A master of metaphysics is farming.

On the slope, Xiang Yang helped Xiang Dayong look on expectantly. When he saw the three of them walk back, he felt relieved, but when he got closer, he noticed that Su had injuries on her face, and his worries returned.

Xiang Dayong, leaning on the piece of wood Xiang Yang had picked up, patted Xiang Yang's shoulder and said, "Go, go... help, Mother."

"I'm going right now!"

The slope wasn't too high and it wasn't difficult to walk up, but the lack of steps made it easy to slip. Xiang He helped Su Shi up with one hand and pressed down on the carrying pole with the other. "I'll clear a path for you in a bit. It's not easy to walk on rainy days."

"You should rest for a while. Your hand injury needs to be checked again."

"Don't worry, although it looks like there's a lot of bleeding, the cut is actually very shallow. I remember Uncle Chang mentioned some herbal medicine for dispelling blood stasis, I'll go find some and apply it in a bit."

Uncle Chang was a porter who frequently traveled between several towns and villages.

Previously, when Xiang Dayong was injured, he showed the original owner the Dispelling Blood Stasis Grass, and the original owner did remember it, so it was not difficult to find.

Seeing that the bandage on her hands was already soaked, Madam Su was worried. "I also looked for those herbs. I'll go find them. You rest well at home. If there's anything that needs to be done, let Xiao Yang and Yun'er do it."

Seeing her insistence, Xiang He could only nod in agreement, "Alright, Mother, be careful."

Mrs. Su gently patted the back of her hand, "I understand."

Standing outside the fence watching the "mother and daughter," Xiang Dayong felt a strange feeling. He glanced back at the house, and sadness welled up in his heart again.

"Father, what are you thinking about?"

The hem of his clothes was tugged, and Xiang Dayong came back to his senses and looked down. Xiang Yun looked at him with her bright eyes, "Father, Sister was so amazing just now! Mother was amazing too! She beat Grandma up!"

"……What?"

Xiang Dayong glanced at Su Shi with worry in his eyes, but Su Shi just smiled and said, "It's nothing, everyone's back safe and sound, don't think too much about it."

Xiang Yun's eyes sparkled with joy. She reached out and helped him to a broken chair by the door. She then vividly recounted what had just happened, leaving Xiang Dayong stunned.

Seeing that the two of them were chatting enthusiastically, Xiang He picked up a hoe and started working. Xiang Yang went to fetch water, and Su Shi simply tidied up before going to the back mountain to find medicinal herbs.

After the family finished dividing the tasks, Xiang He looked down at her clothes. She had been up and about all night and today, and her body was covered in sticky sweat. It seemed she would need to get a shower room...

She continued down the steps, clearing them one by one. This was the only way for now; she would have to collect pebbles to cover them later.

As the sun rose, Xiangyang's small figure carried a bucket of water up the hill. Despite his small stature, he was quite strong, probably from doing a lot of hard work.

"Sister, come and wash your face. I've already gathered the firewood, and Father has swept the dust off the stove inside. It'll be usable as is."

"it is good."

The low slope is cleared by hoeing ten steps. After eating, we still have to weed. Today will definitely be a busy day.

Everyone washed their faces with half a bucket of water, used the rest to wash the broken pots that were no longer needed in the house, and then cut most of the rabbit meat in half with a cleaver, leaving half for tonight and tomorrow night.

Everything had to be made do, but Xiang He didn't complain. Although she had never experienced hardship before, she adapted quickly.

The meat, which didn't smell particularly appetizing, made Xiang He's mouth water, while Xiang Yun clung to the stove, staring intently with shining eyes.

Seeing her expression, Xiang He smiled and pinched her cheek, "Trying to get a sweet tooth?"

"hey-hey."

Looking at the meat in the pot, although there wasn't much, at least they could have a hot bite. In my memory, ever since Xiang Dayong brought back rabbit meat, the third brother's family hadn't had a single bite. They ate it and put it away, not letting the third brother's family into the kitchen.

The money and meat were both tightly guarded by Li Shi. The eldest son's family was good at coaxing Li Shi, which is why they ate with greasy mouths and were fat. On the other hand, the third son's family had one mute and the other was used to being bullied. They only knew how to work hard, were not sweet-talking, and had no interest in anything. No wonder the children they raised were all thin and weak.

Xiang He stirred the meat in the pot, thinking that the original owner of this body was already sixteen years old, but this body was so thin that it looked like that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old, clearly malnourished.

She recalled that when she was fourteen, Li had also considered selling her granddaughter, but the family that came to her door didn't like her. She originally planned to force her to sell her, but the matchmaker turned her attention to another girl from the same village and refused to take her.

Li was furious and made the original owner of the body work relentlessly, from dawn till dusk. She did all the chores, both easy and difficult, by herself, and even made her patrol the fields at night. She really wasn't worried about her being kidnapped.

Xiang He was lost in thought when Xiang Yun, fiddling with the stove, asked with a puzzled look, "Sister?"

Gently drawing her thoughts back, Xiang He forced a smile, "What's wrong? We can't eat yet, we have to wait for Mother to come back."

That's not what I meant...

Xiang He tilted her head to look at her, "So what do you want to say? Can you tell your older sister?"

Xiang Yun blinked and bit her lip, twisting the hem of her dress in front of her with both hands, her face flushed. "I feel... Ah, Ah-Sister is a little different..."

Eight-year-old Xiang Yun was already old enough to think. Xiang He squatted down, pulled out a piece of firewood to reduce the fire, turned to the side and put her hands on Xiang Yun's shoulders, her eyes crinkling, "How is it different for you, sister?"

The smile before her was so gentle and bright that Xiang Yun was somewhat stunned. It was the first time she had ever seen such a smile on her older sister's face—a smile she had never seen before…

She blushed for no reason, and her eyes crinkled with laughter. "Sister, you love to laugh!"

A crisp voice stopped Su Shi, who was about to cross the threshold. She stood there, holding her cloth bag, when Xiang He's smile was reflected in her eyes. The smile on Xiang He's lips was just right. In all these years, this was the first time she had ever seen Xiang He smile like that.

For some reason, I paused for a moment, a heavy sadness welled up inside me, and an impossible possibility suddenly flashed through my mind.

He Yatou is not... He Yatou...

The sudden thought startled Su Shi, who almost dropped the cloth bag in her hand. A figure appeared before her, Xiang He reaching out to her, her smile fading considerably.

"Mother, give this to me."

Su Shi looked visibly flustered and handed her the cloth bag. "I... I also picked some wild vegetables. Wash them and put them directly into the meat to cook..."

“Okay,” Xiang He untied the cloth bag and sorted out the herbs and wild vegetables. “By the way, we don’t have bowls and chopsticks. Mother, go find some twigs and whittle them down?”

"Uh, okay..."

Su turned around in a daze, and when she stepped out the door again, she met Xiang Dayong's gaze. The inexplicable sadness in his eyes made Su pause again. She opened her mouth as if to ask, but then caught a glimpse of Xiang Yang's face out of the corner of her eye. In the end, she said nothing and went straight out to look for the wood branch.

Xiang Dayong watched her retreating figure, his heart aching again. He wondered whether he should tell her the truth, but judging from her expression just now, she must have some doubts.

I'm just not sure if I should let the other two younger ones know...

Inside the house, Xiang He carefully washed the wild vegetables, her eyes reflecting the water. She had seen Su Shi's expression and could guess what was going on.

This morning, Xiang Dayong didn't give a definite answer and was interrupted by that old hag Li. Tonight is a dark and windy night, a time when evil spirits roam freely. It would be better to let them meet instead of stubbornly confronting Qinghun Xianghe.

Thinking this to himself, he threw the wild vegetables into the pot, stirred them with a sharpened twig, sniffed, and shouted towards the outside, "It's ready to eat!"