Chapter 13 Herb Gathering
The two did not go very far.
In fact, Liu Zhixia wasn't very familiar with this area either.
I'm not very familiar with medicinal herbs either.
In her previous life, she had the opportunity to see people collecting medicinal herbs coming to their village. Fritillaria was the most expensive among them, and she was fortunate enough to have seen what the plant looked like. The people there also told them about the habits of Fritillaria, so she remembered the plant's appearance and habits at the time.
As time passed, they estimated that Lu Kai would be almost at the foot of the mountain seeking help, but they hadn't even found a trace of the fritillaria bulb.
The two searched the area thoroughly, but still found nothing.
A fine sheen of sweat appeared on Liu Zhixia's forehead; she couldn't suppress the anxiety in her heart. She clicked her tongue in amazement; no wonder it could fetch such an astronomical price—it was indeed incredibly valuable.
She had originally hoped that digging up a single fritillary bulb would allow her to throw it into the spiritual spring space and achieve "fritillary bulb freedom," but now it seems she was dreaming too much.
Liu Zhixia bit her lip in frustration.
"Don't rush." A deep, pleasant voice sounded in her ear, its tone calm and soothing, instantly calming her agitation. "Looking for a needle in a haystack, there's no use being impatient."
Liu Zhixia breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "You're right. If you could just grab a handful of them, they wouldn't be worth much."
As soon as she finished speaking, she glanced over casually and her gaze settled on the bushes next to Shen Yi's hand. Her eyes suddenly lit up!
Noticing her intense gaze and her figure walking quickly towards him, Shen Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously straightened up.
She rushed straight to his side, squatted down deftly, parted a clump of weeds, and dug out an unremarkable plant.
"You're lucky! You couldn't find fritillaria bulbs, but you stumbled upon polygonatum!" Liu Zhixia proudly held it up in front of him, "This stuff can be sold for money!"
Meeting Shen Yi's probing gaze, she remembered her persona, chuckled, and quickly added, "Well, it's mainly for nourishing the lungs and replenishing qi, perfect for my father!"
As Shen Yi watched her eyes dart around, he quickly came up with his answer, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.
"Okay, let's pick this while we continue our search."
"Um!"
With Shen Yi's help, the two quickly picked a small bunch.
Taking advantage of his inattention, Liu Zhixia swiftly traced several Solomon's seal plants with her fingertips, and with a thought, directly stored them in her spatial storage. She kept this a secret to avoid being forced to "hand them over" when she descended the mountain.
Shen Yi watched as she tied up the rest with straw rope and asked, "Is this enough?"
"Yes. That's enough. Thank you, Comrade Shen."
"You're welcome, let's go back."
On the way, Shen Yi glanced at the "spoils of war" in her hand and asked casually, "I didn't expect you to know herbs. Did you study them specifically?"
Liu Zhixia lied without changing her expression: "Pharmacists used to come to the village. I followed along to watch the fun, and over time I learned to recognize a few of their products."
"So that's how it is. I was so ignorant. I thought it was just weeds."
"Many 'wild grasses' are treasures, we just don't recognize them."
“Indeed.” Shen Yi responded, then suddenly looked up at the cliff not far away. “Comrade Liu, take another look. What’s growing on that cliff? It looks rather unusual.”
Liu Zhixia followed his gaze, and her breath caught in her throat at the mere sight of him.
The deep green, iron-like stems shone with a lustrous sheen at each joint… Her heart pounded—this was actually the priceless Dendrobium officinale!
"It's Dendrobium officinale! This is more expensive than gold!"
Seeing the light in her almond-shaped eyes, which was ten times brighter than before, Shen Yi knew that the value of this thing was probably beyond imagination.
"You wait here, I'll go upstairs."
Looking at the almost vertical cliff, Liu Zhixia's heart clenched: "It's too dangerous! Let's forget about it!"
"No problem."
Shen Yi only uttered three words before he nimbly climbed up like a cheetah. His movements were clean and swift, each step firm and effortless. Liu Zhixia's heart leaped into her throat, but her gaze remained fixed on his reliable back.
He steadily climbed to the top, drew a small knife from his waist, and carefully cut off the dendrobium.
When he returned to the ground unharmed with his spoils, Liu Zhixia was stunned.
"Is this enough?"
She could only nod frantically like a chick pecking at rice.
He handed her all the dendrobium orchids, lowering his voice: "Keep them safe. If anyone asks later, just give them the polygonatum."
"Um!"
The bigwigs had already made all the arrangements, so she naturally accepted them all without hesitation, feeling quite pleased with herself.
When the two returned to their original spot, Lu Huaiyuan had just woken up and was howling for help.
Upon seeing Liu Zhixia and Shen Yi walking side by side with relaxed expressions, he immediately exploded, lying on the ground and roaring, "Liu Zhixia! Where did you two run off to fool around just now? You two really are having an affair!"
Xu Zhigang looked utterly dejected: "You guys are finally back. This kid's gone mad. He bites people as soon as he wakes up, and insists I'm trying to kill him to silence him."
"Why didn't you kill me to silence me? Why didn't you save me? Where are the other two? Did they go to destroy some evidence?"
Liu Zhixia was too lazy to waste her breath on him, and leisurely smiled at Xu Zhigang, "I just dug a hole, why don't we bury him and make things quieter?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Huaiyuan reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumping up and down and cursing even more venomously: "Liu Zhixia, you poisonous woman! My father is the brigade leader, you dare to touch me!"
He lay on the ground, throwing a tantrum, his facade of a refined scoundrel shattered.
Liu Zhixia and Shen Yi ignored them, sitting down leisurely as if they were listening to a monkey show.
Lu Huaiyuan's mouth was dry from cursing, and only when he realized the two were completely ignoring him did he belatedly realize he looked like a clown. His face turned pale and then red, and he was about to curse again when Liu Zhixia shut him up with a single sentence.
She spoke slowly, her voice soft, yet every word pierced the heart:
"Lu Huaiyuan, the wild boar hadn't even charged yet, and you pushed Gu Mansheng out to shield her from the disaster. Tell me, when this capitalist's daughter wakes up and finds out about your 'heroic rescue,' will she still think you're a good man she can entrust her life to?"
These words struck Lu Huaiyuan like a thunderbolt, silencing him instantly.
His face, which had turned a deep purplish-red, suddenly lost all color, turning deathly pale.
Yes, Xiaoman! The image he painstakingly cultivated in front of Xiaoman! Liu Zhixia, that country bumpkin, is foolish, but Xiaoman is very shrewd. If she finds out…
Thinking of this, Lu Huaiyuan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his eyes were filled with venom as he looked at Liu Zhixia.
It's all that bitch's fault! If she hadn't deliberately lured me up the mountain, none of this would have happened!
She knew perfectly well that there were wild boars here...
etc!
A thought flashed through Lu Huaiyuan's mind like lightning.
She knew there were pigs in the mountain, yet she lured me up there... Could it be... that she did it for me?
Lu Huaiyuan was taken aback at first, then as if he had suddenly understood, a confident smile of "I see" appeared on his face.
Ah, no wonder she deliberately showed off the eggs in front of me, and then gave them to that soldier.
Playing hard to get!
She's anxious because she sees I have a new love interest, so she's deliberately using this tactic to make me jealous and win me back!
What a cunning woman! Unfortunately for her, Lu Huaiyuan had already seen through everything!
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