Reborn as a heiress, she transforms into a ruthless vengeful woman.

Chapter 170 Two Cursed Trees

Before Ye Xinghe could speak, Xiaoxue, who was usually very quiet and introverted, suddenly stepped forward and said, "Brother Xingchen, I can help."

"I'm willing to do anything, just tell me what to do."

Ye Xingchen was slightly taken aback. He didn't recognize the girl speaking in front of him at all. He glanced at Ye Xinghe.

Ye Xinghe introduced the three of them, then said dejectedly, "Then I'll go set up the string lights. Popping balloons is too scary; I'm afraid they'll suddenly explode."

"Then I'll help Sister Xinghe set up the string lights too," Guanguan quickly chose Ye Xinghe's side. Da Ke then went with Xiaoxue to pop up balloons.

Following the light trail, Ye Xinghe looked at the design drawings and couldn't help but complain in her heart, "This design must be from ten years ago. What kind of lousy company did they hire? They don't even know how to update their technology."

"Guan Guan, wait for me here. I'll go see where we hang the string lights."

Ye Xinghe observed her surroundings; there were quite a few flowers, plants, and trees in the yard. Hanging string lights up there would look beautiful at night.

She carefully looked at every plant and tree in the yard, and a design instantly formed in her mind.

Suddenly, a patch of grass caught her attention. It was a color distinctly different from the rest. While the surrounding area was lush green, this patch had a yellowish tinge with a hint of brown. It was almost imperceptible unless you looked closely.

However, Ye Xinghe has an extremely keen eye for color. She can accurately identify which colors were mixed together and in what proportions for any given color.

She walked over, squatted down to take a look, and then gently lifted the turf with her hand. The entire piece of turf actually came off the ground!

It's obvious that someone just put it there; the grass roots haven't even taken root in the soil yet.

Ye Xinghe restored the lawn to its original state and continued strolling around the yard.

As a result, she discovered another anomaly.

Suddenly, a sapling appeared in the corner of the front yard, about shoulder height for Ye Xinghe.

Ye Xinghe took a picture and used a mobile image recognition app. The result was: mulberry tree.

This result startled her; how could someone plant mulberry trees in their own yard!

Ye Xinghe hurriedly ran to the backyard, and as she expected, there was a new sapling diagonally opposite the mulberry tree in the front yard.

Ye Xinghe also used image recognition to search and found that it was a locust tree.

She remembered visiting her maternal grandfather's house when she was little. Once, when the two of them went to play in the back mountain, she heard her grandfather say a saying: "Don't plant mulberry trees in front of the house, and don't plant locust trees behind the house."

The saying "Don't plant mulberry trees in front of your house" comes from the fact that the word for mulberry tree (桑树) sounds like the word for "mourning" (丧). Planting mulberry trees in front of a house is considered unlucky, as it implies that there will be a funeral or misfortune at the door.

The saying "Don't plant locust trees behind your house" stems from the fact that the Chinese character for "locust" (槐) can be broken down into "wood" (木) and "ghost" (鬼). Therefore, the locust tree becomes a "ghost" of wood. Planting locust trees around your house is like planting a wooden "ghost," which will bring unclean things into your home, and it's absolutely forbidden to plant them.

Ye Xinghe was very puzzled. Her grandfather usually took care of the plants in the house; didn't he know about this saying?

Ye Xinghe was restless. She hurriedly went to find Qiao Lin and asked her to help Guan Guan set up the string lights. She needed to ask her grandfather for clarification.

At this moment, Grandpa Ye had just returned from the senior citizens' association and was having tea and chatting with his parents in the living room.

Ye Xinghe walked over and sat down next to her grandfather, saying mysteriously, "Grandpa, I want to talk to you about something alone. It's a secret, and only you can know it."

Grandpa Ye turned to look at her, very interested in this secret. "Alright, let's go to Grandpa's study."

After entering the study, Ye Xinghe first recounted the recent events involving the gold mine. However, she didn't go into too much detail, as the violent methods she used were something her grandfather absolutely couldn't know about.

"Grandpa, the permits for the gold mine have all been processed. Should I tell my parents about this? Or should I keep it to myself? I just want to hear your opinion."

Grandpa Ye smiled kindly. "Grandpa's suggestion is that you can talk to your parents, but you should keep the gold mine for yourself."

“Your parents are reasonable people and wouldn’t covet your things. But don’t tell anyone else about this. Don’t make a big deal out of it, lest bad people take notice.”

Ye Xinghe nodded obediently, "Okay, then I'll listen to Grandpa."

Grandpa Ye then inquired about Ye Xinghe's recent work situation. After a few casual words, Ye Xinghe got straight to the point.

"Grandpa, I just saw in the yard that you planted some new trees. When did you plant them?"

Grandpa Ye's eyes sharpened, and he looked surprised. "You discovered that?"

"It's from when your second uncle came back from his business trip. One day, he went to a flower nursery in the countryside with his friend, and he bought it. Isn't it beautiful?"

"I just discovered them by chance while setting up the string lights. The saplings are still so small, not even as tall as me yet, so I can't really tell if they look good or not." Ye Xinghe asked casually, "Grandpa, what kind of trees are those?"

Grandpa Ye patiently explained, "The tree in the front yard is a mulberry tree. Your second uncle said that this sapling will bear mulberries next May. You've eaten mulberries before, right? When you were little, your mouth would turn black after eating them, which scared you so much that you cried. No matter how we comforted you, we couldn't soothe you."

"That tree in the backyard is a mimosa tree. Its flowers are especially beautiful, like pink feathers. You've never seen them before, have you?"

Ye Xinghe chuckled dismissively, thinking to herself, "You've been growing flowers and trees for so many years, yet you still don't understand any trees, and you're lecturing me like this."

"Grandpa, is the mulberry tree the one whose leaves can be used to feed silkworms?"

Grandpa Ye waved his hand, "What you're talking about is a mulberry tree."

“Mulberry trees are divided into female and male trees. The female tree is the one that Grandpa planted in the front yard, which is used to bear mulberries. The ones you eat every summer, as well as the juice, all come from the female tree.”

"The male plants are mainly used for silkworm rearing or medicinal purposes. But you can't keep them at home. They're considered unlucky."

Ye Xinghe pretended to be naive and continued to probe, "Huh? What kind of trees are considered unlucky? What kind of trees can't be planted at home?"

"And there are locust trees, willow trees, cypress trees..." Grandpa Ye started talking non-stop, telling Ye Xinghe many folk tales. Ye Xinghe listened attentively and cooperated fully.

She thought to herself, "So Grandpa knew all this. It seems that Uncle deliberately deceived Grandpa by giving him these two trees."

Now we need to find a way to get rid of these two trees.

It seems I'll be quite busy tonight staying at the Ye family's old house.