Chapter 6: Outrageous Prices
Whether the old lady believed her or not, Wen Yao had already said what needed to be said. Given their current relationship with the old family, repairing it wouldn’t happen overnight.
After handing the money to Luo Shi, Wen Yao reminded Datou to behave before slinging a basket on her back and leaving with Wen Jun.
As soon as they left, Li Shi came over, staring curiously at the five copper coins in Luo Shi’s hand.
“Mother, what’s gotten into big brother? What’s he up to now?”
Luo Shi clenched the coins in her palm and shot her a glare. “None of your business. Go feed the chickens. You talk too much.”
With that, she took Datou’s hand and turned back into the house.
Li Shi pursed her lips and muttered, “We contribute to this household too, you know. I just don’t want him coming back to freeload again.”
Luo Shi didn’t stop walking, but she still heard every word. She let out a long, weary sigh. She and her husband had already done more than enough. The others were right—she couldn’t drag down the second and third sons’ families for the sake of the eldest.
Datou heard Li Shi’s words too. He simply squeezed Luo Shi’s hand gently and looked up at her with his big eyes, as if comforting her.
Luo Shi’s expression softened. She felt even more pity for this little grandson. So young, without a mother, and with a father like that—on top of that, he still couldn’t speak. What would become of him in the future?
Meanwhile, the siblings followed the mountain path according to their memory. Halfway up, Wen Yao reluctantly exchanged two steamed buns from the space. They made do with the plain meal, sharing the two buns between them.
Wen Yao swore that once she made some money, she would gorge herself on an extravagant feast for days.
As children of Agricultural Research Institute employees, recognizing plants was second nature to them. They knew what was edible and what wasn’t. However, it was already winter, and this part of the mountain was too close to the village—most of the edible plants had already been foraged.
If they wanted to find anything worthwhile, they’d have to venture deeper into the mountain. But people in the village had always said there were wild beasts lurking in the forest. While most would be hibernating in winter, there was always a chance of encountering something dangerous.
So, they could only search around the outer areas.
“There’s a pine forest over there. Let’s check it out and see if we can gather some pine nuts. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll find some mushrooms too,” Wen Yao pointed toward a nearby grove.
Wen Jun chuckled. “You think mushrooms grow in winter?”
Wen Yao burst out laughing. “Of course! My mushrooms grow in winter.”
There had been an auntie at the Agricultural Research Institute who specialized in fungi. She had been particularly fond of Wen Yao and would always give her mushroom-growing kits to play with. Thanks to that, Wen Yao’s house had mushrooms growing year-round—summer, winter, it didn’t matter.
Wen Jun seemed to recall those memories as well and smiled. Chatting and reminiscing, they soon reached the pine forest.
Wen Yao knew that squirrels loved to stash food inside tree hollows, so she specifically searched those spots. Sure enough, she found quite a few pine cones and wild hickory nuts.
“I bet these squirrels never expected their winter stash to get raided,” Wen Jun said, but his hands didn’t stop moving as he helped.
Once Wen Yao had collected enough, she said, “Let’s not take too much. Just enough for ourselves. These won’t keep us full anyway, and if we take everything, the squirrels won’t survive the winter.”
More importantly, Wen Yao wanted to see if she could get some achievement points out of it.
After placing some of the pine nuts and hickory nuts into the space, she successfully unlocked them as items. However, the system only awarded one achievement point for each.
One point each. Two points total.
Not even enough to exchange for a bag of salt.
“What a scam. It charges me modern prices to buy things but barely gives me anything for selling them.” Wen Yao couldn’t help but complain. In the novel, the female lead had racked up points in the tens of thousands with barely any effort. Why was hers so stingy?
However, she quickly noticed something. Whether she placed one pine nut or a whole handful into the space, the reward was still the same. Without hesitation, she only submitted a single nut and kept the rest for herself.
Wen Jun, on the other hand, was more open-minded about it. “This stuff was never meant to be a main resource. And since the space originally belonged to the female lead, it makes sense for there to be some changes now that it’s yours. Try this one.”
He handed something to Wen Yao.
She examined it. “Looks like a tree root. What is it?”
“Tianmendong. I found some over there and dug a few up. Try putting it in the space.”
Although Wen Jun was a Western medicine major, one of his college roommates came from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Their dorm had often studied medical texts together, and Wen Jun had memorized Compendium of Materia Medica effortlessly. So, recognizing medicinal herbs was easy for him.
Without hesitation, Wen Yao tested it in the space. Given how stingy this system was, she broke off the smallest possible piece before putting it into the recycling bin. A notification popped up:
Tianmendong (Asparagus cochinchinensis), also known as Three Hundred Whips, Wu Bamboo, Silk Winter, Tiger Tail Root… medicinal properties… Achievement Points: +5
Balance: 7
Not bad. She actually made a decent profit this time.
Wen Yao stored the rest in her basket.
“Bro, let’s dig up more! If it’s worth five points, we can probably sell it for some money in town. Let’s gather as much as we can and sell it later.”
Wen Jun nodded, and the two of them got to work. Wen Jun focused on finding the herbs while Wen Yao dug them up.
After clearing out that area, they also gathered some firewood before heading back down the mountain.
By the time they reached the old house, Datou had already eaten lunch with the family. Luo Shi glanced at the two of them—covered in dirt, their baskets filled with goods—and a rare hint of approval flashed in her eyes. She didn’t say much, but when they left, she handed each of them a small vegetable pancake.
It was only palm-sized, but something was better than nothing.
Wen Yao immediately clung to Luo Shi’s arm and shamelessly acted sweet. “Thanks, Grandma! I knew you still cared about us. When I make money, I’ll buy you some nice fabric for new clothes.”
Luo Shi stiffened at the unexpected physical contact. None of the younger generation had ever dared to act this affectionate with her before. She was so caught off guard that she didn’t even react in time. By the time she snapped out of it, Wen Yao had already taken Datou’s hand and was waving goodbye.
As they walked away, Wen Yao stole a glance back at the old lady’s reaction, the corners of her lips curling up slightly.
Catching people off guard is key—it’ll help her get used to this sooner.
“Let’s go, Datou! Time to go home!” Another step toward reconciliation with the old house!
Back home, the siblings got busy again—gathering stones, setting up a makeshift stove, and getting things in order. Datou obediently sat on the doorstep, munching on pine nuts and hickory nuts as he watched them work. He didn’t cry or fuss at all.
They boiled water, cleaned the herbs, and left them out to dry. They also gave the house a thorough cleaning. By the time they finished, the sky had already darkened.
When Wen Xiuyi finally returned, the first thing he saw was his three children sitting in the courtyard, huddled around a crackling fire. A pot of water hung over the flames, steaming gently. The warm glow of the fire illuminated their small faces, turning them rosy.
At that moment, all his exhaustion from the day vanished.
“My children, I’m home.”
