Although they had sold a lot of herbs before, they hadn't gone up the mountain much since winter started, but they still kept quite a few at home as a backup. After all, the world was too chaotic, which made them feel a sense of urgency at all times.
Besides stockpiling food, the family also stockpiled medicinal herbs. What are the poor most afraid of? They are afraid of getting sick. They can't afford to get sick. Only by maintaining a strong body can they work, and only by working can they survive.
Ever since the stars taught them to recognize herbs, the first thing they did was to stockpile the herbs they needed for their own use. Only after they had stockpiled enough would they sell the rest.
“Our whole family worked ourselves to the bone collecting medicinal herbs, and in the end, it all benefited the Zhou family. We were originally planning to build a few more houses after the spring planting season, but now I think we should put that aside for now. Why don’t we just buy a plot of land in town and stop living in the village?” Zhao Guihua said defiantly.
"So you're not going to farm anymore, and you're going to sell food with your sister?" Old Zhou asked irritably.
Zhao Guihua snorted and said uncomfortably, "I was just saying. We can't lose the land. In this world, having a lot of money doesn't necessarily help. We need enough grain. Let's plant more sweet potatoes in the second half of the year."
At first, we didn't have enough sweet potato seedlings. After two years of cultivation, we were finally able to plant as many as we wanted. It's also because these sweet potato seedlings are easy to grow and drought-resistant, so we don't have to worry too much about droughts in the future.
“These past few years have been terrifying because of natural disasters. Only by stockpiling more food can we feel at ease. So stop arguing about going to the town or county. Let’s just stay in the countryside and farm steadily.”
Old Zhou was genuinely worried that his wife might actually run off to town in a fit of anger. What would he do then? Should he stay and guard the land in the village, or go to town with her?
Just then, Xingxing came out of the kitchen, holding a bowl in one hand. The bowl contained pork cracklings, which had been steamed and drizzled with honey. Xingxing ate as she walked, having been standing in front of her parents' door listening for quite a while.
“Father and Mother, gathering herbs is such hard work. Let’s not give the dried herbs we have at home to Second Uncle. Instead, let’s teach Second Aunt to recognize herbs and then let her go to the mountain to dig them herself.”
Huh?
Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua exchanged a glance. They knew this was a good idea, but recognizing herbs wasn't something everyone had the opportunity to do; it was a technical skill, and they just didn't want to teach it to others.
However, since Xingxing said so, they definitely had to take it seriously. Zhou Laoda cleared his throat and said, "Girl, teach your second aunt how to collect herbs. She will definitely collect herbs to sell for money in the future. Let her learn our way of making money."
"That's right. I'm afraid that after she learns to identify herbs, she'll go back and teach Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi and those other people. Wouldn't that be a boon for the Zhou family?" Zhao Guihua thought to herself, feeling displeased.
"Is Second Aunt really that stupid? She would tell Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi how to make money? Wasn't Second Uncle ruined by those two? Why would Second Aunt help them? Sigh, she's hopeless." Xingxing shook her head and went to the yard, no longer worrying about the matter.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Laoda felt that it was not impossible. "If we only teach my second sister-in-law to recognize the medicine for wounds, she will have to go up the mountain to collect the medicine. We have already collected almost all of the outer areas. If she wants to collect more medicine, she will have to go further. The closer she gets to the deep mountains, the more dangerous it will be. It is not easy for her as a woman."
“That’s true. We always go into the mountains to collect herbs as a family, and we have Xingxing, our little lucky star, so everything goes smoothly every time. Others might not be so lucky. I can teach my second sister-in-law how to collect herbs, but she has to promise not to teach anyone else,” Zhao Guihua said.
After agreeing on the terms, Zhao Guihua went to Old Zhou's house and called Chen Caocao out, using the excuse that she wanted the latter to come to her house to get medicine.
Chen Caocao didn't think much of it. She was very grateful when she heard that she was asked to get the medicine. She asked the two children to watch over Zhou Lao Er and hurriedly followed him to the end of the village.
After leading Chen Caocao into the house, Zhao Guihua took her directly to the main room, gave her three doses of prepared medicine, and then said, "Don't leave yet, your older brother and I have something to say to you."
"Okay, thank you, brother and sister-in-law. Please tell me what you need to say, I'm listening." Chen Caocao tightly clutched the three packets of medicine in her hand, standing there very awkwardly.
"Sit down first, this matter can't be explained in just a few words." Zhao Guihua pulled her to sit on the bench.
Old Master Zhou spoke with a serious expression, "These herbs are not easy to gather. I also have a lot of things to do at home, so I can't always go up the mountain. We won't be giving Second Brother the herbs he needs anymore."
"Ah? Big brother and sister-in-law..." Chen Caocao wanted to say that if even you two wouldn't help her, then her husband was doomed. Her father-in-law and mother-in-law wouldn't pay for a doctor to treat her husband, let alone prescribe medicine. She wanted to beg her big brother and sister-in-law to help her one more time.
However, as honest as she was, Chen Caocao held back for a long time, her face turning red, but she couldn't bring herself to ask her elder brother and sister-in-law to continue sending medicine.
Finally, after gritting her teeth and contorting her face, she suddenly knelt before Zhou Laoda and his wife, pleading, "Brother and sister-in-law, I beg you, please help us one more time. Once my husband's injuries heal, we'll separate the family property with our parents and our third and fourth brothers. Consider this medicine as something I bought."
"Once we separate the family, my second brother and I will work hard and definitely pay back the money we owe for the medicine. However, we're afraid we won't be able to pay it off in the next two years. Could you please give us a few more years? We won't default on our debt. I'll write you an IOU and put my fingerprint on it." Chen Caocao was illiterate and couldn't sign anything, but she knew how to put her fingerprint on something.
Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua were both stunned. They hadn't even finished speaking when their second sister-in-law said she wanted to divide the family property. Should they continue to talk to her about collecting medicinal herbs?
The couple exchanged a silent glance, pondered for a moment, and decided to teach Chen Caocao how to gather herbs. It was a good thing that she planned to separate from the family. It seemed that she hated the third and fourth sons. This way, they didn't have to worry about her teaching them how to gather herbs.
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