Chapter 2  : Selling Herbal Medicine

Xu Lian had overheard the conversation between Xu Ning and Tao Yunchuan while she was cooking in the kitchen—she knew that Xu Ning was injured.

“Sis, it’s fine, just some surface wounds.”

Xu Ning responded to Xu Lian’s concerns.

Xu Ning tried his best to keep calm in front of his sister.

Xu Lian was still not relieved, so she stepped forward and took a closer look.

“As long as you’re okay.” Xu Lian looked at him for a long time. When she saw that it was nothing serious, her heart was relieved. She was still distressed as she said, “Go and change your clothes. Food is ready..”

“Got it.”

Xu Ning glanced at Xu Lian and Tao Yunchuan again before turning around and going inside his room.

Even the simple conversations just now made Xu Ning feel anxious.

Tao Yunchuan watched Xu Ning walk away before he suddenly sighed.

He looked at his wife, Xu Lian, with a lonely expression. “This is all because of my lack of ability. This is all my fault. You two have suffered because of me. Xu Ning has reached marriageable age, but he has to support my family instead…”

“Don’t say that.”

Xu Lian looked at her husband. “If you didn’t marry me back then, Xu Ning and I might have died on the streets. Don’t say those words. Our days will definitely be better in the future.”

Xu Lian held Tao Yunchuan’s hand.

“Ok…”

Faced with his wife’s encouragement, Tao Yunchuan nodded silently.

…

Xu Ning returned to his room.

He wanted to adjust his emotions, but as soon as he opened the door, he saw a girl with pigtails sitting on his bed, holding two wooden toys in her hands, playing and muttering to herself.

After hearing the sound of the door opening, the girl turned around.

The sun was going down and the room was dim, but the girl’s large eyes were shining brightly.

After seeing Xu Ning, the girl smiled.

“Uncle!”

‘Uncle?’

Xu Ning remembered instantly.

The girl in front of him was the daughter of his sister Xu Lian and his brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan. She was his niece, Tao Tao.

When Tao Tao saw Xu Ning come in, she put down the toy in her hand and jumped out of the bed.

“Uncle, what took you so long to come back?”

Tao Tao looked up at Xu Ning.

“I…”

Faced with Tao Tao’s question, Xu Ning couldn’t figure out how to answer her.

“What?”

Tao Tao suddenly muttered. She looked at the holes and blood stains in Xu Ning’s pants, her eyebrows tightened.

“Uncle, what happened to your leg?”

Tao Tao moved closer to Xu Ning’s wound.

She puffed her cheeks and blew hard into Xu Ning’s wound.

“Tao Tao, what are you doing?”

Xu Ning asked.

“Does it still hurt?”

Tao Tao looked up at Xu Ning again.

Xu Ning suddenly remembered that whenever Tao Tao scratched her skin after a fall, Xu Lian would blow her on wounds, and the cool breeze from her mouth would relieve the pain of the injury.

Xu Ning suddenly smiled.

He touched Tao Tao’s head. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Really?”

Tao Tao seemed a little suspicious.

“Really.”

Xu Ning pulled Tao Tao’s pigtail. “Go eat dinner first, I will go after I change my clothes.”

Tao Tao pushed Xu Ning’s hand away. “Okay then.”

But as soon as she got up, Tao Tao turned around and took out a few green dates from her pockets.

Tao Tao’s hands were small, so she could hold only three to four dates in one hand.

“Uncle, for you.”

Tao Tao stuffed the green dates into Xu Ning’s hands.

Xu Ning took it and said, “You waited for me just to give me this?”

“Yeah.”

Tao Tao nodded.

Right afterwards, she walked away with her pigtails swinging behind her back.

Xu Ning looked at the tiny figure before looking down at the green dates in his hand.

“This kid…”

Xu Ning unconsciously had a smile on his face.

He put a green date into his mouth and chewed it.

“Ah…”

Xu Ning took a deep breath.

‘So sour.’

“Perhaps everything is a part of destiny…”

Xu Ning looked at the remaining green dates in his hand and began to think.

After a long time, he raised his head, and the sky was already dark.

It seemed like his estrangement from this world seemed to be diminishing, bit by bit.

…

Xu Ning changed his clothes before roughly smearing his wounds with an ointment cream. After doing so, he went to the main room for dinner.

The dining table was a square table. On it were a plate of light greens, a plate of pickles, four bowls of porridge, and a piece of flatbread.

‘The standard of life is quite low here…’

Xu Ning secretly thought.

Although the Tao Village was a powerful ethnic group in Kangyun County, his brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan had limited mobility. Moreover, he and his sister had no valuable skills. Thus, their life was quite difficult.

The income of the entire family was about 10 taels of silver a month.

Xu Ning relied on his memory to calculate that the purchasing power of one to two taels of silver in this world was equivalent to 200 yuan in his previous life.

Xu Ning suddenly thought of the Jasper Grass from before.

It was worth 500 taels of silver.

Because of its high value, his predecessor had risked his life to pick it.

But the precious Jasper Grass had already been absorbed as energy by himself. Xu Ning’s heart flashed with a tinge of guilt.

“Come sit.”

After Xu Ning took a seat, Xu Lian tore the flatbread apart.

Him and his brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan were given bigger pieces, while Xu Lian and Tao Tao had smaller pieces.

The family did not talk much over the dinner table.

Soon after dinner was over, Xu Ning went back to his room with the excuse of being tired.

The night came forth, and the room was dim.

Xu Ning lied on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

After dinner, he had a more intuitive understanding of the family’s situation.

Starving and in poverty.

This was the current state of the family.

The more he thought, the more he was guilty about absorbing the Jasper Grass that was worth 500 taels of silver.

“I have to find a way to make money…”

Xu Ning’s brain was trying hard to think.

He had to convert the strength he had gained in exchange for some money in order to help his family.

…

Early morning the next day.

Xu Ning woke up a little late.

When he woke up, Tao Yunchuan and Xu Lian had already left the house.

Tao Yunchuan was an assistant at the village rice shop, while Xu Lian was a tailor.

As for Tao Tao, she was still sound asleep.

Xu Ning didn’t wake her up yet. Once she woke up, she would find her friends to play with before coming back during noon.

Because they were in a village, there was no need to worry too much about Tao Tao’s safety.

After getting up, Xu Ning groomed himself and ate the leftover flatbread from last night, which slightly alleviated his hunger.

He sorted the medicinal materials picked from the mountain yesterday with the rest of the materials. He then put them in a basket before going outside to sell them.

Picking and selling herbs was what Xu Ning had been doing all this time.

After leaving the house, Xu Ning walked towards the medicinal shop of the village.

“Guo Ye.”

After walking into the medicinal shop, Xu Ning saw a strong young man.

He had dark skin, small eyes, and a beard on his face. He looked a bit mature.

“You’re here, Xu Ning!”

The young man named Guo Ye smiled warmly when he saw Xu Ning.

In the entire Tao Village, Guo Ye had the closest relationship with Xu Ning.

Guo Ye and Xu Ning had similar experiences. After losing his parents, he followed his aunt and married into the Tao Village when he was young. He was also an outsider.

However, Guo Ye’s situation was much better than Xu Ning’s.

His aunt had married Tao Yungang, a well-known medicinal material merchant in the Tao Village. Other than nearby villages and farmers, his business scope covered the entire Kangyun County, so his family was quite wealthy.

Tao Yungang usually collected medicinal materials from the outside world and made business deals, while Guo Ye managed the medicinal materials shop for him in the village.

Xu Ning had always sold his herbs here, and Guo Ye never low-balled him.

“These are the stuff I picked over the past few days.”

Xu Ning placed the back basket in front of the counter and took out the herbs inside.

He had already sorted and tied the herbs into bundles.

“I will weigh it.”

Guo Ye’s movements were swift.

“A total of three taels of silver.”

Guo Ye calculated the price.

“Three?”

Xu Ning was a little surprised.

In his memory, these medicinal herbs were worth one and a half taels at most.

“That much? You’re not taking special care of me, are you?”

Xu Ning asked.

“No.” Guo Ye replied, “The price of Heal-all Plants has increased. It used to be a pound for three taels, now it’s a pound for six taels.”

Guo Ye held a bundle of Heal-all Plants in his hand.

The surface was withered and the grass blades were slender, like dead weeds.

But after putting his nose closer, he could smell a faint smoky fragrance.

“A pound of Heal-all Plant is worth six taels?”

When Xu Ning heard this price, he began to think.

He suddenly thought of a memory from his predecessor.

A month ago, somewhere in Yunze Mountains on the hills far away, his predecessor had found a large patch of land with Heal-all Plants growing there.

However, that place was very dangerous, as it was too close to the inner circle of Yunze Mountains. In the inner circles, there were many wild beasts, poisonous insects, and poisonous plants. Thus his predecessor did not dare to pick the plants there.

But now, since his own strength had improved, and that the price of Heal-all Plants had risen, he could give it a try.