InterGalaxia (On Hold)

2.21

Chi YunLei's mouth was trembling like a gasping fish. She furrowed her brows and a scowl curled about her lips as she approached her Qi-Er, sending a hesitant look towards the growing proof of her daughter's shenanigans on the bed. Chi YunQi held out her palms towards Chi YunLei and allowed the woman to grasp them and lead her slowly to the love seat by her vanity. Pushing her daughter to sit on the love seat, Chi YunLei bent her body and used all her strength to push the small sofa in front of the vanity, first making sure to move the ornate chair from its position in front of the mirror. 

Now situated in front of the mirror, Chi YunLei took a deep breath before picking up an exquisite comb from the armful of presents she had brought back with her from her journey. It was made of pure silver, so it was a bit on the heavy side, but it was encrusted in plenty of beautiful emeralds, a halo of green surrounding the comb as the light reflected off of it, the enchanting glow could be seen in the mirror by the seated woman. Chi YunQi smiled warmly, clearly Chi YunLei remembered her favourite colour when she picked the comb. The comb slid through her hair, every now and then snagging on small knots that couldn't help but form throughout the course of the day, with as much hair as she had to maintain. Chi YunLei focused her gaze on the waterfall of black hair slipping between the comb's teeth and between her fingers as she dutifully cared for her daughter. "Three months" Chi YunQi broke the silent but peaceful atmosphere. Chi YunLei's ministrations paused before starting up again. "You know, if you're not ready, there are ways of-" Madame Chi started but was interrupted with an angry hiss. "I will be having this baby!" Madame Chi's hand hung in mid-air with the comb raised to run through YunQi's hair and her other hand gripping the next tress of hair to brush. Her hand clenched around that piece of hair before loosening and allowing it to float back down of its own accord.

 Chi YunQi turned her face back to the front of the mirror and relaxed her hunched up figure. Chi YunLei waited a while before going back to combing. Once she was done, she looked up in the mirror at their reflections, seeing much of younger self in her daughter, especially now she had grown older but still resembled very much like her little princess when she was but five years of age. Reaching out a hand, she unconsciously brushed back Chi YunQi's long bangs behind her ears so that her face was more visible. The same heart-shaped face, eye shape and small cherry mouth. The same high strung attitude that scared off most men, most. A sad smile hung on her face as she examined her little girl. 

Having finished pushing the hair away, Chi YunLei allowed her hand to trail down YunQi's neck and grab under her chin, pushing her face up towards the ceiling. YunQi tried hard to see her mother's face so she looked up as far as she could without rolling her eyes into the back of her head, her willowy brows arching as high as they could in her strain to look at Madame Chi. Madame Chi's sad smile made YunQi's brows furrow in this position, creating a strange expression. It didn't help that her view of her mother was upside down and her viewpoint was the underside of her chin and the protruding tip of her nose. Madame Chi giggled and released her chin. 

Chi YunQi sat up straight and turned her torso to look behind her. All she could see is her mother's desolate back. "You know, I was like you. Young, pregnant and... stubborn. I thought I knew best, that all the advice everyone gave me was pointless and completely unrelated to my case. In retrospect, perhaps I should have listened harder or tried harder not to distance myself from well-meaning people who, at the time, seemed to be unnecessarily meddlesome. So to you, my daughter, who is ever much like myself, I'll give you some advice that I pray you will take to heart" Madame Chi straighten her back like a General facing her army of soldiers before a decisive battle.  "'If you believe that you don't want this, tell Mama; she'll help you unerringly'" Chi YunLei said all this with her back turned, apparently not aware of the mirror almost directly opposite the vanity that displayed all her facial emotions and reflected it back into the mirror Chi YunQi had glanced back to when YunLei started her little speech. Or perhaps she did know as she gazed into the mirror to examine YunQi's emotions as well. Both women were silently assessing each other, looking for any kind of sign of reluctance. "En", was YunQi's long thought out reply. Though simple, it expressed all YunLei needed to know. She nodded her head, her eyes filled with determination.

 YunQi and YunLei both sat down as YunLei explained about the accomplishments she achieved during her journey to the branch family. "-and so, with this new method, many crops will be able to be cultivated without dying due to bugs, as well as many lives being saved due to resources being more abundant!" Chi YunLei had just finished explaining how she introduced the concept of using diluted Neem oil to act as a bug repellent for young crops. Neem is a type of flowering plant found in the Mughal Empire of Hindustan, home to the Sindhus. To modern souls like Chi YunLei and Chi YunQi, Hindustan is known as India.

 Neem oil is taken from the dehydrated leaves of the plant and when it is diluted with water, it acts as an effective insecticide. She also, in passing, recommended for the farmers to leave out plates filled with beer near the roots of small plots of crops to distract slugs and snails but not splash the beer on the plants directly. These things aren't exactly common knowledge, even in modern times, but as Chi YunLei lived in a farming district and within a generational agricultural family in her previous life, it was a given that she'd know some tricks of the trade. That and the fact she majored in Horticulture in University, she was more than qualified to speak of plant care. Luckily, Neem leaves seem to be easily available through travelling merchants. 

Madame Chi initially wasn't going to recommend beer as she was not sure if it had appeared in ZhongYuan during this period of time but apparently barley beer had been around for a while so she didn't need to fuss over it. Madame Chi also explained the concept of perhaps introducing vinegar as a preservative as recently in her travels, she noticed it being used by many merchants, they were selling a new type of ware called Goulard's Powder. Apparently, it came from an overseas merchant and was a sugar substitute that smelt of vinegar. Having caught a whiff, Madame Chi was reminded of vinegar and it's uses. Chi YunQi's hair stood on end.

Hey, hey, hey, that stuff is dangerous! Chi YunQi immediately covered the pot of the 'Goulard's Powder', that was actually just lead acetate. Madame Chi had said that the merchant recommended that you add this chemical to cider to give it flavour. Chi YunQi knew for a fact that any ingestion of lead is very toxic. In fact, when in Science class at school, one of the stories you always hear about is that many people thought that tomatoes were poisonous for years until it was discovered that the acid in the tomato juice reacted with the lead or mercury of their plates and created a toxin that killed people, not the fruit itself. The same applies here except that the vinegar is in place of the tomato, as it is acid itself.

 "That's poisonous, get rid of it safely and spread the word!" Chi YunQi hurriedly used this genuine excuse to push Madame Chi out the door. Madame Chi was confused but her face was filled with horror once Chi YunQi vaguely explained the tomato story, saying she once heard the physician give an explanation for why people were getting sick from tomatoes decades ago. It was obviously complete bullshit but as she hurried to push Madame Chi out the door, it didn't matter much that it was a bold faced lie. She ran off quickly to put an end to 'Goulard's Powder'. 

Chi YunQi wiped her brow.