When Lin Yuzhen heard Su Luowan’s words, a surge of complex emotions welled up in her heart.
Over the years, she had single-handedly held the family together, enduring hardship after hardship.
Fortunately, her eldest son had grown into a capable young man, Wanwan (Su Luowan) had become increasingly sensible and thoughtful, and the youngest son was obedient and well-behaved. With such a life, what was there left to be dissatisfied with?
Lin Yuzhen wore a gentle smile as she looked at her daughter and advised:
“Alright. But Wanwan, you still need to be careful when using the space, understand?”
Su Luowan’s lips curved into a bright smile as she replied:
“I understand, Mom. Oh, and Mom, now that you’ve taught me how to germinate cotton, I bought some cotton seeds today and I want to give it a try!”
As Lin Yuzhen explained the method of planting cotton, Su Luowan took out everything she had bought that day. She also handed over the two thousand yuan from selling ginseng—keeping only a hundred for herself and giving the rest to Lin Yuzhen.
She didn’t have much attachment to money, perhaps because she grew up in the mountains. To her, as long as there was enough food and clothing, money was hardly necessary.
What surprised Su Luowan, however, was that when she had just taken things out of the space, she noticed that her merit points had risen to 200.
How could this be? She had only treated that child, which should have given her just 100 merit points.
Could it be because she had captured the robbery suspect? Thinking this through, Su Luowan felt a sudden clarity—she had been overthinking.
She had always assumed that only saving lives or healing people could earn merit points.
But she hadn’t expected that acts of justice, like capturing human traffickers, were also considered good deeds—and naturally could accumulate merit points!
Realizing this, Su Luowan felt a weight lift from her heart. Perhaps earning merit wasn’t as difficult as she had imagined.
Tomorrow marked the start of the busy farming season, but for now, there was still an afternoon of free time. Su Luowan decided to try her luck in the mountains.
Although their home was now well-off, in this era, they couldn’t afford to be too conspicuous or draw too much attention.
She didn’t care about the opinions of others, but her family had to consider them.
With this in mind, Su Luowan went to the corner where the firewood was stacked. She carefully picked out a suitable piece of bamboo.
Then, she retrieved a small knife from the kitchen and began to lightly shape it.
Su Luonian, who was tossing stones nearby, saw her sister’s actions and curiously approached:
“Sis, what are you doing?”
Without looking up, Su Luowan replied while working:
“I’m going to make a bow and arrow. This afternoon we’ll try our luck in the mountains!”
Su Luonian’s eyes lit up instantly:
“Sis, I want to go too!”
Su Luowan had planned to take him along anyway and smiled:
“Then what are you waiting for? Go prepare!”
“Alright! I’ll get the water and the carrying basket!”
Su Luonian responded and dashed off with remarkable speed.
Su Luowan shook her head with a smile and returned to her work.
When she was a child, even before mastering her mystical power, her two masters had already begun teaching her archery, training her accuracy and strength.
Thus, making a bow and arrow was second nature to her. Before long, a simple bow and a set of arrows were ready.
She then carved a few more arrows with the knife.
With her current level of mystical power, paired with this bow, she could handle small game without any problem.
After the siblings were ready, they headed up the mountain.
Halfway up, Su Luonian looked at the firewood along the path and asked:
“Sis, shouldn’t we collect some firewood first?”
Su Luowan thought for a moment:
“Let’s go deeper into the mountains first to see if there’s any game. We can pick up firewood on the way back.”
Su Luonian nodded and followed her sister with light, quick steps.
The deeper they went into the forest, the quieter it became, the only sound being the rustling of leaves under their feet.
Su Luowan slightly activated her mystical sense, carefully observing the surroundings.
Suddenly, she picked up the faint sound of flapping not far away.
She immediately signaled Su Luonian to stop, then cautiously nocked an arrow and crept toward the sound.
Pushing aside a bush, she saw a brightly colored pheasant pecking at the ground not far off.
As Su Luowan prepared to shoot, the pheasant sensed danger and tried to take flight.
Reacting quickly, Su Luowan channeled a bit of mystical energy; with a “whoosh,” the arrow cut through the air and struck the pheasant precisely.
Su Luonian cheered excitedly and ran over to pick up the still-flapping bird.
He laid a layer of leaves at the bottom of the carrying basket to prevent the blood from leaking and carefully placed the pheasant inside.
Seeing the bird, Su Luonian immediately imagined all the delicious ways to cook it.
Su Luowan watched her brother’s eager expression and couldn’t help smiling, reaching out to ruffle his hair:
“Don’t just think about food, let’s keep going deeper into the mountains and see if we can find anything else.”
Hunting in the mountains required luck. Catching this pheasant was already a stroke of great fortune.
This one bird would be enough for a hearty meal. As for catching anything else, that would depend on fate.
Sure enough, after catching the pheasant, their luck for the day seemed to be used up.
Su Luowan couldn’t find any more suitable opportunities to shoot. The smaller animals were too alert, and at the speed of the bow, they easily escaped.
She nostalgically thought of the days when a simple stone could have done the job, yet now she could only watch as the prey disappeared.
With a sigh, Su Luowan put away the bow and told Su Luonian:
“Let’s gather some firewood and head home.”
Seeing her sister’s disappointment, Su Luonian hurried to comfort her:
“Sis, we already have a chicken! That’s enough for a meal! And once I master that cultivation technique, I’ll work hard so you can eat meat every day!”
His eyes shone with determination, silently vowing to practice diligently to give his sister a better life.
Hearing this, Su Luowan felt warmth in her heart and smiled. She realized she had been a little greedy.
In this era, many people only got a proper meat meal during the New Year.
Catching one pheasant today was already extremely lucky. Since their strength wasn’t enough yet, they just had to keep working on it.
Su Luowan adjusted her mindset and patted Su Luonian’s shoulder:
“Alright, we’ll work hard together!”
They retraced their steps home, gathering plenty of firewood along the way. Suddenly, Su Luowan’s eyes were drawn to a cluster of plants.
Could it be… grapes?
She pushed through the bushes and reached a cluster of small purple berries, lightly touching the plump fruits.
Yes, they were grapes, just smaller than modern varieties—probably wild mountain grapes.
“Sis, grapes!”
Su Luonian also exclaimed with excitement. Today had been incredibly lucky—not only had they caught a pheasant, but they had also discovered these wild grapes.
His eyes wide with excitement, he circled the grapevine:
“Sis, these grapes look so sweet. Let’s pick more!”
Su Luowan laughed and nodded. The siblings quickly began picking all the grapes they could reach.
“Xiaonian, that’s enough. Let’s go.”
Su Luowan spoke while surveying the area, silently noting the location of the grapevine.
She planned to find a chance to transplant this vine into the space for cultivation.