In 1960, inside a mud-brick house, Zhu Lingyun glanced at the sky outside, knowing she couldn't afford to indulge in daydreaming any longer. Her family, who had gone out to forage for wild vegetables and anything edible, would be returning soon.
So, she immediately set aside all her doubts and worries.
First, she hid the mermaid pearl, which the future person had repeatedly warned her about. Then, she concealed most of the miscellaneous grains, leaving only a small bag of cornmeal.
She planned to show the cornmeal to her mother when she returned.
As for an excuse and the source of the items, she had already thought of one: she would claim that a fox immortal had appeared in her dream and, seeing her intelligence, wished to take her as a disciple, thus bestowing some food upon her.
Whether her family believed it or not was irrelevant.
She, for one, believed it.
Not long after she finished hiding the items, heavy footsteps could be heard from outside, accompanied by a sigh or two, clearly indicating that their family’s harvest this time was likely meager once again.
A while later, her father, mother, and elder brother finally shuffled into the house, their steps somewhat unsteady. They gulped down some well water to soothe their stomachs and said:
“Boil the wild vegetables with the bran.
If we only drink water, we won’t be able to last.”
“Got it, I’ll do it later.
Should we look for anything in the house that can be sold? We’re almost out of bran!”
“What else do we have in the house that can be sold?”
“Forget it, we’ll look again later!”
After a brief murmur between the Zhu couple, one went to the back to cook, and the other returned to the room to rummage through things. About ten minutes later, Wang Caihua entered the small room carrying a bowl of very thin wild vegetable and bran soup. Zhu Lingyun, who had been waiting, quickly grabbed her and pulled her to the bedside, pointing at the small bag of cornmeal on the bed and saying:
“Mom, don’t be surprised, just listen to me.”
“This bag of cornmeal is neither stolen nor snatched. It was given to me by a fox immortal while I was sleeping. She said she saw I was intelligent and wanted to take me as a disciple, and feared I would starve to death, so she specifically gave me some food. Do you accept this?”
Needless to say, this was little Su Lingyun testing her mother’s acceptance of the excuse she had concocted. If she couldn’t accept it, she would likely have to embellish further.
“What? A fox immortal?”
Wang Caihua was taken aback at first but quickly realized that this matter absolutely could not be publicized, whether it was the fox immortal or the sudden appearance of a bag of cornmeal.
So, she quickly fell silent.
She then pinched a bit of cornmeal and found that it was indeed genuine, estimating it to be about five catties. She hastily set the bowl aside and pulled her daughter closer, whispering: “What exactly is going on?
Is this thing really not found?
Is the fox immortal real or fake?”
“Mom, what are you joking about? Where can one casually find a bag of cornmeal these days? This was truly given to me by a fox immortal. Besides, in this entire region, have you ever seen cornmeal ground this finely?”
Little Zhu Lingyun, at this moment.
Naturally, continued with the story she had fabricated.
Hearing her words, Wang Caihua’s heart wavered slightly. The cornmeal was indeed finer than anything she had ever seen. Coupled with the fact that stories of fox immortals were not uncommon in their area, though she had never heard of a fox immortal giving gifts, it wasn't entirely impossible.
Moreover, her daughter was indeed clever. There wasn’t another child as intelligent as her in the entire region.
It was plausible that a fox immortal would take notice of her daughter and want to take her as a disciple.
After all, in ancient times, scholars were willing to take in and even support gifted child prodigies as disciples.
However, there was still a difference between a scholar and a fox immortal. A fox immortal was not human, after all. Wang Caihua quickly became worried and asked: “Are you in any danger?
Will the fox immortal try to take you away?
Or demand your lifelong devotion?”
“Mom, don’t worry. The fox immortal was very clear about this. She values my future, not my present. Taking me as a disciple won’t mean I have to leave.
At most, when I sleep.
She might teach me through dreams!
So, there is absolutely no danger.”
“Also, the fox immortal didn't just give me this little cornmeal. There are other miscellaneous grains too, but I was afraid of scaring you, so I hid them. Wait a moment, I’ll show you now!
But please, don’t tell anyone.
We must keep this a secret!”
After explaining again, little Zhu Lingyun quickly turned and retrieved the other forty-odd catties of miscellaneous grains she had previously hidden. Wang Caihua, having some psychological preparation, was still shocked but did not make a sound. Just as she was about to say something, a voice called from outside:
“Caihua, why is delivering food taking so long?
Come out and eat quickly!”
“Xiao Yun, keep these things for now, and eat your meal. We’ll discuss the specifics later with your father, and see how we should handle this matter.”
With that, Wang Caihua walked out of the small room with a slightly dazed expression. Suppressing her emotions, she didn't immediately tell her son and husband. Instead, she quietly forced down the meager wild vegetable and bran in her bowl. Then, she sent her eldest son out to fetch water and pulled her husband into her daughter’s room.
What followed was undoubtedly another wave of shock.
And mutual discussion.
Although they were still somewhat worried about their daughter’s safety, the value of the grain was clearly higher at this moment. Moreover, their daughter had assured them she was fine.
So, they ultimately decided to accept the situation.
And they allocated the miscellaneous grains.
The particularly fine cornmeal was specifically set aside for the youngest son, as he was still young.
The bran was truly unbearable to eat.
If he didn’t eat some fine grains,
they feared the child might not survive.
As for the rest, they planned to take some out and see if they could exchange it for more bran. Sweet potatoes, no matter how much they were considered miscellaneous grains, were still better than bran. They figured they could exchange one catty for two to three catties.
As long as they could hold on for another month or so, the next harvest would bring better days.
Little Zhu Lingyun had no objections to this. She even mentioned that the fox immortal had said she would send more food when she found a place to store it. She asked her parents if they could clean out the old sweet potato cellar and perhaps enlarge it a bit, because the fox immortal had said that if the storage space was larger, she would send more.
After another discussion, the Zhu couple naturally decided to dig. However, they wouldn’t enlarge it too much. After all, they had heard stories about greed leading to ruin. Therefore, they planned to only triple the size of the original cellar, enough to store a thousand or eight hundred catties of grain. This would make their lives much easier.
They might even be able to offer some assistance to their parents and elders.