Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Keep Up the Good Work and You'll Get Rewards~ “No matter how delicious it smells, it's still not something you can touch! Bah! You little jinx!” Jing Erdan was Grandma Jing's youngest son, born in her later years. He was only six years old this year. Normally, the youngest child should have been the most spoiled, but the exact opposite was true in this family. Jing Erdan was the person Grandma Jing disliked the most. When Grandma Jing gave birth to Jing Erdan, she had suffered a premature delivery and severe postpartum hemorrhaging. She had nearly lost her life and remained unconscious for many days before finally waking up. Not long after Grandma Jing regained consciousness, floods struck their hometown. After that, an epidemic broke out... One disaster after another made Grandma Jing blame everything on Jing Erdan. On top of that, he had been weak and sickly since birth, falling ill every so often and requiring a considerable amount of money for treatment each time. Naturally, Grandma Jing gradually grew to hate him. If Jing Laotou hadn't protected him, Jing Erdan probably wouldn't have survived until now. Just when their lives had finally started getting a little better, they were struck by another disaster: locust plagues and droughts. Life had become completely unbearable, leaving them with no choice but to embark on the journey to flee the famine. Grandma Jing's dislike of Jing Erdan had only grown stronger. “Mother, the soup is ready.” Zhao Xiao'e spoke timidly. The family's food was usually distributed by Grandma Jing. Even the food they brought along on their journey was under her control, so Zhao Xiao'e naturally didn't dare touch anything without permission. Grandma Jing snorted and told Zhao Xiao'e to bring the bowl over. At a time like this, food was scarce and water was difficult to find. Therefore, there was only half a pot of soup in the clay pot. The soup contained one hard steamed bun and a little less than half a strip of dried meat. The steamed bun had already dissolved into mush, while the dried meat had been chopped into tiny pieces. The resulting soup looked quite thick and rich. The aroma of meat had long since made everyone's mouths water. They kept swallowing their saliva. Grandma Jing picked up a bowl and filled it to the brim. With just that one serving, half of the mush in the pot was already gone. “Little Yin, this is yours.” Grandma Jing handed the entire bowl of mush directly to Jing Yin. Jing Yin hesitated before shaking her head. “Grandma, I already ate a steamed bun earlier, so I'm not hungry right now.” It wasn't that Jing Yin didn't want to eat. It was just that this body hadn't eaten properly for such a long time. If she suddenly ate too much, there was a good chance she would end up with an upset stomach. She would have liked Grandma Jing to cook the remaining dried meat as well, but the rest of the family hadn't eaten much either. If they suddenly consumed so much meat, they might also end up with stomach problems. Grandma Jing didn't believe Jing Yin's explanation. She was just about to force the bowl into her hands when Jing Yin spoke leisurely. “Grandma, Tangyuan says that from now on, it will bless the Jing family so that we never have to worry about food or drink again.” As soon as Jing Yin finished speaking, Tangyuan immediately nodded enthusiastically. It didn't understand what its master was saying, but its master wanted it to nod! Grandma Jing: “...” Grandma Jing had originally intended to save this bowl of food for the next meal. However, under Jing Yin's insistence, she finally distributed the food to everyone. Jing Laotou, Jing Da, and Jing Zhao were the family's main laborers, so naturally, they received the largest portions. Next came Tangyuan. Finally, there were Grandma Jing and Zhao Xiao'e, while Jing Erdan received the smallest portion. He only got a tiny mouthful, barely enough to fill the gaps between his teeth. Even so, Jing Erdan's eyes lit up with excitement. He carefully licked his bowl clean. Seeing this, Jing Laotou sighed and divided a little less than half of his own portion for Jing Erdan. Grandma Jing snorted, pretending not to notice. She simply turned around and ate the food in her own bowl. Tangyuan eagerly licked its bowl clean before jumping into Jing Yin's arms. While the others were still eating, Jing Yin carried Tangyuan around the surrounding area. She needed to investigate exactly what abilities her golden finger possessed. [Ding! A withered elm tree has been discovered. Hurry and turn it into a beautiful solid-wood stool! Host, would you like to accept this crafting mission?] Jing Yin: “...” Was this really not some kind of carpenter-training system? Among a patch of withered wild grass, she spotted an elm tree that had been cut down, leaving only a stump about as tall as her thigh. Jing Yin silently accepted the mission. Jing Da was actually quite skilled at woodworking. If she couldn't make the stool herself, she could simply let him do it. After all, the mission hadn't specified that she had to make it with her own hands. [Ding! A crafting mission has been issued. Successfully completing the mission will reward the host with 2 points. Failing the mission will reward the host with 1 bag of fresh elm leaves.] Jing Yin: “...” Wasn't this basically forcing her to make a choice? Without hesitation, Jing Yin promptly admitted that she was incapable of making a stool and couldn't complete the task. System: “...” [Ding! The host has failed the crafting mission. You will not receive the points reward.] [Ding! The host has received a consolation reward: 1 bag of elm leaves. Please keep up the good work!] [Ding! Please select the location where the item should appear.] This time, the reward didn't simply drop to the ground like it had during her first check-in. There was now an additional option. The reward could either be stored directly in her space or dropped at any location within a ten-meter radius of her. Jing Yin selected the concealed patch of withered grass. Almost instantly, an old hemp sack appeared among the dry grass. She walked over and opened it. Inside the sack, which was nearly half her height, was a large quantity of fresh, tender elm leaves. Judging by its weight, there were probably around three jin. “Tangyuan, you're amazing!” Jing Yin smiled brightly as she picked up the hemp sack and walked toward the Jing family, loudly praising Tangyuan along the way. “Grandma, Tangyuan found something good!” Jing Yin placed the sack of elm leaves in front of the Jing family and then enthusiastically recounted how Tangyuan had found them. Seeing the fresh, tender elm leaves, which shouldn't have been available anywhere at this time, Grandma Jing was utterly astonished. She immediately declared that the Fox Immortal had manifested its divine power and began bowing and worshipping Tangyuan repeatedly. Tangyuan: “...” Its tiny head was filled with enormous question marks. Why was this little old lady kneeling before it again? Was she going to cut off some more flesh to feed it? She was too old. Her flesh would probably be tough and stringy. It didn't like eating that at all. ... After carefully putting away the elm leaves, Grandma Jing put on a stern expression and warned everyone. “Not a single one of you is allowed to tell anyone about this! Just pretend you didn't see anything. If anyone dares reveal even a single word, it will cost this old woman her life, and it will cost the lives of everyone in the Jing family! Do you understand?” The Jing family had always been good at keeping secrets. After Grandma Jing's stern warning, everyone naturally wouldn't dare mention anything to outsiders. If other people found out that their Jing family had a Fox Immortal, they would probably blame them for every strange little incident that happened from then on. ☸ The sun was already high in the sky. Grandma Jing and Jing Laotou discussed heading back immediately. Perhaps they could still catch up with the main group of refugees. Although the Jing family now had the Fox Immortal's protection and could obtain a little food, the entire Ning Tian Prefecture was currently suffering from widespread famine. Thousands of miles of land lay barren, and countless bandits and wild beasts roamed the area. They were no match for such dangers. One careless mistake, and they could end up in the belly of a wild animal. Traveling with the main group of refugees would at least help protect them against attacks from wild beasts. Even if nothing else, bandits wouldn't dare attack such a large group openly. “Grandma, the things we have with us are too conspicuous. Traveling with the main group might actually be more dangerous.” Jing Yin didn't like the idea of traveling with a large group. Human hearts were unpredictable, and sometimes people could be even more terrifying than bandits and wild beasts. If those refugees discovered that the Jing family had food, they might swarm them all at once. “Then we'll listen to Yin. We'll follow the same route but keep our distance from them. Besides, we have three grown men in our family. If anything, the wild beasts should be afraid of us!”