Chapter 6: The Dainty Wife and the Helicopter
Chapter 6: The Dainty Wife and the Helicopter
Night fell, and lights flickered on in Crescent Moon Village.
The village committee’s loudspeaker blared about the upcoming village council elections, Chairman Lin Deshan’s voice audible for miles.
Li Zian didn’t care at all who got chosen; becoming village chief himself wasn’t going to happen anyway.
After his afternoon of work, a pot of soup finally finished simmering.
The broth was clear with a faint reddish hue. Floating within were common medicinal herbs like fish mint, gastrodia root, and platycodon root, alongside seasonings such as scallion sections, ginger slices, Sichuan peppercorns, and black sesame seeds. There were also ingredients like chicken feet and morel mushrooms.
The soup was called Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup. According to the Secret Recipe, it generally boosted appetite, strengthened the spleen, promoted urination, calmed the nerves, and nourished qi and blood. But it supposedly had one more magical effect: turning white hair black.
With limited materials, the Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup was the only feasible option Li Zian could concoct. However, the herbs, ingredients, and seasonings were secondary. The most crucial ingredient was the Furnace Body Blood. The Secret Recipe even instructed him to place his cut palm into the clay pot and simmer it over low heat for fifteen minutes. His palm and the Furnace Body Blood were the true “soup base.” Without this step, anyone using the same ingredients would end up with nothing but a pot of plain chicken feet stew.
Simmering a cut hand in boiling water for fifteen minutes wasn’t something an ordinary person could endure.
It took only about ten minutes for the cold water in the clay pot to come to a boil. At first, Li Zian felt nothing. But as the water temperature rose, it got uncomfortable.
Just when he doubted he could last the whole fifteen minutes, the Great Sluggish Cauldron materialized in his mind. The intense heat radiating into his palm seemed to get completely sucked away. He kept his hand resting in the clay pot until the water boiled hard, yet he felt no pain at all. It felt like warm water.
Even more astonishingly, when he pulled his cut left hand out of the pot, the wound had vanished. Not even a scar remained. His left hand had essentially soaked in boiling water, yet the skin remained unblemished and fair; it wasn’t scalded at all.
No scientific theory could explain this.
However, Li Zian was naturally someone who went with the flow. He didn’t agonize over things he couldn’t understand or waste effort searching for the root cause. As long as his hand was fine and the soup tasted good, that was sufficient.
“Zian, is dinner ready? I’m starving!” Lin Shengnan’s voice drifted over.
“It’s ready, I’ll bring it right away,” Li Zian replied. He picked up a ladle, scooped half a ladleful of soup, blew on it gently a few times, and took a small sip.
This messy-looking stew, the Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup, seemed like it might be heavy and savory, but it slid over the tongue silky and smooth, leaving a delightful fragrance on his lips and palate. It tasted incredibly good.
Li Zian thought excitedly, ‘With this Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup alone, I could probably open a restaurant and make decent money. If it really can turn white hair black, the business would explode!’
Minutes later, Li Zian carried the entire pot of Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup into the dining room.
Lin Shengnan was already impatient. The moment he entered, she started scolding him. “Were you stewing an ox head? Taking this long! Do you want to starve me?”
Li Zian, long accustomed to her complaints, wasn’t bothered. “Grandma, this is a special Phoenix Claw Soup I made just for you. Try it,” he said.
He ladled a bowlful and placed it before her, even setting a soup spoon carefully in the bowl.
Lin Shengnan picked up the spoon and took a sip. Her eyes closed slightly until the soup passed her throat. When she opened them again, they shone as she looked at the bowl. She quickly took a second spoonful, then a third.
Li Zian waited for her opinion, but her actions – one sip following another – already told him she loved it.
Lin Shengnan finished the entire small bowl in one go, her curiosity piqued. “Zian, what kind of soup is this?”
Li Zian explained, “It’s called Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup. Drink more, Grandma. It’s supposed to turn white hair black.”
“Magic soup?” Lin Shengnan pursed her lips skeptically. “I don’t believe that. But it is delicious, I’ll give you that much. You’ve made something decent. Pour me another bowl.”
Li Zian refilled her bowl. Watching her enjoy it filled him with a sense of achievement. If he remembered correctly, this was probably the first time Lin Shengnan had ever complimented him since he entered the Yu Family as a live-in son-in-law.
After dinner, Li Zian practiced his Branch-Breaking Boxing for an hour, working up a heavy sweat. After a quick rinse, he went to bed.
Sleeping was equivalent to practicing the Great Slumber Qi Refining Art.
Early the next morning, Li Zian was jolted awake before he’d slept naturally by the village’s blaring loudspeaker.
Chairman Lin Deshan was repeatedly announcing that villagers should attend the election meeting, offering a ten-yuan subsidy for attendance. The constant repetition was grating.
Li Zian got up and headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
It was Lin Shengnan’s birthday today, so he specifically made her a bowl of longevity noodles.
When Lin Shengnan came to the dining room that morning, Li Zian was surprised to see several locks of black hair sprouting on the back of her head.
The Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup really worked!
Lin Shengnan hadn’t noticed yet. Before sitting down and picking up her chopsticks, she announced, “Meilin is coming home today. Prepare more food for lunch.”
“Hmm,” Li Zian responded flatly.
Yu Meilin was returning today, but he felt no joy at all. Not even a shred of anticipation stirred in him.
His wife was, to him, just a familiar stranger.
After finishing the longevity noodles, Lin Shengnan handed two ballots to Li Zian. “Chairman Lin brought these ballots yesterday at noon. I’ve filled them out already. Take them to the village department later and put them in the voting box. Chairman Lin is a good man; we’re from the same Lin family. We’re voting for him. I marked his name on your ballot too.”
Li Zian: “…”
Though a small matter, it clearly showed his position as a live-in son-in-law.
He didn’t even have a say in filling out his own ballot.
Li Zan collected the two ballots. He then returned to the kitchen to prepare ingredients for lunch. Yu Meilin was coming back, and the most he could do for her was stir-fry a few dishes.
Once finished with his chores, it was close to ten o’clock. Li Zian took the two ballots and headed for the village department.
The village department courtyard was packed. Some villagers brought small stools to sit on, others stood. Chairman Lin spoke on the makeshift stage, but people below chatted amongst themselves, creating a hubbub. Children played hide and seek; one hid under the table holding the voting box and was dragged out by the village militia captain wearing a red armband.
This chaotic and noisy scene made Li Zian very uncomfortable. He decided to stand just inside the courtyard entrance, planning only to slip his votes into the box when the time came and leave immediately.
Ma Xiaorong and her husband Chen Gang were also there. Chen Gang still had a medicinal plaster stuck to his wrist.
“Isn’t that Li Zian?” A village woman spotted him while turning around to spit, pulling at Ma Xiaorong’s sleeve.
Ma Xiaorong and Chen Gang both turned to look at Li Zian. Hatred radiated from both their gazes.
Li Zian didn’t care one bit. If Chen Gang wanted trouble again, he’d simply fight him. Chen Gang couldn’t beat him anyway.
“Start voting now, everyone!” Chairman Lin Deshan’s amplified voice boomed. “I remind you: Don’t scribble nonsense on the ballots; they’ll be invalid if you do.”
The villagers began voting, with no orderly queue formed. They jostled and pushed.
Li Zian waited until the crowd at the voting box thinned a little before walking over, dropping his two ballots inside, and turning to leave.
Suddenly, Chen Gang leaped onto the stage. Slamming his ballot down on the table, he leaned close to the microphone beside Lin Deshan’s head and shouted, “I vote for Li Zian to be village chief!”
Lin Deshan immediately frowned. “Chen Gang, this isn’t a place for your nonsense!”
Li Zian frowned as well, turning to stare at Chen Gang.
Chen Gang’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “It’s not nonsense! Li Zian’s done well for himself! If we elect him chief, he can lead us all to eat soft rice and get rich together! Hahaha!”
The entire courtyard erupted in raucous laughter.
A cold glint entered Li Zian’s eyes. He started walking toward the stage and Chen Gang.
The militia captain hurried over to block his path, wrapping his arms around Li Zian to prevent him from getting onto the stage.
Chen Gang sneered. “Let me tell you all a secret! There’s a woman in our village who…”
Li Zian shoved the militia captain aside with fierce strength and charged at the stage.
This time, he wouldn’t quit until he’d beaten Chen Gang half to death! He swore on his surname Li!
WHUMPH-WHUMPH-WHUMPH!
A helicopter suddenly plunged from the hilltop, the roar of its rotors drowning out Chen Gang’s voice instantly.
Li Zian was blocked by several militia members maintaining order.
Chen Gang, too, was shoved off the stage by Lin Deshan.
But the villagers’ attention was now completely captured by the unexpected helicopter. Nobody bothered watching Li Zian and Chen Gang anymore.
A fight was boring; a helicopter was fascinating.
Seeing a helicopter was a rare treat for mountain villagers; it was truly a novelty.
The helicopter flew over the village headquarters and descended directly onto a section of the vegetable garden right in front of it.
The villagers surged out of the village headquarters like a swarm.
The helicopter’s engine sputtered and died. The door opened; an aluminum ladder extended downwards. A young woman stepped out and descended the steps.
Dozens of eyes focused on the woman.
She stood at least over five foot eight. Underneath her black bodycon skirt, legs that seemed to go on forever made up two-thirds of her height. Her frame was exceptionally tall yet perfectly proportioned: striking curves in all the right places, coupled with a slender willow-waist, resulting in a scorching hot figure. On top of that, her face was naturally lovely and elegant, pleasing to the eye even without makeup… impossible not to adore.
“Isn’t that the Yu family’s daughter?”
“It’s Yu Meilin. Yes, definitely her!”
“Holy cow, she struck it rich? Coming back by helicopter?”
“How much does a helicopter like this cost? Gotta be hundreds of thousands, right?”
“Maybe not that much…”
“She must’ve landed a sugar daddy outside. She’s definitely back to divorce Li Zian.”
“Of course! Li Zian, a lowly farmer, how could he ever match up to the Yu family’s daughter.”
The villagers chattered and gossiped, each theory wilder than the last, their imaginations running rampant.
Li Zian had planned to rush Chen Gang and give him a thorough thrashing amidst the chaos. But the moment he saw Yu Meilin step out of the helicopter, his mind and eyes were focused solely on her.
Yu Meilin returned every year on this day. But the previous three times, she’d come back in a rented car. This time… she arrived in her own helicopter?
Li Zian felt utterly confused.
Just what was going on?
Truly, the constraints of poverty can severely limit one’s powers of imagination.