Yun Daman’s smile was wide, his eyes crinkling into slits.
He hadn't yet realized how precious those agarwood branches were.
Old Man Yun’s face was solemn as he hissed, “Keep your voice down, don’t make a fuss!”
Madam Gu also glanced at the dry branches, a complex look flashing in her eyes.
“Where did you find these branches?” Madam Gu asked in a low voice.
Yun Daman pointed towards Camel Peak Mountain, “Deep in the mountains, Mother. The trees there have been chopped and burned, there’s not much left…”
Alas, who could have been so destructive.
To ruin an entire forest for no reason.
Madam Gu exchanged a look with Old Man Yun, both filled with apprehension…
“Let’s go take a look!” Little Xi Tian said with a sweet smile.
She didn’t know how much agarwood had been trafficked by scoundrels.
But the storeroom of the brat next door was piled high like a small mountain.
This kind of wood was extremely precious, and it was supposed to grow in southern or coastal regions.
Who would have thought that in a place as cold as Dashui Village, it would grow all over the hillsides.
Such a significant matter should be reported to the county yamen, letting Magistrate Chen handle it.
“Let’s go into the mountains to see!” Little Xi Tian called out again.
Yun Erman was the first to react, nodding repeatedly, “Yes, yes, Father, Mother, you should go into the mountains and see for yourselves. These trees are fragrant, just like flowers!”
“This is agarwood!” Madam Gu murmured.
Daman and Erman had never heard this name before and were very curious.
“What is agarwood?” Yun Daman asked.
Old Man Yun, holding his pipe, explained to his two sons.
Their family still had two pieces of agarwood, about the size of a palm.
These were picked up by Little Xi Tian, and besides their parents, no one else knew…
After hearing this, Yun Daman’s eyes widened, “This wood is that valuable?”
Really?
A piece of wood the size of a cosmetic box could sell for a hundred taels of silver.
This was almost as valuable as pearls and jade.
Old Man Yun exhaled a smoke ring and grunted, “So, let’s not spread the word about this matter. Tomorrow morning, as soon as it’s light, we’ll go into the mountains to take a look.”
“Okay!” The brothers had no objections.
Outside the door, Liu Cuirong was eavesdropping by the window lattice.
Her eyes gleamed green, and she was extremely excited.
So there were treasures like this on the mountain.
Why had she never discovered them before?
“Second sister-in-law, what are you doing here?” Zhao Guihua walked over and asked.
Seeing her sneaky appearance, it was clear she wasn’t up to anything good.
She was already so old, yet she was still eavesdropping.
Liu Cuirong coughed lightly and tidied her hair, “Cough, cough, nothing… nothing.”
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Yun Erman took Old Man Yun into the mountains.
Yun Daman, on the other hand, drove the horse-drawn cart, taking his sister to fetch water at the village entrance.
The wells in every household of Dashui Village had run dry.
Only the ancient well by the willow tree at the west end of the village could still yield a few buckets of water.
Early in the morning, villagers were already queuing here, filling their water缸s and then thinking about watering their crops.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you all crowding around the well for? There’s plenty of water in Ggou Lake, go pick it up there!”
“It’s so far, do you want to tire us to death?”
“Exactly. My little donkey has been listless these past few days. Let alone transporting water, it can’t even carry me.”
“……”
Not every household in Dashui Village had donkeys or horses.
With the recent hot weather, these large livestock were all listless and lacked energy.
But the crops were the foundation of the villagers’ lives.
It was fine if they were a little thirsty, but if the crops died from drought, the villagers would have to eat the wind from the northwest.
The village chief saw Little Xi Tian sitting on the cart shaft, swinging her little feet.
He walked over with his hands behind his back.
“Sweetie, are you here to fetch water too?” the village chief asked with a smile.
Little Xi Tian nodded, “Fetch water!”
The village chief really wanted to say, could you ask heaven to send down some rain to help the villagers overcome this hardship.
But the words caught in his throat, and he swallowed them back…
“This well is almost dry too, you should go to Ggou Lake to fetch water!” the village chief sighed.
The sky was like a mirror, not a single cloud could be seen.
It was better not to expect heaven to send rain.
“Sister, Big Brother will take you to Ggou Lake!” Yun Daman said.
Their family’s land was also extremely dry.
A bucket of water poured out would dry up under the scorching sun before it could even soak the roots.
Even with two horses taking turns to deliver water, it couldn’t withstand such high temperatures.
Upon reaching Ggou Lake, Little Xi Tian jumped off the cart and walked along the lakeshore for a distance.
Not far ahead was the inlet of the river.
This small stream flowed from the mountains, winding and meandering, quietly flowing through the valley…
Little Xi Tian looked back towards Dashui Village, her brow slightly relaxed.
This matter was promising!
“Sister, stay away from the water’s edge, don’t fall in!” Yun Daman reminded her.
“I’m fine!”
Little Xi Tian’s eyes curved, and she suddenly remembered the roasted lamb leg she had eaten at the brat’s house last time.
She decided to treat her whole family to a roasted whole lamb today.
She closed her big eyes and her mind drifted to the spatial base.
A moment later, a plump and round fat sheep appeared on the lake shore.
Its four legs were stuck in the mud, and it kept bleating.
“Big Brother, there’s a sheep there!” Little Xi Tian called out crisply.
Yun Daman had just loaded a bucket of water onto the cart when he heard a bleating sound from not far away.
“Oh my, whose sheep is this?” Yun Daman picked up a rope and walked over.
Little Xi Tian giggled.
Big Brother, this is a sheep sent by heaven for you.
Yun Daman glanced at his sister and suddenly realized something.
In the past, Dashui Village only had Aunt Zhang’s family raising seven or eight sheep.
They were all slaughtered later.
There were no families raising sheep in the village now.
So this sheep… did his sister summon it?
Yun Daman rescued the sheep, reached out, and rubbed Little Xi Tian’s head, “Come on, we’ll have your sister-in-law stew some lamb bones for you when we get back.”
“No!”
Little Xi Tian wrinkled her little nose, “I want roasted whole lamb!”
Thinking of the fragrant roasted lamb, Little Xi Tian couldn’t help but smack her lips.
Yun Daman held the sheep with one hand and his sister with the other, “Okay, we’ll have roasted whole lamb.”
If the heat wasn’t controlled properly during roasting, the meat would easily turn into charcoal.
Fortunately, Old Man Yun was an expert in this area.
He was like a trained professional, very skilled with anything related to grilling.
The siblings returned to Dashui Village in the horse-drawn cart.
When Madam Gu saw a sheep tied to the back of the cart, she instinctively looked at Little Xi Tian.
“Mother, this sheep is a gift from Sister, she wants to eat roasted whole lamb!” Yun Daman was overjoyed.
“Mm!” Madam Gu nodded, “Bring it in!”
She believed that as long as her little daughter was around, their family could overcome any difficulty.
Meanwhile, deep in Camel Peak Mountain.
Yun Erman brought his father to that patch of forest.
His expression was somewhat cautious, and he felt a chill down his spine, constantly looking back.
It was as if someone was following them…