I ONLY HAVE TRICKS TO DEFEAT MY ENEMIES

Chapter 7

As soon as Cree came back we began eating. 

“Wah! Jie Jie I didn’t know such a thing could exist?”  He began speaking while chewing a mouthful of food. 

“I didn’t know that a simple green leaf can produce Green Tofu! HEHE! Does it mean that I can get to eat Green Tofu every day? That would be awesome!” He speaks between his breaths. We just laugh at him. 

“You gluttonous punk! Only know how to eat?” Eldest Brother pricked his forehead that earned another round of laughter

“It was produced by a jelly plant so how can normal leaves do that?” I pour cold water into his thoughts while putting another piece of green tofu. 

“Eh? Is this rare?” He looked down and mumbled some words “I need to eat more! Maybe this is the last time I get to eat. Aya! I need to savor the moment!” How can his word escape to us, martial practitioner, we roared into laughter again.

“Don’t worry Jie Jie will cook it every time you crave it” I put some fried cassava in his bowl. 

“Eat this also” I also put some in all of their bowls. 

We finish our meal and rest for a while. The three of us; Allardy, Seeley, and I head to the mountain to collect our trophies. We managed to get 2 pheasants and 3 wild rabbits. There were quite a number of hunts. We began walking down, they didn't let me carry anything so I quit ahead of them because I sometimes pluck wild mushrooms. I notice that I already walk a number of steps from them so I sit down. I waved the arrow back and forth, then I heard a cracking sound behind the bushes. I parted some grass and saw 3 dirty-white eggs. Eh? Aren’t these eggs of a pit viper? WOW! I had encountered a treasure. Sadly, I accidentally hit the other one. 

“Eh? What egg are those?” Elder Brother asks. I just smiled at them and then caress my eggs. These are my precious! Pit Vipers in the modern world was a venomous snake but in my previous life, they are my companion—they are my true friend. Because of the austerity training in the organization, it is where the dog its dog world. I cannot trust anybody so I just raised some beast as my trustee. It also provides another protective talisman for me. On one of my mission in Great India, I save a sage that taught me how to tame the beast, as a repayment. After my mission, I had taken great interest in it.

We are on our way back when I see a group of taro plants so we grab a hoe and take some back. All of our baskets are full but thankfully we are fully trained so we are not that exhausted. We came home and Cree was shocked to see our harvest. I immediately put down my load because I want to take a bath. I feel so sticky all over. How I missed the modern bathroom with hot water and sweet-smelling soap!

After giving some instructions on how to handle those things I immediately went to the bathhouse and took a cold bath. Seeley scolded me when he knew that I did not use warm water so I coaxed him a little and then took care of my little babies. 

I was the only one inside the house because all of them are busy in the backyard. Uncle Jiang and Elder Brother were busy handling the taro leaf. They chop it into little pieces. Seeley is cleaning the taro crops while little Cree is busy flipping the dried herbs and wild mushrooms that I had collected. 

“Uncle Jiang! Little Brother” I was busy inventorying our stocks when I heard a young voice outside. 

And because I had just taken a bath, I let my hair down and came out as I called Uncle Jiang from the back door. I was welcomed by the site of a teenage boy wearing a course yet clean clothes. He has a manly face and tanned skin, presumably because of farming. He was greatly shocked when he saw her. His hand was frozen mid-air and his mouth was slightly open. Oh s**t! I forgot that I was a great beauty. I mentally slam my head. Well, I can’t blame myself, because in my previous life I even though I was devastatingly beautiful, my face had long been damaged and scarred with arduous suffering. Fortunately, I was only a little girl that looked like a tiny fairy. 

“Eh? Are you Brother He’s son?” 

Uncle Jiang comes out and sees him. “What happened to him?” He stares at me for a while and then sigh. Elder Brother lightly coughs. 

Seeley came out witnessing this scene so he immediately throws a glare in his direction and stands in front of me. He snorted then made a “HUMPED” sound while continuing to block his sight.  

“Aye! I—I’m, ehem” The young lad was stunned at first but he then realized his manner and was shamed for his action. He subconsciously rubs his head and fixes his eyes onto the ground.  

“M-my na-name is Zhong He, I’m the eldest son of Xiong He from your neighbor” He then handed several pieces of cleaned utensils. 

“My mother asked me to return this to you and to give our thanks” He bowed but was still looking at the ground. Uncle Jiang lightly laughed and received the utensils. Cree must have heard his voice because as soon as he got out he called him.

 “Big Brother Zhong! Eh? You’re here?” Little Cree sees the plates and his face darkens immediately “Big Brother Zhong, don't tell me that because the Green Tofu and the Fried Cassava were so delicious that you still want more? HEH! I’m sorry to tell you that even if you are my friend I would not give any to you! My beautiful Jie Jie said that I was the only one who could crave for it and she would only cook it for me!” He said those without stopping. He squinted his eyes and crossed his arms in his chest. 

“AYA! You little rascal! Big Brother Zhong only returned the plates. What are you getting angry about?” His remark lightened up the awkward atmosphere. Everyone laughed.

“Eh? Is that so? Then we can be friends again with Big Brother Zhong” He blinks his eyes and gives a warm smile.

“Hao! Hao! We are friends!” Big Brother Zhong laughed “My parents said that if you need anything then don’t hesitate to ask for our help. We are neighbors and we need to take of each other”

“It is our blessing that we have received Brother He's support, we didn’t even manage to thank him and your mother properly when they helped us settle in. So han-Zhong please relay our thanks to your parents” Uncle Jiang slightly bowed to him. Big Brother Zhong also bowed and gave his thanks.

“Big Brother Zhong” I call him. 

“ehm?” 

“Ay! This is my niece Bellona Eunoia Feng…” Uncle Jiang introduced us all. I made a small courtesy and then looked at him. 

“Big Brother Zhong, can I ask you a question? And please refer me ‘Bellona”

“Eh? What is Belona-mei? If you want to know anything about our village you can ask me anything. I may be a rough person but I do know the ins-and-outs of this village” He lightly tapped his chest and then warmly smiled. This type of person can be a friend. Although I had a fair share of a sinister past, I always respect those straightforward and honest people. I then genuinely smile at him. He blushed but immediately shrugged it off. 

“It’s like this, we had laid traps in the mountain and managed to catch a number of trophies so can I ask where I sold them?” I still need to know the ‘ropes’ in this village so that I can think of a way to earn money.

“Eh?! Do you also hunt?” We were shocked but still answer my question “Bellona-mei  you can sell it to the other villager for 10-15 liang but if you sell it to the down you can get a great deal of 20-30 liang”

“Oh!” Hunting alone was not a great way to earn adding the fact that I still need to leave some for my family to it

“Aha! How can I forget? We are going to town today to buy some stocks. Mother also told me that if you want to buy something as well, we will buy it on your behalf since you don’t have any ox-carriage. Since we are going out maybe I could sell your trophies as well?” 

“That would be great Big Brother Zhong! After that please use the money to buy white rice, fine flour, and buckwheat flour. You can decide on the quantity” Uncle Jiang already gave me the remaining money.

“This is the list of seasonings and seeds that I need to buy. Can these two strings of the copper coin be enough?” I only need soy sauce and salt that would at least cause 3-4 liang and as for the rest, I want to plant some cabbage, r****h, and carrots so I need seed for it. 

“Okay! You can rest assured about it. We should be back before the early afternoon” He then bid his goodbye and left holding a basket of one pheasant and 2 rabbits. We tended to our own things for about an hour and then I hid inside my room to secretly cultivate.