Chapter 10: Illustrated Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine
Ning Xiyue only wished that she could receive more “big gift packs” like this one — they truly warmed her heart.
After walking around the county once and completing two sign-ins, she had already figured out a bit of a pattern.
Although the sign-in locations were randomly triggered, they were all at prominent landmarks. And except for the sanitary pads, everything she received from the sign-ins were items from this era.
Most importantly, everything she got from these locations happened to be things she needed right now.
It seemed to her that the money in her hands could be saved for now — she didn’t need to spend anything on supplies for going to the countryside. She could just sign in at various locations and get everything directly. In particular, if she signed in several times at the Supply Station, the “life gift packs” she got there were exactly to her liking.
At this point, she only had four sign-in chances left. Looking at the vast Yue County, there were bound to be many sign-in locations. They felt like bright, shiny Great Unity notes (100-yuan bills) dangling right in front of her eyes, tempting her. Her heart itched like it was being scratched by a cat.
“System, let’s make a deal — can you transfer my noon and evening sign-in chances for me to use now? And also, can you change the daily three sign-ins into something I can claim at any time I want during the day, as long as I’ve checked in once?”
Having only three sign-ins a day and receiving them in batches was too torturous. Being able to claim them whenever she wanted that day would be so much nicer.
No. 3333’s mechanical voice sounded in her mind:
“Yes. As long as the host uses up all her current sign-in chances today, she will be granted one opportunity to change the sign-in schedule.”
“Deal.” Ning Xiyue had already planned to do that. She wasn’t going home until she had used up all her sign-in chances.
She recalled the sign-in locations she had come across earlier on her walk.
Finally, based on distance and the likely rewards, she picked four places to sign in.
First location: the credit cooperative.
Ding! [Sign-in successful at the Credit Cooperative. You have received a ‘Ticket Gift Pack.’]
Without stopping for a second, she hurried to the second location, the state-run restaurant.
Ding! [Sign-in successful at Yue County State-Run Restaurant. You have received ten large meat buns and a plate of braised pork.]
Right after that, she rushed to the third location, the textile factory.
Ding! [Sign-in successful at Yue County Textile Factory. You have received one bolt of army-green Dacron fabric.]
After signing in for food, clothing, and daily necessities, she headed straight to a place that would be indispensable in the countryside — the post office.
Ding! [Sign-in successful at Yue County Post Office. You have received 100 stamps.]
With each sign-in reward she received, the smile on Ning Xiyue’s face grew wider. It felt like she was picking up money off the ground everywhere she went — so this was what it felt like to “earn money lying down.” It was so satisfying.
She found a quiet spot nearby and began inspecting the items one by one.
Opening the ticket gift pack from the credit cooperative almost made her grin split her face.
Inside were all sorts of tickets — and they were nationally valid: grain tickets, meat tickets, cloth tickets, sugar tickets, oil tickets, and ration coupons — there was a little bit of everything.
The giant meat buns from the state-run restaurant certainly lived up to the word giant — each one was nearly as big as half her face and very filling. The plate of braised pork was equally generous, with a delicious color, aroma, and flavor. It looked mouthwatering.
After making sure no one was around, she took out a piece of the meat to taste. Hmm… fatty but not greasy, soft, tender, and sweet — absolutely delicious. With that sauce over rice, she could easily eat two big bowls. Perfect — no need to cook lunch today.
The fabric was enough to make several sets of clothes and pants. With the stamps, she wouldn’t have to worry about mailing letters — she could even save a few for her collection.
Looking at the wonderful rewards from her four sign-ins, Ning Xiyue was already itching to continue and find more places to sign in.
Since she had now used up all four sign-in chances, she quickly opened the system panel and changed the sign-in schedule as planned. After claiming the remaining two sign-in chances for the day, she now had two more in hand.
She clutched those two chances tightly and ran to the next sign-in spot: the county people’s hospital, which she considered the most important of all.
Humans eat grains and drink water — it’s inevitable they’ll get sick. Medicine was hard to come by in the countryside, so she had to stock up. Even if she didn’t sign in for anything good, she was planning to buy some medicine there anyway.
At the hospital gate, she began the sign-in.
“Sign in.”
Ding! [County People’s Hospital is a special sign-in location. The host must assume the specific pose of The Thinker to complete the sign-in.]
Ning Xiyue was stunned. There was an extra requirement here? But she didn’t hesitate — medicine was a necessity for life in the countryside, and nothing was more important than life itself.
Following the system’s instructions, she squatted slightly, hunched her back, propped a clenched fist under her chin, and posed like The Thinker.
Passersby glanced at her pitifully and shook their heads.
“Poor thing… has her brain gone fuzzy from the pain? Why is she acting crazy here? Such a shame, so young and already out of it. What a pity!”
Ning Xiyue: “…”
Inside, she screamed at the system:
“System, hurry up and take the picture! The longer I do this, the worse my social anxiety gets!”
Ding! [Sign-in successful at County People’s Hospital. You have received a medical kit and an Illustrated Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine.]
Hearing the notification, Ning Xiyue quickly used her mind to check the medical kit. It was well-stocked — as long as she didn’t get seriously ill, the medicine inside could treat most conditions. To her surprise, it even contained a special scar-removal ointment.
She felt a small wave of emotion — she hadn’t expected the system to care about the scar on her forehead.
Finally, her gaze fell on the Illustrated Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine in her inventory.
Opening the first page, she saw a black-and-white illustration of licorice, along with its description and the symptoms it treated.
The next page introduced another herb — Astragalus.
The rest of the book continued in the same way, introducing more types of herbs.
After skimming through it, she found that the first half of the book focused on identifying various medicinal herbs, while the second half analyzed common illnesses and their treatments.
The whole guide was written in a simple, easy-to-understand way. Even someone like her, who had never studied traditional Chinese medicine, could now easily identify herbs and understand the case analyses based on the book’s explanations.
It was a treasure of a book — she had just unlocked a new skill: Chinese Herbal Medicine.
This was probably the most valuable item she had ever received from a sign-in.
She also realized that locations requiring a special pose tended to yield special items.
Satisfied, she set the book down. As expected, the sign-in location that made her do a special action was worth it. Now she no longer had to worry about running out of medicine — and even if the Western medicine ran out, she could try picking herbs and treating illnesses herself. She had to study this book.
If nothing else, the countryside had plenty of wild herbs growing in the mountains.
She decided to save her last sign-in chance for home so she could get some industrial coupons, which were very useful — many industrial products could only be purchased with them.
Glancing at the supplies in her inventory, then at the untouched money and tickets, Ning Xiyue felt deeply satisfied. She continued searching for other sign-in locations, pulling out a small notebook to record them. This would help her plan her future sign-ins more effectively.
There were still many places left in the county, and she was determined to sign in at as many as possible over the next few days. It would also help her gain experience for signing in at other places later.
After all, once she went to the countryside, there would still be towns and counties there — she could sign in at similar places too.
But once she left for the countryside, she might not have as much free time to explore the sign-in system — nor as many opportunities as she had now.
