It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Song Zhi thought about it for a long time but couldn't think of any suitable excuse. She could only try what Grandma suggested and use the excuse of doing snack business to buy some glutinous rice and try to make some food.

Now that she can lead her family to make money by selling herbal medicine, I think her grandmother will not refuse her small request.

She first made up her mind, and when she found the right opportunity, she proposed it to her grandmother.

After resolving the worries in her heart, Song Zhi's brain slowly relaxed and she fell into a sound sleep.

.......

After resting for half an hour, Song Zhi got up and prepared to go up the mountain.

There are many snakes and insects in the mountains, so it is best to wrap your exposed feet and ankles tightly.

Her pants were almost all a bit too short.

The first time, she didn't care due to the situation, but this time when she went up the mountain, she had to take precautions.

Because of the need to pay taxes, every household in Xiaohezi Village has to weave hemp twine.

The spun hemp yarn can be used to weave cloth by oneself, or exchanged for cloth from people who have looms.

The Song family didn't have a loom, so they had to exchange the hemp thread for cloth.

So she used new cloth to bind her legs, but Song Zhi was reluctant to do so.

She told her grandmother and found a pair of patched trousers and cut them into strips.

She tied up her exposed legs, sprinkled some medicine powder for the day, and went up the mountain to collect herbs.

Seeing this, Mrs. Wu immediately expressed her desire to go up the mountain with them.

"I'm going too, I'm going too!" said the aunt-in-law quickly.

The children playing in the yard saw that the adults were going up the mountain, and they all clamored to follow them.

The child’s idea was very simple. He thought that he could exchange herbs for money, and if he had money, he wouldn’t have to go hungry.

Song Zhi is not familiar with the environment in the mountains yet, so it is impossible for her to take several children up the mountain.

Apparently, Wu also thought so, and she instructed the oldest child, Song An, to look after his younger siblings at home.

He put on the backpack and went up the mountain with his granddaughter.

Song Zhi distributed the remaining cloth strips to her grandmother and aunt, and asked them to tie their ankles according to her instructions and sprinkle snake-repellent powder on their legs. Then the three of them went up the mountain.

Unlike yesterday when she was looking for herbs near the mountains, this time Song Zhi was well protected. With someone accompanying her, she dared to go deeper into the jungle.

Along the way, whenever Song Zhi discovered some herbs, she would stop and introduce them to the two of them.

Among these herbs, Toad Grass and Three-branch Nine-leaf Grass have the most distinctive appearance.

After the two of them dug a few times by themselves, there was no need to look for Song Zhi to confirm again.

If you see it, you can pick it yourself.

Perhaps because she went deeper today, Song Zhi discovered some new herbs, such as fangfeng, plantain, and wormwood...

But due to lack of a good excuse, she only chose a kind of Artemisia capillaris that was easy to dig.

Even though she was so careful, Mrs. Wu still asked a few questions when she saw the unfamiliar herbs in her granddaughter's backpack.

Song Zhi's explanation was reasonable. There were a lot of these things and they were well classified. Next time, they would bring them to the doctor for a look. If they were medicinal herbs, they would make a profit. If they were not, it wouldn't take much effort anyway.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wu nodded repeatedly, thinking that her granddaughter's suggestion was very good, so she followed her granddaughter's example and dug some of the Artemisia capillaris when she saw it.

It had only been two hours since they entered the mountain, and before they knew it, the three of them had filled their backpacks to the brim.

When they went down the mountain, both the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law had smiles on their faces. Mrs. Wu felt even more energetic. Her body, which had felt extremely heavy before, now felt a lot lighter.

Because her grandfather was a hunter, the Song family was built at the foot of the mountain at the end of the village.

The three of them came down from the mountain and no longer had to avoid the gazes of the villagers.

Song Zhi was not idle after returning home. She sorted the medicinal herbs in the basket and hung them out to dry.

When a few children saw this, they came forward curiously to help.

In a short while, the herbs in the backpack covered half of the yard.

Song Zhi couldn't help but suggest, "Grandma, let's chop some bamboo tomorrow and make a few layers of drying racks. That way, it won't take up too much space."

Mrs. Wu nodded. "Okay, there's no need to go tomorrow. Your aunt and I will go after dinner. I'm currently making some bamboo water, which I find very delicious!"

Song Zhi was a little worried about her grandmother's health. She had been busy like a top today, and even had to work after dinner. Song Zhi wanted to advise her, "Grandma, there's no rush to work on the drying racks. Don't overwork yourself!"

Yang was also afraid that her mother-in-law would get sick again. The family couldn't afford another patient. She hurriedly said, "Mother, I'll be gone. You can take a rest!"

After saying that, without giving anyone time to react, he took the knife and left.

"Hey, this guy is always impatient."

After everyone left, Mrs. Wu had no choice but to take the children with her to prepare dinner.

Children from farming families become responsible for the household at an early age, and they are already familiar with washing pots and lighting fires in the kitchen.

During this time, seeing that there was nothing else Song Zhi could help with, she went to the bamboo forest and helped move the bamboo back. After running back and forth twice, she was almost done.

After a busy day, Song Zhi was exhausted. She took her younger brother and sister-in-law to wash up and go to bed early.

That night, she slept particularly soundly. The sunlight outside slanted into the house through the window lattice and fell right on her face. Only then did Song Zhi slowly wake up.

I stretched with my eyes closed, and the place where my hand reached was empty.

Her consciousness returned at this moment.

Song Zhi yawned and got up.

Under the pear tree in the courtyard, the younger brother was leaning against the table to eat breakfast. When he saw Song Zhi come out, two shallow dimples appeared on his fleshy face, and he called out sweetly, "Sister!"

Song Zhi stepped forward and rubbed her younger brother's head, "Where's the second sister?"

Song Kang pointed to the main house where Wu lived, "Grandma, house."

Although the little guy is already three years old, he can't speak fluently. Everyone in the family thinks this is a weakness, but Song Zhi knows that it is due to insufficient nutrition intake in daily life, which leads to developmental delay.

Song Zhi nodded and said kindly, "Sister, go check it out. You should eat well."

Seeing him nod obediently, Song Zhi walked towards the main room.

As soon as Song Zhi entered the room, she saw Wu sitting up with difficulty, being helped by her younger sister.

Song Zhi's heart sank slightly. She hurried over and helped the man sit up against the headboard. "Grandma, what happened to you? Is your cough getting worse again?"

Mrs. Wu waved her hands repeatedly, "After drinking the bamboo water, my cough has gotten much better!"

"I'm getting old after all. I strained my waist yesterday in the mountains. I didn't feel it at first, but after a nap, I couldn't even stand up. It's nothing serious. I just need to rest for a while!"

Song Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, but then said helplessly, "Grandma, you should have told me yesterday. If I had applied hot water or some mugwort, it might not have been as serious as it is today!"

"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry about it!"

Song Zhi understood too well the mentality of the older generation. Her grandmother was the same in the past. Whenever she was sick or in pain, she would always say it was okay.

Song Zhi felt upset, so she asked her younger sister to look after grandma while she went outside to look for mugwort.