Feng Yiyi searched the surrounding area again to see if there were any more members of the ginseng “family.”
“Oh my gosh! So much fleeceflower root (He Shou Wu)! I’m rich! I’m rich!” she exclaimed when she discovered a large patch of its leaves.
She cut away the vines with her sickle, tossed them aside, then took out her small shovel and began digging carefully.
Most of the fleeceflower roots were over a hundred years old—some were even more than a thousand years old…
Wild beasts often roamed the deep mountains, so nearby villagers never dared to venture this far.
Besides, very few people understood medicinal herbs, so this patch had never been discovered.
Feng Yiyi dug up all the fleeceflower roots that were over five hundred years old and filled an entire basket. The rest she harvested and stored in her space.
Who knew if she would ever come back again?
Seeing that it was getting late, she hurried down the mountain.
After returning home, she separated the herbs from the wild ginseng, preparing to sell them in town the next day.
Xiangqiao was Feng Yiyi’s newly made good friend.
She only had a younger brother. After their father died, their mother remarried into a neighboring village.
She and her brother now lived with their grandparents.
Early the next morning, just after Feng Yiyi finished breakfast, Xiangqiao came by.
“Yiyi, are you going to town today?”
“Yes, let’s go together,” Feng Yiyi replied with a smile.
The two traveled together and rode Liu Er’s ox cart to town, each paying one copper coin.
“Xiangqiao, you go sell your eggs first. I’ll sell my herbs at the pharmacy over there and come find you afterward,” Yiyi said.
Xiangqiao nodded. “Alright. Be careful!”
Feng Yiyi went to the Baicao Pharmacy not far from the street.
The pharmacy had an excellent reputation and treated customers fairly, young and old alike.
The original host’s adoptive father had always sold his herbs there.
Feng Yiyi had come along before and was familiar with the shop assistant and the shopkeeper.
When the assistant saw her, he greeted warmly, “Sister Yiyi, you haven’t been here for a while. The shopkeeper was just talking about you yesterday—and today you show up! I’ll go get him.”
“I had some family matters, so I haven’t been gathering herbs,” she explained.
The assistant ran into the back courtyard.
Shopkeeper Yang was a dignified man in his fifties.
“Yiyi girl, what treasures have you brought today? Looks like quite a lot!” he said as they walked to the courtyard.
Feng Yiyi opened her basket.
Shopkeeper Yang picked up a fleeceflower root, examined it, sniffed it, and was stunned.
“This fleeceflower root is over a thousand years old!
Where did you find such treasures—and so many at once?”
“Uncle Yang, I went into the deep mountains. There are wolves and tigers there, so most people don’t dare enter. My family was out of rice, so I had no choice. It happened to be a whole patch, so I dug them all up.”
Shopkeeper Yang separated the ones over five hundred years from those over a thousand.
“For the thousand-year-old ones, I’ll give you two thousand taels of silver each.
For those over five hundred years old, I’ll give you one thousand taels each. How does that sound?”
“That’s fine, Uncle Yang. I trust you.
What about this ginseng?” she asked, opening the cloth bundle.
He looked at it, rubbed his eyes, and looked again in disbelief.
A few days ago, the capital had requested thousand-year-old wild ginseng. This girl truly was a lucky star.
“For these two thousand-year-old ginseng roots, I’ll give you ten thousand taels each. Is that acceptable?”
“Deal, Uncle Yang!”
In total, she received forty-one thousand taels.
Shopkeeper Yang handed her banknotes and exchanged some into smaller silver pieces for convenience.
After selling the herbs, Feng Yiyi found Xiangqiao—whose eggs hadn’t sold at all.
“Come with me. I’ll buy the eggs,” Yiyi said, pulling her along.
At the pharmacy, she gave the eggs to Shopkeeper Yang.
“Thank you today, Uncle Yang. These eggs are from my friend’s family—please accept them.”
“That won’t do!” he protested.
But she left the eggs anyway and gave Xiangqiao one tael of silver.
“That’s too much! The eggs aren’t worth this,” Xiangqiao insisted.
“It’s fine. I made a lot today. When I had no money before, you always paid the cart fare for me. Take it and come shopping with me.”
They went to the grain shop.
Yiyi bought millet, sorghum, and flour.
She left the goods there temporarily and headed to the cloth shop.
Neither she nor her grandmother had decent clothes—everything was patched over patches.
She bought one bolt of dark cloth and one bolt of light green cotton fabric.
She also bought two quilts, two pairs of shoes, one outfit for herself, and one for Xiangqiao.
“I have clothes already—no need!” Xiangqiao said hurriedly.
“Look at your sleeves—they don’t even cover your wrists. They’re only missing one patch compared to mine. We’re good sisters. It’s a gift—just take it.”
“Thank you, Yiyi!”
Finally, they went to the butcher’s shop.
She bought five jin of pork belly.
When she saw the pig intestines, she asked, “How much for these?”
The butcher laughed. “No one wants those smelly things. I was about to throw them away. If you don’t mind, take them.”
Yiyi was delighted.
Spicy braised intestines were her favorite—fragrant and fiery.
After paying for the pork, she carried the meat and intestines to Liu Er.
They loaded everything onto the cart and headed home.
Since Yiyi lived farther away, Xiangqiao got off halfway.
Liu Er delivered Yiyi home and helped unload.
She gave him two extra copper coins for transporting the goods.
Delighted, he said, “Yiyi, if you ever need Uncle Liu, just ask.”
After he left, Yiyi shouted, “Grandma! Grandma! Come help!”
Old Madam Wang hurried out from the kitchen.
Seeing the pile of goods, she gasped.
“Yiyi, why did you buy so much? Where did you get all this money? Heavens, how much did this cost?”
“Don’t worry about the money, Grandma. Let’s put everything away first.”
They stored the grain in the kitchen, threw out the tattered old quilts, and replaced them with new ones.
She handed the dark cloth to her grandmother. “Grandma, make yourself a few outfits with this.
Use the lighter one to make me two.
And I bought meat—I’ll cook today.”
“Yiyi, where did all this money come from?” her grandmother asked again.
“I dug herbs in the mountains yesterday—and found wild ginseng. It’s from selling those.”
“Grandma, we’ll never live in hardship again. Your good days have arrived.”
Seeing the bright smile on her granddaughter’s face, the old woman finally relaxed.
This was the first time Yiyi had ever cooked.
She washed the pork belly, cut it into large chunks, then diced one piece smaller.
She blanched it in hot water, rinsed it clean, then heated oil in the pot.
After adding scallions and ginger slices, she put in the pork.
The rich sizzling aroma filled the air.
She secretly added seasonings from her space, poured in some water, and let it simmer. Meanwhile, she steamed a pot of rice.
In less than half an hour, everything was ready.
When Grandma saw the dishes on the table, tears welled up.
Since her son’s death, they hadn’t eaten meat at all.
“Grandma, eat before it gets cold.
I promise from now on, you’ll live like this every day—no, even better.
You’ll even have maids serving you,” Feng Yiyi joked.
“Alright, I’ll rely on you to live the good life,” Grandma Wang said.
“Grandma, I earned quite a lot from selling the ginseng. This thatched house won’t last much longer.
A heavy rain or strong wind could blow it down. Winter’s coming—we must build a new house.
Where do you think is better?
Should we rebuild here by the mountain, or buy land in the village?
I also want to buy some fields to grow medicinal herbs.”
“Yiyi, if you want to buy land, ask the village chief. Our family still has some old ties with him…”