Farm Girl's Small Blessings

Chapter 4: Cow Grass

In Seven Li Village, there were a total of sixty-eight households, occupying this large expanse... um, on the hillside, where they could easily clear the land.

However, there was very little fallow land on the flat ground, and most of it was filled with rocks and poor soil, not as suitable for cultivation as the hillside. So, Zhou Siliang carried a hoe and a sickle and headed towards the hillside. He planned to stand on a high point, survey the area from afar, and then choose which piece of land to clear.

Zhou Siliang was being stubborn, but would Man Bao agree?

Of course not!!!

When Man Bao was carried to the mountaintop, Zhou Siliang looked around and pointed to a patch of grass with the least amount on the mountainside, "Let's clear that piece."

"No way!" Without hesitation, Man Bao pointed to another piece of land on the slope, "I want to clear that one."

Looking over, Zhou Siliang noticed that not only was the grass there lush and almost as tall as Man Bao, but there were also many low bushes, making it clear that digging out those roots would be quite difficult. He immediately refused, "No, that piece of land is not as easy to clear as the one I chose."

But since there was a lot of grass and some small trees there, maybe it would be something Koko liked. Man Bao persisted, "I want to clear that piece."

Her reasoning was sound, "Look at how well the grass there is growing, and there are trees too. In the future, we can grow beans and melons there. As for the piece you chose, there is barely any grass, and it doesn't look as good as the one I chose. Oh, and there are rocks there, and grass hates rocks. Beans and melons definitely wouldn't thrive there."

Zhou Siliang was getting annoyed, "So, are you going to clear the land or am I?"

Man Bao put her hands on her hips, "It's you, but you have to listen to me. Otherwise, I'll go back and tell Dad that you deliberately chose a bad piece of land to slack off and have him scold you."

Zhou Siliang was furious, but he couldn't help but listen to her because their father would always listen to what Man Bao said.

Touching the wounds on his body, Zhou Siliang could only grumble, "Fine, let's clear that piece. Let's go."

As Zhou Wulang prepared to carry her, Man Bao thought for a moment and waved her hand, "No need to carry me, I'll walk down myself. Fourth Brother, you go clear the land first."

Zhou Siliang was furious, "How can you walk down by yourself, Shorty? Won't Fifth Brother have to follow you and take care of you?"

"What's wrong with that? Sixth Brother can stay here."

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

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang didn't want to work either and shook their heads repeatedly, "Mom reminded us before we left to take good care of our sister. Fourth Brother, you go cut the grass first. You have a sickle, and we wouldn't be of much use down there anyway."

Zhou Siliang was taken aback, "You guys didn't bring sickles?"

Zhou Wulang chuckled, "We thought the uncles had brought some, so we didn't bring any."

Zhou Siliang turned to Dato and Daya and instructed, "You go back now and get sickles quickly."

Dato responded, "We'll have to go back soon for breakfast. We can bring them after we eat. It's no use going back now; by the time we return, there won't be much work left to do. Uncle Four, why don't we accompany Little Aunt and walk down slowly? You go cut the grass first."

Everyone chimed in, "Yes, Uncle Four, hurry up."

Zhou Siliang felt deserted by everyone, and the instigator was Man Bao.

Man Bao was even more fierce than him, "Hurry up, or when we go back to eat, I'll tell Dad that you were lazy."

Zhou Siliang slung the hoe and sickle over his shoulder and turned to leave.

Man Bao was satisfied, walking down the mountain path with her short legs, occasionally pulling some grass, plucking flowers, and playing with Dago, Dali, and the others who were used to playing in the mountains. When they saw a pretty wild flower, they would pick it, and when they found edible wild fruits, they would pick and dig them, even spending a long time watching a nest of ants, all of them having a great time.

Man Bao worked hard to dig out a clump of grass, wiped her face, and asked Koko in her heart, "Do you want this?"

Koko's voice sounded helpless, "Host, you've already recorded this kind of grass a long time ago."

Man Bao doubted, "Really? Why don't I remember?"

The system retrieved the information about the grass Man Bao had recorded, including its ecological characteristics, habitat, reproduction methods, and main value, all clearly listed.

Man Bao loved reading the most. Whenever she saw words, she would get excited. She asked eagerly, "Where did these words come from?"

The system explained, "The grass still exists in the world of my inventor. This is the knowledge in the encyclopedia. Once you've recorded it, all the knowledge points from the encyclopedia will be displayed behind the plant."

After a pause, the system added, "Host, I think even if you can't find extinct or rare species from my inventor's era, you should at least find some valuable or high-value plants to record. The more people download them, the more points we can get, and I can exchange more candy for you."

To be honest, he had been with Man Bao for over a year, and apart from three plants that were downloaded by someone, the rest of the plants were ignored. The click rate of those three plants wasn't high either. He basically used his own points to exchange candy for Man Bao.

However, Man Bao was not discouraged. She had finished memorizing the Thousand Character Classic long ago, and the day she received the system was the day she obtained the manuscript of the Thousand Character Classic. She recited and recognized characters every day. Although she still couldn't write many of them, she could recognize them.

Therefore, by the end of the day, Man Bao had recognized quite a few characters. For those she didn't know, she didn't hesitate to ask Koko.

The system always answered her questions, especially since Man Bao was quite adorable. Who could bear to refuse a cute child over four years old?

No, Man Bao had been insisting that she was already six years old this year, well, in nominal age.

After finishing reading, Man Bao still didn't understand the meaning, but she didn't ask about everything. She mostly asked about topics that interested her. "It says here that the grass can dispel wind, dampness, clear heat, detoxify, and promote blood circulation. What does that mean?"

Koko replied, "It means exactly what it says. In traditional Chinese medicine, after people consume various grains and are affected by the environment, there may be dampness or heat toxins in the body. For example, when one is experiencing excessive internal heat, they can use this grass to make a soup for consumption, which can dispel wind, dampness, clear heat, and detoxify. As for promoting blood circulation and stopping bleeding, it's simpler. If someone falls and starts bleeding, they can crush the grass and apply it to the wound to stop the bleeding, or it can be taken orally."

"Wow," Man Bao exclaimed, "This grass is so valuable. No, I have to dig up more to bring home."

Man Bao grabbed the grass and pulled hard to uproot it, exerting a lot of effort to remove it.

The system also thought the grass was quite good, so it secretly encouraged Man Bao and came up with an idea, "Use the nearby vine to tie them together, and then you can carry them back."

Man Bao found the idea reasonable. She pulled out a lot of the grass. By the time Wulang and Liulang brought back some wild fruits, her face and hands were covered in mud, sweating profusely. The two young men were stunned and ran up to ask, "What are you doing, Little Aunt?"

Man Bao's eyes sparkled as she said, "Wulao, Liulao, quickly come and help. I found a good medicinal herb."

The two young men approached and saw the wild grass in her hand, feeling a bit at a loss. "Isn't this just weeds? You can find them everywhere on the ground."

"It's not. This is called cow tendon grass. It can detoxify and stop bleeding," Man Bao instructed the two brothers, "Quick, help me pull them out."

However, Wulang directly took the wild grass from her hand, threw it away, cleaned her hands, and said, "Don't be silly. Here, we found some thorn bubbles. Try one."

With that, he stuffed a bright red fruit into Man Bao's mouth. It was fragrant and sweet, and her eyes lit up. She forgot about the cow tendon grass on the ground. "I want more!"

The system was also excited. "This is a plant that hasn't been recorded yet, Man Bao. 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 was recorded, adding images would still yield a substantial points reward. If someone viewed the images, they would earn even more points.

Indeed, it was a good decision to get the host out more often.

The system instructed, "Man Bao, quickly record it. It's best to record the whole plant."

While stuffing the wild fruit into her mouth, Man Bao asked her brothers, "What kind of fruit is this, and why have I never eaten it before? Where did you pick it?"

"We've already picked them all, there's none left. Let's hurry down the mountain; Fourth Brother will get mad if we're late."

Man Bao pinched her waist angrily, "I want to see what it looks like. Next time, I'll know how to pick wild fruits."

Wulang laughed when he heard her, "It's not hard. Just walk down the road, and you'll find many on the side. They may not have fruits now, but there will be plenty. We'll teach you how to recognize them later."

Man Bao finally understood that her brothers were not lying about the mountains being full of wild fruits; there were indeed many.

After walking down the mountain for a while on Liulang's back, Wulang pointed to a bunch of green vines with many thorns on the roadside, "Here, this is thorn bubble. It blooms as soon as the weather warms up in spring. After flowering, it bears fruit, which turns red and becomes very delicious. By next year's Qingming Festival, we'll take you to the mountain to pick some."

However, Liulang disagreed, "I think the yellow ones are better. They are hard and sour, much tastier than the red ones."

Wulang looked down on him, "The red ones are the best. We all agree that the red ones are better."

Liulang argued, "But the yellow ones—"

"The red ones!"

"The yellow ones!"

"The red ones!"

Seeing the two brothers quarreling, Man Bao, who had never tried the yellow ones, couldn't express her opinion. She slid off Liulang's back and knelt down to look at the vines.

Wulang and Liulang only glanced at her, saw her curious expression, and turned back to their argument, or rather, debate.

In her heart, Man Bao asked Koko, "Should I dig up the whole plant, or just a section for you?"

After some thought, the system replied, "If you can bring the whole plant, that would be best. If it's not convenient, a section will do."