Hearing his family say the name of the root, Shen Song laughed and asked, "Is it really that amazing? Can it be sold for money? Is it worth more than wild greens?"
Shen Song had no idea how much medical treatment cost here. Interstellar Humans rarely had any illnesses—bodies were only damaged in battle, and if a healing-type ability user couldn't restore them, you could just get mechanical limbs.
He had no concept of how much it would cost.
He only knew that even people in the lowest districts could afford them. If his eldest brother's injury had happened in the Interstellar Era, even the lowest-tier healing-type ability user could easily heal it.
But here, a full recovery was desperately hard to come by.
It was precisely for this reason that Shen Song wanted to cure the leg rather than simply amputate it.
Once it was cut off, there would truly be no hope left.
Shen Jue and Shen Lie, hearing Shen Song's question, both said, "It's worth way more than wild greens!"
Shen Jue said, "It's worth even more than a Five-Step Viper."
Shen Lie nodded. "A lot more!"
When they were hauling goods at the docks, they had seen people making transactions right there on the dock to save time.
Among the goods traded had been ginseng.
They hadn't seen it clearly from a distance, but they could be certain that the ginseng in front of them now was definitely not inferior.
This long, this thick—ginseng that had grown this big was probably one of the legendary old ginseng roots.
Old ginseng was said to have life-saving properties; without great luck, it was impossible to obtain at all.
The two shared their speculation, leaving Shen Song stunned. "Sixth Brother, Seventh Brother, you're amazing—you know everything."
Shen Jue and Shen Lie slightly lifted their heads and straightened their backs.
In truth, they only half understood it all—everything they knew had been overheard in passing from a storyteller's stall.
The rest of the Shen family had also been drawn over by the commotion in the main hall.
After a night's sleep, Liu Chunxia had woken as well. Though her head still ached somewhat, she could bear it and didn't think anything was wrong.
Hearing the cries of alarm outside, she got out of bed and came to the main hall.
By this point, Shen Chong had already examined the ginseng Shen Song had brought out carefully. He had seen ginseng before, but never one so long, so thick.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, he asked Shen Song gently, "Xiao Ba, where did this ginseng come from?"
Shen Song answered directly, "I dug it up in the mountains yesterday."
Everyone knew Shen Song hadn't come back from outside until dark yesterday.
Besides, he'd had no change of clothes or straw sandals, so the clothes on his body and the sandals on his feet were covered in mud, and even his hair was a mess.
Neither the old Shen Song nor the current one was any good at combing his own hair—every day it was Sanqiu who did it for him.
But today was special: Sanqiu had gotten up later than Shen Song, so Shen Song stood in the main hall with hair as tangled as a bird's nest.
Shen Dashu and Liu Chunxia were equally speechless with shock at the sight of the ginseng.
That was no mere ginseng root—that was one of Shen Jing's legs!
Xu Hongmei's tear-reddened eyes were fixed dead on the ginseng, and suddenly she knelt down.
Having cried for so long, her voice was unbearably hoarse; the sound she forced out with all her strength was like it was being dragged from a broken old bellows, with loud wheezing gasps. "Xiao Ba, Song-ge’er, good little brother, sell the ginseng and use the money to treat Dalang's leg! Father, Mother, little brothers, brothers-in-law, I'm begging you—my children and I will be your oxen and horses from now on, we'll repay the whole family!"
Shen Song bent down to help her up. "Don't cry, Sister-in-law. I'm going to cure Big Brother's leg."
Xu Hongmei knew Shen Song's heart, but a household wasn't just one or two people getting by—it was eighteen mouths to feed.
Yesterday's discussion had ended without agreement, and her heart hung in suspense.
Ginseng was already expensive, and ginseng like this would only be worth more. If they didn't treat Eldest Brother's leg, the money from selling the ginseng, plus the money from the Five-Step Viper earlier, could buy the family some farmland.
At the very least, they could add two more rooms to the house and arrange marriages for Sixth Brother, Seventh Brother, and Xiao Ba.
No matter what, the family's days could never be as tight as before.
For her to sell the ginseng to save her husband's leg meant everyone in the family giving up a good life and continuing to live as they had before—or perhaps even worse.
But if it weren't for this ginseng, she would never have spoken such words begging the family.
That much silver—even begging, the family couldn't produce.
But now that they had this ginseng, she truly couldn't bear to see her husband's leg cut off.
Shen Song only knew that the leg needed treating, that he wanted his eldest brother to recover. He didn't yet understand what it meant for a whole family to get by.
So he still couldn't understand why the house was silent now, just as it had been last night.
Wasn't it said that this root was worth a lot? Once sold, wouldn't there be money to treat Eldest Brother's leg? Why were Father and Mother still silent, looking so pained?
Why did Eldest Brother still seem unhappy, even pulling Eldest Sister-in-law, stopping her from saying anything more?
Not to worry about scarcity, but about inequality.
Without the ginseng, the family's life wouldn't truly improve on those ten taels of silver.
But with the ginseng, the family's life really could get better because of it.
The Shen brothers all wanted to save Shen Jing's leg in their hearts, but they couldn't think only of themselves.
Eldest Brother had to think of it, and so did the other brothers.
Shen Zhun was willing to die in his eldest brother's place, but he couldn't let his younger brothers be unable to marry and have children because of his choice.
The sound of weeping pressed down on Shen Song until he could barely breathe. Though only one night had passed, it felt as if a hundred years had gone by.
He wanted his family to be laughing and cheerful like before.
Seeing Shen Song walk toward the door, Shen Chong pulled him back. "Xiao Ba, where are you going?"
"One ginseng isn't enough. I'll go dig up more." Shen Song's voice was muffled.
Shen Chong looked at his youngest brother. Before, when his mind was slow, he only knew how to eat, sleep, and stare blankly. Now that his mind was sharp, he suffered along with the family. He sighed softly. "Ginseng isn't easy to find."
Shen Song knew.
He had only sensed that one energy fluctuation.
But one ginseng wasn't enough…
The family would need who knew how many roots of ginseng before they could laugh again.
"The mountains are dangerous, Xiao Ba. Don't go into the mountains anymore." Shen Jing's voice was weak. The pain in his leg and the pain in his heart tormented him without cease, wearing away at his will. "Even without a leg, Big Brother can still work, can still live. Xiao Ba, don't worry about Big Brother. You take care of yourself."
"I'm not afraid of danger!" Shen Song turned and shouted at Shen Jing.
It was the first time he had ever spoken so loudly.
Shen Song's vision blurred—he couldn't see his eldest brother clearly, couldn't see his family clearly.
Only when he felt something hot on his face did he realize he was crying.
He raised a hand to wipe away his tears, his voice choking up uncontrollably, his throat itching with discomfort. "I want you to be well too—to stand up again, whole. I want everyone to laugh, to stop crying, to stop suffering. Just like before, when even eating unappetizing wild greens didn't make us sad."
At last, he no longer had to face cold, businesslike robots. He could open his eyes every day and see his family, instead of having barely seen his own father and mother a handful of times, their faces grown blurry in his memory.
Seeing his younger brother crying his eyes out, Shen Jing's nose stung, and he looked at his brother, weeping silently.
Seeing Shen Jing cry, and seeing the cloth wrapped around Shen Jing's leg soaked even redder, Shen Song ran over and threw himself onto Shen Jing, wailing loudly. "I'm sorry, big brother, I shouldn't have snapped at you… Does your leg really hurt? It's all my fault, for talking so loudly, boo-hoo-hoo…"
Shen Jing's neck was covered in Shen Song's tears, his collar soaked through.
The Shen family listened to Shen Song's crying, his incoherent words, the rest swallowed up by sobs, impossible to make out.
Only Shen Jing's weak voice could be heard, saying over and over that it wasn't his fault, that it was Big Brother's fault for making him sad.
Liu Chunxia felt her tears were about to run dry. She wished she could stuff the child back into her womb and spare him all suffering. In the hard days of the past, she hadn't found it difficult—but now it was so hard she could barely go on living.
"Mom, let's get big brother's leg treated."
Zhou Gu, who had been silent all along, spoke in a hoarse voice—his first words of the day.
"Xiao Ba is right. We'll be just like before. Even if we're eating unappetizing wild greens, we won't feel sad about it."
He didn't want to cry anymore, or suffer the torment of his conscience any longer.
Zhou Gu knew Big Brother had been injured while pushing his husband out of the way. Given Shen Zhun's temperament, no matter what he chose, he would care for Big Brother until the end.
If there was hope for Big Brother's leg, and the family could come up with the money to treat it, how could he not be willing?
It had also been Zhou Gu who spoke first yesterday, and the only one in the family besides the old lady to clearly oppose treating the leg. His attitude mattered greatly to the Shen family.
With Zhou Gu speaking up, Shen Jue and Shen Lie immediately said through their tears that they wouldn't marry. Big brother was willing to cripple his leg for them—what would it matter if they married a little later? Some men didn't marry until well past thirty, and they were only eighteen; there was plenty of time ahead.
Shen Zhun and Shen Chong likewise said they should treat Big Brother's leg, and the younger members of the family, having gathered around at some point, all nodded along.
Listening to his family, Shen Song thought: the family's hardship wasn't because they didn't consider one another. On the contrary, it was because they considered one another too much, held one another's lives too dear in their hearts, that things had come to this.
He too solemnly and earnestly declared once more that he would not marry.
The elderly couple of the Shen family looked at their children—only their eldest son was shaking his head, weeping.
Liu Chunxia's gaze turned gentle as she looked at her eldest son.
"My son, your mother wants you to stand again too. But we're not afraid. Suffering and hardship mean nothing—what matters is that the family stays together and everyone is well. I can't bear to lose anyone else, and I can't bear to lose you either. If I really let them cut off your leg, how would that be any different from carving flesh from my own body?
Eating chaff and wild greens—we're used to it, it's no big deal. Only if you're well can I be well. If I had to trade your leg for me to eat and drink well, I'd be living a fate worse than death!"
Shen Jing's voice was hoarse. "Mom…"
The Shen family decided to treat Shen Jing's leg.
Shen Song carried a small basket on his back, lined with dry grass, with the ginseng placed inside and covered with another layer of dry grass.
Shen Zhun, Shen Chong, Shen Jue, and Shen Lie carried a wooden board, lifting Shen Jing to carry him to the county town.
The others waited at home for news as the five set out on the road to the county.
All the way, Shen Jing's leg hurt—there wasn't a single moment it didn't.
From time to time, Shen Song used a worn handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Shen Jing's forehead. The pain had drained all color from Shen Jing's face; his eyes stayed shut, and he didn't even have the strength to open them.
Shen Zhun and the other three carried him as steadily as they could, trying their best not to jostle Shen Jing and cause him more pain.
He couldn't ride in the ox cart either—his leg simply couldn't endure that kind of jolting—so they had to carry him the whole way to the county town.
They set out at first light and didn't arrive until the afternoon.
Pingshun Medical Hall.
There weren't many people in the medical hall, and it was soon Shen Jing's turn.
The old physician naturally remembered them. He had thought that after this person went home, it would be several days before he returned—he hadn't expected him to make the decision so quickly.
"Amputate, or treat?"
Though he asked, the old physician's eyes had already turned to his apprentice, signaling him to prepare hot water and tools.
A family like this would never choose treatment.
Not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't, because they had no choice.
It looked like there were two options, but in reality, there was no choice at all.
"Treatment," Shen Zhun said.
The old physician froze, thinking he had misheard. He said to the cold-faced man, "Treatment, not amputation? Am I hearing you right?"
Shen Zhun nodded, confirming once more. "Treat."
He was a man of few words, but the old physician heard him clearly and confirmed he hadn't misheard.
His eyes swept over the Shen brothers' clothing—tattered cloth and coarse hemp, and even their straw sandals were of poor quality.
"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear before. For treatment, the first year alone would cost at least sixty or seventy taels. His leg has severed tendons and broken bones—the tendon damage is severe, nothing like an ordinary leg injury. Once it's set, it must be nourished with expensive medicine, not to mention years of subsequent care. Without a hundred-odd taels of silver, you can't afford it. You… have money?"
At this, Shen Song stepped forward, took off the basket on his back, and parted the dry straw inside. "Doctor, would the medical hall buy this ginseng?"
The old physician gave it a casual glance—even with ginseng, it wouldn't be enough for a year of treatment; ordinary ginseng typically sold for around twenty taels. But when he saw what kind of ginseng it was, the old physician's eyes went wide.
My! So big!
He immediately covered it with the dry straw, looked warily toward the door, and only after confirming no one was there did he say mysteriously to Shen Song, "Ge’er, let's go to the back courtyard to talk in detail."