Chapter 17 A Flash of Inspiration

After a delicious lunch, the two little girls began to feel sleepy. Yin Huaixi also felt a little sleepy, so he simply accompanied the two girls back to the room for a nap.

Yin Huaishan and his wife stopped working. No matter how poor their family was, they couldn't keep working. Health was still important. The couple went back to their room to rest for a while.

When the two sisters woke up, the adults were already up and working.

"Mother, you picked so many herbs this morning!"

Jiang Wan squatted beside A Niang in amazement, asking questions while helping her pick out the ones that were familiar to her and sorting them into a pile.

"Is it so easy to collect herbs in the mountains?"

"It's not easy to pick them. Some herbs grow in hidden places and some have poisonous insects. But there are so many herbs on the mountain. It seems that no one is picking them. I can hardly pick them all. Fortunately, your cousin came with me. She helped me pick a lot more. Let's sort them out quickly. I'll pick some good herbs and take Xiaoman's boat to the city tomorrow to have a look."

"Go to the city! I want to go too!"

Jiang Wan was extremely curious about the ancient town and looked at A Niang eagerly.

"Ahem... Wanwan, everyone has to pay two cents to enter the city, and our family doesn't have any income. I gave Xiaoman some mugwort when I treated her before, and her family also gave her fish and eggs, so of course I can't accept the consultation fee. So if we go to the city tomorrow, we have to borrow two cents from Xiaoman's mother. If you want to go, Aning should come with you, so it will be six cents. It's not good to borrow too much."

"All right……"

Jiang Wan was sensible and no longer asked to go into the city, but she did not give up the idea. She was just thinking about how she could earn four cents in the afternoon.

"Wanwan Aning, pick out the grasses with small leaves and brown and red branches. We will sell them tomorrow."

"Okay~"

There were quite a lot of herbs in the pile, so the two sisters picked them out one by one and cleaned off the weeds that were originally attached to them.

Yin Huaixi looked at the field full of herbs, with a smile on her lips. She pinched off a branch, and when she saw milky white juice emerging from the broken part, she spread the juice on the back of her hand and twisted it, then crushed the leaves and smelled it, her eyes brightened a bit.

"It looks like this is a good medicine. Mother, you look very happy?"

"It is indeed a good herb. This is Xue Jian Chou, which can stop bleeding and promote blood circulation. It is very effective when used for menstrual irregularities."

What made her most happy was that through these two trips to collect herbs, she found that the quality of the herbs here was obviously much better than modern ones.

"Huh? Why is this medicine so strange? It can stop bleeding and stimulate blood circulation?"

Yin Huaixi smiled and nodded, then explained to her niece.

"It sounds a bit contradictory, but it is true. Just like Panax notoginseng, it also has the function of stopping bleeding and activating blood circulation. A small dose can stop bleeding, and a large dose can activate blood circulation. Some other herbs can exert different medicinal effects when combined with other herbs. If you are interested, I can explain it to you in detail."

She had hoped that her daughter would take over her job since she was born, but she was very disappointed that the girl had no interest in being a doctor. Since there was no hope for her daughter, it would be nice to have a niece.

"No, no, no, just listen occasionally, I can't really learn it."

Yin Ning shook her head repeatedly, and Jiang Wan gave her a look that said, "It's a good thing you didn't agree."

Her mother tried to teach her a few years ago, but her head started to hurt when she thought of the dense names of Chinese medicines. Although she sometimes thought Chinese medicine was interesting, there were really many things to learn in Chinese medicine, including memorizing medicinal materials, prescriptions, and various pulse records. She felt that her little interest in Chinese medicine could not support her persistence, so she decisively rejected her mother very early on.

"Mother, are you just going to sell it like this? Don't you say it needs to be processed before it can be sold at a good price?"

Speaking of this, Yin Huaixi expressed helplessness.

"There are many things needed to prepare medicinal materials. We don't have any of the commonly used honey, wine, vinegar, talcum powder, and alum. The only clam shell powder we have is made into donkey-hide gelatin, which we can't afford. Even a good cook cannot cook without rice."

Let's just do it one by one. It doesn't matter if they are sold cheaply, as long as there is income at home.

Yin Huaixi carefully divided the herbs, occasionally explaining them to her daughter and niece. When there was only a small pile of herbs left, she stopped the two girls from working and let them go out to play.

Jiang Wan couldn't figure out how to earn four cents in the village, so he simply returned the scissors to Aunt Cuifang and chatted with her for a while.

"Aunt Cuifang, is there any way to make money in our village?"

Mao Cuifang answered without thinking: "The way to make money is to sell seafood. Our ancestors have all made their living from the sea."

"No, do you have any other business besides selling seafood?"

"Otherwise, villagers would occasionally sell chickens and ducks, and they would also take eggs to the pier to sell. And there were also bamboo woven items, which were sold at the pier, so it was just hard-earned money."

Jiang Wan was a little confused.

“You’re not selling pigs?”

"Pigs? We fishermen can't afford to raise pigs like that. You used to be a lady, right? You don't know how timid pigs are. If you raise a pig from a young age, it will take at least eight or nine months before it can be released. During this period, there have been several typhoons on the island. If you had raised a pig, you would have been scared to death. This is not an animal that we fishermen can afford to raise."

Mao Cuifang took the needle and scratched her head twice, then continued to mend her clothes while smiling and asking her.

"Girl, why are you asking these questions? Looking for a way to make money?"

Jiang Wan nodded and admitted it without hesitation.

"Auntie, you know we just got here and we are broke. It's very hard to go to the pier. You must be anxious, right?"

"Hey girl, making money is something your parents should worry about."

After laughing, Mao Cuifang became serious again.

"If you really want to make money, I know a place closer to the pier. When you returned the basket to me the other day, you gave me a handful of mint leaves. I used them to soak in water and drank it. It was really refreshing. I think you can try to buy some herbal tea. But you have to be prepared. I'm afraid you won't make much money just by selling tea."

Jiang Wan didn't pay much attention to the last few sentences, as her focus was on the first few sentences.

"Somewhere closer than the pier?"

"There is a main road just outside the entrance of our village. You took that road when you came here. Although our village is remote, we are close to the Holy Mother Temple. There are pilgrims coming and going on that road occasionally, but most of them are in horse-drawn carriages and may not stop along the way. If you are lucky, you may make some money."

Jiang Wan listened and thought for a while, and suddenly an idea came to his mind.

"Thank you, Aunt Cuifang. You are truly the kindest and most amiable aunt I have ever met!"

Mao Cuifang felt sweet in her heart. This girl spoke so sweetly.

"Auntie, I have an idea to make money. Can you lend me your scissors for a few more hours?"

"Here, here."

Jiang Wan hugged Mao Cuifang, kissed her, and happily went home with the scissors.

Mao Cuifang covered her chest:!!!

No, she has to have another daughter!