NOVPUB
Chapter 308: Chapter 298: Spring Outing (Part 2)
May is the season of warm spring weather and blooming flowers, with nature coming back to life. Far into the distance, the entire mountain range is a tender green. In the midst of that green, occasional pink, yellow, and red hues are sprinkled throughout.
Shen Yunfang was no stranger to mountains or their scenic beauty, but she had to admit that every mountain had its own unique characteristics and each possessed a distinct kind of beauty.
Amongst the lush green grass covering the hillsides, there bloomed pink azaleas, also known as rhododendrons. A solitary bush here or there would be nothing extraordinary, but seeing them blossom in vast patches, as they were in front of her, still immensely shocked Shen Yunfang.
"So beautiful," Shen Yunfang couldn’t help but exclaim.
However, aside from her, with a slight sense of aesthetic appreciation, the rest of the family was utterly indifferent. Even worse, Taxue, the family’s pet dog, was downright naughty; just as she was admiring nature’s beauty, it sprang into the nearest cluster of flowers, jumping up and down playfully.
Shen Yunfang could only watch as one after another, the beautiful azaleas were trampled down by the foolish dog, lying under its paws, a helpless victim to its frolic.
Such a headache! Shen Yunfang quickly held her forehead. Who could come to her rescue?
Seeing his wife looking utterly disheartened and struck with dismay, Li Hongjun hurriedly stopped Taxue.
"Taxue, what’s with this unruliness? Stop fooling around and go hunt; our chance for meat at lunch rests on you," he said.
At that, Shen Yunfang felt that merely holding her forehead wasn’t enough; she also had to hold her waist. The generation gap seemed deeper than the Grand Canyon of the Yarlung Tsangpo.
Li Hongjun, realizing that his words had not only failed to please his wife but had actually made matters worse, quickly took her hand and led her uphill.
"Wife, we’re just at the foot of the mountain; it’s even more beautiful up top! Come on, let’s head up. There’s a slope ahead where there’s plenty of wild vegetables to be found," he urged.
"I have plenty of wild vegetables; I’m not interested," Shen Yunfang called out, frustrated.
"Alright, alright, if you’re not interested in wild vegetables, we’ll dig for whatever it is you do fancy, okay?" Li Hongjun nodded, indicating that he would do whatever she wanted.
Shen Yunfang stamped her foot in annoyance. Was this man dense like a dog? Couldn’t he see what was irritating her?
"Hehe, the most beautiful flowers for the most beautiful wife," Li Hongjun decided to stop teasing his wife. Somehow, he took out a bunch of azaleas from the little package on the baby’s back and handed them to his wife.
Shen Yunfang was stunned by the bunch of flowers in front of her, her eyes slowly moistening. She quickly blinked away the tears and said with a slightly congested nose, "What lousy flowers, not pretty at all." Despite her words, her hand didn’t hesitate to take them, and she even deliberately sniffed them close to her nose.
So fragrant!
"True, in front of my wife, no flower can seem beautiful," retorted Li Hongjun without taking offense, pulling both his wife and the flowers close to him. Inside, he was elated; indeed, it seemed women did like this sort of gesture. It looked like he’d have to commend that young soldier when they got back.
He had intended to do something as romantic as that soldier had described, but then the other child he was holding, Pangpang, began to cause trouble again.
Ah, reaching out with two little hands, he grabbed the flowers twice, and instantly what had been a beautiful bouquet was tormented to resemble something a dog had chewed on.
Shen Yunfang looked at the flowers in front of her and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Li Hongjun, on the other hand, looked helplessly at his son and then at the bouquet, suspecting his son was born just to sabotage his old man.
"Son, you can’t eat this. These are flowers, not something tasty." Although Li Hongjun was annoyed that his son was messing up his romantic gesture, he still intervened when he saw his son about to stuff the grabbed flowers into his little mouth, and then casually picked a yellow flower and handed it to his son, "Son, if you want to eat, eat this one. This one is good."
"Don’t just feed our son anything." Shen Yunfang was starting to think Li Hongjun was acting like a proper dad, but his next move revealed his true nature; he just couldn’t let their son eat random flowers.
"No random feeding here. This is Honeysuckle, it can cure illnesses. Your son eating a bit might even help reduce his internal heat." Although Li Hongjun wasn’t as educated as his wife, his wilderness survival skills were definitely superior. When they were on missions, if they accidentally got injured or sick, they would utilize the local resources, which included some medicinal plants.
Upon hearing that, Shen Yunfang’s heart leapt with joy. She hadn’t paid much attention to what Li Hongjun had picked. As she carefully searched through the flowers, she indeed found several plants with yellow blossoms.
She had never really seen Honeysuckle before. While it was common, it wasn’t found everywhere, and Gaijiatun didn’t have it. Shen Yunfang knew of the plant but had only seen it on TV or in the supermarket; she had never encountered it in its natural form.
However, she knew the economic value of Honeysuckle was high. The TV always showed programs about it, and the phrase she remembered most clearly was "the antibiotic in Chinese medicine." Main ingredients in products like the "internal heat medicine" and "Yinhuang Oral Liquid" were Honeysuckle. Shen Yunfang, in her previous life, often drank "Yinhuang Oral Liquid," which contained Honeysuckle. The plant was also highly valued, not only in China but in countries like Japan and Korea, which focus on health and well-being, treating it as a precious commodity and importing large quantities from other countries every year.
The idea suddenly struck Shen Yunfang that maybe she should start a business project in the future, growing some Honeysuckle and then exporting it to make money from them.
"What’s the matter, you like this color of flower now? Then follow me, there’s a whole lot more up ahead." Li Hongjun, carrying his son, led the way up the small path toward the mountain, signaling his wife to follow.
The three of them climbed upwards for more than ten minutes and reached a relatively open space. It was just as Li Hongjun had said, the mountainside was covered with yellow flowers—so they were all Honeysuckle.
Shen Yunfang’s eyes sparkled, "You rest here with the child for a while. I’ll pick some Honeysuckle to take back home and make you some infused liquor. I’ve heard it can clear heat and detoxify the body. It’s supposed to help with fevers, skin rashes, toothaches, or any sort of pain."
Li Hongjun frowned, "Didn’t you not recognize this flower just a moment ago? How come you suddenly know what illnesses it can treat?" His wife had special abilities. Aside from knowing about her space that could store things, he wasn’t quite clear on what else she could do, what she knew, or what other capabilities she had. This required some deep exploration.
"That’s because I read about Honeysuckle in a book, but there were no pictures, so how could I recognize it if I’ve seen it?" Shen Yunfang was also frustrated.
If she had known she’d end up in a remote mountain village, she would have memorized the entire "Compendium of Materia Medica" in her previous life.
"Hehe, no worries, if you come across something you don’t recognize in the future, just ask me. I’ll tell you." Li Hongjun suddenly felt quite proud of himself. Then something occurred to him, and he quickly suggested, "Wife, this flower doesn’t taste that great. You should try soaking a little bit in liquor first. If it tastes good, you can soak more, okay?"
He was genuinely worried that his wife might ruin all their good liquor on a whim.
"Humph, go talk to your son about it. If your son agrees, then I’ll agree." Shen Yunfang couldn’t be bothered with him. She hurriedly took out a cloth bag from the basket and rushed into the sea of flowers to start her flower-stealing spree.
Li Hongjun, standing beside, then seriously started to negotiate with his son, "Son, your mom said you’re the boss here, so this is going to be easy. You and I are father and son, let’s make a deal, eh..."
