At the foot of the back mountain, Tian Jing threw down her basket and sat on the ground, asking Tian Lixiang, "Lixiang, are you hungry?"
"Starving," Tian Lixiang patted his stomach. "That bowl of steamed egg custard, you only let me have a few bites."
"I'm taller than you, so I naturally eat more," Tian Jing blinked her big eyes. "Lixiang, why did you agree to come up the mountain with me today? You rarely go out."
"I just want to play with you." Lixiang lowered his head, not daring to look at Tian Jing's dark, bright eyes.
Seeing his guilty look, Tian Jing didn't expose him. "I want to go deep into the mountains, do you dare?"
"Deep mountains?" Tian Lixiang looked up in fright. "There are wild beasts in there."
"But there's also good food," Tian Jing lied with wide eyes.
"What good food?" Tian Lixiang's stomach felt empty and uncomfortable upon hearing about food.
"I don't know," Tian Jing shook her head. "Yesterday I found some wild fruits, they were quite sweet."
"Quick, let's go." With the promise of wild fruits, Tian Lixiang eagerly urged Tian Jing to head into the deep mountains.
Tian Jing remained seated. "You can't go. If you encounter wild beasts, you won't be able to run, and I can't save you. Besides, you can't walk this path into the mountains, and I can't carry you."
"Then what should we do?" Tian Lixiang's mouth was watering. He hadn't eaten wild fruits in over a month.
"You go back, I'll go up the mountain by myself."
"No," Tian Lixiang immediately shook his head. "Grandma told me to follow you. When we get back, she'll give me half a piece of walnut crisp."
Tian Jing sneered. Was Old Madam Tian trying to monitor her? But then she was sold out by her favorite grandson. "Then let's go."
Tian Lixiang's eyes lit up. "To pick wild fruits?"
"To cut grass."
"Ah?" Tian Lixiang was extremely disappointed.
"I just said, the wild fruits are in the deep mountains, and you can't walk up there."
Tian Lixiang listlessly followed behind Tian Jing, watching her cut pig feed.
Actually, Tian Jing had wanted to trick Tian Lixiang into waiting at the foot of the mountain while she brought back some roasted meat for him. But this child had immediately sold out Old Madam Tian. She didn't believe she could bribe this food-loving mouth with roasted meat, so she might as well honestly cut a basket of grass to take back.
Dilly-dallying until the sun reached its zenith, Tian Jing finally returned to the Tian family with a basket of pig feed on her back. Tian Lixiang was already exhausted and weak. He had never seen Tian Jing cut pig feed like this; it was almost like digging for wild vegetables, picking and choosing carefully.
Tian Jing: "..." All just to tire you out.
She placed the basket by the chopping machine, washed her hands, and entered the main hall to eat. The Tian family was already seated. Tian Jing looked around, wondering where she should sit.
Old Madam Tian pulled Tian Lixiang closer to her side, revealing half a stool. "Jing girl, sit here."
Not only Tian Jing, but everyone in the main hall was stunned.
Old Man Tian smiled and nodded.
The others came back to their senses and continued eating.
Tian Ping, with a bowl of steamed egg custard in front of her, glared fiercely at Tian Jing. Why? Why was she, who wanted to eat steamed egg custard, drugged into silence, while this slut Tian Jing not only got to eat steamed egg custard but also received supreme honor?
Tian Jing: "..." Heh, I'm not well-read, but don't lie to me. Sitting with Old Madam Tian is supreme honor? I don't want it. Sudan Novel Network
Even if she didn't want it, she had to sit. No one stepped forward to object, and she didn't want to stir up trouble. It was better to eat quietly.
Therefore, Tian Jing neatly sat down at the head of the table. "Thank you."
It was still congee with cornmeal flatbreads. Eating this every meal would make her want to vomit.
She forced herself to eat three flatbreads. Of course, everyone at the table only had two, but who was Tian Jing? Even if it was hard to swallow, she had to eat it. So she snatched one of Tian Ping's flatbreads. In the past, it was always the original owner who got snatched from, and now she was snatching back for the original owner.
Returning to her room to prepare for a midday nap, she sensed something was amiss. After carefully looking around, she realized there was a problem with the floor in the corner.
Closing the door, she dropped a solanum seed in a corner and sent her wood-elemental power into it. Soon, the roots underground stirred. Nothing was found, only that the soil had become loose.
She wasted four solanum seeds in the four corners without finding anything. What was this for? To loosen the soil in her corners?
Discarding the brown dust in her hand, Tian Jing clapped her hands and climbed onto the kang to sleep.
Just as she was dozing off, she heard the door being forcefully pushed open. She lifted her eyelids and saw the door slam against the wall and bounce back, hitting Tian Ping, who was lifting her foot to enter, right on the forehead.
Tian Jing gave her a thumbs-up to praise her.
Tian Ping's eyes were teary, but she didn't hear her curse. Was she that tolerant?
Tian Jing turned over, facing outwards, and continued to sleep.
Tian Ping stared fiercely at the back on the kang, wanting to pounce on her and beat her soundly. It was all because of this dead girl. If this dead girl hadn't come to the Tian family, the Tian family wouldn't have had gold bars, and they wouldn't have worried about being discovered. She wouldn't have been drugged into silence.
The burning gaze behind her felt like thorns on her back. Tian Jing only dared to squint, not truly sleeping. Alas, her heart and body were weary.
After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly woke up. Didn't she intend to stay vigilant and not sleep? How did she fall asleep?
Tian Jing turned over, ready to get off the kang, but was startled by Tian Ping, who was sitting on the edge of the kang and glaring at her.
"What are you doing? Don't you know that scaring people can kill them? Why are you sitting here like a ghost, silently."
Tian Ping stood up, turned, and opened the door, walking out.
Tian Jing patted her chest. This Tian Ping was so neurotic; was she sick?
Dinner was still congee, flatbreads, and pickles. As Tian Jing was grumbling, Old Madam Tian announced that after Tian Ping and Tian Jing got married the day after tomorrow, they would revert to two meals a day.
Alright, Tian Jing no longer complained about the unchanging diet. She should be grateful that she wouldn't get to enjoy the three-meal-a-day days.
She boiled some water and washed herself simply. Tomorrow night, she definitely had to boil more water to take a bath. After all, the day after tomorrow was her wedding day. No one would complain about her wasting firewood, right? People had been whispering behind her back about her only boiling a little water each night.
The whisperers were naturally Tian Lifu and Tian Lixing, who had taken over the task of gathering firewood after she stopped.
She pretended not to hear them. Let them dare to whisper in front of her!
Lying on the kang, Tian Jing finally felt something was wrong. She hadn't heard Tian Ping speak all day, not even the usual soft hum when she passed by.
Had this person changed her ways? But who would believe it? She had endured Tian Ping's glares quite a bit today.
She forcefully stretched her bent legs and successfully kicked the person at the head of the bed. She only heard the sound of slapping the kang, but no curses.
Had she really changed? Or had Old Madam Tian warned her? Or was she in a good mood because she was marrying her Lu brother the day after tomorrow, so she wasn't bothering with her?
However, Tian Jing didn't believe that Old Man Tian would still marry Tian Ping to Lu Jianjun after her hint.
After a bout of restless thoughts, she felt sleepy again. Alas, this body's constitution was too weak; she couldn't handle two nights without sleep. Although her physique had improved when her abilities were activated, the underlying foundation was depleted and not easy to recover.