The journey took a long time, and it wasn't until after noon that a suitable place was found for a rest.
Dr. Sheng and the other two entered the mountains, where many bushes and small slopes were traversable. The current group was large and included livestock, which made Dr. Sheng very cautious in choosing their route.
They wasted some time before finding a suitable spot to rest.
The resting place was a gentle slope amidst the trees. Qin Junyao placed the basket of rabbits on the ground, letting the children gather around to play.
This rabbit had eaten the grass from the space and had grown considerably.
Throughout the morning, Sheng Yining took the rabbit out of the basket and put it back in, but the rabbit didn't seem scared.
Later, it got bored and would stomp its feet, making huffing noises and biting Sheng Yining.
They had set off without breakfast, and everyone was now hungry and tired.
Qin Junyao called Qin Daniu and Qin Erniu, and they took empty baskets to the woods.
When they returned, the baskets were filled with sweet potatoes and potatoes. Everyone dug holes on the gentle slope and cooked them.
Here, with Qin Junyao's "cheat" ability, they could eat their fill. Not far behind, Zhao Liangcai and his group could only eat enough to not be hungry.
Deng Zi Tui, chewing on a tasteless dry biscuit, discussed with Zhao Liangcai, "Boss, should we go catch some game and ask Aunt Qin to help us make a pot of soup?"
Zhao Liangcai glanced at Axe, who was struggling to chew the biscuit, and said, "If you want to eat, cook it yourself. Otherwise, find whoever told you to chew biscuits and ask them."
Deng Zi Tui swallowed the rest of his words after his boss's statement.
They lit the fire. Madam Qian added firewood and then blew it out. Deng Zi Tui began to doubt if Madam Qian knew how to cook at all.
Axe, chewing on his biscuit and smelling the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes in the air, felt a little wronged. His brother wouldn't let him go find Sister Qin.
"Are the biscuits delicious?" Zhao Liangcai asked Axe, holding a biscuit with only one bite left.
"They have no taste."
"Do you want to eat sweet potatoes?" Zhao Liangcai asked again.
Axe's head shot up, and his voice rose, "I want to eat."
"Go ask your mother for money and buy some from Grandma Qin," Zhao Liangcai said, pointing to Grandma Qin, who was sitting on a rock eating a roasted potato with her mouth full of black.
Zhao Liangcai watched Axe run towards Madam Qian and a mocking smile appeared under his beard.
Madam Qian, you wanted to control me with Axe and the law?
Now, let others deal with you first.
Grandma Qin, I apologize. I will definitely come to your door to apologize later.
.
"Sister Jun, this mushroom cannot be eaten."
"Sister Jun, this leaf is medicinal. You don't need to dig up the whole plant."
"Sister Jun..."
Qin Junyao was almost sweating from Sheng Yining's constant lectures. She shamelessly followed the Sheng family's grandfather and grandchildren out to collect herbs, wanting to seize the opportunity to learn.
They were teaching her diligently, but perhaps too diligently. It was hard for her to sneakily dig up some unfamiliar plants for her space.
The space upgrade this time brought Qin Junyao many surprises.
First, the house in the mist revealed its true form: a thatched cottage with a small bamboo-fenced courtyard in front.
Inside, there was a bed, a table, and a chair. On the table was a scroll of bamboo slips.
Qin Junyao, piecing together the meaning from the bamboo slips, understood that this space seemed to be something ancient.
The plants grown in the space had a calming effect, and it was mentioned that the effects would differ for cultivators and mortals, though she didn't understand how.
Qin Junyao didn't know what a cultivator was until a cultivation technique appeared at the end of the bamboo slips.
She recognized only eight out of ten characters in the beginning, and the subsequent detailed explanations were even more incomprehensible, so she had to put it aside for now.
The second surprise was that items placed in the courtyard in front of the thatched cottage would not be absorbed by the land or sprout.
This function made Qin Junyao happier than discovering the cultivation technique.
When she worked in the space, she wouldn't experience muscle soreness or break into a sweat like in reality. It was more like a dream, where she would know if something was too heavy to lift or if she had walked too much and couldn't move her legs.
As long as her mental energy was sufficient, she could work in the space continuously. The after-effects were that after working too much, she would feel listless upon leaving the space, and in severe cases, she would get a headache.
This way, she could stockpile more food and medicinal herbs in her space.
Of course, the area of the space had expanded by four times, allowing her to plant more.
The Sheng family's grandfather and grandchildren collected some herbs, and Qin Junyao collected half a basket of mushrooms and returned to the resting place.
"Mom, I picked so many mushrooms!" Qin Junyao unloaded her back basket and showed it to her mother, who came to help her.
She found picking mushrooms for the first time to be a joyous experience. If Dr. Sheng hadn't reminded her that it was time to go, she would have wanted to continue picking them.
"So many? We'll have mushroom soup tonight. Go get your rabbit, we're leaving," her mother, the cook, was delighted at the prospect of the ingredients.
"We're leaving now? What about the mushrooms?"
"Your mother will handle the mushrooms. Yao Yao, come here. Xiao Yu, go get the basket for the rabbit." Grandma Qin interrupted from the side, calling Qin Junyao.
"Grandma, why do you always make Xiao Yu do chores? She's still young," Qin Junyao wanted to get the basket herself but was held back by Grandma Qin.
"It's precisely because she's young that we need to curb her. I don't know who Xiao Yu takes after, but she's fearless. Give her a knife, and she'd dare to go into battle. If we don't restrain her now, she'll have a hard time when she gets married."
Grandma Qin saw Qin Xiaoyu tiptoeing and turned to say to her, "Don't listen. I'm talking about you. Give me the basket and go ahead."
Qin Junyao watched Qin Xiaoyu walk ahead and didn't think her sister was that bold. If anyone was bold, it was Grandma Qin and the original owner of the body.
"Let's not talk about Xiao Yu. Come, let me show you," Grandma Qin carefully took something out of her embrace and showed it to Qin Junyao mysteriously.
"Is this silver? It's so small."
"An ingot of one tael of silver, how could it not be small? Yao Yao, can it transform?" Grandma Qin's face was full of anticipation.
Qin Junyao shook her head and then curiously asked, "Grandma, where did you get it from?"
"It can't transform? Not even one tael?"
"Then what did the Bodhisattva enlighten you with overnight?"
"Uh~~" Qin Junyao's eyes lit up. "Musical instruments. They taught me musical instruments."
Grandma Qin had been somewhat expectant due to Qin Junyao's hesitation, but upon hearing it was musical instruments, she pouted.
She put the tael of silver in her embrace.
Musical instruments were useless.
They were mere playthings to appease men, unlike the silver in her embrace.
"Grandma, the Bodhisattva taught me to play the zither!" Qin Junyao didn't expect her superstitious grandmother to be uninterested in the Bodhisattva teaching music.
"Yes, playing the zither is good. When we get to the city, I'll find a place for you to play and earn a living."
Well, first, there was the matter of the second grandson's eyeballs being offered to a fortune teller at the city gate, and now she was going to send her granddaughter to busk.
Qin Junyao was unaware that professional musicians, those who played instruments for a living, held the lowest status in the Qing Kingdom.
Therefore, a farming girl who knew musical instruments was a redundant existence.
Grandma Qin was initially indifferent, but then she thought that if the Bodhisattva taught her granddaughter something, it must have a deep meaning.
Right, her granddaughter had a fate of wealth and nobility, how could she have forgotten? To marry into a wealthy family, one had to know musical instruments, calligraphy, and other arts.
This Bodhisattva was paving the way for Yao Yao.
Thank the Bodhisattva, thank the Bodhisattva.
Qin Junyao watched Grandma Qin's expression change, and now she was clasping her hands together again and bowing.
This grandmother was truly difficult to understand.
"Grandma, can you tell me where that silver came from?"
"This," Grandma Qin patted her clothes, "your grandma earned it by selling one sweet potato."