I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 233: Outdoor Activities

"Cold and bitter herbs clear heat and detoxify; peony bark, red peony root, and lycium bark..."

Before even entering the classroom, Yuan Xiu could hear her classmates reciting their lessons from the stairwell.

Since each student in Class 1 received a handwritten copy of "The Formulas of Soup Recipes", morning self-study has become the class's morning reading session.

Yuan Xiu quietly entered the classroom, put down her schoolbag, and sat down in her seat.

Zheng Yuemei, who was sitting in front, turned around, her eyes shining. "Yuan Xiu, are we going to have an outdoor class?"

"An outdoor class? Are we going to collect herbs?"

Zheng Yuemei exclaimed in surprise, "How did you guess it so quickly? Did you hear it from someone?"

That shouldn't be the case. These class committee members only found out this morning, and they don't even know the exact time yet.

Yuan Xiu smiled and said, "Gather buds in spring, flowers in summer, fruits in autumn, and roots in winter. Stems and leaves are best picked in summer and autumn, while roots are best picked in late autumn. Now it is late spring, which is the best time to pick tender buds, such as mint, artemisia capillaris, dandelion, and plantain. This is the best time to pick them."

She paused for a moment and continued, "We're only freshmen now, so medical consultations and processing medicinal herbs definitely won't be of much use to us. That means we'll only have two things: gathering herbs and planting herbs. The best time to plant herbs is in spring and autumn. Sow the stems and leaves in spring and the roots in autumn. This way we won't miss the planting season or the medicinal properties of the herbs. Late spring is already past the season, so we'll only have gathering herbs."

Zheng Yuemei gave Yuan Xiu a thumbs up, "I'm truly impressed! You were able to guess the content of the outdoor lesson just by looking at the season. Amazing, Yuan Xiu!"

"The more books you read, the more common sense you will naturally learn from them."

The date for the outdoor class was quickly set, and it was led by the class teacher, Mr. Zhou. In addition to their class, the classes of the 77 cohort of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department also had this course, on the same day, but with different routes.

That day, Yuan Xiu did not leave for school early in the morning. Instead, she packed up and waited where the car would pass by.

The mountain they were going to visit happened to pass by an intersection near the compound. Teacher Zhou knew her home address, so he didn't make her make the trip.

The weather was already warming up in late spring. Because she was going up the mountain, Yuan Xiu wore an old set of clothes, carried a small bamboo basket on her back with a small hoe inside, and wore special non-slip and durable liberation shoes for easy climbing.

As for her hair, it was braided into two braids that hung down in front of her chest, and a straw hat was hanging behind her neck.

Yuan Xiu stood at the intersection for about ten minutes before the school bus arrived. She waved, and the bus stopped.

Liu Yazhi leaned out of the car window. "Yuan Xiu, get in the car quickly!"

The car door was opened, and Teacher Zhou, sitting near the door, waved.

Yuan Xiu got into the car and sat down in the empty seat next to Liu Yazhi.

"I reserved this seat specifically for you; I didn't let anyone else sit here."

Yuan Xiu smiled and thanked her, then looked at Liu Yazhi's clothes: a blue shirt, overalls, and canvas shoes, which were fine for climbing hills and slopes.

When she boarded the bus, she glanced around and saw that there were 31 people on the bus, including the teacher and the driver. Almost everyone was wearing light and easy-to-move clothes, except for one person who was different from the others.

"Yesterday, Teacher Zhou told everyone to wear comfortable clothes, preferably old ones. I don't know what Ding Xuewen was thinking, but he actually wore a Zhongshan suit. It seems like he hasn't worn that suit more than a few times. I heard he bought it for over twenty yuan at a department store. Isn't he worried about damaging it on the way up the mountain? Has he never climbed a mountain before?"

Yuan Xiu: "How do you know that the clothes cost over twenty yuan?"

"He told me himself. Last time, his deskmate asked him if his clothes were made or bought, and he said he bought them at a department store for about twenty yuan."

The students were all poor. Regardless of whether they were educated youth, workers, or employees before, they no longer received a salary after entering university. Apart from the food allowance, the cash they received was only two yuan and fifty cents per month.

These two yuan are the allowance the government gives to college students to buy toothpaste and soap. It's definitely enough, but it's still a tight budget. Buying clothes that cost twenty-odd yuan is something they wouldn't even dare to dream of on their own.

There are very few people in the class who are as willing to give as Ding Xuewen.

Therefore, seeing him dressed so well to go up the mountain to collect herbs, people couldn't help but gossip about it.

It took an hour for the bus to arrive at its destination, and the students got off the bus carrying their small medicine baskets.

The sun was already out by then. The weather was nice today, and the sunshine made people feel warm and comfortable.

Yuan Xiu put on her hat.

"Oh dear, I should have worn my hat too! Why didn't I think of that!"

Liu Yazhi muttered, "I've finally gotten a bit fairer, I don't want to get tanned again."

"Want to wear a hat? That's easy." Yuan Xiu pointed to a clump of cattails growing lushly by the stream at the foot of the mountain and said, "There's one right there."

Liu Yazhi's eyes lit up. "That's right! I can knit one myself. I know how to knit one; I learned from the villagers when I went to the countryside!"

Before Teacher Zhou called for everyone to gather, Liu Yazhi and Zheng Yuemei went to pick cattails. Seeing this, the other students also ran over.

The cattails along the stream were thriving.

Seeing this, Teacher Zhou didn't urge everyone.

Some people knew how to weave, while others didn't. Those who knew how sat and wove, while those who didn't went to gather cattails. Everyone worked together, and soon everyone had a hat.

Regardless of the hat's condition, it provides enough sun protection, and nobody intended to take it home anyway.

Ding Xuewen participated, and a classmate put it on his head and asked him how it looked.

"...Aren't you afraid of getting hurt?"

"It's not too painful, it's better than being drenched in sweat. It's still early morning and the sun is already this strong. Who knows how hot it will be at noon? I suggest you go and knit one to wear on your head."

Ding Xuewen shook his head, saying he'd rather be in the sun than wear such an "outdated" hat.