She was already deeply immersed.
It turned out that the human body was closely related and complementary to the universe and all things in nature. What she had learned last time was the concept of Yin and Yang.
This time, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches discussed in this book surprisingly had a similar principle to the human body's meridians.
The so-called Eight Extraordinary Meridians, as it turned out, referred to this: four meridians of Sha Yin and Sha Yang in the hands and feet, and the Dai Mai, which acted as a vertical meridian channel, connecting the front, back, left, and right of the human body, forming a three-dimensional map of the human meridians.
She, A Jiu, finished reading this book without even realizing it.
When she came back to her senses, the system interface was still waiting for confirmation of retrieval.
"Claim."
All the items were put into their respective slots, and A Jiu knew she would have to study them slowly.
As for that elixir, A Jiu had no idea what it was for and decided to set it aside for now.
"A Jiu, A Jiu, it's time to eat!"
A Jiu suddenly withdrew from the space.
Tie Chui and Tie Dan were surrounding her, nudging her, "Sister A Jiu, Sister A Jiu, it's time to eat."
"Okay, Sister A Jiu will be right there."
A Jiu stretched and walked into the kitchen. Upon seeing what was prepared, she exclaimed:
"Mom, you can make soup with lichen?"
"Of course. I dried it yesterday to preserve it. After soaking it in water, it can be used for soup. Come and sit down to eat."
A Jiu decided to try it. It was the first time she knew this thing could not only be eaten but also dried and preserved. And after soaking, it still retained its dark green color, not looking dry and withered at all.
"Father is also in a good mood today. Xiao Yan, you're not going back to the city tonight, are you?" Meng Shaode said while eating.
"I'm not going back. The city gates are locked at this hour, and I've taken leave for the past two days."
"That's good. Tonight, you'll accompany me up the mountain to hunt. If we're lucky, we'll have meat tomorrow." Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan's face lit up with childish excitement:
"Great!"
A Jiu instantly recalled the bird that Tuobayan had hunted before, the one whose bones were all shattered.
A Jiu secretly glanced at her mother. At that time, they were extremely hungry, and her mother hadn't paid much attention, nor had she connected it to those dead people for a while.
"Sister-in-law, I've been a burden to you and the children all along. I haven't been able to contribute much, and my cooking isn't as good as yours. I don't know how to help, so what do you think I can do?"
Mao Junlan felt a bit embarrassed to eat so much.
"Just take care of the children. Besides, didn't you help me light the fire today?" Cai Lihua cared most about the children:
"My dear children, you can't be without your mother's company. Now that we've settled down, we can live like we did before the famine, can't we?"
A Jiu knew much more about the situation in the city than this, but her father's words were right. Don't ask about the origin, don't ask about the future, especially when everyone was rarely this happy.
"Mom, I'll take some food to Grandma."
A Jiu finished her meal, got up, and served a bowl of soup, carrying it out.
Indeed, Wang Shi was meditating on the stone slab outside the door. "Aren't you eating? This is made with spiritual spring water."
Wang Shi finally opened her eyes, took the bowl and chopsticks, and took a small sip. "Not bad, not bad. Who made this? This cooking skill is comparable to the cooks at the government office."
"My mom," A Jiu said, watching her finally eat. She propped her chin on her hand and smiled at Wang Shi:
"Grandma, how about you come with me to plant rice tonight?"
As soon as rice was mentioned, Wang Shi's nose twitched and her face fell. "Do you have to plant rice? Can't you plant something else that uses less water?"
"But only from rice can we get white rice. Mother wants to use rice to make delicious food for me," A Jiu said from her heart.
She still remembered how worried her mother had looked yesterday upon hearing how expensive rice was in the city.
"It's not that I'm selfish, but you can all fill your stomachs with other things. It doesn't have to be white rice."
Wang Shi said, then noticed that the girl's face was still smiling, showing no intention of changing her mind. She waved her hand:
"Fine, fine. Then, you find a way to accumulate that 'merit points' by doing good deeds, and try to grow bigger. That way, you won't have to hoard my spiritual spring water."
A Jiu knew that her grandmother was calculating things quite shrewdly.
"Where can I go to do good deeds? Lord Wang of the government office in the city has issued a decree asking me to treat the plague. I need the ability to earn these merit points."
"Really? Then Grandma will accompany you into the city tomorrow, and you'll go and save people."