They set out early and took an ox cart, so by the time the Li clan arrived at Renhetang, the medicine hall had only just opened.

After unloading the eucommia bark from the cart, since only Li Xinhe came from the clan head’s household, Li Guiqian gave an order, “Jiayin, help your brother Xinhe drive the cart over to the open space. Don’t block the entrance to the medicine hall.”

“Yes, Father,” Li Jiayin responded cheerfully. He was indeed the most suited for the task among them.

As they carried bundles of bark into the hall, everyone was worried about whether the bark would be accepted. At the group’s urging, Li Xiandong was the first to step into the main hall.

“We’re here again, Shopkeeper,” Li Xiaohan said with a smile. “This time, we brought both stir-fried dried eucommia bark and fresh bark. Please take a look.”

As expected, the shopkeeper still remembered Li Xiaohan. Seeing the group crowding the entrance with their baskets, he said, “Come in, then.”

Everyone followed him into the back courtyard. The group looked at Li Xiandong, who in turn looked at Li Xiaohan.

Li Xiaohan stepped forward and poured the prepared bark from the sack onto the winnowing basket handed over by a staff.

The shopkeeper called over Old Shi, who was in charge of processing medicinal materials. The two of them spread the bark with their hands and examined it carefully to see if it had been cleaned properly. Then they picked out a few pieces and chewed them slowly to test if they had been stir-fried to the right level.

Watching their actions, the Li clan knew that selling the eucommia bark was a real possibility, and they felt a bit more at ease.

But human nature is greedy. At first, they only hoped to sell it and earn some money. Now, they hoped it had been successfully processed. That would mean not only more money, but also a new skill.

Everyone’s hearts rose and fell with the shopkeeper and Old Shi’s expressions. A nod brought relief; a frown made their hearts tighten again.

Even Li Xiaohan felt a bit uneasy. Although she had confidence in herself, it still had to be validated by the buyer.

“This bag is from the first batch, isn’t it? It’s overcooked. When it comes to medicinal materials, it either meets the standard or it doesn’t. We can’t accept this one,” the shopkeeper said seriously.

Everyone was disheartened and disappointed. As expected, perhaps farming families just couldn’t make a living like this.

Li Xiaohan gave it some thought. Maybe it was just the first batch where they hadn’t controlled the heat well. Plus, when Li Xinhe entered, he startled her mother, which might have affected the result.

But if the shopkeeper only mentioned the first batch, what about the rest?

Sure enough, the shopkeeper continued, “We’ll take the rest. This eucommia tree has particularly good quality. We’ll pay 140 wen per jin for the dried bark.”

The moment he said that, everyone who had just felt crushed now lit up with joy. 140 wen per jin? They could hardly believe it.

Li Xiaohan broke into a smile. It worked out. All her hard work and aching arms were worth it.

“Come, weigh this. Are you selling the fresh eucommia bark too?”

It was a reasonable question. Though they brought the fresh bark, the price difference between fresh and processed bark was huge. And they had all come as a group.

“Thank you, Shopkeeper. Father, let’s take the fresh bark back with us and process it ourselves before selling,” Li Xiaohan said cheerfully.

Two jin of fresh bark yields about one jin of dried bark. Two jin of fresh bark sells for 80 wen, while dried bark sells for 140 wen—about 60 wen of difference.

Of course, there’s also the cost of green salt, firewood, and labor. But this was still early in the dynasty, when government was clean and salt was affordable, even for regular households.

As for labor and firewood… well, they were poor anyway, and there were so many other things that needed money. Li Xiaohan was determined to earn this money, even if it meant wearing out her arms.

Since Li Xiandong’s family wasn’t selling their fresh bark, the others began to hesitate.

Li Shengli looked at his beaming eldest son with complicated feelings. But they were outside, and Li Shengli could only hold back his words. “Xiandong…”

“Father, Grandfather is calling you,” Li Xiaohan immediately turned and smiled sweetly, afraid her father might offer to help with the old house’s bark too. She quickly said, “Grandfather, our house is nearly empty, with few people and little land. Now that we’ve finally found a way to earn some money, it’s a relief. You must be happy for Father too, right?”

“Grandfather, don’t worry. The shopkeeper said I’ve already succeeded with the processing. You can ask Auntie and Grandmother to come learn from me. Right now, I’m the only one at home who knows how to process the eucommia bark. Once they learn, they’ll be able to sell dried bark directly too.”

Given how difficult life was for the eldest son’s family, if Li Shengli insisted on Li Xiaohan processing bark for them as well, it would seem unfair. But with Li Xiaohan willing to teach the method, it was reasonable and acceptable.

Li Xiandong didn’t catch the deeper meaning. He laughed heartily, “Yes, Father. Xiaohan is smart. She figured it out just by listening to the people at the medicine hall once. Let Mother and the others go learn from her. Processing bark is all about controlling the heat at the stove.”

Old Shi twitched his lips slightly. Controlling the heat wasn’t just “stove work”—it was the essence of processing medicinal materials.

“And the uncles in the clan, your wives should come too,” Li Xiaohan said to Li Guiqian and Li Xinhe, smiling. “I just figured it out on my own. If everyone trusts me, we can learn together. We’re all family, we should stick together.”

Teaching one or two people or a group made no difference. She wasn’t the one paying the extra cost, so why not spread the knowledge?

The other clan members had been upset at missing out on the profit margin. But since Li Shengli hadn’t yet spoken up, they didn’t feel right jumping ahead of him.

Now that Li Xiaohan offered to teach them, of course, they agreed right away, feeling sincerely grateful.

Only Li Shengli felt a bit displeased. As the biological father and grandfather, he was being treated no differently from the rest.

But thinking about how few people there were in his eldest son’s household, and how the rest of the clan was siding with them, letting Madam Chen and the others go learn seemed like the best option.

Worst case, they’d mess up the first batch just like Li Xiaohan had.

With that, Li Shengli nodded. “Good. That’s how it should be.”

“So, are you still selling the fresh bark?” the shopkeeper asked. “Let me remind you, it rains a lot in autumn. If your bark gets wet and molds, it’ll lose its medicinal properties. We won’t buy it.”

He said this to avoid them trying to sell spoiled bark, which would damage Renhetang’s reputation.

“This…” The clan immediately tensed up. What the shopkeeper said was true. If their wives couldn’t learn the process within a few days and the bark got wet, the money would go down the drain.

People in those times were cautious and preferred secure profits. So many of them began to hesitate.

“Xinhe, you’ve got a quick mind. What do you think?” Li Guiqian asked quietly.

“If everyone’s really worried, how about selling today’s fresh bark first? Then when we get home, the men can go back up the mountain while the women go to Uncle Xiandong’s to learn. I think they’ll get used to it in a day or two. Then they can start processing themselves. We’ll lose a bit of money this time, but it’s safer. As for the future—well, that’ll depend on how well we can process it.”

“Yes, that makes sense,” the others nodded.

So, apart from Li Xiandong’s family, the rest sold off their fresh bark.

Li Xiandong’s household sold 21 jin of dried bark, earning 2,940 wen. After losses and converting the coins into silver, they received 2 taels of silver and 360 copper coins.

Among the rest, Li Shengli’s family earned a little over 1 tael, while Li Guiqian’s family earned over 2 taels.

When they left the medicine hall, the clan members were still in a daze.

All that in a single day. Usually, after working nonstop all year in the fields, they only had a few strings of coins left. And that was if they had enough land and good weather. Families with little land could barely keep their bellies full.

Now, just going up the mountain and peeling some bark had earned them half a year’s income. And it was all in clean, shining silver.

How could money come so easily? It felt like it had fallen from the sky.

The more they thought about it, the more excited they became. They wanted to rush home and start chopping down every eucommia tree in the mountain. After all, wild eucommia trees belonged to whoever found them first.

Seeing their eagerness, Li Xiaohan reminded them, “Father, we should go buy some green salt. We’re running low at home. Also, uncles and grandfathers, our pot was brand new, but we still scrubbed it several times before using it. We can’t guarantee an old pot is suitable for processing medicinal bark.”

“That’s right. Pots used too long can absorb oil and aren’t ideal. We should go buy new ones,” Li Xinhe agreed.

Everyone quickly voiced their agreement. They had just sold fresh eucommia bark, so everyone had money on hand. When it came to buying refined salt and iron pots, no one hesitated. Even if the stir-frying didn’t turn out well, they’d still end up with an iron pot—something valuable and hard to come by.

They rushed to the general store and the blacksmith’s shop, spending freely on refined salt and iron pots. Li Xiaohan even bought a few new wooden basins and bamboo sifters. When everyone heard these were for soaking and drying the eucommia bark, they all followed her lead and bought some too. The general store suddenly made several big sales.

After the quick shopping trip, they all hurried back. It was a stark contrast to their usual habit of comparing prices from three shops, hesitating endlessly, and haggling over a few coins. The blacksmith and shopkeeper were both stunned by their decisiveness.

Meanwhile, the clan head had already told the surrounding clan members about how eucommia bark could be sold for money.

Everyone was both shocked and uncertain. They were just waiting for Li Xiandong and the others to return so they could confirm whether the medicine hall really was buying that much eucommia bark.

How much were they paying?

Until when would they keep buying?

Some clan members, too eager to wait, stretched their necks anxiously at the clan head’s home, watching and waiting for Li Xiandong and the others to return.

The clever ones left one person behind to wait for the news, while the others quietly went home and sharpened their chopping knives until they gleamed.

Everything was ready. All that was left was the east wind.