The village bustled with activity at both ends, all Li family business.
Except for a few families friendly with the Li household, other villagers who wanted to help were turned away, no exceptions.
They wouldn't accept help even without payment.
If they were paid, they'd ruin the materials. If they weren't, wouldn't they ruin even more?
No household could withstand such a fuss.
Village Chief Ou listened to radio programs, from storytelling to opera, and paid no mind to the villagers' affairs.
He had reached retirement age.
If anyone was unhappy, they could ask him to step down. He no longer harbored any desire to lift these useless souls.
...
After the watermelon seedlings were planted, the number of guards doubled.
Li Weikang was assigned the task of patrolling the entire hillside and was so delighted that he patrolled with a bamboo stick every day.
Mother Li specifically instructed her younger son that this year, only Suozhu would receive a share of the profits as wages; Minmin would get nothing.
Li Zhengguo agreed, "Who has Minmin been close to these past two months?"
"I haven't noticed anything specific, just that many people flatter her. I've told her repeatedly, but she doesn't listen. Your sister's temper, it's only suitable for staying in this mountain village."
Li Zhengguo disagreed, "Perhaps she just lacks experience and can't see through a little insincere flattery. In a few days, Big Brother and I will go to the provincial capital to deliver vegetables. We'll take her along to broaden her horizons."
He had discussed it with his wife. Since that melon buyer had gone to such lengths to find their village and even wanted to raise the price for their watermelons,
it was evident they had profited greatly last year and surely had their own channels.
Therefore, that person might also be interested in their own family's vegetables.
He would find that person, settle the matter of the late-season watermelons, sell some vegetables to them, and perhaps inquire about the gang behind that older sister.
Such a mysterious gang made him feel like there was a thorn in his side.
Of course, he would first handle the urgent matters at hand.
The couple ventured into the deep mountains again.
This time, they headed straight for their destination.
Two ordinary, low, small hills, unremarkable amidst this majestic mountain range.
Using her powers, she guided her husband's hand and swooped down from the high mountain.
Just as their feet were about to touch the ground, an invisible force repelled them.
*Bang!*
Like being bounced off a trampoline, Tian Jing, unable to control her momentum, twisted and turned with her husband, returning to the mountaintop they had just left.
"A formation?"
Li Zhengguo stared in surprise at the two unremarkable hills below. Before they had even seen any mist, a formation had appeared?
"It should be."
Tian Jing released her husband's hand. "You wait here. I'll go down and try myself."
"Be careful."
"I know."
This time, Tian Jing didn't charge straight down. She slid down the mountain bit by bit.
When she reached the same altitude as the two hills, Tian Jing gave up using her powers and descended by climbing laboriously.
Even this wasn't enough.
As her feet were about to land, a force sent her back.
She quickly activated her powers at the soles of her feet, using the surrounding plants to control her descent and stabilize herself.
Good heavens, that force had almost slammed her into the mountainside! Was it trying to kill her?
Unwilling to give up, Tian Jing tried around the perimeter of the two hills, even the space directly between them, but found no place to land.
The moment her feet touched, she was repelled.
Damn it! Did the person who designed this formation like playing on trampolines?
Dejected, she flew back to her husband's side.
Li Zhengguo comforted his wife, "Since it's a formation, there must be a formation eye. We don't understand these things, so let's study it slowly."
They returned without success.
Tian Jing was full of frustration. Seeing the voluptuous Fang Qiuhong deliberately gossiping with others near her house, she found an outlet for her anger.
"Oh, Sister Fang, you've gotten quite a bit plumper in just a few months!"
"That I have," Fang Qiuhong puffed out her chest. "I'm still nursing my son."
"A son~"
"Yes, after all, a woman isn't truly complete until she has a son."
"That's a fair point. Congratulations on your completion."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. By the way, these three mu of land in front of my house are not for gossiping. Go to the village head elsewhere, please."
Go somewhere else? Like begging for scraps?
Fang Qiuhong was about to get angry, but after glancing at Li Zhengguo, she changed the subject.
"Li Zhengguo, why didn't you hire villagers from your own village to build the courtyard at the village entrance?"
"This is blatant retaliation! Did we really damage two bags of cement that badly? Do you have to be so cruel?"
Li Zhengguo, pulling his wife along, walked past her without a second glance.
"Ugh, it stinks. Whose manure hasn't been fully composted yet, and they're already irrigating with it? Don't they know they're polluting the air?"
*Pfft*
Several women nearby couldn't help but snicker.
They had been held up by Fang Qiuhong, listening to her brag about her son for quite some time.
Whose child wasn't cute when they were little?
Who cared about hearing how cute or obedient her son was?
Tian Jing also chuckled. Before entering the courtyard gate, she kindly reminded, "Fang Qiuhong, you should get your stomach checked. I've heard that people with severe bad breath often have stomach problems."
"Even though you've gained some weight, being overweight doesn't mean you don't have stomach issues, right? Don't be in denial."
Denial?
Fang Qiuhong's face was filled with anger. Was this a curse that she would fall seriously ill?
She opened her mouth to retort, but then heard a "bang" as the heavy courtyard gate closed.
Only the blooming roses on the gate seemed to sway mockingly, as if, like their owner, they were laughing at her.
Hmph.
Angrily, Fang Qiuhong kicked the door.
Ah!
Her foot, tragically, met its doom.
She ended up sitting on the ground.
The women quickly ran off. They had no intention of helping this woman.
Fang Qiuhong clutched her foot and cried out in pain. No one paid her any attention.
After a while of pain, it seemed to go numb, and she felt nothing.
She then carefully pulled out rose thorns, as long as sewing needles, from the sole of her new red plastic sandals.
Captain Ou, who was busy, was stopped by Fang Qiuhong to lodge a complaint.
He waved her away impatiently, "That's her family's gate. She can plant whatever she wants. What business is it of yours? Go home and take care of your child. Don't be like Zhang Fangcao."
But Fang Qiuhong cherished her new plastic sandals. "If you won't do anything, I'll report it to the town."
Captain Ou urged her, "Go on, go on. It's cloudy today, not too sunny."
After Fang Qiuhong left, clutching the dozen or so thorns, Captain Ou whispered a few words to A Guang.
A Guang ran back to the Li family's house.
Tian Jing told him to go back to work.
Never mind if Fang Qiuhong was unharmed; even if something happened, was she not allowed to install anti-theft measures at her house? She hadn't planted them on public land.
However.
Tian Jing made some adjustments to the roses on the courtyard wall and gate to prevent outsiders from seeing the long thorns and suspecting the rose variety.
As expected, the next day, Fang Qiuhong arrived with people.
This time, she was smarter. Instead of complaining to the village head, she went to the provincial botanical garden to report that she had discovered a special type of long-thorned rose.
Not only were the thorns long, but they also had a paralyzing effect.
Experts, after testing the thorns she brought, indeed detected scopolamine alkaloids.
There were several plants that contained scopolamine alkaloids, the most common in rural areas being Datura, Tripterygium wilfordii, and Corydalis.
They had never found this alkaloid in the Rosaceae family before, and the experts were very interested, arriving in a group of three.
However, "Huh? This rose looks very ordinary. Where are the long thorns?"
Tian Jing feigned surprise, "Long thorns? What long thorns?"
Fang Qiuhong was also stunned. Where were the long thorns?
Right, on the gate. She had kicked the gate.
But the roses on the gate were also ordinary.
Fang Qiuhong was unwilling to give up. "Professors, why don't you test the paralyzing effect of these rose thorns?"
As expected, there were no alkaloids.