Chun Mian wasted no time getting to work. It was right around the summer harvest, so she figured she would experiment with her own family's grain. Of course, grain alone wasn't enough. It was merely the base for the liquor. The most crucial components were the medicinal herbs and other ingredients. Since she didn't have a complete set of equipment, extracting the essence would not be easy. Therefore, she had to modify the formula for the recovery potion. Chun Mian kept this matter in mind, still pondering over it when she went to bed that night.
Before getting married, Wei Shumei had shared a room with Wei Shuxiang. Now that she was back, she squeezed into the same bed with her younger sister once again.
Wei Shuxiang was still furious about Chun Mian getting beaten up. She only hated that she was young and a girl; otherwise, she would have absolutely bashed Gao Jianmin's ugly mug in!
"Sis, just you wait. I'll do farm work for another two years, and once my muscles are toned, I'll go get revenge for you!" Wei Shuxiang was still fuming.
"Alright, I'll be waiting," Chun Mian said, gently stroking Wei Shuxiang's head. The little girl's hair was somewhat dry and yellowed due to malnutrition.
Chun Mian's current hair wasn't much better. It barely reached her shoulders and was brittle and yellow. As for her looks, she was only average. In contrast, Chun Mian's original body was incredibly beautiful with a hint of enchanting Demon Energy. She had inherited her looks from her mother. If it weren't for that striking beauty, how could a philandering scumbag like her father ever have fancied her mother—a romantic fool who had nothing to offer but a pretty face?
Still, the two of them were a match made in heaven. It was better to keep them locked together so they wouldn't ruin anyone else's life. These past memories merely flashed through Chun Mian's mind before she quickly tossed them aside. Chatting away, the two sisters soon fell asleep.
At five o'clock the next morning, the family members headed to the fields to work, hoping to get more done while it was still cool.
Chun Mian had just returned home as a divorcée. Not everyone in the village was as understanding as the Wei family. If she actually went to the fields, she would likely attract more gossip. However, she didn't want to use that as an excuse to laze around at home. She wanted to help her family out as much as she could.
Seeing that Chun Mian had washed up and was ready to head out, Mrs. Wei paused in surprise and immediately stopped her. "Child, your body hasn't fully recovered yet. Why are you going to the fields?"
Hearing Mrs. Wei's words, Chun Mian was genuinely stunned. It took her a long moment to realize that the physical constitution of humans here was completely different from those in the interstellar era. Wei Shumei had recently suffered a miscarriage and needed time to recuperate. Otherwise, she could easily suffer from chronic ailments.
Mrs. Wei's heart ached for her daughter. Upon hearing this, her sister-in-law, Hao Yue, also remembered the situation and chimed in to persuade her. "That's right. You need to rest up properly. If you end up with lingering health issues, you'll definitely regret it."
"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Hao Yue." Chun Mian smiled sheepishly, no longer insisting on going to the fields.
Old Man Wei and his entire family marching out together yesterday had caused quite a stir across both villages. Over the course of a single night, everyone had found out exactly what transpired.
The villagers had mixed opinions regarding Chun Mian's divorce. Those with traditional mindsets felt that as long as a couple could scrape by, they should stay together. How could they possibly get divorced? Others with more progressive views believed that if a marriage wasn't working out, there was no point in forcing it. It was better to call it quits, and who knows, she might even get a second chance at love.
The villagers gossiped endlessly. When the Wei family went to the fields, lingering gazes constantly drifted their way. Since they were all from the same village, there were inevitably some snide remarks. However, the Wei family was large and closely-knit. Even if people wanted to talk trash, they only dared to whisper behind their backs, never having the guts to say anything to their faces.
The summer harvest concluded a week later. Everyone finally got the chance to rest a bit, or at least they weren't as rushed as they had been during the harvest. However, there was still work to be done. For seasoned farmers, there was hardly any free time year-round, except during winter. They were either planting, harvesting, weeding, or tending to seedlings. In the summer, especially, as soon as one batch of crops was ready, it was immediately time to plant the next.
After resting at home for another week, Chun Mian finally got her family's permission to go up the mountain.
If she wanted to go down the route of selling medicinal liquor, she needed to do a field survey of the herbs available on the mountain. Her family had given it some thought and ultimately agreed to her plan. Wei Shumei's grandfather was originally a barefoot doctor. Though his medical skills weren't particularly advanced, he was more than capable of treating common ailments like headaches and fevers. Unfortunately, not a single one of his sons had managed to learn his trade. On top of that, none of his grandchildren showed any talent for it either. Because of this, Old Sir Wei had passed away with lingering regrets.
Now that they heard Chun Mian was interested, Grandma Wei specifically came over from Uncle Wei's house to give Chun Mian many of the old man's medical books.
August was the hottest time of the year. Even if Chun Mian wasn't afraid of the heat, Mrs. Wei still refused to let her go up the mountain in the middle of the day. Therefore, she could only go up in the early mornings and late evenings to look around.
The mountains surrounding Xiao Wo Village weren't too high, but the villagers usually limited their activities to the foot of the mountain and rarely ventured halfway up. Rumor had it that there were wild beasts on the mountain, so people were too afraid to go any higher.
Chun Mian, however, wasn't bothered by this. Wearing a battered straw hat, she made her way up the mountain. She carried a small bamboo basket on her back, specially woven for her by Old Man Wei. The opening of the basket was deliberately tightened so that whatever she placed inside wouldn't easily fall out.
Chun Mian observed her surroundings as she walked. There were plenty of common medicinal herbs, like honeysuckle, growing on the mountain. Some villagers liked to dig it up and steep it in hot water. Since no one in the Xiao Wo Village area grew tea, the harvested honeysuckle served as a substitute for tea leaves. There were other common herbs as well, and many remained untouched. The further up the mountain she went, the fewer harvested patches she found, to the point where there were barely any signs of foot traffic.
Aside from the common ones, Chun Mian also found what she needed—Solomon's seal and hairy holly. These could be infused into liquor to treat bruises and sprains, and they were also the primary ingredients for interstellar recovery potions. Because she had extensively researched Nutrient liquid and recovery potions in the past, she was incredibly familiar with Chinese herbal medicine. She could even identify some of the most obscure herbs.
She picked herbs as she made her way through the forest. The summer heat was intense, leaving some of the herbs looking slightly yellow and scorched. Whenever Chun Mian came across these, she would gently hover her hand over them. A faint, shimmering light seemed to gather in her palm before slowly falling over the wilted plants. Moments later, the withered herbs quickly regained their vitality, transforming back into a vibrant, lush green.
"The Door Spirit was quite generous after all," Chun Mian muttered with a faint smile, seeing that her ability was still intact.
Her smile soon morphed into a cold sneer. If those profit-driven old fogeys in the Chun family knew she possessed a superpower, they would have likely placed her on a pedestal. There was no way they would have dumped her on Seventy-nine Stars and left her to fend for herself.
Unfortunately for them, their grand schemes had fallen through. During the aptitude test when she was ten, they discovered she only possessed Physical Ability A and Spiritual Power E. Believing her to be a useless piece of trash with no special superpower, they tossed her onto a Backward Star and washed their hands of her.
Chun Mian had tampered with her superpower test results precisely because she didn't want to become a workhorse for the Chun family! Her mother was a romantic fool who willingly became a money-making tool for the Chun family in the name of love, but Chun Mian absolutely refused. Her fiery temper couldn't stomach such an indignity, so she manipulated the test and chose self-exile.
She wanted to take on a new identity not because she loathed herself, but simply because she had had enough of the people bound to her by blood.
"Why am I thinking about them on such a lovely day?" Snapping out of her thoughts, Chun Mian let out a cold scoff and continued digging for herbs.