Sun Daqing exclaid in surprise, "Little Cousin, you said you want us to help you dig for dicinal herbs?"
"SHH~" Zhao Zhitong covered Sun Daqing’s mouth with her small hand and whispered, "Second Cousin, keep your voice down. This is a secret."
"Right, right, secret, secret," Sun Daqing whispered, laughing foolishly and covering his own mouth. "Little Cousin, what do you need the herbs for?"
Zhao Zhitong said, "Daddy’s leg hurts, and I want to help him treat it."
At this mont, eldest cousin Sun Daji spoke up, "Oh, it’s for that. Little Cousin, you don’t have to worry. My grandfather is already providing dicine for your daddy."
Zhao Zhitong blinked. "Really?"
It was no surprise Zhao Zhitong didn’t know. Zhao Dong, fearing the strong dicinal sll would affect her, only brewed the dicine after dinner. And after dinner, she either disappeared or went to sleep, so she had no idea her father drank dicine every day.
Sun Daji nodded affirmatively. "Of course, Grandpa is a physician."
Sun Daqing also chid in, "That’s right! And if you want to find herbs, you don’t have to go to the mountains. We have plenty at ho."
Upon hearing that their house was full of herbs, Zhao Zhitong’s eyes lit up, and she excitedly asked, "Really?"
Sun Daqing nodded eagerly. "Absolutely true. My uncle travels around collecting herbs. Do you want to see?"
Zhao Zhitong nodded repeatedly. "Yes, can I?"
"Of course! Second Cousin will take you to see them right now," Sun Daqing promised, patting his chest.
Sun Daji looked speechless as Sun Daqing proudly offered to show Zhao Zhitong the herbs. He pushed Sun Daqing lightly. "...Second Brother, those are the herbs *my* father collected. Why are you so excited, as if they were your father’s? If anyone’s showing Little Cousin, it should be ."
Sun Daxiang and Sun Daru also squeezed in front of Zhao Zhitong and whispered, "And , and ! My daddy just brought back so herbs yesterday. They’re drying in the backyard. I’ll take you to see them."
Just as the little radishes were plotting to go see the herbs, a voice suddenly ca from above, "What are you little ones doing sneaking around?"
"AH!"
"YIKES!"
The sudden voice scared the little radishes, causing them to scatter in all directions.
"Younger Uncle, you scared us to death!" Zhao Zhitong cried, leaning against the wall behind the house. She patted her little chest, baring her teeth at Sun Youcai with a fierce yet childish glare.
"That’s right, Little Uncle, you scared us!"
The other little radishes also followed Zhao Zhitong’s example, patting their chests and shouting at Sun Youcai.
Sun Youcai assud an ’I-knew-it’ expression. "You must have been up to sothing bad; that’s why you all got scared."
"No, no, we weren’t!" the little radishes shouted loudly, then ran off in the blink of an eye.
***
At this ti, Zhao Dong had already ntioned the tofu business partnership to his father-in-law.
Seeing that his son-in-law had made money and still rembered to include their family, Sun Kang was even more pleased with him.
He quickly called his sons and daughters-in-law over, took a drag on his tobacco pipe, and said, "Your brother-in-law suggested that our family join his tofu business to make money. What do you all think?"
Zhao Dong nodded repeatedly, smiling as he recounted his plan. "It’s like this..."
After listening to Zhao Dong’s description, both daughters-in-law were obviously tempted. They would get thirty percent of the inco—around 300 coins a day. This was big money!
Sun Kang, however, felt that thirty percent was too much when he heard Zhao Dong’s offer. "Son-in-law, isn’t thirty percent too much? You should take so back."
Zhao Dong waved his hands. "Not at all. In fact, I think it’s too little. The tofu-making thod is simple, and soone will figure out how to make it soon. Right now, since no one else has, we must seize this opportunity to make as much money as possible. Once the thod gets out, it won’t be profitable anymore."
"At ho, it’s just Sun i and , and we’re too busy. I don’t trust outsiders. I only trust my brothers-in-law. Plus, this is physically demanding work, so having you all join is a big help to . Thirty percent is not too much at all."
Zhao Dong’s trust in Sun Youwei and Sun Youli made them both very happy.
Sun Youli imdiately slapped his chest, promising Zhao Dong he would keep the prescription safe.
In the end, both parties happily reached an agreent, and the Sun family even planned to start helping that very afternoon.
Upon hearing that Zhao Dong also needed to pick lotus leaves, Sun Youli imdiately volunteered for the task. "I know the way to the lotus pond best; I’ll take you there!"
Sun i had not gone out to explore since her ti traveling. At this mont, she was eager to see an ancient lotus pond and decided to tag along.
Just as she was about to ask Zhao Zhitong if she wanted to go, she found that the young girl had disappeared, along with all the other little radishes in the house.
"Third Brother, where’s Tongtong?"
Sun Youcai, who had just been snubbed by the little radishes, spoke up, "Sister, you don’t have to worry about her. She’s playing in the backyard with Sun Daji and the others. You all go ahead; I’ll keep an eye on her for you."
"Alright, I’ll leave the kids in your hands."
With that, the group set off to pick lotus leaves.
Once they left and the little radishes were also gone, the courtyard instantly beca quiet.
Sun Kang sat in the courtyard, smoking his pipe for a while. Finding it suddenly too quiet, he got up and headed to the backyard.
There, in the backyard, the children were gathered around several dicine-drying racks, discussing sothing enthusiastically.
Sun Daqing rummaged through the herbs in a basket and asked Zhao Zhitong, "Little Cousin, Little Cousin, what kind of herb are you looking for?"
"Xu Duan! You’re so dumb, Sun Daqing," Sun Daxiang said with disdain.
Sun Daqing protested unhappily, "I’m not dumb; I just forgot! Little Cousin, let see what it looks like again. Second Cousin will definitely find it for you."
So Zhao Zhitong showed Sun Daqing the sketch she had drawn beforehand.
"Okay, I got it!" Sun Daqing said confidently after taking a look.
Saying this, he began searching through the dicine racks one by one. The other children followed his example, each picking up herbs, sniffing and even tasting them like little experts.
"I found it, I found it!"
Just then, Sun Daji excitedly ran up to Zhao Zhitong with an herb, presenting it to her like a treasure.
"Wow, really?"
Zhao Zhitong happily put down the herb in her hand and hurried over to look. Picking it up, she examined it, then said with disappointnt, "Eldest Cousin, this isn’t it. This is sheep’s hoof grass, also known as one-point red. It’s very common along roadsides and is used to reduce inflammation, clear heat, and detoxify."
Before Sun Daji had even fully stepped away, Sun Daxiang rushed over with a handful of leaves. "Little Cousin, look! Is this it?"
Zhao Zhitong shook her head. "No, these are Four Seasons Green leaves. They’re also for clearing heat and detoxifying, but they can also reduce swelling and dispel blood stasis."
Sun Daqing also hurried over. "How about this one? How about this one?"
Zhao Zhitong replied helplessly, "Second Cousin, this is goosegrass. You can see it right over there by the wall. It’s also for clearing heat and detoxifying."
At this, all her young cousins looked at Zhao Zhitong with expressions of surprise and admiration.
"Little Cousin, you’re amazing! How do you recognize all of them?"
"Little Cousin is so smart, just like Little Uncle!"
"No, you’re wrong! Little Cousin must be the smartest kid in our family, even smarter than Little Uncle!"
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