Chapter Sixty-Seven: Long Creek

“All right, there are no other activities scheduled by the production team tomorrow. You can come to the meeting point to pick up breakfast. Everyone, get ready for your respective tasks—the success of Grandpa and Grandma’s wedding depends on you!” With Wang Zan’s announcement, dinner came to an end, but Yingshan Shan remained distracted, her mind still on what had happened earlier.

On their way back, the road was shrouded in darkness. Yangyang wanted to hold his mother’s hand, but Yingshan Shan subtly avoided him.

It wasn’t until they reached a spot in the house without cameras that Yingshan Shan finally spoke, her face cold. “What do you mean by this?”

Yangyang grew anxious and burst into tears. “Mom, I wasn’t being picky with my food…”

The mention of this made Yingshan Shan all the more furious. “Go and finish your practice for today. If you don’t, you aren’t allowed to sleep!”

…

Elsewhere, after personally bathing Nian Nian, Su Wan Ning carefully applied medicine to all the little girl’s wounds.

As she was dabbing ointment, Nian Nian suddenly reached out to touch Su Wan Ning’s cheek.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Mom, don’t be afraid. I’m very strong, it doesn’t hurt at all!” The little one saw through Su Wan Ning’s worry and, unexpectedly, took the initiative to comfort her.

Su Wan Ning smiled and drew her daughter into her arms, holding her tightly. The livestream chat was filled with voices of envy.

“What a sweet daughter—I wish she were mine!”

“Look at their deep mother-daughter bond, while you lot quarrel all day. Ridiculous!”

The next morning, the other three teams of guests rose early, heading into the village or town to prepare wedding supplies.

Only Su Wan Ning, accompanied by her two children, enjoyed a leisurely lunch, took a nap, and only then led them up the back hill.

“I thought Su Wan Ning was going to slack off again.”

“Where would you find a fridge or a TV in a place like this? I’d give up too.”

“But what’s she doing on the mountain? Planning to dig up a TV?”

Su Wan Ning saw the scrolling comments and replied mysteriously, “That’s right—today, I’m taking you up the mountain to dig up televisions. Don’t think you can only find wild vegetables up here.”

“I’m laughing, let’s see what happens.”

“If anyone could do it, she could.”

“If you can dig up a TV from the ground, I’ll eat mine!”

The two children, not understanding the banter, were simply delighted to go play in the mountains.

Hand in hand with her brother and mother, Nian Nian skipped along cheerfully, until she spotted a flash of white in the grass ahead.

“A bunny!” Nian Nian called out in her childish voice, then broke free of her brother’s and mother’s hands, dashing toward it.

“Slow down!” Su Wan Ning called with a smile, quickening her steps to follow.

Nian Nian, small and nimble, ducked into the grass, searching for the bunny, unaware she’d wandered beside a small slope.

“Good bunny,” she coaxed, stepping closer. But the rabbit, quick and alert, vanished at the first sign of danger. Nian Nian lunged after it and stepped right onto the edge of the slope.

“Ah!” she cried out as her body tumbled forward, losing control, about to fall down the slope—when a hand shot out from behind, grabbing her tightly.

But the momentum was too much; Su Wan Ning could only hang on and went tumbling down with her, holding Nian Nian close to shield her with her own body.

“Mom!” Above, Sui Sui’s anxious voice called out. Su Wan Ning landed at the bottom, arms still around Nian Nian. Luckily, the slope wasn’t high, and she was unhurt.

“Nian Nian, are you okay?”

The little girl looked up, her face still pale but unscathed. “I’m fine!” she said, bouncing twice before Su Wan Ning’s eyes to prove it. “See?”

Relieved, Su Wan Ning was just about to speak when she saw Sui Sui already clinging to a tree branch and sliding down the slope.

“Why did you come down too?” Su Wan Ning had no choice but to reach out and catch him.

Once Sui Sui landed safely and saw that both of them were unharmed, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. The cameraman, with no other option, mimicked their descent and rolled down the slope after them.

“Wait, did you just call me ‘Mom’?” Su Wan Ning suddenly realized, grinning mischievously at Sui Sui.

He looked away awkwardly, barely nodding.

“Good boy. It seems my fall wasn’t in vain after all.”

Su Wan Ning made light of her misfortune, not expecting an even bigger surprise to await her. Shifting her gaze, she noticed at the spot where she’d fallen a stalk of grass, bent under her weight, its shape a little strange.

“Longxi?”

She knelt to examine it more closely and discovered that it was indeed a valuable medicinal herb called Longxi, which only blooms at night.

“Look at that—here’s the television we dug up! This is Longxi, a herb whose flowers bloom only at night, and its medicinal properties are remarkable. It’s very expensive, especially the wild variety like this…”

As she explained to the livestream audience, her eyes sparkled. She gently straightened the stalk that had been bent.

“Mom, why can you only pick it at night?” Nian Nian asked curiously.

“Because this plant can’t stand sunlight, so it only blooms at night. Looks like we’ll have to spend the night in the mountains,” Su Wan Ning explained succinctly. She then found a flat spot at the foot of the slope. Fortunately, she had come prepared, carrying the tent from their previous camping trip.

She quickly set up the tent and had the children sit inside, then turned to the cameraman.

He felt uneasy under her gaze.

Su Wan Ning approached with a smile. “Brother, you must have brought some water with you, right?”

The cameraman shook his head vigorously.

“Don’t be so stingy! I don’t mind, but the kids will be here all night—they need water. Come on, just share a little. Better yet, have the production team send some more.”

“Is Su Wan Ning negotiating with the production team now?”

“The director isn’t that generous.”

“I’ll bet ten bucks the director says no.”

But the audience was soon proven wrong.

Half an hour later, staff from the production team arrived at the spot with water and food, tossing the supplies down the slope.

Su Wan Ning was satisfied, humming a tune as she stowed the snacks and water in the tent.

“Eat up—tonight, let’s treat this as a camping trip. Once I pick the flowers tonight, we’ll sell them first thing in the morning!”

Off-screen, Wang Zan didn’t really believe Jiang Wanyi would find any valuable herbs worth a fridge or a TV—he just thought the footage would be interesting.

Night soon fell. Su Wan Ning stayed awake, draping her jacket over the two children and softly singing lullabies.

Sui Sui lay with his eyes closed, listening to her song, sleep eluding him for a long time.

Late into the night, after the children had finally drifted off, Su Wan Ning slipped out of the tent. With her flashlight, she found several more patches of Longxi.

Sure enough, the herb’s flowers bloomed only at night, pure white blossoms shining in the dark.