Chapter 12: CH 12

Chapter 12: Identifying Medicine

“Mr. Cao, exercise can also strengthen someone’s immune system. If I exercise more, will my body become stronger too?”

Mr. Cao paused for a moment and said, “Yes, the Five Animal Technique created by the legendary doctor Hua Tuo was made so people could strengthen their bodies.”

“I see. I’m actually here today because I want to ask you for advice on something.”

“Go ahead!”

“I know that dandelions have medicinal properties. Are there other medicinal herbs that can be gathered around the village? And can they be sold for money?

“Of course. There are many medicinal herbs around the village such as groundnut, calamus, horsetail and psyllium! As long as they are gathered and dried properly, they can be sold.”

“But I don’t know any of these herbs!”

Mr. Cao thought for a moment and grabbed a thick book with the words “Herb Compendium” written on the cover from a shelf.

“I don’t have time to teach you everything, but I heard that you’re literate, so you can reference this book instead.”

Mo Yan took the book reverently and thanked Mr. Cao before returning home.

As soon as she got home, she sat in the courtyard and started reading in the light of the setting sun. The book was very informative. Not only did it record in detail the properties of the herbs and where they grew, but also had accompanying pictures.

When Mo Feng came home, he saw her reading and came over to tease her, “What are you reading so seriously? Did you borrow a storybook from someone?”

As she didn’t want to have a conversation with him, Mo Yan showed him the cover. Mo Feng took a single glance before asking, “Why are you reading this? Do you want to be a physician?”

When he saw that Mo Yan was ignoring him, he listlessly went to the kitchen to look for food.

After making dinner, Mrs. Liang started sweeping the courtyard. Mo Ling only returned from the fields when it was already dark.

After dinner, Mo Yan went to tell stories again. She was very apprehensive along the way, wondering if anyone would come to listen and give them wheat.

She heard the sound of children and Er Dan playing in the threshing field from a distance.

When he saw Mo Yan coming, Er Dan laughed and clapped his hands as he said, “It’s storytime, storytime!”

There were already quite a few people sitting on the threshing field. Mr Tian and Cao Zhang had come over with their lantern and table as usual, and nothing was different.

Standing behind the table, Mo Yan just remembered that she didn’t have a way to signify she was going to begin telling a story. Cao Zhang immediately handed over the fan he was holding, “Use this instead.”

Mo Yan rapped the folding fan on the table and asked, “What story should I tell today?”

“Jing Ke assassinating the Emperor of the Qin dynasty!” [1]

The voice came from the back of the crowd, and she instantly knew it was Lu Junming.

“Alright, I’ll talk about that then!”

The story lasted for nearly two hours, but the audience was silent the entire time and no one made any noise. When Mo Yan concluded, however, she didn’t talk about Jing Ke’s death in detail and only alluded to it vaguely.

When the story was finished, Mo Ling led the crowd in thanking her for her good work, as if all the fatigue she had accumulated throughout the day had been washed away. Everyone else clapped for Mo Yan as well, and thought she did well.

The governing official of the village placed the bowl for grain collection on the table as usual, and the crowd for donations. There was more grain in the bowl than yesterday.

Mo Yan was already satisfied with the fact people had showed up. She didn’t really care about the amount of grain she received for the day.

She handed the fan back to Cao Zhang, “Thank you, young Mr. Cao!”

Being called mister in front of Mr. Tian made Cao Zhang a little embarrassed, “Yan’er, why are you being so courteous? You’ve always called me by my name in the past. After all, I’m your brother’s classmate.”

“But she’s not a child anymore. She’s grown up now, she needs to be more courteous!”

The one who spoke up was Lu Junming, who placed a small string of coins in Mo Yan’s hand.

Cao Zhang nodded slightly and said, “Yan’er, keep the fan. I still have plenty at home.”

Lu Junming handed the fan back to him, then said to Mo Yan, “I also have many fans like this. I’ll give one to you tomorrow.”

Mrs. Liang had come over at some point. She took the copper coins from Mo Yan’s hand and handed them back to Lu Junming, “Young Master Lu, we can’t accept that much money. I’m sorry, but we can’t accept the fan either! A girl shouldn’t accept something from a boy.”

Lu Junming took back the coins and clutched them in his palm tightly before turning around to leave.

Mrs. Liang then turned towards Cao Zhang with a smile on her face, “Mr. Cao, I’d appreciate it if you lent Yan’er your fan for a while.”

Cao Zhang handed the fan back to Mo Yan, “Mrs. Liang, you can just call me Zhang’er.”

Mrs. Liang smiled and nodded at him, “That’s hardly polite!” She looked extremely dignified, a far cry from what she usually is.

Mo Ling pulled her sister away from the threshing field as Mr. Tian moved the table back to the school with Cao Zhang. The crowd dispersed, and Mrs. Liang went back home with the wheat her daughter had gotten them that night.

Mo Yan and Mo Ling lay on the kang as they talked about gathering herbs to sell. Most people in the village were illiterate, much less knew about herbs, and no one had ever thought of gathering them and selling them for money.”

“Can these really be sold for money?” Mo Ling asked.

“All of them have medicinal properties, so of course they can be sold for money.”

“Don’t go to the fields tomorrow. Let’s go and gather some herbs secretly, so no one else knows about this. Otherwise, we won’t be able to gather any!”

“Ok! We should go search for them at the pond first. Not many people go there, and we can also check on the ducks too.”

“Let’s do that then!”

Both sisters were tired and quick fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, Mo Ling got up at the crack of dawn to make breakfast. Mrs. Liang had woken up even earlier, having already cooked some soybeans and taken them out to the courtyard to dry in preparation to make soybean paste.

At the kitchen table, Mrs. Liang asked Mo Ling, “What are you planning to do today?” [1]

“Mo Yan and I are going to gather medicinal herbs. Mr. Cao says they can be sold for money.”

Mo Ling was afraid of her objecting, so she used Mr. Cao’s name.

“In all the years I’ve lived in the village, I’ve never heard anyone say there are any medicinal herbs here!”

Mo Yan spoke up proudly, “I’m not mistaken. Mr. Cao himself told me about the medicinal herbs that grow around the village. He even lent me a book on medicinal herbs.”

“Ok, go then! Teach me about these medicinal herbs when you return too!”

After eating, Mo Ling took a backpack and Mo Yan took a basket as they left their home. Both of them carried small sickles to harvest the medicinal herbs.

Mrs. Liang came out with a broom in her hand, saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this!”

The two sisters looked at each other and smiled. As always, their mum was a shrewd person and would always try to avoid any losses.

Post-edit note: Wait, two chapters in consecutive days? Your platypus translator was pretty productive today, so this happened. Also, there will be a subtitle for each chapter from here on out, because I just realised they all had them. Sorry!

[1] I’m not an actual farmer, but I’m pretty sure they had to go down to the field every day? Maybe green beans and sorghum don’t need as much maintenance when harvesting.