Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 119: Spare the Roe Deer

Old Sir Bai thought for a moment, "It’s been years since they disappeared."

Uncle Yaozi wasn’t disappointed, instead, he felt happy.

He swallowed the rabbit meat in his mouth, smiling, "The return of the lynx is a good thing, at most we’ll eat fewer rabbits."

Rabbits are quite annoying when there are too many—they’re herbivores, and when they were rampant before, a lot of medicinal herbs were ruined by them.

"Let the lynx eat more, anyway, they can reproduce."

No sooner had he spoken, a fox strolled in leisurely.

It jumped straight onto the kang, shuffled to Old Sir Bai, and drooled at the rabbit in the wooden basin on the kang table, then turned its head and barked a few times.

Even if Yi Chichi didn’t understand animal language, she could see it wanted the rabbit.

"You can’t eat this, it’ll explode."

The old man rubbed its head, got up and gave it half a chicken, "Once you’re full, you should leave."

The fox carried the chicken aside to eat, ignoring the old man’s words.

After it was full, it licked its fur and curled up on the kang to sleep. The old man was furious, "Hey, why are you so clingy?"

"If it were me, I’d cling too."

Yi Chichi spoke fairly, the difference between one full meal and being fed regularly is huge.

Being fed is much more enjoyable than working hard to find food oneself.

If you can be taken care of and enjoy it, why suffer?

After all, people tend to be lazy.

Uncle Yaozi didn’t bother acknowledging her, instead, he started a discussion with Old Sir Bai about medicinal herbs, "Are you planning to send the herbs you’ve dug this time to the collection station or keep them for your own use?"

"I’m not a doctor; keeping them would be useless."

The implied meaning: Send them to the collection station.

Yi Chichi immediately signaled to Uncle Yaozi to make a deal.

Uncle Yaozi, who shared her thoughts, smiled, "Transfer them to me."

"I’ll pay you at the collection station’s price."

"I want coupons."

The old man was clear, "You need to give both money and coupons, only then will transferring them be possible."

At these words, Yi Chichi and Uncle Yaozi both fell silent.

Paying money was no issue, but the coupons were truly troubling for them.

However, the quality of the medicinal herbs was evident, with several rare types Yi Chichi needed, making her reluctant to simply give up.

So, she tentatively asked, "What coupons do you need, old sir?"

"Industrial coupons, sugar, tobacco, and alcohol coupons, for example."

Grain and meat coupons weren’t needed.

Uncle Yaozi looked at Yi Chichi, "Do you have them?"

"No."

She shook her head, "I only have grain coupons." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The other coupons were intended for Wen Shi and the old man, not for her, and she didn’t have the authority to distribute them.

She was, at best, just a custodian and a purchasing agent.

"You have grain coupons?"

Old Sir Bai looked over, and Yi Chichi nodded, "Yes."

"National grain coupons?"

She nodded, "And military grain coupons as well."

"Grain coupons are acceptable; I can exchange them for industrial and sugar coupons with someone."

Yi Chichi’s eyes lit up and she looked at Uncle Yaozi.

"Let’s eat first, after eating I’ll check the herbs and decide which ones to take."

"Okay."

After a hearty meal, the three of them were satisfied and went to inspect the medicinal herbs.

By then, the sky had completely darkened, and the mountain forest at night was dangerous.

So, the three of them, who didn’t intend to descend the mountain and had a safe place to stay, began to leisurely select herbs and negotiate prices.

They kept negotiating until after nine in the evening, finally agreeing on the prices and quantities.

The herb division was fifty-fifty, but because several kinds of herbs Yi Chichi selected were of excellent quality, aged, and potent, the total price increased significantly.

In the end, they reached a deal for 12 yuan and ten pounds of national grain coupons.

However, since Yi Chichi didn’t have the money or coupons on her at the moment, she’d need to pay them in a few days.

To this, Old Sir Bai expressed no concern.

"With Xiao Yaozi vouching for you, I’m not worried about you running off."

As he spoke, he shoved the packed herbs over to them, "These belong to you all now."

"Thank you!"

"No need to be polite, it’s not like they’re free!"

It was true, once the herbs were allocated, Yi Chichi fretted over where to sleep at night.

Yet she didn’t need to worry at all, as Uncle Yaozi led her inside a small room, "You sleep here tonight, and I’ll sleep outside with Old White Head."

He opened a wooden box at the kang’s foot, taking out quilts and such from it.

Yi Chichi was dumbfounded, "Where did these quilts come from?"

"When hunting and gathering herbs, we spend long periods in the mountains; there are huts like this surrounding several hills, intended for medicine gatherers and hunters to rest."

After all, the mountain forests are dangerous at night, and without a safe resting place, no one would dare stay in the mountains.

We’re poor but not stupid.

"These things were bought with pooled money from people like us, cleaned after the previous occupants left, so you can sleep with peace of mind."

After explaining, Uncle Yaozi asked her, "Do you need to brush your teeth and wash your face?"

"Yes!"

She nodded hastily, realizing she’d forgotten her toiletries, she was about to ask where to fetch water when Uncle Yaozi spoke first—

"Hold on."

Yi Chichi took his advice and waited patiently.

A few minutes later, Uncle Yaozi returned with a basin of hot water, a small wet willow twig, and a tube of toothpaste.

"Do you know how to use a willow twig to brush your teeth?"

Yi Chichi shook her head, eyeing the twig with curiosity.

She knew ancient people used willow twigs for dental hygiene, but she had never seen it in real life, let alone tried it herself.

This experience was, how should she put it, quite novel.

"Just bite it to a frayed brush-like state and put some toothpaste on it."

Yi Chichi made a sound of understanding and brushed her teeth and washed her face after closing the door.

The experience using a willow twig to brush her teeth wasn’t great, but it was better than not brushing.

After much fuss, she lay down to sleep, almost 11 o’clock by now.

With Uncle Yaozi and Old Sir Bai keeping watch outside, Yi Chichi had little to worry about.

Moreover, Uncle Yaozi gave her a knife to keep by her pillow, as long as no wild animals attacked them at night, she could sleep peacefully.

Thus, she fell asleep quickly.

She didn’t know how long she had slept when howling suddenly echoed through the forest.

Yi Chichi was startled awake, listened intently for a while, and confirmed it was wolves howling, scaring her so much she jumped up, put on her coat, grabbed the knife, and opened the door.

The creaking door sound was very conspicuous in the quiet forest, and Old Sir Bai and Uncle Yaozi, who were lying with eyes open, spoke in unison.

"The wolf pack is far away from here, go back to sleep!"

Their tone and pace were so uniformly calm, it was clear they were seasoned and unperturbed.

Yi Chichi paused for two seconds, then acknowledged and retreated back to her room.

But her heart was uneasy, leaving her in a state of half-sleep for several hours.

Just as she was finally drifting off, she was startled awake by a dog’s barking, followed by—

"Xiao Yaozi, quickly stop it..."

The loud shout of Old Sir Bai came, followed by strange noises.

Yi Chichi’s heart was gripped with fear, is something coming?

Driven by strong curiosity, she gracefully grabbed the knife and rushed out, the scene before her startled her, "Spare the deer with the knife!"