C5 Looking for Medicine

Miao Xiu and Zhenbei, tired of waiting for their daughter at home, decided to go out and look for her. In the distance, they spotted a shadow moving slowly.

Miao Xiu quickly called out, "Zhen, is that you?"

"Mom, it's me," Sheng Nanzhen replied, feeling a chill in her body. Seeing her parents was a relief; otherwise, she might not have made it.

Sheng Nanzhen had relied on her memories to find her way back. In the dark, she felt like she was blind, but luckily she had a stick to use as a cane.

Miao Xiu, filled with concern, handed the kerosene lamp to Zhenbei. "Let me carry you," she offered.

Sheng Nanzhen hesitated. She was quite heavy, and at seventeen, with the mindset of her original thirty-one-year-old self, she felt like she was forty-eight, older than her mom. How could she let her mom carry her?

"Mom, just help me walk," she said, passing everything she was holding to Zhenbei.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Dad, take these. They're all herbs," she replied.

Raising the lamp, Zhenbei saw a pile of firewood. Herbs? But seeing how serious his daughter was, he didn't dare throw them away.

The next moment, Sheng Nanzhen added, "Dad, go back and boil some of the small roots. Give the broth to my older brothers."

"Is this safe to drink?" Zhenbei asked.

"Sure, Dad, trust me. Right now, we need to get my older brothers' fevers down first."

"Zhen, who said this is safe to eat?" Miao Xiu asked.

"Mom, an old man passing by told me. He said he got over his fever by drinking this."

Miao Xiu turned to Sheng Zhenbei and said, "Then hurry, go home and make the soup."

As soon as she got home, Sheng Nanzhen was almost too exhausted to move.

Besides the three of them, the house was empty. She asked, "Where are my fourth and fifth brothers?"

"They're still stuck and can't get out. I was just saying, should we get a bucket for them to use at home? It's the middle of the night; they can't stay outside all night, can they?"

"Mom, wash the raspberries and make a drink for my fourth and fifth brothers. Then, brew some water with maidenhair fern and plantain for them. That should help a bit."

Miao Xiu knew plantain was effective, but she wasn't familiar with the other two. Still, they were edible, so there was no harm in trying.

Appreciating her daughter's effort, she felt it would be wrong not to make the brew.

Miao Xiu quickly went out.

Sheng Nanzhen was out of breath, mainly because it was dark, and she couldn't search for more herbs.

Later, Miao Xiu brought in a bowl of sweet potato porridge, with two chunks of sweet potato floating in it.

Miao Xiu: "The house has been a mess these past few days. Let's just grab a quick bite." It doesn't even feel like the holidays.

"Yeah," Sheng Nanzhen nodded, feeling worse off than her brothers.

She couldn't figure out what was going on with the Sheng family. She was too exhausted today and decided to check on things tomorrow.

Miao Xiu said, "Our house is in such chaos right now, there's no way to thank Tianjiao properly."

Sheng Tianjiao?

Sheng Nanzhen replied, "Mom, I'll handle thanking Sheng Tianjiao myself. You just focus on managing things here at home. I'm going to bed."

She was utterly worn out.

In her dreams, Sheng Nanzhen saw Sheng Tianjiao frequently giving her foods that seemed to increase her fatigue.

This time, she didn't eat them.

The original Sheng Nanzhen always considered Sheng Tianjiao a close friend.

Turns out... more than half of her ailments were thanks to Sheng Tianjiao.

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