Now the family knew the uses of mugwort leaves very clearly, and boiling mugwort water wasn't difficult; it was ready quickly.
Qin Sang had also exchanged for Gauze, Iodine, and a proprietary Chinese medicine powder. She had secretly exchanged these from the Space, stored them in bamboo tubes and porcelain bottles, and kept them at home. Since the family now knew she had some medical skills, she claimed she had prepared the liquids and powders herself, and no one suspected her.
First, she used the mugwort water to wash the blood off the palm, then disinfected it with Iodine, and finally sprinkled on the a proprietary Chinese medicine hemostatic powder before wrapping it with clean Gauze.
"Mother, is this enough? Does it not need stitches?" Tian Sijin asked worriedly after watching the whole process from the side.
This gave Xu Hu a start. Good heavens, when Uncle You Gen from the Village Chief's house had his stomach cut open, it was Aunt Tian who stitched it up with a sewing needle. This story had spread throughout the village, and those who saw it said the needle and thread just went in and out of the belly; it hurt just thinking about it.
Although he wasn't afraid of pain, there was no need for that, right? He had just been pricked by a thorn on a vine.
"Aunt? Me?"
Looking at Xu Hu's frightened and pitiful eyes, Qin Sang smiled and lightly patted Si Jin's head.
"What are you thinking? Such a small wound will be fine by tomorrow. There's no need for stitches. Don't go scaring your Brother Huzi."
Tian Sijin shrunk her neck and stuck her tongue out at Qin Sang.
"Then the wound isn't deep. Brother Huzi, don't worry. If my Mother says your injury will be better by tomorrow, it definitely will be."
Only then did Xu Hu feel relieved, giving a red-eared grunt of agreement.
Qin Sang handed the bamboo tube of powder to Xu Hu.
"Huzi, you often go up the mountain, so injuries are unavoidable. This is a hemostatic powder I prepared. If you're injured and bleeding, just sprinkle it on the wound. I have more, so this tube is for you. Thank you for specially helping me catch live rabbits."
Although the two Mother rabbits from before were alive, they were injured; the bloody marks from being constricted by the trap hadn't faded yet. Qin Sang had Si Jin use mugwort water every day to help disinfect and clean them.
Xu Hu naturally tried to decline, but Tian Sijin wordlessly took the bamboo tube and stuffed it into Huzi's arms.
"Brother Huzi, just take it. It's not like you won't use it."
Xu Hu's face turned red. He looked at his father, and after Hunter Xu nodded slightly, Xu Hu finally accepted it.
"Thank you, Aunt."
Qin Sang liked this simple young man; with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, he would surely grow up to be a 185cm tall handsome guy.
Hunter Xu, who was standing nearby, spoke up and asked:
"Why did your family get so much Millettia root?"
Tian Sijin answered cheerfully:
"My Mother said this is a medicinal herb called Millettia root. She wants us to slice it and dry it to sell for money. Mother also told my Eldest Brother's Wife to use it like tea leaves to soak in water and drink, saying it's good for the body."
Xu Hu was somewhat stunned: "This stuff is everywhere on the mountain. It can be sold for money?"
Qin Sang's eyes lit up:
"Yes, do you know where to find it?"
Hunter Xu took the initiative to say:
"I've seen it in a few places near the cliffs, but it's deep in the mountains. If your family still wants more, I'll help you cut some and bring it back tomorrow."
Qin Sang didn't want to take such a big advantage of them:
"It's fine to help my family cut herbs. Fifty pounds of Millettia root for two pounds of rice, how about that? Otherwise, I'll take Da Zhuang and San Gui into the mountains to find it myself."
Hunter Xu also knew that the two families needed to avoid suspicion; if he did work for them for free, gossip would start in the village tomorrow. However, the price of rice had already doubled. He felt that something growing wild on the mountain shouldn't be exchanged for so much rice; he would feel guilty taking it.
"Not that much. One pound of rice for fifty pounds is enough."
Qin Sang insisted, as Millettia root was more expensive than mugwort: "Then two pounds of Millet. Will that do?"
Hunter Xu thought about it and agreed: "Alright."
After they finished discussing, Qin Sang weighed the rabbits. The three rabbits weighed fourteen pounds. While Tian Sijin went inside to get the rice, Hunter Xu gave Qin Sang a wild chicken and a small snake from his waist as a bonus.
The small snake was already dead as a doornail; its head had been cut off by Hunter Xu, leaving only the body. Looking at the colorful body of the small snake, Qin Sang's eyes brightened slightly.
Snake gall is a good medicinal ingredient.
After seeing off Hunter Xu and his son, Qin Sang took the small snake into the kitchen. She said she would handle tonight's dinner herself and told the others to go do their work and not be lazy.
Carefully slicing open the snake's belly, she found the snake gall. This snake was rather small, and the gall was only about the size of two soybeans. The system's voice rang in her mind:
"High-quality snake gall detected. One hundred mall coins per gram. Sell?"
Ordinary herbs were sold by the pound, while precious ones were sold by the gram.
Qin Sang chose to sell, and her Mall balance instantly increased by four hundred.
A small profit.
Happy.
She went to the backyard to pick a handful of leeks to make fried eggs with leeks, then picked a handful of green onions to sprinkle on the snake meat soup for color, and finally picked a handful of greens to stir-fry a vegetable dish.
While picking the vegetables, taking advantage of the night, Qin Sang also watered them once.
A large bowl of rabbit meat was served on the table. The rabbit meat, which she had specially added a sauce packet to, smelled mouth-watering.
The eldest son had gone on night patrol, so a separate plate was set aside for him to eat when he returned.
Third Brother and his Wife were afraid they would lose out if they ate slowly, so every meal they ate until they had to loosen their belts.
"Delicious! Mother's cooking is too good," Tian Sijin praised while eating.
Eldest Brother's Wife couldn't change her habit of being constantly worried, as if she were afraid of being disliked:
"I can't seem to make rabbit meat taste like Mother's stir-fry no matter what I do."
Eldest Girl, on the other hand, was much bolder, knowing to pick up food for Qin Sang: "Grandma, eat meat."
Qin Sang maintained her posture as an elder, eating slowly and methodically.
Tian Wenmo didn't find the food tasty at all. He had done things all day today; although he wasn't fast, he hadn't rested either.
He felt his hands and feet were weak. He didn't want to do such boring and hard work. After swallowing the rabbit meat in his mouth, he looked up at his Mother:
"Mother, yesterday I taught Eldest Girl and Fourth Sister to recite books."
Qin Sang looked at him: "Is that so? What did they recite?"
Tian Wenmo looked at his sister: "Sister, do you know the Rhythm Song I taught you yesterday?"
Tian Wenmo was very confident that Fourth Sister definitely wouldn't be able to recite it. When he was five years old and went to the private school, it took him five days to memorize the Rhythm Song.
Although today was only the second day and he was a bit anxious to verify it, he wanted to let his Mother know as soon as possible that even if Eldest Girl and her siblings had the chance to study, they weren't cut out for it.
"Mother, Sister might have forgot—"
Before Tian Wenmo could finish his sentence, Tian Sijin's clear voice rang out. Tian Wenmo stared at his sister with his mouth open:
No way, he only taught it twice yesterday, and she can already recite it?
After Tian Sijin finished reciting, she tilted her little face up proudly: "Brother, did I recite it correctly?"
Tian Wenmo managed to squeeze out a difficult smile and replied awkwardly:
"Yes... that's correct."
He took a deep breath and looked at Eldest Girl: "Can Eldest Girl recite it yet?"
He felt that the reason his sister could memorize it so quickly was because she was older than he was when he first started. Eldest Girl was also five years old; there was no way Eldest Girl could recite it.
"...Mountain flowers against sea trees, red sun against the firmament..."
Eldest Girl's childish voice echoed in the small main room, and the smile on Tian Wenmo's face became hard to maintain.
After Eldest Girl finished reciting, Qin Sang gave a thumbs up in praise:
"Eldest Girl and Si Jin are really amazing to remember it so quickly. In the future, when the family has made money, I'll hire a Female Teacher for you, alright?"
"Okay, Grandma!"
"Thank you, Mother."
Now Tian Wenmo really couldn't eat another bite.
The scent of meat from Qin Sang's yard drifted quite far. Especially next door at the Yu Family's, the youngest son was shouting that he was hungry while swallowing his saliva. Osmanthus's Mother scolded him twice, and only after hitting the boy until he cried did he settle down and fall asleep. She herself, however, tossed and turned, unable to sleep:
"Other families have two meals a day, but her family—three meals a day isn't enough, and they eat meat every single meal."
She happened to be passing by today and heard the conversation between Qin Sang and Mrs. Tian Li. At first, she was skeptical, but later, seeing the grain bag Mrs. Tian Li was carrying, Osmanthus's Mother took it to heart. She had just been discussing it with her husband, and now, smelling the aroma of meat, she made up her mind:
"No, tomorrow I'll also go to the mountain to gather some mugwort and see. Her family can already afford to eat meat; it shouldn't be a lie."
Yu Tiesheng turned over and looked at his wife:
"How about I go? There are wild beasts on the mountain, and you're just a woman. Even if you can gather it, how much can you bring down the mountain?"
Osmanthus's Mother glared at him:
"No. It's because you feel uncomfortable all over if you don't see her for a day, isn't it?"
Seeing his wife getting jealous again, Yu Tiesheng quickly begged for mercy:
"Fine, fine, fine, you go, you go. But don't you talk nonsense. When have I ever gone looking for Qin Sang? I only helped her once as a small favor, and you plan to talk about it for a lifetime, don't you? I understand the saying that there's much gossip at a widow's door. Don't you go spreading rumors out of nothing; it's bad for Qin Sang's reputation."
"Heh, still worried about her reputation, are you? And you still say you're not thinking about her?"
Yu Tiesheng was fed up with his wife and simply rolled over, ignoring her:
"Fine, fine, no more talking. Sleep."
The next day, Qin Sang also went up the mountain. Everything at home had been arranged, with everyone working on an assembly line based on what they were good at. The drying equipment had also been upgraded; they borrowed several door panels from the villagers so that the items could be dried more evenly and in larger quantities.
Qin Sang planned to look for other medicinal herbs on the mountain herself and find an excuse to bring back some potatoes and corn while she was at it. Before she even reached the foot of the mountain, she heard someone talking; it was Tian Yuanshan.
"Widow Tian doesn't even have money to let her youngest son study anymore, yet she has money to buy rice?
A couple of days ago, I saw her boy working every day. If the family had that much food, why would they be working so hard?
First, she said there was a locust plague, and now she says she's exchanging grass for rice. I think Widow Tian has either gone mad or turned stupid."