Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Xia Yao stared blankly at a bowl of popcorn.

Xia Lanyue wanted to laugh at his expression. Was he stunned? It wasn't surprising; they had never seen this before. "Try it."

Xia Yao looked up at Xia Lanyue, his eyes full of doubt, "Did you make this?"

"Yes, it's made from rice and corn, so don't worry about eating it," Xia Lanyue explained.

Seeing that Xia Yao still hadn't made a move and was still staring at her in a daze, she reached out and took one and put it in her mouth.

Xia Yao slowly picked up a popcorn and put it in his mouth. "Crunch!" He bit into sand with his first bite, and the sound was so loud that Xia Lanyue could hear it.

Xia Lanyue gave an awkward laugh. But Xia Yao didn't seem to care and took another one to eat.

"What do you think of the taste?" Xia Lanyue wanted some suggestions.

Xia Yao nodded. "It's fine."

"Then you eat," Xia Lanyue said, turning and leaving Xia Yao's room. She remembered that she hadn't made rice cakes with sugar yet, so she ran back to the kitchen.

Xia Lanyue placed the small pot on the stove, picked up the sticky candy next to her, threw a few pieces into the pot, added water to dissolve them until they bubbled, put the rice popcorn into the pot and stirred it, then poured it into a plate while it was still hot. Now all she had to do was flatten this ball of popcorn and cut it into pieces to make rice cakes.

Xia Lanyue looked around and saw the flat shovel hanging on the wall. She reached out to take it down, and as she turned around, she caught a glimpse of the bowls and chopsticks in the bucket.

She remembered that Dai You had put the bowls and chopsticks in the cupboard before leaving. Unsure, she looked at the bucket again; there was indeed a set of bowls and chopsticks inside, clearly used. This meant that someone had come in and eaten after she left.

She recalled Xia Yao's earlier words: if he hadn't hung the bolt, then who had come back? A-Cheng? A-Niu? Aunt Xia?

Xia Lanyue thought for a moment, picked up a plate of popcorn, walked to the front of the main house, and knocked, "Is Aunt Xia home?" There was no response from inside, so she walked to the front of the west room, "Acheng...Aniu..." Still no one answered, so she pushed the door open, but no one was inside.

Could it be?

Xia Lanyue sensed something was wrong. She ran back to her room and pushed the door open. The room wasn't big to begin with, and there wasn't much furniture to obstruct the view. The only thing that could hide someone was a cabinet.

Xia Lanyue walked over, opened the cabinet door, and found nothing inside except the bundle she had brought with her, lying there all alone.

Xia Lanyue thought to herself, "It seems I was overthinking it."

But soon she realized that Acheng must have come back, eaten, and left again; she had witnessed Acheng's skill in hanging bolts outside the door.

"Hmph, maybe he stole the grain himself!" Xia Lanyue muttered to herself.

Xia Lanyue came out of the room and continued making her rice cakes, but by this time the rice cakes had cooled down and the sugar had set. Looking at the rice "balls", Xia Lanyue helplessly took a knife and cut them into pieces.

She tried it, and the taste was undeniably excellent, exactly the same as what she ate back home. Xia Lanyue was very satisfied.

She tidied up the kitchen, then sat in the yard with rice cakes, eating them while basking in the sun.

"I'm back," Dai You said, pushing open the courtyard gate and leading the mule inside.

Xia Lanyue happily ran over to greet him. Doctor Zhang followed Dai You into the courtyard, and Xia Lanyue greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Doctor Zhang."

"Hey, young lady, how are you feeling? You look much better. Let me take your pulse again?" Doctor Zhang walked up to Xia Lanyue with his medicine box on his back.

"Please come inside, Doctor Zhang," Xia Lanyue said, leading Doctor Zhang into Xia Yao's house before Dai You could even tie up the mule.

"Please take a look at Xia Yao first, Dr. Zhang," Xia Lanyue said, moving a stool to the side of the bed for Dr. Zhang to sit on.

Doctor Zhang carefully took Xia Yao's pulse and examined his feet. Then he turned and wrote a prescription on a piece of paper. The prescription contained so many kinds of medicine that it filled the paper. Xia Lanyue couldn't help but sigh when she saw it. It must be so bitter. Luckily, it wasn't for her.

“Young lady, it’s your turn,” Zhang Langzhong said to Xia Lanyue.

"Hmm," Xia Lanyue moved a stool and sat down at the table.

"Has your memory returned somewhat?" Dr. Zhang asked.

"Yes, she remembers how to write her name," Dai You answered as soon as he entered the room.

Xia Lanyue could only nod in agreement.

"Is there anything else?" Doctor Zhang asked.

Xia Lanyue shook her head.

It seems that Zhang Langzhong has encountered a major setback in his career. He sighed and shook his head. After a series of examinations, he slowly said, "I will adjust a few of the medicines. You should take another course of treatment and see how it goes." Then, he wrote down a prescription on a piece of paper. The types of medicines were similar to those in Xia Yao's prescription.

Looking at the prescription, Xia Lanyue felt as if she had actually eaten it before, and immediately felt a little uncomfortable, as if her stomach was churning.

"And also, the girl's..."

Xia Lanyue hadn't finished listening when she sensed something was wrong. She rushed out of the house, but just as she reached the corner, she vomited. She was stunned. What was going on?

Dai You chased after them and panicked at the sight. He immediately turned back and pulled Zhang the Physician over, asking, "Physician, what happened to her?"

“I just noticed that the young lady has symptoms of internal damp-heat. Did she eat something bad?” said Dr. Zhang.

Upon hearing this, Dai You grabbed Xia Yao by the collar as she stepped out of the house and demanded, "What did you feed her?"

Xia Yao looked helpless, pushed Dai You's hand away, and straightened his clothes. "What can I feed her?! I'm still limping, what can I do?"

Dai You was stunned. Had he overheard that?!

"Did the young lady eat anything unclean?" Doctor Zhang asked.

Dai You stepped forward to support the weak Xia Lanyue and half-embraced her in his arms.

"I ate the same thing as everyone else..." Xia Lanyue carefully considered what she had eaten today. There was nothing special about it. Could it be popcorn? But there was nothing in it. Could sand cause poisoning? Xia Yao ate it too, so why is he fine?

"I ate the same food as her, so why am I fine?" Xia Yao asked, full of questions.

Everyone then looked at Xia Lanyue.

Suddenly, Xia Lanyue thought of the bag of candy. Could it be "candy?!" Then she looked at Xia Yao in confusion.

Xia Yao frowned. "Did you eat the candy?"

"You poisoned her? Bring out the antidote, now!" Dai You shouted.

Xia Yao immediately explained, "I didn't poison it. The candy was a gift from someone else, and it shouldn't be poisonous there."

"Is there any sugar left? Let me see," said Zhang Langzhong.

Xia Lanyue pointed to the kitchen, "It's on the stove." After saying that, she pushed Dai You away, turned around and vomited again, this time vomiting green water.

Dai You rushed into the kitchen, took out a paper package, opened it, and showed it to Doctor Zhang.

After carefully examining the candy, Dr. Zhang said, "This candy has gone bad. Look, impurities have grown on it. It's not edible. If you accidentally eat it, you'll vomit and have diarrhea, which are the symptoms the young lady is experiencing now."

"Is she alright?" Dai You asked anxiously.

"It's nothing serious. She'll be fine once she's vomited it all out. Give her plenty of water to drink, and I'll prescribe some medicine for her. She'll be better soon after taking it, so don't worry," said Dr. Zhang.

It turned out to be food poisoning. As long as it wasn't poison, Xia Lanyue was relieved.

"Then I'll trouble you, Doctor Zhang," Xia Yao said. "I'll give you the money for the medicine along with the money. I'll trouble Dai You to go and get the medicine again." After saying that, he turned around and went back into the house to get the money.

“Then come with me,” Zhang Langzhong said to Dai You.

"Alright, wait a moment, doctor," Dai You said, then helped Xia Lanyue back to her room to lie down. He turned around, grabbed a large bowl of water, and slipped a dagger under her pillow. He whispered to her, "It will take me two hours to get here and back. Be careful. I've put a dagger under your pillow. Use it if you're in danger, understand?"

Xia Lanyue became nervous at his words. What was going on? Hadn't she eaten something bad?

After Dai You finished giving his instructions, he walked out of the house, and then Xia Lanyue heard his voice, "You better not have any bad intentions towards my sister, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Xia Lanyue did not hear Xia Yao's reply, but only the sound of the two walking away.