Fleeceflower Root

Old Madam Zhou really had been reborn, and she had taken the right approach, getting Zhou Family Village to stock up on grain.

But she just had to do it with such a fanfare, as if she wished the whole world would know.

When the grain shortage really came, the Zhou family would be the first to suffer.

After saying her piece, Zhou Wanwan couldn't be bothered with Lin Shouyi anymore. She thought the Lin family were good people, and the villagers of Wild Field Village were very nice too.

As she walked through the village, not only had nobody bullied her, but many people had greeted her. That was why she had said all this today.

Besides, if there really was a drought, their family alone wouldn't be able to withstand the disaster victims from outside.

What she needed to do now was go up the mountain and earn money. Only with money could she buy more grain. As for the few days Old Madam Zhou had mentioned, she didn't know exactly how many that meant.

They didn't have much time left. Besides, Old Madam Zhou had implied that this drought would last a very long time; it wouldn't be over in just six months or a year.

It would be a protracted battle.

She took a dagger, slung a basket on her back, and set off for the mountain. She had bought the dagger yesterday, spending her last hundred copper coins on it.

She had just set off when she saw Zhou Qingyan come after her and say:

"Wanwan, why are you running so fast? Are you trying to go up the mountain alone?

"You're a bold child, aren't you? Don't you know it's dangerous up there?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at the basket on his back and said:

"What about you? Weren't you planning to come up the mountain with me?

"Brother, let's go! It'll be fine. We won't run into any danger."

Zhou Qingyan coughed and said:

"Father and Mother don't know yet! If they did, they definitely wouldn't let us go up there. The mountains are no joke.

"Sometimes you run into wild boars. And wild wolves too. I hear those wolves are fierce enough to swallow a child in one bite."

Zhou Wanwan chuckled. "All right, I know. We just need to be careful."

As Zhou Wanwan climbed the mountain, she sensed the plants around her. Unfortunately, the wild grass by the path gave her no information at all.

The wild grasses' energy was too low, and they generally had no consciousness.

The trees were conscious, but unfortunately she couldn't communicate with them at all. Her energy was too low, so the trees paid her no mind.

She could only keep climbing. Just as she reached the mountainside, she heard crying by the path. "Boo-hoo... I think my root has broken. It hurts, it hurts so much!"

Zhou Wanwan looked toward the voice and found that it was a He Shou Wu.

The He Shou Wu kept crying out in pain. Zhou Wanwan pushed the earth aside and saw that it wasn't alone; there were several large He Shou Wu plants beside it.

Zhou Wanwan chuckled. The larger He Shou Wu plants had squeezed it into a corner, which was why it hurt.

The little He Shou Wu was only two years old. Zhou Wanwan took out her dagger and carefully began digging. Before long, she dug up a He Shou Wu about twenty years old.

Once it was out, the little He Shou Wu stopped crying. "My feet feel so much better. I was being squeezed to death."

Zhou Wanwan ignored it and kept digging. Looking at the He Shou Wu, Zhou Qingyan asked, "Sister, can you eat this?"

"No..."

Zhou Qingyan blinked. "Then why are we digging it up?"

"We can sell it. I'm tired, Brother. Your turn." Zhou Wanwan plopped down on a dead log nearby. Digging up medicinal herbs was hard work.

As soon as she sat down, she heard the dead log speak. "A little fairy's butt really does smell lovely..."

Zhou Wanwan was so startled she nearly jumped up. This dead log was an old lecher.

"But... it still doesn't smell as good as I do. I'm no ordinary piece of wood. I'm agarwood. Oh! Damn."

Zhou Wanwan sprang to her feet. This dead log was actually agarwood?

The dead log was still muttering:

"Hmph! Can't you tell? I may be young, but I'm valuable!

"If someone hadn't accidentally cut me down, how could I have ended up as dead wood?

"That person didn't know what I was worth and actually complained that I wasn't thick and sturdy enough."

The dead log really wasn't very thick or sturdy. Even Zhou Wanwan and Zhou Qingyan could carry it back.

Zhou Qingyan kept digging until evening, and blood blisters formed on his hands. Only then did the two slowly start back.

Zhou Wanwan looked at him and asked, "Brother, do your hands hurt?"

Zhou Qingyan shook his head. "They don't hurt. I'm a man. Let's get home first!"

Zhou Wanwan really had wanted to dig too, but Zhou Qingyan had refused to let her, no matter what. With baskets full to the brim on their backs and the dead log in their hands, the two slowly made their way home.

After considerable effort, they reached the foot of the mountain and heard Liu Su'e calling, "Wanwan, Qingyan, where are you?"

Zhou Qingyan shouted, "Mother, we're here!"

Liu Su'e and Zhou Fusheng rushed over. Liu Su'e was so worried that she was crying. "You two little wretches, you went out without telling us! Your father and I were worried sick at home."

Zhou Fusheng looked at Zhou Wanwan and said:

"It's good that you're back, good that you're back. You're not hurt, are you? Oh, you're such a little girl, with such delicate skin.

"What if you'd met a wild wolf and it had carried you off in its jaws? I was scared half to death, you have no idea."

Zhou Wanwan chuckled. "How could that happen? We wouldn't run into any wild wolves. Let's go home first!"

Liu Su'e took her basket, and Zhou Fusheng took Zhou Qingyan's. "What is this stuff?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "This is He Shou Wu, a medicinal herb."

Liu Su'e looked at her. "Daughter, how do you know so much? Can this be sold?"

Zhou Wanwan nodded. "Yes, we can sell it!"

Liu Su'e looked at the dead log in her hand. "What's that thing for? Firewood?"

Zhou Wanwan blinked. "Mother, this is agarwood. It's worth a lot of money."

"What? How much could that kind of wood be worth? Don't get carried away, girl."

"It really is valuable. We can just go to town and ask." Zhou Wanwan had a mind of her own, so how would Liu Su'e and Zhou Fusheng dare say anything?

Zhou Wanwan went straight to Lin Shouyi, who took them to town in his ox cart.

Liu Su'e sighed. "Girl, we could have come first thing tomorrow morning, but you just had to trouble Lin Shouyi. How embarrassing is that?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at her. "Mother, early tomorrow morning, a lot of people will come along with us. It wouldn't be good if they saw it."

Liu Su'e sighed and said:

"You're far too cautious, girl. What does it matter?

"I don't even know what you've dug up. How could these things possibly be worth money? Children, honestly..."

Zhou Wanwan didn't explain further. She just kept looking for a medicine shop. At last, she found a rather grand-looking one and walked in. "Boss, do you buy medicinal herbs here?"

When the shop assistant saw that she was a five-year-old child, he laughed out loud. "You little brat, you even know what medicinal herbs are? Bring them over and let us have a look!"