Cao Wen appeared out of nowhere again, tightly holding a green plant with long yellow-brown roots.
He recognized it at a glance—it was a ginseng!
Wild ginseng prefers shade and rich soil.
A sunny cliff like this rarely supports its growth, but it had grown under a tree’s shade, making it possible.
To find such a precious “immortal herb” was truly heaven’s favor and good fortune.
“I’ll carry it up. The ginseng is small—if its appearance is damaged, it’ll be worth even less.”
Cao Wen was visibly in a good mood.
He climbed up the rope and handed the ginseng to Xu Duoyan.
Xu Duoyan quickly tore off some lichen, wrapped the ginseng in a banana leaf, and lifted it without touching it directly.
The ginseng wasn’t large, less than two liang (about 75g), but it had already bloomed after three years of growth—indicating its age.
Even though he couldn’t price it accurately, everyone knew ginseng was valuable.
Even sold cheaply, it would still fetch far more than ordinary herbs, so care was a must.
“You keep an eye on it. I’ll go down for another look.”
Cao Wen grabbed the rope and went down the cliff again.
They stayed at the site for nearly two hours.
As the sun shifted west, they wrapped up their work.
If this had been farm work, this hour would have been the most comfortable time of day.
But in the mountains, as soon as it gets dark, wild beasts come out.
Even descending quickly, it’d still take an hour to get home—they couldn’t afford to stay too late.
Xu Duoyan packed the rope and the harvested herbs and asked Cao Wen if they should return the basket to the hunter.
“Forget it—it’s full of stuff now. We’ll do it another day.”
Cao Wen slung the basket over his back, and the two returned by the path they came.
Though they said little, they came back with full hands and noticeably lighter steps.
Once out of the deep mountain, they both instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.
They slowed down on their way down, intentionally waiting until villagers had returned from the fields.
By the time they reached home, the full moon was already high in the sky.
Cao Wen dumped all the gathered herbs onto the floor.
They had quite the haul today—he had harvested every herb he recognized regardless of its value, stuffing it all into the basket.
Xu Duoyan hadn’t been idle either, gathering near the cliff.
Together, they had filled the basket with all sorts of herbs.
Once the herbs were poured out, the compressed stems spread open, making the pile look even larger.
While cooking dinner, Xu Duoyan looked at the mountain of herbs and smiled.
Even the sound of splitting firewood felt more pleasant than usual.
Cao Wen first took out the precious ginseng, carefully unwrapping the banana leaf.
With the lichen protecting it, the ginseng was undamaged—fresh and intact.
He carefully placed it in a basin.
Xu Duoyan glanced at it, then began to cook rice and helped Cao Wen sort through the herbs.
They separated the herbs into two piles: root-type herbs like angelica and astragalus, which were small and not high-priced; and leafy or flowery herbs like mugwort, dandelion, and vines, which took up space but weren’t worth much.
To avoid ruining their medicinal properties, the herbs didn’t need to be washed—just sorted and packed.
Looking at the two full bamboo trays of herbs, Cao Wen placed his hands on his hips and said,
“I’ll take them to the apothecary first thing tomorrow. Wonder what price we’ll get.”
Xu Duoyan was in good spirits from the harvest and spoke more than usual.
Seeing Cao Wen’s curiosity, he signed: “The ginseng goes without saying. Angelica root also fetches a good price. We harvested quite a bit today—should be worth two to three hundred wen.”
He had often foraged for herbs before.
His mother had long been ill, and medicine from the apothecary was expensive.
Whatever he could find himself meant they didn’t have to buy everything.
But he’d never collected this much before.
Understandably so—he had never dared venture into the deep mountains.
Cao Wen raised an eyebrow, not understanding a word.
Seeing his confusion, Xu Duoyan’s breath shallowed.
Others not understanding his signs was normal—he had just said too much.
But after a moment, he got used to it again.
Cao Wen still watched his signing patiently, which was something at least.
He signed again: “I’ll go to the market with you tomorrow. I know a trustworthy apothecary who pays fairly.”
Not all doctors and apothecaries were good people—scamming was common.
He knew how hard these herbs were to gather—the danger they faced, especially Cao Wen on that cliff.
When they left the deep mountain today, he looked back.
As the sun sank, the darkness grew, and the mountain behind them looked like a gaping abyss ready to swallow them.
The distant howls of beasts still echoed.
He had put in a lot of effort too.
He didn’t want Cao Wen to be scammed after risking so much.
Seeing Xu Duoyan visibly deflate whenever he couldn’t respond to her signing, Cao Wen felt a little uneasy.
Just as he was about to say something, she signed again.
Maybe because they had spent the whole day together, they had built a bit of mutual understanding.
Cao Wen managed to understand this time.
“Alright, we’ll go to the market together. You’ve had a long day—tomorrow, after we sell the herbs, I’ll treat you to noodles at the market.”
Xu Duoyan didn’t know if he had misunderstood her intentions,
But seeing Cao Wen smile and promise—with two sharp tiger-like teeth peeking out—he looked a bit like a harmless big guy.
She paused, then nodded anyway.
He spoke like coaxing a child not to cry when left behind—
“When I get back, I’ll buy you candy.”
But clearly, he was the one who should be the child here.
Xu Duoyan’s eyes softened.
Being looked after like this gave her a strange feeling—but deep down, she knew: it wasn’t a bad thing, as long as there were no hidden motives.
That night, they had a simple, clean meal as usual.
After a long, sweaty day, they both washed up and slept especially well.
The next day, before sunrise, they quickly washed and packed the herbs before heading to the market.
When they reached the town, Cao Wen was about to find a pharmacy when Xu Duoyan pointed a direction and led him to a shop called Anping Apothecary.
At this early hour, dew still clung to the country roads.
The market was busiest with fruit stalls and breakfast vendors.
The apothecary was still closed.
Xu Duoyan checked for a closure notice, saw none, and calmly waited outside with Cao Wen.
After about one incense stick’s time, a middle-aged man with hands behind his back strolled over.
“Huh! Mute one? What brings you here so early?”
The man clearly knew Xu Duoyan.
While chatting, he pulled out a key and opened the door.
“Here to pick up medicine for your mother again?”
Xu Duoyan signed in response.
“New stock? Come on in.”
Cao Wen noticed their familiarity and was surprised the apothecary owner understood Xu Duoyan’s sign language.
“How’s your mother doing lately?”
The pharmacy owner walked toward the counter with his back to them, seemingly not expecting or needing a reply, already busying himself.
After tidying the counter, he finally looked at Xu Duoyan.
“What have you brought today? Mugwort doesn’t fetch much now—the warehouse is nearly full with the summer stock.”
Cao Wen quickly put down the basket.
“There’s some mugwort, but mostly other herbs.”
Hearing his voice, the shopkeeper finally looked at Cao Wen, surprised.
He glanced at Xu Duoyan and asked,
“And this is…?”
Xu Duoyan pressed her lips together.
“I’m her husband.”
“Oh, you’re married?” the shopkeeper said, surprised but not shocked.
“That’s good—now you two will have someone to rely on and take care of each other.”
Cao Wen was caught off guard by the shopkeeper’s words.
Something in his brain seemed to stir—certain keywords touched off memories, and trying to piece them together gave him a bit of a headache.
After a moment, he finally realized—
Xu Duoyan likely had a mother in poor health.
“Let’s see what you’ve brought, then.”
He snapped out of it and handed over the basket.
The shopkeeper lifted the banana leaf covering and exclaimed,
“That’s quite a haul!”
He picked up some dang gui (Angelica), rubbed the dirt from the root, and sniffed it.
Eyes widening, he looked at them both: “You got this from deep in the mountains, didn’t you?”
“Good eye, shopkeeper,” Cao Wen said.
“Usually, the hills close to the villages get trampled over so often that herbs don’t grow long before being dug up—young and small. But this? Clearly deep mountain stock.”
The shopkeeper chuckled as he held the angelica, reluctant to put it down.
Good-quality herbs like these were rare in his shop.
But he had to set the angelica aside to check the rest.
The more he looked, the more satisfied he became.
“Little Xu really knows herbs. Everything you brought today is solid.”
Cao Wen smiled and looked at Xu Duoyan.
“If the shopkeeper sees value in it, we’d appreciate a fair price,” he said.
“Of course,” the shopkeeper said, reaching for the scale.
Cao Wen stopped him.
“Let’s hear the prices first, so we have a sense of things.”
The shopkeeper replied,
“Angelica, we usually pay 4 wen per qian, but this batch is good. I’ll give you 5 wen.”
“That’s 50 wen per liang, 500 wen per jin.”
“As for astragalus, 1 wen 1 qian.”
Xu Duoyan quickly signed: “Make it 3 wen 2 qian!”
The shopkeeper smacked his lips.
“Little Xu really knows how to haggle. Fine! But only because you’re a regular.”
He then looked through the rest.
“The other herbs are all common and mixed—mugwort and cocklebur I won’t price individually. How about 5 wen per jin for the lot?”
Xu Duoyan hesitated for a moment.
With such a wide variety, pricing everything one by one wasn’t practical.
She nodded in agreement.
After weighing, they had: 6 liang of angelica 1 jin of astragalus 5 jin of miscellaneous herbs
All together, the total came to 475 wen.
The shopkeeper took out several strings of coins, laid them on the counter, and pushed them forward.
“Count them.”
Cao Wen handed the money to Xu Duoyan, who counted it carefully without hesitation.
As she was about to count it again, the shopkeeper said,
“You counted right. I added an extra 5 wen to round it up. If you get more good herbs, bring them here next time.”
People making a living from foraging herbs weren’t rare, but few dared venture deep into the mountains.
Still, that’s where the real treasures were, and apothecaries loved high-quality wild herbs.
With a source like this, the shopkeeper was eager to maintain a good relationship.
Cao Wen and Xu Duoyan exchanged a glance.
Seeing her give a slight nod, Cao Wen stepped forward and said,
“Since the shopkeeper is so straightforward, we’ll return the favor. If we get more, we’ll bring it to you first.”
“We also have one more herb. Not sure if you’d be interested.”
As he spoke, Cao Wen took out a leaf-wrapped bundle.
The shopkeeper looked slightly surprised.
Seeing how carefully it was stored, he instinctively handled it with care.
As soon as he peeled back a corner, his eyes lit up.
“You’ve even got this!?”
He quickly unwrapped the banana leaves, gently shook off the lichen, and carefully took out the ginseng.
It wasn’t large, and didn’t have many “pearl points” (a sign of age), indicating it wasn’t that old.
Still, ginseng of this quality was rare in this region.
Even if it was young, it was fresh—perfect for replenishing qi and restoring health.
Wealthy families in town often needed fresh ginseng for postnatal recovery—but demand far exceeded supply.
“Can you offer a price, shopkeeper?”
“Of course!”
The shopkeeper didn’t hide his fondness for the ginseng.
It could be sold at any pharmacy, price depending only on freshness and age.
He was even more eager now to tie up this supplier pair.
“Fresh ginseng varies in price depending on age. A 4- to 5-year-old root like this sells at regular market rate—around 300–400 wen per qian.”
“I haven’t had ginseng this rare in a long while. I’ll give you the highest price—400 wen per qian. How about it?”
Xu Duoyan had previously asked around.
Even dried ginseng with a short growth time went for 700–800 wen per qian at pharmacies.
But she understood—they were selling fresh ginseng, which always sold for less, especially at buying price.
All things considered, the shopkeeper was being honest and not lowballing them.
Seeing Xu Duoyan had no objections, Cao Wen said,
“We trust you, shopkeeper. We’ll go with your offer.”
The fresh ginseng weighed a little over 2 qian—selling for just over 800 wen.
Though not a huge sum alone, it far surpassed the entire basket of other herbs in value.
Altogether, they earned about 1,300 wen that day.
The silver and copper coins were packed into a pouch so full it dragged on Cao Wen’s belt as he walked.
Cao Wen grinned.
Making money from herbs gave him a huge boost of confidence.
This was far faster than farming a single mu of land!
Still, speed aside, he knew well the taste of clinging to the edge of that bottomless cliff—and that the risks didn’t always pay off.
In the end, it was still a matter of gambling with fate.
He hoisted the now-empty basket and smiled at Xu Duoyan.
“Come on, big bro’s taking you out for breakfast!”
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