Chapter 622 - 620: Seeds
Chapter 622: Chapter 620: Seeds
It was only when the paper packet fell and burst open on the ground, scattering the seeds inside, that Su Qing faintly sensed an extremely, extremely faint trace of Spiritual Energy. And this Spiritual Energy was radiating from those very seeds.
Su Qing never would have imagined that in this day and age, she would stumble upon seeds that contained Spiritual Energy. Although the energy was exceptionally faint, it was still a rare find.
In the past two years, Su Qing had been in and out of the mountains many times, but besides those few 800-year-old Purple Danshen plants, she had never seen any other plants or seeds containing Spiritual Energy. Perhaps it was because most modern plants couldn’t retain Spiritual Energy, or maybe the concentration of the energy itself was too low.
These few seeds were the size of mung beans, dark and black, with small bumps on their surface. They looked a bit like the seeds of a four-o’clock flower, but there were also clear differences. For a moment, she couldn’t identify what plant they came from.
"Ah, you want these few seeds?" The man was surprised that Su Qing didn’t want the money, only the seeds. He couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. ’Just a few seeds? She helped me so much, this is hardly a worthy gift.’
"Yes, if that’s okay?" Su Qing asked with a smile.
"It’s okay, of course." The man scratched his head sheepishly. "But I just picked these randomly in the mountains. You helped me so much, this just doesn’t feel like enough. How about this—you take the seeds, but you have to take the money too."
As he spoke, the man quickly squatted down, wrapped the seeds back up, and handed both the seeds and the money to Su Qing.
Su Qing only took the seeds. "The seeds are enough," she said with a smile. "I have a hobby of collecting all sorts of seeds, and I really like these. Do you happen to know what plant they’re from?"
"I don’t know either," the man said with a chuckle. "I just picked them up in the mountains. I have a little daughter who loves to plant flowers and things. Every time I go into the mountains and see some unusual seeds, I make it a habit to grab a few to take home for her to plant for fun."
Su Qing nodded and smiled at the man. "Well, thank you very much. I really like these seeds."
The man was very embarrassed. "I should be the one thanking you. You helped me so much. If it weren’t for you, today would have been a disaster for me."
The surrounding crowd hadn’t dispersed yet, and everyone was chiming in to praise Su Qing. One auntie even came forward to ask if Su Qing was seeing anyone, wanting to set her up on a date.
Su Qing gave an awkward smile, offered a few polite deflections, and quickly pulled Bai Minyun away.
"Su Qing, you like collecting seeds?" Although Bai Minyun couldn’t understand the local dialect Su Qing and the others were speaking, she could guess the general meaning from their actions. Seeing Su Qing carefully put the seeds away, she asked curiously.
"Mhm, I do," Su Qing said with a smile.
Bai Minyun also smiled. "In that case, if I ever get any rare seeds, I’ll give them to you."
"Thanks."
The two of them walked back toward the guest house, chatting and laughing. They were only halfway there when they saw Cao Zhengming and Bai Qingyuan hurrying toward them. Seeing that both Su Qing and Bai Minyun were alright, the two men visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Cao Zhengming said hurriedly, "We just heard from people at the guest house that there was a mad horse on the street that almost trampled someone. You two didn’t run into it, did you?"
When they heard the news, Cao Zhengming and Bai Qingyuan grew worried since Su Qing and Bai Minyun hadn’t returned to the guest house yet. The county town wasn’t very big, and they feared the two girls might have encountered the mad horse, so they rushed out to find them.
"We did," Bai Minyun said. Her words made both Cao Zhengming’s and Bai Qingyuan’s hearts skip a beat. They hurriedly looked the two girls up and down, terrified they might be injured.
Bai Minyun’s face was full of excitement. "Dean Cao, Second Uncle, you have no idea! Su Qing was amazing!"
Right then and there, Bai Minyun recounted in vivid detail how Su Qing had saved the man and subdued the mad horse. Cao Zhengming and Bai Qingyuan were left dumbfounded. They looked at Bai Minyun, then at Su Qing, finding it all a bit hard to believe.
After a long moment, Cao Zhengming finally asked, "Su Qing, you know how to ride a horse? And even tame one?"
"A little," Su Qing said with a smile. She then pointed to the food container in Bai Minyun’s hands. "By the way, Min Yun and I got you some takeout from the restaurant. It should still be warm. Let’s hurry back and eat."
"Oh. Oh." Cao Zhengming and Bai Qingyuan still hadn’t quite processed everything and responded dazedly. A moment later, Cao Zhengming snapped back to his senses and said to Su Qing, "Good grief, you kid! How could you just jump into such a dangerous situation? What if you’d gotten hurt? Think of how worried your grandmother and grandfather would be!"
Cao Zhengming felt a lingering fear. If anything had happened to her, he wouldn’t know how to face the old chief.
"Dean Cao, I’m really fine. Let’s go, let’s get back and eat." Su Qing knew Cao Zhengming and Bai Qingyuan were worried about her safety, so she smilingly changed the subject.
Su Qing and Bai Minyun had originally planned to walk around some more, but Cao Zhengming and Bai Qingyuan were too worried. Even though Bai Minyun’s story was exciting, the two men couldn’t shake their fear, so they ushered the girls back to the guest house.
When they returned to the guest house, the young people who had come with Cao Zhengming were waiting in the lobby. Cao Zhengming hadn’t let them go out with him, afraid they might also run into a crazed horse on the street—there really were a surprising number of horses in this county town.
Seeing Su Qing and Bai Minyun return safely, most of the group breathed a sigh of relief. But Su Qing’s keen senses still picked up on a hostile gaze directed at her.
Su Qing looked over and saw it was the same girl from before, the one who looked vaguely familiar. She couldn’t help but furrow her brows slightly.
When Wu Qiao Ping saw Su Qing look her way, she couldn’t help but purse her lips. A sense of regret welled up inside her. ’Why didn’t this Su Qing run into the startled horse?’
’It would have been great if she’d run into the startled horse and gotten injured. What a pity.’
Bai Minyun also saw the look in Wu Qiao Ping’s eyes and was instantly displeased. She stepped forward and demanded, "Wu Qiao Ping, what’s the meaning of this? What was that look for? What, are you unhappy that Su Qing and I came back safely?"
"Who... who said that?" Wu Qiao Ping knew about Bai Minyun’s family background. Although her own family wasn’t bad, she planned to become a doctor, and the Bai Family held a pivotal position at Beijing First Hospital. She wasn’t about to go out of her way to offend them. "You saw wrong. Why would I be unhappy?"
"Don’t think I didn’t see the look you just gave her. What’s your problem?" Bai Minyun sneered. "And don’t think I don’t know you’ve got it in for Su Qing for no reason. What, did she do something to you? Why are you targeting her for no reason?"
"I’m not! Don’t accuse me wrongly." Although Wu Qiao Ping truly despised Su Qing in her heart, she would never say it out loud. At most, she’d shoot a few dirty looks on the sly. After all, her family couldn’t afford to provoke Su Qing’s maternal grandfather’s family either.
After saying that, Wu Qiao Ping quickly ran back to her room.