After everyone had eaten their fill and finished touring the new house, the guests left in high spirits. The food had been so good that even the stir-fried greens with pork cracklings were all gone thanks to the rich flavor from the oil.

Once the guests left, only the women who came to help remained in the kitchen.

The women quickly washed the bowls of food, tables, and stools from the banquet. Once they dried, they would be returned to the clan the next day.

After everything was cleaned, Madam Wang took out some of the extra fried pork belly, meatballs, small fish, tofu, and other dishes she had prepared and shared them with the helpers as a way of thanking them. This was also a tradition in Pingshan Village.

The women were all pleased to receive these items. The banquet at Li Xiandong’s house had mostly fried dishes, and even the tofu was much richer than usual. In times like these, who wouldn’t appreciate food rich in oil?

Once everyone had been seen off and the gate was closed, only Li Xiandong’s family remained in the house.

Even though she was exhausted, Li Xiaohan still forced herself to sweep the floor of her room clean, replace the straw on her heated bed, and burn some mugwort to fumigate the space before finally lying down to sleep.

The next morning, the whole family overslept. They didn’t get up until the sun was high in the sky.

There were still leftovers from the previous day, so the three of them steamed some marinated pork, stir-fried some cabbage, and made pancakes around the edge of the pot with pickled vegetables and small fish. It turned out to be quite a hearty meal.

After the meal, Li Xiandong put on his straw hat and prepared to check on the fields. They had been so busy with building the house that they had neglected the farmland. Now that it was nearly time to plant winter wheat, he had to make sure the land was ready. He couldn’t afford to miss the sowing period before the start of winter.

Meanwhile, Madam Wang tidied up the family’s pots, bowls, and utensils in the kitchen. She neatly arranged the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar by the stove.

She liked doing this kind of work. It was the kind of life she had imagined before she got married. She had once thought it would never come true, but now, it had become a reality again.

Li Xiaohan, on the other hand, took up the broom and carefully swept the courtyard.

After she was done, she placed her hands on her hips and looked at the pile of unprocessed fake silkworm trees in the woodshed. She nodded to herself.

Great. The house was finished, things were calmer now, and some matters could finally be moved up the agenda.

When Li Xiandong came back from the fields, both Li Xiaohan and Madam Wang had already tidied up the house and changed into clothes suitable for going to town. Now that they had moved into the new house and it was just the family living there, Madam Wang didn’t need to worry about what others thought and could comfortably seek medical treatment.

“Xiaohan, what are you doing? Why are you putting those fake silkworm trees into the basket?”

“Mother, I was thinking… these fake silkworm trees smell so good and have that unique silk-like texture. Do you think we might be able to sell them?” Li Xiaohan straightened up and quickly strapped the basket onto her back.

“How could that be possible…” Madam Wang trailed off. But her daughter had been enlightened by her mother-in-law before—could this be another reminder from her?

“Mother, why not? Back when no one knew that fake ginseng was actually Sanqi, didn’t people also say it wasn’t worth much?” Li Xiaohan said seriously. “Since we’re going to town anyway, we might as well bring some along. It’s just a little extra effort. If it doesn’t work, that’s fine too.”

“Alright, let’s bring it. It doesn’t take much effort anyway.”

Li Xiandong quickly agreed. After the banquet, he had come to understand the benefits of having money.

See, with all the good food he served, didn’t everyone in the clan speak highly of him?

Li Xiandong had begun to yearn for wealth.

The trip to town wasn’t far, though they left a bit late today. By the time they reached the city, the gates were already open. When they arrived outside Renhetang, Li Xiandong and Madam Wang peeked inside. Seeing no one from their village, they went in.

Li Xiaohan followed behind them.

When the apprentice saw the family, he wasn’t surprised. After all, many country folk came dressed like this. Plus, he still remembered that this same family had brought in a few valuable Sanqi more than half a month ago.

But seeing them again made the apprentice wonder: could this man really be that lucky? It hadn’t been long, and he’d found more Sanqi? Was the mountain full of it? That couldn’t be!

Although his thoughts were racing, the apprentice greeted them politely. “Are you here to sell more herbs?”

“Yes,” Li Xiaohan replied, then asked, “Is Doctor Zhang not here today?”

“Doctor Zhang had some matters to take care of,” the apprentice explained as he led them into the courtyard. “Go ahead and show me what you’ve brought.”

“We’re not selling Sanqi today,” Li Xiaohan said as she set down the basket and pulled out the bark of the fake silkworm tree. “We’re selling this.”

“This…”

Although the apprentice had seen all sorts of herbs in the medicine hall, and bark was commonly used in medicine, he couldn’t immediately recognize what kind this was.

“Take a look,” Li Xiaohan said. “This isn’t an ordinary tree. Look at this bark. If you break it open, it’s full of silver threads. And if you smell it closely, it has a faint fragrance. Other than cinnamon, this is the only kind of tree we’ve seen that’s this special.”

She pulled out a piece, snapped it in half, and held it up to the apprentice’s nose. “Smell it. Isn’t it fragrant and unique?”

The apprentice was stunned by how confidently she presented it. Subconsciously, he began to believe her. She was right—something this fragrant and unique couldn’t be just an ordinary tree.

“It smells good… and has silver threads… What could it be?” It did seem familiar. The apprentice muttered to himself as he tried to remember.

The three of them didn’t dare to interrupt and just watched him anxiously.

The young apprentice wasn’t very old. When he saw Li Xiaohan’s big, dark, and clear eyes looking at him with full attention, he momentarily lost focus. It had only been a little over half a month since they last met, but this girl seemed to have put on a bit of weight and looked a little more well-proportioned than before. Especially those eyes—they were dark and full of spirit.

Because of that distraction, he couldn’t come up with a proper response.

“I’ll take a look.” As the group stood there in a moment of hesitation, the door to the main room on the right suddenly opened, and a thin figure, Doctor Zhang, strode out quickly.

Li Xiaohan held out a roll of tree bark and smiled.

Doctor Zhang took the bark she handed over and casually broke off a corner. He gently rubbed the cross-section between his thumb and index finger, as if testing the texture.

Then, he held the bark up to the light to examine it. “The inner surface is smooth. The bark is thick and broad. The smell is pungent.”

Finally, he even tore off a strip of the inner white bark and placed it in his mouth to chew for a moment before saying, “It’s slightly bitter, and has a sticky texture when chewed.”

Li Xiaohan was stunned by how he resembled the legendary Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs.

Ancient doctors really did go above and beyond.

“This is freshly peeled bark from a eucommia tree. What you usually see in the medicine hall are dried, processed strips,” Doctor Zhang explained, speaking to the apprentice.

Sure enough, the apprentice straightened up and replied respectfully, “Understood, Doctor Zhang.”

“Did you peel this bark?” Doctor Zhang turned to Li Xiaohan.

This family clearly looked like simple farmers, but they had precisely cut and selected the useful bark. And the bark itself was cut so cleanly.

Yes, this square piece of bark, with straight, even cuts on all four sides, a neat break at the edge, and a smooth, undamaged interior—this was what Doctor Zhang considered a beautifully prepared piece of bark.

To see such a well-prepared piece of bark in the hands of someone who didn’t appear to be trained did raise a few questions.

“I did. Is there a problem? I heard that with cinnamon, the bark is what’s used, so I just took a layer of bark.”

Li Xiaohan asked with a puzzled expression, “Besides the bark, are other parts usable too? We also brought branches and leaves. Doctor, would you like to take a look?”

As she spoke, she didn’t wait for a response and started pulling branches out of her basket.

The branches were about as thick as chopsticks, tied into a bundle about the width of an adult’s arm. The green leaves on the branches were vibrant and neatly aligned in one direction.

Doctor Zhang’s gaze then swept over Li Xiaohan herself. Her clothes were patched but clean, her hair neat, her face fresh, and her black-and-white eyes calm yet lively.

Perhaps this family simply liked to keep things tidy.

Reaching this conclusion, Doctor Zhang softened his tone. “Yes, only the bark of the eucommia tree is used medicinally. Based on the quality of what you brought, we’ll buy it at 40 wen per jin.”

Li Xiandong and Madam Wang felt their hearts tremble. Forty wen! And this bark was so thick and heavy…

They had searched all over the mountain for Sanqi and found none afterward. But there were still plenty of eucommia trees on the mountain.

For a moment, the two of them were too stunned to speak.

Only Li Xiaohan raised her head and asked, “Doctor Zhang, just now you mentioned the medicine hall usually gets dried bark. Is that sun-dried or processed another way? Is it difficult? Do you process it here? I noticed the space here is kind of tight. Do you have enough people? I’m just thinking, if lots of people start bringing eucommia bark, won’t that be a problem?”

“You have a lot of eucommia bark?” Doctor Zhang looked puzzled. “Young lady, don’t think that every tree on the mountainside will do. eucommia trees only begin to flower after ten years. Only after they flower can their bark be used medicinally. The best quality bark comes from trees at least fifteen years old. The bark you brought just now is of good quality, so that’s why we’re offering this price. But if you bring new shoots, we won’t take them.”

“There are still quite a few on the mountain. Most should be at least ten years old by now. Around here, some people like to use eucommia branches to smoke cured meat. If people find out the bark can be sold, they’ll definitely start bringing it in.”

Smoking cured meat? That did suggest they had a habit of cultivating the tree.

But if the villagers found out it could be sold for money, they’d definitely start cutting the trees for profit. Doctor Zhang glanced at the thick bark and thought about how few staff they had. It really would be hard to process it all here.

Sending it elsewhere would be too conspicuous. The owner probably wouldn’t like that.

Thinking of this, Doctor Zhang nodded and said, “Xiao Shi, go get the shopkeeper.”

Let’s see what this farmer family is really capable of.