Chapter 18
Mrs. Gao saw Gu Jiu's smug little expression and was momentarily speechless. After a while, she shook her head, "Gaining a reputation for being a shrew, how will she find a..." Mrs. Gao originally intended to say "how will she find an in-law's family", but suddenly realized she wanted to keep Gu Jiu at home, so her own family would certainly not mind.
Gu Jiu reacted swiftly, "Well, isn't the sister-in-law also a shrew? Didn't she also get married out?"
Oldest Xie said: "So it means I have poor judgment?"
Mrs. Gao was speechless, this child is truly a conversation-ender.
From the Zhang family, the mischievous child's commotion could be heard: "I want more fish, this piece is not enough for me, I want more. Older Sister, Second Sister, give me yours, quick, those who pay eat whatever they want."
Then came Zhang Yushi's voice: "Older Sister, Second Sister, did you hear that? Don't eat anymore, quickly give your portions to your brother!"
Immediately followed by the crying of the two girls, the mischievous child Wang Cuiping hurriedly consoled them in a low voice.
Not content with taking the grandchildren's fish, Zhang Yushi also wanted to take the daughter-in-law's fish soup, "Leave your soup for Laoqi, how can a grown man survive on just a sip? You don't care about your own husband at all, only thinking about yourself."
Wang Cuiping remained silent with her head down, while Zhang Laoqi poured her fish soup into his own bowl.
The villagers all felt sorry for Wang Cuiping, marrying into such a family, ending up with such a mother-in-law and husband, she was truly unlucky.
Zhang stared coldly at Wang Cuiping from a distance, unable to exert any authority herself, yet always looking like a beaten and oppressed woman. Not just her own family, even others felt like bullying her when they saw her.
The elders and children quickly finished their food, worried that the shameless old Zhang Yushi would come asking for theirs once she was done, at which point they would have to waste their breath arguing with her.
On this side, the fragrance of fish filled the mountain air amidst the lively commotion.
The people of Dahu Village salivated and promptly went to the stream to catch fish as well.
Unfortunately, their luck was poor, and after searching for a long time, they didn't even see a single fish fry, so they had to return dejectedly.
After the evening meal, Gu Jiu asked Mrs. Xu to heat some water for Mrs. Gao to soak her feet, as there were no medicines available, soaking her feet every night could help improve liver and qi flow.
Xie Siyu saw this and came over with his little short legs, rolling up his sleeves and squatting down, "I'll wash Grandma's feet."
Mrs. Gao patted his little head in praise, "Good boy, our Siyu is so sensible."
Erqing and San You also hurried over to help Mrs. Gao wash her feet.
Mrs. Gao smiled from ear to ear, praising all the children.
Gu Jiu also took the opportunity to wash her hair with the hot water.
In ancient times, people's hair was long, and after washing, it would not dry quickly. Gu Jiu sat on a rock and let the wind dry her hair.
She also took the opportunity to immerse her consciousness in the space, as she wanted to see what was going on with the sudden new space.
Inside the space, there was a flat, fertile black soil field.
Next to the field was a man-made ditch, following which upwards led to a tall mountain.
In the open area, there was a partially constructed building, with some shovels lying in front of it.
This place looked very familiar - it was clearly the pristine land that The Regiment had found after great hardship, untouched by any radiation, where they had decided to settle.
They had begun cultivating the land and building houses here, intending to reside for the long term.
On a makeshift stone table, there was a crossbow, with a bag of twenty arrows beside it.
Gu Jiu almost cried out in joy - her crossbow was still here! Back then, she had visited this new base, but The Regiment had an emergency, so she had rushed to provide medical aid, leaving her weapon behind. Afterwards, she had become overly fatigued and ended up transmigrating here.
In her previous life, she had rarely used cold weapons, but Gu Jiu had an exceptional talent for archery, so she was quite fond of the crossbow, a type of cold weapon. She had always carried it as a means of self-defense.
This crossbow had a range of up to five hundred meters and could easily shatter the skull of a ferocious beast, with a power greater than most firearms. Gu Jiu's arrows were made of fine steel, custom-made specifically for her, with terrifying killing power.
After the initial excitement, she felt a tinge of regret, as the materials needed to make these were too advanced, so she could not use them openly.
The only difference between this space and the previous base was that there was not a single plant in sight, just barren land everywhere. How had the base become her space? If she had brought this place over, what would happen to the tens of thousands of people in The Regiment?
No matter how hard Gu Jiu racked her brain, she could not figure it out, so she sought help from the system.
The system: "This is a parallel space-time."
"So in other words, this is actually the new base that The Regiment found, but it exists in a different dimension?"
"You can understand it that way."
The system then explained to Gu Jiu: "The space currently has too low an oxygen content, unsuitable for humans to enter. The host must quickly plant vegetation in the space. As the oxygen content increases, the space's ecosystem will gradually improve, and the quality of plants and water will also improve accordingly. This system will also upgrade as a result."
Gu Jiu's eyes lit up, "If the quality of plants and water improves, does that mean the medicinal herbs I grow will have better potency than ordinary ones?"
"That will be the case in the future."
Gu Jiu was overjoyed. This must be a transmigration benefit, this system was a reward from the heavens for her many years of saving lives, right?
"What functions will the system gain upon upgrading?"
"Once this system reaches the next level, it will have the ability to identify all things. At the third level, it can provide the host with recipes for various items. The higher the level, the more recipes it can provide. To upgrade, the host must first grow a certain amount of medicinal herbs in the space. From today onwards, the host must work hard."
Excellent! Does this mean she could produce many high-quality medicines in the future? Could she make things that don't exist in this era and earn a lot of money?
Gu Jiu's mouth was already crooked with joy. Remembering the mint by the stream, she took the opportunity to quickly go pluck a bunch, making sure no one was around before entering the space and hurriedly planting it.
Indeed, the oxygen content in the space was extremely low - just that short time was enough for Gu Jiu to nearly become dizzy and disoriented from lack of air.
Without the carriage tonight, Mrs. Gao also had to lay bedding directly on the ground. Oldest Xie and Second Xie cut a lot of grass and laid it on the ground, covering it with an oilcloth to prevent moisture, for Mrs. Gao to rest on.
Mrs. Gao pulled Gu Jiu to sleep on it with her, and it was surprisingly soft and comfortable.
As Gu Jiu lay there, she once again immersed her consciousness in the space, letting the system provide virtual individuals to practice pulse-taking.
Mrs. Gao's pulse was rather rare, as a patient with such complex, multiple conditions was difficult to find. The system provided Gu Jiu with virtual individuals of different ages - some with only uterine fibroids, some with only qi and blood deficiencies, some with both, young and old - allowing her to experience their various pulse patterns one by one.
She memorized them, ensuring she would not misdiagnose patients with similar conditions in the future.
Next, she studied the pulse patterns of those with liver qi stagnation through the virtual individuals before finally falling into a deep sleep.
Before setting off the next day, Oldest Xie told everyone to grab a stick to fend off snakes in the grass and use as a weapon.
Gu Jiu had previously traveled with The Regiment to various parts of the world in search of habitable locations, even venturing into primeval forests, so she had some experience. She was not afraid of entering an unknown territory.