I traveled back to ancient times, but I was able to lie down and relax.

Sure enough, the next afternoon.

Fang stormed back from outside, and immediately launched into a tirade against Liu Nanjia: "You little slut, what nonsense are you spouting outside? You're telling the villagers that I abused you, that I beat you so badly you couldn't get out of bed, that you were almost dead? You weren't just unable to get out of bed! I was only trying to let you rest in the room! Every one of you is always full of energy and vitality!"

He was about to hit someone when he said that.

How could Liu Nanjia stand there and let her hit her? She put down what she was holding and dodged, deliberately heading towards the courtyard gate.

He ran while shouting, "Don't hit me, Auntie! I didn't say anything!"

Seeing that she still dared to dodge, Fang became even angrier. She picked up a broom from the ground and was about to chase after her to hit her. "How did they know if you didn't tell them? They're really good at pretending. When they asked you to fetch water, you said you were afraid of being seen. You even wore a headscarf to wash clothes. I bet you took it off as soon as you left the house, as if you were afraid no one would see you!"

Liu Nanjia thought to himself, "That's right. How could I, an injured person, possibly cover up for you hitting someone?"

He said, "The headscarf fell off by accident. I didn't do it on purpose. I already said I fell by myself. I don't know how they made it out to be like that."

They continued running outside on their legs.

Because Fang didn't expect her to run away, she used to just stand there and let Fang beat and scold her. If she was a step too late, she wouldn't be able to catch up.

Standing at the gate of the courtyard, he cursed loudly: "You bastard, you've grown some guts now, you dare to run away? If you're so tough, don't come back, or I'll beat you to death."

He cursed a few times, and seeing that he had attracted the attention of the villagers, he went back to his house in a huff, afraid of being seen.

Liu Nanjia ran all the way to the mountain north of the village and found Liu Yanxi chopping firewood and Liu Sirou picking wild vegetables.

Yes, if they hadn't been outside, she wouldn't have run away so readily.

And I specifically told them yesterday to stay outside as much as possible.

The rumors in the village will definitely reach Auntie's ears, and something like this will definitely happen.

Seeing that she was panting heavily, Liu Yanxi asked, "What's wrong? Did your aunt beat you again? Are you alright?"

Liu Nanjia took a breath and said, "It's okay, I ran away as soon as she came in, and I wasn't hit."

Liu Yanxi was relieved upon hearing this and replied, "That's good, go and rest."

After resting for a while, Liu Nanjia pulled her brother and sister to start looking for herbs, which was a way she had come up with to make money over the past few days.

There's no other way for them; given their current situation, they can only earn money through labor.

Without capital, one cannot make any big moves, such as selling food, which is something that time travelers often do, but that is no longer possible.

How could the Fang family possibly let them use anything from their home? They would rather not even let them eat.

"Sister, can we find any herbs?" the younger sister, Liu Sirou, asked.

"Just keep looking. If you find it, great. If you don't, consider it an opportunity to relax. It's better than staying home and getting scolded," Liu Nanjia replied.

Liu Yanxi, carrying the firewood he had chopped, led the way for the two sisters.

Dushui Village is located in a hilly area. To the north of the village are several small hills, and further north is a continuous mountain range. When villagers go up the mountains to cut firewood or dig for wild vegetables and fruits, they mainly stay on those small hills and dare not venture deeper into the mountains.

The three siblings slowly searched the mountain, not letting go of anything they could gather. Because their mother had been in poor health and often took medicine, and their father had read some medical books, they knew a little about common herbs.

Now that it's not the busy farming season, there's less time to go to the fields, so many women and children in the village go up the mountain to pick whatever they can find. As a result, the plants that grow in obvious places have long been picked clean.

Today, Liu Nanjia and his companions were quite lucky; they found a small patch of honeysuckle, the kind that is often used to make tea in later generations, which has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying.

They also found a piece of Poria cocos under the roots of a large pine tree.

All three were very happy. This piece should weigh about a pound. Liu Sirou carefully put it into her basket of wild vegetables, and Liu Nanjia reached out to take it and continued walking inside.

Then I found a few more nettles. I picked them carefully, using my clothes as a barrier, because nettles can cause rashes if they come into contact with my skin.

There's also black nightshade, a small, dark-colored fruit.

As dinner time approached, Liu Yanxi hesitated about whether to go back.

I'm afraid if I go back, my aunt will still be angry and I'll continue to be beaten; if I don't go back, I'm afraid I won't have anything to eat.

Liu Nanjia said, "They've probably already started cooking by now. If I don't go back to cook, then there won't be any for us. Even if we've calmed down after that incident, we'll still get beaten up if we go back now. We picked a lot of wild fruit earlier, so let's just make do with that."

Liu Yanxi thought it made sense and agreed.

Just then, I heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes next to me. I turned around and saw a wild rabbit.

Liu Nanjia was overjoyed; today must be their lucky day!

She quickly tugged at Liu Yanxi's sleeve and whispered, "Brother, Wild Rabbit, our dinner is ready!"

The brother and sister worked together to catch the rabbit.

Liu Yanxi used a sickle to chop wood and barely managed to process the rabbit, then washed it clean with spring water from the mountain.

Liu Nanjia took out a flint and used dry grass and branches to start a fire and began roasting the rabbit.

She secretly took the flint and put it on her person while cooking yesterday.

I originally wanted to take some salt, but salt was too expensive at this time, and even more expensive in their remote place, so they were watched very closely, and it would be easy to be discovered if I took even a little.

While grilling the meat, Liu Nanjia squeezed some wild fruit juice onto it and tore off a few mint leaves to sprinkle on top, which was just a rough attempt to season it.

By the time the meat was cooked, the three of them were craving it; they hadn't eaten meat in ages.

Liu Yanxi divided the rabbit legs among his two younger sisters, one for each of them.

Liu Nanjia wanted to offer a polite refusal, but was firmly rejected, so she had no choice but to give up.

To be honest, the meat wasn't very tasty. The fire was hastily built, so the cooking time wasn't well controlled, and there were no seasonings, so the flavor was quite bland.

The siblings were still very satisfied with the meal; for them, it was a very rare treat.

They ate meat, and then a few bites of wild fruit.

We drink spring water directly; it's unpolluted and tastes even better than mineral water.

Liu Nanjia said her plan: "We'll go see Aunt Wang in a bit and ask her to help us sell these herbs."

Li, the village doctor, would collect some medicinal herbs to treat people's illnesses. If he had any left over, he would process them and sell them in town. Processed herbs were naturally more expensive, which was also a source of income for him.

“There are too many people in the village, and if someone sees us, we won’t be able to keep our money. Let Aunt Wang sell it, and we’ll keep the money with her for now. We’ll give her a share of the profits as payment for her labor.”

"Service fee?" Liu Yanxi was puzzled when he heard this unfamiliar term.

"It's just wages." Liu Nanjia realized inwardly that she had slipped out the wrong thing.

“Of course, we can’t let people do things for us for nothing.” Liu Yanxi agreed. “Aunt Wang is a kind person and often takes care of us. It’s no problem to leave the money with her.”