Chapter 8: Going to Town

After Wang Xuelan left, Chu Yue looked at the silver nugget in her hand and handed it to Yun Cuihe.

“Mother, you keep this.”

Yun Cuihe pushed Chu Yue’s hand away.

“This is your grandmother’s gift to you, just keep it for now. Tomorrow we’re going to town, there will be plenty of places to spend money.”

Chu Yue then withdrew her hand, treating the silver as a precious treasure, hiding it in the pouch on her chest. For her now, this was a huge sum of money.

At this time, Lu Xingping, who had gone to deliver pork to the neighbors, had already returned. His basket was filled with several eggs and a small handful of vegetables returned by the neighbors.

He emptied the contents of the basket, placed the larger piece of pork back in, and went out again towards the village head’s house.

Lu Xinghe had already cleaned the pig intestines. Chu Yue placed them in a basin and scooped some clean wood ash from the stove. Wood ash not only removes odor but also absorbs dirt, making it economical and practical for treating pig intestines.

By the time she hung the cleaned pig intestines on the kitchen beam, the sky had turned gray. To avoid stumbling in the dark, the family washed up early and returned to their respective rooms.

Strictly speaking, this was Chu Yue and Lu Xinghe’s wedding night.

But because Chu Yue was still too young, and Lu Xinghe didn’t have any thoughts about such matters, after entering their room, one of them sat huddled in a corner of the kang, while the other sat by the window, diligently copying a small booklet under the faint light.

After a long time, so long that Chu Yue was about to fall asleep, she finally suppressed her nervousness and softly called out, “Husband?”

“Hmm?”

Lu Xinghe, who was bent over copying the small book, naturally responded with a “Hmm.”

Chu Yue, emboldened, asked, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

He turned his head and looked at the little girl huddled on the kang, looking like a pitiful creature. He suddenly realized that this was her first night here, and his heart softened a little.

“We’re going to town tomorrow. It’s better to finish these books now so we don’t have to make a trip again in a couple of days. You sleep first.”

Chu Yue yawned.

“Then don’t stay up too late.”

Seeing her concern for him, Lu Xinghe’s lips curved slightly. “Okay.”

Chu Yue was truly tired and fell asleep immediately. She didn’t even know when Lu Xinghe got on the kang, only that he was already up when she woke up the next day.

Looking at the faint light outside, Chu Yue quickly put on her shoes and got up. After washing up briefly, she went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

For breakfast, they had coarse rice porridge, a bowl of stir-fried wild vegetables, and a steamed bun each.

After breakfast, Lu Xinghe placed the wild boar meat and the medicinal herbs he had dug on the mountain the previous day on a borrowed cart. He then carefully covered the meat with straw and gentian root, and pushed the cart, taking Chu Yue with him.

The nearest town to Banpo Village was Nanping Town. Banpo Village was poor and the road was not good, so there were no oxcarts to ride. It took a full hour to walk from there to Nanping Town.

Chu Yue wiped her sweat as she walked, remaining silent the whole way. Not long after leaving the village, Lu Xinghe stopped the cart.

“Do you want to get on? I can push you.”

Chu Yue quickly shook her head. “No, it’s already heavy with the things on the cart. I’ll just walk.”

Lu Xinghe didn’t insist, only asking Chu Yue to put the basket she was carrying on the cart. The basket contained handkerchiefs that Yun Cuihe had asked Chu Yue to sell in town, so it wasn’t heavy.

The two of them didn’t stop along the way and made their way to Nanping Town in one go.

Nanping Town was the best-developed among several nearby towns. At the entrance of Nanping Town, two tall stone pillars stood, adorned with cloud motifs. Above the pillars was a beam inscribed with the three large characters “南坪镇” (Nanping Town), giving a grand and imposing impression.

Although there were soldiers guarding the entrance, they primarily maintained order and did not make things difficult for the common people. On such a hot day, many townsfolk were sitting under a large tree not far from the stone pillars, enjoying the shade.

After entering the town with Lu Xinghe, Chu Yue headed straight for the largest restaurant in Nanping Town—Hua Yu Lou.

Lu Xinghe usually brought the game he hunted to this place, as Hua Yu Lou had a thriving business and accepted all kinds of wild game.

The two entered through the back door of Hua Yu Lou and directly found the manager. The manager already knew Lu Xinghe and was quite generous, agreeing to buy their wild boar meat at a price of twenty-five wen per pound.

After setting aside a small piece for themselves and what they had given away, they sold the remaining 130 pounds of wild boar meat for a total of 3,150 wen. Chu Yue asked the manager to exchange 3,000 wen for three taels of silver, while the remaining 150 wen were strung together with hemp thread and placed in the basket.

After selling the wild boar, the two first stopped by a cloth shop, where they sold the thirteen handkerchiefs that Yun Cuihe had embroidered over the past two months for eight wen each to the shop owner. They then spent eighty wen to buy two pieces of fabric for Chu Yue to make clothes.

If it weren’t for Yun Cuihe’s excellent embroidery skills, the shop owner would likely have only offered three to five wen for handkerchiefs made by an ordinary person.

After buying the fabric, they visited the Wang Cheng Bookstore. Lu Xinghe had copied ten books, each costing thirty wen, totaling three hundred wen.

As they were about to leave, Lu Xinghe’s gaze fell upon one of the books on the shelf.

“How much is that book?”

The bookstore attendant quickly replied, “That copy of ‘Records of the Various States’ is three taels of silver.”

Chu Yue was surprised. The books here were really expensive!

Hearing the price, Lu Xinghe immediately withdrew his gaze.

“Are there any copying jobs recently?”

The attendant shook his head. “Probably not for now. The batch you brought today was ordered by a teacher at the academy. The harvest this year is poor, and there will likely be fewer students enrolling in the second half of the year.”

If it weren’t for Lu Xinghe’s beautiful handwriting, he wouldn’t have been able to secure the copying work at the bookstore.

Lu Xinghe nodded, thanked the attendant, and led Chu Yue to Chen’s Pharmacy. He usually bought medicine for Yun Cuihe from here, and Chen’s Pharmacy was considered a reputable one in Nanping Town.

The two entered the pharmacy, and the shopkeeper, who was busy with an abacus behind the counter, looked up.

“Are you here for medicine or a consultation?”

“Shopkeeper, do you buy medicinal herbs? Fresh ones, we picked them on the mountain yesterday.” Chu Yue stepped forward and asked.

The shopkeeper immediately said, “Can you show them to me?”

Chu Yue nodded and took out the medicinal herbs that were packed in the basket. Apart from the Bupleurum root, there were also two pieces of Panax notoginseng ^[1]Panax notoginseng, also known as Sanqi or Sanchi, is a species in the genus Panax. It is commonly referred to as Chinese ginseng or notoginseng. This plant is a highly valued medicinal herb in … Continue reading and a few common medicinal herbs. The quantity wasn’t much, but they were picked and processed in a proper way.

Professionals can tell at a glance. Chen, the shopkeeper, immediately knew that he had encountered someone knowledgeable about this.

“What’s your name, little girl?”

“Chu Yue.”

He then turned to Lu Xinghe beside Chu Yue.

“And who is this?”

Chu Yue’s face flushed slightly. “He’s my husband, his surname is Lu.”

Chen, the shopkeeper, was surprised. He had originally thought Lu Xinghe and Chu Yue were siblings, but they were actually husband and wife.

“You’re so young to be married, little lady.”

Chu Yue mumbled, “Our family is poor, there’s no choice.”

The shopkeeper nodded. After all, it was their private matter, so he didn’t pursue it further.

“Did you process these herbs?”

Chu Yue nodded. “Yes, is there anything wrong?”

“Nothing wrong at all. Do you understand medicine, Miss Chu?” The shopkeeper didn’t beat around the bush. “You see, recently there’s a lady who has been looking for a female doctor everywhere. If you understand medicine, I might be able to introduce you to her. From what I’ve observed, her ailment shouldn’t be too difficult to treat.”