Seeing the old man had been caught in the rain, his hair still damp and his thin body trembling, Qin Ziwen said to Du Yu, "Du Yu, go boil a pot of hot water."
"Yes."
Qin Ziwen looked at the large basket on the old man's back. "Are all those herbs in the basket?"
"Yes." The old man hurriedly took off the basket. "The herbs inside aren't worth much. Manager, please take whatever you like."
Qin Ziwen asked, "Do you have honeysuckle, dandelion, mint, and licorice among them?"
"Yes, yes, those are all common herbs. I gathered quite a lot of them this time." The old man quickly poured the herbs onto the table and sorted out these four specific types.
Du Yu came out carrying a pot of boiling water and three earthenware bowls.
He first poured a bowl for Qin Ziwen, then another for the old man, and finally one for himself.
Qin Ziwen said, "Be careful, it's hot."
A smile appeared on the old man's face. "Thank you for your concern, Manager. These are the herbs you need."
As he spoke, he pushed the sorted pile of herbs forward.
A faint medicinal fragrance wafted over.
Qin Ziwen looked at Du Yu. "Go to the cellar and cut some meat, then cook it."
A short while later, the old man received a piece of cooked cured meat. His eyes grew warm, he wiped away tears, and quickly said, "Manager, you are a kind person. If you need any herbs, just tell me. If this old man comes across them, I will pick them for you."
Qin Ziwen pointed at the honeysuckle and the other three herbs on the table. "If possible, just bring more of these four herbs."
The old man nodded repeatedly to show he understood.
The two chatted for a while longer. Qin Ziwen said, "It's not safe at night. Rest here for the night and leave when it's light tomorrow. However, I don't have a bed or bedding here. You can just push some tables together."
"No need, no need. I can sleep on the floor."
Qin Ziwen didn't say more. He just went back to get him a woven mat, then took the herbs and left the tavern. After all, these people couldn't reach his home through the tavern. Wherever they came from, they would return to that same place after leaving.
Night fell, and the night passed without incident.
"You have successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the nineteenth day. You obtained a card from the Altar, snatched a rabbit from the Golden Leopard's mouth... Comprehensive Score: 54 points."
"You received rewards: [Building Card] Level 1 Porridge Shed, [Building Card] Level 1 Farmland, [Building Card] Level 1 Pharmacy, Mountain Animal Guide Fragment*2."
Early the next morning, looking at his rewards.
Qin Ziwen felt a slight surprise in his heart. Two new types of buildings had actually appeared.
One was a Porridge Shed, the other a Pharmacy.
Thinking of recent events, Qin Ziwen decided to build the Pharmacy first.
The Pharmacy required a 4*5 meter blank area.
Qin Ziwen found an empty spot in the area behind the bathroom.
He silently recited the command to use it in his heart.
When the light faded, a small, exquisite blue-brick tiled house appeared before him. He pulled open the main door.
The layout inside was very much like a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy. One wall was covered with drawers and cabinets for storing herbs, and facing it was a brown wooden table.
A faint medicinal fragrance permeated the air.
"Could it be..." Qin Ziwen's expression shifted slightly. He walked over and pulled open a medicine cabinet drawer. It was completely empty.
He checked several more drawers. All were the same.
Qin Ziwen: ...
It seems I thought too much.
[Level 1 Pharmacy: Level 1 Medicinal Fragrance, Level 1 Preservation]
Well, the fragrance in the air was actually an effect of the building itself.
They even have Level 1 Medicinal Fragrance!
Qin Ziwen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But besides the medicinal fragrance, there was also a Level 1 Preservation effect.
He then went to the living room, brought the herbs obtained yesterday, and sorted them into the drawers by category.
"Sir, this was left by that herb gatherer from yesterday." Du Yu entered from behind, carrying a large bag in his hand. The bag was full of herbs.
Qin Ziwen was surprised. "He left all of it?"
From what he could see, this many herbs was almost equivalent to all the herbs in that herb gatherer's basket.
"Yes, it should be. And he also rolled up the mat and placed it against the wall." Du Yu nodded.
A trace of complexity flashed in Qin Ziwen's eyes. He actually hadn't thought that much about it yesterday. He just considered it a transaction. The herb gatherer gave him some herbs, so letting him stay the night in the tavern was fine, since he could only remain in the tavern anyway.
He truly hadn't considered it that deeply.
Because he didn't even know if someone who left the tavern could return to it a second time.
Perhaps for him and the herb gatherer, this was the only chance in their lifetimes to meet.
Qin Ziwen looked at the herbs in the bag and asked Du Yu, "Do you recognize these herbs?"
Du Yu quickly shook his head.
Qin Ziwen felt somewhat troubled. He didn't recognize them either.
Perhaps Zhao Pu might know, but he couldn't bring Zhao Pu here.
Otherwise, too many things would be exposed.
He knew that human nature could rarely withstand testing, so sometimes it was better to simply avoid the test altogether.
"It's fine." After saying this, Qin Ziwen poured all the herbs from the bag onto the table, then sorted herbs that looked the same into the same drawer.
Du Yu said in surprise, "Sir, so you actually recognize them."
"I don't. I'm just putting them randomly. When someone who does recognize them comes in the future, we can rearrange them then." Qin Ziwen said calmly. "By the way, Du Yu, take some of these Chinese herbs and deliver them to unit 202 downstairs." Du Yu bowed and said, "Yes."
After dealing with the Pharmacy, it was time for the Porridge Shed.
To be honest, Qin Ziwen felt the name of this building sounded a bit abstract.
In ancient times, porridge sheds were used for disaster relief.
So, giving him a Porridge Shed was for him to provide disaster relief to the residential complex?
The problem was, he didn't have that much grain.
After some thought, Qin Ziwen went to the expanded area behind the guest bedroom. This area bordered the mining zone and still had a 20*10 blank space.
Since he couldn't determine the exact purpose of this building like he could with the Pharmacy, Qin Ziwen decided to place it here.
The Porridge Shed required an 8*7 footprint, a very large area.
He silently recited the command to use it in his heart.
When the light faded, a massive thatched shed appeared on the spot.
It was a simple structure built from wood, thatch, and broken planks, with the joints simply tied together with rope.
The core area featured a large iron pot over a meter in diameter, resting on a brick-and-stone stove. Several large bundles of firewood were stacked beside it. Next to the stove was also a large sack of rice.
Further out, under the extended part of the shed, woven mats were spread out, with sparse thatch underneath. These mats were likely meant as temporary beds.
This thing... really is a disaster relief porridge shed.
Walking to the stove and looking at the large sack of rice, it seemed the "budget" for this shabby building had all been spent on this one big bag of rice.
He opened the sack. The rice inside wasn't very fresh; it was probably old rice.
He chose to use Insight on the Porridge Shed.
[Level 1 Porridge Shed: Level 1 Attract Refugees, Level 1 Hire]
Looking at the Porridge Shed's effects, Qin Ziwen couldn't help but ponder.
He seemed... probably, maybe, sort of guessed the Porridge Shed's purpose.
After all, it was written quite clearly.
Attract refugees, then hire refugees. Wasn't this just recruiting temporary laborers? Just like in ancient times, exchanging labor for food, providing relief through work.
As for how to attract them, Qin Ziwen looked at the large pot in the center.
......