Chapter 21: Discovery
Man Bao was utterly stunned. Retrieving the bottom tier of baskets, she was dismayed to find the vibrant blooms she had so carefully arranged the previous day had now wilted, drooping listlessly with some even snapped clean off.
Da Ya and Er Ya came rushing over, their faces etched with shock and sadness too.
Yet Zhou Wulang remained oblivious to their heartache, having not ventured to the county town in many years now. Swept up in giddy excitement, he merely cast a cursory glance at the floral baskets before nonchalantly tossing them all into a large carry basket. “Don’t fret over those, we can just pick some nicer flowers to replace them along the way.”
Gesturing towards another pile of wildflowers they had foraged the previous evening but not gotten around to arranging due to the late hour and Mrs. Qian’s reluctance to waste oil for lamplight, he advised, “Let’s bring these too. That should be more than enough. We can decorate new baskets once we reach the county town.”
There was little choice but to proceed with this revised plan. All the way until boarding the small cart, Man Bao remained rather despondent – all her meticulous planning and confident vision had disintegrated into this unsightly mess.
As before, the family brought two sacks of grain to sell, intending to use the proceeds to purchase writing paper supplies for Man Bao while reserving the remainder for Mrs. Qian’s medicine fees and any other sudden emergency expenses.
Numerous baskets and trays were secured onto the cart, with Zhou Liulang and Zhou Wulang each shouldering additional carry baskets containing everything they would need.
Zhou Dalang lifted Man Bao onto the cart, tucking her snugly into one of the larger trays. Mrs. Qian retrieved one of his thick winter coats, swaddling her tiny granddaughter completely before adding a bamboo lid overtop – now she could nap comfortably without catching a chill.
This being her first long-distance journey, an excited Man Bao found sleep utterly elusive initially. She poked her little head eagerly through the tray’s openings, eyes gleaming inquisitively. But in the pre-dawn darkness with only Zhou Wulang’s flickering torch to partially illuminate their surroundings, there was little for her roving eyes to take in.
After straining her eyes fruitlessly for a while, drowsiness inevitably set in, prompting an enormous yawn before her eyelids gradually drifted shut.
Noticing Man Bao had dozed off, Zhou Erlang gently replaced the bamboo lid, leaving just a few air holes to ensure proper ventilation.
Glancing at Da Ya and Er Ya walking alongside, he vigorously shifted the grain sacks and baskets stacked atop the cart, straightening one tray before scooping Er Ya up to sit inside. Da Ya was then settled atop the grain mounds, instructed to cling to the adjacent baskets for stability. “You two can ride for now until first light when we continue on foot.”
Zhou Erlang and Zhou Dalang took turns pushing and guiding the cart, alternating lead roles whenever the relatively flat terrain allowed. But this particular route involved scaling both mountain inclines and descents across uneven paths, leaving everyone drenched in sweat from the arduous exertions despite the crisp early autumn morning chill.
By the time the sun steadily rose, illuminating the surrounding vistas in bright clarity, they had already traversed nearly half the total journey distance.
With the exception of Man Bao still slumbering soundly, Da Ya and Er Ya had awoken, pleading to disembark and stretch their legs after discovering their feet had gone numb from the extended stillness.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang cast envious glances at their nieces, wiping perspiration from their brows while musing how fortunate they were to experience such trivial foot numbness as their sole discomfort.
“Let’s take a brief respite then,” Zhou Dalang agreed, prompting his younger brothers to immediately plop down on the grassy roadside, shrugging off the hefty shoulder baskets.
Man Bao had also awoken by this point, rubbing her eyes groggily before poking her head out from the tray basket, instantly invigorated upon realizing their surroundings were completely unfamiliar.
She immediately tried clambering out onto the path.
Lifting her down, Zhou Erlang set her on her feet to go play with Da Ya and Er Ya. “You can pick flowers, but don’t wander off too far – stay within our line of sight at all times, understand?”
The three little girls nodded vigorously in obedient affirmation.
Her petite stature emboldening her, Man Bao bravely ventured right up to the mountain path’s precipitous edge, craning her neck to peer down the steep incline. Glimpsing what appeared to be a faint tendril of cooking smoke in the far distance, she excitedly pointed down while exclaiming, “Our home!”
Not even bothering to look, Zhou Dalang merely plucked a stray blade of grass, popping it into his mouth as he scoffed dismissively, “Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way you could spot our village from up here.”
Squinting, Man Bao thought she could vaguely make out a much broader thoroughfare running along the base far below their current mountain trail. Curiosity piqued, she wondered aloud, “Elder Brother, why don’t we just take that wider road down there instead?”
“This is a shortcut path,” he explained patiently. “The road you’re seeing is meant for cart traffic. Taking that would add at least an extra hour to our journey time, hardly efficient.”
Gesturing proudly towards the narrow mountain trail, he elaborated, “See this rugged path we’re on? It used to be completely impassable due to all the rocky debris strewn about, far too uneven for any carts to safely traverse. But then the Landowner and village chief mobilized all of us to painstakingly clear every single stone before layering fresh soil – only after that arduous endeavor could we finally navigate this route by cart.”
Sighing wistfully, Zhou Dalang added, “It’s just a pity this path remains too narrow for larger wagons and horse-drawn carriages to utilize. Otherwise it would undoubtedly be far more frequently traveled.”
Captivated by such anecdotal histories, Man Bao squatted by her elder brother’s side, eager to hear more. But the system couldn’t resist interjecting, “Host, there seem to be quite a few wildflowers in this area. Don’t you want to go gather some? If we miss this chance, there may not be any once we descend further down the mountain.”
Though the prospect of earning income was her prime motivation here, Man Bao still felt a tinge of reluctance abandoning the storytelling. But ultimately, she resisted pressing for more tales, simply tugging insistently on Zhou Dalang’s sleeve to extract a promise before departing: “Elder Brother, you have to continue telling me stories once we return home. I absolutely adore listening to them!”
To Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang’s eyes, her plaintive entreaty merely conveyed a child’s innocent desire to indulge in both anecdotes and playful frolicking amidst the blooms alongside her cousins.
Chuckling indulgently, Zhou Dalang patted her head affectionately. “Off you go then, little one. Elder Brother will happily recount more for you once we’re back.”
Beaming radiantly, Man Bao scampered off in pursuit of Da Ya and Er Ya.
This particular segment of the journey remained relatively level, following a simple mountain path with both verges remaining consistently within Zhou Dalang’s line of sight – as long as the children refrained from venturing inwards, they would face no immediate dangers.
Da Ya and Er Ya had already gathered quite an abundance of wildflowers, some unfamiliar varieties immediately piquing Man Bao’s immense curiosity as she crouched down to start digging up entire specimens.
Watching her actions in astonishment, her cousins cried out aghast, “Little Niece, why are you digging up the whole plant roots and all?”
Glancing up with dirt-smudged cheeks and sparkling eyes, Man Bao explained excitedly, “These are all new flowers I’ve never seen before. I want to collect one whole specimen of each, even just the tiniest sproutlings!”
The system refrained from dissuading her, having already scanned and cross-referenced these particular flora varieties – it discovered two distinct species not only lacked any physical specimens, but not even basic photographic records existed in the databases. This implied they had either fallen into extremely endangered rarity through mutation or, even more critically, faced the risk of imminent extinction.
Regardless of which scenario held true, possessing comprehensive documentation would prove invaluable for future botanical research and conservation efforts. Successfully recording such rare specimens would undoubtedly earn Man Bao a substantial windfall of points.
Uncharacteristically, the system’s programming experienced the computational equivalent of elation, feeling vindicated for not warning Man Bao yesterday that her floral adornments would inevitably wilt and wither overnight.
Had those initial baskets remained pristinely decorated, she would have been too reluctant to discard them in favor of prioritizing wildflower gathering today.
Oblivious to these machinations, Man Bao remained firmly committed to carefully uprooting intact specimens for the system despite her eagerness to immediately hand them over. For their flower basket endeavors still crucially relied on amassing sufficient decorative blooms and delicate fronds.
So insisting her cousins hurry on ahead gathering bouquets without her, Man Bao stubbornly crouched alone, periodically pausing to wipe perspiration from her brow as she doggedly jabbed her improvised wooden digging stick into the soil.
After silently observing her laborious pace for a while, the system couldn’t resist gently advising, “Host, I think your brothers will be ready to continue on soon. You should probably just snap off a few specimens to hand over, rather than wasting time digging them out by the roots.”
Excavating entire root systems would be an interminably slow process at this rate – she’d be fortunate to properly uproot even three samples by day’s end.
Intrigued, Man Bao wondered, “Just snapping off cuttings will suffice?”
“For most plants, taking stem or branch cuttings is actually the recommended method for maintaining viability through vegetative propagation,” the system explained. “So feel free to collect samples that way with confidence. Just break them off near the base and provide me with several cuttings from each – prioritize that reddish one to your left first, then move on to snag part of that purplish vine creeper in front.”
Those two varieties represented the highest priority specimens for now. Any others already possessed existing records, so even if logged they would only yield the standard nominal “encouragement points” reward.
