As soon as Tian Jing heard the movement outside, despite the pain, she still had the presence of mind to wonder if this life had come to pick her up early.
Ah—
A wave of intense pain struck, and Tian Jing's longed-for little padded jacket, a daughter, gurgled and landed.
Sister-in-law Niu, holding the ordinary-looking swaddled baby girl, placed her beside Tian Jing. "Congratulations on getting your wish."
Seeing a daughter who looked exactly like Zheng Ge, Tian Jing actually breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a good thing for a girl to be too beautiful, especially one without any combat ability.
Yes, she had felt it; her ability level hadn't changed.
Based on the experiences of her two sons, her daughter had no special abilities.
But that didn't diminish her joy. "Thank you, Sister-in-law Niu."
...
Everyone in the village knew that Tian Jing had given birth to a daughter as she wished, but no one gossiped about her daughter's appearance. This was because everyone knew Tian Jing didn't care about such superficial things.
Li Weihao saw his sister and praised, "Sister looks like Dad, that's great."
Tian Jing tapped her eldest son's forehead. "Are you finding your mother's appearance lacking?"
"No, I just feel that my brother and I are too clumsy and not as capable as my sister."
Tian Jing asked her younger son, "Does Xiao Bo feel the same way?"
Li Weibo shook his head. "No, my brother and I look like Mom. Dad dotes on us a little more. Sister looks like Dad, so Mom dotes on Sister a little more."
Two little clever ones!
Mother Li, overjoyed, hugged her two grandsons and kissed them repeatedly. "Hao Hao and Xiao Bo are so smart."
Li Weiyan came to see his sister and complained, "Ugly."
He was immediately beaten by his elder brother and two younger brothers.
Li Weiyan quickly corrected himself, "Sister hasn't grown up yet."
Only then did the three little protective brothers let him go.
...
It was time for spring plowing. Li Zhengguo handed over the management of the hillside fields to Chen Suozhu. "We won't plant watermelons this year. You take Yang Lei and the others to manage the greenhouses and prune the fruit trees."
Chen Suozhu didn't understand. With last year's harvest, why weren't they continuing this year?
Li Zhengguo also wanted to continue; this was the easiest time to make money.
"Your little sister-in-law and I need to leave for a while. You still have to manage the crops behind the village, so you won't have enough time."
"Besides, without the seedlings your little sister-in-law nurtured, do you think watermelons would really sell so well?"
"Just watch the villagers plant and sell watermelons this year, and you'll understand."
"After you've used up the vegetable seedlings in the east side room, if we haven't returned, just nurture seedlings once in that soil. Then, put aside planting greenhouse vegetables until we get back."
Handing everything over to him? Chen Suozhu was a little flustered. "Where are you going?"
Li Zhengguo looked towards the northeast, where Sweetie's unresolved knot lay. "To the capital. Your little sister-in-law's relatives have come to pick her up."
...
As expected, on the full moon day of little Li Weili, that man came again.
"Little Miss, the master's health cannot wait."
Tian Jing remained unmoved. She knew better than anyone the state of her grandfather's health; he could last at least another half a year.
"Wait. Remember your identity."
Tian Jing's tone carried impatience and a hint of authority.
The man was taken aback. Hadn't they said the little miss had always grown up in this remote mountain village?
"Yes. Little Miss, we drove here."
"How many seats?"
"Uh, five."
"Do you think that can fit our family of five?"
"Please instruct us, Little Miss."
"Leave your address. Arrive within five days, and pick us up at the train station."
"Yes."
After the man left, the full moon banquet continued.
The villagers who came to drink finally realized that Tian Jing's identity was not simple.
They had originally planned to book watermelon seedlings today. Now, their concern was whether Tian Jing would return.
Li Zhengguo had his wife take their daughter back inside, and he would handle the villagers.
...
Back in the room, after Tian Jing had nursed her daughter, she handed her over to her mother-in-law.
She went to the Hot Spring Valley alone.
First, she took a relaxing bath, then went to Qing Song Yan to chat with Xiao Song.
Xiao Song knew Tian Jing was leaving and anxiously asked when she would return.
"I don't know. I need to resolve some people and matters before I can come back. Don't worry, I will definitely return."
"Wuwuwu... What will I do if I miss you?"
Tian Jing's expression darkened. A tree learning to cry like a human?
"Then you help me keep an eye on the foot of the mountain. I'll still need to gather a lot of information from you."
"Don't worry, gathering information is what I'm best at."
After coaxing Xiao Song for a while, Tian Jing went down Qing Song Yan to coax Xiao Feng.
She accelerated Xiao Feng's growth, buried the two pots beneath Xiao Feng's roots very deeply, bypassing several layers of soil and rocks, ensuring they were buried to a depth that humans couldn't dig. Then, she cut off Xiao Feng's long roots.
The long roots wrapped around the pots were then turned into ash and mixed with the soil and rocks.
Old Eagle's Beak, which took three days and three nights to reach, didn't mean it could never be reached.
She called out Xiao Hei and instructed it to help her watch over everything in the Hot Spring Valley.
If anyone entered, especially those carrying guns, they absolutely must not confront them; survival was paramount.
When she returned, she would help them conquer new territory.
Xiao Hei turned its head away unhappily, refusing to look at her.
Tian Jing smiled and stroked Xiao Hei's head. "I'm just worried you can't defeat other animals. If you went into the depths to claim territory on your own, I wouldn't worry, but look at your subordinates; they're all ordinary wolves."
Xiao Hei wagged its tail, indicating its agreement.
Tian Jing was relieved; she had only been worried about Xiao Hei's stubbornness.
Finally, Tian Jing planted several ginseng seeds. She accelerated one plant to a hundred years old, dug it out, and then absorbed some energy from it.
She made this ginseng only slightly better than an ordinary hundred-year-old ginseng.
The remaining several plants were all accelerated to over five hundred years old before she collected their seeds.
These seeds, she would take to the capital. The essence of ginseng would be enough for Grandpa Xiao's health, but Xiao Song's tree core essence could no longer be used.
...
Down the mountain, after seeing off the banquet guests, Li Zhengguo learned that his wife had gone to Qing Song Yan alone.
He opened the ledger and organized the family's finances, leaving two thousand yuan for his mother for emergencies.
He counted out six thousand yuan for his sister. "This is your and Suozhu's dividends and wages for the past two years. I'm settling it for you now."
This frightened Li Min. "Little Brother, are you and Little Sister-in-law not coming back?"
"We will return, but I don't know when. What if you need it?"
"But, Little Brother, you'll need money when you go out."
"And, we'll have enough. You and Suozhu can save this for now."
Seeing her little brother's firm attitude, Li Min could only accept.
Mother Li only accepted one thousand. "A rich road for a poor traveler. You take more with you. I don't need much at home. If I urgently need something, I'll borrow from your elder brother."
When Tian Jing came down with the money from Qing Song Yan, she learned that there was still ten thousand yuan left in the house.
"Then let's leave ten thousand with Sister-in-law. There's no need to carry too much."
"Aren't you buying anything?"
Her husband's words made Tian Jing chuckle. "We're going there to feign poverty, not to squander. Besides, how would we bring back anything we bought? And we still have three children to look after."
Li Zhengguo understood. The couple took the ten thousand yuan, wrapped in clothes, to his elder brother's house. They asked Ouyang Meihua to keep it for them.
Ouyang Meihua touched her protruding belly and laughed wildly. "Haha, if you send it so discreetly, don't expect to get it back."
"It doesn't matter. Ten thousand yuan is a small price to pay for a lesson. It's worth it."
Uh, Ouyang Meihua choked. "This isn't much fun. Fine, I won't charge you a safekeeping fee. When will you be back?"
"Don't know."
"What about our seedlings?"
"Whatever. We're not planting watermelons this year, and you're too busy anyway. When you collect watermelons from others, make sure to taste them first."
"Got it. Come back as soon as possible. Without you in the village, what's the point of staying here?"
"Mom~" Da Mai was startled. "Mom, don't run around. My little brother and sister can't withstand the bumps."
"Alas~" Ouyang Meihua sighed. "One wrong step leads to eternal regret. Mom told me about family planning, so I thought I'd try to see if I could still have another child. If I got pregnant, I lived in regret every day."
Tian Jing gave her a side-eye. "Ungrateful."