15 - Little Peasant Wife

She wasn't accustomed to this side of Jing Ao Xue, so she scrutinized her under the guise of casual observation, noticing only her sincere yet slightly roguish smile. Glancing at Liu Er, she noticed the child had somehow settled beside Jing Ao Xue. They shared a noticeable resemblance, and both, the elder and the younger, were watching her intently. Liu Er's eyes carried a child's innocence; she was munching on her food so eagerly that a grain of rice clung to the corner of her mouth. Out of instinct, she reached over to wipe Liu Er's mouth and, after a moment of contemplation, said, "Alright, I'll boil the water tonight and give it a try." Jing Ao Xue breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed, realizing how challenging it was to persuade someone like Shen Lu Man. Though she appeared wooden and expressionless on the surface, she was truly aloof and sharp. Even the desire to be kind to her required a subtle approach, without a hint of slip-ups. It was exhausting, but the results were gratifying. Jing Ao Xue, who had no family before, now had Liu Er as her daughter since her transmigration. Liu Er’s adorable nature made Jing Ao Xue instinctively want to be kinder to her. However, she also wanted to treat Shen Lu Man kindly, driven by a feeling of indebtedness deep down. Having achieved her purpose, she relaxed. After quickly finishing her dinner, she rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous items in the courtyard, found some writing materials, and returned to her room to transcribe the medical formulas from the apocalypse. Shen Lu Man watched her close the door without any change in her expression, though a myriad of emotions surged within her. Now that Jing Ao Xue had changed, perhaps she should change too? Maybe she didn't need to be so wary of her anymore. But could she truly trust her? Sighing, she glanced at the obedient Liu Er eating her meal and thought: let's just take it step by step. After dinner, Shen Lu Man cleaned up the dishes and began heating water. Liu Er scampered to Jing Ao Xue's door and knocked. Just as Jing Ao Xue finished carefully transcribing the most versatile medical formulas from her past world—having done about ten pages—it was time to move on to other experiments later when needed. She blew on the sheets of paper lightly, feeling fortunate for her wood-element ability, without which she wouldn't have been able to work in the lab or contribute to the development of so many potions. Hearing Liu Er’s knock, she went to personally open the door. Liu Er raised her small face to look at the prescription in Jing Ao Xue's hand and said, "Mother, this..." Jing Ao Xue nodded, "Let's first have your Mama review it. If there are no issues, then we’ll brew it for you to use." Liu Er, too young to fully grasp what had transpired between her and Shen Lu Man, nodded in instinctive trust. Her lovely, endearing demeanor melted Jing Ao Xue's heart. She lifted Liu Er and kissed her soft, fair cheek. Liu Er's cheeks instantly flushed red. She stammered for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence. When Shen Lu Man arrived, she found Liu Er grinning foolishly and Jing Ao Xue with a mischievous "strange aunt" smile. Stepping forward, she still felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing Jing Ao Xue holding Liu Er. "Liu Er, come down; it's time to wash up and get ready for bed." Liu Er obediently acknowledged, slid down from Jing Ao Xue’s arms, and ran to Shen Lu Man’s side. Seeing this, a hint of jealousy stirred in Jing Ao Xue, but she knew that the most important person in Liu Er’s heart would naturally be her always gentle and caring Mama, not her—a mother who had barely been in Liu Er's life for a few days and had previously ignored and even mistreated her. Reflecting on this, Jing Ao Xue sighed internally. The adult world is too complex, and in the apocalypse, even a derisive glance could spawn enmity; children were no exception to this harshness. Yet Liu Er, inherently kind-hearted, continued to yearn for maternal affection despite having endured so much hurt. Jing Ao Xue’s heart warmed with resolve; she swore to be ever kinder to Liu Er. As Shen Lu Man bathed Liu Er, Jing Ao Xue followed, recalling Liu Er's stutter, she set three agreements with her: First, never rush when speaking, regardless of the urgency of the matter—think it through first. Second, the sentence structure must be correct—there’s no need to rush to say everything at once. Break it down into words; pauses are fine. Third, engage in more daily conversations—whatever comes to mind, just say it. Over time, this practice should ameliorate her stuttering unless it is innate. Liu Er was initially scared seeing Jing Ao Xue so serious, especially since her Mama was bathing her while her mother observed, making her feel shy and blush. But with Jing Ao Xue’s encouraging gaze, she eventually relaxed and began earnestly trying to correct her stutter. After Shen Lu Man finished bathing Liu Er and tucked her into bed, only the two adults remained in the room. By now, darkness had fully descended, with only the candlelight dancing occasionally. The village’s atmosphere was peaceful, unlike the oppressive mood of the town, which helped Jing Ao Xue unwind considerably. She retrieved the previously purchased stove and medicine pot, washed them with water, the splashing sound surprisingly prominent in the night’s stillness, yet it added a sense of normalcy to life. Washing didn’t require her full attention, so she glanced around the kitchen setup, then at the vegetables she had bought, and finally, her gaze settled on Shen Lu Man, who was meticulously studying the medical prescriptions. Jing Ao Xue was well aware that there was nothing wrong with the prescription. Asking Shen Lu Man to check was merely to ease her mind. Shen Lu Man, being earnest and meticulous, lightly frowned as she studied the prescriptions. In the dim candlelight, Jing Ao Xue belatedly noticed that Shen Lu Man was quite attractive, more than she realized. Typically, Shen Lu Man always wore a cold expression, exuding an easily overlooked aura, thus Jing Ao Xue had never truly looked at her seriously since her transmigration. With nothing else to do this time, upon a closer look, she discovered the woman before her was quite young, much younger than she anticipated, actually just in her early twenties. Her hair was thick and black, usually tied in a loose, casual style. Often with her head lowered, her hair would obscure her face. Perhaps due to the lighting, she had tucked her hair behind one ear, revealing her fair skin. Her profile was delicate, with eyes similar to Liu Er's round almond-shaped ones, though rarely wide-eyed and lacking Liu Er’s clarity as they always seemed complex and mysterious. Her nose was high and lips full, and as she mulled over something, her lips would purse subconsciously, imparting a hint of seduction and sensuality. Yet her demeanor was so reserved that Jing Ao Xue never ventured in that direction. Now... Jing Ao Xue, taken by surprise, mused, "The moonlight is truly beautiful, and under the candlelight, Shen Lu Man is really quite stunning." Chapter 16: Shyness Shen Lu Man was diligently examining the medicinal formula. As she had earlier mentioned to Jing Ao Xue, she was quite skilled in alchemy. Knowing her own limitations—being the least favorable five-element root—it was exceedingly difficult for her to improve her cultivation. Thus, to protect herself in a world where power reigns supreme, she had learned various supplementary skills in her spare time. She had dabbled in alchemy, artifact refining, array formation, and talisman creation, but alchemy was where she truly excelled due to her unique constitution. After thorough analysis, she discovered that although the formula consisted of simple and common herbs, their combination yielded surprisingly magical effects. Amazed, she was about to ask Jing Ao Xue if there were other such formulas when she noticed Jing Ao Xue staring at her without blinking. Thinking she might have something on her face, she wiped it with her hand. But when she looked back at Jing Ao Xue, the latter had already averted her gaze and was drying her hands with a clean cloth. When Shen Lu Man expressed her curiosity, Jing Ao Xue said, "I have several more of these formulas. If you're interested, I can transcribe them all for you tonight." Even though Shen Lu Man had grown somewhat accustomed to Jing Ao Xue's friendly demeanor, she was still taken by surprise. After all, such medicinal formulas were rarely shared with outsiders. Despite being married to Jing Ao Xue for years, they had never sought to grow closer to one another. Now that Jing Ao Xue was offering a gesture of goodwill, treating both her and Liu Er well these past few days, Shen Lu Man relaxed her guard, her expression softening a bit. Jing Ao Xue glanced at her, contemplating cracking a joke but refraining for fear of upsetting Shen Lu Man. Instead, she said seriously, "Since you've confirmed there's no issue with the formula, let's try the first one tonight. I've already cleaned the medicine pot, so if you could heat some more water, I'll call you once the pills are ready." Shen Lu Man nodded, tending to the stove and boiling a large pot of water. Remembering that a medicinal bath was akin to a regular bath, she returned to her room to fetch clean clothes. Upon her return to the kitchen, Jing Ao Xue had already begun brewing the herbs. Last time, with Jing Ao Xue sequestered in her room, Shen Lu Man hadn't been able to observe the process. This time, she watched Jing Ao Xue's every move closely. Jing Ao Xue expertly sorted the herbs according to their properties, placing each group into different containers, adding freshly drawn well water before starting a fire under the small stove to begin brewing. The fire from the stove burned bright, and before long, the room was enveloped in a rich herbal aroma. But just following this procedure wouldn't achieve extraordinary results. Typically, Jing Ao Xue would need to purify all the herbs before the brewing process. However, with her wood-elemental power now upgraded to level two, she could skip that step, thanks to her stronger abilities. Just as she was about to harness her wood-element energy, Shen Lu Man interjected, "This brewing process is similar to alchemy. To fully activate the herbs’ potential, they must be thoroughly purified. As a five-element root, I've refined elixirs in the cultivation realm before. Allow me to purify them first." Jing Ao Xue glanced at her, seeing the determination on Shen Lu Man's face and her own curiosity piqued by the cultivation realm, she agreed. Even if Shen Lu Man’s purification failed, it wouldn’t matter since there was plenty of herbs to practice with. Grateful for Jing Ao Xue's trust, Shen Lu Man closed her eyes and melded her fire and wood spiritual energy into the medicine pot. Jing Ao Xue, using her wood-element powers, keenly sensed the sudden abundance of wood-element particles in the air. Watching Shen Lu Man, she realized this was spiritual energy—a concept not wholly unlike her wood-element abilities, which were also beneficial for purifying herbs. However, creating potent and flawless pills required the supplementary help of Jing Ao Xue's wood-element abilities. This combination was akin to the spiritual energy purifying impurities, while her wood-element powers activated the medicinal properties, invigorating them and merging into a more refined substance. Their combined efforts resulted in pills far superior to what Jing Ao Xue had made alone before. Jing Ao Xue examined the pills in her hand, glowing with a luminescent green hue, the scent of the herbs clearly discernible. She was a bit astonished; this outcome was unexpectedly perfect, comparable to what she could achieve using level six abilities.