A master of metaphysics is farming.

Xiang He reached the summit again at night.

Tonight, Fifth Uncle Xiang Zhong appeared, looking listless. His already sinister face was now even more gloomy.

Seeing that his expression was off, Xiang He asked, "What's wrong, Fifth Uncle?"

“It’s not like what Lianmei did…” Xiang Zhong sighed heavily, “It was terrifying. I was worried for a long time. Luckily, that thing didn’t run around…”

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiang He clenched her hands on her knees and stared into the darkness in the distance.

"Isn't it running around like this right now?"

Xiang Zhong was startled and quickly looked up into the distance. The Xiang family's house, which was originally shrouded in darkness, was now suddenly bathed in a beam of moonlight, which fell right in the center of the courtyard.

"W-What is that!?"

Xiang He took out a palm mirror, and a reflection of the moon appeared in the mirror. Both pretty women covered their noses, their eyes full of disgust.

"It stinks so bad...it's unbearable!"

Shuiyue leaned on Jinghua's shoulder, "What...what exactly is that lump?"

Xiang He didn't speak, but just stared at the beam of moonlight. After about a quarter of an hour, the beam disappeared, and a black, swirling shadow rushed over.

Xiang Zhong was so frightened that he backed away repeatedly, while Xiang He immediately shook his head, pretending to be looking at the scenery.

He whispered, "You two be careful, Mirror Flower Water Moon. I can't let it know that I can see it, lest Xiang Lianmei notice."

"Huh? Can we go back into the mirror?"

Xiang He had already shut up and was humming a little tune while hugging her knees.

Shuiyue wanted to run back into the mirror, but Jinghua stopped her. "No! If we both go into the mirror, it will discover that there's something wrong with it. We can't expose the Taoist priest!"

"this!"

Mirror Flower and Water Moon hurriedly fled, not wanting to encounter that foul-smelling thing.

Xiang Zhong had vanished without a trace, no longer caring about anyone else.

Just as the black mass rushed over, it stopped in front of Xiang He. The rotting mass of flesh suddenly revealed a green eye, which was only a fist's distance away from Xiang He.

Xiang He: This is such a damn visual shock...

Despite cursing under her breath, she had to pretend not to see it, humming a little tune and swaying her head, occasionally grabbing a handful of wild grass and holding it up to pass through the lump of minced meat in front of her.

The green eye blinked, as if trying to determine if Xiang He could see it.

After a while, a cold wind blew by, and Xiang He immediately rubbed his arms. "It's too cold, I'm going home to sleep!"

Shrugging her shoulders, Xiang He hurried down the mountain. She couldn't care less about them right now; her priority was to avoid being exposed. As for them…

Anyway, that lump of meat was just playing around, and I guess it just... chased after things all over the mountain.

Thinking this, Xiang He had already entered her room. As soon as she lay down, she heard Jinghua Shuiyue's sweet and delicate cries.

"Don't come any closer!"

As the baby laughed, Xiang He's face darkened; she feared she would have a hard time falling asleep tonight...

-

-

The next day, Xiang He slept in late. Xiang Huiying ran over to inform him that Xiang Lianmei had already left, and Xiang He was relieved.

Su noticed that Xiang He's complexion was not good, but seeing that Xiang Huiying was there, she didn't say anything.

Today I finally had some free time, so I went to check on He's vegetable garden. The vegetables have been planted for quite some time now and have grown quite a bit.

She went back to her room, took out the fabric from the dye shop, and handed it to Madam Su. "Mother, I'm going into business with the young master of the Wang family. What do you think about using this fabric to make clothes and embroidering your favorite patterns on it?"

"This!" Mrs. Su touched the smooth fabric in her hand. "My skills are just average..."

“I’ve seen Aunt Ba’s skills before,” Xiang Huiying said as she came out carrying a sewing basket. “Her skills are much better than mine!”

Seeing her troubled expression, Xiang He took her hand and sat her down. "I've already made arrangements. Mother, just keep embroidering. You'll get a share of the clothing shop's business, so please do your best."

Upon hearing that she was going to open a shop, Madam Su quickly waved her hands, "I...I don't know how to do any of this!"

"Don't worry, with Young Master Wang overseeing things, you just need to prepare the best embroidery. If business is good, we'll move into the city and won't have to stay here and put up with that family's attitude."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Dayong, who had just returned from the fields, felt a sudden sinking feeling in his heart.

They are able to live a good life now entirely thanks to He Yatou. Now that her injuries have fully healed, she needs to go out and find work...

Seeing his deep thoughts, Xiang He could guess a thing or two.

She got up, picked up a chair, and sat down. "Father, have you been discussing work with Fourth Uncle lately?"

Just then, Xiang Dayong gave her a helpless look, saying, "You're such a good guesser..."

"Hehe," Xiang He picked up a bamboo stick from the ground and poked it in the ground, "I've thought about it. I'll invite Fourth Uncle over for lunch and ask him how much work he's had lately and what his plans are for the future. If the carpentry business is good, we can pool our money to open a shop in the city, and both families can do it together."

"This...that's your money..."

“What do you mean, ‘yours’ and ‘mine’? The money we earn is our own,” Xiang He said, folding the bamboo strip in her hand into a small ball. “I may have to leave next January to go to the capital with you, sir.”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Dayong's heart skipped a beat. "Shouldn't it be after the New Year?"

"Of course! I've made quite a bit of money these days. I still have four hundred taels of silver in the bank, more than enough to open a shop. Father, don't be stingy with money for me. You have to let Xiaoyang and Yun'er live a good life, right?"

When talking about his two children, Xiang Dayong always softened. And Xiang He was right; he was better off doing big jobs than casual labor, as he could take on larger deals and earn more money.

Thinking this, Xiang Dayong gave a helpless smile, "You've convinced me again, girl..."

"No way, Father has to be willing to make money too."

The two discussed the matter briefly, and Xiang He personally went to invite Fourth Aunt's family. Her only son was working away from home, and her two daughters were married off, so she invited the couple to come.

Xiang Huiying then helped her grandmother over, and the three families discussed the matter together.

In Xiangjia Village, Xiang He only trusts these two families.

The others are also relatively distant.

As for the village chief's large family, apart from the sixth brother and sister-in-law and the fifth brother Xiang Wenxuan, the others were too far apart in age to have much to talk about.

One branch of the Xiang family lives in this village, and those who marry out don't go far away.

Everyone sat around in the courtyard. Fourth Aunt was always ready to help out, and as soon as she arrived, she went to the kitchen to help with the cooking.

Xiang Dayong and his fourth uncle, Xiang Youping, were banging on the tables and chairs in the house, while Xiang He went to help fetch water and returned.

Seeing the two bosses chatting idly, she occasionally overheard their conversation until Xiang Dayong called her over, at which point she approached and sat down with them.

“Your fourth uncle said that if you have enough money, instead of waiting for business to come to you in the village, you should go out and find business yourself.”

Xiang He nodded slightly, "Instead of going to their door, it's better to open a shop and let our distinguished guests come to us. They can see the finished wooden furniture right away. They can see the quality at a glance, which will put their minds at ease."

“Heya is right. We usually take orders from brokers, and they take a lot of cut. If we do it ourselves, we earn the money ourselves.”

Once they had an idea, Xiang He didn't say anything more.

She could feel much more at ease as long as she had everything arranged at home before leaving.