Chapter 15

At the sharp reprimand, both Jiang Li and A Ning stopped in their tracks and turned around. A Ning called out loudly, "Grandma Zhao."

"Is that the Grandma Zhao who can heal illnesses?" Jiang Li whispered.

A Ning nodded.

Seeing them pause, the elderly woman hurried down. She looked at the half basket of tender shoots in their hands, her expression darkening considerably.

"Are either of you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Jiang Li and A Ning shook their heads. The old woman grabbed their sleeves to examine their hands; there were no signs of redness or swelling, but her frown deepened.

"These are poisonous leaves. Why are you picking these?"

Only then did Jiang Li realize the old woman was worried about them being poisoned.

She had momentarily panicked, thinking the valley belonged to someone and that they might get caught for picking these leaves.

"Grandma Zhao, these aren’t poisonous. We already ate some last night," A Ning said, tilting her head with an innocent expression.

"You ate them?"

"All three of you ate them?"

"Yes."

"And none of you were poisoned?"

Jiang Li replied, "No poisoning. I looked carefully yesterday. The poisonous ones are a different kind, not these."

Grandma Zhao’s sharp eyes fixed on Jiang Li. "Do you know what these are?"

"I do. In the books they’re called Thorn Dragon Sprouts. They’re edible. The poisonous ones are lacquer trees."

"Lacquer tree?" the old woman murmured. "What kind of thing is that?"

Jiang Li pursed her lips but explained, "The lacquer tree’s leaves and trunk must not be touched; contact causes redness, swelling, and itching all over. But some special people can extract sap from it to color wood products."

Zhao Qingzhu found this intriguing. "There’s such a thing?"

Jiang Li nodded. "Yes."

Grandma Zhao was half-believing. Jiang Li offered, "Further down there are lacquer trees. Would you like to see them?"

"Alright, show me."

Jiang Li picked up her bamboo basket and led them down into the valley.

As they walked, the old woman said, "Everyone in our village fears this valley. A few years ago, someone picked some leaves here and came back covered in red swelling and itching. He got sores and died. I never saw him and have no idea how to relieve such poison."

"If the lacquer leaves cause swelling, applying honey can soothe it, or washing with boiled water made from Eight-Direction Tree leaves. Also, soup made with fir bark and camphor leaves helps," Jiang Li said.

This surprised the old woman. "Jiang lady, do you know medicine?"

"No, this is just from books. I’m not sure if it works. I don’t even know what the Eight-Direction Tree looks like. But I have seen fir and camphor trees."

Zhao Qingzhu laughed listening to this, while Grandma Zhao shot her a glare.

Jiang Li took them to the place where she had found lacquer trees yesterday and picked up a stick to point out the difference.

"Grandma, look at these two branches. They look alike but are different."

Grandma Zhao leaned in to look, but Jiang Li quickly pulled her back and explained the differences.

"The trunks look similar, but the one with thorns is Thorn Dragon Sprout; the smooth one is the lacquer tree. Also, the Thorn Dragon Sprout leaves are smaller and less slender than the lacquer tree’s."

"The books say lacquer trees grow much larger. I don’t understand why these are still so small here. I searched around, lacquer trees are rare—only a few scattered ones."

The old woman took careful notes, feeling that if what Jiang Li said was true, then the man who died must have been terribly unlucky to touch a lacquer tree in such dense thorn bushes.

The whole village blamed the thorn forest for the problem.

Now, this was clarified.

Looking at Jiang Li’s bamboo basket, she smiled, "Then I’ll pick some to try too."

Jiang Li smiled back, "Let’s go back up and pick some there. We’ll leave the ones near the lacquer trees."

The way back was uphill. Grandma Zhao suddenly remembered Jiang Li’s injured leg.

"Jiang lady, is your leg better?"

"Almost healed, still a little bruise, but it doesn’t affect walking. Thank you for your remedy."

Grandma Zhao chuckled, "What remedy was that?"

Returning to the spot where they had picked the shoots, Grandma Zhao and Zhao Qingzhu imitated Jiang Li’s method and picked more tender shoots. Jiang Li filled the bamboo basket, and they gathered half a basketful.

Jiang Li still needed to cut thatch grass, and Grandma Zhao and others had to look for herbs, so they parted ways.

Before leaving, Jiang Li explained the edible preparation of Thorn Dragon Sprouts to Grandma Zhao.

Zhao Qingzhu invited Jiang Li to visit her house that evening, and Jiang Li politely agreed.

After parting, Zhao Qingzhu said to her mother, "This Jiang lady is interesting. Why is she so honest? Doesn’t she know you treat illnesses in the village?"

"Of course she knows."

"Then why did she tell you the recipe?"

Grandma Zhao recalled Jiang Li’s words carefully, feeling she had deliberately told her. She didn’t understand why.

Meanwhile, Jiang Li took A Ning back to cut thatch grass. They had cut a lot yesterday, almost clearing entire patches. The remaining grass was scattered and some spots dangerous. Jiang Li told A Ning to work on flat ground while she went to higher spots.

Not long after Jiang Li left, A Ning encountered Grandma Zhao with Liu Chunhua and the Xue siblings, Daniu and others.

"Mom, look, the one cutting thatch grass is actually A Ning."

"A Ning, your stepmother sent you alone to cut thatch grass?"

Hearing Xue Daniu’s harsh words, A Ning glanced at Liu Chunhua and then at Grandma Zhao, lowered her head, and didn’t reply.

Xue Daniu hopped next to her; A Ning instinctively guarded her bamboo basket, but this only drew more attention.

Xue Daniu quickly spotted the basket full of wild vegetables.

"So many wild vegetables! Where did you dig these up? Are they even edible? I’ve never seen them before."

A Ning furrowed her brow and whispered, "Picked from the thorn forest below. They’re edible."

Liu Chunhua and Grandma Zhao gathered around, looking at the basket full of plump Thorn Dragon Sprouts. Their vibrant color and tender stalks suggested crisp freshness.

"Mom, isn’t the thorn forest supposed to be poisonous?" Liu Chunhua asked Grandma Zhao.

The old woman looked at A Ning. "Who told you these are edible?"

"My mother. We ate them yesterday."

Grandma Zhao hesitated, then grabbed A Ning’s hand to check—no redness or swelling. It seemed true.

"You little stubborn, you’re not lying, are you?"

A Ning clenched her palm tightly, glared at Liu Chunhua, and said, "My mother read books. She said it’s edible, so we ate it. Whether you eat it or not is none of my business!"

Liu Chunhua sneered at A Ning’s stubbornness, eyes full of contempt, then turned to Grandma Zhao. "Mom, let’s go pick some too."

Grandma Zhao didn’t respond and instead headed toward the valley.

"If it really is edible, no one else must know. Let’s pick the whole valley today and bring it back to dry," Liu Chunhua’s voice faded as she walked away.

Watching them leave, A Ning snorted softly.

This little episode came and went quickly, unnoticed by Jiang Li.

When Jiang Li returned after cutting enough thatch grass, she saw A Ning had also gathered quite a bit. They packed the basket together and headed home.

---

"That’s enough for today. If there’s no water at home, we’ll have to fetch some."

When Jiang Li and the others returned, Xue Man came out to greet them. As the only man at home while his mother and sister were working, he felt uneasy staying idle.

"Mom, next time I’ll go with you. Let A Ning stay home to watch."

Jiang Li smiled at his awkwardness. "No need. The water jar is empty; we have to go get water."

"I’ll go borrow a bucket."

"Who will you borrow from?" Jiang Li asked.

Xue Man was already running off, calling out, "Fourth uncle."

Watching him run away, Jiang Li asked A Ning, "Will your fourth uncle lend him the bucket?"

"He will. That bucket was made by fourth uncle, Grandma can’t stop him."

Jiang Li felt a bit reassured.

At the Xue family’s home, Xue Chengxiang was still pretending to be injured, lying in bed refusing to work. The third brother, Xue Chengshan, was out in the fields checking crops. Xue Chengwen stayed home weaving baskets and bamboo dustpans to sell in town.

Xue Man arrived at the gate, noticed neither Xue Daniu nor the aunts were around, then knocked and entered.

Xue Chengwen glanced up, saw it was Xue Man, then returned to his work.

"Fourth uncle," Xue Man called.

He responded with a flat, emotionless tone, his expression cold, making Xue Man feel a bit faint.

After hesitating, Xue Chengwen asked, "What do you want?"

"We have no bucket to fetch water at home. I want to borrow one from you."

Xue Chengwen didn’t get up, just pointed to the water jar.

"It’s there. Take it yourself."

Xue Man quickly ran over and grabbed the bucket and carrying pole.

"Thanks, fourth uncle."

"Is your mother going to fetch water?" Xue Chengwen asked.

Xue Man grinned and nodded.

Xue Chengwen thought of Jiang Li’s strength—she could easily overpower a grown man—fetching water wouldn’t be hard for her.

But having a child borrow a bucket was a sign of how quiet the Jiang family was... sigh.

He sighed, put down the half-finished basket, got up to fetch wood and tools, and began making water buckets.

By the edge of Houqiu Village flowed a river, but it wasn’t full year-round. During the rainy season, water was abundant, but after several dry months, it shrank to a stream. It was still enough for washing clothes but insufficient for household use.

Since the river dried up, villagers fetched water from the mountain spring at the foot of the mountain outside the village, where the community dug a water storage well after finding the source.

Jiang Li had never been there. Xue Man led the way, and since they lived near the village entrance, they had to cross the whole village to reach the well.

Fortunately, it was afternoon, and most villagers were in the fields or on the mountain.

"Did your fourth uncle say anything when you borrowed the bucket?"

Xue Man shook his head.

"No."

Jiang Li said, "We need the bucket for fetching water often. In a few days, I’ll buy two more."

She could have asked Xue Chengwen to make two and pay him in copper coins, but with so many gossipy people at home, she preferred to avoid stirring up rumors.

After filling the water jar, Jiang Li fetched another load. She asked Xue Man to quickly light a fire to boil water so that all three of them could wash their hair while the sun was out.