Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Pocket Supermarket

Chapter 17: Sunning Herbs

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Jiang Lin walked in front while Yu Xiaolian skipped behind. Soon, they arrived at the col on the other side of the forest.

There was a lot of sand here. The scorching sun roasted the sand until it was hot. When her small cloth shoes stepped on the hot sand, it burned Yu Xiaolian’s feet.

Jiang Lin pointed at the red patch in the ditch and asked, “Look, is this the wolfberry you want to pick?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Yu Xiaolian ran over happily.

Without hesitation, she jumped into the ditch and started picking wolfberries seeds without saying anything. These things were very easy to pick. With Jiang Lin’s help, they soon picked a basket full of them.

Jiang Lin asked, “You picked this because you want to sell it at the town’s pharmacy?”

Yu Xiaolian nodded. “I just want to try. I don’t know if it will work.”

Jiang Lin helped Yu Xiaolian lift the basket full of wolfberries.

He went up first and pulled Yu Xiaolian out of the ditch.

“The pharmacy doesn’t seem to accept fresh things. We have to dry them, and they don’t seem to sell them for much.”

“One copper coin is still money. You don’t know my family’s current situation. Not only do we owe a lot of money to many families in the village, but we don’t even have enough food for the winter. My mother does embroidery every day, and her eyes are red from exhaustion. I just want to help them share the burden.”

Yu Xiaolian patted the dirt off her body. “I’ll send these home first. I’ll come out later, and you can take me to pick some honeysuckle.”

Jiang Lin picked up the basket. “I have nothing to do anyway. Let me send you back.”

Yu Xiaolian was happy and relaxed. She thought that she had to bring a big basket when she came out later. She had to dry more honeysuckle.

Yu Xiaolian and Jiang Lin walked side by side on the village road, naturally attracting the attention of many people. Some people whispered that Jiang Lin was really bold.

Yu Xiaolian stole a glance at Jiang Lin. Seeing that he didn’t care at all, she happily followed Jiang Lin.

Yu Xiaolian carried the wolfberries back into the house, found a large dustpan, and poured the wolfberries in it. These fresh wolfberries couldn’t be placed under the sun. They had to be placed in the shade to dry. Yu Xiaolian felt that it was safest to put them in her house. After laying the wolfberries flat, she took a large basket and went out.

When she went back just now, she didn’t see Yu Changhe either. He probably went up the mountain to cut willow branches again.

Yu Xiaolian came out carrying a basket that was about the same size as her. She was fiercely mocked by Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin even suggested that Yu Xiaolian could sit in the basket. It was faster for him to carry her.

Yu Xiaolian glared at Jiang Lin angrily. Wasn’t he just laughing at her for being short?

Yu Xiaolian comforted herself in her heart. She was only ten years old and a child. She would grow taller.

With Jiang Lin’s help, Yu Xiaolian effortlessly picked a basket of honeysuckle.

Yu Xiaolian felt that Jiang Lin knew everything. At least, Jiang Lin knew this mountain like the back of his hand.

“Do you know where the Bloodvine is?”

“Chicken Blood Vines are not easy to find. Some time ago, in the middle of July, in order to make river lanterns, every family went up the mountain to look for them. It’s probably not easy to find them nearby.”

It was a custom for Great Liang people to release river lanterns in the middle of July. Moreover, Great Liang people were used to using chicken blood vines to color the river lanterns.

Even on this mountain, the Chicken Blood Vine was extremely rare.

It seemed that she could not sell the Chicken Blood Vine this time.

Jiang Lin said, “If you only use a little, it’ll be easy to find. When I pick it, I’ll send it to you. But if you want to sell it for money, it seems to be difficult.”

When they returned, it was naturally Jiang Lin who brought the basket back for Yu Xiaolian. Otherwise, Yu Xiaolian wouldn’t be able to carry such a big basket.

Honeysuckle also needed to be dried, and it also needed to be placed in a ventilation area. They had to be flipped frequently to prevent them from rotting.

After Yu Xiaolian was done with everything, Yu Changhe happened to come back with a bundle of willow branches. His legs were inconvenient, so he could only carry one bundle of willow branches back each time. However, that bundle was also seventy to eighty catties. It was not something ordinary people could easily carry.

Yu Changhe had been a bailiff for many years, and his body was extremely healthy. He also had good strength, but his leg was his only weakness.

Yu Changhe went to the water vat and drank a ladle of water. Thinking that Yu Xiaolian should be back from digging wild vegetables, he went into the house to take a look. It didn’t matter if he took a look, but there was a dustpan on the left and a dustpan on the right in the house. What was all this?

Looking at the bed again, Yu Xiaolian’s coat had wrapped six duck eggs and more than ten quail eggs. Just as he was feeling puzzled, Yu Xiaolian’s voice sounded from behind, “Father, you’re back!”

Without waiting for Yu Changhe to ask, Yu Xiaolian said happily, “Father, look at these herbs I picked. I picked these wild duck eggs and quail eggs on the mountain. Father, am I awesome?”

“Herbs? How do you recognize herbs?”

Yu Xiaolian had graduated from the Western China Medical Academy in her previous life, so it wasn’t surprising that she knew these medicinal herbs. Although they didn’t know how to treat living people, she not only knew pharmacology, clinical science, and investigation, but she was also a police officer.

Moreover, people in the forensic profession often needed to have strong mental fortitude. Otherwise, they would vomit before they could examine the corpses.

This was also the reason why Yu Xiaolian dared to explore the Grass Ghost Lady’s tomb alone. She was bold and had grown up.

“Ah, I heard from Jiang Lin. He also helped me pick the herbs.”

When he heard that it was Jiang Lin who had helped her, Yu Changhe dispelled his doubts.

Yes, if anything happened, just push the blame to Jiang Lin.

“Where did you pick up these wild duck eggs? Why are they so clean?”

It was picked up from the supermarket, so of course it was clean.

“Those were pretty dirty when I picked them up. I washed them.”

It seemed that the next time he “picked” them, she had to let them have some mud.

Yu Changhe asked again, “How did you get this bird egg? Don’t tell me you climbed a tree and stole from a bird’s nest?”

“That… Jiang Lin climbed the tree.”

The universal scapegoat—Jiang Lin.

Yu Changhe frowned. “The bird’s nest is too high. It’s too dangerous. Don’t let Jiang Lin climb it next time.”

Yu Xiaolian nodded in agreement. It seemed that she wouldn’t be able to take out quail eggs next time.

“There are so many eggs. You had to dig a few nests, right?”

Yu Xiaolian didn’t expect Yu Changhe to be so naggy. She blurted out, “Just one. This bird mother might have given birth.”

“Yes, they’re quite fertile. Usually, there are only five or six eggs in a bird’s nest.”

As he spoke, Yu Changhe counted the quail eggs and said with a smile, “There are actually 18 of them. They can really give birth!”

Yu Xiaolian was speechless. She didn’t think so much at that time and only casually grabbed three.

Moreover, when she went into the space to get the eggs just now, she realized that the bag of Golden Monkey Milk Candy she had eaten last night had returned to its original state, becoming five bags.

It seemed that her supermarket space had the ability to automatically recover after midnight.

This was great!

She went back to the stock rack to look at the wolfberries and honeysuckle, but they didn’t change back.

It seemed that although the packaging had been torn off, they were still in the space. If they were taken out, new ones would probably appear the next day.

Didn’t the automatic recovery mean that she had endless resources?

Yu Xiaolian was so happy that she wanted to jump up. In the future, not only would she not have to worry about food and clothes, but she could also live a carefree life. Just thinking about it made her laugh.

Yu Changhe rested for a while before going out to weave baskets again.

Yu Xiaolian secretly opened the rice bag and placed two bowls of rice inside.

However, the modern white rice had been polished and was too white. It formed a strong contrast with the gray rice that Madam Sun had ground out with a stone mill.

Yu Xiaolian slapped her forehead in frustration.

Whatever. She couldn’t pick them out one by one. She used her hand to stir the white rice so that it looked as different as possible.

It was a series of self-deception. She hoped that Madam Sun would not find out.