“What’s going on here? Didn’t the village head say we don’t need to dig for herbs anymore?”
Yue Jiuyue tilted her chin, gesturing at all the people around.
“Mother, have you forgotten? Last night, as soon as Third Brother got home, he dragged me and Fourth Brother to the clan leader’s house and told him that he’d learned how to process Polygala root.”
And not only had Third Brother learned it—even he, who had only heard it once, had picked it up. It was just a matter of pulling the core out of the Polygala root, cleaning it, and laying it out to dry.
Yue Jiuyue: …
Alright then. She woke up and suddenly realized that picking up money had become a lot less easy.
After all, it was Lin Chaonan’s own skill to share as he wished. But thinking back to those baskets of herbs they had dumped into the ditch yesterday—if it weren’t for the fact that she was afraid making them disappear overnight would be too suspicious, and hadn’t dared take too many, she wouldn’t be standing here regretting it now.
—Once upon a time, there was silver lying at my feet for the taking, but I didn’t treasure it. Only after losing it did I regret it beyond measure. There is no greater pain in this world. If heaven could give me one more chance, I would say three words to those herbs thrown into the ditch: “I’ll take them all!”
Sigh. So much regret.
Still, yesterday she had managed to gain over twenty taels of silver without much effort. Her little treasury had now broken past thirty taels. She was probably at the top of the rich list in Lijiagou by now. She really ought to be content with what she had.
Easier said than done.
Because she wasn’t content.
Back in her previous life, without any special advantages, she had managed just fine.
Suddenly, she had gone from being a young woman in her twenties to a thirty-something big sister. She had resented the injustice of the time-travel gods. But she didn’t have the courage to end it all, and she was even afraid of being exposed and having to go through some kind of fiery rebirth. So she had been extremely cautious at first.
She had hoped that after traveling through time, like the female protagonists in novels, she would receive the essential golden finger. And when it finally arrived, at first she only wanted a steamed bun to eat. Then it turned into what it was now—not satisfied with a few dozen wen, not satisfied with a few taels, and now, with over thirty taels, she still wasn’t satisfied…
Yue Jiuyue suppressed her restless heart. She decided to take it one step at a time and go slowly. After all, taking too big a step too quickly could easily rip your pants.
Even though she was a woman.
(︶.︶)
The weather was dry. The weeds on the mountain, and the herbs too, were all thin and withered, looking malnourished.
Yue Jiuyue dug here and there with her hoe, seemingly at random. Lin Chaodong and Liu Shi thought she was upset because everyone else had come out to dig for herbs too. Honestly, they weren’t too happy about it either—if their family had kept this to themselves, they might have struck it rich.
Yue Jiuyue had no idea what they were thinking. She kept swinging her hoe wildly, and before she knew it, she had wandered to the other side of the mountain.
Near a gully on the far side, she still seemed to be digging randomly. After a few strikes, something suddenly came into view that made her gasp:
“Chaodong! Come here quickly!”
Lin Chaodong thought something had happened to his mother. He immediately grabbed his hoe and ran to the other side of the mountain. Liu Shi, worried about their daughter, ran a bit slower while holding Xiao Man.
“Mother! Mother! What’s wrong? What happened?”
Lin Chaodong ran and shouted anxiously, his voice startling even the people digging for herbs on several nearby hills.