Drawing on his experience cooking pig feed, Ergouzi pondered how to make the Great Strength Pill.
Using pure white rice would never work; anyone who had eaten rice their entire life would be able to taste it instantly.
He needed to mix in some wild vegetables.
He picked up his hoe and walked to the edge of the rice field, where a small patch of wild vegetables grew.
It was the Little Chicken Leg he had transplanted earlier.
Because he now had enough to eat, apart from casually sprinkling a little water on them every day, he had left them undisturbed.
With a single strike of the hoe today, he discovered that the Little Chicken Leg in the soil had grown thicker than a fist. When he dug them all up, individual roots were over a foot long.
Picking up one of the roots and peeling away the outer skin, he found the flesh crystalline and white. A single bite yielded a crisp, sweet crunch.
An ordinary wild vegetable, nourished by gourd water, could grow this large and taste this delicious.
Judging by the growth rate of these few plants, their yield far exceeded that of ordinary rice.
He resolved to clear some more wasteland next time and experiment with planting a larger plot of Little Chicken Leg.
For now, Ergouzi harvested several plants, washed them clean, chopped them together with the leaves, and boiled them thoroughly with rice.
Then he poured the mixture onto a smooth stone slab, pounding and pressing it repeatedly with a heavy stone.
It eventually formed a large lump of pale yellow-green paste.
Grabbing a handful, Ergouzi popped it into his mouth. Aside from looking unappealing, the taste was surprisingly pleasant—soft and chewy with a subtle sweetness.
He rolled the paste into thumb-sized pills and left them to dry in the sun.
After they dried, he sampled a few more. They were hard and resilient, becoming more fragrant the longer he chewed them.
To be honest, Ergouzi was not entirely satisfied with the result.
There was no medicinal aroma whatsoever, and the flavor was a bit too appetizing.
In its current appearance, passing it off as a Great Strength Pill would stretch anyone’s credulity.
For now, this would have to suffice. Later on, he would figure out how to incorporate some harmless medicinal herbs to darken the appearance and make the taste less palatable.
He stored them inside the gourd. Whenever he wanted one, he could simply shake out a few—it was exceptionally convenient.
In a few days, he planned to test the market by selling some. At the very least, no one would be able to guess what ingredients went into them.
Over the course of several days, he hand-rolled a dou of Great Strength Pills, drying and storing them all within the gourd.
After sitting in the gourd for three days, these pills possessed the same efficacy as the rice, capable of increasing physical strength and bolstering the vital energy within his body.
On this particular day, he traveled to the town to copy several dozen more characters with Li Banxian. Afterward, he set up a stall at the market to sell his pills at ten copper coins each.
People jeered at him for trying to swindle folks with random concoctions at such a tender age.
Some local hoodlums even taunted him, noting that traveling medicine peddlers usually performed chest-stone-smashing stunts, and demanded that Ergouzi prove his wares by breaking a brick over his head or smashing a boulder on his chest.
The onlookers joined in the derision and catcalls, leaving him thoroughly disgraced and flustered.
With no other choice, he hastily packed up his stall and fled the market with a burning, crimson face.
Throughout the journey home, his spirits were deeply depressed. Other people managed to sell fake medicine without issue, yet when he tried to sell the real thing, nobody believed him.
As he passed through Snake Creek Village, a young girl with twin buns tied with red ribbons bounced toward him.
“Brother Gouzi!”
“Xiao Ezi!”
They had not seen each other in over half a year. His cousin had grown noticeably taller, and he had almost failed to recognize her, yet the two of them remained as close and familiar as ever.
“Brother Gouzi, do you have enough to eat now? Are you hungry?”
“Wait here for a moment. There’s some leftover rice at home; I’ll run back and get it.”
Xiao Ezi turned to leave, but Ergouzi quickly caught her by the sleeve.
“Xiao Ezi, I’ve rented a few mu of land on Snake Mouth Mountain. I have plenty to eat now.”
“Oh, that’s good! As long as you have food!”
Xiao Ezi seemed to cast off a lingering worry, though her thoughts quickly drifted to the ominous stories surrounding the mountain.
“Brother Gouzi, I heard there’s a snake demon on Snake Mouth Mountain. Have you seen it?”
Young children viewed tales of snake demons with a mixture of fear and intense curiosity.
“No. It’s probably just an old story grown-ups tell to frighten children.”
Ergouzi shook his head; he certainly hadn’t encountered anything out of the ordinary.
“Oh, right! Remember when you beat up my second brother last time? He cried at home for a whole day and wouldn’t even go to the schoolhouse.”
She giggled softly at the memory of her brother’s swollen, pig-like visage.
“You should be careful, though. My eldest brother says he’s going to settle scores with you. He claims he’ll thrash you every time he lays eyes on you.”
The two stood by the roadside, chatting happily for a long time.
As they finally prepared to part ways, Ergouzi remembered the unsold pills weighing down his pouch.
Since he couldn’t sell them, giving a few to Xiao Ezi as snacks wasn’t a bad idea. He pulled out a small packet.
“What’s this?”
“Great Strength Pills. I bought them at the market. They say if you eat them, you can smash boulders on your chest and break bricks with your head!”
Too embarrassed to confess his recent humiliation, Ergouzi fabricated an excuse. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Aiya! You’ve been conned. This doesn’t look like any medicine pill at all—the color is wrong, and it doesn’t even smell like herbs.”
“Come on, let’s go find the scoundrel and get your coins back!”
Xiao Ezi grabbed his arm, eager to drag him along, but panic seized Ergouzi at the thought of his deception being exposed.
“There’s no need, he’s long gone by now!”
“I’ve tasted them myself, and the flavor is quite good. Let’s just keep them as snacks. Who knows, maybe they actually work?”
“Alright then.”
Though still reluctant, Xiao Ezi accepted the packet. She popped a pill into her mouth and began to chew slowly, discovering that the texture was indeed remarkably chewy and increasingly fragrant.
After bidding Xiao Ezi farewell, he made a detour toward the estate of Old Moneybags Huang.
With rent collection fast approaching, he wanted to check the situation in advance.
Stepping into the courtyard, he found the compound, the main hall, and the side rooms stacked high with gleaming golden rice.
Aside from the land rented out to tenants, Old Moneybags Huang farmed over a hundred mu himself. With the autumn harvest underway, his household was drowning in surplus grain.
They needed to process their own harvest and clear out storage space before they could begin collecting rent from the tenants.
“Ergou, you’ve arrived at just the right time. Accompany me to the county seat in five days.”
“Understood, Landlord. Is there something specific you need help with?”
Ergouzi agreed without hesitation.
“The autumn harvest is in, and I must travel to the County Yamen to deliver the Tax Grain. We are short-handed and need extra hands for the journey.”
“Rest assured, Landlord. I will be there.”
At the mention of the county seat, a wave of excitement washed over Ergouzi.
In all his years, the furthest he had ever traveled was Sanchazi Town.
People claimed the buildings in the county seat stood two or three stories high, filled with horse carriages, storytellers, musicians, and street performers.
They said the most powerful official there was the County Magistrate.
According to the rumors, the Magistrate ate meat with every single meal, rode in a grand sedan chair whenever he left his estate, and employed servants who wore brightly colored silk.
In Sanchazi Town, the only sedan chair Ergouzi had ever laid eyes on belonged to a wealthy family’s bride. As for a horse carriage, he had never seen one at all.
In his childhood daydreams, the Magistrate sat inside a massive sedan chair, clutching a chicken leg in one hand and a flask of honey water in the other, looking immensely majestic.
Looking back now, such notions were utterly childish.
Besides, the folk in Sanchazi Town lacked discernment and failed to recognize the value of his Great Strength Pills. Perhaps he could actually sell them in the county seat.
Moreover, the distant journey would allow him to conduct his business discreetly, without any risk of locals tracing his activities back to Snake Mouth Mountain.
He needed to accumulate wealth as swiftly as possible so he could purchase the land on Snake Mouth Mountain from Old Moneybags Huang. Only then could he truly rest easy.