"Brother Nuo? What's wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?"
Sister La walked over and asked with concern.
Chen Nuo schooled his expression and shook his head slightly. "No, I was just spacing out. Did something good happen? You two look so happy."
"Oh, were Mother and I that obvious?"
Sister La's expression changed.
"Not really. I was just paying close attention."
"Phew, that's good then."
"Son, here, eat this." His mother pulled a plant with few leaves, a straight, purplish stem, from beneath the wild vegetables in her basket.
"Danggui? Mother, where did you find this? You went up the mountain?!"
Of course Chen Nuo recognized it. It was a tonic herb known to nourish the blood, improve Qi Flow, clear the meridians, and regulate menstruation.
But that herb was long gone from the nearby areas; you had to go up the mountain to find it. The mountain forests were no place for inexperienced women, though. One wrong step could cost them their lives!
"Now, now, son, it's alright. La Zi and I were lucky. We found it while foraging for wild greens. We didn't go into the mountains, just stuck to the outer edges," his mother reassured him.
Chen Nuo finally breathed a sigh of relief, but a feeling of humiliation welled up in his heart. A man, being supported by his mother at a time like this, was truly...
Although Chen Nuo desperately wanted to do something, it was clear he was powerless right now.
"Son, you prepare the medicine. La Zi and I will get dinner started."
"Okay. Oh, right, Mother, there's a bird's egg and some fruit pulp in the room. I saved them for you."
?
His mother's and Sister La's expressions were not as happy as Chen Nuo had expected. In fact, they looked quite displeased.
Sister La rushed back into the room and then rushed out again. "Mother, it's true!"
"Son! Where did this come from? Didn't I tell you to get some proper rest?"
"You're the only man left in our family. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to go on..."
Seeing his mother on the verge of tears and Sister La glaring at him fiercely, Chen Nuo hurriedly explained what had happened.
"See? I knew it! My son is no ordinary person! He's been studying and learning to read with his father since he was little, he's Chen Manor's only Physician, and now even his granduncle thinks highly of him and wants to make him Clan Leader."
His mother was instantly beaming. They had been down on their luck lately, but her son was awake, she had found medicine, and now her son was held in high regard by his granduncle. It seemed like their fortune was finally turning!
Beside her, Sister La was just as happy.
Although he was younger than her, Chen Nuo was her man. Of course she was happy that her man was so capable.
"Alright, Mother, nothing's set in stone yet and you've already made me the Clan Leader. Besides, that's just what Granduncle said. We don't know if the elders from the other branches will agree. There will probably be complications."
"Hmph! What can those old coots do? In our Chen Manor, Granduncle has the final say. When he speaks, no one dares to disobey."
"Son, let me tell you, you don't have to worry about this. Our Chen Manor may be a Clan, but there aren't many of us, and we're short on new talent. There are hardly any of the old guard left. Those so-called elders from the other branches are all from your father's generation; they don't hold much sway. They don't have any prestige, either. Back in the day, they just did whatever the Clan Leader told them, never daring to disagree. But they still did a poor job and couldn't even win a fight against Hu Manor, which is how the last Clan Leader died. A bunch of failures. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have this gap in leadership, and Granduncle wouldn't be forced to pick someone from your generation."
Chen Nuo stared in surprise as his mother spoke with such confidence.
'This was hardly the kind of insight you'd expect from a village woman.'
'But, based on what Mother said, was my father's generation really that useless?'
'That would certainly make it much easier to take charge.'
"That's right, Mother is right. How could any of them compare to Brother Nuo? If anyone dares to object, I'll give them a piece of my mind they won't forget," Sister La chimed in to show her support.
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about it. I'm hungry."
"Okay, okay, Mother will make you something to eat."
Sure enough, his mother's attention was immediately diverted, and she walked over to the stove.
Sister La glanced at Chen Nuo, then went over to help.
...
「That evening.」
Each person had a bowl of congee with wild vegetables and bird's egg. On the table were three steamed buns and a dish of wild greens drizzled with vinegar.
"Come on, eat up. You need to eat well to get better fast."
His mother watched Chen Nuo with a loving gaze, continuously placing more food into his bowl and occasionally adding some to Sister La's bowl, too.
"Mother, you eat too."
"Oh, I'm not hungry."
She pushed the steamed bun back to him.
Chen Nuo fell silent, but he still only ate one steamed bun in the end; he didn't touch the one from his mother.
「The dead of night.」
Chen Nuo lay on the kang bed, tossing and turning.
'For the next couple of days, I'll focus on getting better. Then I'll go find Yongzi. With him to protect me, I should be able to gather some herbs to sell for money.'
'As for grain, that will require a more long-term plan.'
'In any case, I don't want to be a good-for-nothing supported by two women. If I don't find a way to supplement the family's income soon, the pressure is just going to keep growing.'
'Sigh... to think that I, a transmigrator, would have to worry about where my next meal is coming from.'
His mind a jumble of thoughts, Chen Nuo finally fell into a deep sleep.
...
While Chen Nuo slept, the night was late, the dew heavy.
On the glossy black wood, one after another, fingertip-sized white dots appeared. The entire log looked as if it were molding.
The white dots continued to expand and grow.
...
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!!
The rooster's crow announced the dawn.
"My god!"
A scream startled Chen Nuo awake.
Chen Nuo hurriedly threw on his clothes and ran into the courtyard, only to see his mother and Sister La gathered around the black log. Their eyes were shining, but they were afraid to get any closer.
Chen Nuo walked closer for a look.
Whoa!
The black log, as tall as a man, was completely covered in mushrooms!
"Brother Nuo, you're a Physician. Take a look and see what kind of mushroom this is. How did they just sprout overnight?"
Sister La pulled Chen Nuo over and asked.
'White, unremarkable, slightly oval. Small stem, large cap. What kind of mushroom is this?'
His mother and Sister La had never seen this kind of mushroom before.
'Wait.'
'Aren't these the oyster mushrooms from my past life?'
'There are some differences, but not major ones!'
"Mother, these should be called oyster mushrooms. They're a type of mushroom. I sprinkled a Seed on the log yesterday to see if anything would grow. I never expected them to sprout overnight," Chen Nuo lied.
Fortunately, his mother and Sister La trusted him implicitly. Besides, they didn't know much about how mushrooms grew, so they believed his ridiculous story about a Seed sprouting overnight.
Then they asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Can we eat them?"
His mother and Sister La both looked at him.
"..."
"You two wait a moment. Let me check first."
'Even though they look a lot like oyster mushrooms, and even though they were created by my own Divine Techniques, this is still a different world. It's hard to say if they'll have any side effects.'
Chen Nuo picked a few and returned to his room.
In the courtyard, his mother and Sister La were still huddled around the log, watching eagerly and discussing the big question of whether the mushrooms were edible.
Inside, Chen Nuo first tried using his Communication with the Spirit ability. There was nothing unusual.
Then he started testing them using methods described in his medical texts.
After messing with them for a while, he nodded in satisfaction at the white juice he'd squeezed out, a hint of pleasant surprise on his face.