The mother of the era is reborn to support her cannon fodder children!

Chapter 311 "Medicinal Herbs"

"Why are you asking this?" Gu Chenghuai turned his head, raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at him with a hint of inquiry.

Lin Zhao's lips curved into a soft smile, her voice full of light laughter, "I'm just curious. This mountain is different from the one back home. You know, I love hearing all sorts of strange and wonderful stories about mountains."

I don't believe you.

Gu Chenghuai smiled enigmatically, remained silent for a few moments, and then pulled Lin Zhao to sit under a tree.

"Sit down and rest for a while." He handed her the unscrewed water bottle. "Have some water."

Lin Zhao took a couple of sips and called out to Yu Bao and Xiao Han Shuang, who were happily digging bamboo shoots, "...You two should take a break and have some water, so you don't get heatstroke."

Yu Bao wiped away his sweat, leaving a dark mark on his face. "I'm not tired or thirsty. I'll drink later."

After answering her mother's question, she turned to her new friend and said, "Little Juan, if you're thirsty, go get some water. Just ask my mom, don't be shy."

Han Shuang's eyebrows curved into crescent moons, and she said in a sweet, soft voice, "I know."

This is the first time she has met such a caring boy. Yu Bao is so thoughtful.

When the two children refused to drink, Lin Zhao didn't force them and handed the water bottle back to Gu Chenghuai.

The man met his wife's clear, dark eyes, filled the kettle, and before she could urge him, began to tell the story of the mountain.

"This mountain is quite something. It's said that about twenty years ago, before the founding of the People's Republic of China, someone went up the mountain to chop firewood and saw a thick white snake. The snake was about ten meters long and thicker than an adult man's thigh. After the news spread, no one dared to go into the deep mountains anymore..."

These are even more exaggerated than the mountain legends of my hometown.

Lin Zhao listened with great interest and asked with a smile, "Did Comrade Sun tell you this again?"

"That's really not true." Gu Chenghuai denied it, saying, "I heard it from the villagers."

"You actually listen to this?" Lin Zhao was quite surprised.

“I was forced to listen to this when I was hunting wild boar before,” Gu Chenghuai said. “You need a local to guide you into the mountains, otherwise it’s easy to get lost. That local was very talkative and kept talking the whole way, so I knew that.”

Lin Zhao suddenly realized.

"Commander Gu, so you've been deep in the mountains. What's it like inside? Is there anything valuable, like mineral resources?" She didn't dare to ask too directly, so she could only inquire indirectly.

"No," Gu Chenghuai said directly.

"It's just an ordinary mountain, the road is difficult to walk, winding and twisting, the ravines are deep and bottomless, the vegetation is lush, and there are many small animals."

His long, slender fingers lightly touched Lin Zhao's nose, a smile playing in his eyes. "As for the mineral resources you mentioned..."

Gu Chenghuai chuckled. "Don't even think about it. No mineral deposits have been found in this mountain."

He wasn't surprised by Lin Zhao's leaps in thought; that's just how Zhao Zhao is—she says whatever comes to mind.

"Okay." Lin Zhao smiled.

The doubts that had been suppressed in my heart resurfaced.

What was detected just now?
My curiosity is at its peak.

Just then, Gu Chenghuai suddenly looked at a tree several meters thick on his left, his voice cold and stern, "Come out!"

"?" Lin Zhao looked over.

what's the situation?
A ragged little girl appeared behind the tree.

She was very thin, her body was so flabby, and she was timid, not daring to lift her head.

He carried a tall load of firewood on his back, and his yellowed, unkempt hair was as messy as a chicken coop.

She glanced fearfully at Gu Chenghuai and Lin Zhao, then quickly lowered her head and whispered, "I'll stay here first."

Yu Bao put down what she was holding and walked over. "You've been here the whole time?"

The little girl glanced at him, awkwardly tugged at her patched-up shirt, and whispered, "Um, I'm asleep."

Fearing that these strangers would misunderstand her, she nervously explained.

Han Shuang looked the little girl up and down. She had never seen such a thin and poorly dressed child in all her life.

"You're sleeping here?" she asked.

The little girl's face turned pale. She nodded and said in a tearful voice, "I was sleepy and just wanted to rest for a while. I didn't expect to fall asleep. Can you please not tell anyone? My grandma will scold me."

“Don’t cry, we won’t tell anyone, we won’t tell anyone,” Yu Bao promised, glancing at the tree, frowning, and said, “It’s dangerous for you to sleep here. If wild animals come down the mountain, you’ll be in danger.”

Lin Zhao took out a handkerchief and wiped her son's face, saying, "Look how dirty your face is."

Yu Bao chuckled, took the handkerchief, and started wiping himself, saying, "I'll wipe myself, I'll wipe myself."

Lin Zhao took out a new handkerchief and handed it to Xiao Han Shuang, saying, "Xiao Juan'er, wipe your sweat too."

"Thank you, Aunt Lin," Xiao Han Shuang said with a smile.

The handkerchief Lin Zhao took out was brand new, as white as snow, with exquisite patterns on it.

The young girl stood there stunned as she saw her wiping someone's face with a clean handkerchief.

She didn't even have a handkerchief; the towel she used to wipe her face was a tattered strip of cloth that she had been using for years. The little girl felt a pang of sympathy for Lin Zhao's actions.

Can you really wash off the dirt from such a pretty handkerchief?!

Why can't we wash it in the river before wiping it? It's such a waste.

These words swirled in the little girl's mind, but she dared not utter a single word, only keeping her head down, lost in thought.

Lin Zhao's gaze fell on the little girl, and he took the firewood that was weighing down her shoulders. He said gently, "We're not in a hurry now. Put the firewood down. It's so heavy, you might not grow tall."

The little girl didn't struggle; she followed Lin Zhao's movements blankly like a little wooden puppet, glancing at her once before lowering her head again.

“…Thank you.” She said awkwardly.

"You're welcome." Seeing that the child was well-behaved, Lin Zhao slipped two candies into her hand.

The little girl's hands were dark and thin, like little chicken claws, and she hurriedly pulled them back, trying to hide them.

Out of curiosity about what was in my palm, I opened it and saw what was there: a pretty candy wrapper on the outside and a hard interior.

It was something she had never seen before.

"What is this?" she asked.

Yu Bao replied, "Candy? Haven't you ever eaten candy? That's orange-flavored hard candy, it's sweet and tastes like oranges, it's so delicious!"

He spoke politely and had none of the annoying traits of a spoiled child, which made him very popular with the little girls. The little girl collecting firewood wasn't afraid of Yu Bao and even dared to look up at him a few times.

What is an orange?

Yu Bao was surprised that this child had never even eaten an orange. "You've never eaten an orange either?"

The little girl picked at her fingers, "Never eaten it."

After saying that, he took out two wild fruits from his pocket.

He handed it to Yu Bao, saying, "I'm not taking advantage of you. These are wild fruits I picked; you can eat them."

Afraid of being disliked, she quickly said, "This fruit is sweet, not astringent."

Yu Bao looked at Lin Zhao, and only after seeing her mother nod did she accept the gift, "Thank you, what's your name? Are you from the village?"

"My name is Gouzi, and I'm from the village," the little girl said.

Lin Zhao: "..."

Han Shuang: "??"

Yu Bao didn't laugh at the other person's nickname, but simply asked, "...Dog is your nickname, right? What's your real name?"

"What's with all this talk of names? I only have one name: Gouzi (Dog)." the little girl said, puzzled.

Xiao Han Shuang said, "No one is called 'Dog.' Everyone has two names: a formal name for school and a nickname for family. For example, my formal name is Han Shuang, and my nickname is Juan'er." "He..." she pointed to Yu Bao, "His nickname is Yu Bao, and his formal name is Gu Zhiyu."

The dog paused, its thin, dark face scrunched up. "I don't know. I'll go back and ask my grandma."

“Okay, go ask around. When introducing yourself to others, it’s best to use your full name. Your nickname is too easy to have someone with the same name as you.” Yu Bao said seriously.

"Yes, it's easy to have the same name. There are three 'Gouzi' in our village, but I'm the only girl named Gouzi," said the little girl named Gouzi.

She doesn't seem to feel inferior about her name.

Lin Zhao noticed that when she mentioned her family, there was no fear in her eyes, so it seemed that she was in a good situation.

I asked Gu Chenghuai and learned that the soil in this village was not fertile and the grain yield was very low. It was a well-known poor place in the surrounding area, and every household was like that.

Lin Zhao exclaimed in surprise, "That doesn't make sense. I've seen a lot of medicinal herbs along the way. Processing so many herbs would be a considerable income."

"Medicinal herbs?" Gu Chenghuai didn't know many medicinal herbs and was puzzled.

“Yes, medicinal herbs. I see there are quite a few kinds, and some of them are quite precious,” Lin Zhao said.

She knew about those medicinal herbs entirely because she had an older brother who studied medicine. She consciously sought out various medical classics and would flip through them when she was bored.

exactly.

She has a good memory and has remembered quite a lot.

Gouzi overheard Lin Zhao's words and suddenly looked up. "Sister, are you saying our village has medicinal herbs? And that they can be sold for money? Is that true?"

Lin Zhao was overjoyed to hear him call her "sister".

"I already have children, so it's not appropriate for me to call you 'sister' anymore," Lin Zhao said with a smile, clearly in a good mood.

She answered the child's question gently, "Your village has medicinal herbs; I've seen quite a few along the way."

"Of course medicinal herbs can be sold for money; hospitals are short of all kinds of medicinal herbs."

Don't get too rich from growing medicinal herbs; it's just as lucrative as growing mushrooms.

Gouzi knew this was a great opportunity for his family and the entire brigade, and he wished he could kneel down before Lin Zhao and beg her to teach him how to identify medicinal herbs.

but.

But she wasn't so shameless as to expect others to feed her without giving anything in return.

She was anxious, looking at Lin Zhao's conflicted face, which had turned a tomato red.

Lin Zhao sensed something and asked, "You want to learn how to identify medicinal herbs from me, right?"

Hear the words.

There was a pop.

The dog knelt down, its timid voice now firm and strong.

"Yes! I want to earn money, I want to study, I want my family to have a better life, please teach me."

She looked up at Lin Zhao, her thin face full of pleading, "I will study hard, and we can split the money from selling the medicinal herbs equally. No, not equally. If you get more, just give me some..."

Lin Zhao helped the little girl up and smiled, "Aren't you nervous? Aren't you afraid of us anymore?"

The dog choked.

His large, thin eyes stared at Lin Zhao, the intense emotions in them impossible to ignore.

"Now that I know your village has medicinal herbs, I won't pretend I didn't see them. I'll send you a 'Medicinal Herbs Illustrated Guide' another day, and you can start learning on your own first," Lin Zhao gave the child a definite answer.

This is a double win.

She had heard Meng Jiusi say many times that the military region was short of medicinal materials.

This place is suitable for the growth of many medicinal herbs, so it's not impossible for it to become a medicinal herb cultivation base.

How exactly it's done depends on the leader's arrangements.

Even if things don't go according to her plan, if the child learns about medicinal herbs, picks them, and sells them at the hospital, that would still be a source of income.

The dog wanted to kneel again, but fortunately Lin Zhao sensed it and grabbed her arm in time.

“A young girl’s knees are also worth gold. Don’t kneel down to people casually. My daughter can stand tall and proud. Studying hard in her books is her way of repaying me.”

The little girl looked at her for a long time before finally saying, "...Okay."

She invited Lin Zhao and the others to her house for water, but Lin Zhao declined. Seeing that it was getting late, Gouzi said goodbye to Lin Zhao and the others, and carried the firewood home.

The firewood was taller than her head, slightly damp, and quite heavy. It left two red marks on the girl's shoulders, bending her back and making her stagger. She soon disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Are all the children in the village like this?" Xiao Han Shuang pursed her lips, feeling depressed.

Yu Bao: "What did you say? Carry firewood?"

Seeing Xiao Han Shuang nod, he said, "Children all need to gather firewood."

"Firewood is indispensable for daily life. It is needed for cooking and heating the kang (a traditional heated bed) in winter. Adults are busy with farm work, and children are responsible for doing what they can, such as collecting firewood."

"Why don't you buy charcoal?" Yu Bao had asked this question before.

At this moment, he became the one who answered the questions: "Carbon is so expensive, who can afford it? Do you think Gouzi's family can afford carbon? We should save where we can."

Xiao Han Shuang nodded in agreement.

She looked at Lin Zhao, "Aunt Lin, will you really help Gouzi?"

"It's not about helping her, it's about a win-win situation," Lin Zhao said. "How exactly to do it depends on the military region's arrangements."

She felt it wasn't a big problem; the young man had had this idea for a long time, but hadn't found a suitable planting location yet.

This place is great.

It's not far from the military region, and planting medicinal herbs at the foot of the mountain won't affect the crops in the fields. How wonderful!

"If the dog knows what medicinal herbs are, it can pick them to earn money and buy new clothes." Xiao Han Shuang was happy for the child she had just met.

Yu Bao looked proud. "There's nothing my mother can't do. In our hometown, we make money by growing mushrooms, and this brigade can also make money by growing medicinal herbs."

“Dad, isn’t my mom amazing?” he said to Gu Chenghuai.

"Great! Absolutely fantastic!" Gu Chenghuai gave Lin Zhao a thumbs up.

Lin Zhao: "..."

When Gouzi returned home, the old lady saw that she had carried back so much firewood again. She walked over with her small feet, took the firewood, and gently patted Gouzi's back as she did so.

"You're carrying so much again. I've told you you're still young, so don't carry too much. It's so heavy, it'll kill you. But you won't listen. It's driving me crazy."

Gouzi smiled shyly, neatly arranged the firewood, and told her grandmother about her adventures on the mountain.

"You have medicinal herbs here? Quite a few? Who told you that?"

The dog said, "Auntie from the army."

She secretly wanted to call her "sister," because she was so young, and calling her "aunt" would make her sound old.

Hearing that it was from the military, Gouzi's grandma became serious.

Tell me what they said.

The dog had a good memory and told her grandmother everything Lin Zhao had said.

The old woman's cloudy eyes shone with light. She said nothing, went back into the house, took out a cotton handkerchief from a corner, and opened it with trembling hands. Inside were loose coins: five mao, one mao, two mao, one fen... every fen was hard-earned money.

"Grandma, what are you going to do with the money?"

Grandma said, "Books are free, I wonder if this money is enough..."

(End of this chapter)