Chapter 94: Medicinal Herb Channels

She was just afraid the old person would think she wasn't renting anymore and rent it to someone else; finding another house this satisfactory would not be easy.

A five or six-minute walk brought her to the Xinhua Bookstore, and Chen Shao was already at work.

"Uncle Chen." Chen Shao had been waiting for her early today.

"You finally came. I've ordered the things you wanted, but these items require opening a kiln separately to make molds. Each type isn't cheap—at least five cents each, with a minimum order of one thousand," Chen Shao said.

Upon hearing this, An Yinan felt happy in her heart. "You were actually able to order them? That's great. One thousand is too few; can I have three thousand of each type of bottle?"

Now that she could find someone to make them, she had to make more. She didn't know what things would be like in the future, and in a few years, she wouldn't be in Quanshui Village anymore; ordering again later would require finding channels and connections.

"Three thousand?" Chen Shao heard this and thought, *Fine*, he had even been worried he'd ordered too many.

This little girl opened her mouth and asked for three thousand!

"Alright then, I'll go over today and let them know. Since they're opening the kiln to make molds, it should be in time. Should I put the bottles directly into your courtyard when they arrive? Should I give you the key directly, or should I keep it for now and you can come pick it up later?" Chen Shao asked.

An Yinan thought for a moment and decided to leave the key with Uncle Chen. She didn't come to the County often, and that courtyard was just a transit station.

"Leave it with you. I should still be coming to the County once a week, so I won't be coming too frequently. Please help me keep an eye on the courtyard, and you can just help me get a spare key made later."

Although it was a bit unreasonable, given An Yinan's special circumstances, she could only arrange it this way.

Chen Shao thought about this girl's situation here; she probably didn't have any elders by her side. "Fine. After the bottles you ordered arrive, I'll hand the key to your Auntie Yun Dan. Her health has been much better recently, and she can exercise a bit by strolling around on weekdays."

This was the best solution.

Upon hearing this, An Yinan immediately agreed.

The matter of the sealed porcelain bottles was resolved, and she thought of the Chinese medicine.

"Uncle Chen, do you have a channel to buy Chinese medicinal herbs?" An Yinan asked with some curiosity.

Previously, she had been more worried about the sealed porcelain bottles; after all, many things were restricted now, and one couldn't just do whatever one wanted—it required connections and channels.

And the Chinese medicine in the County was truly insufficient. Although the amount of medicine she needed wasn't much, she had to ensure that Chen Xun and the Chen Family wouldn't run out, not to mention that there was now an extra sister-in-law, whom she would naturally take extra care of.

She hadn't seen Hemostatic Pill in the modern era, but it was better than all the Hemostatic Medicine she had used; it was fast-acting and could be taken internally or used externally.

Better safe than sorry; she still needed to store more of this kind of medicine.

Chen Shao widened his eyes. "What do you need that stuff for?"

An Yinan, however, could not tell the truth. "I can't say."

Chen Shao heard this and thought, *Fine*, another thing that couldn't be talked about.

"I don't have channels in the City, but I know some people there. I can let them figure out a way. Give me the list of herbs you need and tell me the quantities, and I'll arrange it." If it really didn't work out, he could ask the Yun Family.

An Yinan thought for a moment and still handed over the list from the County Hospital, but she added some common medicinal herbs to this list.

There were over forty types of medicinal herbs in total, and there was a weight listed after every single herb.

The weights weren't based on complete prescriptions; her weights were more arbitrary, with leftovers for each type. The main point was to be mysterious and unfathomable, making people unable to guess the efficacy of her formula.

"Alright, I've got it. I'll get it settled for you as soon as possible." After looking at the list, Chen Shao also put aside the thought of bothering his connections in the City.

After all, this demand wasn't small, and the City probably couldn't get all the medicinal herbs either.

After bidding farewell to Chen Shao, An Yinan went to the waste collection station. It was snowing heavily today, and no one liked to go out and freeze, so the waste collection station was very quiet. Even the old man who usually slept in the courtyard wasn't in the yard at this moment.

"You girl, why did you come over today?" Hearing the sound of the gate opening, the old man opened the room door and only then saw An Yinan.

He was a bit surprised and also a bit reproachful.

A little girl like her, out wandering in such heavy snow—wouldn't it hurt if she tripped or bumped into something!

The old man had no children his whole life and treated An Yinan like his own junior, but sometimes they were also like friends across generations.

"I came to take a look; otherwise, I wouldn't be at ease." An Yinan walked into the courtyard and saw a expanse of white; this old man was too lazy to even sweep the yard.

She found a broom and swept a path in the courtyard before asking, "Where's the ladder?"

The old man pointed to the corner of the wall.

An Yinan went over, moved the ladder, leaned it against the edge of the eaves, and took a long wooden board, clearing the snow off the roof over and over again.

"No need to sweep the backyard; hurry inside and drink some ginger soup." Seeing An Yinan lift the ladder to go to the backyard, the old man hurriedly spoke up.

Upon hearing this, An Yinan thought, *Fine*, there probably wasn't anything good in the backyard anyway.

"Here, I brought some grain and a few pickled vegetables I made myself." An Yinan took the grain and vegetables out of her basket, along with some dried mushrooms.

"In this snowy weather, you should just stay huddled in the room. Don't come to the City next time." The old man didn't refuse the items, but just sat by the fire basin, looking at An Yinan and instructing her.

An Yinan nodded. "How do you usually sweep the snow off the roof?"

The old man poured her another tea mug of hot water. "Someone will be arranged to sweep the snow tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" An Yinan widened her eyes.

"With this dilapidated house and such heavy snow now, you're counting on sweeping the snow tomorrow? Can these roof beams last until tomorrow?" An Yinan was a bit angry.

The old man, however, waved his hand indifferently. "Fine, it's been like this every year. Besides, there's nothing here, and the things that have collection value are all gone now, so my heart is at ease."

The old man had truly lived enough. What he could leave behind for this country, he had already left. In previous years, he still had some unwillingness every winter, but this year he felt open-minded instead.

An Yinan snorted indignantly.

"You can take the things over there. Although they aren't important, don't let them go to waste here." The old man pointed to a pile of things.

An Yinan nodded indignantly. "Got it."

"Hey, you girl, why do you have such a stubborn temper? I give you things, and you're still all sullen." The old man slapped the table and ended up laughing first.

"Our country is sick, but it will get better, and that day is coming soon. You must take care of yourself," An Yinan said.

The little girl who usually seemed to have a cheeky smile rarely had such a serious moment.

At this moment, she looked over seriously, and the old man instinctively straightened his body, then realized something was wrong and deliberately relaxed.

"Got it, drink the water while it's hot."

After bidding farewell to the old man, An Yinan went straight back to the village.