Reborn and hastily married to a military officer, the aloof beauty's medical skills bring prosp

The Mu family were outsiders. They didn't own any land in the village at first, so they couldn't be buried in the fields. They could only find a place with good feng shui in the mountains.

As the saying goes, medicine and divination are inseparable. The older generation of the Mu family knew a bit about feng shui, and they chose a good place with mountains behind and water nearby.

Good feng shui doesn't mean the road is easy to walk. The path that Uncle Mu San walked on earlier has long been invaded by plants, and the marks he left behind are covered by moss and vines. If it weren't for the "incantation" left by the elders in his family, Uncle Mu San probably wouldn't have been able to find the place even after an afternoon.

"Sigh, this is it," Uncle Mu patted his nephew-in-law on the shoulder, pointed diagonally ahead, and then said self-deprecatingly, "Oh dear, my health is getting worse every year. Last year I was able to come by myself!"

Uncle Mu looked distressed halfway there. He was a very proud man and refused to be helped by others. In the end, Ying Mingcheng had to carry him on his back and let him find the way on his own.

Shuiwa followed beside him, and upon hearing this, he took a sickle and cut down the weeds and vines, revealing a bluestone path.

"Mom, look, there's a toad here."

Mu Huaixi was tugged by Little Grey and looked down to see some small stone sculptures beside the stone path: stone turtles, stone frogs, and stone dew, all symbols of longevity. However, because they were not very big, they were covered with moss. "Really? I didn't even notice them. Grey is so clever!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a blurry image appeared in her mind: she was a little girl back then, clinging to her father's leg, pointing excitedly at the stone-carved deer, wanting to take it home.

"These were all left behind by the elders," Uncle Mu said, wiping his sweat. He took a round, chubby stone pig from his pocket and placed it by the roadside. "My skills are poor, so I just carved a pig."

More images flashed through Mu Huaixi's mind. She took a few steps forward, found a stone-carved rabbit, and said to her third uncle, "Did my dad carve this?"

"Hmm? Yes, look, this rabbit has two whorls on its head, it was carved based on the whorls on your head, girl."

She lowered her eyes and silently swallowed the tears that were about to burst forth. It seemed that she had forgotten too many of the little moments she had spent with her parents.

At first, when she saw these stone carvings, she thought they were for warding off evil spirits or as burial objects, but now she remembered—

"I put them by the roadside because I was afraid the little ones would be scared," Uncle San explained to Ying Mingcheng with a smile.

For young children, the ritual of offering sacrifices is a torment. The mountain roads are difficult to walk, mosquitoes bite, and the surroundings are desolate with only a few yellow earthen mounds. They do not understand the ritual of offering sacrifices at all, nor do they understand why they have to walk such a long way to see their grandfather or great-grandfather. In the end, they cry bitterly in front of the mounds of earth.

Ying Mingcheng had never seen such a stone carving before, and exclaimed how gentle it was.

To Mu Huaixi's surprise, her grandfather's grave had been cleaned, and a sesame seed cake was placed in front of the grave, with a bowl of paper ingots on top.

Mu Huaixi was somewhat surprised and looked at her third uncle. Could it be that her eldest uncle had come by?

Uncle San shook his head, picked up the sesame seed cake that had been gnawed beyond recognition by animals, and looked at it. "This cake is made by the Lu family. I guess the Lu family came up the mountain and stopped by to see your grandfather."

"Lu Dahua had a difficult childbirth, and it was your grandfather who saved her."

"Big Flower, you rode it when you were little, don't you remember? It's the big yellow ox at Grandma Lu's house!"

Mu Huaixi then remembered that the Lu family wasn't local either. They had finally managed to buy a cow, but it was the firstborn and was sick. When she was little, she was close to Lu Xiaohua and cried, begging her grandfather to save Dahua.

“A cow is more precious than a person. Your grandfather was unwilling to save it back then, but now it seems that the cow’s family is quite loyal.” Uncle San wiped his eyes and was about to squat down to pull weeds when Ying Mingcheng stopped him.

"Third Uncle, take a rest. We haven't been here for years. We should have a chance to show off," Ying Mingcheng said, taking out a hoe and a small shovel. With a wave of his hand, he led Xiao Huihui and Xiao Heping to work.

The two of them were unaware of the hard labor they were to be doing; all they knew was that their father was taking them to pull weeds, something they couldn't do in the city, so they excitedly followed along.

"Xiao Xi, your grandpa has a really good eye," Uncle Mu said, sitting on a wooden post nearby, lighting a cigarette and chatting with her.

Mu Huaixi was preparing a rag to wipe the stone tablet when she heard this. She turned around and smiled, "Mingcheng is very good, the Ying family is good, and we will get better and better too."

“Yes…” Uncle Mu looked at Shuiwa who had brought back water and suddenly spoke up, “I didn’t tell you about your aunt’s situation before because I was afraid that you were out of town and didn’t know her well, and that you would overthink it.”

"What are you saying, Uncle?" Mu Huaixi glared at him. "The moment I saw Aunt today, I knew she was a good person. With Aunt taking care of you and Shuiwa being filial to you, Uncle, you should be secretly happy!"

"Hey, hey, right, right, I'm happy now," Uncle Mu paused for a moment, then admitted with a smile, "Your grandpa is right, sometimes I'm not as good as you, I tend to get stuck on things."

Mu Huaixi knew perfectly well that her third aunt must have had an unpleasant past, but who doesn't have a past?

Besides, it's her third uncle living with her, not her own life, so what is there for her to worry about? Right now, her third uncle is obviously very happy, and that's enough.

Mu Huaixi didn't want her third uncle to overthink things, so she said, "Did my eldest uncle say something again? Don't listen to them; they can't even manage their own lives!"

"Sigh," Uncle Mu sighed deeply. How could his elder brother not have caused trouble?

After he and Baolian got together, his sister-in-law came to his house and made a scene, saying that it was shameful for him to be Baolian's sister-in-law, that it was shameful for him to marry a widow, and that she would introduce him to a virgin.

Doesn't he know his sister-in-law well?

Introducing a virgin? I bet it's another scheme to swindle some woman out of her money.

Sure enough, after he said he had no money, his sister-in-law turned hostile and threatened to sever ties with his family, saying she couldn't bear the shame.

Uncle Mu scoffed. His elder brother and sister-in-law had no reputation or face left in the village. They had tried to force their niece to get married but failed and ended up in jail. They were even tricked by their daughter. After they got out, they slunk back home and nobody paid any attention to them. Instead, they came to him and started talking about face.

Uncle Mu didn't intend to tell his niece about these upsetting things, but some people just couldn't help but nag. After sweeping the graves and heading down the mountain, they encountered Uncle Mu's family waiting by the roadside before they even reached the village entrance.

"Xiao Xi? Is Xiao Xi back? Why didn't she come to your uncle's house? It wouldn't look good if the new son-in-law didn't come to the house for the wedding ceremony," the uncle said shamelessly as he came over, took a cigarette from behind his ear, and insisted on giving it to Ying Mingcheng.

Her aunt scrutinized her critically, her eyes lighting up when she saw the gold bracelet on her wrist. She immediately grabbed her arm, "Oh, Xiaoxi, come on over to dinner tonight! I've raised you for so many years, you wouldn't stop seeing your uncle and aunt over such a small thing, would you? That would break our hearts!"

"Your room is still here, and it's all tidied up nicely!"