It was indeed mineral pigment!
Looking at the mineral powder dissolved in the water, Qin Xiaoruo was ecstatic.
She wasn’t sure if pigments were a rarity in this dynasty, but she could affirm that the mineral pigment would definitely sell, only the price she could fetch for it was in question.
Qin Xiaoruo sat by the river, resting her chin in her hand, lost in thought.
She needed money now, but people prioritized food above all, so the most pressing issue was to find a plausible reason to take some fish and bamboo shoots out of her space to give the Fu family a taste of something fresh and nutritious.
That’s right!
Qin Xiaoruo slapped her forehead.
Wasn’t there a bamboo forest a few miles behind Zhenxi Village, not too far from Houling Village?
The original host had only been there once.
Couldn’t she just make an excuse by visiting that bamboo forest while Fu Hanwen was not at home?
Conveniently, the next day before dawn, Qin Xiaoruo heard the door of Fu Hanwen’s room open.
Hearing that Fu Hanwen seemed to have left the courtyard, Qin Xiaoruo also opened her door and went out to see Lady Guan about to close the courtyard door.
She asked, “Aunt, where is Brother Fu going so early?”
“Laosan is having a day off tomorrow, and the boss has gone to the village head’s house to borrow a cart to pick up Laosan,” Lady Guan said with a smile.
“It’s still early, you should go back to sleep for a bit.”
Fu Laosan was studying in the city, and it would take a whole day’s journey back and forth.
Qin Xiaoruo guessed that the two brothers wouldn’t be back until the evening at the earliest.
Back in her room, Qin Xiaoruo was so pleased that she rolled around on the bed, waiting until daybreak and after drying the herbs she had gathered from the mountain, she took her basket and left the house, telling Lady Guan she wouldn’t be back for lunch because she had things to do.
Lady Guan seemed to want to ask something but then thought better of it, considering the girl hadn’t officially joined the family yet, it wasn’t her place to ask too many questions.
So she swallowed the words that had reached the tip of her tongue.
Qin Xiaoruo, relying on her memory, arrived at the bamboo forest behind Zhenxi Village.
This bamboo forest was much smaller than the one in her space, and there was only one type of bamboo here—the hemp bamboo.
Whether it was due to the soil not being rich enough or the season not being right, Qin Xiaoruo didn’t find a single bamboo shoot in this forest.
In the end, she took out three bamboo shoots from her space and placed them in her basket.
Since it wasn’t easy to come out here, bringing back just one bamboo shoot wouldn’t be worth it, but bringing too many at once might arouse suspicion.
After some thought, Qin Xiaoruo decided to start with three bamboo shoots.
With no rivers in sight on her way, Qin Xiaoruo found no excuse to take a couple of fish out of her space and had to give up on that idea.
Seeing it was still early, Qin Xiaoruo found a secluded and uninhabited place to enter her space.
She chose a spot and planted a few rare medicinal herbs she had found in the mountains, hoping they would grow.
Although these herbs weren’t absent from the mountains, they were highly seasonal and only grew in sporadic clusters, unlike other herbs that grew in patches.
The price offered by the pharmacies was quite high, so if she could cultivate these herbs successfully, she might be able to earn a decent amount of money from selling them in the future.
By the time Qin Xiaoruo finished tending to her space and returned to Houling, it was already evening.
As she entered the courtyard, she bumped into Fu Jingwen, who was frantic with worry.
“Ouch~~” Fu Jingwen clutched her forehead, which had been hurt from the collision, and whimpered.
When she looked up and saw it was Qin Xiaoruo, her irritation burst forth, “Qin Xiaoruo, are you a three-year-old?
Every time you leave the house, someone has to look for you.
Do you think everyone has as much free time as you?
If you don’t want to stay at our house, just say so—we won’t keep you!”
“Jingwen!” Lady Guan’s voice of reprimand came from inside the courtyard, and she hurried out soon after, offering an apology, “Xiao Ruo, Jingwen is thoughtless, please don’t take her words to heart.
Come inside quickly.”