[Ding… Medicinal material detected—Polygala tenuifolia (Yuanzhi).
Polygala tenuifolia has a slightly warm nature and a pungent, bitter taste. It acts on the heart, kidney, spleen, and lung meridians. Its effects include reducing swelling, expelling phlegm, sedation and hypnosis, and mood regulation.
Wet Yuanzhi is priced at 8.9 wen per kilogram. Dried Yuanzhi root bark is 190 wen per kilogram. Yuanzhi root sticks are 80 wen per kilogram. Host, please continue your efforts!]
Yue Jiuyue: …
What kind of system is this? Does it only react when she’s holding something in her hand? Why didn’t it say anything when she was being careless with her hands? She’d only pulled out a tiny bit of this Polygala root—what a waste! This was all money!
Yue Jiuyue, whose eyes were practically turning green with hunger, looked at the plant in her hand. Her eyes sparkled with a golden gleam.
She went home, grabbed a hoe and a worn-out basket, and happily headed back up the mountain.
Busy as a bee, she had no idea that the gossip about her in the village was about to burst through the heavens.
“Did you all know? That old woman Lin Yue has gone mad with hunger! My son saw it with his own eyes—she’s eating weeds from the mountain! Even pigs wouldn’t eat those weeds!”
“My old man saw it too! I never thought her life would come to this. If her husband were still alive… Sigh! She really is pitiful!”
“No kidding! Back in the day, her husband was the most sought-after man in our village! Who’d have thought he’d end up with her!”
“So what? Look at her life now—she’s hardly better off than a beggar!”
“Sigh!”
The pathetic old woman Lin Yue, who was the subject of all the aunts and grandmothers’ gossip in the village, was currently digging holes all over the mountain. Whatever plant was in front of her, she dug it up to test it.
And System 2023 kept giving her price quotes:
[Ding… Medicinal material detected—Pinellia (Banxia).
Pinellia is pungent, dispersing, warm, drying, and toxic. It primarily acts on the spleen and stomach, and also on the lung. Its effects include antitussive and expectorant properties, reversing vomiting, anti-ulcer, and enhancing liver function.
Wet Pinellia: 40 wen per kilogram. Dried Pinellia: 300 wen per kilogram. Host, please continue your efforts!]
[Ding… Medicinal material detected—Goosegrass (Niu Jincao).
Goosegrass has an extremely developed root system and tough stems and leaves. As a medicinal herb, it clears heat and detoxifies, dispels wind and dampness, removes blood stasis and stops bleeding, and promotes diuresis.
Wet Goosegrass: 6 wen per kilogram. Dried Goosegrass: 40 wen per kilogram. Host, please keep up the good work!]
[Ding… Medicinal material detected…]
[Ding… Host, please continue!]
Medicinal herbs were everywhere!
Little piles of money were everywhere!
Yue Jiuyue was absolutely over the moon with joy!
“Mother! Waaaaah!”
Just as Yue Jiuyue was happily sweating away—every herb she dug adding a little more to her imaginary savings, feeling both pained and delighted—
Her dear daughter-in-law came running up, and without a word, started wailing like it was a funeral.
Yue Jiuyue: …
If it weren’t for the fact that ancient times were terribly unkind to women, she’d be tempted to suggest that the eldest son and his wife get a divorce!
But divorce wasn’t an option—splitting the family assets, however, might work!
Either way, she didn’t want to have to face that face every single day. She was afraid she’d clench her fist and end up punching somewhere it shouldn’t go.
While Yue Jiuyue was mulling over the idea of splitting the household, her ears automatically tuned out Liu’s sobbing.
“Mother! No matter how hard life is at home, we children will never neglect you! When Xiao Man’s father gets back, I’ll make sure to tell him to dig up more wild vegetables. I’ll also cook more for the midday meal. I promise you’ll have enough to eat! Mother, let’s go home!”
Liu stood in front of Yue Jiuyue, crying and pleading as she spoke—and the more she talked, the more Yue Jiuyue’s anger rose.