Wei Qifeng and his wife were back, meaning there were more mouths to feed, so Mrs. Wei deftly whipped up a few more dishes to fill the table. The family sat together and enjoyed a hearty lunch.
In the afternoon, Chun Mian didn't go out. Instead, she focused on tending to her herbs in the backyard. Because Wei Qihai was around, Chun Mian couldn't easily use her superpower. Most of the ginseng seeds had been planted in nursery trays. She was waiting to see their germination and survival rate before transplanting them to the backyard. In truth, with Chun Mian's superpower, all these seeds were guaranteed to sprout.
Chun Mian had kept five ginseng seeds hidden away. She planned to secretly accelerate their growth while Wei Qihai wasn't looking, so she could use them for her medicinal wine. The second distillation was coming up soon, so Chun Mian had to get her herbs ready. Besides that, she also planned to develop some other things. Relying solely on medicinal wine was too monotonous.
Since there were people at home, Mrs. Wei headed out to the fields in the afternoon. It wasn't until she was in the fields and had been working for half the day that she belatedly turned to Old Man Wei beside her and asked, "Old man, did our Shumei carry that pig back all by herself?"
"Yeah," Old Man Wei replied with a smile, not yet realizing what was wrong. His expression was easy to read; that was his daughter, and he was proud of her.
"That pig weighed almost three hundred catties, and Shumei carried it back all by herself. Don't you have anything to say about that?" Mrs. Wei wondered why Old Man Wei, who was usually quite smart, was acting as dumb as a stump right now.
Hearing Mrs. Wei's words, Old Man Wei's expression stiffened as he fell silent for a moment. Clearly, he had only just realized the problem. But Chun Mian really was the one who had carried the pig back; everyone had seen it. Furthermore, from the looks of it, she had carried it with ease.
"Is our daughter a strongwoman?" Old Man Wei ventured a guess.
Mrs. Wei's face darkened when she heard this. "She was perfectly fine when she was at home. She just married into the Gao family for a brief stint, and now she's turned into a strongwoman? The Gao family are absolute scum! Pah! I... &%#..." Unable to control herself, Mrs. Wei stood in their field, cursing a blue streak.
Old Man Wei took a step back, startled by Mrs. Wei's sudden change in demeanor. However, Wei Shuxiang, who was listening nearby, thought her mother made a lot of sense and quickly joined the cursing brigade. As the mother and daughter cursed up a storm, Old Man Wei felt his temples throbbing with an intense ache.
Back at home, Chun Mian was naturally completely unaware of this. She was currently mentoring Wei Qihai. Chun Mian didn't teach step-by-step like Grandpa Wei used to. Instead, she taught as she pleased, saying whatever came to mind. Grandpa Wei had taught Wei Qihai before, but the results had been lackluster. This indicated one of two things: either Wei Qihai lacked talent, or the teaching method didn't suit him. Although Chun Mian thought Wei Qihai didn't seem very bright, she decided to adjust her methods to see if it would help. If that still didn't work, then he could just be an obedient, errand-running little apprentice.
One afternoon was enough for Chun Mian to figure out exactly which category Wei Qihai fell into. As it turned out, even after switching up her methods a few times, Wei Qihai still seemed lacking in the brains department. Since his talent was inherently limited and Chun Mian had her own tasks to complete, she really didn't have the patience to slowly mold a young man here. So, it was best to just let him run errands for her. At most, when she became successful in the future, she would just look after him a bit more.
There wasn't much excitement in the village. The only forms of entertainment were radios and televisions. Not every household had these, either. There were only two televisions in the entire village: one at the village chief's house and the other at the butcher's. Even though the Wei Family was decently well-off, they still had three unmarried children to provide for. It was impossible for Old Man Wei to buy a luxury item like a television. The most they could do was let the children crowd into the village chief's house to join the fun. During the summer, the village chief would be more generous and move the television into his courtyard so the villagers could come over and watch.
Because there wasn't much entertainment, the news of Chun Mian carrying a wild boar back home circulated around the village for half a month before the hype finally began to die down.
At the end of September, Chun Mian's grand medicinal wine project finally commenced. After the second distillation, Chun Mian left ten catties of high-proof white liquor for the family and repeatedly distilled a small bottle of pure alcohol for herself. The rest was all used to steep various medicinal wines.
Every time she saw Chun Mian fiddling with her medicinal wines, Mrs. Wei felt a pang of heartache. Old Man Wei didn't drink all the white liquor that Chun Mian had specifically set aside for the family. Instead, he shared some of it with his brothers. Even among blood brothers, there was an expectation of reciprocity. Therefore, his brothers also sent some gifts back to the family.
Once the autumn harvest ended, the winter vegetables were planted, and the overwintering crops were sown, the villagers slowly began to enjoy some idle time.
As November rolled in, the weather grew increasingly colder. Although it generally didn't snow in Xiao Wo Village, the winters were still bitterly cold. A thin layer of ice would form over the ground, making it easy to slip and fall if one wasn't careful while walking.
One day, while Chun Mian was at home mixing medicinal ointments, she heard a commotion outside.
"Sis, Sis, Sis..." Before Chun Mian could even go out to check, Wei Qihai sprinted in, shouting frantically, "Quick, quick! Third Uncle Wei fell down the mountain!"
Upon hearing it was Third Uncle Wei, Chun Mian immediately stopped what she was doing. She grabbed a few ointments from her cabinet, along with a bottle of medicinal wine, tossed them into a small wooden box, and rushed out. Just as Chun Mian stepped out of her room, Third Uncle Wei was already being carried in.
"Shumei, take a look at your Third Uncle. See if you can treat him. If you can't, we need to figure out a way to get him to the hospital immediately," Old Man Wei said, rushing at the forefront. He looked a bit disheveled, but his expression remained relatively calm. Behind Old Man Wei, a group of male cousins were carrying a bloodied figure.
"Put him on the brick bed first," Chun Mian instructed, gesturing for the men to carry Third Uncle Wei into the east room. After pushing her way through the crowd, Chun Mian finally got a clear look at him. Third Uncle Wei had indeed suffered a nasty fall. Half of his body was drenched in blood, and so was half of his face. He was in a miserable state, covered in dry grass and muddy water stains.
Third Uncle Wei's padded cotton jacket had already been removed, leaving only his unlined inner garment. Chun Mian reached out and did a quick preliminary check of his wounds, then made a show of taking his pulse. In reality, while Chun Mian knew a great deal about herbs, her pulse-reading skills were still rather subpar. However, Chun Mian had her spiritual power, which was far more precise than checking a pulse.
"His internal organs aren't injured. He has severe fractures that require bone setting. There are various abrasions on his right thigh and arm, and two of the gashes are so deep the bone is visible. The rest are minor injuries." After taking his pulse, Chun Mian gave a brief rundown of his condition and began stripping Third Uncle Wei of his clothes.
Mrs. Wei wanted to step forward and stop her. Even if it was her own biological uncle, men and women were different. To just start stripping his clothes like this was simply inappropriate. However, a human life was on the line, and Mrs. Wei wasn't cold-blooded. In the end, she could only clutch her chest and turn her back, refusing to watch.