Chapter 17

After a delicious lunch, the two little girls started feeling sleepy. Yin Huaixi also felt a bit tired, so she decided to accompany the two girls back to their room for an afternoon nap.

Yin Huaishan and his wife also stopped working. No matter how poor the family is, they couldn’t work all the time; health is still important. The couple also went to their room to rest for a while.

When the sisters woke up, the adults were already up and busy again.

“Mother, you picked so many herbs this morning!” Jiang Wan squatted next to her mother in surprise, helping her sort out the herbs she recognized into piles.

“Is it really that easy to find herbs on the mountain?”

“Not exactly. Some herbs are hidden, and there are poisonous insects in some areas. But the mountain really has a lot of herbs. It looks like no one has picked them yet, and when I looked for them, I found whole clusters. I almost couldn’t keep up with the harvest. Luckily, your cousin went up the mountain with me and helped me pick a lot more. Let’s hurry and sort them out. I’ll pick out the good ones, and tomorrow, I’ll take a boat from Xiaoman’s family to the city to see what we can get.”

“Go to the city! I want to go too!”

Jiang Wan was extremely curious about the ancient towns and looked at her mother with longing.

“Ahem… Wanwan, to enter the city, each person has to pay two wen. Our family doesn’t have any income right now. I gave Xiaoman some mugwort when I treated them, and they gave us fish and eggs in return, so I couldn’t take any treatment fees. If we go to the city tomorrow, I’ll need to borrow two wen from Xiaoman’s mother first. If you want to go, Aning has to come along too, so that’s six wen. It wouldn’t be good to borrow too much.”

“Alright then…”

Jiang Wan understood and stopped insisting on going to the city. However, she hadn’t given up on the idea; she just decided to think of a way to earn four wen during the afternoon.

“Wanwan, Aning, sort out those small herbs with broken leaves and red-brown stems, and those little plants. These are for tomorrow’s sale.”

“Okay~”

There were quite a few herbs in the pile. The sisters picked them out one by one, also cleaning up the weeds that were attached to them.

Yin Huaixi looked at the full pile of herbs and smiled. She pinched a branch and saw white sap oozing from the broken end. She rubbed it on her hand, then crushed the leaves and smelled them, her eyes lighting up.

“Looks like this is a good herb. Mother, you look so happy.”

“It really is a good medicinal herb. This is ‘Xuejianchou.’ It stops bleeding and promotes blood circulation. It’s very effective for irregular menstruation.”

What made her happiest was that through these two herb-collecting trips, she realized that the quality of the herbs here was far superior to those in modern times.

“Huh? How can this herb stop bleeding and promote blood circulation?”

Yin Huaixi smiled and nodded, explaining to her niece.

“It sounds contradictory, but it’s true. Like Panax notoginseng, it also has both hemostatic and blood-activating functions. In small doses, it stops bleeding, and in larger doses, it promotes blood circulation. Some herbs, when combined with others, can have different effects. If you’re interested, I can explain it to you in detail.”

She had been hoping for her daughter to follow in her footsteps ever since she was born, but unfortunately, her daughter had no interest in becoming a doctor, which made her regretful. Since her daughter wasn’t interested, maybe her niece could be the one.

“No, no, no, I’ll just listen occasionally. I can’t really learn it seriously.”

Yin Ning shook her head repeatedly. Jiang Wan gave her a look, relieved that her cousin didn’t agree.

Years ago, her mother had tried to train her, and just thinking about the endless list of Chinese medicine names made her head hurt. Although she sometimes found traditional Chinese medicine interesting, there was so much to learn: memorizing herbs, formulas, and various pulse readings. She realized that her small interest couldn’t sustain her through all the effort required, so she decisively rejected her mother’s plans early on.

“Mother, aren’t we supposed to process the herbs before selling them for a good price?”

Yin Huaixi sighed when this topic came up.

“Processing the herbs requires many things. Commonly used items like honey, wine, vinegar, talcum powder, and alum—our family doesn’t have any of those. The only thing we have is clam shell powder, which is used to make donkey-hide gelatin, but we can’t afford that. A good woman can’t cook without rice.”

One step at a time, she thought. It didn’t matter if the herbs were sold cheaply, as long as the family had some income.

Yin Huaixi carefully sorted the herbs, occasionally explaining a little to her daughter and niece. When only a small pile of herbs was left, she sent the girls off to play.

Jiang Wan couldn’t think of a way to earn four wen in the village, so she decided to return the scissors to Aunt Cuifang and chat with her.

“Aunt Cuifang, are there any money-making opportunities in our village?”

Cuifang didn’t think twice before answering, “The money-making business here is selling seafood. Our family has been living off the sea for generations.”

“Not that, is there anything else?”

“Other than seafood, the villagers sometimes sell chickens and ducks, and eggs. They also sell bamboo crafts at the docks. It’s not much, but it’s hard work.”

Jiang Wan was puzzled.

“Don’t they sell pigs?”

“Pigs? We fishermen can’t afford to raise pigs. Girl, you probably don’t know this, but pigs are really timid. If you raise one from a young age, it takes at least eight or nine months to mature, and during that time, there could be several typhoons on the island. If we tried to raise pigs, they’d probably get scared to death. Pigs are just not the kind of livestock we can afford.”

Cuifang chuckled while stitching her clothes and asked with a smile, “Why are you asking all this? Are you looking for a way to make some money?”

Jiang Wan nodded, admitting without hesitation, “You know, Aunt, our family is new here, so we’re poor and struggling. Even going to the docks is tough. We have to hurry and figure something out.”

“Hey, you little girl, making money is something your elders should worry about.”

After laughing, Mao Cuifang became serious again.

“If you really want to make money, I do know of a place closer than the docks. The other day, when you gave me a bunch of mint leaves, I used them to brew tea, and it was really refreshing. I think you could try selling herbal tea. But you should prepare yourself—it’s probably not going to make you a lot of money.”

Jiang Wan didn’t pay much attention to the latter part; her focus was on the first part.

“A place closer than the docks? Where is it?”

“Just walk down the road at the entrance of our village, about two tea breaks away, and there’s a big road. You came here along that path. Our village may seem remote, but we’re actually close to the Holy Mother Temple. That big road sometimes gets a few pilgrims passing through, although most of them travel by carriage and might not stop. If you’re lucky, you could probably make a little bit of money.”

Jiang Wan thought for a moment, and suddenly, an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning.

“Thank you, Aunt Cuifang, you’re the kindest, most lovable aunt I’ve ever met!”

Mao Cuifang felt a warm, sweet feeling in her heart. This girl really knew how to flatter.

“Aunt, I’ve got an idea to make some money. Can I borrow your scissors for a few more hours?”

“Of course, take them.”

Jiang Wan gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, happily took the scissors, and returned home.

Mao Cuifang put her hand on her chest: **!!!**

No, she must have another daughter!