"You little girl, why are you so full of tricks?" Fairy Ziying complained, but still fished out an unremarkable wooden board from her pocket. "Here, are you relieved now?"
Bailu had said that Fairy Ziying would give her a wooden token with her name and Fairy Ziying's fingerprint on it.
"It's so bare on this. How can it prove it's mine?"
"Fine, fine. I'm really convinced by you." Fairy Ziying grumbled as she took out a dagger and carved Yaohua's name on it.
Fairy Ziying was indeed as cautious as the ancient records had described.
Yaohua didn't take it. Instead, she looked at the fairy with a smile.
"What are you staring at me for? Don't you want it anymore?"
"There's my name on it, but there's no mark left by the fairy. I'm really not at ease."
"Oh, I almost forgot. Thanks to your reminder." Fairy Ziying burst into laughter and left her fingerprint on it.
Yaohua saw through it but didn't expose it. "It's freezing cold. It'll be quite difficult for the potatoes to sprout. If the fairy needs my help, just say so."
Fairy Ziying finally got the potatoes as she wished.
Yaohua took out a flat peach and played with it casually in her hand.
Sure enough, Fairy Ziying's attention was drawn to it.
"Fairy, I still don't have a place to live."
"There are many empty rooms in my yard. You can choose any one you like."
Yaohua wasn't polite. After choosing a room, she put the flat peach into the fairy's hand.
The next day.
Knock, knock, knock—
Yaohua opened the door. Fairy Ziying, in a short - sleeved outfit, was standing at the door smiling.
It was really strange. Fairy Ziying, who had ascended from a mortal, looked somewhat similar to a fox. Especially when she was smiling like this, Yaohua suddenly felt as if there was a real fox standing at the door.
"Did you sleep well? Come with me to clear the grass."
"I haven't washed up yet."
Suddenly, Fairy Ziying squatted down.
"Fairy, what are you...?"
"Here, lower your head."
She was holding a handful of snow in her hands, her eyes full of smiles.
Yaohua instinctively lowered her head. The next moment, Fairy Ziying suddenly smeared the snow on her face and nimbly rubbed her face with both hands.
"You—"
This was a senior!
A capable subordinate of the ancestor!
One should show respect!
One mustn't talk back!
Just when Yaohua couldn't help but swear, Fairy Ziying suddenly withdrew her hands.
"We wash our faces with snow here. As for gargling, come with me."
Fairy Ziying pushed open a door. Unexpectedly, there was another small courtyard inside.
But different from the outside, there were more daily - life and production tools inside, making it seem more down - to - earth.
She followed Fairy Ziying to a well.
Fairy Ziying took out a bamboo tube and motioned for her to gargle.
That's right. Bamboo was cold - resistant, so it was normal to have such a tube.
"Let's go. It's time to work. Our village doesn't support idlers."
A hoe was stuffed into Yaohua's hand, and then she was led out of the door.
It was still early. The villagers were scattered outside. When they saw Fairy Ziying leading a strange face, they all showed surprised looks.
Fairy Ziying briefly introduced Yaohua and chatted a bit. By the time the sun came out, the two of them finally reached the ridge of the field.
There was a lot of dry thatch on the ridge. Although Fairy Ziying said they were going to clear the grass, in fact, she only brushed off the snow on the thatch.
"What are you standing there for?"
Not knowing where to start, Yaohua had no choice but to imitate her actions and slowly shovel the snow.
Fairy Ziying became amiable again.
"It's freezing cold here. It's difficult for crops to grow, so we have to cover them with thatch."
"But how can they get sunlight if they're covered like this?"
"Don't worry." Fairy Ziying grinned mischievously. "The weather is good today. There's sunlight. Later we'll remove the thatch and let them soak up the sun. These thatches are all wet anyway. After drying for a while, we'll cover them again."
Yaohua immediately felt the efforts they had made for survival.
"By the way, I have to find a way to plant the sesame you gave me yesterday."
Fairy Ziying walked around for a while and pointed at a small open space. "Let's plant it here."
Sesame liked warmth. How could it be planted here?
"Fairy, I have a plan that can help the seeds germinate."
It was freezing and snowy here. Except for some cold - resistant plants, it was extremely difficult for other plants to survive.
Yaohua looked around, picked up a branch from the ground, and simply drew a few strokes on the ground.
Many plants liked warmth. The solution to this problem was quite simple.
Yaohua put down the branch. "As long as we clear the ice and snow on the ground, build walls around, and weave such rolling mats on the dome. On sunny days, we'll roll up the mats..."
She got this idea from her fifth elder brother. It hadn't been put into practice yet, but Yaohua had a lot of seeds, so she wasn't worried about any accidents.
"This method is quite novel." Ziying pondered. "However, building walls is a huge project. We have to plan it step by step."
"In that case, let's start weaving bamboo mats first." Yaohua pointed at the thatch. "With the ice and snow piling on it, the thatch has a certain weight and can easily break the seedlings."
As she said, Yaohua pointed at the broken seedlings in the field. "It might be much better to support the straw mats with something to separate them from the seedlings."
"This method is also good."
Fairy Ziying stroked her chin and sized Yaohua up. "You young one are quite smart. You seem to be a proper one. Come to think of it, I still don't know what you did and how you ended up here?"
"I don't know how to tell the fairy, but please rest assured, I will never pose any threat to the village."
Seeing that she didn't want to say more, Fairy Ziying didn't press further. She just smiled and said, "I'll ask the villagers to reclaim your land in a few days. Now, please help me out."
Probably because Yaohua had given her some ideas, Fairy Ziying's attitude was completely different from the beginning. There was even a hint of intimacy.
Yaohua was flattered.
"Since you're from the Phoenix Clan, do you know who the current clan leader of the Phoenix Clan is?"
"The current clan leader of the Phoenix Clan is Qingcang, who is also my father."
Fairy Ziying was instantly a bit surprised. "Qingcang?"
Did Fairy Ziying know her father?
As if sensing Yaohua's gaze, a trace of nostalgia flashed across Fairy Ziying's eyes. "When I left back then, I didn't expect so many years to have passed in a blink of an eye. Now, the Phoenix Clan is in a situation I don't know about."
After her sigh, she looked at Yaohua again, with a look in her eyes that Yaohua couldn't understand.
"So, you're the only female born in the Phoenix Clan in tens of thousands of years?"
"I've heard from my father and elder brothers. It's indeed so." Yaohua paused and asked carefully, "I wonder if there's a reason for this?"
Fairy Ziying smiled enigmatically. "What reason could there be? Little girl, you're very lucky."
Actually, it couldn't be considered very lucky. Yaohua thought to herself: She was just a wandering soul that had luckily taken shelter in a phoenix egg. The original owner had long passed away. If one had to say she was lucky, it could only be said that she, the latecomer who had taken over someone else's place, was lucky.