Chapter 25

After the little boy spat out the shell, he was startled too, then used his tongue to test his mouth. Realizing something, he excitedly ran to his mother.

“Mom, there’s no lump in my mouth anymore!”

His mother looked a bit speechless. It was now clear this had been a misunderstanding: her son wasn’t sick at all. That piece of lotus seed shell had just gotten stuck against the roof of his mouth.

The apprentice, still in shock, held the herbs with trembling hands. He had nearly finished gathering everything, and now he’d have to separate them all again.

“Young man,” Yin Huaixi said, “you need to be more careful when eating. That lotus seed shell was pretty big; it could easily have blocked your throat. And if you ever feel unwell and go to the doctor, you must answer honestly. You can’t just say something hurts because you want candy. That will affect the doctor’s diagnosis.”

Judging by his earlier behavior, it was clear the little boy had exaggerated his pain to get medicine, hoping it might earn him some treats. Faced with his mother’s stern expression, he quickly nodded obediently.

The young woman gave her son’s cheek a light pinch, then turned to thank Yin Huaixi. If not for her noticing something was off, they might have wasted a lot of money.

Medicine wasn’t cheap, costing 30 wen for a single packet, and a full seven-day course would have cost over 200 wen, all of which they’d now saved.

“Thank you so much, madam,” she said. “I don’t have much on me right now, but please take this small amount.”

She had only brought one coin of silver, which she’d partially spent on the doctor’s consultation, a candied hawthorn, and some needles and thread, leaving just 50 wen. Insisting, she pressed the remaining coins into Yin Huaixi’s hands, then apologized to the apprentice, saying she wouldn’t need the medicine after all.

They quickly left the pharmacy, leaving the apprentice alone to painstakingly sort the herbs back. Yin Huaixi, seeing this, kindly offered to help him separate the mixed herbs. With her help, the task went much faster, and the apprentice breathed a sigh of relief.

Once that was done, they returned to inspecting the herbs and setting prices. The apprentice seemed fair, offering reasonable prices, though Yin Huaixi had no basis for comparison. But he had spoken up for her earlier, and his attitude was kind, which gave her confidence in his character.

“Madam, this ophiopogon is 10 wen per pound, Solomon’s seal is 5 wen, and plantain is 3 wen…”

Because the herbs weren’t processed or dried, the prices were slightly lower than usual. Yin Huaixi accepted the offer, selling all her herbs to the pharmacy and earning 48 wen.

Most of the herbs were inexpensive, which was expected. If the mountains were full of valuable herbs, there wouldn’t be much left for her to gather.

Forty-eight wen wasn’t bad, she thought happily.

“Let’s go get some buns!”

When they first entered town, the smell of buns had made their mouths water, but with the fish and herbs still unsold and limited money in hand, buying buns had seemed like a luxury. But now, with some money in her pocket, spending a few wen on buns didn’t feel like a big deal.

Yin Huaixi, long craving them, bought ten large meat buns in one go, two per person. Of course, it cost quite a bit—each bun was two wen, for a total of twenty wen.

Jiang Wan, accustomed to finer foods, took a bite and found the bun so flavorful that it felt like her soul was trembling with joy. Her body’s reaction was automatic; she hadn’t had meat in so long.

The three of them sat by the roadside wall, devouring two buns each. The remaining four were for later and were tucked into their baskets.

“Let’s go check out the blacksmith’s next,” Yin Huaixi said.

The household was in need of several things: a kitchen knife, a few tools for sea harvesting, and a few essentials. With the 15 taels earned from selling fish, they could finally afford some necessary items.

She spent 8 taels of silver on a kitchen knife, scissors, an iron pot, a chopping knife, and additional tools including two shovel heads, a pickaxe head, two rake heads, and a small hoe head. These didn’t come with handles, so she’d have to find someone to attach them later.

As she packed the heavy iron items into her basket, she felt an unexpected sense of contentment. Jiang Wan was thrilled, too, since these tools would make her sea-harvesting setup more complete. And with a new kitchen knife, they wouldn’t have to keep borrowing one when preparing meals.

This was wonderful.

Yin Ning discreetly wiped her eyes. She was happy, but for some reason, tears welled up. When she looked up, they were already standing in front of a fabric shop.

Is Aunt going to buy fabric to make clothes?

Without much explanation, Yin Huaixi bought half a bolt of coarse dark cloth and five feet of fine cotton fabric. Yes, fine cotton fabric. She discovered in the fabric shop that cotton was available in this world.

The coarse fabric cost 200 wen, while the five feet of fine cotton also cost 200 wen (one bolt = 40 feet), highlighting the price gap. It was clear that cotton was a precious commodity here.

She also bought needles and thread, remembering enough from the original owner’s memories to sew clothing. After leaving the fabric shop, they headed to the grain store, where they bought ten pounds of millet, five pounds of wheat flour, and some oil, salt, and spices.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to buy more grain, but she could only carry so much. She regretted not bringing her older brother and sister-in-law with her to the town.

Loaded with bags and baskets, they finally made their way to the dock to find a boat back to the village. There, unexpectedly, they ran into a familiar face.

It was the village chief’s son, who was well-known in their village.

Lian Jiabao had come to town to deliver something to his third uncle. On his way back, he spotted the three of them at the dock. Being from the same village, he naturally offered them a ride home.

Yin Huaixi offered to pay the boat fare, but Lian Jiabao declined.

He knew her family was struggling and figured that while she’d somehow managed to buy all those supplies, their hardships were far from over as they tried to settle into village life.

Not to mention anything far off, even the house they’re living in now is a rented one.

Lian Jiabao cautiously asked Yin Huaixi if she had any plans to build a house, but she couldn’t make up her mind and said she needed to think about it.

On the way back home after getting off the boat, Jiang Wan talked to her mother about it. Now that they had a little money, building a house seemed like a long and expensive process. Even if they started with land and a foundation, they wouldn’t be able to afford a stone house with their current funds. The only option would be to build a mud-brick house, which would require constant repairs throughout the year.

That kind of house wasn’t even worth living in. Jiang Wan still wanted to save enough money to buy a stone house. Once they had enough, she could add onto the small stone house with another stone building.

She had already inquired, and the small stone house she and her mother lived in now belonged to Grandma Jinhua. Grandma Jinhua’s son had done well and bought a big house in the city, taking his mother to live there. It was unlikely that she would ever return to live in the village. If they had enough money to buy it, Jiang Wan thought, they could speak with the village head and it would be very possible to purchase the house.

After hearing her daughter’s thoughts, Yin Huaixi’s mind was filled with one thought.

They shouldn’t be spending money recklessly today!