Chapter 99 - 95: Day 19 Settlement
Seeing the old man drenched by the rain, his hair still wet and his gaunt frame trembling, Qin Ziwen said to Du Yu, "Du Yu, go boil a pot of water."
"Yes."
Qin Ziwen glanced at the large basket on his back. "Is this basket filled with medicinal herbs?"
"Yes." The old man hurriedly took out his basket. "The herbs inside aren’t worth much. Shopkeeper, feel free to take whatever you like."
Qin Ziwen asked, "Do you have these four: Honeysuckle, dandelion, Mint, and licorice?"
"I do, I do! These are common herbs. I picked quite a few this time." The old man quickly dumped the herbs onto the table and sorted out the four types.
Du Yu came out with a kettle of boiling water and three pottery bowls.
He first poured a bowl for Qin Ziwen, then one for the old man, and finally one for himself.
"Be careful, it’s hot," Qin Ziwen said.
A smile appeared on the old man’s face. "Thank you for your concern, Shopkeeper. Here are the herbs you needed."
He pushed the pile of sorted herbs forward.
A faint medicinal fragrance wafted over.
Qin Ziwen looked at Du Yu. "Go to the cellar, cut off some meat, and cook it."
A short while later, the old man accepted the strip of cooked cured meat. His eyes grew hot. Wiping away a tear, he said hastily, "Shopkeeper, you are a good man. If you need any herbs, just let me know. If I come across them, I’ll bring them to you."
Qin Ziwen pointed to the Honeysuckle and other three herbs on the table. "If you find any more, just bringing more of these four types would be a great help."
The old man nodded quickly to show he understood.
The two chatted for a while longer before Qin Ziwen said, "It’s not safe at night. You can rest here for the night and leave at dawn tomorrow. I don’t have a spare bed, though. You can push some tables together."
"No, no, that’s not necessary. I can just sleep on the floor."
Qin Ziwen didn’t press the issue. He just went back to get a straw mat for him, then took the herbs and left the tavern. In any case, these people couldn’t get to his home through the tavern. Wherever they came from, that’s where they’d be when they left.
Night fell, and the hours passed without incident.
"You have successfully survived in the wilderness for a nineteenth day. You obtained a Card from the altar and snatched a rabbit from a leopard... Overall Score: 54."
"You have received the following rewards: [Building Card] Level 1 Congee Shed, [Building Card] Level 1 Farmland, [Building Card] Level 1 Pharmacy, Mountain Animal Encyclopedia Fragment*2."
The next morning, Qin Ziwen looked at his rewards.
’Huh,’ Qin Ziwen thought. Two new types of buildings had appeared.
One was a congee shed, the other a pharmacy.
Thinking about recent events, Qin Ziwen decided to build the pharmacy first.
The pharmacy required a 4x5 meter empty space.
Qin Ziwen found an open area behind the bathroom.
He silently willed it to be used.
When the light faded, a small, elegant building of blue bricks and tiles stood before him. The small building was exquisite. He pulled open the main door.
The layout inside resembled a traditional Chinese pharmacy. One wall was covered with a cabinet of drawers for storing herbs, and a brown wooden desk stood in the front.
A faint medicinal fragrance filled the air.
’Could it be...’ Qin Ziwen’s expression shifted. He walked over and pulled open a drawer. It was empty.
He checked several more drawers; they were all the same.
Qin Ziwen was speechless.
’Looks like I was overthinking things.’
[Level 1 Pharmacy: Level 1 Medicine Fragrance, Level 1 Antiseptic]
’Well, what do you know. The fragrance in the air is actually an effect of the building itself.’
’Level 1 Medicine Fragrance, of all things!’
Qin Ziwen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but besides the fragrance, there was also the Level 1 Antiseptic effect.
He went to the living room and began sorting the herbs he got yesterday into the drawers.
"Sir, this is from the Medicine Gatherer yesterday." Du Yu came in from behind, carrying a large bag full of herbs.
Qin Ziwen was surprised. "He left all of them?"
From the looks of it, this was nearly all the herbs the Medicine Gatherer had in his basket.
"Yes, I believe so. And he rolled up the straw mat and left it by the wall," Du Yu nodded.
A complex emotion flickered in Qin Ziwen’s eyes. He hadn’t really thought much of it yesterday. He just figured they had made a deal—the Medicine Gatherer gave him some herbs, so it was fine to let him stay the night in the tavern, since he couldn’t leave it anyway.
He really hadn’t thought about it too deeply.
He didn’t even know if people who left the tavern could ever return for a second time.
For him and the Medicine Gatherer, that might have been the one and only time they would ever meet.
Qin Ziwen looked at the herbs in the bag and asked Du Yu, "Do you recognize any of these herbs?"
Du Yu quickly shook his head.
Qin Ziwen was in a bind. He didn’t recognize them either.
Zhao Pu might know, but he couldn’t possibly bring Zhao Pu here.
That would reveal far too much.
He knew that human nature rarely holds up to scrutiny, so sometimes it was best to eliminate the possibility of a test altogether.
"It’s fine." Qin Ziwen then dumped all the herbs from the bag onto the table and began sorting them into drawers by type.
"Sir, so you do recognize them," Du Yu said in surprise.
"I don’t. I’m just putting them away randomly. When someone who knows herbs comes along, we can rearrange them," Qin Ziwen said calmly. "By the way, Du Yu, take some of these herbs to apartment 202 downstairs." Du Yu bowed. "Yes, sir."
After dealing with the pharmacy, it was time for the congee shed.
Honestly, Qin Ziwen felt the name of this building was a little bizarre.
In ancient times, congee sheds were used for disaster relief.
’So, is the purpose of giving me a congee shed to provide disaster relief for the Gated Community?’
’The problem is, I don’t have that much grain.’
After some thought, Qin Ziwen went to the expanded area behind the guest bedroom. It was adjacent to the mining area, and there was still a 20x10 empty space.
Unlike the pharmacy, whose purpose was relatively clear, he decided to place it here.
The congee shed required an 8x7 area, a very large footprint.
He silently willed it to be used.
When the light faded, a huge thatched shelter stood in its place.
It was a simple structure built from wood, thatch, and broken planks, the joints tied directly with rope.
The core area featured a large iron pot over a meter in diameter, sitting on a brick-and-stone stove. Next to it were several large bundles of firewood, and beside the stove, a large sack of rice.
Under the further reaches of the shelter, straw mats were laid out over a sparse layer of thatch. These mats were probably meant to be temporary beds.
’This thing... it really is a congee shed for disaster relief.’
Walking over to the stove, he looked at the large sack of rice. The "budget" for this shabby building had probably all been spent on this one sack.
He opened the sack. The rice inside wasn’t very fresh; it was likely old rice.
He chose to use Insight on the congee shed.
[Level 1 Congee Shed: Level 1 Attracts Vagrants, Level 1 Employment]
Looking at the congee shed’s effects, Qin Ziwen couldn’t help but ponder.
’He thought he... probably, maybe, sort of... figured out the congee shed’s purpose.’
After all, it was written quite clearly.
Attract vagrants, then employ them. Wasn’t this just a way to recruit temporary workers? Just like in the old days, trading labor for food, work for relief.
As for how to attract them, Qin Ziwen’s gaze fell on the large pot in the center.
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