Zhao Shiyu quietly followed behind her mother. As they drew closer to the two men, she finally heard a voice in her mind.
[Isn’t this the seventh daughter of Scholar Zhao’s family? Why is she here? Could it be that she also appeared at this time in my previous life? I just didn’t know her back then, so I never paid attention?]
Huh?
A reborn person?
Was this world basically a sieve or what?
A transmigrator, a reborn person, and now herself—a female lead who had crossed into another world. That already made three people who weren’t truly natives.
Well… the reborn one could barely count as local.
Still, whether they were transmigrators or reborn people, as long as they didn’t provoke her, she could pretend to know nothing. Even if she could hear their inner thoughts, she had no interest in interfering with their lives.
But if anyone dared to target her…
Then they couldn’t blame her for being ruthless.
Just as she was thinking that, the voice sounded again:
[This Zhao family girl is incredibly lucky. I remember that in my previous life, she saved a noble madam on the road outside Qingshui Town. That madam even rewarded her with a huge sum of silver. Could it have happened during this trip to town?]
[I only heard about it afterward, so I never asked for the exact date, but it should’ve been around this time. Maybe I’ll try my luck today. I’ll wait outside town later and steal this opportunity from her.]
Oh ho!
Something like this existed too?
But according to Zhao Shiying’s inner thoughts, the ginseng was supposed to be her first bucket of gold, and she should only obtain it a few days later. Logically speaking, this “important person” shouldn’t appear yet either. It should at least be a few days from now.
Then Zhao Shiyu suddenly thought of something else.
She had already obtained the ginseng ahead of time.
So… would she also meet that noble madam earlier than before?
Should she find a way to shake off her mother today and wait outside town herself?
After all, that noble madam would supposedly pay her a large reward. It wasn’t like she was going to the roadside to pick up men. She really didn’t want to miss this chance.
As she secretly thought about how to ditch her mother, Zhao Shiyu became increasingly unwilling to let Madam Jiang know about the money she might get.
After all, this definitely wouldn’t be some tiny amount—certainly not just a few dozen copper coins. If her mother stayed by her side the whole time, then the money would most likely never end up in her own pocket.
Without realizing it, they had already arrived at the medicine shop.
Madam Jiang showed no nervousness at all and walked straight inside. She took the basket off her back and placed it on the ground, then said to the apprentice behind the counter who was busy sorting medicine,
“Little doctor, my family gathered some herbs from the mountain. Could you help us take a look?”
Being called “little doctor” made the apprentice grin so hard his mouth nearly reached his ears.
“Please wait a moment, ma’am. I’ll check them once I finish preparing this packet.”
Madam Jiang nodded in agreement.
Soon, the apprentice wrapped up three packets of medicine and handed them to the customer. Then he came over to inspect the herbs in their basket.
Milkwort root, pulsatilla, and dandelion.
All three were common mountain herbs. Although they looked a little wilted, it wasn’t a big issue. On top of that, Madam Jiang was sweet with her words, so the apprentice didn’t make things difficult for them.
Very quickly, he weighed everything and calculated the price.
The whole pile of herbs sold for 112 copper coins.
Madam Jiang happily tucked the money into her clothes.
This was no small unexpected fortune.
Her eldest daughter earned only around ten to twenty copper coins per embroidered handkerchief after subtracting costs, and that was already because her embroidery skills were excellent. Even then, she could only finish about one and a half handkerchiefs a day. Any more than that would either lower the quality or strain her eyes too much.
As for Madam Jiang herself, she worked in the fields every day with the rest of the family. Her hands had become so rough that even though she had learned embroidery at her maiden home, she now worried about snagging the silk threads on the cloth.
But now they had suddenly earned 112 copper coins.
Although, according to their earlier agreement, she had to split half with her youngest daughter, she would still keep 56 coins for herself. That was basically several days’ worth of income already.
And this was practically free money.
Getting something for nothing really did feel amazing.
The money from the eldest daughter’s embroidery was always kept by Madam Jiang, but she had never intended to spend it. She wanted to save it all as her daughter’s dowry.
But the youngest daughter’s share was different~~
The little girl was still young.
If Madam Jiang weren’t worried that gathering herbs would roughen up fingers and make embroidery impossible, she would’ve wanted her eldest daughter to follow the youngest into the mountains to collect herbs from now on.
After settling the herb payment, the apprentice noticed there were still things inside the basket, so he casually asked,
“Are there more herbs underneath?”
“No, that’s all the herbs. Underneath are two wild rabbits.”
“Oh! Wild game?” Before the apprentice could speak, a man in a brocade robe who had come to see the doctor spoke first. “Alive or dead? How long have they been dead? Are they still fresh?”
Seeing a customer appear, Madam Jiang smiled so hard her eyes nearly disappeared.
“Fresh! Very fresh! These rabbits are alive, sir. Look if you don’t believe me.”
As she spoke, Madam Jiang pulled aside the layer of grass covering them.
The two rabbits tied up tightly with vines like “rabbit sticks” were immediately revealed.
The brocade-robed man leaned over for a look and burst out laughing.
“Oh my, whose handiwork is this? They’re tied up really securely.”
Madam Jiang smiled awkwardly.
“Sorry for the joke, sir. We were worried the rabbits would ruin the herbs on top, so we tied them a little tighter.”
“That makes sense. I’ll take both rabbits.”
Even tied up like that, the rabbits were still stretching their necks to nibble at the nearby grass, their little three-part mouths chewing nonstop. They looked lively and adorable.
The brocade-robed man made the decision immediately without even asking the price.
Madam Jiang felt somewhat troubled, because she hadn’t had time to visit the market yet, let alone ask about current prices.
Fortunately, the man clearly had no intention of bargaining. He casually lifted one rabbit with one hand and weighed it.
“This rabbit is pretty fat. Must be four or five jin at least. The two look about the same size, so let’s count them as ten jin total, alright?”
“You’re truly an honest gentleman, sir. I’ll listen to you.”
Madam Jiang really knew how to talk.
After a few flattering words, even the brocade-robed man smiled broadly.
“Rabbit meat usually sells for fifteen to twenty copper coins per jin. But these are wild rabbits, so the meat should be firmer. I’ll give you twenty-five copper coins per jin. What do you think, madam?”
“Deal!”
Both sides happily completed the transaction.
Another 250 copper coins in hand.
The mother and daughter left the medicine shop in high spirits.
Compared to Madam Jiang’s excitement, however, Zhao Shiyu was somewhat distracted.
She still hadn’t found a suitable excuse to shake off her mother.
After all, she was only eight years old right now. Madam Jiang would never leave her alone in Qingshui Town. Zhao Shiyu couldn’t even convince her mother to let her separate for a short while.
In the end, she could only droop her head and trail after Madam Jiang obediently.
Not even the fact that she would receive half of today’s earnings—181 copper coins—could brighten her mood.