The ball of light flickered uneasily.
"As long as it improves my cultivation, this little bit of hardship is nothing. Besides, you're not really useless; you even provided me with a painting." Hua Cai rested her head on her arm on the table, her other hand slightly bent, and with a whoosh, she flicked the system away again.
"Most importantly, you can chat with me, right? You know, people here can't say whatever they want. I'd be suffocated without you." Hua Cai smiled, her eyes crinkling as she watched the ball of light wobble as it flew out from the corner of the wall.
"You're so mean! There was a spider web in the corner that scared this system to death." The system's voice was much lighter, though it was unclear whether it had truly let go of the spider web.
After brushing the crumbs off her hands, Hanako lay down on the small couch by the window to sleep.
The new bedding was laid out for Zhao Qiang, while the bedding on the couch was old, and it was still a little damp, perhaps because it had been exposed to the wind by the window for a long time.
I must get a new bed tomorrow.
Hua Cai made plans in secret and soon fell asleep.
No matter how old the bedding is, it's still more comfortable to sleep on than tree trunks and rocks in the mountains.
The next day, Zhao Qiang still hadn't woken up, and Hua Cai touched the two big bumps on the back of his head, looking worried.
If I had known, I would have been more careful to protect my head when I rolled down the cliff.
Hua Cai rummaged through her bag, poured out a handful of embroidery needles, examined them closely, and finally gave up on using them to give Zhao Qiang acupuncture. She then took her small purse and went out the door.
It must be said that it was very wise of me to arrange for Si'en to come and test the waters first. An hour later, Hua Cai spent two taels of silver to get a new quilt and a large pile of medicinal herbs.
These are all very common herbs for replenishing qi and blood. Although the quality is not good, they are plentiful and very fresh.
Si'en volunteered to brew the medicine. After Hua Cai gave her some instructions, she excitedly went into the kitchen.
Hua Cai went into the room and checked on Zhao Qiang's condition.
Every so often, some villagers would go to town, but unfortunately, no one was going recently. The silver needles that Hua Cai wanted to ask someone to bring back would have to wait at least three days.
Without silver needles, and after confirming with the system that letting Zhao Qiang remain unconscious until he dies of old age was highly unreliable, Hua Cai had no choice but to rely on massage to slowly remove the blood clots on the back of Zhao Qiang's head. She didn't know how long it would take to heal, but it was better than just waiting around.
After the massage, Hua Cai went to the kitchen to sort the medicinal herbs and saw Si En staring intently at the large pot of boiling steam.
"Don't be so nervous. Just control the heat and make sure it doesn't burn." Hua Cai pulled up a small stool and sat by the kitchen door, picking through the medicinal herbs on the floor.
The herbs were so fresh that the roots were still covered in damp mud.
"Turn the heat down a bit and simmer it slowly. Come, sit here, I'll teach you how to process the herbs." Hua Cai gently wiped the dirt off the herbs and looked at Si En, who was standing by the pot in the swirling steam, looking somewhat lost. She then greeted her.
Si'en turned to look at Hua Cai in surprise. After confirming that she was not joking, she happily ran out and moved a small stool to sit next to Hua Cai: "Thank you, Miss."
Hua Cai smiled, not minding at all, and carefully explained to Si En which parts should be kept as roots, which parts should be harvested, and which parts should be used whole as medicine.
Sien listened very attentively, and if there were any things she didn't remember clearly, she would immediately ask about them.
"Si'en, these herbs are very fresh. Are there any medicinal herb gardens nearby?" Hua Cai suddenly asked, watching Si'en carefully handling the herbs in her hands.
"Huh?" Si'en paused, stopped what she was doing, and then smiled. "No, these are all dug up by the villagers on the mountain. There's a river to the west of the village, and there are many medicinal herbs like these on the mountain near the river. But because they're so common and cheap, if they're dug up and sold in the city, no one will buy them if they're too expensive, and if they're too cheap, they won't even break even. Over time, no one pays attention to these herbs anymore. Only occasionally, someone with a minor ailment will go up the mountain to pick some and boil them in water to drink."
Sien neatly stacked the herbs she had prepared to one side: "However, the villagers only know that some of them are medicinal herbs, but few of them actually know how to use them. They just drink them randomly, and some herbs even contain weeds. If they happen to drink the right ones, everyone is happy. But if they drink the wrong ones, some of them get sicker and end up running all the way to the city to see a doctor."
"To put it bluntly, these people are just gambling. If they win, they spend fewer copper coins and avoid making a long trip to the city. If they lose, they just suffer for a few more days." Si'en smiled bitterly: "These two taels of silver from you are worth nearly four thousand copper coins. It's a small profit for those who go up the mountain to dig for medicinal herbs."
"I see," Hua Cai chuckled, her face obscured by the steamy kitchen.
Si'en looked at Hua Cai's mud-covered hands with complicated emotions, recalling the more than one hundred taels of silver that Hua Cai had handed to her.
That's probably more money than some people in this village could earn in their entire lives.
"What, have you forgotten how to handle this?" Hua Cai's light voice rang out, startling Si En out of her daze.
Si'en quickly looked down and saw that she was holding a delicate little flower in her hand.
"I remember, I remember," Si'en replied, quickly putting the flower in her hand aside and picking up another one.
The girl said that this flower seems to be poisonous and cannot be used as medicine.
"That's houttuynia cordata, it doesn't have any medicinal effects, just throw it away," Hua Cai reminded her at the right time.
Upon hearing this, Si'en carefully examined the appearance of the water lily in her hand, and then discarded it as instructed.
"Si'en, do you want to study medicine?" Hua Cai suddenly had a whimsical idea as she watched Si'en reach for another herb.
"Huh?" Si'en exclaimed in shock, "Miss, you're studying medicine?"
“Yes, I want to study medicine.” Hua Cai smiled. “To study medicine, to protect the people you want to protect.”
Si'en stared intently at the cauliflower until her eyes ached from the thick steam in the kitchen: "Yes, girl, I want to study medicine."
Seemingly incredulous that Hua Cai would be willing to entrust such a precious thing to her, Si En excitedly knelt down on the ground with a thud, and suddenly became incoherent: "Miss, I, I, Si En would go through fire and water to repay your great kindness."
It's not difficult, not difficult at all. You just need to listen to me from now on.
Hua Cai smiled and helped Si En up: "From today onwards, whenever you have free time, come and help me out."
"Okay, okay," Si'en replied excitedly.
Perhaps because she was excited, Si'en was busy in the kitchen until late at night before she finally found Hua Cai and, after confirming that everything was alright, called over Da Zhuang, a villager she had hired for fifty copper coins, to stand guard at the door.
As for why there's a man here at this time—
After Hua Cai frantically poured medicine down Zhao Qiang's throat for an hour and a half, she cleared her throat and said, "Ahem, Da Zhuang, help this young master relieve himself."
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