Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

The first thing Ye Chen did after the start of spring was to send seeds to Ayiguli.

Ye Chen selected the best astragalus and licorice seeds from the Baizhi Valley's warehouse, sifted them one by one, and then divided them into small packets with fine linen cloth, labeling each packet with its name and planting instructions.

Jiang Ruoxi watched him busy himself and muttered to herself, "Why are you sending seeds like you're sending something valuable?"

Ye Chen didn't even look up: "Wife, these are valuable items to begin with. It was lucky that the batch of angelica we gave you last year survived. This year, we need to get the right varieties and not let her experiment blindly again."

Jiang Ruoxi didn't say anything more, turned around and went to the kitchen to get two sealed bags, one for seeds and the other for her company's new portable herbal tea bags.

She also attached a note to each bag, one saying "seeds" and the other saying "soak in water and drink, don't be reluctant to part with them".

Su Qinghan also stuffed things into the package.

A packet of dried parsnip leaves, a small bottle of mosquito repellent oil, and a letter.

The letter was very short, just two lines: "To grow medicinal herbs, first nourish the soil; if the soil is well-nourished, the seedlings will speak for themselves."

Ye Chen read it and felt that these words were like Su Qinghan's temperament, both tough and soft.

Ye Chen folded the letter and put it inside, then slipped a small note he had written into the seed bag, which read: "The apricot trees should bear more fruit this year, right? If there are any left over in the fall, send two pounds over; someone here wants some."

On the day the package was sent, Ye Chen stood at the post office entrance, watching the staff seal the box and affix the label.

Ye Chen suddenly remembered that a year ago, he was standing here, sending Ayiguli her first box of seeds and medicine.

She was still here then, wiping her knife in the yard every morning.

A year later, she had cultivated her own medicinal herb field on that unfamiliar land and even named the land.

Ye Chen believed that if a person could cultivate a piece of land and make it thrive in their lifetime, no matter where that land was, then their life had not been in vain.

At the end of March, the new fields on the south slope of Baizhi Valley officially opened.

Seventh Uncle led the workers to till the land for half a month, clearing away the weeds and pebbles.

Su Qinghan went down into the field herself, grabbed a handful of soil, rubbed it in her hand, and said, "This land is even more fertile than the north slope; it's suitable for growing angelica."

Seventh Uncle was so happy that he rubbed his hands together and said loudly to Ye Chen, "Little Chen, then we can harvest another crop this autumn, and we'll make a lot of money."

Ye Chen listened from the side, already considering whether to open the West Slope again next year.

He found himself becoming more and more like Su Qinghan, wanting to plant things whenever he saw wasteland.

Jiang Ruoxi said he was a herb farmer in his past life, and Ye Chen said, "He is in this life too. Being a security guard is a side job; accompanying President Jiang until old age is the real main job."

Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi both went to plant the seeds on the south slope that day.

The workers were busy sowing seeds, covering them with soil, and watering them in the field.

Shen Jingqiu sent a batch of newly made medicinal fertilizer from the south of the city. It was fermented from the weeds in the small medicinal garden in the backyard of Anhetang.

She said this fertilizer is mild and won't burn the roots. Ye Chen had someone mix it into the soil on the south slope. Su Qinghan looked at it and nodded, a rare occurrence, saying, "The Shen family girl is very thoughtful."

Seventh Uncle muttered from the side, "What about the ones I fermented?"

Su Qinghan glanced at him: "Yours is too intense, suitable for the north slope, not the new land."

Seventh Uncle fell silent and no one spoke from the side anymore.

In early April, Ye Chen received a reply from Ayiguli.

This time she sent a small bag of dried apricots and a photograph.

In the photo, the medicinal herb field has turned green, with astragalus and licorice seedlings neatly arranged in the ground, and the apricot tree in the distance is covered in blossoms, white with a hint of pink.

Aygul stood by the field, still wearing the same long robe, her hair braided, holding a small hoe in her hand.

She didn't smile, but there was something in her eyes that Ye Chen recognized very well.

That was the look in Su Qinghan's eyes when he first saw her looking at the medicinal herb field.

Focused, quiet, as if he had buried his whole heart in the earth.

The letter contained just a few lines: "I received the seeds and planted them all. My cousin said they'll fetch a good price this year. The dried apricots were sun-dried last autumn and have been stored until now. The weather here is getting warmer, so the seedlings are growing quickly. How about over there?"

Ye Chen took out the dried apricots and gave half to Jiang Ruoxi and half to Su Qinghan.

Su Qinghan chewed one and said excitedly, "This is really sweet, but it's a bit hard; it's been dried out too much."

Ye Chen said, "It's windy over there, so anything you put in the sun dries quickly."

Su Qinghan didn't say anything more and took another one.

That evening, Ye Chen sat in the yard, put the bag of dried apricots into a clean glass jar, and placed it on the shelf in the living room.

Next to it were the herbal tea sent by Shen Jingqiu, the dried flowers that Su Qinghan had sun-dried, and a few seashells that Jiang Ruoxi had brought back from her business trip.

These things aren't valuable, but when displayed together, it's like having all the events of the year gathered on a shelf.

Looking at the jar, Ye Chen felt that it contained not dried apricots, but a hand that Ayiguli had reached out from that distant land.

She didn't come back, but the things she planted, the things she dried, and the things she wrote all gradually returned.

Like a thin thread, it stretches from Jiangcheng to Central Asia, and then back again.

As long as the thread remains unbroken, the people will not drift apart.

The next day, Ye Chen passed by the river on his way to Baizhi Valley.

The river breeze was warm, and it felt like someone was gently wiping my face with a warm towel.

He suddenly stopped the car on the side of the road, got out and walked to the river embankment.

The river water shimmered in the sunlight as it flowed eastward at a leisurely pace.

Ye Chen stood there for a while, then took out his phone from his pocket and took a picture of the river.

He planned to send it to Ayiguli later, with the caption: "Spring has come here, the ice and snow have melted, and flowers and plants have sprouted. What about where you are?"

Ye Chen got back into the car, started the engine, and continued driving towards Baizhi Valley.

The fields outside the window are turning green in patches, and people have already started turning the soil in some of them.

Ye Chen thought that in a few more months, the new fields on the south slope should also be harvested.

Su Qinghan will stand on the edge of the field to watch, and Seventh Uncle will sing folk songs beside her.

Jiang Ruoxi would sort medicinal herbs at the warehouse entrance, and Shen Jingqiu would come from Nancheng to help.

The ghost servant would sit on a rock at the valley entrance, looking at the lush green herbs covering the mountain, without saying a word.

He would walk back and forth in the field, touching the astragalus plant and smelling the angelica.

He looked like a real herb farmer, with his physique, his manner, and even the way he worked.

As the car turned into the side road of Baizhi Valley, he saw that his seventh uncle was already standing at the intersection waiting for him.

The old man held a handful of freshly pulled weeds in his hand and waved them at him.

Ye Chen honked the horn in response.

Ye Chen thought that this kind of life was really good, and he also looked forward to living such a life one day.

There is land to cultivate, medicine to harvest, letters to send, a road to return home, and family by one's side.

No matter how far he went, there was always a medicinal herb field waiting for him.