Chapter Seven: The Strange Copper Mirror

  It wasn't until three days later that Song Wen's diarrhea started to get better.

  He didn't know how, but he always pulled out black and smelly things. Sometimes, a layer of stinky mucus would even be secreted on his skin, and it took at least ten or more washes to get clean. Moreover, after pulling, his body was so weak that it was almost dying, and only after taking the tonic medicine prescribed by Song Mingde did he feel a little better.

  This morning, he woke up to find that his stomach no longer had the urge to diarrhea as it did in the past few days. His body also didn't have that empty feeling, but instead felt much stronger. There was a warm flow circulating throughout his body, as if he had endless energy.

  This made him wonder if the diarrhea of the past few days was the result of the legendary detoxification process. If that's the case, then the water in Ruyi's fan would be an incredible treasure.

  Thinking of Ruyi fan, Song Wenchang suddenly realized that he hadn't seen the fan for several days.

  These past few days, he had been so busy with diarrhea that he hadn't even had the energy to look for it. Now that he thought of it, he hurriedly searched for it. He remembered putting the fan on his bedside table, but where was it? His room was always tidy, and his mom, sister-in-law, and little nephew rarely came in. Where could it have gone? It was impossible to find! Thieves would steal something valuable, why would they steal a broken fan? Besides, there had never been any thefts in the village before.

  Where did Ruyi fan go? Ruyi fan, come out! Song Wen muttered to himself while searching for the fan with his head down.

  Who would have thought that in a flash of inspiration, the fan suddenly appeared in his hand. Song Wen was shocked and his face was filled with an expression of utter disbelief.

  What's going on? How did the Like-minded Fan suddenly appear in my hand? Is this thing really a treasure that appears when you want it to and disappears when you don't, as the legend says? That's too ridiculous! Song Wen couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it, but he had a glimmer of hope. If it can appear automatically, will it disappear automatically too? As soon as this thought occurred to him, the Like-minded Fan vanished from his hand in an instant, without a trace.

  He was shocked and stunned, and after trying several times, he finally confirmed that the Ruyi fan could appear and disappear at will, but as for where it went after disappearing, it was unknown.

  What about the copper mirror? Could it be that the copper mirror is also a treasure, and can appear and disappear suddenly like the magical fan.

  At this time, Song Wen found that the copper mirror was also gone, and he greedily thought that the copper mirror might be a treasure like the Ruyi fan.

  As soon as the thought fell, the copper mirror suddenly appeared in his hand, but the copper mirror seemed to have undergone some inexplicable change, with a subtle glow emanating from within, and an air of something out of the ordinary.

  Looking at the copper mirror, I don't know what this mirror is used for. I thought it was just a mirror for admiring one's face.

  As he thought, Song Wen looked into the mirror and saw a shocking scene. The figure in the mirror was not his own face, but the shadow of his mother Chen Xiuhui busy in the kitchen. He felt strange and didn't know what was going on, so he wanted to continue watching, but suddenly became dizzy and fell to the ground, unconscious.

  It was unknown how long had passed, but in a daze, he seemed to hear his mother's voice calling him to eat, and he responded vaguely before fainting again.

  When he woke up again, he found himself lying on the floor, and the copper mirror in his hand had disappeared. He couldn't help but think of the strange scene that morning, and he shivered with fear, feeling a little scared, and didn't dare to take out the copper mirror to look at it again.

  At this time, the sun outside had already risen high. Looking at the clock beside me, it was almost 10 o'clock. I hurried to brush my teeth and wash my face.

  When I came out, the house was empty. My mother guessed that she had gone to work in the fields. They planted some sweet potatoes at home, and maybe they went to dig up the sweet potatoes. The big sister should be taking my little nephew together, or else she went out to play with others.

  The meal was on the table, Song Weng ate hastily and then went up the mountain.

  These days, his father has been digging bamboo shoots in the mountains. The day before yesterday, he heard that Song Wen had diarrhea and ran back specially, but after seeing that nothing was wrong with him, he went up the mountain again.

  Their family's bamboo forest has several hills, and when digging for shoots, they usually divide it into several times to dig, otherwise, they can't finish digging at once. Moreover, digging in batches also has its advantages, that is, there are shoots to sell every day. When digging for shoots, his father Song Yuanshui generally lives on the mountain, so he doesn't have to run back and forth. There is a wooden house on the mountain, with pots, stoves, and water inside, and bringing some rice and meat can be cooked and eaten, and there are also vegetables in the field, which don't need to worry too much.

  The path to his home in the bamboo forest is a mountainous dirt road that can accommodate two people walking, bumpy and uneven, if it rains, it's muddy and difficult to walk.

  Nowadays, the price of bamboo shoots is good, so people in the village have all started planting bamboo.

  All along the way, everything in sight is green, with slender bamboo standing upright like a gentleman. The mountain wind blows by, and the leaves rustle, making a soft sound that gives people a sense of emptiness and subtle atmosphere.

  Walking along the rugged mountain road, a small lake appears in front of you, with clear and blue water.

  The end of the small lake is a mountain wall, and a small waterfall formed by the convergence of mountains and rivers rushes down the mountain wall, crashing into the lake, making a clear and crisp sound.

  By the lake there was a small wooden house, Song Wen saw his father peeling bamboo shoots in front of the wooden house.

  Bamboo shoots are tender and delicious only when they haven't emerged from the ground, but once they emerge and turn green, they become slightly bitter. Therefore, bamboo shoots that have emerged from the ground can't be sold and are usually pickled as sour shoots or dried to make shoot flakes, which can still be sold later at a lower price.

  Behind the wooden house is our family's bamboo forest, a vast sea of bamboo, far and wide, with the wind blowing and the bamboo swaying, it has an inexplicable poetic charm, plus this clear and blue small lake, the mountain water gathering into a small waterfall, and the small stream flowing along the lake bank, just like a beautiful landscape painting.

  At this moment, Song Wen suddenly had an impulse to build a house here and spend his old age.

  In front of the wooden house, there is a small stream about ten or twenty meters wide. To get to the wooden house, you have to wade through the creek water, and this creek water serves as the boundary line, beyond which lies the bamboo forest that belongs to our family.

  Under the stream where the lake water flows into the brook, there is a flat boulder. The brook flows over it and is only half as high as one's calf. One can walk on it. So Song Wen took off his shoes and walked across.

  "Dad."

  "How did you come here? Is your stomach feeling better?" Song Yuanshui asked as he saw his son approaching.

  "It's all right now."

  Song Wen's eyes fell on his father's forehead, where there were three deep wrinkles. Song Wen felt a pang of guilt for no reason. For years, he had been drifting outside every day, with only his own dreams and pursuits in his heart, but he had neglected the fact that his parents at home were getting older day by day. It was really a bit unfilial.

  He saw a pile of bamboo shoots that hadn't been peeled yet, so he went into the house to fetch a stool and sat down beside his father to help him peel the bamboo shoots.

  After the bamboo shoots are peeled, they need to be boiled in salt water and then put into a clean bucket to seal. After a while, the bamboo shoots will naturally become sour, at which point the pickled bamboo shoots are done and can be taken to market for sale.

  "Dad, that road ahead is so narrow, why don't you make it a bit wider?" Song Wen asked while peeling the bamboo shoots.

  "What's the point of making it so big? Two years ago, your brother said he wanted to dig a road here, saying that way cars could drive in and we wouldn't have to carry bamboo shoots out ourselves with such difficulty. But after calculating, it would cost several hundred thousand, I refused, with that kind of money, I'd rather put it in the bank to earn interest."

  "Dad, you can't say that, money in the bank will be devalued. This road still needs to be opened, and you can't always use a carrying pole, it's too hard. How about this, I'll call an excavator over tomorrow to dig, and at the same time build a house on this side. Look at this broken house, leaking rain and wind, I don't know how you've been living."

  "What's the point of building a house, we already have a place to live. Besides, nobody lives here often, it's only used when digging bamboo shoots, no need to go through so much trouble and spend that money."

  Song Yuanshui is a man who has suffered hardships, so he is very frugal with money. Sometimes he would rather suffer himself than spend more money.

  "Dad, this time I'm back, I won't go out again. I want to build a house here and live on this side. The air is so good here, besides, we don't need to build a high-rise building, just a few tile-roofed houses will do."

  Song Wen knew that his parents loved him the most, so he dared to say this. If it were his older brother, his father would probably glare at and scold someone again.

  When he heard that his son was not leaving, Song Yuanshui didn't know why, and he also stopped making a sound.

  "After a while, he said: 'If you want to do it, just go and do it. Anyway, these family businesses will all be yours in the future, so you can mess with them as you like.'"

  They say that the son inherits his father's business, but his eldest son has made a fortune in recent years and can no longer see the value of this family business. He is now counting on his youngest son to take over. When he heard that his son was not going out, he just let him be, anyway, this family business would eventually belong to him, so he could do whatever he wanted.