Chapter 3: Birthright (1)

The maid, Xiumei, standing at the door like a watchmen, saw Wei Ruo from afar and trotted up to her, seeing Wei Ruo carrying a bamboo basket of herbs, she said in a distressed and slightly complaining tone:

"Miss, why did you go to the mountain alone again? How dangerous it is!"

While speaking, Xiumei had skillfully picked up Wei Ruo's bamboo basket and carried it on her back.

"Dear Meimei, I did not go up the dangerous cliffs, really! There are so many rare herbs on the mountain that are worth so much money, it would be a waste not to pick them!"

"That won't work either! Your body is not as strong as mine! Even if you want to go, you have to take me with you! The master you hired has taught me so much kung fu, I have to put it to good use!"

"Who's going to cook for me when I bring you up the mountain? My five fiscera* are counting on you!" Wei Ruo pouted.

*Five fiscera:  heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys.

Today's trip was exhausting for her, she had depleted her stamina after running all the way to collect herbs, and she even helped a woman give birth, which drained her body.

"I will cook for you when I get back! You're wandering off to the mountains alone like this, I'm so worried at home to the point that I can't cook rice properly and can't differentiate salt from sugar!"

Xiumei stomped her feet.

"I'm hungry." Wei Ruo tilted her head up and looked at Xiumei eagerly.

"Miss, you changed the topic again!" Xiumei said helplessly.

"Don't let me starve, look how thin I am." Wei Ruo touched her stomach, and hinted precisely.

When she was in such a critical situation, she didn't even bat an eyelid, but now she was being cute and nice to her maid in order to get a meal. She was like a completely different person.

"Okay, okay, I have already cooked it, and it is all simmering on the stove. It's still hot! I'll go and serve it to you."

Xiumei had a knife mouth and tofu heart*, she turned around and entered the kitchen while muttering.

*Knife mouth and tofu heart: It is a metaphor for harsh words and sharp words, but a soft heart, generosity and kindness. What you say is not the same as what you say in your heart (when you speak harshly).

She could not help it, who to blame if her young lady's eager eyes for food were too painful to look at? She could not withstand it!

The courtyard where Wei Ruo lived was filled with all kinds of plants, from ornamental flowers to medicinal herbs and crops.

The only space left stands a stone table. Wei Ruo liked to eat, drank tea and basked in the sun at the stone table when the weather was good.

This was a separate courtyard of the He family, there were only two people living here, Wei Ruo and her maid Xiumei.

Wei Ruo time traveled and became a supporting role in the book.

In the original book, she was the young lady of the Wei family, a government officials family, who was mistakenly carried away by the He family, a merchant family.

When she was three years old, she was told by a fortune-teller that her fate was harming her parents, so she was sent to this courtyard.

The only people who came with her were Wei Ruo's nanny and her maid, Xiumei.

After that, the He family sent five taels of silver every month, and they stopped asking about her well being.

Even during the holidays, Wei Ruo never saw them again.

Now Wei Ruo was thirteen years old, and had lived in this Zhuangzi* for ten full years.

*Zhuangzi: a cultural village in China. 

For Wei Ruo, she really enjoyed living in Zhuangzi and interacting with the villagers.

She didn't want to go back to the He family, nor to her biological parents' house, because in the original book, her life there was very difficult.

The next morning, after having breakfast, Wei Ruo and Xiumei went out together.

The separate courtyard where Wei Ruo lived was backed by the hills, and a wide expansion of farmlands stood outside of its gate.

During the busy farming season, the villagers were busy planting rice seedlings in the fields.

When Wei Ruo passed by, the villagers greeted her one after another.