Chapter 426 - 370: Worth It
Chapter 426: Chapter 370: Worth It
In the early morning, Xiao Man walked out of the house and stretched in the doorway. She watched a young woman slowly practicing Tai Chi in front of a rose trellis covered in vibrant flowers and couldn’t help but chuckle.
Xinghua was completely focused and serious. Without turning her head, she said, "Go wash your face. Don’t laugh at me. I’ve only been learning from Grandma for a few months."
"Where are Grandpa and Grandma?" Xiao Man asked, walking a few steps closer.
"Grandma finished her practice and went to the back garden to pick vegetables. Grandpa took Uncle Tang, Hao Hao, and Shaoyu to the herb garden. It’s more spacious there, the air is better, and it’s more suitable for training. My parents and my younger brother and sister are all practicing over there."
Xiao Man saw that Xinghua’s movements were all very precise, which showed that Grandma was a rigorous and dedicated teacher. She asked casually, "Have you learned the Five Animals Qigong?"
Xinghua shook her head and smiled. "No. I’m a slow learner, and I pick up the boxing forms too slowly. Even Qiuyan learns faster than me. When I tried the Five Animals Qigong moves, they looked so awful that Da Zhi and Dapeng couldn’t even stand to watch. I was too embarrassed to continue. Grandpa said if I can master this set of Tai Chi Boxing, it’s good enough for fitness and self-defense, and I’m content with that!"
"Yes, you have to keep practicing diligently. At your current pace, skipping even one day will set you back several steps."
"Then I’ll definitely stick with it!" Xinghua said, turning to look at Xiao Man as part of one of the movements. "Aren’t you going to practice?"
Xiao Man said, "When you’re done, I’ll perform the entire Sun-style Tai Chi set for you, all in one continuous flow."
"Oh, great!" Xinghua said, delighted.
Xiao Man grabbed her towel and toothbrush and went to the well to draw water and wash up. A trace of regret was in her heart. ’Grandpa and Grandma don’t have a Spirit Root. Neither do Mo Jiabao and Wuhua, or Xinghua, Dapeng, and Qiuyan. Last night, when I handed the gift to Da Zhi, I probed his meridians... he doesn’t have one either.’
Fortunately, Grandpa had mastered the ancient Five Animals Qigong and Sun-style Tai Chi. He had also passed them down to his children and grandchildren. As long as each generation persisted and ensured the arts weren’t lost, it would guarantee that Grandpa’s branch of the Mo family would remain strong and healthy, with lifespans longer than ordinary people.
By the time Xinghua finished watching Xiao Man perform the thirty-six forms of Sun-style Tai Chi, she was so excited her hands were balled into fists under her chin, her mouth was agape in an "O," and her eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets. When Xiao Man concluded the form and walked over, Xinghua finally snapped out of it, jumping to her feet. She grabbed Xiao Man and started rambling incoherently.
"That can’t be the same set I’m learning! Heavens, you moved so fast you were just a blur! It was absolutely stunning! I want to see it again, I want to see it again!"
Xiao Man laughed. "It is the same set. You just need to practice harder. Once you’ve mastered the basic forms, I can help you improve while I’m still here on vacation. I bet by this time next year, you’ll be able to perform the whole set in a dazzling display just like me!"
"Really?"
"I’m not kidding."
Xinghua burst into a fit of giggles, her delicate face glowing with a stunning, vibrant light. It shone in harmony with the waves of dew-kissed roses blooming behind her, creating a scene even more breathtaking than the morning sun breaking through the clouds on the eastern horizon.
Xiao Man was stunned by the sight. She suddenly remembered her camera and dashed back into the house to find it. However, when Xinghua saw her run off without a word, she thought something was wrong and ran after her. In the end, Xiao Man found her camera, but the stunning, natural, and pure beauty of that moment was gone, never to be recaptured. Xinghua reluctantly agreed to model and strike a pose, but as for faking a smile when there was nothing to smile about? She said she just couldn’t do it!
Xinghua was also an excellent cook. Whenever she was at the stove, she wouldn’t let Xiao Man anywhere near, guaranteeing that while her food might not be as tasty as Xiao Man’s, it definitely wouldn’t be bad!
A confident and happy Xinghua was both beautiful and captivating. Xiao Man was thrilled to see her transformation. Glancing back, she saw Grandma sitting peacefully in the courtyard, peeling tender melon shoots. ’It’s clear now,’ Xiao Man thought. ’Grandpa and Grandma must have put a lot of thought and effort into helping Xinghua change. Thankfully, it all paid off.’
Unable to help in the kitchen, Xiao Man went over to Grandma and started preparing vegetables with her. Grandma glanced toward the kitchen doorway and asked Xiao Man in a low voice, "Do you remember why your Sister Xinghua was targeted by those people?"
Xiao Man froze, then answered instinctively, "I heard from my aunt... it was because a middle school teacher liked her, and it made other people resentful..."
Grandma nodded and sighed. "I don’t know what kind of fate you’d call it! That teacher, the one with the surname Jiang, came to our house last year during winter break... At first, your Uncle Jiabao and your aunt refused. Xinghua hid from him, too. But he just wouldn’t leave. He said he’d rather lose his job than leave Xinghua. Your Grandpa talked to him over and over, then asked Xinghua again, and finally, they gave their consent."
"Their consent for what?"
"For him to marry Xinghua, of course."
"And Sister Xinghua... she likes him too?"
"Sigh... Your Sister Xinghua had probably set her heart on that boy a long time ago. Ever since they made things official, I’ve noticed she isn’t so withdrawn anymore. Your second uncle came home for the Lantern Festival, and after your Grandpa told him about it, he talked to the young man about getting him transferred here. The young man was more than willing. Last night, your second uncle said it’s all been arranged. Next semester, he’ll be a teacher at Guan City Middle School. Your Sister Xinghua is also going to officially start her studies in September, so she can go to Wancheng with him, and he can help tutor her."
"Oh, I see. I think that’s great too," Xiao Man said, thinking to herself, ’So Grandpa keeping Tang Qingyun around is actually quite useful sometimes.’
Xinghua finished making breakfast and had already fed the chickens, ducks, and pigs, but there was still no sign of the group from the herb garden. Only Da Zhi, Dapeng, and Qiuyan came running back. They said everyone had already started working. Uncle Tang, Hao Hao, and Brother Shaoyan were helping harvest the herbs and were having so much fun they’d gotten into the swing of it and didn’t want to come back. They asked for breakfast to be brought over.
Grandma and Xinghua packed up the breakfast that needed to be delivered. The rest of them at the house ate their fill first. Da Zhi went to the backyard to drive the cow up the mountain to graze, Dapeng hoisted two bamboo baskets onto his shoulders, and the group locked the courtyard gate and headed toward the nearby herb plantation.
Stepping through the plantation gate, Xiao Man stared at the scenery before her, shocked and overjoyed. It was a vibrant, lush green world that looked like something out of a fairy tale. The place seemed as if it had been enchanted. The transformation was immense. ’Is this really the same plantation I helped build?’ she wondered, unable to be certain. ’It’s only been a little over a year, not even two, and it’s already grown like this!’
No wonder Hao Hao and Shaoyu didn’t even want to come back for breakfast. They must have been too captivated to leave.
’The herb seedlings from my space are just too overpowered,’ she thought. ’It’s a good thing I stayed in Beijing for a whole year and didn’t come back. Otherwise, if I had watered them with the spiritual spring water just one more time, these plants would have grown even more wildly. Even the most oblivious person would sense how strange this garden is!’
’So what do I do now?’ Xiao Man gently shook her head. ’I’m taking a huge risk here. I just have to hope we can sell off these first few harvests in large quantities, and quickly. It’ll take at least three or four years before the garden’s prosperity can be considered normal.’
After they followed the cobblestone path up the slope for a stretch, Xinghua pulled Xiao Man to a stop and pointed. A sprinkler head was slowly rotating, continuously spraying a column of water into the air. The water then fell like a fine mist, silently nourishing the beds of newly sprouted seedlings in the neat rows below. Xiao Man was amazed. ’The facilities at this little plantation are pretty impressive! They’re actually using a modern irrigation system far beyond the current standards for a rural village—the kind of thing you only see in science documentaries.’
"You used to have to carry buckets of water to irrigate. To spray it directly like this, you must have a water tower, right?" Xiao Man asked.
Xinghua smiled and nodded. "That’s right! We dug a well at the foot of the slope with a machine, pumped the water up to a tower on the top, and then installed all the pipes and sprinklers. There are all sorts of different ways to spray and irrigate now. It’s so new and fun! It was actually Uncle Tang’s idea. He suggested it to Grandpa, so Grandpa went to the commune’s agricultural science institute. The people there then took Grandpa to the county officials, and then to the provincial level, and they managed to get this whole system set up. It cost a lot of money, but Grandpa says it was worth it!"