Fields of Gold

Xiaocao had a general and imperial envoy as her new godfather, but there wasn’t much change to her current lifestyle. She had always kept a low profile when doing things, so no one in Dongshan Village knew that Yu Xiaocao had such a powerful godfather, except for the Yu Family at the old residence and the Zhao Family.

At the beginning, Yu Hai and Madam Liu still acted very cautiously in front of General Fang. Later, under their daughter’s influence, they were also able to face him in a calm manner. Now, everyone had already treated the bold and unrestrained General Fang, who often came to eat at their house, as a relative.

In a blink of an eye, a month had already gone by. Under the warming weather and lovely spring days, the vegetation on the West Mountains radiated with vitality. In Xiaocao’s family’s three plots of farmland, the watermelon vines had extended, and the green leaves appeared as if they had been dyed. There were small, light yellow watermelon flowers on the melon vines. Some of the female flowers already bore tiny, green watermelons.  

Yu Xiaocao carried a small wooden bucket and held a ladle in another hand. Yu Hang, who had already recovered, carried a load of water on his not-so-broad shoulders and followed behind his younger sister.

Xiaocao looked back and saw the dense beads of sweat on her older brother’s forehead. Her heart somewhat ached for him, “Older Brother, if you’re tired, take a break. I reckon we should just borrow Uncle Zhou’s wheelbarrow. We just need to make four or five trips and we will have enough to water the watermelon fields. Had Father not driven the donkey cart to the docks, we wouldn’t have to go through this trouble!”

“It’s not troublesome. Isn’t it just carrying a few loads of water? Our buckets are all a small size that was specially made by Father, so how heavy can they be? It’s so much easier than when I had to move timber!” Yu Hang smiled at his younger sister, and his handsome face showed a healthy glow because he was carrying water. What a handsome young man!

“Aiyo! Isn’t this Xiaosha and Xiaocao?! Are you guys going to water the fields again? Tell Uncle Wang, what exactly are you guys planting in your fields? The flowers look quite beautiful!” Wang Ergou, who had been forced by his wife to come water the fields, asked with a grin.

There was little rain this spring. Fortunately, there was a stream flowing through Dongshan Village, which flowed down from the West Mountains. Even in the dry season, the stream rarely stopped flowing. Thus, it was more convenient for the villagers of Dongshan Village to get water and irrigate their farmland than villagers of other villages.

The siblings were familiar with his personality. If they didn’t tell him, he might come back to visit their melon field tonight. Although there wasn’t anything to steal right now, she would be distressed if he trampled on the melon seedlings.

With a sweet smile on her face, Xiaocao said, “Uncle Wang, our family is growing watermelons, which is a kind of fruit. It’s very valuable! The flowers just started blooming now. Uncle Wang, your family lives closer, so please help us keep an eye on them. Don’t let those naughty children harm them!”

Wang Ergou’s eyes darted around, and then he nodded solemnly, “As fellow villagers, even if you didn’t ask me, I would still help you guys look after them. Xiaocao, what does this watermelon thing look like? Is it tasty? Uncle Wang has never heard of it… Aiyo, who’s twisting my ear?”

He turned around and saw his family’s tigress glaring at him with her hands on her waist. The anger on his face disappeared in a flash and he smiled flatteringly at her, “Wife, why did you pull on my ear? Am I not working right now? I didn’t loaf on the job!”

Ergou’s wife looked at him from head to toe, and caused him to feel scared inwardly, before she said, “I know what you just pooped as soon as you stick up your butt! Tell me, why are you asking about their watermelons? What’s your intention? Wang Ergou, I’m warning you! No matter how good other people’s things are, we’re not allowed to keep thinking about them! If you repeat your old habits, I’ll bring our baby back to my parent’s house! I can’t let you teach bad things to our baby!!”

Wang Ergou immediately became well-behaved. He nodded his head very obediently and promised, “Wife, look at you! I’m just curious about what a watermelon looks like. What other thoughts would I have? Rest assured! I have changed! I have really changed!!”

Wang Ergou was nearly thirty when he finally got married. They had been married for almost five years, but there still wasn’t any good news. Recently, his wife had been vomiting everything she ate and gave him a terrible fright. Doctor You was away with his grandnephew and he didn’t trust Xiaocao’s medical skills, so he borrowed a cart and took his wife to see a doctor in town.

The old doctor took her pulse and immediately told him that he was going to be a father. He was so happy that he laughed like a fool and showed off whenever he saw someone, “My wife is pregnant! I’m going to be a father!” Ergou’s wife was so embarrassed that she pinched the flesh on his waist until it was bruised.  

When they returned, Wang Ergou treated his wife like she was a Bodhisattva, and would do his best to get whatever his wife wanted to eat. During the time when Ergou’s wife had morning sickness, she almost threw up everything that she eats. She vomited so much that she was about to spit out her guts.

Fortunately, when Yu Xiaocao found out, she sent them a few batches of greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes. At that time, Wang Ergou had even muttered in his heart that the Yu Family was stingy, to gift others with vegetables that every family had. Unexpectedly, after his wife ate a tomato, her morning sickness seemed to have suddenly disappeared and she ate everything with relish.

But, after Ergou’s wife finished the vegetables that the Yu Family sent over, she languished again. Ergou’s wife was also a diligent person. They also grew cucumbers in their vegetable fields, let alone green leafy vegetables. However, none of them suited her appetite and her morning sickness started again!

Wang Ergou hastily went to the Yu Residence and bought tomatoes, cucumbers, and some greens. The Yu Family’s produce had always been two or three times more expensive than other sellers. But, since they were neighbors, the Yu Family not only didn’t request him to pay the higher price, but they also sold the vegetables at a cheaper price than normal vendors. So Wang Ergou and his wife were very grateful.

Ergou’s wife’s pregnancy was becoming more apparent now. After her morning sickness completely stopped, she gained back the weight that she had lost earlier. The competent Ergou’s wife could usually handle watering all their family’s farmland by herself. However, it was a crucial period for her right now. So how could Wang Ergou be willing to let his wife do heavy labor? Thus, he gritted his teeth and took over the task while patting his chest.

Ergou’s wife knew about her husband’s usual conduct, so she was worried about him watering the fields. She quietly followed and monitored him, and thus came across him inquiring the Yu siblings! Seeing his eyes darting around ceaselessly, Ergou’s wife knew that her husband was getting ideas about those watermelons.

The Yu Family’s friendly sentiments of gifting and selling them vegetables was something that Ergou’s wife remembered deeply within her heart. How could she permit her husband to have any malicious intent? Recently, the best threat was to say that she would return to her parent’s house with their baby. It worked every single time! Sure enough, her husband was vowing and making guarantees to her, and acting very obedient.

Yu Xiaocao watched the interaction between the peculiar couple. It seemed like the two were constantly bickering, but their feelings for each other were deep and strong. Rather than saying that Wang Ergou was afraid of his wife, it was better to say that he cherished her deeply. He liked to quarrel with her at times, but he still acted according to his wife’s wishes.

Xiaocao and her older brother waved goodbye to the couple and arrived at their family’s melon fields. Looking at the green vines and tiny spots of yellow flowers in the fields, she felt as if she could see a big and round watermelon waving its hands at her.

Yu Hang bent his knees to steadily put the buckets on the ground. Then he put down the carrying pole in his hands and took the ladle in Xiaocao’s hands. He was about to go water the fields, but he was stopped by his youngest sister.

Under her older brother’s questioning gaze, Yu Xiaocao scooped some water from her own bucket and poured it into the buckets that Yu Hai was carrying. After she poured a ladle of water into both buckets, she told Yu Hang, “Alright, you can go water the fields now!”

Yu Hang felt puzzled as he looked at Xiaocao’s bucket and softly asked, “Youngest Sister, is there something special with your bucket of water? Why do you always pour a ladle of it in when we’re watering the fields?”

Yu Xiaocao looked around and then she deluded, “Shhh! Don’t be so loud!! This is a fertilizer that I specially made that can fertilize the soil! It was also thanks to this fertilizer that our family had such a high yield of sweet potatoes last year!”

“Oh… I see! Youngest Sister, you know so much. You even know how to make fertilizers. If this formula can be made public, then it will definitely benefit a lot of people!” She hadn’t expected that Yu Hang had the potential to be a saint. No way! She must destroy this quality immediately!

Xiaocao appeared even more mysterious as she moved closer to him and whispered, “This kind of fertilizer was made with a celestial item that the God of Fortune gave me. When the God of Fortune gave it to me, he specially warned that, as a mere mortal, using the celestial item would definitely consume a certain amount of my vital energy. Thus, it shouldn’t be frequently used. Otherwise, it will cause damage to the body!”

As soon as Xiaocao’s health was implicated, Yu Hang instantly changed his mind, “Since the use of the celestial item could harm your body, then don’t use it anymore! Increasing the yield isn’t important! Your health, which had gotten better after much difficulty, is the most important.”

“It’s alright. I tried it out already! As long as I don’t overuse it, it won’t do much harm to my body. I will just feel slightly tired!” Yu Xiaocao continued to fabricate her white lies.

After hearing that, Yu Hang finally felt relieved and bent down to water the melon fields. But he continued to say, “In the future, try to use it as little as possible—by the way, what exactly does the celestial item you mentioned look like?”

Yu Xiaocao panicked for a moment and then saw the increasingly dazzling multicolored stone on her wrist. She calmed down and said, “Here! This is a celestial stone!”

Yu Hang looked at it and vaguely remembered that this little multicolored stone seemed to have appeared after his youngest sister got injured and went into a coma. He became slightly more convinced and laughed, “I thought this was a pretty stone that you picked up in the mountains, so it turned out that it was a divine treasure. You must store it properly and don’t let a wicked person steal it away!”

“It’s no use even it someone steals it! Celestial items will recognize its owner, so it will come back itself even if it got stolen!” Yu Xiaocao raised her eyebrows and had composed smile on her face.

After hearing her words, Yu Hang was finally relieved and sincerely complimented, “What a treasure!”

[Of course! This Divine Stone is an enlightened celestial stone smelted by Goddess Nuwa for a total of forty-nine days, who she had kept by her side for a long period of time. The world’s one of a kind treasure!!] The little divine stone transformed into a little golden kitten and appeared on Xiaocao’s shoulder out of thin air, with a proud expression.

Suddenly, it seemed to have thought of something, and drooped its head and said, [Ay, I wonder if Goddess Nuwa would be lonely without me by her side. Without me, Goddess Nuwa’s monotonous period of seclusion would be so dull…]

Yu Xiaocao caressed its little head and whispered, “Then you need to help me out more. You should strive to recover your spiritual power earlier, break out of the void, and return to Goddess Nuwa’s side.”

[I want to, too! But your life is so peaceful that there’s not much that I need to help you with! How much improvement can I make when I only need to produce some mystic-stone water every day?] There was a slight sense of dissatisfaction within little divine stone’s tone. It jumped off of Xiaocao’s shoulder and ran around in the watermelon fields.