Yu Qiu nodded. “I’ll sell you the herbs as well. But I still need to get these two back home, so I can’t waste any more time.”
Ming Jiuzhang shook his head with a smile and handed Sanya eight coins. “You little rascals—if you run your business like this, you won’t even be able to afford grain.”
Yu Qiu asked, “Uncle Ming, how much does it cost to have a physician from the medical hall make a house call?”
“Is someone at home unwell?” When Yu Qiu nodded, Ming Jiuzhang thought for a moment before answering, “If the patient can still walk, it’s better to come here in person. Don’t go to the medical hall. I can check them for free, but you’ll need to pay for the herbs yourselves. As for a house call—depending on the distance, it’ll cost at least one tael of silver.”
He considered again and added, “But since you also understand prescriptions, you should know how to deal with simple ailments. Is the person at home seriously ill?”
Yu Qiu shook her head. She realized she had overthought it. In her eagerness to care for Madam Li’s health, she had forgotten—she already knew plenty about herbs. How could she not know what was needed to restore strength?
“My mother’s health is weak; she only needs nourishment. I was being hasty. Thank you for reminding me, Uncle Ming.”
The two taels of silver she had just earned hadn’t even warmed in her hands before she spent half a tael on a few prescriptions for restoring health.
These would be enough to nurse Madam Li back to strength. If it weren’t for the fact that, starting tonight, they would be sleeping in separate rooms—making it inconvenient for her to secretly use her healing powers at night—she wouldn’t even need the medicine.
And she couldn’t heal Madam Li too quickly; otherwise, it would be hard to explain.
Watching the girl leave the pharmacy with two little ones, each carrying a basket on their backs, their figures growing smaller in the distance, Ming Jiuzhang sighed deeply and muttered under his breath, “Looks like it’s time to give my own kids another scolding…”
Yu Qiu, with the children, headed straight to the general store.
Sanya used the coins she had earned to buy two pieces of malt candy, still with two coins left, which she tucked happily into her sleeve.
Beside her, Erhe had been unusually quiet ever since they left the pharmacy.
Yu Qiu noticed but said nothing. She decided to wait until after their errands were done before asking. Most likely, he was just mulling things over after seeing Sanya earn money.
This time, their purchases were all things needed for the stove: rice, flour, oil, coarse salt, and condiments.
For spices, she only bought star anise and zanthoxylum. As for bay leaves and cinnamon bark, she planned to look for those in the mountains. She had only explored about one-tenth of the back mountain so far—there was still much to discover.
She also bought a medicine pot.
Then they went to the fabric shop in the town center and bought some embroidery thread and silk cloth.
Since Madam Li knew embroidery, Yu Qiu had already planned ahead—once things settled down, Li could take up embroidery again to pass the time and maybe earn a little.
She also bought two hair ties for Sanya. The little girl liked to look nice; with two braids tied with bright ribbons, she would look livelier.
Finally, they went to the butcher. Yu Qiu bought half a chicken. Even after its mutant bones were removed, the bird was still huge—almost the size of a goose from before the mutations.
Now, among domesticated poultry, only chickens remained.
So the only meat people could normally buy was chicken.
The cooking oil available was soybean oil or animal fat. She hadn’t seen any other kinds for sale. Maybe the trading post had them, but at prices she couldn’t afford right now.
By the time they were ready to return, it was already late afternoon. Passing through the market, she saw eggs for sale. Each mutated egg, about the size of a goose egg, cost ten coins apiece.
Gritting her teeth, she bought four.
She also saw mutated leeks for sale. With her last three coins, she bought a small bundle—about twice the size of ordinary leeks.
With eggs, leeks, and the white flour she’d bought earlier, they could make dumplings for dinner.
But when she looked down at the two remaining coins in her hand, she felt that the purse she had thought comfortably full was once again uncomfortably tight.
On the way back, the children weren’t quite as excited as they had been earlier, but they were still full of energy.
With baskets full to the brim, no matter how heavy they were or how rough the mountain paths, the children didn’t complain.
“Erhe, are you thinking about what we should sell to make money?” Yu Qiu asked casually.
Startled, Erhe lowered his head, looking downcast, saying nothing.
Yu Qiu ruffled his messy hair. “Silly boy, your bamboo trays and baskets are so well made. Why would you worry about not being able to sell them?” She patted his shoulder. “From now on, when we get home, Sanya will dig wild vegetables, you’ll weave baskets, Mother will cook, and I’ll gather herbs. Each of us is useful.” Her almond-shaped eyes grew deep as she looked at him seriously. “Right?”
Feeling his eyes sting, Erhe quickly looked away. In his heart, he thought his sister-in-law was so very, very good—just like his mother, just like his little sister. Embarrassed by his reddening eyes, he turned his head slightly and nodded hard. “Right!”
The official road was passable, but the path leading back to their village was rugged mountain terrain—unsuitable even for carts.
Qingshan Village was truly remote—very remote.
She had originally wanted to take the path skirting the village, leading directly to the mountain hut, but as the sun dipped low, she feared the children would be scared. So she chose to pass through the village instead.
In the past few days, she had bought quite a lot of supplies. Today, she had bought even more. While the villagers were kind enough, that was only because everyone was still struggling at the same level.
The moment life started going better for one family, jealousy was bound to arise.
Just the other day, she had given away a few fish and it had attracted a whole group of children.
If people learned she had made silver, who knew what kind of trouble might follow?
She wasn’t afraid of trouble herself—but she worried that, since she went into the mountains daily, there might be times she couldn’t protect her family.
Until they had walls around their courtyard, it was better to stay discreet.
As they entered the village, Yu Qiu saw villagers gathered in front of the Meng household. Every face was clouded with worry and difficulty.
Without hesitation, Yu Qiu glanced at Erhe.
He nodded and ran over to ask what was happening.
She and Sanya circled around to the Meng courtyard to put down their baskets. Leaving Sanya there, she went back out to join Erhe at the gathering.
The Meng household sat in the middle of the village, and in front of its gate stood a tall willow tree. That was why the headman had gathered everyone there.
“We just got back—how can we have grain ready to pay taxes?”
“In the past, whenever we resettled, the taxes were cut in half. Why isn’t it so this year?”
“Not only are they not halved—it’s gone up another ten percent compared to last season!”
“How are we supposed to live like this?”
“Does anyone know how much grain costs in town now…”
Voices rose one after another, and from them Yu Qiu pieced together the situation.
She had expected the tax rate to be halved like before, which was why she hadn’t rushed. She hadn’t expected not only no reduction—but an increase.
Village head He raised his hand to quiet the crowd.
Everyone fell silent at once.
“Listen, everyone,” He said, though his expression was grim.
His household had bought two exemption slots in the past, but even so, with many mouths to feed, paying taxes now weighed heavily on them.
“The higher-ups said our village is already paying reduced taxes. Neighboring villages are being charged double. Their lives are even harder than ours…”
When the meeting ended, Yu Qiu greeted acquaintances, refused offers to escort her home, and hurried away with the children, stepping quickly through the dusk.