Jiang Lin walked ahead, while Yu Xiaolian skipped and jumped behind him. Soon, they arrived at the mountain bend by the woods.
Here, the sandy land was abundant, and the scorching sun baked the sand, making it hot. Yu Xiaolian's little cloth shoes stepped on the hot sand, warming the soles of her feet.
Jiang Lin pointed at the patch of red in the soil ditch and asked, "Look, is this the goji berries you wanted to pick?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Yu Xiaolian happily ran over.
Without hesitation, she jumped into the ditch and started picking the goji berries without saying a word. The berries were clustered and easy to pick, and with Jiang Lin helping her, they soon filled a whole basket.
Jiang Lin asked, "You're picking these to sell at the town's medicine hall?"
Yu Xiaolian nodded, "I just wanted to give it a try, not sure if it'll work."
Jiang Lin helped lift the basket of goji berries up.
He then climbed up and pulled Yu Xiaolian out of the ditch.
"The medicine hall seems to not accept fresh ones; they want them dried, and it doesn't seem to fetch much money either."
"Even a single coin is money. You don't know my family's situation; we owe so many families in the village, and we don't even have enough food for the winter. My mother works on embroidery every day, and her eyes are tired and red. I'm trying to help them out."
Yu Xiaolian patted the dirt off her body, "I'll take these back home first, then I'll come out again for you to take me to pick some gold and silver flowers."
Jiang Lin picked up the basket, "I have nothing to do anyway, I'll escort you back."
Yu Xiaolian was delighted to have it easy, thinking that when she comes out later, she needs to bring a large basket, as she wants to dry a lot of gold and silver flowers.
Yu Xiaolian and Jiang Lin walked side by side on the village road, naturally attracting many gazes. Some whispered, saying Jiang Lin was really bold.
Yu Xiaolian sneaked a glance at Jiang Lin, seeing his indifferent expression, she happily kept up with Jiang Lin's big strides.
Yu Xiaolian carried the basket full of goji berries back into the house, found a large winnowing basket, and poured the goji berries onto it. These fresh goji berries couldn't be sun-dried; they had to be air-dried in a cool spot. Yu Xiaolian felt the safest place was inside her home, she flattened the berries out and changed into a large basket to go out again.
She hadn't seen Yu Changhe when she returned just now; he probably went up the mountain to cut wicker again.
Yu Xiaolian came out carrying a basket about the same size as her, and was mercilessly teased by Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin even suggested Yu Xiaolian sit in the basket, claiming he could move faster carrying her.
Yu Xiaolian glared at Jiang Lin angrily, wasn't he just mocking her for being short?
Yu Xiaolian consoled herself internally, don't be angry, don't be angry, she's only ten years old, still a child, she would grow taller.
With Jiang Lin's help, Yu Xiaolian effortlessly picked a basket full of gold and silver flowers.
Yu Xiaolian felt Jiang Lin was all-knowing, at least when it came to familiarity with this mountain, Jiang Lin was thoroughly aware.
"Do you know where there's Chicken Blood Vine?"
"Chicken Blood Vine is hard to find; recently on the fifteenth of July, every family went up the mountain to gather Chicken Blood Vine to make river lanterns, probably not easy to find nearby anymore."
The fifteenth of July river lanterns was a tradition for the people of Great Liang to pray for blessings. Moreover, the people of Great Liang habitually used Chicken Blood Vine to color the finished lanterns.
Normally, Chicken Blood Vine was scarce in the mountains too.
Seems like the chance to sell Chicken Blood Vine won't work this time.
Jiang Lin said, "If you only need it sparingly, it's easy to find. When I gather some, I'll send it your way. But if you want to sell it, it seems quite unlikely."
On their way back, naturally Jiang Lin carried the basket back for Yu Xiaolian; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to carry such a large basket.
Gold and silver flowers also needed air drying and had to be placed in a ventilated spot and turned frequently to prevent rot.
After Yu Xiaolian finished everything, Yu Changhe happened to come back carrying a bundle of willow sticks; his legs were inconvenient, and he could only carry one bundle back each time. But even one bundle would weigh seventy to eighty pounds, not something easily moved by the average person.
Yu Changhe had been working as a Government Official for many years; his body was strong, and he had good strength, just that his leg was his only flaw.
Yu Changhe went to the water jar and drank a ladle of water, thinking that Yu Xiaolian, who was digging wild vegetables, should be back soon, he entered the house to take a look. This look revealed baskets everywhere, filled with unknown items.
Looking further upon the kang, Yu Xiaolian's outer garment was wrapped around six duck eggs and more than a dozen quail eggs. As he was wondering, Yu Xiaolian's voice sounded from behind, "Dad, you're back!"
Before Yu Changhe could ask, Yu Xiaolian cheerfully said, "Dad, look at these medicinal herbs I picked, and these wild duck eggs and quail eggs I collected on the mountain. Dad, aren't I impressive?"
"Medicinal herbs? How do you know medicinal herbs?"
Yu Xiaolian in her past life was a graduate of the Huaxi Medical Academy, recognizing these herbs was not surprising. Though they didn't treat live patients, they understood pharmacology, clinical procedures, investigation, and deduction. Forensic doctors were not only doctors but also policemen.
Moreover, those in the forensic profession needed strong psychological resilience; otherwise, they might vomit before inspecting corpses.
This was why Yu Xiaolian dared to explore the tomb of the Grass Ghost Widow alone; she was bold, and had been since childhood.
"Ah, I heard it from Jiang Lin, and he helped me gather the herbs too."
Upon hearing Jiang Lin's help, Yu Changhe's doubts were dispelled.
Yes, just leave everything to be blamed on Jiang Lin.
"Where did you find these wild duck eggs? How are they so clean?"
Found in the supermarket, of course clean.
"They were quite dirty when I found them; I washed them."
Next time when I "find" them, they need to have some dirt.
Yu Changhe asked again, "How did you get these bird eggs? You wouldn't have climbed a tree to raid a nest, would you?"
"Uh... Jiang Lin climbed the tree."
The all-purpose scapegoat, Jiang Lin.
Yu Changhe frowned, "Bird nests are built high, it's dangerous, don't have Jiang Lin climb them next time."
Yu Xiaolian nodded in agreement, seems like quail eggs can't be retrieved next time.
"So many bird eggs, you must have raided quite a few nests, right?"
Yu Xiaolian didn't expect Yu Changhe to be so nagging, she blurted out, "Just one, this bird mother must have been fruitful."
"Yes, indeed very fruitful, usually a nest only has five or six eggs."
Saying this, Yu Changhe began counting the quail eggs, smiling as he said, "Eighteen eggs, truly fruitful!"
Yu Xiaolian was left speechless; she hadn't considered so much then, she just grabbed three handfuls.
Moreover, when she went into the space to fetch eggs, she found that the bag of Golden Monkey Milk Candy she ate last night had restored to its original state, turning back into five bags.
Seems her supermarket space has an automatic restoration function past midnight.
This is fantastic!
She went to look at those goji berries and gold and silver flowers on the shelf, but they hadn't restored.
Looks like, because those items, though their packaging had been torn off, still existed in the space, if taken out, they'd likely regenerate the next day.
Automatic restoration just means having endless resources, doesn't it?
Yu Xiaolian was so happy she wanted to jump; from now on, she wouldn't worry about food and clothing, and could live a carefree life like a pampered pet. The thought made her laugh out loud.
After resting for a while, Yu Changhe went out again to make baskets.
Yu Xiaolian secretly opened the rice bag and put in two bowls of rice.
Just that modern polished white rice was too white, forming a stark contrast with the grayish rice ground by Sun's stone mill.
Just one look and it could be seen; Yu Xiaolian frustratedly patted her forehead.
Doesn't matter, couldn't pick them out one by one again; she stirred the white rice with her hand, trying to make it look as if it's unchanged from before.
Self-deceiving series, hoping Sun won't find out.