So these 2.5 points must be spent where they matter most.
"Keke, how much does rice cost per catty in the supermarket?"
"The cheapest is 2.5 points, the best..."
"Don't tell me about the best!" Xu Xiu directly interrupted Keke's words.
This meant she had now saved up for one cotton of rice.
"Can you check again how much that medicine costs?"
"Are you talking about the medicine to treat Zhang Zixuan?"
"Mhm!"
"That medicine was developed through high-tech research. It's extremely precious and costs 880,000 points. There's no discount now, but there are several times during the year when you can get 20% off."
"E-eight... eight hundred eighty thousand?" Xu Xiu widened her eyes in disbelief.
Just accumulating these 2.5 points already felt painfully difficult.
From the looks of it, who knows how many years it will take for Zhang Zixuan to fully recover?
The road to revolution is long, requiring persistent and unrelenting struggle. Comrades must keep striving hard.
Most importantly, she couldn't bear to spend these 2.5 points either.
It seemed she needed to find ways to earn silver here. Relying on this supermarket system might starve her to death.
When Xu Xiu dragged the Nanmu wood and bracken back, the thatched hut had already been cleaned spotlessly.
Then Xu Xiu went to the back mountain to fetch a bucket of water, washing the bracken along the way.
Only then did she return again.
At that moment, Xu Xiu deeply missed the running water from the apocalyptic era.
If they had that here, she wouldn't need to carry water at all.
It should be noted that her thatched hut was quite far from the backyard. Without a well in the courtyard, fetching water required taking a long detour every time.
Moreover, Keke had just mentioned that those plantain weeds needed to be washed and sun-dried to become proper medicinal herbs.
The washing obviously required water.
Thinking this way, she needed to find a way to channel water into her small courtyard.
Additionally, having neither land nor capital made earning silver truly no simple matter.
Besides collecting plantain weeds, the only methods were entering deep mountains to hunt.
Or alternatively, gather other medicinal herbs to sell at herbal stores.
She didn't recognize medicinal herbs herself, but Keke did.
As long as she encountered recognizable herbs, Keke would surely remind her.
Most crucially, only by entering deep mountains could she obtain more points.
Though 880,000 points sounded astronomical, many small amounts accumulate. If she found something particularly special, it might come quickly.
Looking again at this utterly destitute house, Xu Xiu understood perfectly that earning silver had become an urgent matter.
"Sister-in-law, the roof is repaired, but I don't think this house can be lived on much longer. With all the drafts, people couldn't stay here come winter."
Zhang Zhiyong said to Xu Xiu with concern.
"I know. This is only temporary," Xu Xiu stated firmly.
However, these words sounded like empty comfort to Zhang Zhiyong's ears.
How could a woman with three children and a paralyzed husband build a new house, especially when the Zhang family hadn't given her an inch of land?
Just surviving without starving was already an achievement for them.
Seeing Zhang Zhiyong's expression, Xu Xiu knew exactly what he was thinking.
But she never liked explaining herself. When the day came, they'd naturally see she wasn't just making empty boasts.
While she couldn't promise other things, her martial arts skills should make hunting feasible.
In the end, neither Zhang Zhiyong nor Zhang Haifei stayed for dinner.
But when they saw Xu Xiu cooking plain rice, Zhang Haifei couldn't help advising:
"Sister-in-law, eating plain rice won't do! You've got this meal, but what about the next? Keeping it for congee could stretch several meals."
Hearing this, Xu Xiu found herself both amused and exasperated.
She knew Zhang Haifei meant well.
"Don't worry, I know my limits," Xu Xiu replied with a smile.
Seeing they truly wouldn't stay for dinner, she pushed the pre-cut pork toward them:
"Since you won't eat here, you must take this pork. You see we've got over a hundred catties - if you don't help eat some, it'll spoil."
"Sister-in-law, you...you should sell this in town to exchange for more rice!"
"Enough talk, take it!" Xu Xiu shoved the pork into their hands with finality.
As if remembering something, she added:
"When I went to the backyard earlier, I saw medicinal herbs there. Bring Lin Zhi and Lin Xia tomorrow afternoon - we'll gather them together at the mountain foot."
"Medicines? Sister-in-law, do you recognize herbs?"
"Wouldn't you know - I happened to recognize this one by chance."
"What is it?" Zhang Zhiyong asked urgently.
"Plantain weed!"
"Plantain weed? How could that be medicine? If it were real medicine, people would've picked it all long ago!" Zhang Zhiyong shook his head disappointedly.
"I just pulled one. Why don't you take it to the county herbal store tomorrow and ask?" Xu Xiu said triumphantly.
Only Zhang Zhiyong's family in Zhang Village owned an ox. During slack farming seasons, he transported people to the county to earn copper.
This made him the perfect candidate for this errand.
"Alright, I'll ask when I go to the country tomorrow!"
"If the herbal store really buys them, have Lin Zhi and Lin Xia come help. I saw the mountain foot is covered with them."
Lin Zhi was Zhang Zhiyong's wife; Lin Xia was Zhang Haifei's wife.
Both had frequently interacted with Xu Xiu, sometimes bringing food when she was starving.
Hearing this, the two men could only shake their heads helplessly, verbally agreeing while holding no real hope.
Weighing the pork in their hands - about five catties - they felt renewed guilt.
They turned to Xu Xiu wanting to say more, but seeing her expression, addressed Zhang Zixuan inside:
"Zixuan, this pork is too much, you..."
"Since your sister-in-law gave it, take it home. Besides, this pork wasn't ours to begin with - you know it's from the old Zhang family. Better eaten than wasted, right?"
As expected, men understood men best. In Zhang Zixuan's words, the two could only carry the pork toward the village center.
Zhang Zhiyong's family circumstances were relatively better - his Dad was Village Chief Zhang Wenyuan, and his son Zhang Ziyi studied at Huaiheng Academy.
Even so, the number of days in a year when they could eat meat could be counted on one hand.
What about Zhang Haifei?
Zhang Haifei also had two sons, and his life was only slightly better than the current situation of their Fourth Branch.
Usually, not to mention meat, even the days when they could eat white rice were few.
Zhangjia Village was originally poor, and to make matters worse, there had been a drought in previous years. Now, the village was even poorer.
Every household basically had to tighten their belts to get by.
The old Zhang family was considered upper-middle-class wealthy in Zhangjia Village.
At least the old Zhang family had some family assets.
This was all thanks to the ancestors of the old Zhang family, who had somehow earned a sum of silver back then and purchased many fields.
In Old Man Zhang's generation, there was only him as the sole heir, so naturally, everything went to him.
Thus, Old Man Zhang's family not only had over ten acres of fertile land, but Zhang Zixuan had also earned quite a bit of silver through escort agencies in previous years.
Otherwise, the eldest son, Zhang Tianyi, wouldn't have had the chance to study at the county academy.
Thinking of this, Xu Xiu felt indignant on Zhang Zixuan's behalf. The silver was earned by their Fourth Branch.
Yet they were merely making wedding clothes for others.
Not only had they not received a single copper coin, but now that they were dividing the family property, if she hadn't traveled through time, they might have been forced to leave empty-handed.
Thinking like this, Xu Xiu became even angrier.
The old Zhang family had better not provoke her, otherwise, she would make sure they regretted it.
"Mom, can this grass in your hand be eaten?" Liu-Tou pointed at the fern shots in Xu Xiu's hand and asked.
"Of course! This is called fern shoots. It's very delicious."
Originally, if these fern shoots were soaked overnight, it could remove the bitter taste inside, making them taste even better.
But given the current situation, she simply didn't have time to soak them.
After blanching them once, Xu Xiu casually picked a piece of fatty meat and sliced it.
Then she fried it in the pan. When oil started to come out, she directly poured in the fern shoots.
Soon, a plate of fern shoots was ready.
"Mom, it smells so good!" Liu-Tou and Qi-Tou swallowed their saliva as they spoke.
"Does this smell good already? There are still pork trotters here!" Xu Xiu said with a smile.
Then she used Liu-Tou's bowl to serve him a large piece of pork trotter.
"Mom, leave the pork trotters for Dad to eat!"
"Nobody needs to leave anything for others. Don't worry, Mom will make delicious food for you every day from now on."
"Mom, next time you don't need to make white rice. "If we have meat, we can just eat porridge." Qi-Tou also said sensibly nearby.
Although he really wanted to eat white rice too, given their family's current situation where they didn't know where the next meal would come from, he'd rather take it slow.
He didn't want to experience those days of starvation again.
Zhang Zixuan, who was not far away, felt heartbroken when he heard this.
If he weren't paralyzed, taking a few more escort trips now would gradually improve their family of five's livelihood.
But there was no "if" anymore.
When Xu Xiu brought the bowl to Zhang Zixuan, he absolutely refused to eat it.
"You eat it! You all need to work. I don't work, and I'm not hungry now. I'll just eat one meal a day!"
"I made plenty. Everyone eats, no one needs to yield. In the future, I promise you'll have white rice to eat every day."
Xu Xiu said with great certainty.
She didn't know if the plantain grass could fetch a good price, but with her martial arts skills, entering the deep mountains to hunt wouldn't be a problem.
Seeing Xu Xiu's insistence, Zhang Zixuan had to take the bowl from her hands.
Seeing this, Xu Xiu finally relaxed. She had really been afraid that Zhang Zixuan would stubbornly refuse to eat.
"I saw you carrying a big log back earlier. What are you planning to make?" Zhang Zixuan asked curiously.
"I want to make you a wheelchair."
"Wheelchair? What's that?" Zhang Zixuan asked curiously.
A closer look would reveal excitement in his eyes.
Although he hadn't heard the name "wheelchair," considering his current condition where only his legs were useless,
There was no doubt that the wheelchair Xu Xiu mentioned must be something specially made for situations like his.
"Exactly what you're thinking."
"What kind of thing is it?"
"It's like a carriage. You sit on it and move the wheels with your hands to move around. This way, you don't have to lie in bed all day."
Hearing this, Zhang Zixuan's eyes immediately lit up.
Then he remembered something and asked further: "Do you know how to make it?"
"Of course!" Xu Xiu replied subconsciously.
But after saying this, she remembered that the original boy was a woman who completely lacked carpentry skills.
It had only been a few days. She couldn't possibly have transformed into a woman with carpentry skills, could she?
But Xu Xiu was someone who specialized in improvising.
She immediately said: "When you were around before, I could remain ignorant. But these past two years, I've learned many things—far more than you can imagine."
Sure enough, hearing this made Zhang Zixuan feel even more guilty.
"Xiu'er, don't worry. If the wheelchair really can move, I can do many tasks too. Then you won't have to work so hard."
"I don't think I'm working hard," Xu Xiu replied instinctively.
For some reason, all these words she said to Zhang Zixuan seemed to come out subconsciously.
It felt like they truly were an old-married couple.
When meeting Zhang Zixuan's affectionate gaze, Xu Xiu was the first to look away.
She lowered her head to process the nanmu wood on the ground, trying to ease the awkwardness between them.
Or rather, the awkwardness she alone felt.
"You're not doing it right. I remember previously... Old Man Zhang had a set of carpentry tools stored in this house. Did you see them when cleaning earlier?"
"Dad, are you talking about this?" Liu-Tou pointed at the pile of things in the corner.
"Yes, yes! That's it! My third brother went to study carpentry in the county before. I was the one who bought him these tools!" Zhang Zixuan said with a smile.
His eyes were full of nostalgia.
When Xu Xiu saw those tools, she was also pleasantly surprised.
She walked over, picked up the tools, and naturally started working.
Lying on the bed, Zhang Zixuan felt even more heartache when he saw Xu Xiu's skilled movements.
These past two years he had been bedridden—how much suffering had he caused her?
Whether using an ink marker, plane, or saw, she handled them all with ease.
These tasks should have been men's work, but now they all fall on her shoulders.
"These past two years...you must have had a very hard time, right?"
Hearing this, Xu Xiu's hands paused momentarily. After a long while, she responded: "No matter how hard it was, haven't we survived it now?"
"Yes...we've survived it all."