Chapter 8

It was Grandma Sun who broke the silence, resolving her granddaughter's embarrassment. "It's alright, I'll support you until you're able to walk on your own."

Mo Yuanle finished preparing the herbal bath in the kitchen. The bath needed two hours to stew to achieve its medicinal effects and required constant supervision with additional herbs added periodically; no one else but him could assist in this task.

Lan Tian sat obediently under the camphor tree in the courtyard, supporting her little face with her hands, waiting for grandma to fetch water. Many of the village rascals, having heard that Grandma Sun's family had taken in a little beggar, ran over to peek through the courtyard gate, pointing at Lan Tian under the tree while exclaiming.

"See that? That's the little beggar my dad talked about."

"Move, you're blocking my view. Make some space so I can see, let me have a look."

"Don't push from behind, my legs are getting cramped..."

"Who's pulling my hair?"

Chattering more noisily than a marketplace, Lan Tian couldn't pretend not to hear them as their voices could be heard throughout the whole village. Suddenly, her eyes darted around before she turned to glare fiercely at them, baring her teeth. The kids at the gate screamed and scurried away, especially the girls; the boys, more excited than scared, stayed put.

"Did you see that? He turned around," they said, excited without reason.

"He really is a begging beggar," came the confirmation.

"Blacker and fiercer than Black Dog, I bet Tie Jun couldn't beat him," one said, craving chaos.

"So ugly, looks just like a mountain monkey," another said with disdain.

There is an innate curiosity in children, especially towards things they don't understand; this strange fixation often comes with fear of the unknown. Lan Tian had the dubious honor of becoming the object of all the village children's curiosity. Their fervor was not going to cool down anytime soon.

When the kids weren't scared off, Lan Tian quickly lost interest in teasing them and turned to see Grandma coming out with water. After resting for a bit and recovering some energy, she sprang up to help. Grandma Sun's lips curled with a smile, seeing her granddaughter being so well-behaved.

Lan Tian was small and weak, of little help, but her intentions were appreciated, and Grandma Sun understood the feeling of relying on others for shelter. Not wanting her to feel uncomfortable, Grandma Sun didn't refuse her offer of help. The two of them, each carrying a bucket, headed to the tree.

There was already a wooden basin and ladle under the camphor tree, with a large water jar nearby, its wooden lid leaning against the tree and still more than half full of water. Grandma Sun mixed the water and carried it to the stool, then went to fetch some laundry soap. Lan Tian followed her like a shadow, from the courtyard to the hall, and into the kitchen, curious when she saw Grandma grab a handful of ashes.

When it was time for her hair-washing, Lan Tian finally understood the use of the ashes – they were for washing her hair.

Lan Tian sat on a small stool, spreading her legs wide with her hands resting on her knees, arching her back and bending her head forcefully down between her legs, her eyes and mouth shut tight. A pair of eagle-like hands softly and firmly kneaded her head, occasionally grabbing more ashes from the ground to apply, a sight so comical it was hard to watch.

Grandma Sun kept nagging on the side, "...Keep your eyes shut tight, don't open them, or the ash water might blind you; and keep your mouth closed, or swallowing ash water will give you a stomach ache…"

Meanwhile, her little friends from outside the courtyard swarmed in during her hair-washing, surrounding Lan Tian at a distance of three steps to watch the spectacle. Some cheeky ones even crouched down to peek at Lan Tian, to see if she secretly opened her eyes. They burst into laughter when they heard Grandma Sun's warnings, daring to even ask out loud.

"Second Grandmother, why do you put ashes in the hair when washing? My mom and sister never use ashes," one gave an example, and the others nodded in agreement. Lan Tian was also curious why.

"When there's too much greasiness on the head, ashes can absorb the oil, clean thoroughly, and disinfect. Didn't you see your grandma use ashes to scrub pots and wash cured meat yesterday? It's the same principle." Lan Tian had an epiphany; multifunctional powerful cleaning ashes, worthy to be owned.

"Oh," many kids thought to themselves, determined to try it out when they got home.

After a while, a large pool of black water accumulated on the ground, flowing from the camphor tree to the outside of the courtyard. Luckily, Lan Tian, with her head down and eyes closed, did not see it.

"This much oiliness on the head, if washed into the fields, could fertilize two acres; such a waste," remarked some unknown clever soul, with many others chiming in jokingly.

Lan Tian was so angry she could hardly breathe. Can't these little devils say anything nice, or do they die if they don't speak?!

You're the oily one; your family is oily, your whole village is oily, enough to fertilize two hundred acres. Grandma Sun noticed the child's shoulders trembling, thinking that she was upset by the teasing, so she quickly shooed away the mischievous children. As they left, they still peeked at the novelty through the gate. Lan Tian decided she would deal with them later; they needed to learn why flowers were so red.