Chapter 97 - The Sick Donkey (2/2)

Xiaocao patiently worked on it, “Little Glutinous Dumpling, the Goddess of Spirits had thrown you into the mortal world because she wants you to learn and gain experience in the mortal world. The so-called saying, ‘saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-floor pagoda’. If you do good and kind deeds, your achievements will allow you to return to the Goddess Nuwa’s side!”

The little divine stone recalled how every time it had helped Xiaocao do something, its power would restore itself in different degrees of magnitude, especially the time when it had saved Yu Hai. After saving Yu Hai, the little divine stone was able to materialize a physical body. It felt that what Xiaocao had said was very reasonable. So, it unwillingly said, [As long as the donkey hasn’t stopped breathing, then I can save it…]

With the Divine Stone’s guarantee, Xiaocao stepped forward and said to the young scholar, “Can you let me take a look at the donkey?”

The young scholar’s lifeless expression suddenly became full of expectation when he heard Xiaocao’s words. As if he was looking at his savior, he said, “Little girl, you...do you want to buy my donkey?”

But when he saw the cotton-padded jacket that was full of patches that Xiaocao was wearing, his expression dimmed again. He forced his greed away and said, “Little girl, my donkey is sick. It’s best if you don’t buy it…”

Xiaocao saw that even though he had fallen in such a dire situation, he still had a kind and honest heart. She smiled, “My father and I had learned some medical treatments for domestic animals. If the donkey can be saved, then I will buy it.”

“Okay, good! Look at the donkey. My donkey is very capable, it’s not even three years old yet. Before it was sick, everyone had said that my donkey was a good one.” A fire of hope once again ignited in the young scholar’s eyes as he stared at Xiaocao’s every movement.

Xiaocao squatted in front of the donkey. She extended her hand to place between the donkey’s nose and mouth. Hot streams of air sprayed at the palm of her hand as the donkey breathed. Although its breathing was weak, it was clear.

It’s good if it’s still breathing! She borrowed a broken bowl that domestic animals used to drink water. She allowed Yu Hai to take off the water bag that was tied to the side of her waist and poured the mystic-stone water from the water bag into the bowl.

The donkey seemed to be able to feel the spiritual energy from the water as it raised its head with difficulty. One mouthful after another, it slowly drank the mystic-stone water from the bowl in Xiaocao’s hand. After it finished the bowl of mystic-stone water, it powerlessly lay on the ground. Although the donkey didn’t have any more strength to stand up, its eyes were clearer and livelier than before.

“How is my donkey? Little girl, can my donkey be saved?” When the young scholar saw the donkey, that hadn’t drank water or eaten grass for a long time, drinking the bowl of water, the fire of hope in his heart burned even stronger.

The middle-aged man with a shrewd-looking face made cynical remarks at the side, “The veterinarians from the ox and horse market all said that the donkey is incurable. What can a silly little girl be capable of? I advise you to quickly sell the donkey before it takes its last breath. Otherwise, it’ll be bad luck for you when it dies later. When it dies, I won’t spend eight hundred copper coins to buy it.”

The young scholar acted as if he didn’t hear the middle-aged man ridiculing him. He looked at Xiaocao as if she was his last chance at life. His wasn’t even aware that his fingernails had pierced through the skin at the palm of his hand as he tightly clenched it into a fist.

The outsiders thought that Xiaocao was taking pity on the donkey as she stroked the donkey’s boney ribs. But, in fact, she was using the multicolored stone on her wrist to help the donkey sort out the illness inside its body. In a space where other people couldn’t see, soft rays of golden light entered the donkey from the multicolored stone. In less than a moment, the donkey was able to lift its head and its eyes were full of spirit again.

Xiaocao smiled and nodded at the scholar, “The donkey isn’t very ill. I will buy it! It’s three taels of silver, right?

“Y-yes!” The young scholar was in a daze as he stared at the silver that Xiaocao had handed to him. He seemed to be in disbelief that his sick donkey that was about to go to heaven would actually fetch him three taels of silver. For a moment, he foolishly stood there because he wasn’t sure what to do.

Xiaocao saw that he didn’t move for a while, so she thought that he wanted to go back on his words. She whispered to him, “What’s wrong? Didn’t you say that your father is waiting for this money to save his life? Why aren’t you hurrying to him?”

“Oh! Yeah...thank you, little girl. Benefactors, please leave your names behind. In the future, I would like to repay your kindness!” The young scholar made a big bow towards Xiaocao and her father.

Xiaocao replied, “What kindness are you talking about? You are selling something, and I am merely buying it. This is a fair trade. There is no need to repay anything. Go quickly, your father’s illness can’t be delayed!”Fang Zimo missed his sick father. Seeing that the two didn’t want to leave behind their names, he bowed towards them again and left the market while tightly holding onto the silver.

The middle-aged man, who couldn’t take advantage of the scholar, sourly said, “Little girl, you are still young. There are all kinds of people in this world. There are many who pretend to be sick in order to gain people’s sympathy. You were tricked by others and yet you still haven’t realized it.”

“Thank you, uncle, for the reminder! However, the scholar is wearing a long gown from Rongxuan Academy. Rongxuan Academy accepts students based on their moral character. I believe that he is not a swindler.” Xiaocao wasn’t an eight-year-old child who could easily be tricked. She had spent three taels of silver to buy both the donkey and the donkey cart. This was much cheaper than buying a donkey and then asking someone to build a donkey cart for her.

The middle-aged man gave a final glance at the relatively new donkey cart. He coldly snorted, “You will suffer losses if you turn a deaf ear to your elders. I only reminded you because I believe that you probably saved up money for a long time to be able to save up three taels of silver. I didn’t want you to have a dead loss in the end!” After he finished speaking, he swung his sleeve and left.

Xiaocao raised her eyebrows and disdainfully curled her lip. He couldn’t take advantage of the scholar so he could only say a few hateful words. His moral character is really…

However, Yu Hai was a little worried as he asked, “Cao’er, the donkey is very weak. It can’t even stand up so how can we bring it back home? Your Grandpa Zhang’s ox cart can’t fit the donkey…”

Xiaocao confidently said, “Don’t worry. I have a feeling that when we go back in the afternoon, the donkey will be able to walk on its own! Father, there isn’t much seasoning left at home. There is a shop in the food market that sells cheap seasonings. Let’s go look.”