What role did the Herbalist’s wife play in this story? Was it an important one?

The herbalist's wife is an old woman who uses her abacus for doing calculations. One day she sees Jin and asks what he wants to be when he is older. Jin wants to be a Transformer but says that's impossible. The Herbalist's wife teaches Jin that he actually can transform into anything he wants to be if he works hard enough. This inspires Jin.