Wang Xiaoqiang helped the Xia Family with irrigation, and by noon, Xia Guifang invited Wang Xiaoqiang to her home for a meal. Wang Xiaoqiang, without hesitation, told his sister-in-law and then left for the Xia Family's home.

Liu Juyi had intended to stop Wang Xiaoqiang to tell him about Aunt Wang's matchmaking efforts on his behalf, but when the words reached her lips, she somehow couldn't say them. At that moment, she suddenly felt a contradictory desire for Wang Xiaoqiang to know and yet feared him finding out.

Why would she have such feelings?

Liu Juyi couldn't explain it clearly herself, and besides, ever since Aunt Big Mouth had mentioned matchmaking for Wang Xiaoqiang, she had felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

When Wang Xiaoqiang sat down carefreely at the Xia Family's dining table, Xia Guifang and her mother were already bringing dishes to the table, four dishes and a soup. With Xia Sanwa gone to the county town to gamble and not seen for several days, taking advantage of her father's absence, Xia Guifang also brought out a bottle of ginseng liquor from the house to offer Wang Xiaoqiang.

Wang Xiaoqiang didn't like to drink and was about to refuse when he suddenly felt the Five Elements Spirit Spring inside his body vibrate abruptly, as if responding to something.

Wang Xiaoqiang only knew that the Five Elements Spirit Spring could move freely within his body, emitting either hot or cool breaths, but it had never acted up like this before. This was the first time it had happened.

Accompanied by the vibration of the Five Elements Spirit Spring within Wang Xiaoqiang, the bottle of ginseng liquor on the table also began to tremble slightly, particularly the ginseng inside the bottle, which seemed to come to life, tumbling incessantly in the liquor, as if trying to break free from the bottle.

Too busy serving the meal, Xia Guifang and her mother didn't notice this strange phenomenon. Wang Xiaoqiang knew that the vibration of the ginseng liquor was heavily related to the Five Elements Spirit Spring inside him. Half in shock and half in panic, he grabbed the bottle with his right hand.

At that moment, the Five Elements Spirit Spring from his heart raced to his right hand, vibrating more vigorously and creating a strong suction force.

The ginseng liquor in Wang Xiaoqiang's grasp trembled even more violently, and the ginseng inside the bottle thrashed about like a frenzied prawn in the liquor.

Fortunately, Wang Xiaoqiang was holding the bottle, preventing it from tipping over. And, fortunately, the phenomenon was fleeting and didn't catch the attention of Xia Guifang and her mother.

When the Five Elements Spirit Spring in his palm stopped vibrating, the bottle and the ginseng inside it also ceased their movement. Wang Xiaoqiang felt the Spirit Spring in his palm return to his heart, and then, as if sated, it suddenly grew larger by some amount, from the size of a chicken egg to that of a duck egg.

Of course, this was just Wang Xiaoqiang's sensation; as for how much it actually grew, he couldn't tell as he didn't have the ability of inner vision and couldn't feel or see it.

"Little Qiang, why aren't you drinking?" Xia Guifang, having placed a bowl of egg soup on the table, saw Wang Xiaoqiang holding the ginseng liquor with a dazed look and asked with some surprise.

"Uh... It's too hot, better not drink!" Wang Xiaoqiang gave a perfunctory response, releasing his right hand from the bottle, only to suddenly realize that the bottle, once full of white liquor, was now missing more than two ounces, and the ginseng inside had turned into a powdery mush.

Xia Guifang had also noticed this, her bright eyes intently staring at the ginseng in the bottle, dumbfounded.

After a good while, she pointed at the bottle and asked incredulously, "What, what's going on here?"

Wang Xiaoqiang knew in his heart, but at this moment he could only feign confusion and said, "Exactly, how did the ginseng in this wine bottle break into pieces? Right, Little Fang, could this ginseng be fake?"

"Impossible, this is Wild Mountain Ginseng, a family heirloom my grandfather left before he died. It's just that my dad took it out to soak in ginseng wine."

"Little Fang, really? Wild Mountain Ginseng is so expensive, and your dad used it to brew wine, isn't that a terrible waste?" Wang Xiaoqiang wanted to figure out the category of the ginseng in the bottle because he had seen that the Five Elements Spirit Spring within him had a significant connection with this ginseng.

He even felt that the reason the ginseng had crumbled to pieces was that the Spirit Spring had absorbed all its essence.

"Pfft, you don't know my dad. Aside from gambling, he loves his liquor. It wouldn't just be a single Wild Mountain Ginseng—he'd waste even a Thousand-Year Ginseng King..."

Wang Xiaoqiang nodded in agreement.

"By the way, Little Fang, give me this bottle of wine. I'll take it home and drink it slowly..." Seeing Xia Guifang's mother coming over to have dinner after being busy, he picked up the bottle of ginseng wine and placed it under the table.

"Sure, take it." Xia Guifang agreed very readily.

After dining at the Xia family, Wang Xiaoqiang carried the bottle of ginseng wine back to his home. Seeing that his parents and sister-in-law were not in the yard, he sneaked into his bedroom, closed the door, opened the bottle cap, and immediately smelled the fragrance of wine. However, Wang Xiaoqiang no longer felt the sensation he had before.

The Five Elements Spirit Spring at his heart remained still, as if it had fallen asleep. He took a gulp from the bottle and swallowed it, feeling only heat coursing from his throat down to his stomach. The Spirit Spring at his heart remained motionless. This was enough to prove that the Spirit Spring had nothing to do with the wine and its activity was indeed related to that ginseng.

Could it be that the Five Elements Spirit Spring can absorb the essence from ginseng? Or could it absorb essences from medicinal herbs?

With this speculation, Wang Xiaoqiang went to the yard and took out a plant of wild medicinal herb he had dug up from the mountain, holding it in his palm without noticing anything unusual. Tossing away the wild herb, he then took out a plant of Cornus officinalis his father had dug up and held it in his hand, but the Spirit Spring at his heart again showed no reaction.

Nor did the Cornus officinalis in his hand show any activity.

Wang Xiaoqiang discarded the Cornus officinalis in his hand, finally understanding that the Five Elements Spirit Spring within him only absorbed the essence of ginseng, and was unrelated to other herbs. However, whether the ginseng in the Xia family's wine bottle was Wild Mountain Ginseng still required further proof.

Although Sanmiao Village was surrounded by mountains with wild medicinal herbs growing on them, precious herbs like Wild Mountain Ginseng were extremely rare and precious.

Obviously, the Wang family didn't have any Wild Mountain Ginseng. Wang Xiaoqiang, eager to prove whether the Five Elements Spirit Spring absorbed normal ginseng or Wild Mountain Ginseng, set his mind on finding some ginseng to test out. After some thought, he decided to try his luck at the village healthcare center.

Wang Xiaoqiang knew that Elder Qingshan, an old practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, would frequently use medicinal herbs for treating illnesses, and indeed, the village healthcare center had quite an array of medicinal herbs. Whether they had Wild Mountain Ginseng or not, Wang Xiaoqiang was unsure.

Arriving at the healthcare center, Little Xu Xiaoya was treating a child. Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang walk in, she shyly glanced at him, thinking to herself that Aunt Big Mouth really worked fast. But this guy was truly impatient—Aunt Big Mouth had only mentioned this matter in the morning, and he had hurried over in the afternoon. He usually looked so honest and proper, but it turns out he also...

Little Xu Xiaoya shook her head secretly, but then she reconsidered and didn't find it that strange after all. Wang Xiaoqiang was also human, and being in his youth, it was natural for him to long for closeness with girls. Conversely, if he showed no interest in girls at all, that would indicate he had some issues.

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