Chapter 9 - Village Life

When Hei entered the house, he could immediately notice the warm atmosphere that dwelt inside.

Although Lei Lei and Lei Bai's abode was humble, without luxurious decorations, you could immediately see the love they had for their home and how they cared for it.

It was kept so well that, even if there were few pieces of furniture, it didn’t give a feeling of poverty. Instead, it emanated neatness and harmony thanks to the various flower vases, probably placed by Lei Lei.

The house consisted of a single floor: at the entrance, there was a large room that served at the same time as a dining room and a kitchen; at the bottom, there were two bedrooms used by the father-daughter couple and a separate room used by Lei Bai for his work.

In the large room, there was a wooden table with some chairs around it. Placed on the table, a pot of freshly made congee, a bowl, and two chopsticks could be seen placed untidily on the table. Some of the congee on the bowl had even fallen on the table.

After seeing this, Lei Lei couldn't help puffing and complaining to her father, "Dad, you dropped the congee on the table and got it dirty. Why didn't you pay attention?! I am the one that has to clean it up."

"Sorry, Lei, it is that as soon as I heard your scream, I immediately ran outside to check if you were okay. So I hurriedly put down the bowl that turned upside down."

Feeling that it was partly her fault, Lei Lei didn’t continue. Instead, taking a breath, she began cleaning and tidying up the table so that Hei and her father could have breakfast.

Hei, who remained silent until now, was attracted by the smoldering white thing on the table that was emitting a pleasant smell. He didn't exactly know what it was, but the scent made his stomach growl.

With curiosity, he approached and asked, "What is this white thing?"

Since Lei Lei was busy arranging the table, it was Lei Bai who answered. "It's called congee, a dish made with rice after long cooking in water. Haven’t you ever heard of it?"

"Uhmm... actually, it's the first time I've seen or heard about it."

"Really? But it's such a common dish. What do you usually eat for breakfast?"

"For breakfast? Let's see, meat, fish, insects, and occasionally harvested fruit."

At the mention of the word insects, Lei Lei gave a little cry of surprise as her father laughed out loud. They certainly didn't expect Hei to have this kind of taste.

"You have a strong stomach, kid! Good, good, as I always say: if it doesn't give you a stomach ache, then it's edible."

"Daddy, what are you teaching him? What if he starts eating weird things because of you? I already have to put up with you carrying horrible things to eat from time to time."

Seeing them discussing so cheerfully between them, Hei thought about the little squabbles with Ye and Xing and how sometimes they teased their mother to amuse her.

There wasn’t much difference between his family and the family formed by Lei Lei and Lei Bai, so he also became affected by the cheerful atmosphere and burst out laughing.

At this, the father and daughter couple stopped arguing to watch Hei. They had been surprised by Hei's laughter that seemed to contain a pure, uncontaminated joy. This made them both smile and, once they had finished arranging the table, they invited Hei to sit down.

Lei Lei had prepared two bowls full of congee and two small plates also containing congee. She didn't know if Hei's beasts could eat it, but she wanted to make up for the misunderstanding in some way. So she had prepared a dish for them just in case.

"Come and eat, Hei. It's better to finish it while it's still hot. I don't know if they can eat it, but I've prepared a portion for your little spider and your little snake."

Due to her daughter's concern, Lei Bai couldn't help but be proud of her. Lei Lei was a kind and benevolent girl. Every day she tried to help him with their expenses by growing plants and helping him to pick mushrooms and fruits when they went to the forest. She was his pride, and every day, she looked more and more like her mother.

Discovering that Xing and Ye had also been included, Hei immediately sat down and pulled his two little sisters out of their hiding place. All this time, they had remained under his clothes, observing what was happening. But noticing now Lei Lei's concern for them, they decided to come out.

At that point, the three of them, together with Lei Bai, started eating. Lei Lei had already eaten, and she wasn't hungry yet. However, she sat with them to watch that strange show and help Hei use the chopsticks, making her father laugh even further. After all, Hei had always eaten with his hands until now, so he wasn't used to eat with chopsticks.

Although he didn't show it, her father had always had a somewhat melancholy air about him since her mother's death. She did her best to help him, but she hadn't been able to eliminate all traces of that melancholy. Finally, however, perhaps because of his sincere appearance or unusual behavior, Hei had managed to eradicate that melancholy momentarily.

That alone was more than enough for Lei Lei to be grateful to that strange child who appeared today.

Once they had finished eating, the eaters sighed in satisfaction: the congee had warmed their whole body, and it left a good taste inside them. Even Ye and Xing, who preferred to eat meat, had found the meal of their liking.

At this point, Lei Bai stopped Lei Lei and said, "Leave it to me. I clean it up here. You go with Hei around the village, don't worry."

Despite pretending not to notice, he knew that Lei Lei was doing her best to make up for the emptiness left by her mother. Because of this, he wanted to use Hei's arrival to give his daughter some free time and lighten her duties.

Seeing that her daughter insisted on cleaning herself, Lei Bai picked her up and put her out the door. Then he motioned for Hei to come out and closed the door behind them.

"I won’t open the door until lunchtime, so it is useless to insist. Instead, accompany Hei on his tour and have fun."

Disoriented but at the same time amused by her father's strange behavior today, Lei Lei couldn't help but smile and do as her father had said.

"Okay, then. But you prepare the lunch. We certainly can't look bad when we have guests today."

Once she said this, Hei and Lei Lei started their tour of the village.

The Leaf Village consisted mainly of houses that also served as a place of work for crafts such as blacksmiths and other similar jobs that required a forge or a personal laboratory.

The focal point was the central square that housed the market, where people could sell their products on stalls set up during the day. These were mostly used to sell food since it wasn't convenient to transport bulky goods to the market every day or accept requests for items requiring special services such as repairs and more.

In addition to the market, there was also the village chief house. There, the most important inhabitants gathered to discuss how to manage the village.

Although it wasn't comparable to a city, Leaf Village still had about 1000 inhabitants that needed someone impartial and educated to moderate disagreements between villagers and help the village grow.

The village chief carried out this role, supported by other people chosen by the various factions present in the village. And since not everyone could read and write, this role was usually entrusted to the most educated of the village.

In this regard, Lei Bai had previously been appointed as a representative. As he was a butcher, he would join the various hunts conducted by the hunters from time to time.

His skill in dissecting animal carcasses without wasting their meat had been recognized by every inhabitant so much that even veteran hunters preferred to leave him the task of skinning animals rather than doing them themselves.

Because he knew how to read and write, he was a perfect candidate to represent the faction of the hunters, who mostly consisted of people who preferred to act rather than discuss.

However, his wife's death had been a big blow to him, and he had to give up the role to look after his daughter. Nevertheless, he would always find time to lend a hand to the hunters’ faction if they needed him.

As far as leisure facilities were concerned, the village tavern was situated towards the northern part of the village. As the only tavern, it was large enough to accommodate the various customers. It also had bedrooms that could be used by passing travelers who happened to have to linger in the village.

Once given an overview of how the village was structured, Lei Lei brought Hei, Ye, and Xing to the outer fields. Since they could count on an expanse of fertile and relatively large land, agriculture was also a rather important sector for the life of the village.

Seeing these expanses of land filled with various plants, Hei couldn't help but ask, "Is this what is called agriculture, right? What kind of plants are those?"

"Yes, right. We mostly grow cereals like flour and oats, but we also have rice paddies on the other side where a small river passes by that helps make the soil wet. Then there is the uncultivated land we use to feed our animals. Are you interested in agriculture, Hei?"

At this question, Hei replied with a small nod of his head. He had already heard about agriculture from his mother but seeing the various expanses of fields had aroused intense curiosity in Hei; he immediately wanted to experiment with planting something. As for the animal husbandry instead, his mother had long explained how Hei should behave in this regard.

Those that were used as farm animals were animals or spirit beasts without spirit power. Although they had little intellect, they were still able to feel emotions. However, this lack of spirit power made them easy targets for common predators, not to mention spirit beasts with spirit power.

So, although they were limited in their freedom and had a life span already set, it was still better than sending them into nature, where they would barely resist one day.

It should be pointed out that being born without spirit power wasn't synonymous with remaining forever in the rank of animal. On the contrary, it happened that, from time to time, some animals could awaken their spirit power, thus becoming a spirit beast.

If they encountered such a case and the animal wanted to be freed, Bao Bai, together with her children, would try to help it, provided that her children's lives weren’t endangered. Therefore, even Hei, with his two little sisters, had adopted a similar thought and would help such cases, provided their lives weren’t put at risk.

So, seeing during their visit to the grazing fields for the animals that they were treated well without abuse, Hei decided not to intervene.

By the time they finished their tour, it was now afternoon, and it was lunchtime. With a grumbling stomach, they returned to Lei Lei’s house.

Once they arrived, they could smell a particular smell coming from the house, a sign that Lei Bai had been busy preparing for lunch. However, instead of entering the house, Hei stopped to look at the back yard where he had met Lei Lei this morning.

"Big sister Lei, these plants are different from those on the fields. What kind are these?"

Seeing that he was pointing to her plants, Lei Lei showed off a smile mixed with a bit of sadness. "They are medicinal plants. If prepared in particular ways, they can be used to create medicines to help people heal."

Medicines. Hei had already heard this term and knew more or less their use. However, he had never seen one, so those plants aroused his interest in agriculture even more.

The fact of being able to create life to give nourishment or well-being to living beings was something very mystical in Hei's eyes and, therefore, worthy of being deepened. Also, he thought that maybe he could bring more food to his family and maybe find some plants to help his mother.

"Big sister Lei, can I ask you to teach me how to grow it? I am interested in both cultivating food plants and these medicinal plants. "

Seeing the serious and determined look of Hei, Lei Lei was amazed. She hadn't expected that he was so determined in his choice. After all, children at his age weren't interested in cultivating plants, preferring more exciting jobs to their eyes as hunting.

"Do you really want to learn how to grow plants? Won't you leave halfway?” On her warm, gentle tone of Lei Lei’s voice had just appeared a harsh and severe note so unsuited to the image of that young and kind girl.

Nevertheless, Hei remained convinced of his decision and replied, looking into her eyes, " I'm serious. I want to help my family, and I think learning to grow plants is a great way to help."

"All right, you convinced me. I will teach you how to do it. If you want to cultivate plants like cereals and rice, there isn’t a need for such in-depth knowledge. The problem is medicinal plants: these tend to be more fragile, and they need special care. If you are not careful, you risk killing them.

The reason I am practicing cultivating medicinal plants is that I want to become a doctor. My mother died years ago because of an illness, and there aren’t experienced doctors in villages like ours. There are only a few herbalists who know how to fight normal ailments but not more complex diseases. Unlike cultivators martial artists, we have no spirit power, and we can only do our best using the knowledge available to us."

She didn't know exactly why she had revealed this to Hei. Perhaps because, in some way, she could see herself reflected in him.

Even her father was unaware of it. She had simply told him that she wanted to practice planting such medicinal herbs since they were profitable and could help with the income. And in fact, she had sometimes managed to sell satisfying products, even if with difficulty, coming to buy an old book with general notions of medicine.

But even then, she had said nothing to her father. Perhaps because she knew he would start doing crazy hours at work or ask his neighbors for a loan to give her better books to learn from.

With her mother's death, Lei Lei had decided not to be a burden to her father, so she wanted to slowly accumulate her money without imposing this burden on Lei Bai.

"Big Sister Lei, you will see that you will succeed in fulfilling your wish. Trust me."

Hearing his words, Lei Lei answered, "Ahaha, thanks, Hei. I feel much better now. Yes, I will succeed in my intent. In the meantime, I'll teach you everything I know, but for now, let's go back inside to have lunch. From the smell, I believe that dad has exaggerated with cooking, so you, Ye, and Xing will have to give your very best to eat."