Uncle Su and his family of four returned to their house in town feeling refreshed.

With their departure, the Su family home instantly became much quieter.

But life goes on as usual.

Su Li and her older brother carried hoes, ready to go to work in the fields.

She bought two acres of land at the foot of the mountain. Although the land was not fertile, it was affordable.

The purchase of the land took a lot of effort, but fortunately it was finally settled, costing a total of ten taels of silver, which was not too much over budget.

Just as I reached the gate of the courtyard, a slightly weak braying of a mule suddenly came from behind me.

Su Li suddenly stopped in her tracks, a hint of unease flashing across her face.

Su Xiangyang noticed something was wrong, turned around, and asked with a puzzled look, "What's wrong, Li'er?"

Su Li frowned, her face showing worry. Her gaze was fixed on the spot in the backyard where the mule was tied up. She hesitated for a long while before speaking:

"Brother, our mule hasn't been eating much lately, and I'm really worried about it. I don't know what's wrong."

Her voice was full of anxiety and helplessness, and she subconsciously clenched her fists.

Su Li initially thought that her dog, Da Qing, was just a little listless because it had an upset stomach these past few days, and that it would be fine after resting.

Unexpectedly, after five or six days, the situation not only did not improve, but even showed signs of deterioration.

Upon hearing this, Su Xiangyang slammed the hoe down in his hand.

With a concerned expression, he strode over to Su Li and asked anxiously, "When did this start? Besides not eating, is there anything else wrong? Like, are you unsteady on your feet, or are your bowels abnormal?"

His eyes were fixed on Su Li, not missing a single detail, his gaze filled with worry for the mule.

Su Li tried hard to recall and said, "It started in the last two days. I didn't notice anything wrong when I was walking, but my stool seems to be a bit looser than before."

Su Xiangyang quickly took off his straw hat and said with a serious expression:

"Let's check on Daqing first. The mule is an important animal in the family. It accompanies us to and from town every day, through wind and rain, and it hauls goods. We can't mistreat it."

Su Li nodded, and the two quickly walked to the backyard.

Su Li looked at the almost untouched hay in the trough and patted Da Qing's head with heartache. "Da Qing, are you feeling unwell? Don't worry, we'll take you to see a doctor in a little while."

Su Xiangyang squatted down and carefully examined the feces on the ground. His brows were furrowed, but he did not show the slightest disgust.

As Old Mrs. Su passed by the mule pen, she saw the excrement on the ground, immediately frowned in disgust, and shrieked:

"Look at what this thing is pulling! You'll kill this mule sooner or later! I'm telling you, did you get tricked into buying a sick mule?"

Su Li was speechless. The mule had been with them for several months; if it were sick, it wouldn't have only started showing symptoms now.

She patted the mule's head tenderly, without responding to her grandmother's words.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Old Mrs. Su felt bored and muttered to herself as she walked away, "You spendthrift! With this mule dead, several dozen taels of silver are gone again..."

The cursing and swearing gradually faded into the distance.

Su Xiangyang, however, remained resolute and was not affected by the old lady's words at all. He pondered for a moment, then strode out of the house.

"Big brother, where are you going?"

"Go find some herbs, I'll be right back!"

Su Li quickly followed and saw her older brother crouching down, carefully searching through the grass and earthen slopes, sometimes parting a clump of grass, sometimes squatting down to examine it.

After a while, he finally straightened up, holding several herbs of various shapes in his hand, and quickly walked back.

"Li'er, let's go home first and get some medicine for the mule." Su Xiangyang waved the herbs in his hand.

As soon as he got home, he immediately got to work.

He placed the herbs he had brought back into a stone mortar and pestle, and vigorously ground them. With his rhythmic movements, the herbs were gradually ground into a paste.

Then, he carried the bowl of herbal paste to the mule, squatted down, and gently coaxed it:

"Daqing, come on, have something to eat, you'll feel better after eating."

As he spoke, he slowly fed the herbal paste to the mule's mouth with a spoon.

The mule initially just sniffed it, but showed no intention of eating it.

Su Xiangyang wasn't in a hurry and continued to coax it patiently. After a while, the mule finally stuck out its tongue and began to lick the herbal paste.

While they were busy, Su Qingfeng and Madam Hu quietly came over, and the whole family gathered around, watching with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

Amazingly, the mule's spirits improved significantly in no time.

It first raised its head, its eyes shining, and then began to eat the hay in large gulps, making a particularly loud "crunching" sound.

Su Qingfeng was overjoyed. He patted Su Xiangyang on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Good lad, you're really something! I thought we'd have to call a veterinarian, but you found some herbs and cured the mule's ailment!"

As everyone knows, Su Li bought a lot of medical books, and Su Xiangyang often likes to read them when he has nothing to do.

I thought he was just killing time, but he actually absorbed a few points.

Mrs. Hu's eyes were full of satisfaction as she smiled and said, "Xiangyang, your hard work has really paid off. If anyone in our family ever gets a headache or fever again, we might be able to rely on you!"

Su Li looked at him with admiration and gave him a thumbs up: "Brother, you're amazing! I knew you could do it!"

Amidst the constant praise from his family, Su Xiangyang scratched his head somewhat shyly, a bashful smile spreading across his face.

"It's not as amazing as you all say. I was just giving it a try..."

As everyone was talking, they heard a timid voice calling from behind, "Li'er, are you free? I have something to say to you."

Su Li turned around at the sound and found Tao Hua standing outside the Su family courtyard waving at her.

"Father, Mother, I'll be right back."

The two held hands and walked briskly down to the foot of the mountain behind them.

Seeing that no one was around, Peach Blossom breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at Su Li, and hesitated before saying, "Li'er, Young Master Tang is almost fully recovered. He said he plans to go home first to scout out the way."

Su Li was completely stunned when she heard this.

He wanted to go back as soon as he recovered?

Without even thinking, he immediately rejected the idea, saying, "No! It's not the right time yet."

Peach Blossom looked puzzled and was about to ask when Young Master Tang arrived.

After the three met, they decided to go to a dilapidated temple in the mountains to discuss the matter in detail.

Upon arriving at the dilapidated temple, Young Master Tang broke the silence first, saying, "I still think it's better for me to go home alone. Miss Su, you know my family situation is complicated. If Peach Blossom comes back with me, I'm afraid she will encounter danger. I really don't want her to be in any danger."

As he spoke, he looked at Tao Hua, his eyes filled with worry and concern.

Su Li frowned and retorted:

"Young Master Tang, what if you leave and never come back? In that case, can you really control everything on your own?"

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like