Cultivation by Trial and Error

The next morning, Chen Hai got up, and his body had almost recovered to normal.

Apart from the Moonlight Power, which was highly effective for his injuries, the main reason was his leech-like soul—tough, resilient, and possessed an Undying Characteristic.

Seeing that Chen Hai was fine, Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian, as a couple, finally let out a sigh of relief.

Early in the morning, Chen Zhonghua went out to work the fields, while Jiang Meixian stayed at home, busying herself with household chores.

"Hai, your Aunt Xiuhua is here to see you, come out quickly!"

Chen Hai picked up a textbook, about to pretend to study seriously, when his mother Wang Xiuhua's voice timely rang by his ear.

"Who? Aunt Xiuhua? She's here?"

Chen Hai put down the book and hurried out of the room.

"Xiuhua, my Hai's illness is already healed. You coming to see him already shows your intention, so why bring stuff?"

"Meixian sister, we're all villagers here, and after all, I am Hai's aunt, aren't I?"

"I just heard about that boy's incident a few days ago; otherwise, I would have visited him sooner."

"Just brought a few eggs over, nothing much,"

"After all, Chen Hai's body has just recovered; they're perfect for nourishing him!"

As soon as he stepped out of the house, Chen Hai saw his mother warmly conversing with a woman at the front door.

The woman, in her thirties or forties, wore a pair of athletic pants and was quite fashionably dressed.

In the entire Chenjiaping Village, finding another woman of her age and beauty would probably be impossible.

The woman's real name was Wang Xiuhua, the wife of Chen Erleng, the village secretary of Chenjiaping Village.

In Chenjiaping Village, out of ten households, nine had the surname Chen, and tracing upwards, they all shared a common ancestor.

According to familial seniority, Chen Hai indeed ought to call her "Aunt."

However, the relationship was distant, and the two families usually had little interaction.

Her husband, Chen Erleng, was a notorious figure in the village.

Before becoming the village secretary, he was famously irritable.

Over trivial matters, he would chase people across several hills with a pig-slaughtering knife.

Now that he had become an official, Chen Erleng seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, and no such incidents had been heard of lately.

"Aunt Xiuhua, you haven't had breakfast yet, right? Why don't you just stay and have some here?"

Approaching, Chen Hai gently tapped his mother Jiang Meixian's arm.

Taking the opportunity while she was not looking, he made faces at Wang Xiuhua across from him.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Stay for breakfast, Xiuhua. Have a seat here, and I'll prepare it right away!"

Jiang Meixian greeted her and brought out a chair for Wang Xiuhua, then headed straight for the kitchen.

While his mother wasn't aware of Wang Xiuhua's visit's purpose, Chen Hai was very clear.

"Aunt Xiuhua, here!"

Seeing his mother was not around, Chen Hai quickly took out the Nameless Ancient Book he kept close to his body and handed it to Wang Xiuhua.

"It's the right item, and this is your Limp Uncle's treasure. To lend it to you for a few days, I spent so much effort persuading him, and he finally reluctantly agreed!"

"If this gets lost, I don't know how I'll explain it to him!"

After flipping through the Nameless Ancient Book a few times and ensuring it was correct, Wang Xiuhua quickly hid it.

She looked around, then pulled out a banknote and stuffed it into Chen Hai's hand, saying, "A little token of appreciation, Hai. Buy some good food for yourself to nourish your body."

"Aunt Xiuhua, isn't this a bit much?"

Although he said so, Chen Hai didn't show any courtesy.

He simply took the banknote and put it back in his pocket.

"Hai, you can't forget our agreement!"

Seeing Chen Hai take the money, Wang Xiuhua hurriedly reminded him in a timely manner.

"Don't worry, Aunt Xiuhua, I definitely won't go around talking about you and Limp Uncle chatting naked in bed!"

Looking around sneakily, Chen Hai deliberately lowered his voice in response.

"What do you mean 'chatting naked in bed'? Hai, didn't I tell you? Limp Uncle was performing an exorcism on me!"

With an eye roll, Wang Xiuhua quickly corrected him.

Since Chen Erleng had become the village secretary, he didn't touch his salary and stopped using his wife.

Limp Zhang was not really limping, it was just that his legs had been a bit crooked in the earlier years.

He was a bachelor and, to some extent, could be considered handsome.

At some point, Wang Xiuhua and Limp Zhang secretly got involved with each other.

Recently, when Chen Hai fell seriously ill and was revived by Limp Zhang, Limp Zhang's skills greatly intrigued him.

One late night, Chen Hai went to Limp Zhang's house, hoping to stealthily learn something, but made no other discoveries.

He did, however, witness the intimate struggle between Limp Zhang and Wang Xiuhua.

Had he not had such incriminating information in hand, how could Chen Hai have managed to borrow the Nameless Ancient Book, a treasure passed down through the generations, from Limp Zhang?

Bringing over a basket of eggs and stuffing him with banknotes were just Wang Xiuhua's ways to keep Chen Hai's mouth shut.

Chen Hai accepted her money, feeling perfectly justified in doing so.

Why shouldn't he, when Limp Zhang dared to ruthlessly take money from his parents?

"Aunt Xiuhua, I misspoke earlier. Limp Uncle and you were just performing an exorcism, really didn't do anything else..."

Grinning, Chen Hai teased.

"You sly little devil, I won't talk to you anymore, Aunt needs to hurry back and return these things to your Limp Uncle!"

Giving Chen Hai an eye roll, Wang Xiuhua chuckled and nodded in satisfaction.

"Meixian, stop fussing. I just came to see Hai; I have things to attend to at home, I'm leaving immediately!"

Shouting towards the kitchen, Wang Xiuhua turned and left.

"This Wang Xiuhua, she didn't even drink a sip of tea, how could she leave just like that?"

Jiang Meixian stepped out of the kitchen and seeing only a fading silhouette of Wang Xiuhua, she muttered discontentedly.

Two days of weekend pass by so quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday evening and time to go to the evening self-study.

Chen Hai's home was far from the school, and by the time he reached, it was nearly five o'clock, with only about half an hour left before the self-study session started.

He had to return his clothes and some pickles he brought from home to the dorm.

Just back in the dorm, the often elusive roommate Liu Jian actually took the initiative to greet him.

"Chen Hai, what exactly is going on between you and Qian Bing, Zhang Yong and them?"

"Just now, they ran up to the dorm, seeming to want to cause you trouble, but I blocked them!"

"With my word, Qian Bing and the others wouldn't dare disrespect, nor have the guts to do anything in our dorm."

"But you should be careful yourself, if they corner you outside the school, I'm not interested in helping you!"

With a meaningful look, Liu Jian sized up Chen Hai, admonishing him.