Chapter 30: Xiang Village [2]

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Xiang Village [2]

The next morning, Xi Yunxui woke before the sun had fully risen.

She stretched lazily.

Her body felt incredibly light.

Since taking the body-strengthening elixir and beginning cultivation, she had noticed several changes. Her strength had increased significantly, her stamina had improved, and even after a long day of work, she didn’t feel nearly as exhausted as before.

Still, there was something else she wanted to try.

Xi Yunxui sat cross-legged on the bed and remembered the video she had received on the bus the previous day.

It had started with a simple conversation.

While riding the bus, she had noticed a woman watching something on her phone.

On the screen, a female dancer had been bending her body in ways Xi Yunxui had never imagined possible.

The woman had stretched one leg high into the air, bent backward almost impossibly far, then smoothly transitioned into another position.

Xi Yunxui had stared.

How can the human body bend like that?

She had eventually asked the woman what she was watching.

The woman had laughed and explained that it was a flexibility and stretching routine.

Apparently, one didn’t have to be a dancer to practice it.

Xi Yunxui had immediately become interested.

When the woman noticed how fascinated she was by her phone, she assumed Xi Yunxui had just purchased hers and didn’t know how to use it.

So, with considerable patience, she had taught her how to open videos, adjust the volume, pause, replay and transfer files.

She had even sent the stretching video to Xi Yunxui’s phone.

Now Xi Yunxui opened it.

She carefully followed the movements.

First, she stretched her arms.

Then her legs.

She leaned forward.

Then sideways.

Then she tried one of the more difficult positions.

Her body moved smoothly.

Xi Yunxui blinked.

I’m much more flexible than before.

She tried another pose.

Then another.

Soon, she was moving through the exercises with increasing ease.

A satisfied smile appeared on her face.

"This feels good."

The old stiffness in her body seemed to disappear.

After several minutes, she stood and rolled her shoulders.

She felt refreshed.

Light.

Almost as if she had just washed away the fatigue of the previous day.

Xi Yunxui smiled.

"Modern people really know how to take care of themselves."

She switched off the video.

Then she suddenly remembered something.

She wasn’t at the Huo residence.

Her mother had only a small garden and a modest household.

There wouldn’t be nearly as much work to occupy her.

Xi Yunxui thought for a moment.

Then she remembered the elderly villagers who had always treated her mother kindly.

"That’s it."

She nodded.

"I can help them."

She quickly washed up and joined her mother for breakfast.

Her mother noticed the basket beside her.

"Where are you going?"

"I’m going to visit some of the elderly people nearby."

Her mother smiled.

"You’ve only just arrived, and you’re already looking for work."

Xi Yunxui laughed.

"I’m not going to work. I’m just helping."

Her mother shook her head fondly.

"Take care of yourself too."

"I will."

After breakfast, Xi Yunxui helped clear the table.

Then she picked up her small basket and left.

---

Her first stop was Grandma Li’s house.

The moment the elderly woman opened the gate and saw her, her face lit up.

"Yunxui!"

"Grandma Li."

Xi Yunxui smiled warmly.

"What brings you here so early?"

"I came to help."

"Help with what?"

Xi Yunxui looked toward the small vegetable garden.

"That."

Grandma Li laughed.

"My little garden?"

"Yes."

"You’ve just returned and you’re already doing this?"

Xi Yunxui rolled up her sleeves.

"That’s why I came."

She immediately got to work.

She pulled weeds.

Loosened the soil.

Trimmed overgrown plants.

Helped organize the vegetables.

Then she noticed that the inside of the house also needed a little attention.

"Grandma Li, I’ll clean this too."

"You don’t have to—"

"It’s fine."

Xi Yunxui quickly swept the floor, wiped the windows and rearranged several things that had been left out.

The entire house looked brighter afterward.

Grandma Li stared at it.

"My goodness."

She laughed.

"I don’t remember my house looking this neat in years."

Xi Yunxui smiled.

"Now it looks better."

Grandma Li immediately went into the kitchen.

"Wait here."

She returned carrying a basket filled with fresh vegetables.

"Take these."

Xi Yunxui blinked.

"Grandma Li, I only helped a little."

"And?"

The old woman thrust the basket into her hands.

"Take them."

Xi Yunxui smiled helplessly.

"Alright. Thank you."

---

From Grandma Li’s house, Xi Yunxui visited three more elderly villagers.

At the second house, she helped an old man repair a section of his vegetable garden and carry several sacks of soil.

At the third, she helped an elderly couple clean their courtyard and sort their vegetables.

At the fourth, she helped pick eggs and gather several baskets of freshly harvested produce.

Everywhere she went, the villagers were delighted.

And every single one insisted on giving her something.

By the time Xi Yunxui finished, her basket had become far too full.

Eggs.

Onions.

Carrots.

Peppers.

Leafy vegetables.

Sweet potatoes.

Several varieties of beans.

Even some freshly harvested corn.

Xi Yunxui stood at the edge of the road staring at everything.

"...Did I really collect all this?"

She looked down at the two heavy baskets hanging from her hands.

Then she laughed.

"I’m beginning to understand why people said helping others has its rewards."

She started walking home.

The distance didn’t feel particularly difficult.

Her strengthened body carried the weight easily.

Still, by the time she reached her mother’s house, she was more than ready to sit down.

She placed the baskets at the entrance.

Then sat on the small step.

She leaned back and sighed.

"Good thing I bought that body-strengthening elixir."

She looked at her arms.

"Otherwise, I probably would have collapsed halfway here."

She glanced toward the mountain in the distance.

"And cultivation really helped too."

She smiled.

Who would have thought that the strength she had always dreamed about would come so unexpectedly?

Xi Yunxui rested for a moment.

Then she grabbed the baskets and prepared to carry them inside.

"Xi Yunxui."

A familiar male voice suddenly came from the courtyard entrance.

Xi Yunxui froze.

Her hand remained on the basket.

Slowly, she turned.

Her eyes widened.

Standing at the entrance was a man who looked completely out of place in the quiet countryside.

Tall.

Calm.

Immaculately dressed.

And unmistakable.

Xi Yunxui stared.

"...Young Master?"

It was Huo Jingchen.

For a second, she genuinely couldn’t understand what she was looking at.

Why was he here?

In her village?

At the entrance of this little house?

Huo Jingchen stood there silently.

But unlike his usual expression, there was something different in his eyes.

Relief.

A quiet, almost impossible-to-hide happiness.

He had spent an entire day telling himself that he simply had work to do.

That he was coming to the village because of the strange phenomenon.

That his interest had nothing to do with her.

Yet the moment he saw her standing there, alive and well, carrying vegetables with her hair slightly untidy from a morning of work...

The tension that had been sitting in his chest since yesterday finally eased.

He had found her.

That simple realization brought an unexpected calm.

Xi Yunxui, however, was still staring at him in disbelief.

"Young Master..."

She glanced behind him.

Then around the courtyard.

Then back at him.

"What are you doing here?"

Huo Jingchen opened his mouth.

For the first time in quite a while, he wasn’t completely certain what answer to give.

He had come because of the strange golden phenomenon.

He had come because something unusual had happened in Xiang Village.

He had come to investigate the mountains.

Those were the official reasons.

But standing in front of Xi Yunxui now, one uncomfortable thought surfaced in his mind.

He was far more pleased to see her than he was about finding the source of the phenomenon.

And he didn’t know what to make of that.

Xi Yunxui waited for his answer.

Huo Jingchen looked at her for a moment longer.

Then, very calmly, he said,

"I came here to investigate something."

His gaze briefly dropped to the vegetables surrounding her.

Then returned to her face.

"Apparently, I arrived at the right place."

Xi Yunxui blinked.

She had absolutely no idea what he meant.