In the hot spring valley, Ouyang Meihua felt guilty, "It was my impulsiveness."
Li Mu comforted her, "It's okay, Tiantian said she can be saved, so she will be. You were just trying to protect us, and we were too slow to react."
Li Weiyan held his mother's hand and comforted her, "Mom, don't be afraid, you shouldn't have left Dad. He's your extinguisher."
Ouyang Meihua: "..." Was her son trying to comfort her?
On the Green Pine Rock, Tian Jing used her abilities to help the wolf digest the tree core essence. Then, she replenished the little pine with plant energy before going down to bring Xiao Hei up to the Green Pine Rock.
She instructed Xiao Hei to guard the wolf, and they were not allowed to go down for now.
Xiao Hei howled at the wolves below, and they all ran back towards the enclosure.
"Doggy."
Chen Fu was reluctant to part with the wolves. If his grandmother hadn't held him back, he would have rushed over to hug the dogs long ago.
"Those are wolves," Li Weihao coaxed his younger cousin, "wolves that eat people, not dogs."
"They're dogs."
"They're wolves. They look a lot like dogs, but they bite. Didn't they fight with your aunt just now?"
"Oh, big brother, I want a doggy."
"When we go back, I'll have your dad catch you a puppy."
"Oh."
When Tian Jing came down, Ouyang Meihua quickly apologized, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, you didn't mean to, don't take it to heart."
The pleasant vacation day was thus interrupted. Because the wolf recovered immediately, they definitely couldn't cook here anymore.
Tian Jing first sent her mother-in-law and Ouyang Meihua down the mountain, then sent Li Min and the four children down.
Carrying the empty baskets, she returned to the Green Pine Rock.
On the Green Pine Rock, Li Zhengguo had already made a pot of stew over a roaring fire.
"Drink some chicken soup first, then we'll ripen the watermelons. Pick a basket and take it down. Eat slowly. Don't come up again recently. If Ouyang Meihua asks, just say you planted them on another hot spring mountain."
"Mhm."
No wonder Zhengguo didn't want too many people to know about this place. If too many people knew, it would be inconvenient to do anything.
"Zhengguo, let's go further into the mountain range. This place doesn't feel very secluded anymore, and too many people know about Eagle's Beak."
The just-awakened Little Pine protested, "Tiantian, are you going to abandon me?"
Tian Jing's forehead was covered in black lines.
Li Zhengguo couldn't hear Little Pine's words, otherwise he would have continued to hack at it. "Let's talk about it in a couple of years. This place is still safe for now, unless someone specifically sends a helicopter to investigate."
In his previous life, he hadn't heard of any tourism development, so Li Zhengguo wasn't worried.
"What kind of chicken is a helicopter?" Little Pine was surprised.
Tian Jing burst out laughing.
After Tian Jing explained what a helicopter was, Little Pine became unhappy. "Then won't I also increase the risk of exposure? Tiantian, if you find a hidden place, you must take me with you."
"Can you be transplanted?"
"It's okay, cut off the secondary roots, and you give me some energy, I can regrow roots."
"Then, are there any essences left in the secondary roots?"
"No, no. The tree core is only in my main trunk, but my secondary roots have a lot of plant energy. Don't forget to absorb it then."
She spoke as if they were moving immediately, this coward. "Little Pine, helicopters can go to many places, and you can't hide anywhere."
"Go to the Misty Valley. My master said there's a valley very far away in the mountains where thick fog lingers all year round. Most people who enter can't get out."
"Of course, in this era when martial arts are gradually declining, very few people can climb up to my Green Pine Rock, and no one can go to that place anymore."
"Let's wait and see. For the next two years, I still have some things to deal with."
"Then it's a deal. If you move, you must take me with you."
"Definitely. How can I leave out a chatterbox like you?"
After Tiantian's translation, Li Zhengguo learned that there was a place deep in the mountains that Little Pine's master had explored. He had thought that Eagle's Beak was the furthest point that physician could reach.
It seemed that the physician's martial arts were not weak, and his speed in entering and leaving Eagle's Beak should not be lower than Tiantian's.
"Tiantian, no matter where we go, you must remember to take me with you."
Before Tian Jing could answer, Little Pine chattered, "Tiantian, your man is too weak. If you were in my master's era, I would definitely have a young master, and then the young master would have a younger young master, and then..."
Tian Jing couldn't stand it any longer and told it to shut up.
...
A basket of watermelons, covered by peony flowers, entered the Li family courtyard.
From that day on, Tian Jing ate half a watermelon with a spoon directly in the morning and afternoon.
She said that cut pieces had no taste.
...
Li Zhengguo went to Li Weiguo's house in the west to take away the two little children. He saw Li Weikang feeding his three younger brothers with undercooked porridge.
He turned and dragged his mother back. "Mom, teach Weikang how to cook."
Li Weikang turned his head and ignored him.
Li Weiwei obediently called out to his third aunt.
"Yes." Li Mu responded with red eyes, took the rice bowl from him, and said, "Third Aunt will re-boil it for you and let you eat it when it's cooked."
"Oh." Li Weikang reached out and took the bowl from his brother's hand and followed his third aunt into the kitchen.
Li Zhengguo bent down and picked up the two younger ones. "Weikang, people who don't adapt to society and don't seize opportunities to improve themselves will never amount to anything in life."
Outside, Lin Silai had already brought the two older children who were staying at Li Baoguo's house. Seeing the two younger ones in Li Zhengguo's arms, he sighed softly, "They've all gotten thinner."
He had raised them for so long and wasn't without feelings, but he couldn't keep wolf cubs by his side just because of feelings.
"Let's go." Li Zhengguo led the way.
Li Weikang ran out of the courtyard gate, chased a few steps, and then stopped.
Li Weiwei came out and held his brother's hand. "Big Brother, Third Aunt said you should go learn how to cook."
Only when the departing figures were out of sight did Li Weikang return home, following his brother's pull.
...
After Li Mu finished cooking dinner, she took a bowl of dishes to the end of the village, but brought it back unchanged.
Tian Jing gave her advice, "Send him some vegetables and tell him how much they cost, and ask him to keep an account. When he turns his life around, he can pay double."
Li Mu did as she was told and indeed returned with an empty basket.
"Tiantian still has a way."
"I really intend to make him pay."
"Ah? Why?"
"Our two families are enemies, so it's impossible for us to help each other like relatives. Weikang and Weiwei are innocent, so I won't help my enemies. He also won't feel obligated because he's taking help."
"But they're still children."
"It's precisely because they are children that they must learn not to accept handouts. Otherwise, they'll end up like their grandfather and father, going down the wrong path."
Li Mu didn't say anything more. Her daughter-in-law had an idea, so she would just follow it.
...
Three days later, Li Zhengguo and Lin Silai returned.
Her son was back, so Li Mu hurried him to call Doctor Yang. "Tiantian eats watermelon every morning and afternoon, which is not normal. Go call Doctor Yang to come and see her."
Doctor Yang arrived, followed by a man of medium height and slender build, who looked about the same age as Li Zhengguo. The weathered lines on his face were like Li Zhengguo's four years ago.
"Tian Jing, this is my disciple Yuan Man, who just returned from the farm."
Tian Jing nodded, "Welcome, Doctor Yuan, to the Kusan community."
Yuan Man nodded faintly and did not reply.
Doctor Yang quickly explained, "Don't be offended, Tian Jing. He wasn't like this before..."
"It's okay, it's okay," Tian Jing waved her hand. "I understand. Time will heal all wounds. But Doctor Yang, why have you come?"
Doctor Yang was stunned. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
Li Zhengguo quickly pulled his wife to sit down. "Come, let Doctor Yang take your pulse."
"I'm fine, why..."
Tian Jing suddenly remembered something and quickly extended her arm to Doctor Yang. "Hurry up and check."
Doctor Yang took her pulse and directly pushed Tian Jing's arm and the pulse pillow to Yuan Man. "You try."
Yuan Man remained silent. After taking the pulse, he uttered two words, "It's there."