CHAPTER 31: THE 31ST

Yanhua finished drying the herbs and casually flipped through a few of them on the rack. After flipping the herbs, she went to help Zhao Li wash the herbs. She was nearly done with half a basket of herbs when she glanced over at Lan Tian, who had entered the Medicine House and had not come out since.

"Fifth Aunt, Lan Tian is so young to be learning medicine from Uncle, can he endure the hardship? Second Grandmother is really willing to let him. Other kids his age in the village are running around playing everywhere," Yanhua finished cleaning the last bunch and, carrying the winnowing basket, went to the rack to dry them.

Zhao Li glanced at Yanhua, feeling there was a hidden meaning behind her words. The young girl was smiling cheerfully and probably didn’t have any bad intentions, maybe it was just Zhao Li’s misperception.

"What hardship is there? When you were his size, you were helping out with the family chores, carrying your younger brothers and sisters on your back to gather pigweed. You were so little and skinny back then, it was heartbreaking to look at. I’m not too clear about your Uncle’s matter; it should be similar to studying. The earlier you learn, the better."

"You’re right, Aunt," said Yanhua. Since there was no more space on the rack, she took the almost-dry herbs from her winnowing basket, set them aside, and placed the newly washed ones to dry. Carrying the basket, she walked back to the Medicine House and peeked into the consulting room.

After memorizing thirty types of herbs, she placed a camphor leaf in the page as a half-exposed marker, closed the medicine recipe book, and locked it in the drawer.

Yanhua only saw Lan Tian put a thick book into a drawer, afraid of being discovered she dared not look longer and quickly carried the basket away.

Lan Tian went to the courtyard, aimlessly wandering around Zhao Li, who shooed her away to play outside. With the sun so scorching outside, Lan Tian did not want to venture out and instead lay on a rattan chair on the other side, swaying it. The rattan ’creaked’ as it moved, not seeing Yanhua, she asked out of curiosity, "Where’s Cousin? Has she gone back?"

"She just took the winnowing basket over there, didn’t you see?" Zhao Li dried her hands and took a cloth bag hanging from the camphor tree to start knitting a sweater on a stool nearby.

Lan Tian shook her head, looking towards the Medicine House, "When did Cousin come? I thought Fourth Grandpa wouldn’t let her come anymore. Isn’t she afraid of my uncle?"

"After lunch," Zhao Li suddenly sighed. "It’s not easy for her, that man... never mind, let’s not talk about him."

They say having an elder in the family is like having a treasure, but Zhao Li didn’t know what to say about Fourth Uncle. He was so biased it was heaven-high, and poor Yanhua got such a grandfather for eight lifetimes of bad luck.

Lan Tian was still young and did not know much, and Zhao Li did not want to soil the ears of the young girl with these matters. While they were talking, Hui Li pushed open the gate and peered inside, her eyes darting about, and her voice was like a cat’s meow, "Second Grandmother, I’m here."

In the courtyard, Zhao Li and Lan Tian both looked over and saw her sneaky appearance. Lan Tian stifled a smile while Zhao Li called her in with a laugh.

Embarrassedly smiling at them, Hui Li entered the courtyard. Yanhua came out of the Medicine House and seeing Hui Li, she smiled and pulled her over, "Finished school? Done your homework? What are you doing standing at the gate, come in."

Each of them took a stool next to Lan Tian. "In the future, we three sisters will study together, diligently learning from Uncle. Lan Tian is so young yet unafraid of hardships, Hui Li, you should learn from Lan Tian’s spirit of not fearing hardship, stay strong." Near the end, she even made an encouraging gesture. Hui Li found it quite baffling; she wasn’t afraid of hardships!

Lan Tian turned her head away to the other side, worried her eye roll would be seen by others; she was getting hit by a stray bullet even while lying down. As long as they didn’t cross her bottom line and harm her Grandma, Uncle, or Fifth Aunt, Yanhua’s little tricks were not worth her concern.

Zhao Li looked at the three affectionate sisters and felt rather cheerful in her heart.

From then on, whenever Yanhua had free time, she would surely come over to learn medicine from Mo Yuanle. Sometimes it was all day, other times half a day, but she came every day regardless. Her elder uncle came to Lantian’s family once and sat with Mo Yuanle in the hall for half a day, then left without saying anything.

Later on, Lan Tian heard from her Fifth Aunt that they were persuading Uncle not to teach Yanhua, and for some reason, they changed their mind later on. Hui Li came over every day after finishing her homework.

Mo Yuanle started teaching them from the basics, gradually helping them recognize herbs. As time went on, he noticed Lan Tian wasn’t joining them during the herb recognition sessions; instead, she sat to the side reading a thick book. Seeing the two girls looking over at Lan Tian, Mo Yuanle simply said, "She’s different from you."

What exactly was different, Mo Yuanle didn’t specify, and Yanhua and the other girl dared not ask. Afterwards, Yanhua would hide in her room tearing clothes, and Hui Li almost pouting, told her dad about the medicine-learning ordeal as if she had been greatly wronged.

These matters, Lan Tian was oblivious to, and even if she did know, she didn’t take them to heart.

Attending school in the day, carrying medicine recipes; practicing cultivation at night, the days flew by swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

The yellow beans and peanuts grown at home were dried thoroughly, set aside as seeds for the next year, some for their own consumption, and the rest to be sold. The town held a market every month or so, and fortunately, the market day fell on a Sunday when there was no school.

In her previous life, Lantian had never been to the market; she had only heard Taohua talk about how lively it was with plenty of delicious food and fun things. Grandma Sun and Zhao Li were both going; one to sell things, and the other to take Lan Tian without any trouble.

Lan Tian got up early, looked outside through the window, and saw that it was still dark, with silvery moonlight enveloping the night sky, casting a serenely quiet shadow over the village. She dressed, combed her hair, and went to the courtyard to brush her teeth and wash her face.

After the family finished eating, the sky was about to brighten. Mo Yuanle carried the goods at the front, followed by Grandma Sun, while Zhao Li walked behind, holding Lan Tian’s hand.