"Wife, Mother isn't biased. Let me tell you, our mother is so smart—even I could tell you were the one who took that red fruit. Do you really think Mother wouldn't know?"
Fu Dajin turned her body so they were face-to-face, but Mrs. Zhou quickly averted her eyes. "I didn't take it. Don't wrong me."
"Wife, I'm telling you, just now when you opened your mouth, you smelled so sweet and fragrant. It smelled so good, I just want to..."
Fu Dajin licked his lips with a mischievous grin.
Mrs. Zhou felt both shy and embarrassed. "I... I... That thing just dropped, and I was afraid it would go bad, so I just tasted it! It wasn't stealing, I didn't steal it!"
"Wife, you really didn't need to do that. Our family would never leave you short of anything. Whatever anyone else has, you have too. Look, even Tang Qi has one, how could you be left out?"
Fu Dajin opened his palm to reveal the strawberry he hadn't been able to bring himself to eat earlier. "Mine is for you too."
Mrs. Zhou sniffed and wiped away her tears. "I already ate mine, you eat it. This thing is so delicious, it's just a shame there's so few. How is one each supposed to be enough? If only we could grow a lot more!"
Once everyone else had gone, Fu Baiwan and Tian Guihua shared the one they had picked that morning, which had gotten a little bruised and juicy from being squeezed.
The old couple marveled that despite living for the better part of their lives, they had never tasted such a delicious fruit.
"Qiujiu, eat this."
Seeing her parents share one, Fu Qiujiu knew exactly what was going on.
"Old man, just now you said our second daughter-in-law dotes on the children, but aren't you doing the exact same thing?"
Fu Baiwan curled his lips. "Is that the same thing? A daughter has to be doted on. Besides, such a delicious thing was discovered by my daughter—without her, none of us would get to eat it. She deserves to eat more."
To them, strawberries were a rare treat, but to Fu Qiujiu, who could eat all she wanted from her spatial dimension, she was already getting a bit tired of them.
"Mother eat, Daddy eat, Qiujiu no eat."
"Aww, look at you, you can say so many words already."
Delighted, Fu Baiwan touched his forehead against the little baby's, kissed and cuddled her, and then proudly showed off to Tian Guihua. "Look at how little my daughter is and she already knows to show filial piety to her parents. We really didn't spoil her for nothing."
Tian Guihua shot her husband a sidelong glance. "As if she's only your daughter and not mine?"
"Yes, yes, our daughter." Taking advantage of Tian Guihua's unguarded moment, Fu Baiwan planted a loud smack on her cheek. "You're the meritorious heroine of the Old Fu Family. Without you, we wouldn't have such a wonderful little daughter."
Though Tian Guihua pretended to be disgusted, she couldn't hide her shyness and a smile that lit up her face, turning her cheeks beet red. "You old pervert."
Fu Baiwan just chuckled.
Fu Qiujiu hadn't expected her old dad to have this kind of romantic streak.
"Who knows what this fruit is called? Even the doctor said he'd never seen it..."
"Strawberry... Strawberry..." Fu Qiujiu prompted. Being able to speak was truly great.
"Straw-berry?" Fu Baiwan immediately laughed. "What a great name! With the straw all gone, won't the crops have a bumper harvest? We'll call it that."
"My goodness, our Qiujiu really is a lucky star."
Tian Guihua didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How on earth did those two things connect?
In the end, the family of three shared a single strawberry: the very tip went to Fu Qiujiu, the middle to her mother, and the stem end to her old man.
Good as it was, there was just too little of it. Fu Baiwan let out the exact same sigh—wouldn't it be better to grow more?
It was just a pity they had eaten all the seeds without saving any.
"Should we go back up the mountain and look for some more?"
"No need to look, there aren't any." Fu Baiwan shook his head directly. "Let me tell you, it's my first time ever seeing this thing. If there were really so many up on the mountain, sweet and fragrant as can be, would they have waited until now to be discovered?"
Fu Qiujiu thought her old dad was quite sensible after all, but there was no need to rush; the second batch of strawberries would be coming down soon enough.
Chapter 035: Eating Fruit Together
After eating her dinner—Fu Qiujiu could eat tiny amounts of solid food now, though her mother's milk remained her staple, lest too much food cause indigestion—she noticed something.
Furthermore, she figured that people in ancient times probably had very little knowledge of child-rearing. Little babies under a year old like her shouldn't have salt or sugar, and could only have the tiniest touch of oil to avoid putting too much strain on their kidneys.
Yet her parents and sisters-in-law were completely oblivious to this.
With no other choice, she had to take charge of her own body and monitor her own limits.
Fu Qiujiu ate a little rice porridge. She actually wanted some vegetables too, but her second sister-in-law's cooking was so salty that a single bite required a massive bowl of rice to wash it down. No wonder a single dish of food was enough for so many people in the family.
Her second sister-in-law was good at everything, but her culinary skills... left much to be desired.
"Qiujiu, are you full?" Seeing her little daughter put down the spoon, Tian Guihua wiped her mouth for her.
She was actually very clean; Tian Guihua had truly never seen a baby this young with such good self-care skills.
Fu Qiujiu nodded, and Tian Guihua casually patted her belly. "Round as a marble. You're full. Go play."
"Big Aunt, I'm full too."
"Full? How much did you even eat? Your appetite is way too small, no wonder your health is weak."
Fu Qiujiu looked back at Tang Xian. He probably shared her difficulty with getting used to the family's cooking.
Though Fu Qiujiu was walking steadily now, she wasn't very fast, and Tang Xian caught up to her in just two or three steps.
"Here, eat this."
Fu Qiujiu looked at his open palm. A strawberry?
He hadn't eaten his?
How old was he anyway? How could he manage to hold back and not eat it?
Eighth Brother and Tianfu had eaten theirs the exact second they were handed over, swallowing them as fast as Zhu Bajie eating the ginseng fruit.
She looked up at the little boy and saw him pressing his lips together. His big eyes were dark and bright, like stars in the sky, except a depth unbefitting his age flashed within them.
"Didn't you hear me? Eat it." Tang Xian pushed his hand forward a bit more. "I'm not going to feed you. If you want to eat, eat it yourself."
What was this little boy playing at?
This sudden pampering and bossiness left Fu Qiujiu, a twenty-something older sister at heart, a little overwhelmed.
Tang Xian kept his face rigid, his brows furrowing slightly. A trace of helplessness crossed the depths of his eyes before he finally compromised. "Don't bite my hand."
Fu Qiujiu snapped back to reality. He actually intended to feed her.
As someone in her twenties, she couldn't possibly be fighting a little toddler for food.
Besides, strawberries were plentiful in her spatial dimension.
"Deh-deh eat!"
Her tongue was still a bit clumsy—please forgive her, please forgive her.
The corners of Tang Xian's mouth twitched. "I don't like eating them."
He was lying; Fu Qiujiu could see right through him. The boy was just being stubborn.
How interesting.
Worried that her little daughter might take a tumble, Tian Guihua had intentionally walked over to check on them, only to witness this affectionate scene. "Eat together. Qiujiu and Xiao Qi, eat together."
Fu Qiujiu: "..."
Tang Xian: "..."
"No need, let her eat it."
Seeing that Tang Xian's face had actually turned red, Fu Qiujiu's mischievous streak flared up again. "Qiujiu eat, Elder Brother eat."
"Xiao Qi, give it a try. These strawberries are so delicious, trust Big Aunt. I've never tasted fruit this good in all my life."
"Strawberries?" Tang Xian looked blank.
"Yes, strawberries. We don't even know what they're called, Qiujiu came up with the name. Your uncle said it has a good meaning—country folk are terrified of weeds growing in their fields, so 'strawberry' (literally 'grass is gone') means a huge bumper harvest."
Tang Xian thought it was a very nice-sounding name, though the "gone" part was a bit unlucky.
Fu Qiujiu blinked her star-like eyes at Tang Xian, making him self-conscious. "You eat first?"
Teasing him on purpose, Fu Qiujiu really did take a bite.
Sharing food was completely normal among country folk who weren't fussy about such things, especially with children this young.
Tian Guihua simply thought Tang Qi was taking good care of little Qiujiu, and she was thrilled. "Xiao Qi, hurry up and eat. Go on, it's so sweet."
Tang Xian stared at the little tooth mark where a chunk had been bitten away. The strawberry might even have her saliva on it...
"Be a good girl, Qiujiu, let Xiao Qi Brother eat. You can't have any more."
Fu Qiujiu nodded heavily. "Qiujiu no eat, Brother eat."
Was she being a bit mean doing this?
To her surprise, however, the little boy actually ate it.
"Isn't it good? This stuff really is the most delicious fruit I've ever seen." Grabbing Fu Qiujiu's hand with a chuckle, Tian Guihua said, "Come on, back to the room with Mother to sleep."
Fu Qiujiu didn't want to go back, but unfortunately, her mother scooped her up and carried her off.
What a pity—she hadn't even gotten to see the little boy's reaction.
In the middle of the night, on the roof of the Fu family's house.
After briefing Tang Xian on the situation in the Capital, Feng Ji couldn't suppress his gossipy curiosity. "Master, were those red fruits good?"
Tang Xian swept a blade-like gaze across him, and Feng Ji instantly wiped the smile off his face.
He was done for. Seeing how approachable his young master had been at the Fu family made him let his guard down.
They were delicious—fragrant and sweet. If one ignored the little milk-baby's comment about saliva, the taste was quite good.
"Master, shouldn't you be heading back?" Feng Ji hurriedly changed the subject.
With a rigid little face and an expressionless expression, Tang Xian possessed an aura that seemed entirely natural to him. "Mn."
...
Nourished by the Spirit Spring Water and the spatial dimension, the strawberries grew quickly, and whenever she had a free moment, Fu Qiujiu would chat with them.
Little Strawberry: "Qiujiu, please, I'm begging you to stop singing."
Fu Qiujiu: "Is it not pretty?"
Little Strawberry: "It sounds like dying! Look, even my leaves are drooping."
Fu Qiujiu: "Then should I do a little dance for you?"
As she grew older, Fu Qiujiu's ability to communicate with flora and fauna had also strengthened. She no longer needed to speak aloud; she could communicate with them entirely through her inner voice.
Songs, however, still had to be sung out loud.
"What is Qiujiu humming about over there?" Tian Guihua looked at her little daughter, who was shaking her head and wagging her body while humming incomprehensibly to herself, looking utterly baffled.
Just as Fu Baiwan had hoped, there were no weeds in the family's fields. While other families had to send out their entire households to weed, their fields weren't nearly as clean as the Fus'.
Moreover, the crop sprouts had come up evenly and didn't need any replanting—unlike everyone else's fields, which had patches missing here and there, looking just like Old Li's head at the west end of the village.
Fu Baiwan had been admiring them for a long time too. "My daughter really is a talented girl. Her singing sounds nice, and her dancing is pretty too."
"Did you understand a single word she sang? 'Sounds nice' indeed."
As for the dancing—twisting her waist and shaking her bottom—didn't all little babies do that?
Fu Baiwan's eyes crinkled into slits with a smile. "The fruit is going to ripen again. This time we won't give any away for others to eat; we'll plant all of them. Next year we'll get a whole lot more, and maybe we can even sell them for a huge sum of money."
Fu Baiwan stared at the small honeydew melon sitting in the basin nearby. "If only this thing were edible too."
"Eat, eat..."
Fu Qiujiu indicated that it was indeed edible.
Tian Guihua scooped up her little daughter. "Melons aren't for eating yet, have some milk first. Mother is bursting, eat a bit more, be a good girl."
Fu Qiujiu remembered having a full meal just an hour ago. Eat again?
Were they trying to turn her into an absolute fatty?
Chapter 036: Protected by Deities, Immune to All Poisons
The family wasn't quite as short on money anymore, though of course, one could never have too much money.
When Fu Wujin returned home, he discussed with his parents about sending his younger brothers and nephew to school, otherwise they would do nothing but play around all day.
Studying a bit would make it easier to find a living outside in the future.
Knowing that scholars were respected and no longer strapped for cash, Fu Baiwan agreed.
"I have to go too?" Fu Liuijin shook his head. "I'm so old already, I don't want to study with Bajin and the others, it's too embarrassing."
Fu Liujin was ten years old, which was indeed a bit late to be starting his education, but there was still time.
Fu Qiujiu had thought of this long ago. Now that someone else had voiced it for her, she naturally gave it her full support.
"Deh-deh go! Deh-deh go!"
Fu Liujin kissed her hair. Their parents didn't let them kiss her face, and her mouth was strictly off limits with her old man keeping such a close watch, so they didn't dare mess around.
"Qiujiu, if Sixth Brother goes to school, nobody will be around to play with you."
"No play!"
How could playing possibly be more important than studying?
Besides, without these little brats making a racket at home, Fu Qiujiu couldn't be happier. She finally wouldn't have to be passed from one set of arms to another.
And so, Fu Liujin, Fu Bajin, and Fu Tianfu—two uncles and a nephew—were sent to the village school.
On the very first day of school, Fu Baiwan sighed in relief. "It's so peaceful! Finally, nobody is fighting me for my daughter. If I'd known, I would have sent them off ages ago."
"Would you have had the money back then?" Tian Guihua smiled, bursting his bubble.
Fu Baiwan didn't get angry. "Don't we have it now? Whatever it takes, I'm going to raise a scholar. Wujin... sigh... what a pity."
"What's a pity? I actually think it's wonderful. Haven't you noticed how Wujin always has a smile on his face whenever he comes back now? He wasn't like that before."
Prompted by Tian Guihua, Fu Baiwan thought back. And wouldn't you know it, he was right; previously, Old Fifth always looked weighed down by worries.
"Yeah, and having him learn to be a doctor means we won't have to worry if someone in the family gets sick in the future."
...
Watching his wife chugging yet another bowl of bitter medicinal soup, Fu Dajin felt both heartache and helplessness. "Wife, you've been drinking this medicine for over half a year now with no results. Why don't you try the medicine Wujin gave us?"
"Can Wujin's stuff be drunk? How long has he even been studying? Can a master craftsman be produced in ten or eight years? You want him to poison me to death?"
Mrs. Zhou glanced at the medicine Fu Wujin had left behind. "The stuff I'm taking is from my mother. They told you to drink the talisman water on the first and fifteenth of the month, but you wouldn't listen."
"My eldest sister drank it and got pregnant. If it doesn't work, it's your fault."
"I did drink it! When have I ever not drunk it?"
Fu Wujin looked genuinely aggrieved. "I really drank it. I only threw up that one time you saw, but I drank all the rest, I swear."
Mrs. Zhou glared at him. "Then your heart wasn't sincere."
Despite saying that, Mrs. Zhou was also getting anxious. It had been nearly five years since their wedding, and her belly still showed no signs of life.
With the Fu family's fortunes visibly rising, divorcing her to marry a young maiden wouldn't be out of the question.
She would have to make a trip back to her maternal home.
...
With all the boys at school, Fu Baiwan worried his little daughter would be bored. Although Tang Xian was around, he was a regular wet blanket who rarely spoke, so Fu Baiwan decided to take the two toddlers out for a stroll.
"I'm not going."
"Go on, staying cooped up at home all day will drive you crazy." Tian Guihua waved a hand at Tang Xian. "I wanted to send you to school, but I was afraid your body couldn't handle it. Wait until you're a bit better."
"Let's go, Qiujiu."
Fu Qiujiu genuinely didn't want to go parading around the streets, but her old man never seemed to tire of it.
While Fu Baiwan stopped to chat with people, Fu Qiujiu sat by the wall alone, and Tang Xian did the same, though he sat a little ways apart from her.
Just as Fu Qiujiu was about to toddle over and tease the little boy, a burst of force shoved her aside, sending her off-balance onto the ground.
What was going on here?
Hearing the commotion, Tang Xian's dark eyes flashed with a cold light as he glared icily at the dark, chubby girl before him.
Fan Simei?
Mother Fan and Fan Mantun's youngest daughter, probably six or seven years old this year.
Fan Simei made a face at Fu Qiujiu, who was sitting on the ground. "Serves you right, you annoying pest."
Then she walked straight toward Tang Xian. "Let's play together."
Fu Qiujiu had truly never seen such an ill-behaved child. If it hadn't been on purpose, fine, but this was clearly a deliberate shove.
And she dared call her an annoying pest?
Did she really think she was made of clay?
She was a hardened brawler who wouldn't hesitate to take down a two-hundred-pound woman!
Before she could even move, however, Fan Simei suddenly stumbled backward a few steps and landed squarely on a large stone, taking a heavy hit right to her bottom.
Ouch.
Fu Qiujiu felt the pain just watching it.
She was puzzled, though—the little boy hadn't even touched her, so why had she fallen?
Without so much as a glance at Fan Simei, Tang Xian walked straight over to Fu Qiujiu and picked her up.
Fu Qiujiu finally found herself back in the little boy's embrace, looking up at the cutie right in front of her...
"Don't get your drool on me," the little boy said coldly.
Fu Qiujiu was currently cutting her ninth tooth, her gums were a bit itchy, and her drool was overflowing. She had been trying her best to control it.
Yet she was still being despised.
Fu Qiujiu sniffed back her drool, her dignity taking a slight hit.
The adults had heard the commotion too. Seeing his daughter sitting on the ground, Fu Baiwan practically ran over.
"Qiujiu, don't be scared, Daddy's here."
Hearing her daughter's lung-bursting cries, Mother Fan came running out as well. "What are you howling for? Your old lady isn't dead yet!"
"Mother, wuwu..." Seeing her mother arrive, Fan Simei's crying grew even louder as she wailed at the top of her lungs, loud enough for the whole village to hear.
"He... he pushed me!" Fan Simei had initially thought Tang Xian looked handsome and had heard her parents talking about how he had money and whatnot, so she'd wanted to play with him.
"Simei, you child, why are you lying?"
Quite a few villagers were sitting under the big willow tree. "We all saw it clearly. You bumped into little Qiujiu and then tripped and fell yourself. Little Tang Qi didn't do a thing, he didn't even brush past your clothes."
"Besides, your build is twice Tang Qi's size, how could he possibly push you over?"
"Wah!" Fan Simei cried even harder. She wasn't fat at all!
Mother Fan, who had been ready to throw a fit, suddenly found herself unable to argue, especially since not a single person was standing on her side. "Wretched girl, you still have the nerve to cry, what a useless piece of work."
She couldn't even beat a little toddler.
Dragged away by her ear, Fan Simei was hauled back home by her mother. With the danger averted, Tang Xian put Fu Qiujiu back down on her feet.
The onlookers all agreed this whole affair was bizarre: Simei had bumped into little Qiujiu and immediately received her karmic retribution—this baby Qiujiu was truly something else.
Hearing everyone talk about how Fu Qiujiu was protected by deities and immune to all poisons, and how she was a true lucky star...
Tang Xian curled his lips. Clearly, it was he who had used his inner energy to repel that dark, chubby girl.
Fu Qiujiu also felt the whole thing was rather strange.
Chapter 037: Little Qiujiu is in High Demand
"Qiujiu, would Uncle get a cuddle?"
Before Fu Qiujiu could even reply, Fu Baiwan immediately scooped his daughter into a tight embrace, guarding her with strict defense and giving outsiders zero opportunity.
Seeing this, Liang Dacheng couldn't resist teasing Fu Baiwan. "When this daughter of yours gets married in the future, are you going to tag along with her?"
Others joined in the teasing as well. "Uncle Baiwan, looking at your daughter, I reckon you're going to be terribly picky when she looks for a husband!"
That went without saying. Ordinary folks weren't good enough for his little daughter anyway.
Fu Baiwan didn't want to continue this conversation; he didn't even dare to imagine the day his little daughter grew up and got married—he would definitely cry his eyes out.
"Hehe, it's still early, plenty early yet."