The Blessed Farm Girl Has a Spatial Storage
Chapter 75: Collecting Herbal Medicine

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Collecting Herbal Medicine

After finishing the one-point red, Zhao Zhitong sat in the courtyard with her two brothers and began to recite the sentences taught by their Teacher today.

When they were tired of reciting, Sun Mei washed the three little ones and put them to bed.

Zhao Zhitong was having trouble falling asleep. She lay in her quilt, eyes wide open, looking left and right.

Then, her consciousness entered the space and visited her polygonum multiflorum.

As expected, the time flow in that patch of land within the space was very fast. Now, the polygonum multiflorum had grown considerably. Grandpa Bai said that in a month and a half, it could be dug up and sold for money.

Zhao Zhitong squatted to the side, admiring the polygonum multiflorum in her space, thinking of the shiny silver, and found herself smiling gleefully.

So, Sun Mei and Zhao Dong, who had washed up and gone to bed, saw their daughter staring at the ceiling and giggling.

Zhao Dong watched for a moment, chuckling heartily. "Hey," he said to Sun Mei, "look at our silly girl. I wonder what she’s thinking about to make her look so happy."

Sun Mei gave him an exasperated look. "Isn’t she your daughter too?"

Then Zhao Zhitong, whose consciousness had just returned from the space, heard her parents’ conversation. "Huh, Mom," she asked curiously, "am I not Dad’s daughter? Whose daughter am I then?"

Zhao Dong was at a loss for words. He reached out and gently tapped Zhao Zhitong’s little head. "What nonsense are you spouting? If you’re not my daughter, whose daughter could you be? Who else could have such an adorable daughter like you?"

Zhao Zhitong made a funny face at her dad, then quickly burrowed into the quilt.

It was still early, and neither Zhao Dong nor Sun Mei felt sleepy, so they sat on the bed and chatted. Before long, their conversation turned to the two brothers, Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu, who were staying with them.

Sun Mei said, "Those two brothers are still a little reserved. They’re always so cautious, as if they’re afraid we might not want to keep them."

Zhao Dong sighed. "We can’t rush this. It takes time to truly know someone’s heart. Over time, they’ll gradually understand."

Sun Mei nodded and then asked about their savings, "Once we’ve saved enough money, let’s redeem Yaya. The reunion of the three siblings should help them feel better."

Zhao Dong nodded. At that moment, Zhao Zhitong suddenly grabbed Sun Mei’s hand. "Mom," she said, "don’t worry! Once my polygonum multiflorum grows up, we can sell it for lots and lots of money, and then we can bring Sister Yaya home!"

Sun Mei and Zhao Dong were both taken aback, exchanging puzzled glances. "What polygonum multiflorum?" they asked.

Zhao Zhitong blinked. "The polygonum multiflorum in the space, of course!"

So, she told her parents about the Spiritual Spring in the space, how it could be used for cultivation, and how plants grew incredibly fast there.

Sun Mei’s eyes lit up as she listened. She nudged Zhao Dong and said proudly, "See? I told you our daughter might have some golden finger! A farming space! Isn’t that just like in those novels?"

Zhao Dong still looked incredulous. "So, the vegetables in our vegetable garden grew so fast because they were watered with Spiritual Spring water?"

Zhao Zhitong nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes! Spiritual Spring water makes vegetables grow very, very fast, and it also makes them taste delicious!"

This was true; the vegetables from their garden were indeed delicious. Even their maternal grandfather and grandmother’s family had noticed that vegetables from their house, when stir-fried, were exceptionally fragrant, crisp, and sweet.

After a brief, excited discussion, the couple earnestly instructed Zhao Zhitong not to tell anyone about the space. Only after Zhao Zhitong nodded emphatically, promising she wouldn’t tell anyone except her parents, did the couple finally feel at ease.

Zhao Zhitong was still young and didn’t quite understand how to utilize the space, but Sun Mei was different. As an avid bookworm, her mind was already racing. Could she use her daughter’s space to grow things and make money? If things grew faster, wouldn’t the money come in faster too?

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became, so she shared her idea with Zhao Dong.

Zhao Dong nodded. "What you’re saying is plausible. But the space belongs to our daughter; it’s best if she manages it herself. Moreover, we can’t become overly reliant on the space. The appearance of such a miraculous thing is already quite extraordinary and inexplicable. Who knows when it might disappear? We need to have our own means of earning money to live well."

Sun Mei nodded, agreeing with her husband’s reasoning. Besides, they also had to think about future generations. After chatting for a little longer, the couple went to sleep.

「In the following days, time flew by as everyone kept busy. Zhao Zhitong attended school, sun-dried medicinal herbs, and eagerly awaited for her polygonum multiflorum to mature.」

The Stinky Tofu Sun Mei had made previously also proved to be very popular. Although people were initially hesitant to try it—and Mrs. Zheng had even spread rumors on the street that its unpleasant smell meant it could cause illness or even death—over time, people discovered that those who had eaten Stinky Tofu were perfectly fine. Eventually, everyone slowly came to accept that while Stinky Tofu smelled bad, it tasted delicious. Many people fell in love with it, and at times, it even sold better than regular tofu.

「On their next day off, Zhao Zhitong said goodbye to her parents and, carrying a small bamboo basket on her back, set off with her Eldest Uncle on a trip to collect medicinal herbs.」

Medicinal herbs sold in pharmacies usually came from herb collectors or physicians. However, dedicated herb buyers who purchased directly from gatherers were quite rare. Generally, villagers living in the mountains relied on their mountainous surroundings for sustenance, which included collecting some medicinal herbs to sell. However, most mountain villagers couldn’t identify many medicinal herbs. Even if some did, they often didn’t know the proper processing methods. Consequently, the herbs they gathered could only be sold to pharmacies in their raw, unprocessed state. Most pharmacies disliked purchasing unprocessed herbs and would offer extremely low prices for them. Mountain villagers generally couldn’t collect many medicinal herbs at once, and the trip to the county town to sell such small quantities was often not worth the effort. As a result, their lives were quite difficult.

That was when Eldest Uncle appeared. Since he wasn’t proficient enough in medicine to inherit his father’s practice, he had figured out how to make a living using his knowledge of medicinal herbs. At first, he simply collected herbs in the mountains and sold them himself. Then, by a stroke of luck, he befriended some mountain villagers and learned about their predicament. This sparked the idea of buying medicinal herbs directly from them. He then traveled to all the surrounding mountain villages, spoke with the villagers, and eventually established a supply chain. When the villagers weren’t busy with their farm work, they could go into the mountains to collect herbs. Periodically, he would visit to purchase their harvest, take it back to his home for processing, and then transport the processed herbs to the county town to sell. This way, both parties benefited.

Zhao Zhitong listened with shining eyes, full of admiration for her Eldest Uncle’s ingenuity.

Sun Youwei felt a bit embarrassed by his little niece’s effusive praise. He picked her up, placed her on the cart, and said, "Alright, alright, enough with the compliments! Sit tight; we’re off."

Their first stop was a small mountain hamlet called Longmen Village. The hamlet was small, with only a dozen or so households nestled on the mountainside. The houses were built into the slope of the mountain without any particular layout. Upon their arrival, Sun Youwei called out a few times at the village entrance. Soon, several villagers approached, smiling and carrying bundles of medicinal herbs.