Thinking about it, in the countryside, as long as you're hardworking and don't slack off, you won't have any problem getting enough to eat. Besides, it's close to the mountains; there's nothing that can't be found there!

Today, while selling eggs at the county pharmaceutical factory, it suddenly occurred to me that the factory needs a lot of medicinal herbs, all of which are purchased from lower-level sources. These days, there's no large-scale artificial cultivation of medicinal herbs; they're mostly wild. So, I thought I could go into the mountains to dig up herbs in my spare time, process them, and then sell them in the county town. That would earn me much more than selling eggs.

Although it's summer now, there are still plenty of medicinal herbs in the mountains. Besides, there are many books on Traditional Chinese Medicine in the space, such as *Compendium of Materia Medica*, *Pharmacopoeia of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, *Processing of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, *Commodities of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, *Identification of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, *Preparations of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, *Formulary of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, *Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, *Cultivation of Traditional Chinese Medicine*, and *Fundamentals of Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory*.

She could try it slowly. Besides, she spent her days in the mountains gathering firewood and collecting wild produce; now she could also dig up medicinal herbs. Since she went into the mountains every day, she could always find some, no matter how little. It wasn't necessary to rely on this to get rich. Every little bit helped. She shared this idea with Chen Enpeng and the others; there was no need to hide it, since there was a pharmaceutical factory in the county town.

Seeing the two people in front of me, I asked, "Do you know what the pillar industry of Fusong County is?"

"I heard there's a large pharmaceutical factory in the county town, what's up?" Chen Junjie asked.

"Mianmian, do you mean..." Chen Enpeng realized what I meant after hearing my question and said...

What does "Peng Zi" mean?

"Jiezi, where do you think such a large pharmaceutical factory gets its medicinal herbs?"

"It was definitely an acquisition."

"Where did you collect them from?"

"It must be down below... You mean, the people from the nearby communes and brigades are all collecting medicinal herbs, but aren't they working every day?"

“They’re working, but look at the children around here. Aren’t they on the mountain every day? Do they have to gather firewood and dig for wild vegetables every day?”

"You're right! But I don't recognize these medicinal herbs!"

"That's true. And what about you, Mianmian?"

"I do recognize some herbs. My mother is a military doctor, and I used to play in the hospital when I was little. My mother also taught me some, but I don't know many. They're mostly things like dandelion, dried tangerine peel, yam, goji berries, plantain, perilla, indigo leaves, lotus leaves, green tangerine peel, mint, bupleurum, cyperus, angelica, and astragalus."

"Then let's not talk about it. Mianmian, can you teach us?"

"all right"

“But you don’t need to set aside time to teach us. There’s still a month until the busy farming season. We can finish work two hours early every day now. When we go up the mountain, just tell us what medicinal herbs we encounter,” Chen Enpeng said.

"That's fine. To be honest, not all medicinal herbs are the same. Each part has different medicinal value. If you plan to look for medicinal herbs in the future, you can bring more cloth bags. In any case, you can't put two kinds of medicinal herbs together. As for how to process them, we don't know that ourselves, but no matter what, we will definitely be able to clean them properly."

"Okay, we'll listen to you."

"No need. If it really doesn't work, you can go to the village doctor; he should know something."

"Okay, thank you, Mianmian."

"No need to thank me. I just recently went up the mountain and found these kids digging for wild vegetables or gathering firewood."

How did you know?

"Hey, my parents joined the revolution a long time ago. They came from the most difficult environment back then. Weren't we having a tough time a couple of years ago? My parents taught me which wild vegetables were edible and which were medicinal. So I recognize some basic herbs. Also, I took the day off to go to the county town today, and that's when I heard about a pharmaceutical factory. That's when I suddenly understood why all the kids in the village are digging for herbs. So, even if I didn't tell you, you should know soon enough."

"How is that possible? We've all been here for so long, and no one has said a word," Chen Junjie said.

"They will definitely know," Chen Enpeng said.

"Why, Pengzi?"

"We'll find out when the village distributes dividends during the New Year. Since there's a pharmaceutical factory in the county, it means there's a purchasing station in the commune below. And since the purchasing station only collects from individuals, the collective is based on the brigade. And the medicinal herbs in the brigade are dug up by the members, right? The adults don't have time; they have to take care of the fields. But these children—not every family has children who go to school—it's not an easy task that falls on their shoulders, is it?"

"So that's how it is."

"Then when we distribute bonuses during the Lunar New Year, the villagers will definitely have complaints."

"Why would we have any objections? Our objections might be about whether we've handed over the medicinal herbs, which means we're entitled to a share of the grain dividends. But how much are the grain dividends anyway? So, let's start digging for medicinal herbs now, and once we've collected a certain amount, we'll hand them over. Then, the more money we'll receive, the more money we'll get."

You mean it?

Sigh, I hadn't even thought of this! I was planning to secretly sell them at the city's purchasing station, but who would have thought it would turn out like this? It seems I was too naive; Chen Enpeng wasn't as insightful as me. Luckily, I told them, otherwise, if I carried the herbs to the city to sell, I might have been mistaken for a speculator.

Actually, it's my own fault. When I saw this, I should have asked Grandpa Wang or Grandpa Huang.

But neither Grandpa Wang nor Grandpa Huang said what they were thinking: Do you really need this little bit of money?

I don't really need that much money, but even a small amount has its benefits, and who would complain about having too much money? That's the truth.

But I was frustrated. Why was everyone so unmotivated to work when they all knew that medicinal herbs could be exchanged for work points? When I went to hand in the herbs, I realized that many herbs were worthless, and the valuable ones were either unrecognizable or impossible to find. Since that was the case, I wondered if I could try going to the county town. But just to be on the safe side, when I met Grandpa Wang on the mountain, I asked him, "Grandpa Wang, what do you think about me taking the herbs that the brigade doesn't accept to the county town's purchasing station?"

"You can give it a try."

"Then they don't see me as a speculator or profiteer?"

"It's not that bad. You went directly to the purchasing station, not the black market. Besides, do you think high-value medicinal herbs are so easy to find?"

"Too"

"If you're too scared to go to the purchasing station, you can give it to this old man, and I'll deliver it to you."

"you?"

Yes! You don't believe me?

"Aren't you the village doctor?"