Uncle Nine, where are you running to?

When Jingzhi opened the door, she saw Wencai in the pavilion outside the yard. In the open space in the middle of the yard, there were some unfinished chairs, but Lin Jiu was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is your master?"

Wencai's words were elusive, and after a long while he said:

"But, maybe he went to the bathroom."

"Oh, do you want to go to the back mountain with me? Didn't your master tell you to move around more? I don't need you to do anything. I'll just go catch a chicken and be back."

Wencai scratched his head, looked at the front hall silently, and suddenly nodded in response.

Jingzhi raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking that both the master and the disciple were very strange today, so he went to the kitchen to get a basket and a cloth bag.

After the two of them left the yard, Lin Jiu, who had been hiding behind the door of the front hall, stood up and stared at the room where the infant spirit was placed from afar.

After a long time, he murmured softly:

"There are too many to store. It's time to send some to Zhe Gu."

……

Back mountain.

Jingzhi had no time to stroll around slowly. She exuded her aura of coercion as she walked and searched. Wencai felt as if there was a heavy pressure within three feet of her that pushed him out. He took a few steps back, staying neither far nor close to her, and walked slowly behind her.

"Jingzhi, this is how you catch snakes, right?"

Jingzhi was fiddling around with a stick, not even bothering to look back, saying:

"Yeah, why do you think I can be so fast every time?"

"Tear--"

She frowned and looked back. Oops, a piece of her skirt was torn by thorns.

This skirt was made for her by Erdi.

Jingzhi squatted down and pinched the piece of clothing with some heartache, thinking, this is the only piece of clothing she has. Although it can be kept clean, it is broken. What should she do?

She suddenly turned around and asked, "Wencai, how much is your monthly salary?"

Wencai felt a little embarrassed. His money was all kept by his master, so how could he know how much he had.

He thought for a moment before slowly saying:

"Every time the master takes a job, he divides the money into four parts, one for each of the three people, and then the other for the public to use for daily expenses.

This month, we accepted Mr. Ren's order, but... Tingting probably won't pay."

Thinking of this, he didn't know whether he felt sorry for Tingting's going back or for his lost monthly salary. He lowered his head and said nothing more.

Jingzhi sighed and stuffed the scraps of cloth in his hand into his arms, thinking that if he went back and sewed it with white thread, it wouldn't be too noticeable.

She thought that economic freedom was really important.

Do you want to go out and get some work?

After all, chasing an old man also costs money.

Looks like I still have to go to town...

Just as she was thinking about what kind of work was suitable for her, the two of them had walked deep into the forest without her knowing.

Just when she thought she would return empty-handed today, her stick suddenly felt soft.

Jingzhi looked down and suddenly saw a chicken looking at each other in surprise.

Oh, she was the one who looked at it.

The chicken was so scared that it had buried its head in its belly and its whole body was shaking.

Jingzhi caught it, thinking that it would not dare to run away, and put it in the backpack behind him. As soon as he closed the lid, his eyes were attracted by seven or eight eggs in the grass.

Wow, what a bonus!

She called Wencai, took the empty basket from his hand, picked up the eggs one by one, and put them in carefully.

As soon as I looked up, my eyes were suddenly attracted by a touch of red under the big tree in front of me.

Red fruits, palmate compound leaves, whorled at the top of the stem.

It’s... ginseng!

Jingzhi's eyes lit up, and she returned the basket of eggs to Wencai before quickly walking over.

She didn't bring a medicinal hoe today, so she had to dig carefully with the stick in her hand, for fear of breaking the ginseng roots.

As she planed, she thought:

Yes, she learned a lot of medicinal herbs from Erdi in her previous life, and she can collect them and sell them.

She had learned a lot about preparing medicinal materials in her previous life. Isn't this a match for her major?

Anyway, she was not afraid of the snakes, insects, rats, ants and wild beasts in the forest.

It’s just a small amount of money. Now you have it.

As she thought about it, her eyes became curved with joy, and the ginseng in the soil slowly revealed its full appearance.

Maybe it's because this is deep in the forest and very few people come here, but the ginseng has lush roots and a thick trunk. She estimated...it must have taken hundreds of years to grow to this size.

By the way, this plant has grown red fruits. Are there any around it as well?

She simply took out the piece of cloth from her arms, gently wrapped the ginseng in her hand and put it into the cloth bag she carried with her, then bent down to search carefully.

After searching for several trees without finding anything, she sighed and thought to herself that one should not be too greedy.

Just as she was thinking this, a little bird flew by in the sky and a red fruit fell down and hit the back of her hand.

She looked down at the fruit that had fallen to the ground.

Wow, it looks familiar. Isn’t this the ginseng fruit?

That's... a stick bird?!

Catch up!

In order not to scare the bird, she put away her imposing manner, tiptoed, and followed the bird closely. After flying for a while, the bird had returned to its nest.

Jingzhi landed on the tree trunk and looked around.

Suddenly, she flew towards a dark place, and without saying a word to Wencai who was catching up with her, she squatted down and started digging.

"Sister Jingzhi...you are so lucky."

Okay, he called me sister too.

Jingzhi had no time to care about him. She fiddled with it for a long time before finally picking up two ginseng plants about seventy years old. She sighed softly and said:

"These two are not very good, but they should still sell for quite a bit of money, right?"

"...Let's go, it's dark here."

Wencai looked around. The trees were all tall and lush, and the sunlight was difficult to penetrate. It was July, but the air around him felt damp and cool. He couldn't help but shiver and took a few steps closer to Jingzhi.

"You, when will you be brave enough? Let's go!"

The two of them walked along the way. Jingzhi no longer flew. She searched slowly. If she came across rare medicinal herbs along the way, she would pick them up. In this way, they picked and searched for food along the way. In the end, both of their backpacks were full.

She later found two pheasants, a fat rabbit, a handful of chicken mushrooms, and a small bag of mushrooms.

"Hey, Jingzhi, do you want to eat chicken or rabbit tonight?"

"You've all been tired these past few days. Roast a chicken, stew one, and keep the rabbit for a few more days."

"Great!"

……

When the two returned to the yard, they saw several unfamiliar faces wearing black cloth.

"Uncle Jiu, they..."

Lin Jiu saw her coming back, silently put down the pipe in his hand, and slowly explained:

"Tingting asked them to come. She said it was her grandfather's fault and she felt bad about it, so she asked them to come and repair the house."

Jingzhi said "oh" twice and looked at the people working on carpentry in the yard with some curiosity.

Just then, an uncle with a handsome face saw her. He lifted the towel from around his neck and wiped his hands, then walked to the corner, took out a package and handed it to her.

"You must be Miss Jingzhi, right? My young lady asked me to bring this to you. Please accept it."

Jingzhi took the package blankly and asked softly:

"What's this?"

The uncle wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile:

"As servants, we have no right to interfere in the affairs of the young lady. Please accept it. I will go to work."

Jingzhi nodded at him, "...Tell your young lady thank you for me."

"Ok."

After saying that, he walked back and focused on the mortise and tenon structure of the table legs he was working on.

Jingzhi put the basket aside, put the package into the room first, and then took the basket to the kitchen.

It seems that we have to kill the rabbit. With so many people here, we have to give them something to eat, right?

……

At noon, the servants finished their work and were about to go home, but Jingzhi stuffed a big bag of steamed buns and a box of spicy rabbit cubes into the hands of the middle-aged man.

"Take it for your journey, I won't keep you any longer."

“…Thank you, thank you.”

The middle-aged man was a little shocked. After all, even if his young lady had been to the provincial capital, the attitude towards them was the same as that of a master towards his servants.

And this young lady seemed to put them on the same level, which made him feel a little emotional.

No wonder...the young lady kept thinking about her after she returned.

……

"Squeak!"

Jingzhi pushed open the red door, holding a steaming, fragrant roast chicken.

Because she was afraid that it would be difficult for the children to hold it, she cut it into small pieces and filled a whole plate.

As if they knew it was her who was coming, before the door was closed tightly, the baby spirits appeared behind her again, chirping like little sparrows crying for food.

"Sister, sister, you really brought it!"

"Sister, it smells so good, can I eat it?"

"Suck it~"

Jingzhi placed the plate on the table, looked at their spirits and said hesitantly:

"How...are you going to eat?"

The little boy took a deep breath, and suddenly there was a piece of chicken in his hand. "Just eat it like this."

As he spoke, he began to eat with relish.

Quietly, he turned around to look at the pot of chicken.

That’s not right, not a single piece is missing.

Hearing the chewing sounds behind her, she looked back and saw that every child was eating chicken in their hands.

She opened her mouth slightly, looked at the child, and then looked at the plate of chicken that was still intact.

"you……"

The little boy licked his fingers with satisfaction and said:

"That's how you eat it. If you people in the mortal world eat that plate of chicken, it won't taste good."

Jingzhi said "oh" and took out a bowl of egg custard from behind her back with her other hand. She pointed at the little kid sitting on the ground with his saliva dripping all over his body and said:

"Then how does he eat? He doesn't seem to be able to eat by himself yet."

The little boy looked back, frowned, and then controlled the three incense sticks on the table against the wall to float over and said to Jingzhi:

"Light the incense and stick it on the egg custard. It will become yin food, and he can eat it directly."

Jingzhi was a little surprised. She said "oh" twice and did it immediately.

Looking at Jingzhi who was feeding egg custard to the youngest child, the little boy was no longer carefree, but instead felt a little envious.

He came over and tugged at Jingzhi's sleeve and said:

"Sister, can't you be my mother?"

Jingzhi fed the last bite of egg custard into the little boy's mouth, wiped his mouth, and touched his round belly. Then he turned back to look at the little boy, shrugged lightly and said:

"I can't help it. The person I love doesn't love me. You little brats don't understand. I can only have a child with him if he loves me too."

The little boy did not give up, he asked:

"Who do you love? We can help you!"

Jingzhi turned her head silently and looked towards the wall, as if she wanted to see outside through the wall.

"He is... a stubborn old man."

"Uncle Nine?!"

The little boy looked constipated and took two steps back.