Chapter 22: Chapter 20: Fish Stone Pendant (Please Favorite and Follow)
The Green Armored Fish's Fish Stone had not been retrieved by Lu Qing in front of Brother Da An.
Instead, it had remained inside the body of the Green Armored Fish.
It wasn't that he was stingy and unwilling to show it to others, but rather it was difficult for him to explain what it was.
Now that no one was disturbing him, it was the perfect opportunity to take the Fish Stone.
He went to the kitchen, where the large fish head of the Green Armored Fish was placed in a wooden basin.
Lu Qing broke open the fish head and found the Fish Stone at the throat.
However, when he saw the appearance of the Fish Stone, Lu Qing was very surprised.
In his previous life, Lu Qing had caught a large green fish weighing over forty pounds, and also obtained a very nice Fish Stone.
But when he had retrieved that Fish Stone, it had been slightly gelatinous.
After it was taken out, it needed cleaning, air drying, and other treatments before he finally got a good-looking Fish Stone.
Now, he touched the Fish Stone from the throat of the Green Armored Fish and found that it wasn't soft at all, it had already hardened.
Lu Qing found a small wooden spoon and carefully dug out the Fish Stone.
After cleaning it with water and drying it off, upon closer examination, he was even more amazed.
The Fish Stone, two centimeters in size and half a centimeter thick, was shaped like a scallop.
Its texture was both stony and jade-like, smooth and warm to the touch, feeling very nice in hand.
Its quality was much better than the one he had carefully maintained in his previous life.
Gently playing with the jade-like Fish Stone in his hand, Lu Qing felt a sense of calm in his Heart and Spirit.
He knew this was not an illusion.
Because in his vision, the Fish Stone in his hand was radiating a dense white light.
[Green Armor Fish Stone: A complete Fish Stone nurtured by an adult Green Armored Fish, already jadeized.]
[Legend has it that jadeized level Green Armor Fish Stones, when carried close to the body, have the effect of soothing the soul and stabilizing the mind.]
After playing with it for a while, Lu Qing found that the quality of this Fish Stone was practically perfect.
It required no additional polishing and could be worn directly.
He found some tools and carefully drilled a hole in the thinner end of the Fish Stone.
Fortunately, although the Green Armor Fish Stone had jadeized, it wasn't as hard as other jade.
He didn't spend much effort and managed to make a perfect hole.
After drilling the hole, he took out the remaining hemp string and twisted it into a sturdy hemp rope, threading it through the Fish Stone.
After being busy with these tasks, he had created a simple Fish Stone pendant.
After admiring his own work for a while, Lu Qing called Little Yan, who was playing in the yard, inside.
"Brother, what do you need Little Yan for?"
The little one scampered into the house.
"Brother made something nice, and I want to give it to you," Lu Qing held the pendant in his hand.
"What is it?" Little Yan's eyes lit up.
"It's this."
Lu Qing pinched the hemp rope, and letting go slightly, the Fish Stone dangled in mid-air, swaying.
"Wow! What is that? It's so pretty!"
The little one's eyes instantly widened as she stared at the pendant.
"This is a pendant. I made it from the Fish Stone found in the big fish's body. From now on, wear it close to you, and it will keep you from kicking your covers off at night."
Lu Qing loosened the hemp rope and hung the pendant around Little Yan's neck, then tied the rope tight.
He tied the loop small enough that the little one couldn't take the pendant off over her head, preventing her from carelessly losing it.
"Thank you, brother! Little Yan really loves this gift!"
The little one bowed her head to play with the pendant on her neck, utterly delighted.
It was her first piece of jewelry that belonged solely to her, and it was such a beautiful stone at that.
Young children generally can't resist beautiful, attractive stones.
The more Little Yan looked at the pendant on her neck, the more she loved it.
"If you like it, just keep it safe and don't lose it, otherwise, brother can't fish another big fish for you to eat," Lu Qing warned Little Yan as she clung to the pendant affectionately.
"I know, I will protect it well!" Little Yan said with a serious face.
Seeing that the little one took his words to heart, Lu Qing left her to continue playing.
Then he went back to the kitchen to prepare the big fish head.
For dinner, the siblings had a feast of fish head.
Lu Qing cooked half of the big fish head by grilling and the other half by boiling into a soup.
The two of them ate to their heart's content.
"Brother, the big fish is really delicious," Little Yan said as she lay in her own small bed, touching her still somewhat full belly, before going to sleep for the night.
"As long as Little Yan is good, brother will make you more delicious food in the future," Lu Qing responded as he tugged at the corner of her blanket.
Little Yan used to sleep in the same room as their parents, but after they were gone, she often cried at night. The original owner then moved her small bed into his own room, and Little Yan was able to sleep more peacefully.
"Uh-huh, Little Yan will be very good!"
The little one touched the pendant around her neck and nodded earnestly.
"Then go to sleep early, we need to go to Grandpa Chen's place tomorrow."
"Uh-huh, Little Yan misses Grandpa Chen too," she said, slowly feeling her eyelids grow heavier and soon she was sound asleep.
Lu Qing affectionately covered her with a thin quilt.
The little one was quite tired today.
She had gone fishing with him and had helped carry the fishing rod.
After coming back, she had played in the yard for most of the day.
It was already quite good that she only started to feel sleepy now.
After making sure the little one was asleep, Lu Qing then lay down on his own bed.
Listening to Little Yan's faint breathing, Lu Qing couldn't fall asleep immediately.
He was thinking about tomorrow.
Tomorrow was his day to get acupuncture at Old Doctor Chen's.
According to the elder doctor's previous promise, starting tomorrow, each acupuncture session would be followed by an hour during which he could learn how to identify medicinal herbs with the elder doctor.
Identifying herbs was secondary; with superpower assistance, Lu Qing wasn't worried about his ability to learn.
What he needed to think about was how to use this opportunity to gain Elder Chen's favor and approval.
There was also what Brother Da An had mentioned today about the bazaar; he needed to think carefully about that too.
After these past few days of consumption, they had eaten quite a bit of the grain they borrowed from home.
More importantly, there wasn't much salt and oil left.
In a few days, they would run out.
So, he had to find a way to earn money quickly.
Now wasn't the farming season, so he couldn't count on crop yield for the time being.
Moreover, he didn't even have the money to buy seeds.
He could only look elsewhere for opportunities.
The bazaar could be a good option.
It was just unclear what exactly this bazaar was like, considering the rules Brother Da An stressed at noon; it seemed they had some special regulations to follow...
Various thoughts swirled in Lu Qing's mind, and as he thought, his eyelids grew heavier.
Eventually, he couldn't resist sleep any longer.
The room was quiet as the siblings both slept deeply.
Outside, the night wind was cool, and the sky was full of stars.
Suddenly, a black figure gracefully jumped into the yard and glanced towards the fish meat hanging under the eaves.