The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure

Ming Zhu coughed.

Today, she must raise Little Bean's favorability towards her family, and besides, she had the upper hand.

So... things just got a lot easier.

Without any hesitation, she said, "The things on the mountain belong to whoever finds them first. Jinguan, Panpan, go pick them. You other little ones go look elsewhere, there must be more around, don't waste time here."

Suddenly, all became quiet.

The Little Beans from the Old Wang Family were excited.

Usually, their aunt only showed her authoritative side in front of them and acted virtuous in front of the Old Song Family.

The Old Song Family had kids about the same age as them, and whenever there was a little conflict, they would complain to their aunt, and when they got home, she would surely incite their grandmother to scold and beat them.

Today, the sun had risen in the west.

Their aunt was actually standing on their side. How thrilling! How joyful!

In the past, when the Old Song Family's kids took something from their Old Wang Family's house, they even mocked their aunt as a defective product, saying nobody wanted her even if she paid them. Although they also didn't like their aunt, it was frustrating since they were all family.

Now, finally, their aunt had come to her senses.

…

As for the Old Song Family's Little Beans, they were all dumbfounded.

Everyone knew that Wang Yongzhu, who was dark, plump, and ugly, wanted to marry into their Old Song Family and was almost crazy about becoming wife to their Uncle Song Chongjin.

Usually, whenever Song Chongjin was mentioned, Grandma Wang would unconditionally side with them... What happened today?

It didn't work?

It wasn't effective?

"Auntie Zhuzhu, I have a little dragonfly made by Uncle Chongjin out of grass. If you give us the Yellow Pine Mushrooms, I'll give you the little dragonfly, it was personally made by Uncle Chongjin," one clever Little Bean argued unconvincingly, trying a last-ditch effort to tempt her.

Ming Zhu said firmly, "Even if you offered me a golden dragonfly, the mushrooms today belong to our Jinguan, Hua'er, and Panpan."

Her plump body stood in front of Jin Hua and the other Little Beans, massive and immovable like a mountain.

She had an imposing aura.

The Little Beans from the Old Song Family knew they were no match and could only leave resentfully.

Then, Ming Zhu heard a system notification.

Task progress completed: Reach a positive value in the relationship with family members (6/11)

…

She had just gained three positive points!!

Just with this little affair, she had turned three Little Beans' favorability from negative to positive.

She had thought it would be so difficult, but as long as you found the right method, nothing was a problem!

She was full of confidence.

A few Little Beans gathered around her, showing more affection than before.

"Auntie, you were so impressive today!"

"Auntie, are you tired? Let me massage your legs."

Ming Zhu enjoyed this, savoring the fruit of victory.

The praise and flattery coming from the bottom of the Little Beans' hearts, that was her charismatic allure.

In her moment of pride, her body, too plump, slipped on a stone underfoot, and she lurched forward.

In her extreme joy, a mishap occurred: alas, her fate was sealed!

"Old Granny, be careful!!"

Ming Zhu's first reaction was to cover her face, then she tumbled into a patch of grass with a rustle.

She flattened who knows how many weeds before crashing into a tree, where she finally came to a stop.

This side of the slope was in the shade; it got little sunlight. The grasses weren't as lush as those on the sunnier side. Perhaps because it had rained recently, the ground was still moist and soft, which was fortunate—otherwise, Ming Zhu might have been seriously injured.

After struggling to her feet with the help of the tree and dusting off the pine needles and leaves clinging to her, she saw a light yellow mushroom tumble out from her sleeve.

Mushrooms?

Ming Zhu picked up the small mushroom and examined it closely in her palm. Then she heard the voice of the System in her mind, "Congratulations, host, for discovering a Level C edible pure natural mushroom—you have received 1 point! Mission issued: Collect half a pound of Level C edible mushrooms to receive 3 points. Don't miss this opportunity; chances like this are rare! Host, please seize this great opportunity and put in the effort!"

WHAT!!

Edible mushrooms? A surge of joy went through Ming Zhu's heart, and hearing that collecting mushrooms could earn her points, she immediately rolled up her sleeves and got ready to squat down and search for more.

But the quantity of mushrooms seemed quite small!

Looking around, there were only four or five, the size of a big fingernail, soil-colored and exquisitely small.

All together, they didn't even weigh half an ounce; where was she supposed to find half a pound?

At that moment, Jinhua and the other Little Beans caught up, clumsily helping Ming Zhu to stay upright.

Ming Zhu asked, "Is this the Yellow Pine Mushrooms you were just fighting over? Where can we find more around here?"

Jinpan was small but sly and shrewd.

He replied, "Old Granny, Yellow Pine Mushrooms are rare in our mountains, delicious, small in size. I've seen adults gather half a pound or eight ounces to sell for a few silver coins in town. We go up the mountain to fetch firewood every day and hardly ever see them; stumble upon four or five like this—worth ten coins easily. Grandma says we must pick them if we find any; a single mushroom is as expensive as an egg."

Jinguan added, "There are actually four or five here, previously hidden by the grass; we thought there were only one or two. Otherwise, the boys from the Old Song Family wouldn't have left so easily. Wow, we're in luck to have found so many."

Jinhua also looked eagerly excited.

Ming Zhu's heart sank.

To think that even with daily trips to the mountain for firewood, this rare find had them practically glowing with excitement over just four or five small mushrooms.

How was she supposed to gather half a pound?

The System was just a scam.

Points were not that easy to come by.

She didn't give up, "Xiao Tiantian, are mushrooms graded too?"

"Yes, host! In our high-tech realm, all natural edible ingredients are graded according to their quality, from Level D to Level A and the legendary Level S ingredients. To find Level C natural ingredients in such a backward realm—host, that's the rhythm of striking it rich! Keep it up, host!"

"Can I substitute them with other varieties?"

"That's also possible, as long as it's a Level C natural ingredient... However, the System just did a scan, and there are no Level C natural ingredients within a mile radius, let alone other Level C natural ingredients..."

"Then what's the point of asking me to collect them!"

Ming Zhu couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Meanwhile, the Little Beans had already harvested all the Yellow Pine Mushrooms and handed them to Ming Zhu.

Ming Zhu placed them in the basket with the firewood.

If there was nothing within this mile radius, wasn't there the next mile to check?

As long as the System could scan, she might as well consider it exercise through mountain trekking.

And she was going to gather them all, no matter what.

It was time to solidify the hard-earned goodwill.

Ming Zhu fished out two eggs from her pouch that Grandma Wang Zhang had secretly given her that morning. They had been flattened into pancakes by her tumble down the hill, their shells mixed in with the whites and yolks, utterly unappetizing to behold.

"Anyone want eggs? They're crushed, but they're still eggs."