Accidentally-Born_C10

Chapter 10

The weather in the lunar calendar’s seventh month was the hottest time of the year. As the kitchen supplies dwindled, everyone grew increasingly anxious.

Since the beginning of the year, the food supply had been even scarcer than the previous year. In the past, they could still purchase about half of their monthly food quota, but now it was already July, and they had only managed to buy rations twice, with very limited quantities. Except for the baby Zhenzhen, who was still nursing, everyone in the Li family had to tighten their belts¹ and endure hunger once again.

Li Muwu and Li Musen sat at the entrance of the grain store’s warehouse, looking at the empty courtyard with a sigh. Both of them worked as laborers carrying sacks in the warehouse, earning wages based on the work they completed.

In previous years, they could bring home forty or fifty yuan each month. Even last year, despite hardships, they still earned about thirty yuan monthly. But this year, after half a year, they had only brought home forty yuan in total.

Money wasn’t the main issue—they had saved some earlier, so it wasn’t too difficult yet. What worried them most was that if no more grain shipments arrived, their household would soon run out of food entirely.

Li Muwu furrowed his brows, looking older and more haggard due to the hardships. “If the grain doesn’t come soon, we won’t be able to make it. If nothing changes, we might as well take leave tomorrow and go up the mountain to gather wild vegetables. Anyway, there’s no work at the grain store right now.”

Li Musen hesitated. “What if the grain arrives while we’re gone? If we stay, we might at least grab some. But if we miss this chance, who knows when we’ll get more food? The kids and women at home can handle gathering wild vegetables. Waiting here for the grain is more important.”

Li Muwu sighed, scratching his head, unsure of what to do. Beicha District was in a forested area, and aside from some households growing crops in the valleys, most of the town’s food had to be shipped in from outside. Even if they wanted to trade for some, there was nowhere to go. The two men exchanged helpless glances before bowing their heads and sighing again.

Back at home, Grandma Li opened the cabinet and looked at the dwindling grain supply, unable to hold back her own sighs. With summer vacation underway, Li Mingdong and Li Mingxi were hauling lumber at the forestry station to earn money. Mingnan and Mingbei weren’t idle either—Guihua took them up the mountains daily, not only to pick wild vegetables but also to hunt with the family’s shotgun, hoping to catch some wild animals.

Wang Sufen finished washing and drying the family’s clothes before rushing back inside to check if baby Zhenzhen had woken up, worried she might roll off the bed. Seeing her daughter-in-law come in, Grandma Li stepped out of the kitchen. “Has Zhenzhen woken up? If she has, let’s take her to check on our field.”

At that moment, Zhenzhen was sitting on the bed, leaning against the windowsill, staring outside. Wang Sufen quickly ran over and picked her up, startled. Grandma Li walked in just in time to see this and warned, “How did she crawl over to the window? Once she starts crawling more, we’ll need to keep the windows tightly shut. Our windows are low—if she climbs up and falls outside, that would be terrible.”

Wang Sufen nodded, strapped Zhenzhen to her back using a cloth carrier, put a cloth hat on her head, grabbed a military canteen, and locked the door before following Grandma Li out.

For Zhenzhen, this was her first time leaving the house. Previously, Wang Sufen and Guihua only carried her out to play in the yard briefly when the weather was good. The Hongsong Mountain wasn’t far from the Li family’s home, and after walking for about twenty minutes, they arrived. The moment they stepped into the forest, the oppressive heat seemed to vanish, replaced by coolness as the towering larch and birch trees blocked out the summer sun.

Grandma Li dressed Zhenzhen in a light cotton shirt and swatted away mosquitoes with a fly whisk, afraid that bugs might bite her.

After another twenty minutes of walking, they finally reached the plot of land the Li family had cultivated. It was a slightly flat area where they had planted corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, and soybeans.

The soil on the mountain was more moist than in the lowlands, but due to the cold climate, the crops didn’t grow well. Grandma Li circled around the patch where she had sown cabbage seeds ten days ago. Seeing only weeds and no cabbage sprouts, she frowned. “I don’t know if the seeds can even survive. Put Zhenzhen somewhere safe so we can start weeding.”

Wang Sufen found a soft patch of grass and placed Zhenzhen down. The baby patted the grass with her little hands, and suddenly, a strange feeling surged through her. She touched the damp earth and felt the presence of every tree, every blade of grass, and even the birds and animals hidden in the forest. She could even sense their thoughts.

Shocked by this magical sensation, Zhenzhen closed her eyes, letting the forest’s breeze wash over her as she extended her awareness outward through the moist soil, reaching the barren cabbage field.

“So cold…”

“I just need a little sunlight…”

“I’m so close to breaking through the soil…”

Feeling the chill in the soil, Zhenzhen empathized with the plants and imagined the warmth of sunlight enveloping them. As her thoughts shifted, beams of sunlight pierced through the dense canopy, illuminating the field below and bathing every plant in light.

With warm sunlight cascading down, Zhenzhen’s small face lit up with a contented smile. She seemed to see tender seedlings emerging from the seeds, breaking through the soil, and rapidly growing under the sunlight and moisture.

Grandma Li and Wang Sufen were still weeding when a sudden bright light made them turn around. They were stunned to see Zhenzhen surrounded by golden light.

“Zhenzhen…” Wang Sufen panicked and rushed forward, only to be pulled back by Grandma Li. Just then, cabbage seedlings broke through the soil and grew rapidly, almost maturing in an instant.

Seeing the lush cabbages, even the usually calm Grandma Li was stunned, staring blankly at the scene.

Feeling the plants’ happiness, Zhenzhen smiled even brighter. Her awareness extended further to the cornfield and sorghum² patch…

Wang Sufen watched in disbelief as the withered corn plants suddenly grew taller and bore heavy ears of corn. Sorghum, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and potatoes—all ripened within minutes, turning the hillside into a scene of abundance.

As the crops matured, Zhenzhen sensed their joy and smiled contentedly. The sunlight faded, and Zhenzhen finally withdrew her awareness, slowly opening her eyes.

Thinking she had just been dreaming, Zhenzhen was startled to see the thriving crops. She blinked and looked up at the sky. Was this still a dream?

Seeing Zhenzhen curiously examining her surroundings, Wang Sufen finally snapped out of her daze. She stumbled across the field, picked Zhenzhen up, and checked her anxiously. Finding no abnormalities, she let out a sigh of relief.

Still in Wang Sufen’s arms, Zhenzhen couldn’t help but glance back at the mature crops, feeling as shocked as Grandma Li and Wang Sufen. Had she really fallen asleep and dreamt, or had autumn suddenly arrived?

“W-W-What…what happened?” Wang Sufen stammered, still in shock.

Grandma Li instinctively reached for her tobacco pouch, stuffed it, lit it, and took a deep puff. After calming down, she exhaled a smoke ring, looked at Zhenzhen, and said softly, “This child… might not be ordinary.”

Wang Sufen was on the verge of tears. “How is she not an ordinary person? I carried her in my womb for ten months and gave birth to her. She’s made of flesh and blood, no different from Mingnan and Mingbei!”

Grandma Li took a puff of her pipe and, seeing Wang Sufen’s confused expression, explained further. “What I mean is that this child might be a reincarnated immortal. Didn’t we have legends about immortals descending to the mortal realm? Think about it—you had no milk when you gave birth to Mingbei, and your health wasn’t good either. But after giving birth to Zhenzhen, not only did your health improve, but you also had more milk than when you had Dongzi. And look at Mingnan and Mingbei—over the past few months, they’ve caught more fish than they did in the past few years combined. I figure the heavens must have sent those blessings for Zhenzhen.”

Listening to Grandma Li’s words, Zhenzhen finally realized that everything she had experienced before was real. She closed her eyes again and, sure enough, her surroundings reappeared clearly in her mind. She could see a wild rabbit hiding behind a tree, a pheasant perched on a branch, lingzhi mushrooms growing on tree trunks, and even ginseng buried underground.

She tried calling out to the rabbit in her mind, and to her surprise, it looked around blankly before dashing toward her.

When Zhenzhen opened her eyes, there it was—a fat, gray rabbit hopping left and right in front of her. But this rabbit was unusually alert, stopping about ten meters away. It nibbled on grass while keeping a sharp eye on its surroundings, ready to flee at the slightest movement.

Zhenzhen thought about how her family hadn’t eaten a full meal in a long time. If she could catch this rabbit, it would make for a good feast. As she was contemplating this, vines suddenly sprouted out of nowhere and tightly bound the rabbit.

Startled, Zhenzhen swallowed nervously. But seeing the rabbit struggling fiercely, she panicked, afraid it might escape. She pointed in its direction, shouting “Ah! Ah!” repeatedly.

Grandma Li followed Zhenzhen’s finger and turned to look. “Oh my goodness!” A big, seven or eight-pound rabbit was lying tangled in the grass. Grandma Li rushed over, grabbed the rabbit by its ears, and lifted it up.

“See what I mean? I told you our Zhenzhen is special!” Grandma Li tied the rabbit securely with the vines and tossed it into her basket. Then she asked Wang Sufen, “Did you have any strange dreams when you were pregnant with Zhenzhen? Dreams about immortals or something like that?”

Wang Sufen’s expression turned a bit odd. “There was one time. I dreamed about an ancient goddess called the Mother of the Earth. She was seriously injured and only had one drop of golden blood and a fragment of her soul left. In the dream, another immortal said that if the drop of blood could find the fallen soul in the mortal realm, it might be able to revive the Mother of the Earth. But just when I dreamed that the blood had found the soul, I woke up. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Grandma Li was fascinated by the story. After Wang Sufen finished, she clicked her tongue. “That’s a good story, but it sounds far-fetched.” She rolled her eyes at Wang Sufen. “Stop thinking about ancient legends. Focus on whether you dreamed about any immortals from the last few centuries.”

Wang Sufen thought hard for a while but couldn’t recall anything, so she just shook her head helplessly.

Seeing that Wang Sufen had nothing more to add, Grandma Li decided not to dwell on it. Instead, she looked at the abundant crops in the field and started to worry. “This is too strange. We can’t let outsiders find out about it. When we get home, I’ll quietly tell Zhenzhen’s father. The three of us need to figure out how to harvest these crops without attracting attention.”

The two women whispered back and forth, discussing ideas. Meanwhile, Zhenzhen touched her forehead and fell into deep thought. Could that golden bead that sent me back to the 1960s actually be the Mother of the Earth’s essence blood? If that’s the case, then this time-travel wasn’t bad luck—it was a blessing! But why does it all sound so fantastical?

——

—”Tighten their belts” means to spend less money or live frugally due to financial difficulties.

—Sorghum is a cereal grain that is widely grown for food, animal feed, and biofuel. It is drought-resistant and commonly used to make flour, syrup, and alcoholic beverages. Sorghum is a staple food in many parts of Africa and Asia.

——
Author’s Note:

This novel is a fantasy romance! Haha! Were you startled by such a powerful golden finger?

The heroine’s first special ability has now appeared!