Chapter Twenty-Three: The Wilderness of Guangmo, Part One
Pei Xuanzhen and Chen Duan came together to express their gratitude to Wan Xia. The two sides chatted for an afternoon, and before dusk, several boats carried Kong Yunshan and his group back.
None of the doctors or patients at the clinic were allowed to go to the dock to see people off. Inside the clinic's lobby, Xi Xiangfeng and Ming Jin had a long chat. Ming Jin had originally wanted to switch communication points with Xi Xiangfeng, but Xi Xiangfeng hadn't yet learned how to summon the messenger bird; currently, only Ya Zai was delivering messages to Xi Xiangfeng.
“I originally only planned to be an ordinary doctor, but I didn’t expect there to be such magic,” Xi Xiangfeng said, his eyes lighting up as he watched the tooth fly around. “My cultivation is not yet sufficient. Once I have learned it, I want to send a letter to you, sister.”
"Then I'll wait for you."
"Sister Xiangfeng".
As Ming Jin and Xi Xiangfeng reached the door, they saw a shorter figure running towards them.
"Guan'er, what are you doing here?" Xi Xiangfeng saw that Wan Guan was panting with a flushed face from running too fast. "Master is entertaining guests in the city, he's not here."
“I know, I heard it from my father,” Wan Guan said, clutching the bundle with the zither slung across his chest. “I’ve come here to see Elder Ming off.”
“I’m not an elder, not even close,” Mingjin said in surprise. “You can call me senior, or like Xiangfeng, sister. I’m too inexperienced to be called an elder. We’ve only met once, and I didn’t expect you to come all the way to see me off. Thank you so much.”
"No, no," Wan Xia couldn't help but smile. "During this time, my mother has been checking up on my studies and forbidding me from running around in the rain, so I haven't been able to visit you. I hope Elder Ming will be free from illness in the future."
“Alright then,” Ming Jin thought, knowing that Wan Guan couldn’t change her ways anytime soon, so she didn’t make things difficult for her. “Thank you for your kind words. I’m going to the reception hall in the city now. If you’re going to find Master Wan, we can go together.”
"No, thank you," Wan Guan said with some difficulty after hearing Ming Jin's words. "I have to go to my zither lesson in a quarter of an hour, so I won't have time. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely visit Kongyun Mountain in person."
After saying his goodbyes, Wan Guan bid farewell to the two men. Ming Jin then headed towards the reception room.
Back at Kongyun Mountain, Mingjin packed up the things she had brought from Juxia City and made several trips to deliver them to her relatives and friends. Although Du Gewen was not happy with her and Shen Du's wasteful spending, he was still overjoyed when he saw the fabric they had bought being made into an outer robe by Yu Hong and then delivered to him.
"The summer heat hasn't dissipated yet, so keep it in the closet for a few days and take it out to wear when autumn comes." Rong Shao looked at Du Gewen, who was wearing a robe and looking at himself in the bronze mirror, and helplessly advised him to stop dressing up.
What about yours?
After hearing Rong Shao's words, Du Gewen realized that his actions were somewhat childish, so he followed Rong Shao's advice and folded the robe neatly and put it away. However, back when they were shopping in Juxia, Ming Jin and Shen Du had specifically asked for his opinion, so he knew that Rong Shao also had one.
"It's also an outer garment, and it's even thicker than yours. I tried it on and found it fit well, so I put it away. The color is beautiful; it seems the textile workers of Juxia City are quite skilled."
"Originally, it was because Tian Guang's pouch was burned in the fire and blackened, so the brother and sister wanted to take advantage of their break to find some cloth to mend it or make a new one. Unexpectedly, when they went out to shop, their eyes were dazzled by the sights, and Tian Guang bought several bolts of cloth," Du Gewen said, "saying that he planned to give them to Chang Qi's wife to make new clothes."
“They do have a good relationship,” Rong Shao asked, “but I haven’t seen her since the day she came back. What has Tian Guang been busy with these past few days?”
"Wu Peng has already agreed to let her graduate, but Wei Zhou is still worried about her old injuries and doesn't want her to go out to exorcise evil spirits as often as before. Chang Qi is still recuperating at home, so Yuan Xi called Tian Guang over to help."
Kongyun Mountain doesn't have the intimidating rainy season of Juxia, and with Huang Jing's improvements to the farmland, it's harvest time now. In the lush fields, Huang Jing wiped his sweat with a silk cloth in one hand and drank water from a gourd in the other, but his eyes were fixed on Ming Jin: "Not bad, you really figured it out."
Mingjin sat cross-legged on the ground, carefully rubbing his wind blades to harvest the grain. At first, he wasn't very successful, but after working for half an hour, Mingjin was able to harvest the grain with a sickle.
"That way I can fill the gap in my tall stature."
On one side, a soft rustling sound came from the grain field.
"Inkstone, come out quickly. Penholder, penholder, look at all that hair on you."
As he spoke, Huang Jing pulled a black cat and a gray tabby cat with messy fur from the grain field. The pen handle was nothing like that of an ordinary tabby cat, nor did it have the smooth fur of an inkstone. Its gray fur made it look like the tip of a poorly maintained calligraphy brush.
Huang Jing grabbed one in each hand and lifted them to the ground, saying, "Don't run too far, and don't cause trouble for Uncle Miao, or we won't have any dinner tonight. If you don't have any, neither will I."
"When can we finish collecting all this?" Penholder ran to Mingjin's side. Mingjin couldn't bear to see it like that, so he used his hand to smooth its fur. But human technique is completely different from cat technique. He even accidentally pulled out a hair from Penholder's back, causing Penholder to yelp and run away with Inkstone.
"It will definitely be over before the autumn chill sets in. Then everyone won't have to worry about food in the winter, and maybe we'll even have some left over to share with people down the mountain or outside."
"Is there anything you want to eat?" Mingjin asked while working. "I went to see Changqi and Alin yesterday. Alin is about to give birth and keeps craving lotus root soup. I'm going to go out and check on them."
"I don't like lotus root either, and I'm not very familiar with it." Huang Jing finished packing up and started working. "Otherwise, we'll go ask Uncle Miao when we eat. By the way, we both think this year's harvest is good. After we told the sect leader, he said this morning that the sect leader is planning to hold a feast on the day of the Autumn Equinox and invite everyone on the mountain to eat together."
"The day of the Beginning of Autumn?" Ming Jin didn't know where to look, his gaze lingering on the crops in Huang Jinghe's hands. "When was it decided? How come I didn't know?"
"It was decided during dinner last night, but we only talked about it this morning," Huang Jing said, noticing her strange tone. "What's wrong? Do you have any other plans?"
“That’s right,” Mingjin found a reason, “It’s my friend in Huicheng. She’s going to give birth around the time of the Beginning of Autumn. I was planning to make time to visit her.”
“I see,” Huang Jing said with a hint of helplessness. “But having a meal isn’t a big deal, and we can see each other often anyway. Production over there is more important.”
Ming Jin was already troubled by the clash between Meng Sheng's delivery and his appointment with Dao Xin. Meng Sheng's situation was uncertain, and Dao Xin was impossible to contact. As a result, Pei Xuanzhen's dinner party became a burden.
However, a few days before the start of autumn, early in the morning, before dawn, while still half asleep, Ya Zai suddenly popped out and started chattering in Ming Jin's ear. Ming Jin didn't wake up, but she woke up Pang Ming first. But Pang Ming was also extremely sleepy and couldn't wake up. He just patted Ming Jin to wake her up, then turned over and went back to sleep.
"What's wrong?"
Mingjin was initially confused, but he sat up and listened to the letter Shen Bai had delivered with his head down. He then instantly snapped out of it, got up quickly, and prepared to change his clothes so he could head to Huicheng.
"What happened?" Pang Ming, still half asleep, turned around when he heard Ming Jin's commotion and asked sleepily.
“Yu Cheng is about to give birth, I have to go see her,” Ming Jin said, already dressed and combing her hair. “You should sleep a little longer, I’ll try to be quiet.”
"Okay... take care on your way..." Then she fell asleep again.
Mingjin quickly packed up and arrived in Huicheng in the cool morning breeze.
Meng Sheng and Shen Bai lived in the outer city, so Ming Jin didn't need to worry about passing through the guards on the mountain. It was just strange, however, that when Ming Jin arrived at their house, the courtyard was quiet and still, showing no signs of any impending conflict.
The main door was closed, but it wasn't bolted from the inside. Ming Jin pushed the door open with a little force when she knocked. She called out, but didn't dare to speak too loudly, and no one answered if she didn't speak. Remembering that she had been invited by Shen Bai, she was also worried, so she just pushed the door open and came in.
The sky was already bright, but the western sky was still dark. Mingjin quietly walked across the courtyard, knocked on the door of the inner room, and finally heard voices.
"Tian Guang, you're here so early?" Shen Bai, his eyelids drooping, opened the door and was still a little surprised to see Ming Jin. He quickly let him in, worried that the wind outside would blow into the inner room. "The speed of the wind technique is indeed extraordinary."
"How is it? Why is there no movement?" Ming Jin asked quietly, seeing Shen Bai's tired appearance.
"Mother and child are safe. When I sent you this message, the baby had already been born safely. The people who came to help were also exhausted after half a day, so I asked them to go back and rest. I thought you would have to get up early in the morning to come over."
"Where is Yucheng?"
“She’s asleep,” Shen Bai said, leading Ming Jin into the house. “I was watching the child and I was a little sleepy too. The child is here.”
The child was asleep, lying quietly with eyes closed on a small bed next to us.
"I feel this child..."
“It’s a bit ugly, isn’t it?” Shen Bai guessed what she wanted to say and simply said it for her. “When he was first born, in the lamplight, Yu Cheng saw the boy like this, and he used up all the strength he had left after giving birth. But all babies are like this after birth, and it will be fine after a while.”
"The most important thing right now is for both mother and child to be safe."
Shen Bai couldn't help but yawn, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Go get some sleep, I'll watch the baby for a bit. Maybe Yucheng will wake up soon too."
"Thank you very much," Shen Bai said. Although he didn't intend to trouble Ming Jin, he had been busy with Meng Sheng for almost a whole day and was almost exhausted. "We don't have parents around, and we have no one to rely on. But Senior Brother Yushan said he would come and take a look. If someone comes knocking on the door, please go and see them."
"Don't worry. Go get some sleep and come back to see the child when you're more refreshed."
Although she still felt a bit of fear towards Wei Jing, her primary task was to take care of the three of them. Ming Jin moved a stool to the side of the crib, but the room was quiet, and the child was the quietest Ming Jin had ever seen. After sitting there for a while, Ming Jin started to doze off.
At this moment, thanks to Ya Zai, who took it upon himself to fly out and stare at Ming Jin's hand, relieving her momentary drowsiness. Ming Jin suddenly opened her eyes, a wave of panic washing over her, afraid that she had overslept. When she came to her senses, she realized that not much time had passed.
The little child beside her also opened his eyes, neither crying nor making a fuss, staring at Mingjin with his big eyes.
"Waaah," Mingjin reached out and teased the child, then rummaged through his pouch and took out a tiger-head hat he had bought in Juxia City. "Is it pretty?"
"Ha ha."
The child chuckled and reached out a hand to grab the tiger head in Mingjin's hand, but Mingjin was worried that he would catch a cold with his arms exposed, so he put the tiger head hat in his hand instead.
"You two seem to be getting along quite well," Meng Sheng remarked as he watched Ming Jin playing with the child after waking up.
"You're awake," Mingjin turned and saw Mengsheng, so she carefully picked up the child, walked to Mengsheng's bedside and sat down, placing the child beside Mengsheng's pillow. "This child is so good, not crying or fussing. Have you named him yet?"
“It started. The character ‘纪’ (ji).”
“That’s Ji’er,” Mingjin and Mengsheng patted the tiny baby together. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why did you wait until the baby was born to tell me? How was it last night?”
“Don’t worry,” Meng Sheng said with a smile, turning slightly to pat Ji’er’s head. “Wenzhi and I are both doctors, especially Wenzhi, who has also helped deliver babies in neighboring homes. I was in pain last night, but thankfully there were no complications and it didn’t take long; the baby was born normally. It’s just that the baby cried loudly several times right after birth, which gave me a headache. Maybe it cried its eyes out, because it’s quiet now. Its face looks better too.”
"Are you hungry? You've been working all night. I'll get you something to eat. I don't know how to make anything complicated, how about steamed egg custard?"
“Okay,” Meng Sheng nodded. “Thank you for coming to see me and cooking for me.”
"Don't talk about these things. I know you and Wenzhi are helpless," Mingjin didn't want to dwell on her parents' sadness any longer. "Is there anything else you want to eat? You need to nourish yourself right now, so just tell me what you want to eat."
"I'm starving now, and I'm craving lotus seed soup."
"Lotus seed soup?" Ming Jin was surprised by the uncanny similarity in taste between Meng Sheng and Deng Lin. "That's not too difficult. I'll go out and take a look around the streets when Wen Zhi wakes up."
“I misspoke,” Meng Sheng said, shaking his head as he lay there. “In Huicheng, because the lotus was once revered as sacred, it was forbidden to sell lotus seeds and lotus flowers in the city. You really can’t find them in the city now. Don’t worry about it, we’ll talk about it later.”
"I'll put the baby back down. You lie down for a while longer. I'll go to the kitchen and get you something to eat."
Knowing that Meng Sheng was weak after giving birth, and that it wouldn't be good if the baby fell off the bed, Ming Jin took the baby from Meng Sheng and placed him in the crib. Shen Bai had already fallen into a deep sleep and was snoring softly.
Mingjin had never been here before, and it took her a while to find all the ingredients she needed for cooking. As she lit the fire, she worried about the meal as well as the lotus root soup and lotus seed porridge that would follow, wondering where she could get fresh ones.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com