high and low, you'll still end up passing each other by."
Huo Jincheng was stunned when he heard her words, and recalled that when Duan Xinning was first lost, he had secretly gone out to look for her. Although he didn't know why he wanted to go out and help find her at that time, he only thought about what would happen between him and Jian Ning if he found her?
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