Chapter 14: Another Use of the Purple Qi

Chapter 14: Another Use for the Purple Qi

Wenuan's heart raced as she placed her palm on a newly sprouted vegetable seedling that had only two cotyledon leaves.

The purple qi flowed slowly from Wenuan's hand, spreading across the entire vegetable patch.

The faint purple qi lingered in the soil for a moment before vanishing.

This was far less purple qi than what was required to regulate the body.

At that moment, to the naked eye, the seedling that originally had only two leaves began to grow new leaves, much like an effect on a television screen—one leaf, then two, growing larger and larger.

Wenuan's heart tightened: *Stop growing, otherwise it will be hard to explain!*

It wasn't until the largest leaf grew to the size of a ping-pong ball that the visible growth speed finally slowed down.

Although they weren't ready to eat yet, they already looked like they were seven or eight days old.

Looking at the several rows of lush green vegetable beds, Wenuan was stunned: *How am I supposed to explain this?*

However, this was a good thing nonetheless!

She was overjoyed; this purple qi could actually promote plant growth!

*I wonder if I can improve the seeds?*

Wenuan hurried into the house.

She dug out the seeds that Mrs. Wu had stored away.

In this era, almost all vegetable seeds were saved from the previous harvest, unless the crops hadn't grown well, hadn't grown large enough, or didn't taste good. Only then would they be bought in town or exchanged with neighbors the following year.

This year, Mrs. Wu had already saved seeds for sponge gourd, wax gourd, pumpkin, winter melon, calabash, beans, chili, eggplant, bitter melon, and other gourds, all selected from the largest "king" fruits.

For vegetables, she had only saved water spinach and bitter wheat; others had not yet been saved. At this time of year, vegetables like mustard greens, choy sum, yu mai cai, lettuce, spinach, bok choy, and Chinese cabbage were in their peak growing season. Once this season's crop matured, she would just need to pick the best one to use for seed saving.

Every year, the seeds Mrs. Wu saved were the best, which was why the family's gourds and vegetables grew so well. Sometimes, people in the village would even spend money to buy their seeds.

Looking at the plump seeds, Wenuan remembered that the purple qi wasn't exhausted. She poured out a few seeds from each of the paper-wrapped bundles, mixed them together, and with a thought, began the improvement process.

The purple qi poured out, enveloping the seeds.

Wenuan felt a surge of joy; it seemed to work. She thought to herself: *I hope these gourd seeds can become cold-resistant so they can be planted in winter, and that the resulting fruits will be large, abundant, sweet, and fragrant!*

This time, the purple qi lingered for quite a while.

It was simply because Wenuan's requirements were a bit excessive!

Wenuan stared intently at the seeds, not even blinking.

Wenran ran in like a gust of wind: "Third Sister, the vegetables in the yard suddenly grew a lot!"

Wenuan quickly withdrew her hand.

Seeing Wenuan's strange posture with her hand on the seeds, Wenran asked, "Third Sister, what are you doing? Are you trying to warm the seeds with your hands?"

"Can't you see?"

If Wenran could see the purple qi, she would have asked immediately why it was there!

"See what?"

"The purple qi! I thought I saw a cluster of purple qi coming from these seeds."

"Are you seeing things? Where is there any purple qi?" Wenran leaned in closer, looking seriously at the plump seeds. "Is there? No! But these seeds do look exceptionally plump."

*Perhaps the purple qi can only be seen by me.*

Then she could rest easy!

However, it was also possible that Wenran simply hadn't seen it.

"I was just teasing you. I just wanted to take these seeds out to see if they can grow gourds in the winter if planted now. That way, we'll have vegetables to eat in winter too."

Wenran shook her head. "That shouldn't be possible! No one has ever planted them that way."

What to plant in which season was knowledge passed down through generations of ancestors. If it were possible, someone would have done it long ago. Who wouldn't want to eat more?

"How will we know if we don't try? I'll take a few to test!" Wenuan wrapped up the seeds she had improved with the purple qi, then repacked the unimproved seeds into their original places.

Seeing this, Wenran grew anxious. "Third Sister, you can't ruin the seeds! All our gourds and vegetables for next year are in here!"

Since food was scarce, they relied on eating more vegetables! Although even the vegetables were insufficient.

Wenuan: "Don't worry, Mother saved plenty. I only took two or three of each kind; there's enough left for next year. Don't you want to eat fresh gourds and vegetables in winter? Besides, if we grow off-season vegetables, we can sell them in winter and earn some money."

Upon hearing they could earn money, Wenran's eyes widened with curiosity. "Third Sister, is it because of that person in your dream? Can you grow these gourds in winter and sell them for money? You have a way, don't you? That kind of way!"

Wenuan: "..."

She hadn't expected the dream excuse to be so useful!

As the two walked out, Wenran saw the lush green vegetable patch and remembered what she wanted to say. With an excited face, she cried, "Third Sister, look at the vegetables in the patch!"

Wenuan also said with excitement, "You only just noticed! I noticed as soon as I woke up; I even watered them!"

"They weren't like this when I went out this afternoon! How did they grow so tall all of a sudden?"

"How should I know? It must be because the soil is fertile, the sunlight is good, and we gave them plenty of water, so they're growing vigorously! Where is the hoe? Let's hurry and plant these gourds; maybe they'll grow fast too!" Wenuan changed the subject.

Wenran didn't quite believe it was just the soil and sun, but she pulled Wenuan toward the area. "It's right by the house."

The two found an empty space behind the house and worked together to turn the soil.

Wenuan surveyed the space: the sponge gourds could just be planted in the corner of the yard, and the vines would climb directly along the bamboo fence, so no trellis would be needed.

The vines for bitter melon and beans weren't as long as those for winter melon or pumpkin. They prepared two rows—one for bitter melon and one for beans—intending to set up trellises once they reached about thirty centimeters.

The pumpkin and winter melon vines could grow directly on the ground, though they required more space. They picked a random corner for them.

For the calabash, it would be best to build a small shed, so Wenuan planted the calabash seeds in a corner behind the house to make it easier to build a trellis later.

By the time they finished planting, it was almost dark. The rest of the family had returned, and seeing the vegetables in the yard had grown so large, they all gathered around to watch.

Mrs. Wang: "Strange. When I went out this afternoon, these vegetables looked the same as they did this morning. How did they grow to look ten days old in just one afternoon? They're almost ready to eat!"

Wen Jiarui noticed the soil was wet. "Who watered them?"

Seeing Wenuan and Wenran approaching, Mrs. Wu immediately asked, "Ran'er, did you water the vegetable patch? What kind of water did you use?"

"Third Sister watered them! I went to catch snails, and when I came back, I found the vegetables had suddenly grown." She thought that since snails were edible, catching more would help the family eat better tomorrow.

Wenuan put on an expression of ignorance. "The vegetables were already like this when I woke up. Seeing how fast they were growing, I gave them a watering using the water from the vat."

Mrs. Wu glared at Wenran. "You went to the river again?"

Wenran tugged at Mrs. Wu's sleeve and gave a pleasing smile. "No, I just stayed by the riverbank."

"Even the riverbank is no good!" Mrs. Wu said, but she stopped there, as her attention was entirely captured by the rapidly growing vegetables.

Everyone was wondering why the vegetables were growing so fast.

Wen Luoling had a sudden realization. "Maybe this is a blessed land, and even Heaven is helping us! Since Third Sister moved here, her health has improved day by day, and now even the vegetables in the field are growing well."

Wen Hou rubbed his chin. "Maybe that's true! If so, that would be wonderful!"

If vegetables could grow in just a few days, their family wouldn't have to worry about starving just by eating greens!

Wen Jiarui was somewhat skeptical, but he couldn't think of any other reason.

Mrs. Wang: "Don't spread this news! From now on, the courtyard gate must be kept closed. The vegetable patch cannot be discovered by others!"

Wen Jiarui's expression turned serious, making the scar on his face look even more terrifying. "Tomorrow, I will cut more bamboo to fence in this vegetable patch."

That way, even if the courtyard gate was opened, outsiders wouldn't see the growth of the vegetables.

Mrs. Wang nodded. "We can't delay this."

"You all must not reveal a single word about this to outsiders—not even the children. Otherwise, we won't even have this bamboo house to live in, understood?" Wen Jiarui couldn't help but urge them once more.

The siblings nodded and promised not to speak!

Then, before it got too dark, Wen Jiarui went off to cut bamboo for the fence.