Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty-Chapter 41 - 40 Discussing Benefits

Chapter 41: Chapter 40: Discussing Benefits

Chapter 41 -40: Discussing Benefits

That evening, Chen Afu heard from Junior Officer Gao, who had just arrived for dinner, that the formidable gold thief had slipped away to the Capital City again. He had committed numerous robberies, stealing not just from the Silver Tower but also from the An Royal Mansion. Word was that not only had the Five Cities Military Department been mobilized, but even the Imperial Forestry Army was tirelessly hunting down the prolific thief, causing quite a commotion. Additionally, a reward of 1,000 taels of silver was announced.

Chen Afu was grinding her teeth in fury. The little creature was always stirring up trouble. Couldn’t it have targeted crooked rich merchants instead of the royal mansion? The affluent merchants had wealth but no authority; so even if they were robbed, they wouldn’t have been able to engage the Imperial Forestry Army.

Nonetheless, Chen Afu was still slightly worried about the creature’s safety.

The previous few times when gold sparrow returned, Chen Afu had been asleep, hence she had no idea of the magnitude of the trouble it had caused. Tonight, seeing that Dabao was asleep, she pinched the center of her left palm intending to summon it back quickly.

About half an hour later, the gold sparrow indeed returned, entered the room straightaway and dropped four gold bars.

Chen Afu exclaimed in shock, “Are you still committing crimes against the wind?”

The gold sparrow chittered with laughter, “Don’t worry, Mommy, these weren’t stolen from the Capital City. They were stolen from the Shi Anfu.”

The provincial Capital of Jibei Province, Shi Anfu, was about 300 miles away from here. The fact that the gold sparrow was able to return in half/an hour was testament to its incredible speed.

Chen Afu reproached, “Why must you steal from the royal mansion? If you targeted corrupt officials or dishonest merchants, we likely wouldn’t have caused such a huge stir.”

Jin Yanzi hopped about, giggling and then flying around a piece of agarwood. It then hopped onto Chen Afu’s palm and murmured, “Mommy Fu doesn’t get it. This is called ‘Yan’ passing and leaving traces. As Jin Yanzi, I have to make an impression during my brief tenure in the Dashun dynasty. Now that I have achieved my goal, I will try not to steal from the royal mansion and silver towers anymore. These gold bars were stolen from the rich Shen’s house.” It added, “Do you know who those people who bought your sewing packets are?”

Chen Afu asked, “Who?”

Jin Yanzi replied, “They are relatives of Inspector Luo of Jibei Province. Originally, I intended to steal the woman’s large phoenix hairpin, but, while hiding under the window and listening to their conversation, I found out that they were relatives of the beautiful girl, so I decided not to steal.” It even had an expression of respect for the beautiful girl.

Chen Afu had no spare energy to be concerned about these people. She chuckled, “What do you think? Isn’t the house I painted pretty?”

Jin Yanzi chirped, “Yeah, it’s unique and beautiful.”

Chen Afu continued, “Jin Bao’er, You promised me a favor for painting the house.”

Jin Yanzi rolled its eyes at her comment, displaying some annoyance with its master’s somewhat penny-pinching attitude. It responded, “Yes, I promised that and I am keeping it in mind. I will find a way to help you make a small fortune.”

Chen Afu was also irritated at Jin Yanzi’s penny-pinching demeanor. A fortune is a fortune, why does it have to be a small fortune.

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She grumbled momentarily before negotiating, “This time I don’t want a small fortune, I want you to bring some more green bird nest for Alu to eat, so he can recover faster and not suffer too much. Jin Bao’er, Alu is a good kid, and I don’t want to see him in so much pain.”

Upon hearing this, Jin Yanzi realized she had initially misunderstood. It said, “Alu is indeed a nice uncle. I also want to help him, but his illness isn’t so serious that he needs the green bird nest yet. Once his bones are broken, add some agarwood bark into his concoction. It has a calming effect, relieves pain, and helps promote faster bone healing.”

Chen Afu was overjoyed to hear this. Even just the bark of the agarwood had such amazing properties; it truly was a gem. She pleaded again, “But I can’t go to Dingzhou. Can you help me add the bark when they’re making the medicine? Dingzhou is just over fifty miles away from here, and you could fly there in no time.”

Jin Yanzi agreed readily, “Sure.”

Chen Afu was overjoyed and lifted Yanzi up, giving it a peck on its beak in the excitement.

Jin Yanzi was initially startled, then broke into a reminiscent laugh which made her eyes squint up like a single line. She couldn’t contain her excitement, “Mommy Fu, you took my first kiss. But I’m thrilled. I’ve grown so big but no one ever dared to kiss me. You’re certainly brave, and you appreciate me well.”

Having said that, she flew onto the floor, spreading her wings, with her little sharp beak wide open in a delightful chuckle.

Only then did Chen Afu realize what had happened, and also felt quite audacious considering Jin’s sharp beak.

Given that she had already landed a kiss and Jin Yanzi looked happy, Chen Afu decided to push for a bit more. She leaned towards Jin and asked, “Agarwood has endless benefits. Could you spare me some scraps, Jin Bao’er? I’ll make a brew out of it for my family. None of us are in good shape.”

Jin Yanzi was still basking in her own joy. After hearing Chen Afu, she gave her a coquettish glance and flew up the tree. With one peck, she managed to carve out a small wooden stick, no bigger than a toothpick. She placed the little stick in Chen Afu’s hand and reassured her, “No need to boil anything. Just put it directly in your water tank. Drinking water that has been soaked with agarwood will undoubtedly improve your family’s health.”

Chen Afu, holding the “toothpick”, was overjoyed. It seemed like her charms had worked. These new benefits literally felt like a windfall.

Again gathering the nerve, she said, “Jin Bao’er, I’m moving house soon, a single piece won’t suffice. Please let me have another.”

Being still excited, Jin Yanzi woody pecked another “toothpick” even faster.

Afterwards, Chen Afu warned Jin Yanzi to stay home and out of trouble during these challenging times.

Jin Yanzi responded, “I have enough material to build myself a house now. I don’t need to steal gold now, but will go play with my friends. I’ll then share the joy of stealing agarwood.” She then disappeared with a flap of her wings.

When the morning came, Chen Afu secretly put a “toothpick” in her water tank. Even a piece that small, when smelled closely, filled the room with a faint unique fragrance. The cooked rice tasted more delicious, and the pot water was more refreshing.

In the afternoon, Mrs. Wang went into the county town to buy some gifts for Chen Shi’s family. That night, Chen Ye carried two kilograms of local pastries to be given to Chen Shi, and Granny Chen sent a shirt she’d made herself. She also asked Chen Shi to visit his mother and brothers when he had time.

The next day as they were leaving, Mrs. Wang tucked a silver ingot of 20 taels into her bosom, also carrying two silver dimes and several hundred copper coins.

Chen Afu said to Mrs. Wang, “Give those two silver dimes to my sister-in-law. Needing her favor for half a month.” She hugged Alu and said, “You’re a young man now, you need to be strong.”

After hearing his mother talk about his uncle’s treatment process, Chen Dabao said tearfully, “Uncle needs to be strong. Dabao wants to learn from you.”

Chen Alu nodded and said, “As long as it cures my leg, I can endure anything. Once my leg is healed, I can start reading and begin making money.”

After sending off Mrs. Wang, Chen Alu, and sneakily following them, Jin Yanzi, Chen Afu became extremely busy. She had to fetch water, water the plants, do laundry, cook meals, decoct medicines, and tidy up the new house.

Three days after Alu left, Jin Yanzi returned from the capital of Dingzhou and told her that Alu had already started treatment at the Qianjin Medical Clinic. The doctors had to reset his broken bones which caused Alu to faint from the pain. They returned to Chen Shi’s home to rest. Jin Yanzi had already secretly placed the agarwood bark in the medicine and would continue to add it every day for the first three days.

Chen Afu hadn’t seen it for herself, but she still wept in empathy.

Three days later, when Jin Yanzi reported that Alu was recuperating well and was no longer in severe pain, Chen Afu finally felt relieved.

………

Thank you to Milane2, Jian and Rose, skyblue08, Aaahhhhhhhh Goddess, Hera @ Qianlin’s wallet. Thank you to the Cloud Reader Xu who gave a generous gift. I apologize, Clear Spring for only noticing it now.