Chapter 16 - Entering Yuehua Mountain
Thanks to Somebody for the ko-fi~
Thanks to my editor Gold Fairy~
The sides and back of Lingjia Village was surrounded by the mountains. Compared to the mystery of Yuehua Mountain Range, Dagong and Xiaogong Mountain were very ordinary. The topography of the mountain was also not tall. When it was not farming season, the villager men and married women would go to the mountain and hunt some animals and dig up some herbs. The three, father and sons, after entering the mountain don’t even mention digging up herbs, they didn't even see any wild herbs. These past few years, the dynasty’s rule was not smooth, so the life of the common people was also not well. The grains were not enough. Naturally the wild herbs and fruits on the mountains were also not enough to pick.
“Why don’t we go to Yuehua Mountain?”
Eyes stared at halfway up the mountain. The bamboo basket on his back was still empty. Ling Jingxuan, who was full of confidence, had received a large hit. In his previous life he did not like studying. If he had time, he hunkered in the village head’s teahouse playing mahjong or hid by himself in his house researching poison. But as a 21st century man who transmigrated into this soap opera, he was already running wild. He still somewhat knew some things. When other people transmigrated, if they were not princes, then they were emperors. If not those, then they would be some family’s son of the first wife. If not that, then they would have a golden finger (1). He entered a mountain to casually collect lingzhi mushroom, ginseng, and other rare things. How come when it came to him, this was not doable?
Thinking of these, Ling Jingxuan couldn't help raising a middle finger in his mind. Reality was more cruel than TV or novels.
“What do you mean go to Yuehua Mountain? Dad, do you not want your life anymore? Everyone in the village says Yuehua Mountain has monsters, we can’t go.”
Big Bun’s face was dark. He glared at his dad. Carrying a Y on his face, his appearance was full of dislike, making Ling Jingxuan powerless as black lines appeared on his face, and he rubbed his nose. It’s only been a few days ah, how many times has Big Bun chided him? Exactly who was the elder here?
“Hehe… Daddy’s face turned dark again…”
On the other side, Little Bun covered his mouth and laughed thoughtlessly. Plump eyes twinkling, a five year old child should have that kind of innocence. Ling Jingxuan bent his finger to tap his head. He squatted down and with a straight face told the Big Bun, “Does what the villagers say count? They all said I’m a monster, do you guys think I am? I’ll say it again, I will not go deep into the mountains, only just roam around the bottom of the mountain. Did you forget? I need to get some herbs for Second Uncle to cure him ne.”
Big Bun was intelligent and matured early. He also liked to look at things things as an adult. Seeing his decisiveness he hesitated. Ling Jingxuan continued to persist. “To treat Second Uncle, it needs a very expensive fruit. Don’t we not have money? I want to go to the mountain to see if I can find this fruit. Xiao Wen ah, you need to think clearly eh. If we don’t try our luck, then we can only take the money from selling fish to buy it eh.”
He only needed to mention money. He was certain that the Big Bun would agree.
“You don’t need to worry about the money, it’s left for our urgent needs. We should hurry and go ba.”
Just as expected, Big Bun guarded against him and glared at him but his heel turned around and faced towards Yuehua Mountain to go.
“Eh… is there anyone who would guard themselves against their own daddy like this?”
Ling Jingxuan led the little buns as his entire forehead was covered in black lines. Damn it, when did he say he wanted to touch that pile of money? Even if it was really what he thought, but to be exposed to his son like this, he’s ashamed ok? Even if you beat him to death, he would not admit it.
Halfway up Yuehua Mountain, was constantly surrounded by mist. Most likely, the hilltop was constantly covered by snow, but no one had ever gone up. Normally the villagers would just put traps at the foot of the mountain, dig up some herbs and did not dare to step one foot onto the peak. Ling Jingxuan was carrying the bamboo basket with each hand pulling a child. Father and sons, three people dripping with sweat headed towards the mountain.
“Dad, look quick, there's a lot of fruit eh!”
A place where no one skimmed through was good. In just a short time, Little Bun’s excited cry appeared. As far as the eye could see, the entire mountain was covered in red and green wild fruits. There were some that Ling Jingxuan couldn't even name.
“We will stop around here ba. The flavor of this grape isn't bad, you guys stay here to pick them. Pick as much as you can. I’m going to search nearby to see if there are any herbs I can use.”
Using the sickle to cut the numerous weeds that were as tall as half a person, Ling Jingxuan extended a hand to grab some red grapes and threw it into his mouth. The sweet and sour flavor were at the peak when it entered his mouth. The flavor was better than the 21st century farmers who grafted the plant.
“Wa, so sour ah. Daddy can we not pick this one?”
Little Bun learned from him and picked a grape to toss into his mouth. In an instant, his little face wrinkled into a ball. His face was full of grievance. Big Bun immediately took out the water bag that was prepared earlier and handed it to him.
“You glutton, how are you going to put everything in your mouth?”
His face clearly showed his distress but his mouth continued to nag. The Big Bun didn’t act like a big brother and was almost more like a father. People who didn’t know would never have dreamed that they were twins or that they were only 5 years old.
“Hehe… just pick the jet black ones, they will be sweet, but you can’t only pick the black ones eh!”
In response, Ling Jingxuan lovingly rubbed his head. There were many uses for grapes. Sweet or sour, they all had a use. If he brought some back and planted it in the yard, next year they would lean on it for big money ne.
“Why? If it's not good to eat, why would we pick it?”
The one asking was not Little Bun, rather it was the distressed Big Bun. The Little Bun was still rinsing his mouth with water. Seeing his brows wrinkled, he was clearly very dissatisfied with his dad’s decision.
Ling Jingxuan smiled, slender phoenix eyes swiftly wiped away the joking expression. “If I said that I can turn that deathly sour grape into a big heap of silver money, do you still want to pick?”
“Really?!”
Big Bun’s firm opinion instantly became a money slave. Big eyes turned into the shape of copper coins.
“Haha… You ah, have you drilled yourself into the money ne (2)?”
Ling Jingxuan couldn't help but laugh loudly, finger indulgently and helplessly poking at his head.
It was rare but the Big Bun this time didn’t avoid it. Waving around his hand he urgently asked him, “Dad, say it quickly, can you really turn those sour grapes into money?”
Only needed to make money and he wouldn’t even be willing to eat any of the sweet grapes.
“Of course, your dad is a Tong Sheng ne.”
Well, thanks to this wretched ancient examination system, everything was inferior and only studying was good. Placed in modern times, Tong Sheng at best was like graduating elementary school, but putting it here it was clearly not the same.
As a matter of fact, once these two words ‘Tong Sheng’ appear, Big Bun’s doubt would immediately vanish. He turned around dragging the Little Bun, “Xiao Wu we are going to go pick fruit.”
Looking at his anxious appearance, as if the fruit would disappear, Ling Jingxuan burst into another fit of laughter. This son of his, loves money but also very stingy. He really was something.
***
- Golden Finger: Refers to a cheat/system
- Drilled into the money: Old chinese coins had holes in the middle. Basically he's diving into the hole in the coins as a symbol that he’s greedy for money.
JADE: So theres a lot of sounds/noises they make when they talk that indicates a feeling/mood. I've been putting them in italics so that we can still try to get the feel of the writing style of the series. However for two of them, the pinyin for them is just 'a' and 'e' but it seems a little weird to see a single letter so I'm writing them as 'ah' and 'eh' since its more like how they would be pronounced anyways. Hope everyone doesn't mind too much!
