PEA – Chapter 9

President’s Exclusive Alchemist

Chapter 9 – Poor Li Jiahua

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translator: Nana

Luoye Village was formed by refugees gathered together during the war hundreds of years ago. At that time, the people who were fleeing saw the beautiful and peaceful scenery here and finally decided to stay.

The name of Luoye Village was to express that although they were foreigners, they were lucky enough to gather here, and in this place, their fallen leaves would return to their roots. [In Chinese, Luoye (落葉) means ‘dead leaves’. It is also part of the idiom ‘luò yè guī gēn (落葉歸根)’, which literally means ‘a falling leaf returns to the roots’ but implies that all things go back to their source eventually.]

After hundreds of years of development, the most important thing was that the country was stable and there was no war. The residents living here didn’t have to worry about having a life of displacement again. The population of Luoye Village wasn’t large, but the development was the best among the surrounding villages.

The village chief’s house was a three-story western-style building, and there was a small courtyard with an area of 40-50 square meters in front of it. Some common fruit trees as guava and mango were on the side of the yard. In May, the branches of the trees were covered with green fruits. It attracted the attention of many children passing by.

In the village, all the roads and paths were paved with cement. Carrying their small luggage bags, Ming Wuxiang and Li Jiahua greeted the villagers they met from time to time on the road. Without delay, they quickly saw the village chief’s house and Li Jiaye standing at the door waving to them.

Seeing his cousin’s smile, Li Jiahua cursed with a smile, “This stinky boy, his skin is itchy again.”

Ming Wuxiang looked with contempt at Li Jiahua, who was eager to beat his cousin, and slowly said, “Even if his skin is itchy, do you dare to beat him?”

“…”

To prevent Ming Wuxiang from choking him to death again, Li Jiahua decided to change the topic, “Master Dao, do you want to go home first or what?”

“Say hello to the village chief before I go back.” Anyway, he had accompanied Li Jiahua to the village head’s house. It would be impolite not to go in and say hello.

Just as they were talking, they reached the door of the village head’s house. Li Jiaye, who was standing at the door, bared his teeth to Li Jiahua. Li Jiahua didn’t dare to beat him, but he could express his love for his cousin in another way.

When Li Jiaye was by his side, Li Jiahua raised his hand, quickly touched Li Jiaye’s head, and rubbed it vigorously.

The strength of the two men was on different levels. Li Jiaye couldn’t escape from his cousin’s love. He could only shout with his mouth open, “Grandpa, cousin is bullying me!”

“Li Jiahua, you’re making trouble again! “

Without waiting for Li Jiahua to cover Li Jiaye’s mouth, an angry voice came from the small villa. An old man with an old face, but no slowness in his movements, strode forward and stared at Li Jiahua, who was struggling with his cousin.

Li Jiahua saw that his uncle had come out in person, so he could only let go of Li Jiaye. Li Jiaye, who was finally free, sneered at Li Jiahua and then ran to Ming Wuxiang with a smile.

“Brother Wuxiang, let’s leave my cousin alone. I found a herb I don’t know at the foot of the mountain last time. Brother Wuxiang, can you help me see what it is?”

Seeing that his cousin’s attitude towards him and Ming Wuxiang was so different, Li Jiahua could only shrug his shoulders. He had asked for it himself.

To be honest, it was strange to like a cousin who had been playing tricks on you since childhood.

“Uncle, we’re back.” Li Jiahua said as if nothing had happened. He smiled at Li Yangxin, who came over, “Uncle, as soon as I heard your voice, I knew you were old but vigorous!”

Li Yangxin stared at Li Jiahua, who still dared to laugh in front of him. Li Jiahua was his grandnephew, he was good at everything, but he was too short-tempered sometimes. The elders were about to give up on changing his temperament.

“Did something happen on the way? Why did you come back now?” Don’t look at the old man’s strong tone; Li Jiahua could still recognize the concern in his words.

“No, there was no traffic jam on the road today. I just chatted with my aunts at the entrance of the village.”

Li Yangxin nodded his head to show that he knew. Then he turned to see Ming Wuxiang, who was being held by his grandson. “Xiaoxiang, you are back. How have you been at school? Remember not to hide anything. If Jiahua can’t handle it well, you can tell me.”

Listening to Li Yangxin’s concern, Ming Wuxiang smiled slightly and said, “Don’t worry, Grandpa Village Chief, I will.”

Li Yangxin looked at Ming Wuxiang carefully. His breath was much better than before. After living for so many years, the old man could tell whether the person was speaking true or false. The worries he had been raising were finally put down.

He raised his hand and patted Ming Wuxiang’s shoulder, “Good, good, good.” Li Yangxin was gratified that the child could take the initiative to walk out. He bowed his head and spoke to his grandson, who was pulling Ming Wuxiang, “Your brother Wuxiang had just come back. His luggage hasn’t been put down. Don’t trouble him. If you have something, you can look for the cousin next door.”

When Li Jiaye heard his grandfather asking him to look for the cousin next door, his face immediately showed a look of disdain, “Cousin Jiahua doesn’t understand.”

It could be said that Li Jiahua was shot while lying down. However, he really didn’t understand the herbs mentioned by Li Jiaye.

“Cough, cough.” Ming Wuxiang almost couldn’t help laughing. He could only cough to suppress the laughter. He patted Li Jiaye, who was glued to him, and said, “Jiaye, I don’t have time now. Can I help you with it when I’m free?”

Li Jiaye was not one of those bear children who did whatever they said and were temperamental. He was young, but he could see that Ming Wuxiang was really busy. So he had to let him go and let Ming Wuxiang give him a guarantee before releasing him. He must not forget.

There was more than one herb. He dug up several things that he didn’t recognize.

Speaking of Li Jiaye, he was very special in the Li Family. The two rooms of the Li Family were talented in business, but the kid Li Jiaye suddenly mutated and became more interested in herbs.

Ming Wuxiang vaguely remembered that ten years later, Li Jiaye majored in medicinal herbs planting and cultivation.

Li Yangxin had nothing to do with them. He only asked Li Jiaye to have a look when he saw that the time had come and they hadn’t appeared yet.

After the two greeted Li Yangxin, they turned and left. They walked to the two-story building at the end of the village near the foot of the mountain.

From afar, looking at the home that he had not returned for a few months but that was equivalent to many years in Ming Wuxiang’s life, Ming Wuxiang suddenly felt a sense of homesickness. His pace of walking accelerated a lot, and Li Jiahua, who was following him, looked at the hurried Ming Wuxiang strangely.

Standing at the door of the house, the hand holding the key shook a little. But before Li Jiahua came up, Ming Wuxiang took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement, stabilized his mood, and opened the gate of the yard.

In rural houses, as long as it was allowed, there would be a courtyard in front of each household. Unlike the yard where the village head grew all kinds of fruits, the patio of Ming Wuxiang’s house was planted with medicinal herbs.

However, with the passing away of Grandpa Ming and the fact that Ming Wuxiang had been in school for several months, it was already very good that some herbs could still be seen. As for the quality of the herbs, it couldn’t be asked for.

Ming Wuxiang looked at the scattered growing herbs and weeds in the yard, and the corners of his eyes slowly became red.

Li Jiahua, standing beside Ming Wuxiang, patted him on the shoulder in silence, “I can’t help you with the herbs in the yard, but I can still help you with the housework.”

Ming Wuxiang took a deep breath, suppressed his tears, and glanced sideways at Li Jiahua, “I thought you forgot how to go home.”

Li Jiahua’s home was just a few houses away from the village head’s house. On the other side, Ming Wuxiang’s house was at the end of the village. Grandpa Ming wanted to take care of his medicinal herbs, so he chose the place closest to the foot of the mountain.

Li Jiahua felt that he was being abused today. How many times had he choked on the way?

Without waiting for Li Jiahua to blow up his hair, Ming Wuxiang grinned and said, “Well, I’ll trouble you, brother. After we are done, I’ll cook for the two of us to have a good meal.”

Ming Wuxiang’s cooking skills were not as good as those of the restaurant chefs outside. However, he had a deep understanding of Grandpa Ming’s medicated meals. When he heard that Ming Wuxiang was cooking, Li Jiahua blinked. But before he got excited, he heard Ming Wuxiang’s words.

“There are medicinal materials available at home, but you need to prepare the other ingredients.” After Ming Wuxiang finished, he shrugged his shoulders at Li Jiahua and walked to the second floor.

He hadn’t cleaned up for a few months. There was no time to waste. Ming Wuxiang had to make medicated food after cleaning. The time was even tighter.

Seeing Ming Wuxiang’s leaving back, Li Jiahua wanted to give him a middle finger, “You can do it!” There was medicated food waiting for him; Li Jiahua had to nod even if he didn’t want to.

Ming Wuxiang’s house was a two-story building. On the second floor, in addition to Ming Wuxiang’s room and one guest room, there was Grandpa Ming’s study. In the study, there were all kinds of medicinal books and the cases that Grandpa Ming had met or heard.

Grandpa Ming lived downstairs. In the middle was the living room and dining room. On the left was Grandpa Ming’s room. The study was connected to a pharmacy. The kitchen was on the other side, next to the pharmacy room.

Ming Wuxiang was in charge of cleaning the herbs in the yard that grew disorderly because no one took care of them. Li Jiahua was responsible for cleaning the small building. But he only needed to clean up the living room and kitchen.

Li Jiahua didn’t dare to move other rooms in the house. Especially Grandpa Ming’s room and the pharmacy.

Li Jiahua didn’t do less housework at home, so his actions were very fast. When Ming Wuxiang had only finished half of the herbs in the yard, Li Jiahua had already cleaned up the hall and kitchen. At the same, he also checked what was missing in the kitchen so that he could buy it later.

“Master Dao, I’ve finished cleaning up the hall and the kitchen. I’m going shopping now.”

When Ming Wuxiang, who was squatting and fiddling with the herbs, heard Li Jiahua’s words, he stood up and waved to him. At the same time, he didn’t forget to remind him, “Ok, by the way, remember to tell Auntie that you are eating with me today.”

Ming Wuxiang didn’t forget that Li Jiahua had passed by his house and didn’t go in. He even carried his luggage to his house. Ming Wuxiang didn’t know what to say about it.

“Oh.” When it was mentioned by Ming Wuxiang, Li Jiahua remembered what he had forgotten all along. As for his luggage, he still didn’t take it home. He thought that he would stay at Ming Wuxiang’s house for one night and have breakfast tomorrow morning.

There was no need to worry. Even if Li Jiahua didn’t say it, all the family members knew that he was back and that he was with Ming Wuxiang.

Fortunately, Ming Wuxiang didn’t know that Li Jiahua would not only stay at his house tonight but also have breakfast tomorrow. Otherwise, he would definitely throw this guy’s luggage back to his house.

The distance between the two families was only a few hundred meters in a straight line, ok?

After Li Jiahua left, Ming Wuxiang stood up, clapped his hands, and looked at the herbs that needed to be sorted. After making sure that the wall of the courtyard was tall enough to block the view outside, Ming Wuxiang decided to be lazy and sort it out with spiritual power.

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