“Mother, please eat at least a little!”
The three sons took turns urging Yue Jiuyue to have something.
Yue Jiuyue waved her hand and said:
“No need. Skipping one meal won’t starve me to death. Come on, let’s hurry back up the mountain to dig more medicinal herbs. The more we dig, the more copper coins we can exchange for grain.”
She spoke with great righteousness, but the truth was her stomach was still full. Looking at the two-thirds of the giant steamed bun still left in her space, she felt the three wen had been well spent.
“Mother, we don’t even know if these are really medicinal herbs. Do we really have to keep digging?”
Having eaten a lunch that made no difference—as if he hadn’t eaten at all—Lin Chaodong quietly protested his mother’s plan to keep digging up weeds.
Yue Jiuyue frowned. It seemed confirming whether these were really herbs would have to happen sooner rather than later.
“Then, Chaonan and Chaobei—one of you, take a basket to the clinic in town and ask the doctor?”
Yue Jiuyue actually wanted to go herself, to take a look around town and see what prices were like. But then she thought about going up the mountain and quietly exchanging herbs with System 2023 for more money, so she suppressed the idea.
There would be plenty of chances to go to town later. But the opportunity to make money was right in front of her. The fact that she was digging up herbs wouldn’t stay hidden for long. If she wanted to earn this money, she’d have to go up the mountain every day. And since she didn’t want to become a target, she’d already told the clan leader’s wife, Wang, about the herbs.
“Mother, I’ll go!”
“Mother, I’ll go!”
The two brothers spoke at the same time, far more enthusiastic than they’d ever been about going up the mountain to fetch water.
Lin Chaodong also felt a longing. It had been a long time since he’d been to town.
Like most eldest sons, Lin Chaodong was a bit quiet, not as outgoing as his three younger siblings—though he’d been quite mischievous as a child.
That was exactly why Yue Jiuyue had chosen between Lin Chaonan and Lin Chaobei. She was afraid that if Lin Chaodong went, he’d be too shy to speak up.
After a moment’s thought, Yue Jiuyue decided to send Lin Chaonan. After all, Lin Chaobei was only sixteen—still a minor in her eyes.
“Third son, go to the clinic in town and ask about the herbs. Eldest son, go fetch water. Fourth son, come with me up the mountain to dig herbs. Eldest daughter-in-law, stay home and watch the child.”
If Liu weren’t so prone to bursting into tears at the drop of a hat, Yue Jiuyue would have taken her up the mountain to dig too.
Losing one pair of hands meant losing two or three taels of silver!
This just showed how much Yue Jiuyue disliked Liu—she’d rather earn less money than have to look at her.
Lin Chaonan was so happy his mouth practically reached the back of his head. After picking out one sample of each type of herb they’d dug that day and putting them in his basket, he set off for town in high spirits.
While Lin Chaonan was picking through the herbs, Lin Chaodong had already shouldered his water buckets and headed for the mountains. Yue Jiuyue took the somewhat sullen Lin Chaobei up the mountain to dig herbs.
Yue Jiuyue couldn’t care less whether he was happy or not. Even if he was still a minor, he was sixteen—not a little kid anymore.
“Chaobei, you dig just these two kinds of herbs. Look closely—this slender-leafed fine grass (Polygala) —the root is what we want.
And this old-crow-eye (Pinellia) —also the root, that little round bulb.”
After instructing Lin Chaobei on what to dig, Yue Jiuyue squatted down and started “pretending to work.”
With both hands, she rustled through the grass, pulling it up—but the pile never seemed to grow. It really looked like she was slacking off.
Watching her balance climb from the fours to the fives, even with aching muscles and a sore back, Yue Jiuyue was as happy as a two-hundred-jin little fatty.