The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 98

Chapter 98: A Dream of a Nightmare

Jiang Huaizhen had lost consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, she finally woke up.

Through the mosquito net, the outside was bright, and the crisp and pleasant chirping of birds could be heard from outside the house.

There was no sea of fire, no Grandma’s spirit tablet.

She suddenly sat up and shouted, “Lin Shuang—”

Soon, a burst of footsteps came from outside. Lin Shuang’s figure quickly appeared at the door and walked to the bed. She sat down and pinched her cheek.

“What’s wrong? So early in the morning?”

Her young face, smooth skin, and moist eyes were not sunken. Even her two lips were a tender pink color.

Her two legs were propped up on the side of the bed, intact, not broken.

“Are you silly?” Lin Shuang scraped her nose.

Jiang Huaizhen suddenly hugged her.

She didn’t know why she had had such a strange dream, but when she woke up, the huge sense of loss was so overwhelming she could barely breathe. She didn’t want to think about the scene in the dream at all. It was too sad, too painful.

She couldn’t lose her.

That’s right, and Grandma.

“Is Grandma up?”

“She’s up. She’s outside feeding the rabbits. You’re the only lazy pig who’s not up.”

Lin Shuang was held tightly in her arms, and her heart felt exceptionally at ease and warm. She wrapped her arms around her waist. “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

Jiang Huaizhen shook her head, unwilling to tell her about the terrible things in her dream.

“You’re so insecure,” Lin Shuang chided softly. She had long known that Jiang Huaizhen had insecure emotions because of her childhood experiences, but she didn’t expect that after they had been so intimate last night, she would be even more so.

Jiang Huaizhen buried her head in her shoulder, reluctant to let her go.

“Are you going to get up? Or do you want to sleep a little longer?”

It had to be said that Jiang Huaizhen, with her fragile and broken feeling, made Lin Shuang’s heart fill with an uncontrollable pity. She wished she could make her smaller, hold her in her arms, and take her everywhere.

Jiang Huaizhen lifted her head from her embrace and asked, “Are you still uncomfortable?”

Lin Shuang hadn’t expected her question to be so abrupt. Her ears grew slightly hot, and a hint of shyness appeared on her face. Her eyes flickered to the side. “I’m not uncomfortable anymore.”

Jiang Huaizhen looked at her shy face and only then did she completely pull herself out of that strange dream. Before she could speak, her stomach growled first.

Lin Shuang smiled. “Go and change your clothes and wash up. I’m just boiling water for noodles. The water is probably boiling. I have to go and see.”

“Okay. You go.”

Lin Shuang moved closer and kissed her on the mouth, then got up and went back to the kitchen.

Jiang Huaizhen slowly got out of bed.

After she had changed her clothes, she went to the back door and saw the old woman throwing vegetable leaves into the cage, muttering to herself, probably about how these little rabbits could eat so much and poop so much.

She opened her mouth, and the image of the spirit tablet on the eight-immortal table flashed in her mind. She wanted to call out “Grandma.”

But the old woman turned her head and, seeing her standing by the door, cursed, “You’re only getting up when the sun is high in the sky. By the time you’ve finished breakfast, it will be dark. When are you going to deliver the sauce?”

Jiang Huaizhen pursed her lips, swallowed her words, and replied with a surprising retort, “How is it high in the sky? The sun has just come out, hasn’t it?”

She had confirmed that this was a living old woman, not the spirit tablet on the eight-immortal table.

Old Madam Jiang hadn’t expected that her granddaughter, who hadn’t talked back in a thousand years, would actually learn to talk back. She said grumpily, “The mountain on the east is blocking the sun. Other families have already come back from the fields. Isn’t it late?”

Jiang Huaizhen said, “Then I’ll get up earlier tomorrow.”

With that, she scooped some water to wash up.

Old Madam Jiang looked at her back and nagged again, “You got up in the middle of the night to get water, making so much noise. What, did you go and plow the fields in the middle of the night and have to take a second bath?”

Jiang Huaizhen’s hand, which was holding the water, couldn’t help but stiffen.

And Lin Shuang, who had just reached the door, also withdrew her foot.

Jiang Huaizhen looked at the withdrawn foot and quickly wiped her face clean, then walked into the kitchen.

Lin Shuang was stirring the noodles with her back to her.

Jiang Huaizhen looked at her slender back and, thinking of what the old woman had just said unconsciously, was a little embarrassed.

She suppressed the urge to hug her and walked over. “Are the noodles ready?”

Lin Shuang turned her head, her cheeks flushed.

The two of them avoided each other’s eyes with a tacit understanding.

Ping’er ran into the room and asked, “Auntie, what are we doing today?”

Lin Shuang thought for a moment and said, “Your big sister is going to deliver the goods, and I’m going down to the fields to check on the medicinal herbs that were planted a few days ago. Do you want to go down to the fields with me or go with your big sister to deliver the goods?”

Ping’er looked at Jiang Huaizhen, who was lowering her head to ladle out the noodles, and said, “With Auntie…”

Lin Shuang chuckled. “Why don’t you go with your big sister? Is she going to eat you?”

Ping’er bit her lip and hid behind her, secretly looking at Jiang Huaizhen.

“You little coward. You’re not even as good as Xiaohua. Xiaohua is so affectionate with your big sister.”

Hearing that Xiaohua was going to snatch her big sister from her, Ping’er was unhappy. “Then I won’t play with her next time.”

“So petty? Big sister doesn’t like petty people.”

Jiang Huaizhen, who was next to her, said, “I don’t.”

Hearing this, Lin Shuang stepped on her foot.

She then said to Ping’er, “Go and call Grandma to eat.”

Ping’er said “oh” and turned to go out.

Jiang Huaizhen ladled out the noodles for everyone and brought them to the table. After the old woman came in, she sat down and said, “Erqiao said before that her second son is getting married. Is it almost time?”

Lin Shuang thought for a moment. “It seems to be in a few days. Anyway, these few days, we’re either reclaiming wasteland or plowing the fields at home. When the time comes, we’ll just go.”

“Are you planning to reclaim all the wasteland in the entire valley?”

Lin Shuang nodded. “Five mu of land is not enough to plant many medicinal herbs. Some medicinal herbs take three or four years to harvest, and just those planted there take up a lot of space.”

In her past life, the Qin family’s medicine field had several hundred mu of medicinal herbs. What was this?

Only then did Old Madam Jiang ask, “These medicinal herbs, how much can you earn per mu? The villagers all say they want to plant with us. If it’s not even as good as rice, then it’s a waste of effort.”

Lin Shuang still had a good idea of this.

“The one-year medicinal herbs, including isatis root and angelica dahurica, have a yield of about two or three hundred catties per mu, and the price is also between ten and twenty copper coins per catty.”

“As for the three or four-year astragalus and angelica, the yield per mu is also about one or two hundred catties. Although they are only harvested once every two or three years, the price is much higher. Right now, astragalus is fifty copper coins per catty, and the older ones can even be over a hundred coins. As for angelica, it’s even more expensive. The ordinary ones are fifty to seventy coins, and the high-quality ones are even more so.”

Hearing this, Old Madam Jiang counted on her fingers. “One mu of one-year-old plants, two hundred catties, isn’t that the same yield as planting rice? A catty of rice is only a few copper coins. So planting medicinal herbs is more than half as profitable as planting rice?”

Lin Shuang said, “That’s true, but the seeds of medicinal herbs are expensive, and there’s also the problem of sales. If there are no medicine merchants to buy them, or if they press the price very low, and you can’t make back the cost if you sell them, and they’ll rot in the fields if you don’t. But if it’s rice, you can eat it as grain if you harvest it. These medicinal herbs can’t fill your stomach.”

Jiang Huaizhen had been busy with her, reclaiming wasteland and running to Yinzhou, and she didn’t know much. Anyway, whatever Lin Shuang told her to do, she would do it. Now, hearing her explanation, she finally understood.

Looking at the girl before her, her cool eyes also had a hint of warmth.

After all, such a capable person was hers.

But a hint of doubt couldn’t help but flash in her mind. She had been cooped up in the valley before and didn’t know the situation in the village. But now, after experiencing the farce of the Lin family, she had some understanding. But she had never heard anyone mention Lin Shuang’s maternal grandfather’s family.

Logically, since she was so capable now, her maternal grandfather’s family should also be quite remarkable. How could she not have heard anything?

The dream from last night suddenly flooded into her mind. Her hand, which was holding the chopsticks, couldn’t help but tighten, and she quickly suppressed the messy thoughts in her heart.

After hearing Lin Shuang’s explanation, Old Madam Jiang was also enlightened, and then she couldn’t help but worry. “But if you lead everyone to plant medicinal herbs, what if no one buys them then?”

Lin Shuang smiled. “Isn’t there still the Everlasting Peace Apothecary? I had originally wanted to talk to Doctor Xue about the medicinal herbs, but we haven’t grown anything yet, so I wasn’t in a hurry.”

“It’s a good thing that Doctor Xue has a good relationship with us. But what if we don’t have this relationship? Besides, it’s just one apothecary. How many medicinal herbs can it take?” Old Madam Jiang asked.

Lin Shuang: “Grandma, the medicine we take when we’re sick, a prescription costs ten or dozens of copper coins. In fact, there are not many medicinal herbs in it. The reason it’s expensive is because of the transportation, the labor, and the scarcity will also affect it. But if we provide it to the few counties in the prefecture nearby, we can save a lot of money on transportation. If the quality of the goods is the same, why wouldn’t they buy from us?”

Old Madam Jiang clapped her hands and clicked her tongue. “You girl, how can you be so insightful?”

Lin Shuang smiled. “I didn’t know these things before. I just learned a little after talking to the people at the clinic.”

“You didn’t know, but you still knew to ask. But some people are like a saw-mouthed gourd. It’s hard to get a word out of them,” Old Madam Jiang snorted.

Jiang Huaizhen knew she was talking about her. She hurriedly sucked up the remaining noodle soup at the bottom of her bowl, swallowed it, and stood up. “You eat slowly. I’m going to deliver the goods.”

Seeing this, the corners of Lin Shuang’s mouth curled up.

She put down her bowl, stood up, and followed her to get the things.

Seeing her come, Jiang Huaizhen said, “You haven’t finished your noodles yet. What are you doing here? I can move them myself.”

Lin Shuang didn’t listen to her, carried a jar, and walked out. Seeing that no one was following, she said, “I just want to be with you.”

Jiang Huaizhen thought of her eloquent and shrewd appearance when she was talking to the old woman just now, and now she was like a shy little woman. Her heart was so stirred by her that it was trembling.

She bit her lip, said no more, and followed her to move the few jars onto the cart.

When they were done, she turned to go to the stable to get the horse.

But as she passed by, she couldn’t help but stop, pull her into her arms, and lower her head to suck on her lips.

Lin Shuang, having gotten her unrestrained kiss, her heart was overflowing with love, and the smile on her face couldn’t be stopped. She looked at her back and said, “Come back early after you’re done. Don’t delay on the road—”

Jiang Huaizhen turned her head to look at her. “I know. I’ll be back after I’m done.”