She tossed and turned on the wooden bed all night, feeling uneasy all over. Before dawn, she got up, wearing a cotton-padded coat.
The sky was not yet fully bright; the east was tinged with the pale light of dawn, and a gentle breeze blew, bringing coolness and comfort.
From under the low shack, the sound of sweeping could be heard. Not far away, Zhang was bending over and sweeping the floor with a broom.
Jin Dashan sat at the entrance of the shanty with an axe, chopping firewood. Jin Erniu carried a bucket of water and went out with a creaking sound. Jin Sanwang was about to go out with a basket on his back when Liang Shuyan stopped him.
"Sanwang, where are you going so early in the morning with that basket on your back?"
Jin Sanwang stammered for a moment and then said, "Mother, go, go to the fields to weed?"
"Don't rush, finish your breakfast before you go out!" Liang Shuyan stepped forward and took the basket off Jin Sanwang's shoulder, gently placing it in the corner.
On the stove, the porridge in Zhang's pot was bubbling continuously. The iron pot had some cracks around the edge, and rice soup was overflowing from the side of the pot, emitting a fragrant aroma of rice.
Jin Niu Niu stood on a small stool, occasionally licking the drool from the corner of her mouth with her tongue, her eyes looking longingly at Zhang Shi: "Sister-in-law, I'm hungry!"
Zhang gently stroked Jin Niu Niu's head and said, "Good girl, Niu Niu, sit on the little stool and wait. Soon, your sister-in-law will serve you."
Liang Shuyan's heart skipped a beat. Seeing Jin Niu Niu, who was about six years old, drooling over the porridge in the pot, she felt ashamed. Such a young child was so greedy for a bowl of rice porridge.
After a while, Zhang took a spoon and scooped a spoonful of rice porridge from the pot for each person, then divided it evenly into several chipped porcelain bowls and placed them on the small wooden table.
It's called rice porridge, but upon closer inspection, it's just a light broth with a few grains of rice floating on top.
The children picked up their bowls, slurped down their porridge, and patted their bellies contentedly.
Liu came in with a broom. When she saw the bowl on the wooden table, her lips drooped. Luckily, there was still some rice porridge left. Without caring about anything else, she picked it up and gulped it down.
She knew that if she waited any longer, she might not even get to drink this little bit of rice porridge.
Liang Shuyan paused for a moment before speaking: "Now that you've had your breakfast porridge, let's get ready to work!"
"Dashan, go check on the crops in the fields behind the mountain. Don't let them be ruined just before harvest! Erniu, fetch water! Lao Er's wife, and Sanwang, come with me!"
With Zhang Shi and Jin Niu Niu left, Liang Shuyan said, "Eldest daughter-in-law, stay home and take good care of Niu Niu!"
"Okay, Mom!"
In these times, we must find something to eat on the mountain, otherwise, with so many mouths to feed, we will starve to death.
Zhang was a little confused. What was wrong with her mother-in-law today? Why was she getting up so early and taking her second son's wife to the mountain?
Normally, the second son's wife would say a few nice words, and the mother-in-law would lash out at Zhang Shi fiercely. Zhang Shi was the one who did all the housework. But today was a little different.
Zhang hesitated for a moment, then pulled Niu Niu back into the house.
Apart from Zhang Shi and the old lady, everyone in the family had their own things to do.
The sun rose, and the first rays of light fell on the earth. The villagers began to get busy.
Liang Shuyan was a bit overweight, so climbing the mountain was quite strenuous. The bark of the trees along the roadside had been stripped off, and women and children from various families were carrying baskets and searching for food on the mountain.
“This place has been completely dug up. There’s no wild vegetables left, and even the tree bark has been stripped off. Let’s go a little further in.”
Liu and Sanwang followed behind Liang Shuyan.
"Host, here is some licorice. It's currently priced at three coins in the shop. Would you like to exchange it for cash or other items?"
Licorice roots are quite deep and difficult to dig up, so she hesitated for a moment: "What can we use instead?"
"Then, can we exchange it for a big, fat rabbit?"
The system was beating around the bush: "It's possible, but you'll need at least ten kilograms of licorice!"
Liang Shuyan discovered that there was a lot of licorice on the hillside, but the ground was quite dry and it was difficult to dig it up. If it was worth three coins per pound, then besides exchanging it for a fat rabbit, she could also sell it for a lot of money.
Looking around, there really was a lot of licorice root. She was overjoyed and beckoned to Liu Shi and Sanwang, "You two, hurry up and dig these things out! Quick, see this? This is it!"
Liu squatted down, examined the licorice root carefully, picked it up and smelled it: "Mother, this stuff can't be eaten, what do you need it for?"
Liang Shuyan glared at her: "I told you to dig it up, it must be useful, why are you being so long-winded?"
Sanwang whispered, "Second sister-in-law, if Mother told us to dig, it must be useful. Let's dig!"
After assigning the two children to dig for licorice, Liang Shuyan moved to another location. The system's voice started calling again: "Host, mushrooms have appeared, priced at 15 coins. Sell?"
"Yes!" Liang Shuyan was so excited that her voice suddenly became a little louder.
"I've found some wild black-skinned matsutake mushrooms nearby, priced at 50 coins. Would you like to sell them?"
"yes!"
Liang Shuyan's fingers flew across the panel, she didn't even need to look at it, she just clicked "Yes"!
If all these things could be exchanged for silver, wouldn't I become a rich woman? With this silver, I could go to town to buy some food and store it in the system's warehouse. Would I still be afraid of not having enough to eat on the way to escape famine?
The more she thought about it, the more motivated she became. She squatted on the ground, picking mushrooms quickly while humming a little tune.
Curious, Liu leaned closer and whispered, "Mother, did you find something that makes you so happy?"
Liang Shuyan glanced at the licorice in Liu's basket and nodded: "Yes, hurry up and help pick these mushrooms. Pick all of them from this area."
Liu glanced at the wild mushrooms on the ground and hurriedly tugged at her mother-in-law's clothes: "Oh, Mother, these things can't be eaten, they're poisonous. Don't you remember? This is what I gave my uncle's child before!"
Because of this incident, her family severed ties with her. People in the village said that she was ruthless and had poisoned her own nephew.
Liang Shuyan felt sorry for the original owner in her heart: "Really, the original owner meant well but did bad things. How can these people say such things about her? However, I have a system now, and the system has already given me a warning. I don't care if it's poisonous or not. As long as I can make money, I'd rather these things be exchanged for silver. That would be great!"
"It's alright, these things aren't poisonous, you can pick them without worry!"
Liu didn't dare to argue with her mother-in-law. Since her mother-in-law said it wasn't poisonous, she decided to pick it.
Sanwang became extremely nervous: "Mom, take a look! I recognize this mushroom. It's definitely not poisonous, and it smells delicious when stir-fried."
Liang Shuyan nodded and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve: "Okay, pick more to take back. Mom will cook some for us tonight. I guarantee you'll be thinking about the next meal after you finish this one."
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