Goldfield
Chapter 36: Natural Gifts

Although the mountain tributary also contained spiritual energy, using it did not have the added benefit of helping its master. As an illustration, absorbing the energy for ten days from the river did not provide as much benefit as it received from making one jug of mystical stone water for its master.

A weak little human actually had fate in his hands! ‘Just wait, once this sacred stone breaks its limits, don't even think of trying to threaten me again! That's when you'll beg for my help! ‘ The spiritual form of the little holy stone thrashed even harder in the water in anger.

Yu Xiaocao ignored his antics. Other than him, no one else could see the spiritual form of that sacred stone, so it didn't matter. Instead, she and her siblings fed their family's new favorite, the little roe deer, until it was full.

“Second Brother, now cold at night. Tiny was really too small, what if he froze to death? ” Little Shitou crouches with her hands around the newly named roe deer and is clearly reluctant to let go of the animal. Both of them had clear and dark eyes that looked at Yu Xiaocao sweetly.

Yu Hai pinched the part of his son's fatter face and grinned, “If you don't sleep outside, do you plan on giving him your blanket?”

“I'll hug Tiny to sleep. It doesn't take up much space. ” Little Shitou pouted as she tried her best to think of something to convince everyone in the room.

Although Xiaolian was also very fond of cute and clever roe deer, she did not think having animals indoors was a good idea. “I don't want him sleeping in our bed. What if you poop in the middle of the night? Then I have to wash the sheets tomorrow. ”

Yu Xiaocao also did not want to keep the roe deer in the room. The animal will start to leave its distinctive smell in the room if it spends a long time inside. However, he was more worried about leaving it in the courtyard all night. It's possible that another family member decided to kill him to make a meat stew. Although the animal did not have much meat, the soup still tasted very good.

He went outside, collected soft straw, and made a small nest near the corner near the door for the little beast. He patted the wet egg deer's little nose and said solemnly, “Tiny, if you want to go to the toilet, go outside. If you make a mess in the room, I'll bake you over the fire to eat! ”

Tiny stared trustfully at him and even licked the finger he used to point at him. It acted as if he really understood what he was saying.

Little Shitou was at a loss for words and sighed like an adult, “Tiny was captured by Second Brother, so it was the one closest to her.”

Yu Xiaocao pinched his nose and smiled, “Other times a good thing like this happens, I will make sure you leave first.”

Hearing that, Little Shitou became happy and jumped for joy, “OK, okay! We have to bring back another roe deer for Tiny's company! ”

Whether the creature understood Yu Xiaocao's threat or whether it was because he obtained a brain from the mystical water stone, it was hard to tell. However, the little roe deer, which is no more than a month old, has not had an accident in the western space since he started living there. Even if someone accidentally closes the door, it holds its waste until someone takes it out. Only then will he scramble out quickly to urinate.

In addition, the animal never smelled like wild and adorable deer. Even at the height of summer the smell is still fresh and sweet. Yu Xiaocao and his brothers all loved and cherished Tiny. Even Lady Liu said that this was a special egg deer that could understand what humans were saying to her.

Ever since Yu Xiaocao was interested in learning medicine from Doctor You, he had been relentlessly pursuing that goal. The next few days, he became very busy.

Every morning, he woke up earlier than the bed and went to join Zhao Han. The two of them would divide the area to be framed and then head to their respective paths to set their traps. With the help of the mystical stone water as bait, he never left the forest empty-handed after walking around the forest once.

In fact, he usually gets double the catch from ordinary people who set traps. Sometimes, he would walk for two hours with Zhao Han to go to the city to sell his quarry. Other times he would ask Uncle Zhao to help him sell his quarry when he went to the city.

Fortunately, Zhenxiu Restaurant was becoming more and more popular by the day. They had hired a new chef in charge of preparing wild animals, and his specialty was grilling and cooking meat. Their need for fresh and wild game was slowly increasing, so Yu Xiaocao and Zhao Han did not have to worry about where to sell their live game.

Sometimes, they catch too many hunts by accident. However, even without Yu Xiaocao there himself, the Zhenxiu Restaurant still preferred their hunting results over the hunting results captured by other hunters. After all, freshly slaughtered meat had a better taste and texture compared to non-newly harvested meat.

In the afternoon, Yu Xiaocao often went to Doctor You's house to learn how to recognize herbal medicines. He was not sure if it was because he had mystic stone water helping him or whether he had a good memory, but, to him, studying these medicines was as easy as a cake for him. Everything he learned was perfectly preserved.

Originally, Doctor You did not have any expectations for him but after seeing his talent in this field, he began to appreciate his abilities. In fact, he had basically become his disciple in all but name, and he taught him personally. Whenever he needed to go to the mountains to gather medicinal herbs, he never forgot to bring them. From time to time, he would test it while in the forest to see its ability in identifying plants.

Gradually, Doctor You realized that all the herbs she recognized, Yu Xiaocao had also memorized them completely. He began to teach her about how to utilize this plant as medicine.

From his point of view, money could be earned at any time. However, the earlier he obtained practical knowledge of herbal medicines and treated the illness, the better it was for him. He thinks he has talent in this area. Perhaps in the future she could even become a female doctor!

Thus, Yu Xiaocao began to spend more time with Grandpa You than with his own family. Doctor You had been living alone for thirty years after settling in Dongshan Village. He was so obsessed with studying and practicing medicine that he never married a wife and became a bachelor all his life.

Although Yu Xiaocao was still a little girl physically, mentally she had the thought process as an adult. With someone like her by his side, You Yong found that his days had become more interesting lately. In the past, whenever he started looking for a new medicine, he often forgot the time. Skipping meals was a common hobby for him.

Now, he had a maid by his side. Even if he did not remember to eat, he still needed to eat! When he got lost in his thoughts, he would start cooking food and put it in front of him. The smell of good food will persuade him to get out of his mind.

He never thought he had an inactive foodie in him. However, the culinary skills of the little girl turned out to be very good. Even simple ingredients like green leafy vegetables and radishes can be turned by it into some kind of delicious dish.

That little girl is too smart. He not only learned the medical knowledge he taught easily but could also make connections and demonstrate something that would lead him to a breakthrough. After studying for a month, the little girl can prescribe herself some simple recipes without any problems.

At this point, Doctor You had considered Xiaocao as his official disciple and taught him accordingly. When he went to practice medicine, he always took his little students with him. As time passed, most of the nearby villages all knew that Doctor You had accepted a little girl as his disciple. And he was rewarded beyond expectations.

By the time Yu Xiaocao felt that he could accurately diagnose and treat common illnesses on his own, his teacher, Doctor You, had left a letter for him and hurriedly left Dongshan Village in no time.

In the letter, she explained that she had heard that there was information about her long-lost relative who had parted ways with her during a chaotic wartime. He needs to travel far. However, he repeatedly warned Yu Xiaocao that he should not let his natural talent in medicine go to waste. He needs to keep reviewing the material every day. If there was anyone nearby who was lightly ill, he could lend a helping hand towards them. Of course, if they refused his help, there was no need to force them.

Yu Xiaocao was finally relieved of his busy duties. However, he continued to go to Grandpa You's house every few days to help her tidy up the room and take care of her potions. He even tried concocting some medications used to treat external wounds, such as those used to slow and stop bleeding. The medicine that had been sprinkled with mystical stone water was far more potent than the one that even Doctor You had made! However, not many people dared to use the medicine prescribed by him.

It was no wonder because outwardly he was still a child who had not even reached the age of nine. The truly bizarre scenario is if the villagers really believe that he can treat the illness. Therefore, he simply replaced the wound balm his father used to carry while going hunting with the wound balm he made himself. Little did he know that his exchange would later save his father's life …

That day, the always busy Yu Xiaocao who now had some spare time, turned to talk to Little Shitou who was in the courtyard feeding Tiny. “Sister, isn't this the time our father came back from fishing today?”

Little Shitou did not even raise her head as she replied, “It's still too early! Second Brother, lately you've been so busy outside the house that you don't even remember what time our father used to come home. After catching the fish, he still had to go to the dock on land first, then take the fish down from the boat and give it to someone. Sometimes, if he had a lot of leftovers, he would even have to go to the fish market at the pier and sell more. ”

The dock? His eyes twinkled and his mouth curved into a grin, as if he was a wolf trying to lure the little rabbit into a trap. “Shitou, do you want to go see the dock? I hear there are a lot of shops there that sell almost everything! Good food, nice things.. ”.

“Second Sister, you want to go? If you go, I'll go too. However, should we also bring Tiny? ” Little Shitou is very protective of that little pet. Roe deer go wherever he goes.

However, there is a reason for this paranoia. The pitiful little egg deer, which did not have much meat on its bones, was almost killed by Madam Li and Yu Heizi. The two of them had tethered the animal to the ground with the butcher's knife in their hands. Had Little Shitou and Xiaolian not arrived in time, Tiny would have been destined to be the main course of the meal.

Afterwards, Zhao Han took Yu Heizi aside and taught her a small lesson that ‘Tiny’ is the pet she lent to Shitou to play with. If he knew that Heizi still wanted to eat that little roe deer, he would have knocked out all his teeth!

The Zhao Hunter Family was relatively famous in Dongshan Village. It is said that a few years ago, during a very harsh winter, a group of starving wolves had entered the village. The wolf not only stole many chickens, but also injured several people. As the crisis seemed to escalate, the entire Zhao Family fought with the creatures. Even Aunt Zhao who from the outside was gentle and graceful bowed and shot out a few arrows. More than a dozen wolves were no match for them.

Although the four members of the Zhao Family had become heroes to most of the villagers, there were some who felt alienated by their actions. After all, no one likes to have their flaws pointed out by the deeds of others!

After Yu Heizi's ‘little lesson’, she returned home with a bloody nose and black eyes. Even Madam Li, who often liked to make mountains out of mole rats' nests, could only throw tantrums inside the courtyard walls because she was too afraid of the Zhao Family to cause a huge wave. With Heizi as ‘example’, the other members of the Yu Family who were not from the second branch no longer dared to steal the little egg deer anymore.

Even so, Little Shitou still felt unsafe leaving the roe deer alone. The sight of Yu Heizi holding a machete above the helpless Tiny had been etched into his mind. Wherever he went, Shitou would always carry a little deer with her.

Dongshan Village now had a peculiarity to behold: a boy walked in front and a small egg deer blindly followed him from behind. Anyone who sees an unexpected partner cannot help but smile understandingly…