Chapter Forty-Nine: The Great Immortal

Hearing this, Chen Ling laughed heartily. "You really don’t need to worry about that."

"This morning, I went to the fields and saw those sickly trees from before—they’re all sprouting new branches and tender leaves now. They’re growing very well."

"Otherwise, how could I have thought of planting fruit trees?"

"Really?" Wang Susu’s eyes lit up with surprise, almost unable to believe it.

Chen Ling waved away the buzzing bees hovering nearby and said, "Of course it’s true. This afternoon, I’ll take you to the fields and you’ll see for yourself."

"Alright," Wang Susu nodded with a bright smile and then asked, "Are you going out this morning?"

"No, just going to Uncle San Gui’s house to see if he can make us an ox cart in the next few days," Chen Ling replied.

Uncle San Gui was Chen San Gui, the man who had taken in Xizi. He was the village’s old carpenter, nearly seventy years old but with steadier hands than many young men. His woodworking was exquisite.

When Chen Ling and Wang Susu got married, their wedding bed, wardrobe, combined cabinet, and even the chest of drawers were all made by Chen San Gui. Not only was the workmanship delicate, but the quality was excellent.

Chen Ling remembered this when he thought about having an ox cart made and immediately thought of the old man.

“Oh, do you have money on you?” Wang Susu inquired.

“Yes, I have quite a bit on me, don’t worry,” Chen Ling smiled. “Besides, there’s no rush to pay him now. We can pay after the ox cart is finished.”

Wang Susu thought it over and didn’t say anything more.

Chen Ling then left the house and headed toward Chen San Gui’s home.

His house was at the northeast corner of the village, the very last household. It had mud walls, and to the north was a small slope overgrown with miscellaneous trees, making it easy to recognize.

However, when Chen Ling arrived, he found the old man wasn’t home. He knocked, but only the dogs inside were barking; no one answered.

After a while, a woman living nearby came out and said Chen San Gui had gone to help Er Zhu’s family build a greenhouse.

Chen Ling suddenly understood and asked around, learning that all the men in the surrounding households had gone there.

“This guy, even the men from the Sixth Brigade were called over,” Chen Ling muttered, impressed.

In the past, Chen Wang Village had been divided into seven brigades. Though now under a village committee system, the farmland was still organized by these brigades.

Chen Ling’s family’s old farmland was to the southwest, now the site where Er Zhu was building the greenhouse, part of the Seventh Brigade.

The wasteland at the foot of the mountain was in the northwest corner, reclaimed by Er Zhu’s father. Later, they opened a lime factory there, so it was no longer counted as farmland and didn’t belong to any brigade.

"With the Seventh and Sixth Brigades combined, there must be at least a hundred or so men. If they work for a month or two, that’s thirty thousand yuan gone," Chen Ling thought bitterly. "That Er Zhu bastard is so arrogant now that he’s married to a wealthy woman."

He grumbled inwardly as he walked home, realizing that if Chen San Gui was busy at Er Zhu’s greenhouse, he wouldn’t be able to make the ox cart anytime soon.

Looks like he’d have to wait over a month.

Back at home, the courtyard was filled with bees and butterflies fluttering around the crabapple blossoms.

When Chen Ling left earlier, there had only been a few bees, but now there was a swarm—most likely wild bees, common in the mountains.

There were also many butterflies, mostly white and yellow, which didn’t look very attractive.

“Huh? Ah Ling, you’re back so soon?” Wang Susu, sitting under the grape trellis weaving a medicine basket, looked surprised.

“Yeah, Uncle San Gui wasn’t home; he went to Er Zhu’s place to work,” Chen Ling replied.

He glanced at the new tender leaves on the grape branches and then at the bees and butterflies in the courtyard, puzzled. “Why are there so many bees and butterflies around these crabapple flowers today?”

Wang Susu looked up and said, “It’s warmer now, so it’s normal to see more bees and butterflies. Look at the ground—ants are crawling everywhere.”

Chen Ling looked and saw it was true. He went under the jujube tree, found an ant nest, pinched a few ants, and tossed them into the pocket dimension.

Then he moved to the crabapple flowers, quickly caught a few bees and butterflies, and put them into the pocket dimension as well.

“Ah Ling, what are you doing? Acting like a child,” Wang Susu laughed, watching him catch bees and butterflies.

“Ha ha, it’s fun,” Chen Ling chuckled.

He was simply conducting a small experiment by putting these creatures into the pocket dimension.

As the couple chatted, suddenly urgent barking came from outside.

“Stop that noise! Go away, all of you!” came the voice of Old Lady Wang.

The dogs immediately fell silent after being scolded.

“Did our two little dogs run off again?” Chen Ling recognized the barking and looked around for Hei Wa and Xiao Jin but couldn’t find them.

Wang Susu also stood up and looked around, frowning. “Those two little ones were just lying by my feet a moment ago. Now they’re gone—it must mean they ran out.”

“Shall I go check?” Chen Ling said as he headed outside.

“It’s nothing, Ah Ling. Don’t worry. Aunt Wang isn’t like Dong Mei,” Wang Susu followed, reassuring him.

But just as they reached the door, the dogs started barking again, more frantically this time, not just Hei Wa and Xiao Jin but several dogs nearby.

Chen Ling quickened his pace and stepped outside, where Old Lady Wang was just coming out of Qin Dongmei’s backyard.

She muttered, “What’s gotten into these dogs today? Barking nonstop.”

When she looked toward the source of the barking, she froze.

Behind her house, near a pile of waste coal slag, five or six dogs were jumping and barking furiously.

Chen Ling and Wang Susu noticed something was wrong and hurried over.

Approaching, they saw at the edge of the coal slag pile near the yard wall, two small yellow creatures—one lying motionless on the ground, apparently dead.

The other darted around, snarling fiercely at the dogs.

“Oh my heavens!” Old Lady Wang’s face went pale at the sight of the two yellow creatures, nearly fainting.

“Is that… a weasel?” Wang Susu asked.

Chen Ling nodded, “Yes, it’s a weasel.”

Old Lady Wang, too flustered to greet them properly, hurried forward to shoo the dogs aside.

Looking at the dead weasel first, then the live one, she mournfully said, “Heavens above, this is a big grudge now.”

Hei Wa and Xiao Jin, seeing Chen Ling and Wang Susu approach, excitedly darted toward the dead weasel, wanting praise.

Old Lady Wang’s face immediately changed with fear, and she hurriedly scolded and drove the two little dogs away.

Then she bowed and kowtowed repeatedly toward the live weasel by the wall.

“Great spirit, great spirit, please forgive us humans’ offenses. The village dogs didn’t mean to offend you. Please don’t take it to heart. I will burn incense and kowtow for you tonight…”