Chapter 4

In their village of Qili, there were a total of sixty-eight households, each occupying a large area... well, a hillside. On the hillside, they could clear the land as they pleased.

The flatlands had very little uncultivated land, and what little there was mostly consisted of rocky soil, which was barren and not as good as the hillside. So, Zhou Silang carried his hoe and sickle and headed for the hillside. He planned to stand at a high point, look far into the distance, and choose the plot that caught his eye.

Zhou Silang was whimsical in his thinking, but would Manbao agree?

Of course not!!!

Manbao was carried to the top of the hill. Zhou Silang looked around and pointed to a slope with the least grass. "Let's clear that one."

"No way!" Manbao refused without hesitation, pointing to another plot on the slope. "I want to clear that one."

Zhou Silang looked and saw that the grass there was very lush, growing as tall as Manbao, and there were many low shrubs. He knew it would be difficult to dig up the roots and immediately refused. "No, that plot isn't as good as this one."

But there was a lot of grass and small trees there, and Manbao, who wanted to trade with Keko for candy, insisted, "I want to clear that one."

She had a good reason, "Look how well the grass grows there, and there are trees too. In the future, beans and melons will grow well there. Look at the plot you chose; there's only a little grass, and it doesn't grow as well as the one I chose. Oh, and there are even stones. Grass doesn't like stones, and neither do beans and melons."

Zhou Silang was unhappy. "Who is clearing the land, you or me?"

Manbao put her hands on her hips. "It's you, but you have to listen to me. Otherwise, I'll go back and tell Father that you deliberately chose a bad plot to be lazy, and he'll beat you."

Zhou Silang was furious but couldn't ignore her because their father would definitely listen to Manbao.

He touched the wounds on his body and said angrily, "Fine, let's clear that one. Let's go."

Zhou Wulang was about to carry her, but Manbao thought for a moment and waved her hand. "No need to carry me. I want to walk down myself. Big Brother, you go clear the land first."

Zhou Silang was exasperated. "How can you walk down? Wulang will have to take care of you."

"That's fine. Lulang can stay too."

"No, they need to help me clear the land."

But Zhou Wulang and Zhou Lulang didn't want to work. They shook their heads and said, "Mother told us to watch over our sister. Big Brother, you go down and cut the grass first. You only have one sickle, and it won't help if we go down too."

Zhou Silang was stunned. "You didn't bring sickles?"

Zhou Wulang smiled. "We were carrying Manbao, so we didn't have hands to hold sickles."

Zhou Silang looked at Dadi and Daya. Dadi said cleverly, "We thought the uncles brought them, so we didn't bring any."

Zhou Silang ordered Dadi, "Go back and get the sickles now."

Dadi replied, "We'll be back for breakfast soon. We can get them after eating. If we go back now, we won't be able to do much work. Uncle, why don't we accompany Little Miss slowly down the hill while you go cut the grass?"

Everyone chimed in, "Yes, Uncle, go quickly."

Zhou Silang felt abandoned, and the culprit was Manbao.

Manbao was even more fierce. "Go quickly, or I'll tell Father that you're being lazy when we go back for breakfast."

Zhou Silang, carrying his hoe and sickle, turned and walked away.

Manbao was satisfied. She walked down the mountain path with her short legs, occasionally pulling a blade of grass or picking a flower. Wulang, Lulang, Dadi, and Daya were used to playing in the mountains. Seeing their little sister walking obediently, they ran out to play, picking beautiful wildflowers, eating wild fruits, and watching ants for a long time, enjoying themselves immensely.

Manbao dug up a handful of grass, wiped her face, and asked Keko in her mind, "Do you want this?"

Keko's voice was filled with helplessness. "Host, you've already recorded this kind of grass, called Niu Jin Cao, a long time ago."

Manbao was doubtful. "Really? I don't remember."

The system brought up the information about Niu Jin Cao that Manbao had recorded, including its ecological characteristics, habitat, propagation methods, and main values, all listed clearly.

Manbao loved reading and was excited to see the text. She asked, "Where did these words come from?"

The system replied, "Niu Jin Cao still exists in the world of my inventor. This is knowledge from the encyclopedia. After you record it, any knowledge points in the encyclopedia will be displayed after the recorded plant."

The system paused and continued, "Host, even if you can't find extinct or rare species from the time of my inventor, you should at least find some valuable or high-value plants to record. That way, more people will click to download, and we can earn more points, which I can use to get you more candy."

To be honest, he had been with Manbao for over a year, and besides three plants that had been downloaded, no one had shown interest in the others. The download rate for those three plants was also low, and he had been using his own points to get Manbao candy.

Manbao wasn't disappointed. She was reading the analysis of Niu Jin Cao with great interest. She had already memorized the "Thousand Character Classic" and had been reciting it every day. Now she could recognize many characters, even though she couldn't write them yet.

So, she understood most of the text, and for the characters she didn't know, she asked Keko directly.

The system always answered her questions, and Manbao was quite cute, so who could refuse a four-year-old child?

No, Manbao insisted that she was six years old this year, in terms of the traditional Chinese age system.

Manbao finished reading but still didn't understand everything. However, she only asked about topics that interested her. "It says that Niu Jin Cao can dispel wind and dampness, clear heat and detoxify, and stop bleeding. What does that mean?"

Keko: "It means exactly what it says. In traditional Chinese medicine, people eat grains and are affected by the environment, so they may have dampness and heat toxins in their bodies. For example, when someone has a fever, they can drink a soup made from Niu Jin Cao to dispel wind and dampness, clear heat, and detoxify. As for stopping bleeding, if someone falls and bleeds, you can crush Niu Jin Cao and apply it to the wound to stop the bleeding. It can also be taken orally."

Manbao exclaimed, "Wow, this grass is so precious. I need to dig up more and take it home."

Manbao grabbed the grass and pulled hard, using all her strength to pull it out.

The system also thought the grass was good and secretly encouraged Manbao, giving her an idea. "You can tie the grass together with vines and carry it back."

Manbao thought this was a great idea and pulled out a lot of Niu Jin Cao. When Wulang and Lulang came back with a handful of wild fruits, her face and hands were dirty, and she was sweating profusely. The two boys were stunned and ran up to ask, "Little sister, what are you doing?"

Manbao's eyes sparkled. "Big Brother, come help me. I found a good herb."

The two boys looked at the wild grass in her hand and were speechless. "Isn't this just weeds? They're everywhere."

"It's not. It's called Niu Jin Cao. It can detoxify and stop bleeding." Manbao instructed her brothers, "Help me pull it out."

Wulang took the wild grass from her hand and threw it away, cleaning her hands. "Don't be silly. Come, we found some thorny berries. Try one."

He put a red, sweet fruit in Manbao's mouth. She was delighted and forgot about the Niu Jin Cao. "I want more!"

The system was also excited. "This is an unrecorded plant. Manbao, you must record it. I just checked, and there are no pictures of this fruit in the system."

Without pictures, even if the scientific name is recorded, adding pictures can earn a substantial number of points, which are awarded by the encyclopedia. If someone clicks to view the pictures, the points will be even more.

Indeed, it was a good idea to let the host go out more often.

The system said, "Manbao, record it quickly, preferably the whole plant."

Manbao stuffed the wild fruit in her mouth and asked her brothers, "What is this fruit? I've never eaten it before. Where did you pick it?"

Wulang and Lulang asked, "You've never eaten it? There are many on the mountain, especially during the Qingming Festival. There are fewer now. If you like it, I'll take you up the mountain next year."

Manbao felt her brothers weren't getting the point. "Where did you pick it?"

"We've already picked it all. There's none left. Let's go down the mountain quickly, or Big Brother will be angry."

Manbao was angry and put her hands on her hips. "I want to see what it looks like. Then I'll know how to pick wild fruits next time."

Wulang laughed. "That's easy. Follow the path down the hill, and there are many on the side, just without fruit. We'll teach you how to recognize them."

Manbao realized that her brothers weren't lying when they said the mountain was full of these plants.

Lulang carried her down for a while, and Wulang pointed to a green, thorny vine by the road. "This is the thorny berry. It flowers in spring and bears fruit after the flowers. When the fruit turns red, it's very sweet. We'll take you up the mountain to pick them next Qingming."

Lulang, however, said, "I think the yellow ones are better. They're hard and sour, much more flavorful than the red ones."

Wulang looked down on him. "The red ones are better. Everyone says the red ones are better."

Lulang: "The yellow ones are better."

Wulang: "The red ones are better."

Lulang: "The yellow ones."

Wulang: "The red ones."

Manbao saw her brothers arguing. She hadn't eaten the yellow ones and couldn't comment, so she slid off Lulang's back and squatted down to look at the vines.

Wulang and Lulang glanced at their sister, saw that she was just curious, and turned to continue their argument, or rather, their discussion.

Manbao asked Keko in her mind, "Should I dig up the whole plant or just a part?"

The system thought for a moment and said, "If you can dig up the whole plant, that's best. If not, a part is fine too."