After Wang Po returned home, the story of her "encounter with a fairy" in the deep mountains spread throughout Qiantang. In addition to the fairy giving her half a bag of "fairy rice," the story of the three ungrateful Ding family members also spread.
Some people were curious about what the "fairy rice" actually looked like, while others wondered if the fairy abode was truly as Wang Po described, with white jade as its stone and gold as its tile. Some even ran to the deep mountains overnight to kowtow and pray, hoping to have a similar adventure, which caused the incense at the small temple to become much more abundant in the past few days.
"Mother, the porridge is ready, please drink it."
Ding Si Niang carefully held the bowl to Wang Po's lips. The bowl contained white porridge made from rice and coconut—the porridge was thick and creamy, showing that Ding Si Niang had put her heart into cooking it.
Granny Wang only took one sip before making an excuse that she was thirsty and refused to drink any more.
“My son, this is ‘immortal rice’! You’ve suffered so much at your husband’s house, you must be exhausted. Quickly drink this bowl of porridge to replenish your strength. Your mother is practically half-buried in the ground, how can I enjoy so much good fortune—”
“This porridge was made for my mother, why should I drink it?”
Ding Si Niang shook her head, resolutely refusing to look at the bowl of white porridge.
The mother and daughter kept pushing and shoving the bowl of porridge back and forth, each trying to find a way to get the other to drink it. As they kept doing this, the porridge got cold.
"Mother, my brothers have heard about this and they're probably coming to visit tomorrow. How can we accept that?"
Ding Si Niang frowned slightly and sighed softly:
“Yesterday I used the money from selling clothes to buy some rice. If we spend it carefully, it will be enough for my mother and me to eat for a year and a half. But my elder brother is a scoundrel. If he forcibly takes it, we probably won’t even have enough rice to eat, let alone this ‘immortal rice’.”
The mother and daughter sold the dress that Xu Milu had given them to get some money, which finally provided them with some belongings for their thatched hut. However, Ding Si Niang was still worried that her three wolf-like brothers would come to their door to do evil.
"The gods promised me, so they probably won't abandon me."
Wang Po's spirit and energy were completely different from two days ago. Although she was still wearing coarse cloth clothes, her hair was neatly combed, and her eyes had brightened.
"I've never done anything wrong in my life, the gods can't lie to me. Go to sleep, tomorrow morning my daughter and I will go up the mountain to see if we can find some wild fruit. The weather is getting hot now, and the rich and powerful in the city like to eat something fresh. We might even make a penny or two!"
The mother and daughter talked to their son for a while longer before snuggling comfortably under the new quilt and falling asleep.
Before they knew it, they slept until dawn. When the rooster crowed for the first time, Ding Si Niang and Wang Po woke up almost at the same time. They looked at each other and saw a hint of joy in each other's eyes.
"Mother! I dreamt of Madam Xu last night! She taught me how to make a dish, and I really saw that fairy house, with beads the size of longan on the walls and golden bricks like mirrors on the floor—"
Ding Si Niang couldn't wait to say:
"That Madam Xu was like a goddess. I remember the food she made was incredibly delicious. Before I left, I even grabbed a glass wine cup from her hand—"
The two looked down and saw a translucent glass, like one made of ice, lying on the quilt.
"!!! Is this not a dream?!"
Ding Si Niang was dumbfounded, while Wang Po, standing to the side, clutched her chest and laughed repeatedly:
“My son! It must be that Madam Xu saw how clever you were and taught you how to cook in my dream! I dreamed of Madam Xu too! She gave me a bunch of herbs and told me to cook a pot of rice porridge to share with the neighbors who helped, saying that the herbal soup could cure diseases!”
As she spoke, she opened her hand, revealing a handful of grass leaves with reddish hues.
...
...
"I'm exhausted. Entering a dream world is definitely not an easy task."
Xu Milu lay on the cloud and rubbed her aching back. She had learned the "Seventy-Two Transformations" from Sun Wukong, and the "Dream Marriage" technique allowed her to enter a dream in her true form. However, she had just learned this spell and was still not very proficient in it. Entering the dreams of two people at once was indeed a bit of a stretch.
Since Xu Milu admired Ding Siniang's self-reliance and independence, she intended to teach her some skills to make a living.
Fortunately, Granny Wang had a pig intestine at home, so she taught Ding Si Niang how to use wood ash to clean and remove the fishy smell from the pig intestine. She also taught her two simple recipes for braised pig intestine. As long as Ding Si Niang was diligent, she could always earn money.
If you were to casually give away gold and silver, it would inevitably attract the covetousness of outsiders. Giving away a recipe for braised large intestine would be just right.
"It's hard to be a good person, but it's even harder to be a competent deity!"
Xu Milu stretched and continued to wait to see how the three brothers fared.
...
...
Meanwhile, the three sons of the Ding family had been subjected to countless cold stares and whispers these past two days, which fueled their growing anger.
Ding Dalang got into an argument with someone while selling meat, and the person broke his head, wrapping it up like a rice dumpling.
Ding Erlang was selling cloth when, in a daze, he sold the finest fabric at a bargain price. He was so angry that a large blister appeared on his lip, and it hurt terribly to the touch.
Ding Sanlang, in a moment of confusion, miscalculated the accounts at the restaurant, losing three taels of silver in two days. Not only that, but his throat also started to itch, and he caught a cold.
The three brothers naturally heard about Wang Po's encounter with the fairy, and they also felt that they had been having bad luck these past two days. Without prior arrangement, they all went to Nezha's palace to burn incense. However, after burning three sticks of incense, each one broke in half, which frightened the three of them quite a bit.
Some people pointed out that it was the price they paid for feeding and dressing their mothers, and that God couldn't bear to see them suffer and was making them unlucky.
The three brothers got together and discussed it. When they heard that their mother still had half a bag of "miracle rice," they all got the idea.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
