Farmhouse Green Plum

Before, he had been considerate of Xiaoxiang's feelings and was very tactful when talking about Xiaoxiang's mother, but now he was panicking and spoke without thinking.

Xiaoxiang also knew Lai Di's personality and knew that she was just afraid and not cursing her mother, so she let her hold her and asked Daya again: "Daya, why did the torch go out?"

"The straw is burned out." Daya blew at the extinguished torch, blowing away the ashes and revealing the red-hot charcoal.

Looking at the red light, Lai Di finally calmed down and kept stroking her chest: "I was scared to death, it's almost burned out, why didn't you tell me in advance, Daya?"

"We were just picking out the best ephedras. I didn't notice it." Daya shook the red-hot wooden stick. The weak charcoal firelight couldn't illuminate the road at all. "We can only go down the mountain in the dark. Go slowly. The road is slippery due to the snow. Don't fall."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lai Di let out an "ah", followed by Xiaoxiang's short scream.

"Laidi! Xiaoxiang!" Daya held up a wooden stick, trying hard to see their current situation clearly. However, the faint light from the charcoal fire was too weak and could only illuminate a small circle around. Daya could not even see one step in front of her even with the stick.

"Ouch!" A gasp came from the front. Daya walked over carefully and squatted down, finally getting a clear view of the situation.

Lai Di fell on her back on the ground, and Xiaoxiang fell sideways on top of her.

Daya quickly stuck the wooden stick on the roadside and went to help them.

"Ephedra! Ephedra has fallen!" Xiaoxiang supported herself on the ground with her elbows, looking around for the scattered ephedra, and was so anxious that she was about to cry.

"It's okay, it's just some muddy water. You have to wash it before cooking anyway. Get up from Lai Di first."

Xiaoxiang woke up as if from a dream, and then realized that she was still pressing Lai Di. She climbed up with the help of Daya, and then went to help Lai Di together with Daya, asking anxiously: "Laidi, how are you? Where did you fall?"

Lai Di tilted her upper body back slightly, grimacing in pain, "It's okay, but the skin on my back was scratched, it hurts so much. You all should be careful, some of the snow has frozen."

After making sure that she was fine, Daya exhaled softly, "Just stand there, Xiaoxiang and I will pick up the ephedra."

Lai Di didn't bother to be polite with them. Her back was really hurting and she didn't dare to straighten her back at all.

The charcoal light was dim, and Daya and Xiaoxiang searched for a long time before they picked up all the scattered ephedra.

After picking up the ephedra, Daya bent down with a wooden stick in her hand, almost getting close to the ground to barely see the road conditions. "There's no ice in this short section, so go ahead without worry."

As she spoke, she took a few steps and bent down again to check the road conditions with the charcoal stick.

In this way, she took a few steps and squatted down again to check with the carbon light. After a long time, the three of them only walked a short distance.

As time passed, the wooden stick burned shorter and shorter, and Daya's hand holding the stick began to feel hot.

She was a little anxious. Now they could still use the faint charcoal light to illuminate the place and burn the stick for a while. The stick would have to be thrown away, and by then, they would have to go down the mountain in complete darkness.

It was pitch dark and they couldn't even tell the direction. If they got the wrong direction and couldn't get back to the village to make medicine for Xiaoxiang's mother, the three of them would have to freeze outside all night.

In her haste, she took big steps and stepped on an ice patch. She slipped and fell backwards, and the charcoal stick in her hand was thrown down the mountain.

"Da Ya!"

"Da Ya!"

Lai Di and Xiao Xiang screamed and wanted to help her immediately, but it was pitch black and they couldn't see where she was.

At the moment of falling, Daya subconsciously supported herself on the ground with her palms. Unlike Lai Di, she did not hurt her back, but only her palms were scratched and it was burning with pain.

She gasped and shook her hands. "I'm here."

After telling Lai Di Xiao Xiang her direction, Daya prepared to stand up by herself, but she didn't expect that there was another piece of ice where her feet stepped. With this force, she slipped again.

To make matters worse, it was a steep slope and she slid uncontrollably to the edge and fell.

There was a loud bang, which scared Lai Di and Xiao Xiang.

"Daya! What's wrong with you?"

"Da Ya!"

The two of them called out hurriedly, not even bothering to look at the road carefully. They quickly walked to the place where Daya had fallen before, squatted down to feel around, but found nothing.

"Daya, don't scare me, what happened?" Xiaoxiang shouted in a trembling voice.

Daya lay on the ground, feeling as if her body was broken into pieces, and she was in pain everywhere. After a long while, she finally got used to it and looked up and said, "I rolled down."

Lai Di Xiaoxiang was shocked. Rolling down the mountain is completely different from falling down. The injuries are totally immeasurable.

At that moment, the two of them used their hands and feet to crawl down. Xiaoxiang's voice was shaking: "Where are you hurt?"

If Daya got hurt because of picking herbs for her mother, she would find it difficult to forgive herself, not to mention Grandma Li and the others.

Daya tried to sit up. Her back, calves and other parts of her body, as well as her palms, were burning with pain, but fortunately it was still bearable.

"No, it's okay, just like Lai Di, I just had some scrapes, but no broken bones."

Xiaoxiang's heart relaxed a little, and she and Lai Di helped her up. Fortunately, after passing the steep part, the road was wider and they could pass side by side.

Lai Di and Xiao Xiang took turns supporting Daya, slowing down their pace and making sure she was on a firm footing before taking the next step, step by step, faster than before.

Even so, it took nearly half an hour to get down to the foot of the mountain.

When we arrived at Xiaoxiang's house, the villagers had already left, even Aunt Meihua and her husband had gone home.

In this situation, Daya and Laidi couldn't go to her house again, so they said goodbye at the door and went home, planning to go to Xiaoxiang's house again tomorrow morning to check on the situation.

The next morning, before Daya got up, Xiaoxiang's excited voice came from outside the yard, "Daya! Daya! My mother is fine!"

Daya jumped out of bed, picked up her clothes and quickly put them on, then rushed out the door, "Really?"

Xiaoxiang nodded vigorously: "Last night I..."

When she caught a glimpse of Yang and Uncle Song coming out of the house, she woke up suddenly and swallowed back the rest of her words in time.

"I forced hot water into my mother's mouth last night and kept the oven burning. This morning, she was able to get out of bed, but her legs were still weak and she had to hold on to the wall to walk."

Daya understood that the hot water she was talking about referred to the medicine boiled with ephedra, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although it was a desperate measure, she was also under a lot of pressure, for fear that she might make a mistake and kill Xiao Xiangniang.

"Oh, it's really the blessing of our ancestors!" Yang was extremely surprised. The situation Zhang was in last night clearly showed that one foot had already stepped into the gates of hell.

"When your mother recovers, go burn paper for your ancestors. Thanks to their blessings, your mother's condition last night was not due to your aunt's curse, but to the fact that she had one foot in the gate of hell!"

"Uh, okay." Xiaoxiang subconsciously glanced at Daya and said secretly: Our ancestors are not as powerful as Daya.

After Yang finished her rambling, she said, "My mother asked my brother to invite my uncles to come early in the morning. She plans to go to the county to see a doctor and wants to borrow your cow."