“Name your condition,” Ning Yi replied cheerfully from outside the door.
He had only this one sister. He usually indulged her in everything, what condition couldn’t he agree to?
Ning Xin got dressed and stepped out of her room. As she walked with Ning Yi toward the kitchen, she said, “Brother, do you have any way to buy some high-priced grain?”
At this, Ning Yi immediately stopped in his tracks. “Are we running out of food?”
“No, no.”
Ning Xin quickly waved her hand. “I was just wondering if you could buy some beans, things like mung beans, red beans. I want to cook them into soup.”
Ning Yi relaxed.
“Actually—”
“I don’t want to ask Uncle,” Ning Xin cut him off decisively before he could finish. “If I were willing to ask them, I’d just tell Grandma directly. Why would I come to you?”
Ning Yi’s lips moved, but he didn’t say anything.
He knew his sister already had unresolved grievances with their uncle and his family. Otherwise, that would have been the simplest solution.
Which farming family didn’t have some grain stored up? It wasn’t like the early days when there wasn’t enough to eat.
But whatever his sister said went. And since she wanted it, Ning Yi could find a way to get it.
For today’s herbal tea, Ning Xin used only half of yesterday’s droplet of spiritual spring water.
With the spring water they had drunk the day before as a foundation, just a tiny bit was enough to continue nourishing their bodies.
Besides, health maintenance was a gradual process of accumulation. It wasn’t like treating an illness, there was no need for such immediate results.
Ning Yi filled his water bottle with the tea and left for work, completely satisfied.
The old woman went out with him to buy groceries from the vegetable shop.
All of Ning Xin’s injuries were on her face. Right now, her face looked like an overturned paint palette, bruised purple and blue, a complete mess.
So she had no choice but to stay home and recover slowly.
After eating and cleaning up the dishes, Ning Xin returned to her room.
She rummaged through the clothes chest and found a nearly new cotton printed blouse.
Taking advantage of her grandmother’s absence, so no one would call her a spendthrift, she decisively cut the blouse into several pieces, planning to make herself a sun-protective mask and a pair of sun-protective arm sleeves.
After all, this era had neither sunscreen nor the kind of veils she had in her previous life.
If her bruised face was exposed to ultraviolet rays for too long, even if the spiritual spring prevented scarring, what if she ended up with hyperpigmentation?
She had never tested whether the spiritual spring could treat sunspots, and she had no desire to experiment on herself.
Since she had made her own clothes in ancient times, Ning Xin was fairly skilled with a needle.
In less than an hour, she had already finished sewing the mask, leaving only the arm sleeves.
“It would be so nice to have a sewing machine,” she murmured, rubbing her sore neck.
“Xiao Xin? Are you up? Are you home?”
Just as she was sighing, a familiar voice called out from outside again.
Ning Xin set down her needle and thread and stepped out of her bedroom. “Auntie Wang, I’m here. Come on in.”
Hearing her reply, Wang Jinying walked around the screen wall.
She was carrying a military canteen just like the one Ning Yi had. Seeing Ning Xin’s eyes fall on it, an embarrassed look appeared on her face.
Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, Ning Xin naturally took the canteen from her hand before Wang Jinying could even speak.
Smiling, she said, “Auntie Wang, you came at just the right time. My brother said he wanted to bring some water to work this morning, so I just brewed a big pot. You’re bringing some for Uncle Liu, aren’t you? I’ll go fill it for you.”
“Ah, sorry to trouble you,” Wang Jinying said gratefully.
Knowing that Ning Xin was home alone, she felt much more at ease than yesterday and followed her into the kitchen.
Seeing the large enamel mug steeping on the kitchen counter, Wang Jinying finally felt a bit relieved.
“Xiao Xin, this tea is amazing! You have no idea, after drinking it yesterday, Yingying ate a whole bowl of porridge and a whole egg in the evening. And not only that, she fell asleep before eight o’clock and still hasn’t woken up. She didn’t fuss at all the entire night!”
Wang Jinying spoke with sheer amazement in her voice.
This was, of course, the effect of the spiritual spring water, something Ning Xin had expected.
She listened with a smile, then asked proactively, “Auntie Wang, how did you feel after drinking it? Pretty comfortable, right?”
“Yes, it really is comfortable. Even though it was so hot last night, I barely sweated at all. Your Uncle Liu is the one who hates the heat the most. Every year around this time, he can’t stand staying indoors and ends up sleeping on a straw mat on the stone slab outside.
But he’s getting on in years, and I’ve always worried about his health sleeping on the ground like that. But yesterday, he didn’t even mention sleeping outside. He slept just fine indoors and didn’t wake up once all night.”
The more Wang Jinying spoke, the brighter her eyes became. “So I thought I’d come and ask you for some more of this herbal tea for your uncle to bring to work. His welding job keeps him stuck in the workshop all day, it’s like a steam room in there. With this tea, I won’t have to worry about him getting heatstroke.”
“Then we definitely need to prepare some,” Ning Xin nodded in agreement.
As she spoke, she handed the filled canteen back to Wang Jinying.
This time, Wang Jinying didn’t take it immediately. Instead, she looked at Ning Xin and said, “Xiao Xin, I want to discuss something with you. What do you think?”
“What is it, Auntie? Go ahead.”
Wang Jinying hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke. “Xiao Xin, you’re not in great health right now, and you don’t go out much. Have you ever thought about brewing this herbal tea to sell?”
“Sell herbal tea?” Ning Xin was taken aback.
She had been thinking about doing some small business to supplement the household income, but she hadn’t actually considered selling this tea.
After all, it was just a cup of water. How much could she even charge for it?
Seeing her bewildered expression, Wang Jinying silently sighed, thinking that this girl had been raised too delicately by her father, never having experienced the hardships of life.
If you’re not the head of the household, you don’t understand the cost of firewood and rice!
Now that her father’s income was gone, even if she had sold the job for a few hundred yuan, how long would that last?
Ning Yi himself was only working odd jobs, barely earning any money.
And if he got married in the future, could he really support his sister forever?
So Wang Jinying patiently tried to persuade Ning Xin. “Xiao Xin, I thought about this for you last night. I think selling herbal tea is something you could do. First of all, you can sell it right from home, just set up a table, put out a couple of thermoses, set a price, pour a cup for whoever wants one, and collect the money. You’d only be selling to the neighbors, you wouldn’t even have to step outside. It wouldn’t take much effort.”
She looked at Ning Xin with a hint of concern. “Xiao Xin, listen to your aunt. No matter what you do, it’s the fruit of your own labor, there’s no shame in it. This is just because of your special circumstances; you can’t go out and find a job right now. When an opportunity comes along, you can just stop selling it.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Ning Xin said.
Ning Xin knew that Auntie Wang had misunderstood, so she quickly shook her head. “Auntie, it’s not that I’m worried about losing face. What I’m concerned about is whether anyone would actually buy this water. And if I do sell it, how much should I charge?”
She asked sincerely, seeking guidance.
It had been less than a week since she arrived in this era, and most of that time had been spent in the hospital. Ning Xin hadn’t had a chance to do any market research at all. She really didn’t know much about people’s needs or the prices of things in this age.
Hearing this, Wang Jinying relaxed, then immediately slapped her thigh in excitement.
“Why wouldn’t anyone buy it? Xiao Xin, you have no idea how precious the prescription your father got for you is! This herbal tea is so good, I’ve lived for decades and never seen anything like it. No one would buy it? You couldn’t buy it even if you had the money! Look, I’m eager to buy it myself!”
As she spoke, she pulled five yuan from her pocket and placed it next to the canteen.
She explained, “Your Uncle Liu specifically told me earlier that we can’t take this herbal tea for free. You’re young and might not think much of it, but we adults can’t take advantage of you like that.”
Seeing that Ning Xin was about to speak, Wang Jinying stopped her.
“Mint and jasmine flowers really aren’t worth much, but there are also the medicinal herbs your father bought, aren’t there? Didn’t he spend money on those? You said yourself they’re precious, so the price must have been high. Xiao Xin, if you don’t charge for it and just give it to anyone who asks, what will you do when it runs out? Won’t you have to spend money to buy more?”
Her words left Ning Xin speechless.
“I don’t know how much your father paid for those herbs. Anyway, the current market price for big-bowl tea is one cent for plain boiled water and three cents for regular tea. I was thinking, maybe you could sell yours for ten cents a cup? Do you think that would cover the cost?”
“Sell it for five cents a cup,” Ning Xin said after a moment’s thought.
“Auntie, to be honest with you, the tea you drank yesterday was specially brewed for my own family. My grandmother isn’t in good health, and I’ve been sick too, so I used a larger amount of herbs than normal. That’s why the effect was so strong.
But if I’m selling it as everyday herbal tea, I probably don’t need to use that much herbs. After all, I’m selling water, not medicine. If I sell it for five cents a bowl and use fewer herbs, the effect won’t be as immediate as yesterday’s, but it will still be beneficial. Do you think that would work?”
“Of course it would! Why wouldn’t it?” Wang Jinying nodded in agreement.
At the same time, she sighed inwardly, realizing how much she had benefited from the child’s generosity yesterday.
Growing even more enthusiastic, she said, “Xiao Xin, I’ll leave this five yuan with you for now. From now on, every day when I come to get water, you can deduct it from this money. When it runs out, I’ll give you more. If you have time, go ahead and brew some more right now. I’ll go spread the word for you!”
With that, she picked up her canteen and hurried away.
Staring at the five yuan on the table, Ning Xin felt momentarily dazed, as if she couldn’t quite believe that her business had just opened like this.
If she had gone to work as an apprentice, she would only earn twenty-two yuan a month. Just like that, she had already made a week’s wages!
Ning Xin’s spirits lifted immediately.
She first put a kettle of water on the stove to boil, then went to the flower bed to pick some jasmine and mint. As she worked, she thought to herself that she should find time in the afternoon to visit the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy next to the clinic to see if there were any herbs suitable for making herbal tea.
After all, if she was really going into business, she couldn’t sell just one type of tea.
Her mind held so many recipes, tea formulas and soups suitable for infants, adults, the elderly, and even pregnant women. Surely she could find a few suitable ones to sell alongside it.
Oh, and she would also need to buy some cups and bowls. She didn’t have enough thermoses at home either. It would be even better if she could get a large insulated barrel…
Her hands kept moving, and her mind raced even faster.
Ning Xin had originally thought that Wang Jinying’s “spreading the word” would just mean mentioning it to a few neighbors, and that people would still want to observe and wait a bit before buying.
She had even already come up with marketing strategies, even wondering if she should offer free samples or something.
But before she could even finish boiling the first kettle of water, people began streaming in one after another.
Everyone who walked in said the same thing: “Xiao Xin, give me a bowl of that herbal tea your father taught you to make.”