After touring the hot spring valley and then the lake, Grandpa Chen shouted his heart out into the mountains.
Not only did it startle Tian Jing, but it also attracted Xiao Hei.
Grandpa Chen laughed heartily at the wolves.
"Zhuo Ke, a barbarian with a fringed cap,
Wielding a Wu blade, bright as frost and snow.
A silver saddle gleams on a white horse,
Swift and sudden, like a shooting star.
Ten steps, a man falls,
In a thousand miles, no trace remains.
The deed done, he shakes his sleeves and departs,
Deeply hiding his face and name..."
Tian Jing was truly impressed with the old man, reciting this poem to a pack of wolves.
...
When the two descended the mountain and returned to the Li family, they learned that Li Zhengguo had been called away by Li Jianguo to entertain guests.
Tian Jing glanced at Grandpa Chen, who winked at her.
...
After waking from her nap, Tian Jing saw her husband sitting by the bed, staring at her blankly. "What are you thinking about? Is the work on the mountain finished?"
After the watermelons were harvested, the land had been resting for a while. Today, they had planted some vegetables, intending to support her elder brother and sister-in-law, making those involved believe that her elder brother and sister-in-law had ample supplies.
Li Zhengguo curved his lips. "Not yet. Guess who I saw at Cousin Jianguo's place?"
Tian Jing raised an eyebrow. "Could it be Chen Yaoming?"
"Tian Tian is so smart. Guess who else?"
"Could it be that pampered girl Guo Xiaoli has also arrived?"
"That's right!" Li Zhengguo nodded. "And she brought Chen Shaohuang."
"Wait a moment."
Tian Jing wanted to sit up, and Li Zhengguo quickly reached out to support her waist, then sat down beside her.
"Li Jianguo went to the provincial capital in mid-September of '77. Chen Shaohuang's birth time seemed to be around then, right? I remember he asked me for a birthday gift in September."
Li Zhengguo nodded. "Yes, Li Jianguo saved Guo Xiaoli. Guo Xiaoli was shopping and was knocked down by someone who then ran away."
"Li Jianguo, to save on food expenses, went across the street to buy black steamed buns that weren't available in the hospital cafeteria. He saw Guo Xiaoli lying on the ground, clutching her stomach and crying out in pain."
"He directly carried Guo Xiaoli to the hospital and paid for her surgery. Guo Xiaoli and her child were safe."
Tian Jing rubbed her chin. "So, in a way, we are Chen Shaohuang's indirect benefactors? Then, who saved Guo Xiaoli that time?"
Li Zhengguo knew that what his wife was referring to was her past life. "Li Jianguo and his wife don't seem it, but I can tell their intention isn't just about drinking wine."
"They came three years later, so there must be a reason. Otherwise, this life-saving favor would have been repaid then. Who saved her that time, God knows."
Tian Jing smiled and leaned on her husband's shoulder, releasing her psychic shield to quietly tell him what Grandpa Chen had said.
Li Zhengguo was so shocked that he almost jumped up. "Your status is becoming increasingly precious."
Tian Jing playfully slapped him. "Stop with the nonsense. You tell me, the things the Chen family took from me that belonged to the Xiao family, did Xiao Wei later get them from the Chen family?"
"But hearing what Grandpa Chen said, I don't think so. Otherwise, Xiao Wei should be very arrogant. After all, Grandpa gave most of what was hers to me."
"And I was deceived by the Chen family, so shouldn't she have mocked Chen Yaoming and Guo Xiaoli for losing the watermelon to pick up the sesame seeds?"
Li Zhengguo pondered for a moment and said, "If it was a golden key, maybe she didn't know the value and gave it to someone else. If not, then she must have obtained a lot of ill-gotten gains from somewhere else."
Tian Jing had no other guesses. "That's the only way to think about it. What about Chen Yaoming? Has he left yet?"
Li Zhengguo shook his head. "No, he was making small talk during dinner, and then Li Jianguo said they wouldn't make it back in time, so he invited them to stay the night."
Tian Jing was surprised. "That obvious? Are there plans for tonight?"
"There should be. Their family of three brought a bodyguard, whom I can't see through."
If Brother Zheng couldn't see through him, then he must be someone who practiced internal martial arts, like Ouyang Meihua. "Tonight, let's leave Grandpa Chen and Minmin's family here."
"Okay."
...
Being asked to stay, Grandpa Chen disagreed. "Minmin and the others can stay, but I'm going back. It's too deliberate."
Tian Jing was helpless. "Brother Zheng, you and I will take Grandpa Chen home."
Chen Suozhu quickly volunteered. "I'll take him."
Li Zhengguo glared at him. He lacked discernment when he should have it, but was very eager when he shouldn't be. "You take the children."
"Oh."
Li Min pulled her husband towards the kitchen. "Quick, go boil water to give the children a bath."
...
Under the cover of night, Tian Jing sowed seeds along the way.
When they reached the Chen family, Li Zhengguo took Grandpa Chen into the house, while Tian Jing planted seeds in a circle around the Chen family's courtyard.
The seeds planted behind the house immediately sprouted and climbed onto the roof, intertwining tightly on the rooftop.
Li Zhengguo checked all parts of the Chen family's house and helped Grandpa Chen clean up any overlooked traces before he and Tian Jing left with peace of mind.
The two did not go straight home, but instead, starting from behind the Chen family's house, they sowed seeds westward, then circled back to the front of the house from the end of the village, focusing on sowing more seeds in front of Li Jianguo's house.
After the arrangements were made, they waited for midnight.
If they didn't harm Grandpa Chen, then so be it...
...
Before going to sleep, Tian Jing quietly made the seeds she had planted behind the house sprout and grow, extending towards the nearby walls and reaching the rooftops of various houses.
Therefore, she slept soundly, leaving Brother Zheng to monitor the situation.
While she was sleeping soundly, Brother Zheng woke her up. She sat up with a start. "Did they make a move?"
"Yes, I heard... Shhh!"
Li Zhengguo made a shushing gesture because the almost inaudible footsteps had stopped at the entrance of their yard.
No way? Was their target their house?
After a while, the footsteps moved east again.
Tian Jing quietly walked out of the room and the main hall, which had not been closed, and with a surge of power from her feet, all the seeds sown in front of the house quietly sprouted, grew, and extended from west to east.
On a dark and windy night, behind a dark figure, were rows of erect, swaying long snakes.
Tian Jing clutched a rose branch from her own yard...
The dark figure leaped into the Chen family's courtyard.
After listening for a moment, it walked to Grandpa Chen's door.
It raised its hand and placed it on the door, which automatically opened.
The dark figure entered the room and began to search for something.
"Who?"
Grandpa Chen's shout startled not only the dark figure but also Tian Jing.
Tian Jing whispered, "This is bad," and pulled on the rose branch in her hand, leaping onto the wall.
Li Zhengguo opened the courtyard gate and chased after her.
The dark figure quietly approached Grandpa Chen's bedside and immediately grabbed Grandpa Chen's neck.
"Where is it?"
"What... thing?" Grandpa Chen, with his neck choked, answered with difficulty.
"Stop pretending." The dark figure increased the force in its hand.
"I... really... don't know."
The dark figure lost its patience and tightened its grip.
Snap!
A vine struck the back of the dark figure's hand. Instead of releasing its grip, the dark figure tightened it.
Another vine attacked, twining and wrapping around the dark figure's arm, then pulling. It wouldn't budge?
Releasing psychic power, the vine wrapped around the dark figure's arm suddenly grew thorns. As soon as the thorns pierced the dark figure's skin, the dark figure broke them off.
Tian Jing happily retracted the half-broken vine. Did breaking it matter?
It was a new variety she had developed after grafting rose hips countless times, repeatedly grafting them with Datura stramonium and Tripterygium wilfordii.
Although she hadn't tested it on humans, the wolves she had tested, as long as they were touched by the thorns, would become dizzy and powerless, lying on the ground, allowing her to handle them.
The dark figure swayed a few times, but ultimately couldn't hold on and fell beside the bed.
Grandpa Chen, dragged by him, fell onto the bed.
Li Zhengguo leaped over the wall and entered Grandpa Chen's room, hearing the sound of the dark figure falling.
He quickly approached and, with a chop of his hand, knocked out the dark figure, grabbed it by the collar, and dragged it outside. "Grandpa Chen, it's alright now. Please continue resting."