《The Resplendent Farming Apothecary》


 Chapter 1 – Being Dumped in the Mountain (1)

    <h4>Chapter 1 ¨C Being Dumped in the Mountain (1)</h4>


    ***


    It was as though a fire was burning inside her stomach, burning up all her internal organs. Her stomaChapter felt like someone was vigorously stirring inside it with a sharp knife. So death wasn¡¯t a relief after all, it was but merely more sufferings and tortures.


    Gu Ye, fighting the starving sensation in her stomach, slowly opened up her eyes. What she saw was a forest of trees that looked like vicious monsters in the dark night, and the light from the stars that shown through their leaves.


    She hadn¡¯t have the time to try and recall how she ended up where she was. She could hear wolves howling nearby. Turning her head, she saw pairs and pairs of blue eyes sparkling ominously in the dark night.


    Beast-repelling powder! When the thought shed passed her mind, immediately a clear bottle appeared in her hand. She quickly poured them all over her body. The wolves stopped in their tracks, then, following their wolf leader, turned and disappeared into the forest.


    ¡°Mei mei! Mei mei!¡± A familiar voice, the body instinctively felt joyful from hearing the voice. It¡¯s her older brother! The older brother of this body. In the blink of an eye, she figured out her rtionship with the personing toward her.


    ¡°WOOF! WOOF WOOF WOFF!!¡± Arge but skinny yellow dog stopped not too far from her and continued to bark at her, but wouldn¡¯t dare get any closer.


    ¡°We found her! We found her! Gu Ming! Your sister is over here!¡± The boy appearing in front of her with a torChapter in his hand was Li Hao, the grandson of the vige chief, a friend of the brother of the original owner of this body.


    ¡°Mei mei!!¡± A young boy in rags rushed and stumbled forward and pulled her into his arms. Hot tears hit Gu Ye¡¯s neck. The normal strong young boy bawled like a helpless little kid.


    After crying for a while, Gu Ming looked up and down his sister¡¯s body, examining her. He finally felt better after seeing that she was unhurt, ¡°It¡¯s all ge ge¡¯s fault. I shouldn¡¯t have left your side. I didn¡¯t expect that wicked woman would just leave you in the forest like this and lied to us that you have already stopped breathing.


    ¡°Ming¡¯er, what do you mean by that? Who are you calling wicked? That¡¯s your mother! You will be strike by lightning for being so impudent toward your own mother!¡± The loser father of their scolded with a frown.


    ¡°If she could pull something like this, why can¡¯t I call it as it was? And she¡¯s not our mother! What kind of mother leaves their daughters in the mountain to feed the wolves? If lightning is going to strike, it should surely strike her first. Why would it be me?¡± Gu Ming had lost all faith in his father.


    The mother was their stepmother, but this was their real father! He always looked the other way when Mrs. Gu mistreated the two of them. All he did was called her ¡°wicked¡± and he scolded him for that? Did he and his sister really still have a ce in this household?


    ¡°SMACK!¡± Gu Ming was struck heavily with an open palm and he immediately felt the unmistaken taste of blood in his mouth. His ears rang and feeling dizzy, hended next to his sister.


    ¡°Gu Qiao, even if the kids are wrong you¡¯ve got to be patient with them. There was no need for that. You don¡¯t want to hurt him now,¡± said the patriarChapter who was in his fifties. He tone noticeably judgmental.


    ¡°Patriarch, a junior should never insult a senior like that. Spare the rod, spoil the kid. I must teaChapter him a lesson before he walk all over his own father!¡± Gu Qiao stared at his son angrily, never once looking at Gu Ye the entire time.


    ¡°Dad!¡± Gu Ming, covering his now swollen cheek with his hand and with tears in his eyes, said, ¡°All you ever do was scold us. Could you really not see how she treats mei mei and I?¡±


    ***


    Notes:


    1. Younger sister. Not her name, but the actual rtionship.


    1. Older brother. In Chinese there are different terms for older sister, young sister, older brother, younger brother. It¡¯s annoying, I know.J

 Chapter 2 – Being Dumped in the Mountain (2)

    <h4>Chapter 2 ¨C Being Dumped in the Mountain (2)</h4>


    Gu Ming pointed at a mean looking woman with a bony face and thin lips and said through gritted teeth, ¡°When mom was still alive, mei mei was healthy and outgoing. What about now? Why do you think mei mei looks the way she does right now? She been starved this entire time!¡±


    The n member of the Gu¡¯s who came to help looked at the skinny and obviously malnourished Gu Ye and could not bear the sight but turned away.


    ¡°Mrs. Gu won¡¯t let mei mei join us at the table during meals, and she never saved any food for her. Mei mei was so hungry that she had to eat wild nts. On top of that she was too frightened to bring them home to cook them so she had to eat them raw. She was so young that she couldn¡¯t tell what was or was not edible at first and regrly ate the poisonous ones, making her vomit and causing her to have diarrhea.


    ¡°Look at her! She is covered in bruises! She had no food to eat so she had no energy. She gets beaten whenever she was slow to work. Never mind that Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhuang1 also beat her, kick her, strike her with stick and hit her with stones.... Dad, mei mei is your daughter too and she also has your blood in her veins. How could you just let this woman starve and beat her to death like that?¡±


    Gu Ye¡¯s sleeve was lifted up and bruises and wounds were for all to see, as though they wereining loudly about the treatment the owner of the body has received.


    ¡°You damn child, stop spewing nonsense! Who had seen me beating her? You ungrateful thing, all you do is lie! Fellow vigers, just you think. She was the one who prepare the meals everyday. When wee home from work we just assume she had already eaten. If she hadn¡¯t eaten yet she could have said something. How would I know that she hadn¡¯t eaten yet? As for all the injuries that she had sustained, that was her being naughty and I have no idea what she had bumped into. Nothing to do with me!¡± Mrs. Gu¡¯s mouth was no decoration. She could talk the death back to live.


    Gu Ming wanted so badly to tear up her lying Mrs. Gu, ¡°What about today then? Mei mei was alive and well in the evening; she was even talking to me. Why did you toss her out like this? There are so many beasts in the mountain, you didn¡¯t even want to give her a chance to survive!¡±


    ¡°When I got home she was lying there motionlessly and I couldn¡¯t wake her so I thought she was already dead! In these daring days kids die at home all the time. Your brothers will get married and live in our house after they got married, I can¡¯t let her die inside the house!¡± said Mrs. Gu unabashedly.


    Gu Ming hrmphed, ¡°I know what your ns are! I heard what you said to Da Zhuang the other night. You said mei mei is a money sink, keep her around is just a waste of food. You can save the dowry if she¡¯s dead.... You can toss mei mei into the mountains for that paltry dowry today, what is to say you won¡¯t try to kill me tomorrow so I won¡¯t fight over the inheritance with Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhuang! Dad, are you just going to stand by and let it happen?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Your mom is not like that. Okay, that¡¯s enough talking, it¡¯s all a big misunderstanding! We¡¯ve found her now, let¡¯s hurry up and go home!¡± said Gu QIao as he waved his hand impatiently.


    He still has some feelings for this son of his, but over the years with Mrs. Gu saying all sorts of stuff to him day and night, there weren¡¯t a lot left. He didn¡¯t care about anything that Gu Ming had said; quite the contrary, he was angry that he had caused him to lose face in front of the patriarChapter and the vigers.


    ¡°No, if we go back like this, she will try again to toss mei mei out. Dad, we want to get it all straightened out in front of grandma patriarChapter and all the uncles in the vige. I want Mrs. Gu to swear in front of everyone that she would not make mei mei do any more heavybor and will feed her!¡±


    ___


    Notes:


    1. Da = big, Xiao = small. Zhuang = strong. Not relevant to the story, just amon name.


    1. It is customary to refer to elders as uncles, aunties, grandpa, and grandma depending their age. They don¡¯t have to be actually rted.

 Chapter 3 – Being Dumped in the Mountain (3)

    <h4>Chapter 3 ¨C Being Dumped in the Mountain (3)</h4>


    Gu Ming straightened his body as best he could, his lips conveyed his determination. What was most important to him right now was his sister. If pushe to shave... pushe to shove, he could live in a cave with his little sister and he¡¯d hunt and gather vegetables to sustain her.


    The patriarChapter had an idea of the matters inside Gu Qiao¡¯s house. But it was difficult to interfere with what was going on behind closed door. As long as he was informed of directly, he was letting it slide. But today, a live was almost taken, he¡¯d have to stand up and say something as the patriarch.


    ¡°Mrs. Gu, you have gone too far with the incident today! Okay, you are all a family, there will be no grudges. All the air is cleared now! Old seven, why don¡¯t you give your kids the words today tofort them and make them feel better?¡± Gu Qiao was ranked number seven in the vige.


    Mrs. Gu was not buying that and she grumbled, ¡°Give them what words? You are making it sounds like I was really abusing the kids. I am not admitting to that.¡±


    ¡°Mrs. Gu, do you really think you are fooling anyone? We all know what you are really after. You are after thete Mrs. Gu¡¯s.....¡± A vige woman who was closed to the real mother of Gu Ming and Gu Yeughed coldly at Mrs. Gu. Her sight sharp like knifes as though she was going to peel back Mrs. Gu¡¯sst privacy cloth.


    Mrs. Gu turned pale and quickly cut off the vige woman¡¯s words, her pitChapter so sharp that it startled a few of the night birds, ¡°Alright! Alright! What do the kids know huh? We are done messing around, go home with your mom and dad. I am the stepmother but he¡¯s your real dad, he won¡¯t stand by and watChapter others hurt you!¡±


    She was certainly good with her words. It may have sounded like she was trying tofort the kids, but really she was hinting at the fact that she was the one wronged.


    Gu Ming knew it too well that he was still to young. Breaking up with the family right now would not befit him or his sister. He walked over to his sister, touched her little face, smiled andforted her, ¡°Mei mei, were you scared? Don¡¯t worry, we have patriarChapter and all the uncles here today to witness this. No one will toss you out again. Ge ge will protect you.¡±


    Gu Ye was watching the entire ¡°drama¡± unfold in front of her coldly as a bystander this entire time. But the way the young boy cared about her wholeheartedly gave her a sense of warmth in her cold heart. In her previous life, she grew up in an orphanage. The love from a family was a luxury. This time around, her dream had came true finally, having a devoted brother. Perhaps transmigating wasn¡¯t entirely an awful thing!


    Gu Ming carried his sister on his back. The equally skinny Gu Ming was out of breath in a couple of steps. He stumbled and also fell on the downhill walk. Ninth Uncle, who lived next door to them, couldn¡¯t stand by anymore and took Gu Ye from him and carried her down.


    The half conscious Gu Ye was ced on top of a bed stove with a ragged straw mat and was about to fall asleep. After the n members and the vigers had left and Mr. and Mrs. Gu returned to their quarters angry, Gu Ming pulled over a nket with patches all over and ced it on top of Gu ye. Then secretively he whispered to her, ¡°Mei mei, you must be hungry. Ge ge was lucky today and I was able to catChapter a fish. I made some fish soup when nobody was hope during the day time. Let me go heat it up and bring you some.¡±

 Chapter 4 – The Bizarre Red Lotus (1)

    <h4>Chapter 4 ¨C The Bizarre Red Lotus (1)</h4>


    ¡°Mei mei, drink the soup quickly. Before Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhaung saw it and take it from you!¡± Da Zhaung was their stepbrother that Mrs. Gu brought with when she married into the family, where as Xiao Zhuang was their 3-year-old half-brother.


    Gu Ye couldn¡¯t fire the hunger that felt like fire burning in her stomaChapter any longer so she took a few sips from her brother¡¯s hands but that was all she could take. Having been starved for a prolonged amount of time, her stomaChapter had already deteriorated along with her other organs. She was so weak she could barely breathe. This body was the living testimony of the saying ¡°at the end of the rope¡±.


    ¡°Take another sip, you are not eating enough.¡± Gu Ming worried a lot about his little sister. His sister was so malnourished that she got ill every two to three days. Naturally the stepmother wasn¡¯t going to spend money on having a doctor check her out. So Gu Ming had to risk being eaten by a beast to go hunt in the mountain, but rarely was he sessful.


    On a good day, he would be able to catChapter a pheasant or a rabbit and he¡¯d send it over to Dr. Wu and have him checked out his sister. Dr. Wu told him that she was so muChapter ill rather than being starved and overworked. All she need was nourishment.


    Whenever he had a moment of free time he¡¯d help out with his sister¡¯s chores. He tried his best to provide her with more food, yet the sister continued to deteriorate. Thest several days, she ever had a difficult time eating just rice. She would vomit whatever it was that she ate. Dr. Wu told him that there was no more need to treat her, and be prepared for when the time came.


    But he couldn¡¯t give up, and didn¡¯t want to give up. His mother grabbed his hands and asked him to take good care his sister when she was on her death bed, but he was so useless...


    Seeing that his sister had a few sips of the fish soup and didn¡¯t vomit, Gu Ming felt a sliver of hope rose inside of him. He finished all the rest of the fish soup in onerge gulp; he wasn¡¯t going to let Mrs. Gu¡¯s two rascals have any of it! He tugged his sister in some more and said in a soft voice, ¡°Mei mei, get some rest. Ge ge will catChapter fish and make you soup everyday from now on.¡±


    Gu Ye nodded obediently. When Gu Ming went to do the dishes in the kitchen, she couldn¡¯t held out any longer but vomited all the fish soup. This body couldn¡¯t take in any food any more.


    And she had just transmigrated here; she didn¡¯t want to die right after her transmigration and became the shortest-lived transmigrator. That would be a bad joke!


    Dimension! She was in possession of a dimension! She remembered the bottle of beast-repelling powder. A sliver of hope beamed in Gu Ye¡¯s eyes.


    She produced a bottle of nourishing fluid into her hand and spending the shred of energy that she could muster, finally was able to pour it into her mouth and swallowed it with great difficulty. Before she felt into deep sleep, she clearly felt a small warmth feeling started to travel through the meridian and organs of this feeble body...


    With Mrs. Gu¡¯s personality of only liked to take advantage of others but not being taken advantage of, the days were now even more hectic for Gu Ming and Gu Ye. Gu Ye was too weak to get out of bed so all the chores around the house fell onto Mrs. Gu.


    Every time Mrs. Gu thought about it she¡¯d dashed to the West side of the house and bang on the table and bowl and shouted all sorts of nasty words non-stop. Gu Ye just plugged her ears with invisible plugs and be unaffected by all her nasty words.


    Mrs. Gu pulled her normal trick when she was preparing the meals. EaChapter person only received one palm-size biscuit and Mr. Gu, as the head of household, could still only have two. In the morning, there was still none for Gu Ye, and Gu Ming got the smallest in the batch.


    Now that everything was out in the open, Gu Ming had no more hesitation. During the meal, after his dad had picked up one if his biscuits, he quickly grabbed two from the basket and his own bowl of porridge to eat with his little sister inside their house.


    Mrs. Gu shrieked with her hands on her waist when she saw that, ¡°PUT THAT DOWN! That was your dad¡¯s biscuit! You ungrateful rascal robbing your own father¡¯s food!¡±

 Chapter 5 – The Bizarre Red Lotus (2)

    <h4>Chapter 5 ¨C The Bizarre Red Lotus (2)</h4>


    Gu Ming stopped, stared straight at her and said, ¡°I thought this was my little sister¡¯s share. You were the one who¡¯s rationing dad¡¯s food, not me! My little sister is sick and she needs food.¡± Soon as he finished talked he didn¡¯t care that Mrs. Gu was jumping up and down shouting and inside the house.


    Mrs. Gu was shouting and trying to reaChapter out to grab him before Gu Qiao cut short her creative verbal ability, ¡°Haven¡¯t we embarrassed ourselves enough? If ninth brother next door overheard you words will be spread into the vige that we abuse our kids again. How muChapter could a small girl like her eat? Just add some more water and a fistful of rice in the future when you cook. All you need to do is to make sure she doesn¡¯t die from starvation.¡±


    Gu Qiao wasn¡¯t all that happy either. SuChapter a small matter at home but he was dragged by the Uncle PatriarChapter and a few vige elders to talk to. It was all very mortifyingly embarrassing. He was so angry at Gu Ming, couldn¡¯t he have just go quietly to look for his sister? Was it necessary to make suChapter a scene that now the entire vige of Qingshan knew of the incident and everybody looked at them strangely whenever they went outside and he didn¡¯t even want to know what they say about them behind their backs.


    Panting, Mrs. Gu sat back down. She grabbed the biscuit from Da Zhuang and broke off a chunk and put that in front of her man along with a chunk from her own. She was mean to the two children from thete wife, but she wasn¡¯t stupid. She gave her man the best of the best. He was her man after all, and the main workforce of the family who took care of the several dozens acres of farnd. No way she¡¯d mistreat his body.


    ¡°Who do you think I do all these for? You don¡¯t run this house and have no idea how muChapter firewood and rice cost nowadays. We don¡¯t have that muChapter left after paying the rent for ournd. We barely have enough to eat. I go into the mountain with Da Zhuang to pick all sorts of vegetation; we ve ourselves and exchange everything we get for money but we are still tight. And Da Zhuang and Xiao Xhuang are growing everyday and need to eat more and more. Of course I need to ration our food.


    ¡°How could you say I abuse yourte wife¡¯s children and eat their food. That is preposterous! Look at me! I work from dawn to dusk and what do I eat? I have married into this family for almost four years, I have never bought a piece of new clothing! She is just a kid who doesn¡¯t do any heavybor, so what if she doesn¡¯t have a lot to eat?¡± Mrs. Gu lifted her sleeve and dabbed her eyes as she spoke.


    As he shoved his face with the biscuit and porridge, Gu Qiaoforted Mrs. Gu, ¡°Yes, you are right. You have done so muChapter for this family.... But it is also true that it was a problem for us to feed that extra mouth. After the fall harvester, I¡¯ll go with forage with you in the mountains to exchange for money, okay? Just don¡¯t bring more shame to his family, okay?¡±


    At the end of the day, Gu Qiao was a selfish person who cared a lot out his appearances. Mrs. Gu knew that nothing good woulde out of it if she went on with her fuss. Even though Gu Qiao seemed mild and gentle normally, she knew how he could be when he was angry, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and promised. She¡¯d take care of those two rascals in the future!


    Xiao Zhuang had no interest in eating the dry biscuit so when he noticed that his mother was in a foul mood, he quickly put the rough biscuit that had had barely started into her mouth. His small eyes rolled and he said in his childish voice, ¡°Mom, eat.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s my son. Kids that aren¡¯t from me will surely turn into ungrateful wolves on day!¡± said Mrs. Gu loudly at the direction of the west wing before stroking her younger son¡¯s face lovingly. She kissed him and said softly, ¡°That¡¯s why I love you the most, mom will make you some dough drop and vegetable soup in a bit.¡±

 Chapter 6 – The Bizarre Red Lotus (3)

    <h4>Chapter 6 ¨C The Bizarre Red Lotus (3)</h4>


    All the ruckus outside has no effect on the brother and sister sitting inside. Gu Ming knew that his sister¡¯s stomaChapter was really weak right now and wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the hard biscuit. So he broke them into fingernail size pieces and soak the in the porridge until they were soften before he fed them to her.


    Gu Ye looked at the dark and messy food and, even though she was miserably from being hungry, they still didn¡¯t drum up her appetite. Under her brother¡¯s hopeful look, she forced herself to take a bite. Ugh! They were equally disgusting tasting as the nutritious drinks that she received on assignments in her previous life. She couldn¡¯t take more than a few bites.


    The original owner¡¯s body had been nourished by the nourishment potion over night so, even though it was still weak, it could at least handle a minimum amount of food. Gu Ming then gave her some water and said to her, ¡°I am going to chop some firewood in a little bit. Let me see if I can catChapter more fish. The doctor said fish soup is very nourishing.¡±


    Having said that, he sighed deeply and continued, ¡°The doctor also said chicken soup was the best. Too bad your brother is too useless and not able bring home game meat everyday like Zhang Lihu from the vige.¡±


    ¡°Ge, you are good enough. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I¡¯d have been devoured by the beasts in the mountain already,¡± For a 11-year-old child, Gu Ming was about as good as he could be.


    But recalling what it was like when she regained consciously, she could still see those blue eyes of the wolves. Gu Ye couldn¡¯t help but said, ¡°Ge, there are too many wolves in the mountain. Don¡¯t go in there by yourself any more. I only have one good brother who cares about me. I don¡¯t want anything to happen to you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, from now on, I will limit my area to just around the vige and not make you worry. I am going to go chop wood now. If you don¡¯t want to sleep anymore, then go over to your Ninth Aunt¡¯s ce and chat with Li jie jie1.¡± Gu Ming was worried that his innocent sister would be bullied by Mrs. Gu and her son again.


    From the original owner¡¯s memory, Li jie was a year older than the two of them. She was tender and caring. The original owner had a special dependency toward Li jie, but Gu Ye wanted to enter and check out her dimension so she used being tired as a reason to turn down her brother¡¯s suggestion.


    Gu Ming left worried. Their father and stepmother went foraging for wild vegetables in the mountain. Da Zhuang was also recruited to help. Mrs. Gu worried about leaving Xiao Zhuang home by himself so she took him with her in a basket.


    Picture: Basket to carry baby in


    Source: weibo


    It was quiet in the courtyard, with a simple thought Gu Ye entered her dimension. It was still the same dimension, the ten or so well fertilized ck soil was filled with herbs she had collected for years in her previous life. Over a hundred different species of herbs including some very rare ones.


    Dozens of herbs that were over a hundred years old, but that wasmon in a dimension, even hundred or upward of hundreds years old ginseng or fleeceflower root. The lifecycles of herbs were muChapter shorter inside the dimension so she has never ran out of material when she was experimenting with new poultices.


    After going around and surveilling the entire herb field once, Gu Ye, now in a great mood, went inside her poulticeboratory ¨C a very elegantly-built wood structure. Boxes and boxes filled with all sorts of potions and poultices gave Gu Ye a strong sense of security. Her fingers slid through bottles and bottles of medicines of all colors as though she was stroking her own children as she took a trip down memoryne.


    Exiting herboratory, she nced over at the pile of ¡°garbage¡± on the empty field. These were all the materials she had collected before her previous world plunged into chaos. Some of them might be more useful than others; she needed to find some time to organize them.


    Suddenly, she smelled a small hint of lotus flower. Following the fragrant, she arrived at that small pond situated in the middle of the dimension and was surprised by her discovery of a half blossomed red lotus. It had neither leaves nor root, like a fairy who had abandoned the world around her and stood proudly in the middle of the shallow, blue pond. On one of its pedal was a drop of jade-like petrichor, sparkling in the light.


    Picture: Lotus Flower


    Source: .ba-bamail


    Picture: Lotus Seeds


    Source: zhuan.zhihu


    Picture: Lotus Seeds


    Source: indiamart


    Picture: Lotus Root (very yummy!!)


    Source: drhealthbenefits


    ¡°Eh? When was the lotus nted? But hey, at least I will have lotus seeds and lotus roots to eat in the future,¡± Said Gu Ye to herself.


    As she looked at it with a gluttony look, the fire like red lotus shook almost unnoticeably, as though it was scared, or a feeling of disdain. Gu Ye rubbed her eyes. Did she just feel human emotions in a red lotus? What she thought she had seen must be a mistake!


    She would have plenty of time in the future to figure out where this red lotuse from. For now she should go back out before her brother returned and found her missing and be worried all over again.


    ___


    Note:


    1. older sister. Again, not necessarily rted, just someone a few years old than you of the same generation.


    ___

 Chapter 7 – Cooking Wasn’t All That Difficult (1)

    <h4>Chapter 7 ¨C Cooking Wasn¡¯t All That Difficult (1)</h4>


    The fall season painted all the mountains ayer of gold. The setting sun making the fall leaves even more colorful than they already were. Inside the small courtyard, the ground were covered in gold color.


    A screeching noise broke the silence in the small yard, ¡°Stop lying in bed like a corpse! Just because you had lied around, did nothing, and ate well for a few days do not make you Miss High and Mighty! There are so muChapter to do around the house, so stop with thezing around in bed! Are you dead yet? If you are not dead then get up on your ass and start cooking!¡±


    Gu Ye opened her eyes slowly. There was no point in even sighing. She sat up and started to get dressed. It had been five days since she was brought back from the mountain by the n members. She had been woken up by Mrs. Liu¡¯s screaming and shouting in thest few days. She must admit that she had very strong desire to poison her so she could never speak again.


    After resting in bed for five days and drinking all the nourishing potion and eating nutritious food, Gu Ye¡¯s body was recovering slowly. She was still shockingly emaciated, but her felt better and better as eaChapter day passed by, and she had regained some energy.


    Seeing that Gu Ye listened to her and left her room, Mrs. Liu smiled triumphantly and said, ¡°The pig food was ready, don¡¯t forget to feed the pigs. After lunChapter was prepared, bring them to the field, don¡¯t ck!¡±


    After she finished talking, she gave Gu Ye a stare before leaving with her hoe. This was the busiest time of harvesting. Every capable body in the vige was helping out in the field. In the past year, the original owner was part of thebor force as well; but this year, courtesy of the broken body, she only need to take care of the household chores.


    Gu Ye slowly retrieved toothbrush and toothpaste from the dimension before she brushed her teeth and washed her face. She thenbed out her dried hair and braided them into two braids. She went to the courtyard and stretched her shoulders, kicked her feet, and did a set of physical exercises before she hopped into the kitchen.


    The kitchen was quite clean and the food and ingredients for today¡¯s lunChapter were already ced on the countertop. In order to have the energy for the fall harvest, the number of meals in this household had increased from 2 a day to 3 a day. Naturally, the ¡°garbage¡± who couldn¡¯t help with the harvest was not entitled to breakfast.


    At this point in time the quality of every family¡¯s meals had gone up ¨C at least a little meat everyday to ensure that they would have the energy for the harvest. On top of the kitchen counter was a piece of ckened preserved pork sliced into 7 ¨C 8 slices, a handful of beans, two eggnts, and a bowl full of noodles of two different thickness.... This was the entire meal for the family of six.


    Gu Ye rubbed her rumbling tummy; she didn¡¯t want to have any more tasteless nourishment fluid anymore. She brought over the stool and fetched half a bowl of in flour from the basket hanging on the kitchen beam. She then dug out Mrs. Liu¡¯s hidden ceramic can and took out an egg. Along with a few slices of spinaches, she made herself a steaming bowl of dough drop and vegetable soup with egg. The soup warmed her stomach.


    Luckily the original owner had alright skills in the kitchen area. In her pass life, she could burn the kitchen down trying to make porridge!


    She fed the two pigs and six chickens in the backyard. After feeding the fouls and the livestock, Gu Ye started preparing lunch. She used one of the stove to cook the porridge and another one to braise the pork with beans and eggnts. Biscuits were heated up on the rim of the pots ¨C this was how the original owner used to prepare the meals.


    She found some seasonings from dimension and added some allspice and some chicken essence. She had no idea whether she had added the proper amount but at least it¡¯d beat the in-cooked meal. She grabbed out a bowl of pickled vegetable from the pickle bowl and minced them. She also fried up some salted vegetables andpleted her assignment to prepare lunch.


    Picture: Pickling jar


    Source: 1688


    Picture: Pickling vegetables consists of cing a having rock on top of the vegetables (cabbage, in this case)


    Source: haocai777


    Picture: Pickled cabbage


    Source: k.sina


    Looking at the barely presentable meal Gu Ye nheless felt a sense of aplishment. This was the very first time she had prepared a meal on her own, and the kitchen was still intact! She wanted to show the dang ice cube her masterpiece and see if he¡¯d still call her a kitchen idiot!


    ___

 Chapter 8 – Cooking Wasn’t All That Difficult (2)

    <h4>Chapter 8 ¨C Cooking Wasn¡¯t All That Difficult (2)</h4>


    Gu Ye¡¯s proud smile faded away. She recalled the moment in her past life as she was devoured by wild beasts. She recalled the familiar voice calling out to her, and the despondency and hopelessness on that handsome face as she took herst look at it. So it turned out that the icy-cold face was capable of showing emotions after all!


    ¡°Mei mei,¡± Gu Ming¡¯s voice interrupted her thoughts. ¡°You have not recovered yet, why don¡¯t you go andy back down? I can take care of the chores.... Oh, I see that you have already finished preparing lunch. Are you tired? How are you feeling?¡±


    Gu Ye turned and smiled at him, ¡°Ge, I am not that fragile, okay? Even Dr. Wu said that I should get up from time to time and move around a little. It¡¯s better for me that way. Come, try my cooking!¡± She pleaded.


    Gu Ming opened his mouth for the piece of eggnt that was fed to him. He chewed it carefully and his eyes brightened. He was not frugal with his words of praises, ¡°Your cooking is muChapter better than that of Mrs. Liu. Her cooking tastes like pig foodparing to yours!¡± Ever since that incident, Gu Ming had refused to refer to Mrs. Liu as ¡°mom¡± anymore.


    Gu Ye giggled and blinked at him yfully, ¡°Ge, you are calling us pigs too when you say that!¡±


    Gu Ming paused for a second and startedughing with his sister. After this illness, his sister¡¯s personality had changed noticeably. She was muChapter more outgoing and yful than before. She was so timid in the past and turned pale with just about any kind of noises. She¡¯d shiver and want to find a ce to hide. He must be stronger still so he could protect his sister and not let Mrs. Liu has her ways.


    Gu Ming helped her sister to ce the meals inside the basket and carried it toward the fields. Gu Ye followed slowly behind him. Gu Ye was helping with the basket at the beginning, but her brother had adamantly declined her help. Looking at the brother walking in front of him and slightly struggling with carrying the meals, Gu Ye was very touched. It was so nice to have a brother who cared for her!


    ¡°Xiao Ye, bringing lunChapter to your dad?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Ye, you feeling better? You can walk around now?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Ye Zi, you are too skinny. You need to eat more. If your mom won¡¯t feed you, youe get some from my ce. Just think of that as a long. Don¡¯t ruin your body when you are so young and have to suffer the consequences from it.¡±


    The busy vigers from the fields on both sides of the path all greeted the brother and sister passionately when they saw them. Gu Ye, who was used to the calcted kind of rtionships didn¡¯t know how to react to the simple enthusiasm of the vigers. She just smiled and nodded at them. Since the original owner had always been a timid girl, none of the vigers noticed her change.


    ¡°Oh you dang Gu Ming! Said you needed to use the bathroom and you cked off and went home? How could you be sozy? All you ever think about was to ck off! I am telling you, there will be no dinner for you until you finish harvesting these two acres of sorghum!¡± Mrs. Liu was enraged when she saw Gu Ming carrying the basket for Gu Ye from a far. She jumped way up and her spittle went way far.


    Photo: sorghum field


    Source: agricol.co.za


    ¡°That from the household of 7th, you don¡¯t seem all that tired to me if you still have the energy to jump up and down. It must be nice to be young. When you are my age, I can barely talk after working all morning!¡± said the third grandma of the vige, who had been displeased by the ways Mrs. Liu has been treating the two kids for a long time.


    Third grandma¡¯s husband was a sibling of the patriarch. When he was young he was quite a character and always won all the quarrels in the vige. He had finally mellowed down some now that he had aged.


    ___

 Chapter 9 – Cooking Wasn’t All That Difficult (3)

    <h4>Chapter 9 ¨C Cooking Wasn¡¯t All That Difficult (3)</h4>


    Mrs. Liu did not want to offend the patriarChapter or his family so she could do nothing but to pout after hearing what she said. She did, however, grumbled to herself, ¡°That was quite chatty for someone who had no energy to speak.¡±


    Mrs. Liu dashed over and snatched the basket over. Her eyes locked onto the preserved pork like a hungry wolf eyed it¡¯s prey. She counted the slices of the pork a few times, and took eaChapter biscuit in her hand to gauge their weight one by one. Then, staring viciously at Gu Ye, she growled, ¡°You lowly girl, did you already stole some food and ate them back at home?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t steal and I didn¡¯t eat. Others may not know, but wouldn¡¯t you?¡± If it was still the original owner, she would have been terrified by Mrs. Liu¡¯s vicious look. Yet Gu Ye acted as though she didn¡¯t even noticed and merely answered her with a question in an even tone.


    Anger rushed straight to Mrs. Liu¡¯s head. She was just about to start shouting when she was interrupted by her own son, ¡°I am starving! I am starving! Why did you deliver lunChapter sote? Were you cking off at home?¡± said Da Zhuang as he reached inside the basket and fished out a biscuit.


    He was just about to pinChapter off some preserved pork when Mrs. Liu smacked him on the back of his hand and said, ¡°Have some manners! Your dad hasn¡¯t even eaten yet. Don¡¯t nobody touChapter this meat! Hey, father of the kids,e and have lunch. Take a break!¡±


    Gu Ye gave everyone a bowl of porridge and Mrs. Liu started distributing the biscuits. Gu Ming and Gu Ye¡¯s shares of biscuits already have 1/3 of them removed. Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhuang eaChapter got one slice of preserved pork and the rest all went to Gu Qiao. She didn¡¯t even give one to herself so Gu Ming and Gu Ye definitely wouldn¡¯t be getting any.


    The braised dish with the two added seasonings were muChapter tastier than before. Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhuang ate like they were about to starve to death with their chopstickers moving back and forth in high speed. Gu Ming, naturally, also reached out for the dish faster to matChapter them. And he didn¡¯t just get food for himself, he also put some in his sister¡¯s bowl every once so often.


    Gu Ye had just had the dough drop soup, she had only taken a couple bites of the biscuit before she gave the rest to her brother, ¡°Ge, my stomaChapter can¡¯t quite take hard food just yet, else it might hurt again. Why don¡¯t you eat this for me?¡±


    Gu Ming epted the extra share of biscuit. Then, when Mrs. Liu was distracted, he whispered in his sister¡¯s ears, ¡°I¡¯ll go borrow some more rice from 9th aunty tonight and make you some porridge.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. 9th aunty¡¯s family don¡¯t have that muChapter spare food either. We can¡¯t keep going to bother them.¡± Gu Ye was a bit hesitant. After all, she was just an aunty in the vige. She didn¡¯t want to ruin that little kindness by continuously borrowing from them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, little sister. As long as you are fine, we will repay all their favors one day.¡± Gu Ming decided that he¡¯d go dig a few traps tonight and hope for the best.


    It was then when Gu Qiao chimed in and said, ¡°Ye¡¯er, you body is still weak and can¡¯t handle physicalbor. Just take care of the meals from now on, as for other work.... Well, mother of the children, you might have to put up with them for a few more days.¡±


    Mrs. Liu looked extremely unhappy, ¡°I have to take care of both work inside and outside of the house. I am breaking my back and got no appreciation. On top of that, people pointed at me behind my back saying that I am abusing the kids. What am I getting out of all this?¡±


    After finishing lunch, Gu Ye did not return to the house right away. She has decided to stay and help her brother with harvesting the two acres of field. Mrs. Liu had already made it very clear that if that was not done, her brother would not get to have dinner. To put things into perspective, even an adult could only harvest two acres ofnd in one whole day.


    Gu Ming was the one in the front chopping down the tall sorghum nts and Gu Ye helped slice off the head of the nt and bundled them up. Naturally they were muChapter more efficient with the two of them. Gu Ming was afraid his sister would be tired out too muChapter and urged her to rest from time to time.


    ___

 Chapter 10 – The Incident of The Wild Hare (1)

    <h4>Chapter 10 ¨C The Incident of The Wild Hare (1)</h4>


    ___


    ¡°Quick! Quick! Block it right there and catChapter it!¡± A ruckus came from 9th uncle¡¯s field next to them. Gu Yu peeked over curiously and saw 9th uncle leading his three sons trying to catChapter a grey hare.


    With nowhere to go, the hare ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, dashing left and right in the field. All of a sudden, with a kick of it¡¯s hindlegs, it went between 9th uncle¡¯s legs and headed straight toward Gu Ye, who was standing there slicing off the heads of sorghum.


    Fifteen years in the troubled world was no small aplishment. Even though Icy Face referred to her as ¡°loser with only 50% power¡±, but being at this ce, she was still muChapter stronger than most. She lifted up the sorghum stem and quickly, viciously, and urately struck the hare on its head. The young body has yet to recover fully so it wasn¡¯t very powerful. It was only able to knock the hare out.


    Games in the mountains usually went to whoever that caught them. 9th uncle¡¯s three sons looked very disappointed. When 9th aunt say that, sheughed and said, ¡°Xiao Ye, that was quite an urate strike on your part!¡±


    Ge Ye giggled, ¡°I got lucky.¡± After she said that, she even scratched her head in embarrassment.


    9th aunt took a look at the hare and said to her, ¡°That is quite a chubby hare, at least 2-3 kg. You are still recovering, this hare meat will do you good.¡±


    ¡°That was only because 9th uncle and the brothers had already wore it out. It was already tired when it got to me, so I got lucky. I¡¯d say that 9th uncle and the brothers contributed way more than I did. Let¡¯s split this half and half!¡± That was the age when meat were hard toe by. Gu Ye knew that 9th aunt and her family had always been nice to her and her brother so she suggested not to take the entire hare.


    ¡°Oh you damn child. Are you stupid? We caught the hare, why would you want to share it with others? We have been running low on preserved meat. We have to exert so muChapter energy for the fall harvest, we couldn¡¯t get by without meat! This hare along with some radish and vermicelli would be enough for us for days!¡±


    Mrs. Liu happened to witness how Gu Ye knocked the hare out with one strike. Just when she was walking over happily, she heard her generously giving away half a rabbit so she tried to stop her immediately. This useless brat, giving away their hare meat. Was she brain-dead?


    Looking at Mrs. Liu¡¯s greed-filled face, Gu Ye said expressionlessly, ¡°9th uncle and his sons were the ones who discovered the hare. Not to mentioned they had already injured it so it was slow when it moved and that was the only reason I was able to knock it out. 9th uncle and 9th aunty only gave me all the credit because I was weak. My mother had always taught me to not take advantage of others and to always be appreciative when others are nice to me. I am already taking advantage of them by taking half the hare.¡±


    Soon as 9th aunty heard that, and seeing Mrs. Liu¡¯s expression, she was able to read this kid¡¯s mind immediately. If Mrs. Liu was to take the entire hare, Gu Ming brother and sister might not even get one bite out of it. The entire hare just might end up in the stomachs of Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhuang.


    Once she realized that, 9th aunty decided to ept half of the hare. She wasn¡¯t nning on taking advantage of the kids either. She nned to invite them over to her ce when the hare was cooked. At lease they would be able to have a few more bites that way.


    Enraged, Mrs. Liu lifted her sickle and aimed it straight at Gu Ye¡¯s head. 9th uncle was rmed. He took a step up and grabbed the sickle by it¡¯s handle and snatched it out of her hand. ¡°What do you think you are doing? What if you hurt the child?¡±


    ¡°9th uncle, I am teaching my kid a lesson, why must you interfere? What are you trying to do? Are you trying to strike me? Everyone,e and look. He is bullying me. My husband, you bettere quick before your wife is beaten to death!¡± said Mrs. Liu as she plopped down onto the ground and wailed as she pped her own thigh.


    ___

 Chapter 11 – The Incident of The Wild Hare (2)

    <h4>Chapter 11 ¨C The Incident of The Wild Hare (2)</h4>


    ¡°9th brother, what are you doing? If you are mad youe to me. Why are you bullying a woman?¡± Gu Qiao blocked in front of his wife and stared angrily with angry eyes. His face flustered from anger.


    Back in the days, he was the second in charge of a shop in the city of Yan. Every time he returned to the vige even the patriarChapter was respectful to him. Look at him now! Even a young brother in the n could walk all over him! This was all the fault of thete Mrs. Liu. If it wasn¡¯t for her, he¡¯d already be the number one in charge of the shop and enjoyed all the luxuries a big city has to offer by now!


    ¡°7th brother, 7th sister has gone a little over the top. Who hits a child with a sickle? That¡¯s not teaching a child a lesson. That¡¯s trying to kill her! You can¡¯t listen only to her side of the story. There are more than just our two families here. 3rd aunt and 10th brother also saw the whole thing. Everybody have a pretty good idea of what happened!¡± After he was done talking, he tossed the sickle in front of Gu Qiao¡¯s feet, snorted, and walked away.


    Gu Qiao had finally noticed all the other n members were looking at them with disdain and his face flustered. He dragged Mrs. Liu up from the ground and said through gritted teeth, ¡°What had Gu Ye done this time? Even if she was at fault, you could just scold her. Look at her, she still stumbles when she walks. You could have killed her with the sickle, and in front of everybody as well. You won¡¯t even have the chance the exin yourself. If you kill someone, you think the patriarChapter will still let you stay? By then even I would be dragged down by you.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea what that damned child did, she....¡± Mrs. Liu looked at the hare in 9th aunty¡¯s hand and still felt angry and unreconciled.


    ¡°Alright! It¡¯s just half a hare! Stop embarrassing us in front of everyone!¡± said Gu Qiao impatiently. Right in front of everybody, over a few bites of meat, has she not embarrassed them enough already?


    Mrs. Liu got up from the ground reluctantly as she mumbled to herself, ¡°Yeah, easy for you to say. If we do it properly, half a hare canst up to two meals. You have no idea about it at all...¡±


    When the sun was setting, Gu Ye carried home with her half a skinned hare to prepare dinner. Mrs. Liu, not trusting her with the hair, shouted behind her, ¡°You damned child who tried to lose all of our family fortune, don¡¯t cook all of it all at once. Salt whatever¡¯s left and save it for tomorrow¡¯s meal!¡±


    Li¡¯jie, also heading home to prepare dinner, held Gu Ye¡¯s hand in hers and whispered to her, ¡°Youe by my ce today, I will save you a bowl of hare meat. As for this skin, my dad will tan it and my mom will make it into a vest for you. It¡¯s very warm when you wear it under your dress during winter time.¡±


    ¡°I will shamelessly ept the hare skin.¡± From her memory, the original owner barely had any winter clothing. It was a miracle she hasn¡¯t died from hypothermia all these years. ¡°As for the hare meat, there is barely enough for the seven of you, so no need to save me any. We will be having braised hare tonight as well.¡±


    ¡°No way that frugal stepmother will let you have any. It¡¯s been decided. You areing over tonight....¡± As they were chatting away, they have already arrived in front of their houses. Li¡¯jie re-emphasized again before she went inside her house.


    Gu Ye diced the hare meat after rinsing it thoroughly. She cooked the hare meat halfway before she prepare a thick pot of meat soup. She then took out half the hare meat and braised them with radishes. In the remaining soup she added somedybell root that she fetched from the dimension to create the dybell root hare soup¡±.1


    As the stewing took longer, the hare meat was still stewing when everybody returned from the field. Mrs. Liu dashed straight to the kitchen when she walked inside the house. Learning that dinner was not yet ready, she was riled up all over again, ¡°You have been home for almost two hours, how¡¯s dinner still not ready? Youzy thing, did you go and take a nap?¡±


    ___

 Chapter 12 – The Incident of The Wild Hare (3)

    <h4>Chapter 12 ¨C The Incident of The Wild Hare (3)</h4>


    Mrs. Liu lifted the cover of the pot and took a look before she let out a loud ¡°OH!¡± and said, ¡°You damned child, why haven¡¯t you died from gluttony yet? Didn¡¯t I tell you to save half the hare for tomorrow? Why did you stew them all? All you think about all day long is to eat! Why haven¡¯t you die from over eating yet?¡±


    ¡°Oh, did you say that? I didn¡¯t hear!¡± Gu Ye added more fire wood into the stove and started cing biscuits on the inside of the pot.


    Seeing that Gu Ye no longer shivers and begged for mercy like she used to, Mrs. Liu was just overtaken by anger. She lifted her chubby hand and swiped right at the back of Gu Ye¡¯s head.


    It was as though she had eyes behind her back ¨C right before the palm could make contact with her, she took a side step. Mrs. Liu, her full swing missing the target, stumbled forward and almost fell into the pot that was still stewing the hare meat.


    Gu Ye got a little nervous; it wasn¡¯t everyday that they have meat to eat, she didn¡¯t want them contaminated by Mrs. Liu. She wasn¡¯t all that interested in stew human.


    ¡°Oh, that smells so good! Mom, when are we going to have dinner? I am about to starve to death!!¡± Da Zhuang smelled the meat, walked inside the kitchen and headed straight to the stove. He was about to reaChapter his ck paw straight into the boiling pot to grab the hare meat.


    Mrs. Liu couldn¡¯t care about hitting Gu Ye anymore but grabbed her son¡¯s hand right away and shouted, ¡°Get away from it. Do you not want to keep your hand any more? That will burn your hand right off!¡± Even though her words were mean, the love in her voice was unmistaken.


    ¡°Meat, meat! Mom, I want meeeat!¡± Xiao Zhuang shuffled over and mumbled as he hang onto Mrs. Liu¡¯s leg.


    ¡°The meat was not done yet. Go wash your hands and wait by the table. Da Zhuang, take your little brother out to y, don¡¯t let him get burned!¡± Mrs. Liu was very loving when ites to her own offspring.


    Not too long after that, dinner was ready. In the split second that Mrs. Liu turned around, Gu Ye quickly filled half a small bowl of hare meat and stashed it away into the dimension. Mrs. Liu picked up the te of hare meat with radish and frowned deeply ¨C was the quantity of the hare meat off? But she had been here the entire time when the hare meat was cooking. No way that thief of a girl would steal food from right under her eyes. Was the hare just too skinny?


    ¡°Head of household, this damned kid Gu Ye just wants us to go broke. She cooked all the hare meat. Should we... should we save half for tomorrow morning?¡± Looking at the te full of hare meat, Mrs. Liu felt like her heart was bleeding. This wasn¡¯t eating meat, this was like gouging out her heart!


    It was often that they could feast on meat, Gu Qiao waved his hand and said, ¡°Nah, it¡¯s hot today. It will go bad by tomorrow. We worked all day long, might as well treat ourselves to some meat!¡± Having said that, he picked up a piece of hare meat with his chopsticks and put it inside his mouth.


    While stewing, Gu Ye added some anise, cinnamon, bay leaves along with some MSG and cumin. The hare meat was not gamey at all, rather, it has an unique kind of vor. Gu Qiao praised non-stop and even handed over a chunk of hare meat to Gu Ye.


    The hare meat was quite substantial, even though Mrs. Liu was scowling like she was watching out for thieves, Gu Ye was still able to get quite a few pieces of hare meat. Delectable hare meat, hearty meat soup, Ge Ye finally had a hearty meal since she has transmigrated.


    ___

 Chapter 13 – Beaten (1)

    <h4>Chapter 13 ¨C Beaten (1)</h4>


    Chapter 13 ¨C Beaten (1)


    That night, Gu Ye did not head over to 9th aunt¡¯s house next door. After Mrs. Liu and the lot went to bed, she retrieved the hidden bowl of hare meat from the dimension.


    Gu Ye shared the same bed stove with her brother. The stove was divided into two areas with one straw curtain and she slept in the inner half. She lifted the curtain between them and pushed the still steamy bowl of hare meat in front of her brother. She blinked and said to him, ¡°Ge, I saved this for you specifically. Mrs. Liu didn¡¯t know about it. Hurry up and eat!¡±


    During dinner, Gu Ming spent more time taking care of her and barely had any meat himself. None of those escaped the observant Gu Ye.


    When Gu Ming saw that there were almost 7-8 pieces of hare meat, he smiled like a little rat who stole some oil. He gave his sister a thumbs up and said, ¡°Good job, mei mei! But don¡¯t do something like this again. If that woman finds out, she¡¯d beat you again!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she won¡¯t find out!¡± Gu Ye pinched off a piece of meat and ced it in her brother¡¯s mouth, ¡°Hurry up and eat. It won¡¯t taste good anymore when it gets cold.¡±


    ¡°Mei mei, you have some too.¡± The two of them happily split the half a bowl of hare meat, their little stomachs all protruding out. Gu Ye fell asleep happily with a full stomach. Before she felt into deep sleep, all she could think of was: it felt so good to have meat! When I have some free time, I must head into the mountain and bring home more hares and pheasants for dinner....


    The next morning Gu Ye got up when the sky was barely lit. She started prepping the porridge first, then used the yeast she foundst night to make some buns. The dried biscuits thest few days tortured the original owner¡¯s weak stomaChapter too muChapter thest few days. She must learn how to use limited resource to achieve the best value.


    Breakfast was steamed buns with picked vegetables and crushed corn porridge. Gu Ye wasn¡¯t sure whiChapter dynasty she was in, but they already have corn and potatoes, so at least after the Ming Dynasty?


    Picture: Steamed roll


    Source: 360adsolutions


    Picture: Crushed corn porridge


    Source: m.sbar


    While she was in deep thought, she sudden felt a gust of air behind her head. Crap! Gu Ye tried to dodge it immediate, but unfortunately this little body¡¯s reaction time was subpar. She avoided being hit on the back of her head but she was struck on her shoulder. Gu Ye grimaced and staggered backward. She stared unhappily at Mrs. Liu and asked, ¡°Why did you hit me?¡±


    When Gu Ming saw that, he immediately rushed over and dragged his sister behind him. He stared viciously at Mrs. Liu, who was walking out of the kitchen with the fire iron in her hand, ¡°Mei mei got up before the sun was even out to make breakfast for everyone. She didn¡¯t even stop to take a break, nor has she done anything wrong. Why did you just hit her for no reason?¡±


    Gu Qiao was heard all the ruckus and walked over. He peeked into the room and said unhappily, ¡°It¡¯s so early in the morning. What now?¡±


    ¡°Me? Look at your good daughter! She¡¯s getting bolder and bolder. She was stealing behind my back!¡± Every time Mrs. Liu collected eggs from the chicken coop, she¡¯d count the number of eggs in the can. Just now when she was counting, she noticed that she was short one egg and was about to go insane! That damned child was home by herself all day yesterday, of course she was the one who stole it! Who else could it be?¡±


    ¡°And what have I stolen?¡± asked Gu Ye nonchntly. Her shoulder burning from the pain. She was trying very hard to suppress the anger with her but it constantly wanted to bubble to the surface. Shit! What kind of days were these? It was hard just to have enough to eat. In her past even, even at the beginning of the chaotic ages, and before her mad apothecary skills shone through, she hadn¡¯t lived days worse than these!!


    Locking eyes with Gu Ye¡¯s fierce look, Mrs. Liu felt a slight shiver but immediately pointed at her nose, jumped up and down and said, ¡°Eggs! I am missing one egg. It has to be you who stole it! Who else could it be?¡±


    Gu Ye casted her a cold look before she turned, went inside Mrs. Liu and Gu Qiao¡¯s house and carried out Xiao Zhuang who was sound asleep.


    ¡°Gu Ye! What do you think you are doing? Have you gone mad? Put your brother down!¡± Gu Qiao thought she was going to hurt his precious son. He took a step forward and swung at her face with no hesitation.


    Gu Ye took two steps back immediately and avoided the p to her face. Then she gave him a deep look that waspletely devoid of any emotions and shook awake Xiao Zhuang. She asked, ¡°Xiao Zhuang, did you like the egg yesterday? You want another one?¡±


    As soon as he heard about food, Xiao Zhuang, who was just about to throw a fit from being woken up, perked up immediately, ¡°Yes! The egg was delicious! The meat was even more delicious!! Mom! More eggs! More meat!¡±


    The kid told the truth. When Mrs. Liu heard that, she was put on the spot immediately and wasn¡¯t sure how to react. Her face darkened slightly, and, with the fire iron still in her hand, ran inside the eastern quarter. Da Zhuang¡¯s crying could be heard along with Mrs. Liu¡¯s shouting, ¡°Speak! Did you give your brother an egg? Did you not have enough to eat or the drink? Why didn¡¯t you tell me if you wanted an egg? I am going to beat the crap out of you!¡±


    ___

 Chapter 14 – Beaten (2)

    <h4>Chapter 14 ¨C Beaten (2)</h4>


    Da Zhuang thought she had discovered about him stealing an egg. He didn¡¯t even have time to put on his pants but dashed out butt naked, running and exining at the same time, ¡°Mom, it was little brother who wanted it, not me..... please, stop hitting me... Okay, I ate half of the egg too. I am sorry. Okay? I said I am sorry. OUCH! Mom, you are going to kill me!!¡±


    Gu Ye shoved Xiao Zhuang back under his nket and looked coldly at the embarrassed Gu Qiao. She rubbed her shoulder that was still smarting from being struck and quietly set the table. She then took a steam bun, ced some picked vegetables inside of it, and carried with her a bowl of porridge back inside her house. She worried about her digestion if she had to keep looking at those people.


    She had just put down her bowl of porridge onto the table above the stove before Gu Ming walked inside. Just like her, Gu Ming also had a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun in his hands.


    ¡°Mei mei, hang in there for a while longer. In two years time, when I have saved up enough stones for our own house, we will build our own courtyard and move. From now on, if that woman tries to strike you, just dodge. She¡¯s fat, she can¡¯t outrun you! If she won¡¯t let youe home, you go and cry to the Patriach. Don¡¯t worry, ge ge will always be with you.¡± As there were lots of wild beasts in the mountain, even the poorest of all families in the vige have tall stone walls around their houses.


    If only he wasn¡¯t still so young, Gu Ming would have requested to move out and have his own ce the day his sister was tossed into the mountain. But no way the PatriarChapter would consent to this request from an 11-year-old!


    ¡°Yeah! I had it figured out. No matter how muChapter I hold myself back or try to appease her, Mrs. Liu will never treat me nicely. From now on, no matter what she says, I¡¯ll just pretend I didn¡¯t hear her; if she tries to hit me, I¡¯ll dodge! We can¡¯t keep let her bully us!!¡±


    Looking at the cute and caring little boy, Gu Ye finally felt better. Gu Ming was a bit on the skinny side, but one could still tell that he was very fair looking from his features. He would definitely be a handsome man when he grew up.


    Mrs. Liu was still screaming and shouting outside. The two kids inside just pretend she was an noisy crow and continued to enjoy their spongy steam rolls and drink their corn porridge.


    Yesterday, the 10-acres of sorghum field was half waypleted. After finishing off the sorghum field today, they would rotate to the corn field tomorrow. The way the people here called corn was simr to how they said it in the Northern region in her previous life.


    Mrs. Liu assigned tasks to Gu Ye before she went to the field: feed the farm animals and do theundries for the entire family. Gu Ye looked at the mountainous pile of dirty cloths and sighed deeply ¨C this body was only 11 years old, she was just a child!


    As the saying goes: kids from the poor grow up muChapter faster! Gu Ye had no choice but to head toward the pond. The water of this pond was so green it resembled wless blue jade. With the green trees and mountain reflecting in it, the scene was incredibly serene.


    Picture: Blue Jade


    Source: llfc888


    Picture: Blue Jade (so prreeeettyy)


    Source: yushiwo


    Back then one must soakedundry in a mixture with nt ashes beforehand and then pound and rinse the repeatedly. Gu Ye added someundry detergent in the nt ashes. While she was soaking the clothes, she catChapter a glimpse of fish in the pond. She lifted her eyebrows, there would be fish soup in the afternoon!


    She broke off a branChapter and, checking to make sure that she was all alone, she fetched a dagger from the dimension and sharpened one end of it. She went back to the house and grabbed a handful of corn powder, using her limited resource as fish bait.


    She sprinkled the fish bait into the pond; some of them floated on the surface of the water, others went down a little. There must be plenty of fish in the pond as she saw one approached shortly. Gu Ye took the opportunity and aimed. A waved of her arm and a palm-size fish was pierced by the branChapter and brought out of the water, sparkling water dripping down from it¡¯s wiggling tail.


    The body of the fish was smooth and cylindrically shaped with a t tail. It had a point head and protruding chin and also some more visible scales on its head. Gu Ye had never seen fish like this before and wasn¡¯t sure if it was edible. But whatever, catChapter them first and she could figure that outter!


    The startled fish couldn¡¯t resist the attraction of the bait and quickly returned. Gu Ye speared a dozen or so fish before she finally stopped. She scaled and gutted the fish by the pond and rinsed them clean before she brought them home and preserved them with salt. After she was finished withundry, she braised a tub of fish with dried red pepper and ate one herself. Its meat was fine and tasted fresh, its taste lingered. She waited for a long time to make sure there was no negative reaction, telling her that the fish was edible.


    When she delivered lunch, Gu Qiao praises highly of her braised fish dish. Mrs. Liu described her fishing in the pond as ¡°shit luck¡±. Naturally the vigers had considered fishing from the pond in the past, but the fish was too smart and the vigers weren¡¯t always sessful so that was not an efficient way of getting food. As time passed, nobody tried to fish there anymore.


    After finding out that Gu Ye used corn powder as fish bait, Mrs. Liu screamed and shouted again and called her a wasteful fool. Gu Ye rolled her eyes ¨C oh yeah, nobody enjoyed the fish more than you did and didn¡¯t even bother stopping to spit out the fish bones when you scream and shout.


    ___


    Trantor Note:


    1. I remember one readermenting that it will be perfect if there¡¯s food porn in this book.... is this food porn enough? It certainly talks a lot about food, but not exactly delicacies. LOL. Or is that subjective as well? ??


    ___

 Chapter 15 – What a Dashing Man! (1)

    <h4>Chapter 15 ¨C What a Dashing Man! (1)</h4>


    After the fall harvest, everything was stored away into storage. After a fall rain, fall vegetables were nted. Being in the North, the winters were pretty cold and only one type of vegetables would grow. After fall, almost every family nted easily storable vegetables suChapter as bok choy or radishes. When the deep winter came, they¡¯d store these in their basement and these would be their sustenance for the entire winter.


    When the work in the fields were mostlypleted, vigers of all ages started heading into the mountains to forage for pine nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, fungus, mushrooms, bracken, wild vegetables and the likes. Tis the season that the mountain generously blessed the humans with plentiful of produces. These were also products that those living outside of the mountains loved to purchase. Any hardworking person, even kids around 10, could earn up to several hundred wen!


    Gu Ye followed her brother with a basket in her hand. Next to them were a few buddies of her brother¡¯s who always hang out with him. There were too many wild beasts in the mountains; the adults, with their hoes and hatchets would go further in groups. The kids were limited to only nearby areas.


    Gu Ming had been in and out of the hills by himself on a regr basis so he was quite familiar with the hill tops nearby. He quickly located a couple hazelnut trees nearby. The boys would climb up the trees like monkeys and hit the hazelnuts with sticks and make them fall; and the girls would pick them up from the ground.


    Under the tree, in addition to Gu Ye and Li¡¯jie, there were also Xiuniang, the vige chief¡¯s granddaughter, and Yinggu, third gandmother¡¯s youngest daughter. Gu Ming climbed up the tree and shook the branChapter wildly with one foot. The hazelnuts rained down like it was hailing.


    Gu Ye carried the basket on the top of her hand and run back and forth trying to catChapter the hazelnuts. Xianiang, about the same age at her, mimicked her and ran back and forth giggling. Yinggu, standing nearby shook her head and said, ¡°How muChapter do you think you can catChapter running around like that, you two foolish girl! Hurry up and stop fooling around!¡±


    Xianiang stopped after she heard that and looked inside her basket. There were only three to five hazelnuts in her basket. She pouted and resorted to bending over and picking up hazelnuts.


    When there were less hazelnuts falling from the tree, Gu Ye finally stopped. Li¡¯jie stuck her head over and peeked, Gu Ye¡¯s basket was half full! She was genuinely surprised and asked, ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Just good hand and eye coordination!¡± Gu Ye smiled at her before she bent over and picked up hazelnuts to put in the basket at lightning speed. The little basket was full in no time and she poured the hazelnuts into her brother¡¯s basket1 and keep on collecting more.


    When the boys saw that enough hazelnuts have fallen, they jumped down from the tree and joined the crew in collecting. Gu Ming saw that they already have plenty of hazelnuts in their basket and have his sister go rest.


    Gu Ye wants to know if there were herbs in the valley so she didn¡¯t object to his suggestion. The valley was not big and one could easily see the entire ce and it was full of all sorts of weeds. One must have good eyes in order to spot herbs among the weeds!


    Lc tasselflower2, good for internal cooling and rid of toxins, removal of bruises and swelling. Gu Ye grabbed a bundle of lc tasselflower from a short bush and added them to her basket. Bupleurum root was good for influenza, fever, and mria. Polyg root, good for clearing phlegm and mucus, also possessed calming and mind-clearing effect... these were allmon-seen herbs that was easily spotted by her.


    Picture: Lc tasselflower


    Source: zi.media


    Picture: Lc tasselflower


    Source: leha


    Picture: Bupleurum


    Source: zhongyaoyi


    Picture: Polyg (Yuan Zhi)3


    Source: ttxn


    Picture: Polyg (Yuan Zhi)


    Source: k.sina


    ¡°Mei mei, don¡¯t wander too far away!¡± Gu Ming looked up and saw that she was about to walk out of the valley. He quickly got up and shouted.


    Gu Ye waved at him to signified that she has heard him. She was still gazing at the cliffs on both sides of the valley. Suddenly, a dried tree caught all of her attention. The tree was most dead, except for some hints of green on part of the roots that were sticking out.


    ___


    Notes:


    1. Basket that they carried on their back, simr to those they carried babies in.


    2. Chinese literal meaning is ¡°goat hoof grass¡±. Totes look like weeds to me! J Evidently it is quitemonly seen in farming areas and one can just stir fry and eat it too...


    3. Wikipedia entry

 Chapter 16 – What a Dashing Man! (2)

    <h4>Chapter 16 ¨C What a Dashing Man! (2)</h4>


    In the concealed area around the dried wood, she seemed to notice some mushroom with cloud-like pattern. If she wasn¡¯t wrong, that was a purple ganoderma nt. The dried wood was located about ten or so meters from the ground. Gu Ye looked left and right before yanking free a vine from the wall next to her. She tugged at it a few times, it seemed it¡¯d hold.


    Picture: Purple ganoderma (lingzhi mushroom)


    Source: jiumeisheng


    She wrapped a few of the vines together, tied it around a boulder and threw it at the dead tree. She tried three times before the vine finally caught onto the dead tree.


    Gu Ye tugged at it a few more times and, spected that it¡¯d be able to hold her weight, she grabbed onto the vine, stepped onto the boulder and started climbing up.


    Li¡¯jie, who was still collecting hazelnuts, inadvertantly looked up and saw the dangling Gu Ye on the side of the mountain and almost screamed. Right then, Gu Ye had already reached the side of the dead tree. With one hand grabbing the tree branch, she picked the purple ganoderma nt.


    The purple ganoderma nt was the size of a small child¡¯s palm, the cap of the mushroom was intact. It¡¯s consistency was even and of superb quality. She shoved the purple ganoderma into her chest and, right when she was about to climb back down, suddenly heard a light cracking sounding from the root portion of the dead tree.


    Damn! This dead tree had been weathered in the wind and sun on the cliff for too long and had already rotted out. It could no longer withstand Gu Ye¡¯s weight and it¡¯s starting to crack. Gu Ye tried to descend as quickly as she could on the vine but it was already toote. The dead tress tilted more and more and the rotted roots were already half cracked.


    When Li¡¯jie witnessed that, she dashed over as fast she could as she shouted out her name loudly, ¡°Gu Ye¡¯er!!!¡±


    Gu Ming, hearing the scream, immediately look up and just in time to witness his sister falling off the cliff. His face turned pale and his eyes were about to bleed. Like a small animal that had gone insane, he sprinted in his sister¡¯s direction at the fastest speed possible.


    Li¡¯jie¡¯s desperate shrill startled a lonely silhouette on the cliff. The man looked out and happened upon the scene with Gu Ye falling. The familiar name drove him to take a dive from the top of the cliff and, using the skills of Qianjin Zhui, he followed behind the small body.


    s, time was almost running out!! The descend from the dozen of meters would only take the blink of an eye. The defined silhouette, in mid air, with startling speed tossed out a long vine straight toward the little girl who was just about to hit the ground...


    Gu Ye was conscious during the entire fall and has been reaching out to grab anything within her reach: dried grass, tree branches, vines... unfortunately all they did was to barely slowly down the speed of her fall. She could do nothing but looked at the quickly approaching uneven boulders.


    If Li¡¯jie and Gu Ming wasn¡¯t staring at her intently, she would have shed into the dimension long time ago. She made up her mind that she would sh into the dimension at the veryst minute and get back out instantaneously. Then just perhaps, maybe, nobody else would notice?


    Right when she was at arm¡¯s length to the ground and right before she was about to sh into the dimension, she suddenly felt a tightness around her waist that almost squished all her breakfast out. Aiyowei, her back! Did it break into halves?


    Gu Ye felt that she was being hung. She was swaying in midair, the grasses on the ground brushing up against her cheek. Her nose was just a few millimeters from the ground. Her face was almost scratched up. Who was it? Barging into something that didn¡¯t concern them. Their help almost got her killed!!


    ___

 Chapter 17 – What a Dashing Man! (3)

    <h4>Chapter 17 ¨C What a Dashing Man! (3)</h4>


    She whipped her head around abruptly and her vicious face froze. Oh god! Was she... was she looking at an angel? That face was so handsome it didn¡¯t even look like a real person: his skin was wless like that of jade. Under his thick and tall brows were long and riChapter ck eyeshes with built-in eyeliners. His straight nose looked that it was carved by God himself, she couldn¡¯t find any ws with it even if she tries. His full lips made one want to reaChapter over and tastes it¡¯s sweetness. He was clothed in a white robe that was fluttering in the wind. His entire body radiating a sacred glow under the sun.


    Gu Ye couldn¡¯t help but gave him a wolf whistle as she eximed, ¡°Wow! Fairy brother...¡±


    Ling Juechen experienced instant emotional turmoil in his heart. The familiar way of talking, the tone of a hoodlum, and the look that was lustful but not lewd.... All these said to him that this scrawny little girl with an yellow hue, who looked like a malnutritious refugee, was the same girl that he had been missing for two life times.


    He never thought that fate would brought them together again!


    In their past lives, when he found out that there were dozens of wild beasts at her assignment location, he knew right away that that was a set up. Tried all he might but he only made it in time to witness her body disappeared under the beasts. He gave it his all but was only able to get back her torn up body.


    So what he destroyed all the mutated beast after that, and all those who were involved in setting her up. What good did that do? She wasn¡¯t going back. He had lost all purpose to live so he died with his opponent in abat. When he woke up again, he had became the grandson of General of the country of Yian...


    He built an all-reaching dark power from the ground up ¨C the Hall of Hidden Souls, and continued to grow his power. He used power and blood to try to fill his empty soul. He seeded the General and imed the title of a noble. Even when he was so powerful, every now and then he couldn¡¯t help but wonder ¨C would she have rebirthed into the same parallel universe? If so, would he ever run into her again?


    He never expected the most desperate plead from his soul would be answered. Perhaps Heaven was touched by the depth andmitment of his love for her and sent her back to him...


    Perfect, this was too perfect! Gu Ye was oblivious to anything else other than him. The eyes that sparkled like starlight stared straight at the unearthly body. The face that was so handsome that even heaven and earth would be jealous was exactly her type. In her past life, she had seen all sorts of handsome men, but none could measure up to this one in front of him. Too handsome, too pretty, too beautiful!! Gulp! She swallowed hard.


    Ling Juechen¡¯s smile deepened. Her habit of staring at pretty men hadn¡¯t change a bit! Unfortunately, he was too masculine in his previous life, whiChapter was probably why she had never given him the chance. He wasn¡¯t her type. But, this time around, he was very d at suChapter a pretty face that his old self would have hated. He didn¡¯t believe she would be able to resist a face that was so pretty that it could make one forget to breath.


    ¡°Mei mei, are you okay? Let me see!¡± Gu Ming rushed over and, with his trembling hands, looked her up and down carefully as though she was an art piece made of ceramic. It was so lucky that he wasn¡¯t met with her crushed body.


    Eh? How was it possible that his sister was floating in midair? Was she blessed by deities?


    Gu Ming finally noticed the vine wrapped around his sister¡¯s waist; and the other end of the vine was held in the hand of a man dressed in elegant white clothes. Earlier, all his attention was focused on his falling sister. He never had the chance to notice the man who leaped down from the cliff.


    ___

 Chapter 18 – Right Up Her Alley (1)

    <h4>Chapter 18 ¨C Right Up Her Alley (1)</h4>


    ¡°Gu Ming, this was the gentleman who saved Ye¡¯er!¡± Li¡¯jie, seeing the dumbfounded look on both of them, quicklly reminded them.


    ¡°Thank you, mister, for saving my sister!¡± Gu Ming knelt on the floor and solemnly bowed at Ling Jiechen and knocked his head against the ground three times to show his seriousness. He couldn¡¯t image what his sister would be like right now falling from suChapter a distance had this man not jumped in to help.


    ¡°Hey, how muChapter longer are you going to carry me?¡± Gu Ye felt like she was a piece of ribs that was just being purchased from the meat market ¨C tied up by a piece of rope and carried in one¡¯s hand. It certainly wasn¡¯t a pleasant feeling.


    Ling Jiechen lifted the corner of his stiff mouth slightly. He had always carried around a cold look; showing an emotional side was not easy for him. But, he understand how this girl worked; she was not interested in ¡°cool¡± men, she liked the pampering kind.


    ¡°You.... Are you okay?¡± Ling Jiechen bent down and reached out his left hand at Gu Ye, who was now sitting on the ground rubbing her belly. His smile right now was as warm as the sun. His eyes that fully conveyed his smile sparkled like a night sky.


    Gu Ye was attracted by the hand reached in front of her ¨C what a beautiful hand! The fingers were long, the bones strong and even, the skin was fine and wless ¨C she was only too eager to reached out her bony little paws and ced it inside therge and warm hand. She even wed a couple times in his palm with her fingers lustfully.


    Ling Jiechen barely used any force and pulled the little girl up from the ground. The entire time she was still staring at his face with a foolish look; her hand grabbing on his tightly.


    ¡°Mei mei, this gentleman just saved you, don¡¯t forget to thank him!¡± Gu Ming yanked his sister¡¯s hand out of his hand somewhat rudely. What was wrong with this man? Gu Ming didn¡¯t like the way he was looking at his sister, and holding onto her hand without letting it go. Mom had said in the past, wealthy men always liked to chase after girls. No! He must protect his sister, even if it was from the man who had just saved her live. He must remain vignt!


    ¡°I have no way of repaying you for saving my life....¡±said Gu Ye. If only her brother and Li¡¯jie were not there, she would have added ¡°teasingly¡± to this extremely good-looking man How about I just marry you?


    Ling Jiechen did not miss the look in the little vixen¡¯s eyes. He could more or less guess what she was thinking. To marry him? That would just be wonderful! His full lips, soft like pedals of cherry blossom, smiled subtly and said, ¡°That was nothing, don¡¯t even mention it.¡±


    Gu Ming moved quickly in front of his sister¡¯ body and, with a very fake smile, asked, ¡°I am wondering what brought mister to our Mt. Cangmang?¡±


    Ling Jiechen never taken his eyes off of the small and weak body of the little girl, as though he wanted to carve her image deeply into his eyes, ¡°A senior in my house has not been feeling well. The doctor he would need the fruit of xuepo (snow soul/spirit) to guide the medicine. I have been asked around for a while before I found out they are only avable on Peak Jiuchong (nineyers) of Mount Cangmang. I have been wandering for five days now and has yet to find out where Peak Jiuchong is. Perhaps one of you can point me in the right direction?¡±


    He frowned slightly as he was talking, as though he was troubled by all the earthly matters. To Gu Ye¡¯s pleasant surprise, his lips were slightly pursed when he was not smiling; his lower lip was full, it¡¯s shape perfect. Even the tip of his upper lip was perfect! All those on top of hisrge and pure looking eyes, innocent like that of a fawn. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt like she wanted to fall in love. Face of a puppy love, that was her perfect puppy love face! Gu Ye was totally swooned by that face.


    Even Gu Ming felt that the man was too ridiculously good looking! With a solemn look, he pointed toward the east and said, ¡°That¡¯s Peak Jiuchong. After you get out of the valley, you will be able to see a peak that was covered by snow year long when you look up. Just keep walking in that direction and you will be there.¡±


    ___

 Chapter 19 – Right Up Her Alley (2)

    <h4>Chapter 19 ¨C Right Up Her Alley (2)</h4>


    ¡°Peak Jiuchong locates in the deepest part of Mount Cangmang and is full of wild beasts. Mister must be careful!¡± Who wasn¡¯t drawn to pretty things in life? Even Li¡¯jie couldn¡¯t help but to give him advices.


    Ling Juechen took a quick look at her and nodded ever so slightly before he turned back to Gu Ye and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I brought with me two very skillful martial artists, those beasts won¡¯t be able to hurt me! You be careful in the future, don¡¯t be so naught now....¡±


    As he was saying, he reached out a finger and touched Gu Ye on her nose, his look and voice filled with pampering.


    Once again, Gu Ming stepped up and ced himself between his sister and the man before she could say a word, ¡°Mister, Peak Jiuchong might seem very close, but it is at least a good five to six day walk. We shouldn¡¯t hold you up from seeking herbs for your senior muChapter longer. Mei mei, didn¡¯t you say you like pine nuts? I know a ce where we can find lots of pine cones. Come, I will take you there!¡±


    Gu Ye was dragged along by her brother for a few steps before she couldn¡¯t help herself and turned again to look at the fairy-like man in white and waved her paw at him. Aye, suChapter a pretty man. She worried that she might never be able to see him again so the more she could look now the better!


    ¡°Mei mei, you can just judge a man by his look, all good looking men are yers....¡± Gu Ming was so worried for his sister right now. He worried that his sister¡¯s standard for a man was lifted to an impossible level after today and she wouldn¡¯t be able to marry. Surely, he wouldn¡¯t mind supporting her for life, but he was afraid she wouldn¡¯t be able to handle all the gossips around the vige.


    ¡°Ge, my hand hurts...,¡± Gu Ye couldn¡¯t handle his nagging. Pitifully she reached out her little paw that was scratched up by dried grass and leaves.


    Gu Lier and Gu Ming saw her scratched up paw and both felt bad for her. Li¡¯jie took her to the side of a creek and washed out her wounds with pure spring water. Gu Ming collected some snake needle grass (Hedyotis diffusa) nearby and, despite it¡¯s bitter taste, chewed them up and applied them on his sister¡¯s hands.


    Gu Ye looked at her hands now covered in her brother¡¯s saliva and just wanted to cry. This was all her own doing. A million ways to change the subject but she had to ask him to take care of her wounds for her? When she got home she needs to go into the dimension and washes her hands a few times with disinfectants!!


    Ling Juechen¡¯s look lingered on the small back until she disappeared entirely out of his sight and he still didn¡¯t want to turn away. Abruptly, all the warmth was gone from him and his eyes were icy cold. His beautiful face almost looked like it was covered in frost. It was almost as though it had gone from a warm spring day to a ce that had been covered in snow for tens and thousands of years and made others wanted to stay as far away from him as possible...


    ¡°General, I found out the whereabouts of Peak Jiuchong...¡± Coming at him was one of his officers, his right hand man, Sun Yoou.1


    ¡°Mmm! Pass the words down, take half a day to gather everything. We will head toward Peak Jiuchong tomorrow!¡± His words might as well be mixed with shaved ice ¨C they were cold, absolute, and no room for discussion!


    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± Even though Sun Yoou had already served with him for ten years, he still couldn¡¯t help but feel wholehearted awe and respect at times.


    Ling Juechen, the youngest general of Yian. The god of military whose name itself could strike fear in those who heard it. The one who seeded the title of General with all his incredible achievements at the age of 18. He was a legend of Yian that was impossible to surpass!


    ¡°Yin Mei!¡±2 His full lips formed into a straight line right now. The lines at the corners of his mouth suggestive of his reserved and self control nature.


    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± A ck silhouette appeared out of nowhere like a spirit all of a sudden.


    ¡°Go find out where that little girl came from!¡± When the subject of the little girl was brought up, Ling Juechen¡¯s cold eyes thawed right away and even a hint of warmth appeared immediately.


    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± Yin Mei cupped his hand and bowed. Just like his abrupt appearance, his figure was quick like a ck thunder and he disappeared into the dark woods in no time.


    ___


    Note:


    1. Should be ¡°Sun You¡±, but you can see how that will get confusing down the line. So for the sake of my wonderful readers, I added an ¡°O¡± to his name. =D


    1. Implied meaning of ¡°hidden ghost¡±


    ___

 Chapter 20 – Geniuses Are Everywhere (1)

    <h4>Chapter 20 ¨C Geniuses Are Everywhere (1)</h4>


    Not knowing that she was being investigated, Gu Ye was being ¡°interrogated¡± by her brother on the reason she climbed up the cliff while picking up pine cones. Finally she gave in, pulled out the purple ganoderma nt, and whispered softly, ¡°Shhhhh, don¡¯t let Mrs. Gu saw it, or there will be nothing left for us!¡±


    Gu Ming looked around them and urged Gu Ye to put away the purple ganoderma nt quickly, ¡°Keep it somewhere safe and sell it to Shopkeeper Qian secretly next time hees to collect herbs. You have not recovered 100% yet, we will trade them for some flour and rice and store them in a secretive cave and they willst you for a little while!¡±


    When Gu Ye shoved the ganoderma back into her sleeve she had already transferred it into her red lotus dimension. Suddenly something caught her attention. She tugged at her brother¡¯s sleeve gently and pointed at the a bush.


    ¡°Pheasant?!¡± Gu Ming looked ecstatic. He held his breath and concentrated while he walked quietly toward the bush. Closer.. and closer... five more steps, four... three. Right when he dived toward it, the pheasant fluttered its wings and flew away while shrieking a few times!


    Gu Ye shot out a pinecone with bullet-like speed whiChapternded precisely on the pheasant¡¯s wing right when it was taking off. The pheasant fell squarely onto the ground immediately. Gu Ming got there just in time and pinned the pheasant onto the ground.


    ¡°You got it! You got it!! Ge ge is so great!¡± Seeing the young boy¡¯s happy face and how his eyes sparkled with pride, of course Gu Ye would give him some praises.


    The other kids, spreading out all over the ce, were all drawn over by the ruckus. They all looked envious when they saw the struggling pheasant in Gu Ming¡¯s hands. The vige chief¡¯s oldest grandson, thirteen-year-old Li Hao was thoroughly amazed, ¡°Gu Ming, that was incredible that you got a pheasant with your bare hands! That¡¯s better than even Hunter Zhang¡¯s son could do!¡±


    ¡°You are too nice! This pheasant just happened to be clumsy and couldn¡¯t even fly straight. It fell on its own and I just happened to be at the right ce at the right time!¡± Gu Ming might be humble in his words, but his big smile betrayed how he truly felt.


    ¡°Look! There¡¯s blood on the pheasant¡¯s wing! It was already injured, that¡¯s why Gu Ming was able to get it so easily!¡± said Li Xiuniang, the 11-year-old cousin of Li Hao, who noticed that small wound on the pheasant.


    ¡°I was the one who injured the pheasant! Give it back to me!¡± came a husky voice that sounded like it wasing from a cock with its neck squeezed before Gu Ming couldment.


    All the kids looked up and they all frowned immediately. Coming at them was Mrs. Wu, a frugal and greedydy who always like to take advantage of others. She had offended just about every person in the vige and nobody wanted to have anything to do with her.


    Yinggu, the most senior among them, stood up and questioned her, ¡°You said this was your pheasant but can you prove that? Did anyone see how you did it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to prove it. If I said I did it, of course I did it. I am an adult, why would I lie to a bunChapter of kids?¡± Mrs. Wu pouted as she shuffled her boney legs toward Gu Ming and was about to rip the pheasant out of his hands.


    ¡°Oh, but you do lie to us all the time!¡± Li Hao was the grandson of the vige chief. He had no fear of this outsider woman. If it wasn¡¯t for her husband, Old Fifth Wu, who happened to have a little knowledge in medicines, her shady personality would have gotten her booted out of Qingshan Vige a long time ago.


    Mrs. Wu rolled her beady little eyes and asked, ¡°Oh yeah? If it wasn¡¯t me, then where did the pheasant got the injury from? If the pheasant wasn¡¯t injured, how would you be able to catChapter it with your clumsiness? This is an animal in the wild, our rule is it belong to whoever that catches it. I was the one who injured the pheasant, so naturally it¡¯d belong to me!¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute! You said you were the one who injured this pheasant? What did you use to injure it?¡± asked Gu Ye out of the blue.


    ___

 Chapter 21 – Geniuses Are Everywhere (2)

    <h4>Chapter 21 ¨C Geniuses Are Everywhere (2)</h4>


    ¡ª


    Mrs. Wu was caught by surprise, she stuttered for a bit and said, ¡°I.... I hit it with a rod... .that¡¯s right! I hit the pheasant with a rod in my hand and broke its wing, whiChapter was why it wasn¡¯t able to take off!¡±


    A sly smile crossed Gu Ye¡¯s face and she said, ¡°If you have indeed hit it with a rod, the would be in the pattern of a stripe, but the pheasant in my brother¡¯s hand has a round wound!¡±


    ¡°Ohhh? Oh! I was misspoke, I hit it with a rock. That¡¯s right! With a rock!¡± Mrs. Wu backpaddled immediately while staring at Gu Ye with her beady eyes. This brat normally wouldn¡¯t even dare to make eye contact with anyone. Whatever have happened to her?


    Gu Ming took a step forward and blocked Mrs. Wu¡¯s vicious look from Gu Ye. With a snicker he said, ¡°Okay, then tell us what the rock looks like. Where did you strike the pheasant, and what shape was the rock, how big was it....¡±


    ¡°Ugh....¡± Mrs. Wu had no idea how to handle the string of non stop questions. Suddenly with an unpleasant look on her face, he unreasonable side showed, ¡°Damn child, why are you asking so many questions ! Just hand it over!¡±


    Who could reason with someone who¡¯s so unreasonable? This woman wasn¡¯t going to stick around and reason with them! Li Hao and Ninth Uncle¡¯s Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang all ran out to block in front of her. Li Xiuniang broke away from the group and ran the other direction, calling out as she ran, ¡°Grandpa! Mom! Dad! Mrs. Wu is trying to rob what¡¯s ours!!¡±


    Mrs. Wu had already received a warning from the vige chiefst time she failed to returned what she had borrowed to the owner. If it was confirmed that she was trying to take this from the kids, she didn¡¯t even know what the old fart would do to them!


    Her husband had malpracticed and caused a death, whiChapter was why they had to hide in this remote little vige. If they were kicked out of here, they wouldn¡¯t know where they could go, or whether they would be arrested by officials. Thinking of that, Mrs. Wu spit unreconciling and left with her herb basket.


    After they have ¡°warded off¡± the mean woman, all the kids rejoiced together. Gu Ye suggested, ¡°Li¡¯jie, why don¡¯t you go and bring back a ceramic pot and some salt from home, we can have an outdoor barbeque!¡±


    Gu Xiao Shuang, the youngest of them all, her eyes beamed. Even Li Xiuniang couldn¡¯t help but swallowed hard thinking of barbeque pheasant. Yinggu, on the other hand, shook her head, ¡°Xiao Ye¡¯zi, your body is weak and need nourishment. Why don¡¯t you take the pheasant home, soup is the best for your body.¡±


    Li¡¯jie and Li Hao both nodded forcefully to show that they agree with that suggestion.


    ¡°Li¡¯jie, you know about what is going on in my family better than anyone else. How muChapter do you think my brother and I will be able to eat if we take this home? Most of it will just go to Mrs. Gu and her two kids.¡±


    Almost the entire vige was aware of how Gu Ye was mistreated at home, so nobody utter another word after hearing that. Not to mention that for kids in the mountains when having meat was a big event that only happened a few times a year, a bowl of pheasant soup was a great temptation.


    The kids talked into eaChapter other ears and all agreed that they couldn¡¯t just eat Gu Ming and Gu Ye¡¯s pheasant soup for free. So they all ran home and one of them grabbed a couple yams, another grabbed half a bowl of white noodles, another one grabbed an egg.... When Li¡¯jie returned with the ceramic pot from home, there were already a small pile of ingredients on the ground.


    Picture: ceramic soup pot


    Source: taobao


    When Yinggu was cleaning up the pheasant, the rest of the kids sent to collect mushrooms by Gu Ye. She went ahead and dug out some more edible wild vegetables and also grabbed some angelica root and a codonopsis size of a finger. These were the essentials of a good pot of pheasant soup.


    Shortly, a tasty smelling pot of pheasant and mushroom soup was done. Yinggu tore off arge piece of chicken drum stick for both Gu Ming and Gu Ye and the kids split the rest of the chicken. The soup was so fresh and tasty that everybody almost swallowed their tongues with it.


    When the chicken and mushrooms were gone. They made dough drops in the soup and added in the egg and the wild vegetables. Then they dug out the yam that were now cooked in the in fire. All eight kids were stuffed to the brim! They have never had so muChapter to eat, not even during new year time!


    ___

 Chapter 22 – Never Stopped (1)

    <h4>Chapter 22 ¨C Never Stopped (1)</h4>


    ¡ª


    Having a pretty good idea of how Mrs. Gu was, Li¡¯jie reminded the kids to be sure to keep their mouths shut and not to cause Gu Ming and Gu Ye to get a beating at home after eating their pheasant meal. All the kids nodded solemnly and promised they wouldn¡¯t speak a word of it.


    Nheless, Mrs. Wu, who was extremely disgruntled at not being able to get her hands on the pheasant, had already told the entire embellished version of the story to Mrs. Gu.


    When Gu Ming and Gu Ye arrived home, Mrs. Gu had already have water boiling, just waiting for the pheasant so she could start pick off it¡¯s feathers! She immediately noticed that the two of them have nothing in their hands, their bellies were quite rounded, and Gu Ming even let out a burp inadvertently. Even Mrs. Gu could figured out what had happened. The enraged Mrs. Gu grabbed the broom and smacked it down straight onto Gu Ming and Gu Ye.


    Gu Ming tried to protect his sister and was struck a few times on his shoulder and back. His neck was scratched by a few strands from the broom head. He didn¡¯t care that he was hurting but just shouted at his sister, ¡°Mei mei, run! Hurry up and run!¡±


    Da Zhuang blocked Gu Ye and had a death grip on Gu Ye¡¯s shoulder and even used his other hand to pinChapter Gu Ye a few times.


    Watching how Gu Ming was protecting his head and couldn¡¯t even look up from the beating. Gu Ye elbowed Da Zhuang¡¯s Shan Zhong point located in the front center of his chest. With a loud, painful cry, Da Zhuang dropped onto the group. He should consider himself lucky that Gu Ye¡¯s small body couldn¡¯t do enough damage, otherwise he would be dead by now! Even so, he would still be hurting for quite a while.


    Picture: Shan Zhong (RN17)1


    Source: baike


    Gu Ye mmed into Mrs. Gu with her body like a cannon. Mrs. Gu wasn¡¯t expecting that and stumbled from the impact. She stabilized herself quickly and swung the broom at Gu Ye.


    Gu Ye dodged it with cat-like reflex. She grabbed Gu Ming, who now have a lump on his head, and dashed toward the door leading outside. Mrs. Gu gave chase on her two stubby legs.


    A hazelnut appeared in Gu Ye¡¯s hand out of nowhere and shot out of her hand with the speed of a bullet. It hit Mrs. Gu right on her ankle. Mrs. Gu immediately felt an excruciating pain in her calf and stumbled onto the ground. The inertia was so strong her body continued to travelled a short distance on the ground. Her nose was scuffed up and her forehead bruised.


    It didn¡¯t matter that he was still hurting. Gu Ming couldn¡¯t help but pointed at Mrs. Gu andughed out loud upon witnessing that.


    Mrs. Gu struggled for a while on the ground before she was able to get back onto her feet. She was in so muChapter pain it was as though she had fractured her leg bone. She grimaced from the pain and was no longer able to case after the siblings. Her mouth, on the other hand, did not take a break. She pointed at Gu Ming and Gu Ye and spewed out all sorts of profanities.


    Even though this was her second chance to live, Gu Ye never knew one coulde up with so muChapter profanity. All sorts of horrible words pouring out of Mrs. Gu irritated Gu Ye.


    ¡°Mrs. Gu, was that fall not enough for you?¡± Gu Ye looked grimly at Mrs. Gu, her dried and emaciated face was icy cold.


    Mrs. Gu sat on the ground and held her foot with both hands. Her triangle eyes widen when she heard Gu Ye¡¯s voice and she shouted at her, ¡°Damn child, so it was you who did all these!¡±


    ¡°No! That was your retribution! Retribution for subjecting my brother to your beating!¡± said Gu Ye nonchntly. Looking down at Mrs. Gu from a higher vantage point, she looked like she was a victor.


    Mrs. Gu paused briefly and started spewing profanities all over again, ¡°What retribution! It¡¯s all you here making stuff up! Just you wait! I will get to you one day!! Contemptible girl! Miserable wretch! You dare treat your seniors this way? You will go to the deepest part of hell when you die and never be reincarnated!¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? I think you will be going to hell way before me!¡± said Gu Ye coldly. ¡°The deities are watching how you treat the two of us, scolding and beating us all the time. Even the deities couldn¡¯t watChapter it any longer. How else did you hurt your foot for no reason? That¡¯s retribution sent down to you by the deities!¡±


    ___


    Notes:


    1. I was hoping for a fancier English name, but s, it was literally just called RN17. There will be no ¡°RN17¡± in my trantion, so pingyin it is! J


    ___

 Chapter 23 – Never Stopped (2)

    <h4>Chapter 23 ¨C Never Stopped (2)</h4>


    ¡°Bull! What retribution! I am certain it was you who caused this!!¡± People in the ancient days all have some respect for the deities. Mrs. Gu¡¯s viciousness immediately toned down a few notches.


    ¡°Oh? You are cussing at the deities. How do you think the deities will punish you for that? You think they will yank out your tongue? Mrs. Gu, you better watChapter out when you go to bed tonight. Don¡¯t wake up missing a tongue tomorrow morning!!¡± Gu Ye¡¯s eyes rolled around, she was determined to teaChapter Mrs. Gu a lesson this time!


    Yin Mei, who was on order to find out more about Gu Ye, had returned to the valley by now. His master, the hall master of Hall of Hidden Souls, was right now standing below the broken tree and staring straight at the ground with a goofy smile. Ugh! The hall master was smiling? What was going on? Was he possessed?


    ¡°Speak!¡±


    Nope, still the same hall master. The one who wouldn¡¯t use more words than necessary. The cold as stone hall master! He saw the hall master there smiling to himself? Certainly, that couldn¡¯t be right! He must find a doctor and have his eyes checked when he got back!


    Yin Mei lowered his head and reported his discovery: Gu Ye-er, native of Qingshan Vige, 11 years old. Mother deceased, her father didn¡¯t care about her, and she was abused by her stepmother. A few days ago she was tossed into the mountain and almost got eaten by the wolves. Her twin brother was very nice to her!¡±


    Eh? It¡¯s only September, why was there a cold breeze and felt like a winter storm was quickly arriving? Yin Mei shuddered and looked over. The hall master looked like he was about to unleash his fury, but yet, if one searched hard enough, one would also be able to find a trace of tenderness. What was going on with the hall master today? He seemed to be apletely different person ever since he had met that little girl. He has emotions, and he was letting them shown ¨C making him muChapter like a real person. The hall master in the past resembled more a walking iceberg; he could freeze someone on the spot with just one nce!


    Yin Mei, while withstanding the pressure, continued. When he got to the part where Mrs. Gu felt squarely onto the ground while chasing the two siblings, the viciousness on the hall masters decreased a little. Yin Mei tried to anticipate his master¡¯s mind and took a guess, ¡°Hall Master, would you like me to go take care of that mean woman?¡±


    Right now, Ling Juechen could see in his mind how the little brat had used the ¡°Spring Finger Technique¡± that he had taught her to punish her stepmother. That little brat was no pushover. He didn¡¯t know whether the red lotus dimension transmigrated with her. Nheless, with or without the dimension, with her incredible apothecary skills, that Mrs. Gu has iting for her.


    ¡°No!¡± Ling Juechen decided to take a trip there himself, to stand in the yard where she had stood, to listen to the soft breathing of her sleep, to take a look at her sleeping face...


    During dinner, Mrs. Gu looked at the wild vegetables along with the mushroom soup. There were no grease whatsoever on the table. She thought about the pheasant that Mrs. Wu said was at least four to five jin. She has angry all over again, but her foot hurt too muChapter for her to try and strike them. That did not, however, stopped her from cussing them out. Finally, it was Gu Qiao who had had enough and shouted for her to stop.


    She was so angry she tossed and turned in bed that night, not able to fall asleep.


    Tonight, the moon shone like a stream. Ling Juechen stood in a dark corner inside the courtyard and watched the small and scrawny body sneaked out of the bedroom after her brother had fallen asleep. She stopped suddenly in her steps and her sharp eyes scanned the backyard.


    Ling Juechen chuckled to himself: Oh, this girl was still very vignt. Nevertheless, he was the one who taught her every trick that she knew directly or indirectly. There was no way she could detect him being there!


    ___

 Chapter 24 – Smart Girl (1)

    <h4>Chapter 24 ¨C Smart Girl (1)</h4>


    ¡ª


    A little bothered, Gu Ye scratched her head. Was she being too overly sensitive? Howe she felt someone looking at her the moment she stepped out of her bedroom? But, with her unrivaled observation, she scanned the entire courtyard and didn¡¯t see a soul. That was simply too odd!


    Gu Ye did feel lucky that this body possessed extremely good senses, be it eyesight or hearing, even her taste buds were stronger than an average person. Naturally, that could be both good and bad. She had no idea how the original owner tolerated the usual meals that were worse than pig food!


    Ling Juechen hid under the moonlight. Even though he was wearing all white, it still looked like he was blended into the environment. Even a skillful person would not have been able to notice a trace of him. He stared intently at the small silhouette. He didn¡¯t even blink, for fear that he¡¯d miss even one minute actions that she was doing.


    The little brat sneaked over to the window of the main quarter and checked left and right. Suddenly a spray can appeared in her hand. Ling Juechen raised his brows: So the dimension transmigrated with her. Then why was she still in suChapter a pitiful shape? If he was correct, he spected that she had transmigrated the few days before she was tossed into the mountain. It had been almost 20 days and she was still scrawny from malnourishment. Oh girl, I think you are a bit too overly cautious.


    Should I.... send her some rice, noodles, meats, and vegetables? But, he had only met her once, briefly. What would be the reason of him sending her stuff?


    On this end, Ling Juechen was thinking long and hard how he could improve the brat¡¯s meals; on the other side, Gu Ye had already sprayed the sedation mist through the window into the room. Once she had confirmed that everybody was sound asleep, Gu Ye removed thetChapter on the door and walked inside oh-so-righteously.


    ¡°You beat me! You scold me! You bossed me around like I was your ve! So you think you are all that?! I ought to teaChapter you a lesson so you¡¯d think twice about it next time!¡± With eaChapter line that she said, Gu Ye pped Mrs. Gu once on her fat cheek. Even her palms were turning red!!


    ¡°Oh, so you like yelling at people? Let me sew your mouth together and see how you are going to do that from now on!!¡± Gu Ye took out some extrarge needles and sewn a few crosses over Mrs. Gu¡¯s lips! Her anesthesia-grade spray was used normally during a surgery, non-toxic and no side effects and better than most other kinds of anesthesia. She spent all these time on Mrs. Gu¡¯s lips and she was still sound asleep.


    ¡°Oh, shoot! That was a bit much!!¡± Gu Ye removed the stitches. Her actions a bit on the rough side and Mrs. Gu¡¯s lip swelled up to the size of sausages.


    ¡°Perhaps... I should just yank out her tongue? I did say she will go down to hell and her tongue would be yanked out!¡± But she quickly overturned her own idea, ¡°I will have to reaChapter my hand inside her mouth, that wasn¡¯t very sanitary!¡±


    Ling Juechen listened to her talking to herself and a familiar feel rose up in him. She was just like how she was before, her habit of talking to herself while she was focused on a task hadn¡¯t change a bit!


    ¡°Forget it. I will just use my own brand of ¡®dead silence¡¯ powder and let her be muted for a month! Aye, I am suChapter a kind person!!¡± The little girl shook her had and sighed while pouring a bottle of pink powder into Mrs. Gu¡¯s mouth.


    This little girl, all the medicines that she had researched and developed were of bright colors. At the beginning nobody would even dare to buy them from her. After she was well-known for her skills, her medicines were hard toe back even with lots of money. Even her failed work or partial work were well sought after!


    ___

 Chapter 25 – Smart GIrl (2)

    <h4>Chapter 25 ¨C Smart GIrl (2)</h4>


    Ling Juechen moved away from the window. The little girl was already yawning. With sleeping eyes, she stumbled back into her own house. The way she had her eyes closed, even Ling Juechen was worried that she¡¯d trip over the doorstep and fall. While he was worried about her, the little girl stumbled onto her bedstove and fell back asleep.


    Ling Juechen continued to stand outside the window and watched the little girl sleep through the crack of the window. She slept the same unsightly way she used to ¨C drooling all over the ce. Yet it was a though he could never have enough of her look! She was only 11, that was too young. If he steal her and raise her at home, would people think he¡¯s a pedophilic?


    No, that won¡¯t work! She was a stubborn one, she wouldn¡¯t just go with him for no reason! Even if he took her by force, with all the crazy drugs that she has, the entire military of Yian might not be able to keep her contained. Not to mention that if she was truly upset, she could easily hid in her dimension for 3-5 months, then what was he to do?


    Ling Juechen felt a sense of helplessness. Whether it was the past life or this, he still didn¡¯t know what to do with her!


    Yet, all the princes were fighting over the throne right now, it would be a bad time to take her back nheless. It would appear that he couldn¡¯t standby as an outsider anymore! He¡¯d need to light a fire under these princes to escte the fight! The more escted it was, the sooner it would be over, right?


    But, before he left, he must make some arrangements for his girl. Especially her healing and apothecary skills. He must find a way to let them shine!


    Ling Juechen stood outside the window the entire night. He finally left the courtyard unwillingly when the sky was starting to get bright and there were stirring inside the house.


    ¡°Ying Mei!¡± After he had returned to his camp in the valley, Ling Juechen summoned Ying Mei. ¡°I want you to head back to Yian immediately and bring back the sage apothecary!¡±


    Sage apothecary? The scam artist that hung around the Hall of Hidden Souls? He was no good fe. He had all sorts of crazy medicines with him, would he juste with him obediently? Ying Mei had bad experience with that old man in the past, so he was very hesitant about this new assignment.


    Ling Juechen was quite familiar with how the old man was like so he added, ¡°Tell him that the hall master has a once in a lifetime genius disciple for him; if he doesn¡¯te, I am going to tap sage healer next!¡±


    The sage apothecary and sage healer were trained from the same school and also archnemesis of eaChapter other. Sage apothecary looked down upon sage healer¡¯s alchemical skills and sage healer, on the other hand, also frowned on sage apothecary¡¯s healing skills. Sage healer swore that he would mentor disciple that would excel beyond sage apothecary; and sage apothecary also sword up and down that he would mentor a disciple that would make sage healer¡¯s jaw dropped. The two have been at it for half of their lives and they still acted like two cocks meeting in a fighting ring whenever they ran into eaChapter other!


    With the reminder, Ying Mei suddenly saw the solution presented to him. He was now happy to head toward the city of Yian.


    ¡°General, the troop is ready and waiting for your order!¡± Sun Yoou noticed the generaling from outside the valley and was surprised by that, but he didn¡¯t let that show.


    ¡°You, take the troop and split in three groups! You can handle the details!¡± Ling Juechen had changed his mind. Screw the xuepo! Screw the medicinal guide! More likely than not the emperor was faking illness to test his princes. Has he never heard of the story ¡°The Boy Who Cries Wolves¡±?


    Sure enough, shortly after the emperor fallen ill, the second prince jumped out and ordered the general, who had always only take direct orders from the emperor, to leave the city and look for herbs for the emperor ¨C aplete waste of his talent.


    He had no idea what went through the second prince¡¯s mind. If he wanted to be the next in line for the throne, he should be kissing up to the oh-so-popr general in the office, not to send him on wild goose chase. Did he really think Ling Juechen would put up with that? If that pig brain truly became the next emperor, Yian, one of the three most powerful country, would probably start declining in no time!


    ___

 Chapter 26 – Smart GIrl (2)

    <h4>Chapter 26 ¨C Smart GIrl (2)</h4>


    ¡°OW!!!¡± When Mrs. Gu woke up in the morning, she noticed excruciating pain from her lips, and there seemed to be a stinging feelinging from her face as well. She picked up the copper mirror that she put away carefully and took and look. She was mortified by what she saw and couldn¡¯t help but let out a loud shriek.


    s, what should have been a loud shriek did not produce any sound at all. Mrs. Gu, mortified, held her throat and try to scream as loudly as she could, but still not a sound could be heard.


    What was going on? She had only went to bed for one night. Not only did she wake up with her face swollen like a pig¡¯s head, now she couldn¡¯t even talk? Mrs. Gu woke the man from deep sleep and pointed at her own opened mouth; her beady little eyes filled with anxiety and fear.


    Gu Qiao, who had ved all day long in the mountain yesterday, took a look outside the window after being woken up. Seeing that the sky was barely bright, he rolled over impatiently and closed his eyes again with his back to Mrs. Gu.


    Nevertheless, how could he keep on sleeping under Mrs. Gu¡¯s persistent rocking. Gu Qiao sat up and shouted angrily, ¡°Damn you, woman! Why are you waking me up so early! There¡¯s no need to go into the mountain so early, can¡¯t you just let me get some good rest?¡±


    Looking at Mrs. Gu¡¯s swollen and purple face through his sleepy eyes, he let out a loud ¡°OH!¡± and swiftly kicked her off the bed stove, ¡°Where did this devile from?¡±


    Mrs. Gund on her back with all her limbs thrown up. Her fat buttocksnded loudly on the ground. The pain made her screamed again, and yet, still no sounding from her!


    Gu Qiao rubbed his eyes a few times and finally recognized Mrs. Gu. A sense of distaste shed passed his eyes. Reluctantly he got off the bed stove and gave it all his might to get his woman back onto the stove andined, ¡°Did you go steal someone¡¯s chicken in the middle of the night? How did you get beaten up so badly?¡±


    Mrs. Gu tried a few more times to talk and still couldn¡¯t make a sound. Sweat started pouring down from her. She pointed at her mouth and mouthed to him, ¡°I can¡¯t talk any more! I am a mute!¡±


    It took Gu Qiao a while before he figured out what she was trying to say. He frowned and said, ¡°How did that happen? Did you eat random stuff up in the mountain yesterday? I have heard that there were wild fruits that could turn one into a mute in the mountains!¡±


    Mrs. Gu shook her head vigorously and tears rolled down her cheeks.


    Gu Qiao saw the two pile of cooties on his wife¡¯s eyes and the swollen, big face. He couldn¡¯t help but turned away from her. If it wasn¡¯t that Miao woman, he would never been in this situation to begin with. Being stuck in this remote vige that has nothing to offer; and his second wife was suChapter a brute.


    His difficult life had rid him off all feelings he had for histe wife; even the two kids she left behind weren¡¯t all that, especially the brat Gu Ye!


    ¡°You wait here, I will go fetChapter Dr. Wu toe and check on you!¡± Gu Qiao put on his clothes and slowly opened the door and walked outside. He didn¡¯t even bother looking at Gu Ye who was busy preparing breakfast for everyone.


    Dr. Wu, the only doctor in the vige, came over to the Gu¡¯s and after hearing the details he shook his head, baffled, ¡°This is odd. Nothing seem to be out of the ordinary ording to her meridian. And her throat was not swollen either... why wouldn¡¯t she be able to talk?¡±


    Mrs. Gu stared anxiously at the doctor: who was the doctor here? Why you are asking me?!


    Even though Gu Qiao thought Mrs. Gu sometimes talked too much, he still didn¡¯t want his wife to be a mute. Concerned, he asked, ¡°Dr. Wu, do you think there¡¯s a way to treat her illness?¡±


    Wu Danggui had learned his lesson from past experiences. When it came to illnesses that he had never encountered before, he no longer pretend that he knew what he was doing. He shook his head in respond to Gu Qiao¡¯s question and said, ¡°Pardon me for being ignorant. I have never seen anything like this before. I suggest for you to go seek out the doctor from Jimin1 Hall in town!¡±

 Chapter 27 – Silent Guardian (2)

    <h4>Chapter 27 ¨C Silent Guardian (2)</h4>


    That said, he shook his head, picked up his medicine box and left.


    Mrs. Gu and Gu Qiao exchanged a look; they could see worry and concern in eaChapter other¡¯s eyes.


    Gu Qiao thought about it for a while and said, ¡°It is now the best time to go and collect edibles from the mountain; if we miss this window, we will have another difficult year ahead of us. I think.... Even though you can¡¯t talk right now, but it doesn¡¯t really affect your ability to work. Maybe we give it some time and if you still don¡¯t recover then we go to the town to look for a doctor. What do you think?¡±


    Mrs. Gu struggled with that for a long while and, having no better options, she finally nodded. The couple looked at eaChapter other, both very bothered by what had happened to Mrs. Gu¡¯s face and her voice.


    ¡°Breakfast is ready!¡± came Gu Ye¡¯s voice from the courtyard. Mrs. Gu climbed off the stove; the slight pain in her ankle reminded her of what the brat said yesterday!


    The deities were watching. Perhaps her falling yesterday was a warning from the deities? And her bing a mute today was her punishment for being disrespectful to the deities? She shuddered when she thought about that. She sped her hands and bowed toward all four directions.


    Looking at her and her actions, Gu Qiao got even more irritated. He left her behind, walked out of the room by himself, and sat down next to the boulder that they used as dinner table.


    Breakfast was still the same old stuff, rough grain biscuit, crushed corn porridge, a te of pickled vegetables. He remembered how he used to have the best of food and beverages in the city of Yan, and got paid two silvers a month of wages. Inparison, what kind of life was that he was living now? He was tired and sick of living like this; would there be light at the end of the tunnel?


    Today was another day that the entire family was going to go collect wild vegetables in the mountain so they made extra biscuits for lunch. During breakfast, the entire family was surprised by Mrs. Gu¡¯s swollen face. Gu Ye faked just the right amount of surprise and didn¡¯t attract any suspicion.


    If it was any other day, the way the kids looked inquisitively would have triggered Mrs. Gu¡¯s shouting way before then. But the house remained quiet and peaceful that day all the way till they left the house.


    Gu Ming was extremely surprised by that. The two siblings walked at the very end of the procession and Gu Ming whispered to Gu Ye, ¡°What¡¯s up with that old witch? She didn¡¯t start anything today!¡±


    Gu Ye just smiled, ¡°Perhaps it was because of the injuries on her face. It hurts when she talks so she decided to give it a break.¡±


    ¡°Mei mei, what do you think that woman have done to make dad beat her up like that?¡± It was only reasonable to think that conflicts between the couple was the reason of Mrs. Gu¡¯s swollen face overnight.


    Gu Ye raised her brows and smiled heartily, ¡°She had done so many bad things how¡¯d I know whiChapter one that was for? If you ask me, she deserve some more.¡± Gu Ming nodded in agreement.


    The two siblings went back to the pine forest where they have collected pine cones yesterday. Perhaps they were there too early, they didn¡¯t see any of the other kids.


    Ling Juechen, having handed over all his herb-seeking responsibilities to his subordinates, was not following behind the siblings secretively. He was watching the little girl happily collecting pine cones and the happy cries that she let up whenever she found ripe berries. She seemed muChapter more outgoing after her transmigration. In her pass life, she was only too serious of a person in front of everyone, she¡¯d only let her emotions surface in private.


    ¡°Ge, let¡¯s set a few more traps. If we are lucky, we can have meat every few days!¡±


    There was no shortage of small animals in the mountain area near the vige. Hunter Zhang came back with games eaChapter time he went into the mountain, making everybody in the vige jealous of him. Gu Ye was quite confident in her ability to hunt, but she¡¯d need some reasons to exin where the animals came from.

 Chapter 28 – Silent Guardian (3)

    <h4>Chapter 28 ¨C Silent Guardian (3)</h4>


    Gu Ming had, in the past, dug a few traps before in the mountain but rarely caught anything. But, not wanting to let his sister down, he nodded and said, ¡°Okay! Let me go get the hoe from the house and we can dig a few more in some hidden locations.¡±


    Those living in the mountains were simpler and purer, even if they walked pass someone else¡¯s trap that has an animal inside, they would rarely just take them. From their perspective, taking someone else¡¯s game was no different than stealing from them. Behaviors like that would be looked down up by the vigers and might even get one ousted from the vige.


    Granted, there was always exceptions to the rules. Wu Danggui¡¯s wife had done something like that in the past, and, worse, she was caught red-handed. Mrs. Wu¡¯s reputation dropped to rock bottom in the vige. She would have been evicted from the vige had her man not had some healing skills.


    The two siblings dug two more holes and ced some wild grasses over it. To prevent others from falling in, they even carved marks on the tree branches nearby. When other vigers saw the mark, they¡¯d know to avoid them.


    Gu Ye¡¯s n was once the back basket was full and her brother transport the pine cones down the mountain, she¡¯d wander around the mountain. Any games that she hunted she¡¯d just toss into one of the traps and pretend that they fell inside themselves. Yup! That¡¯s how she was going to do it. What a perfect n!


    Ling Juechen, who had been following her this entire time, smiled lightly. His smile was like flowers blossoming, fireworks exploding, dreamy and unearthly. His well-defined tall silhouette disappeared into the forest. When he reappeared, he has with him a struggling pheasant.


    ¡°Little girl is way too weak, she needs more pheasant soup!¡± Ling Juechen felt his heart aches when he looked at the girl not too far away with her back to him, skinny like a fire rod. He walked over to the crude trap, knocked out the pheasant and tossed it inside. The trap was way too shallow and not too difficult for the pheasant to escape. That was just too unprofessional!


    ¡°Gu Ming, I think you got something in your trap!¡± Only Li Hao was there collecting pine nuts that day. All the other kids went to pick wild vegetables.


    Li Hao was aware that the siblings had made a few traps. This area has high human traffic, usually very few wild animals could be seen so he wasn¡¯t very hopeful about them. But when he walked pass it again while collecting pine cones he noticed that the grass on top of the trap seemed to have been disturbed and now the trap was visible.


    Gu Ming, who was stirring the pine cones in the tree with his stick, dropped it and ran over after hearing Li Hao¡¯s words. Gu Ye was curious and followed him too. The pheasant in the trap had just regained consciousness and was bumbling around inside of it. Gu Ming ran over pleasantly surprised. He picked up a stick hear by and knocked it out again. (Pheasant: Why me again?)


    Gu Ye faked a happy look on the outside but she was very surprised as well. She hasn¡¯t been able to carry out her n yet, and she hadn¡¯t seen any animal tracks nearby, so where did this stupid pheasante from? But she quickly put that all behind her and happily discussing with her brother how to prepare the pheasant.


    ¡°I think we should make soup out of it. Pheasant soup is good nourishment. The doctor said your stomaChapter is weak and can¡¯t handle anything too overly greasy.¡± Gu Ming turned down his sister request to barbeque the pheasant.


    Li Hao chuckled, ¡°I will go get the soup pot and salt!¡± Last time there were so many of them, eaChapter person only got a couple pieces of meat. That wasn¡¯t enough at all. Today there was just the three of them; this should be a good amount for everyone!


    Li Hao had two meals of pheasant because of the siblings, now he considered them closer than his real siblings. He patted his own chest and guaranteed that Gu Ming¡¯s sister was his sister too, and he, too, would protect her!

 Chapter 29 – Slingshot Wasn’t That Difficult! (1)

    <h4>Chapter 29 ¨C Slingshot Wasn¡¯t That Difficult! (1)</h4>


    In the following few days, every time Gu Ye came to check on the traps she¡¯d always find games inside of the two traps. Not once were they empty. Sometimes there were even more than one animal.


    She looked around the area and didn¡¯t notice any signs of small animals breeding around the area, so where did these games came from? Did they simply fall from the sky? She shrugged; she didn¡¯t believe food would just fall from the sky!


    But since she didn¡¯t notice anything out of the ordinary when she examined these animals, she stopped worrying where they came from. As long as there was meat to eat, who cares where they came from? Other than when she was researching and developing medicines in theboratory, she didn¡¯t tend to concern too muChapter with details and also had poor ability to take care of herself. That was yet another reason why Ling Juechen kept on tossing games into the traps.


    Gu Ye¡¯s body improved visibly after having herb infused pheasant soup for six to seven days in a row. Gu Ye¡¯s scrawny face no longer resemble that of a skull; even Gu Mind had gained a little bit of weight. But the biggest change was that they looked muChapter better than before and no longer looked pale and weak like they used to.


    Gu Ye was started to get tired of having pheasant soup and, after a couple days of roasted pheasant, she lost all interest in pheasant. When more appeared in the trap, she just processed them simply and stored them inside the dimension. She¡¯d exchange them for finer white flour and rice when Shopkeeper Qianes next time. She had had enough of coarse biscuits!


    As for wild rabbits! They were too gamey; the only way to prepare them properly was to braise them with heavy spices. They only appeared in the traps once or twice. When that happened, she¡¯d skinned and air dried them before storing them in the dimension.


    When Gu Ye didn¡¯t return with any games in a couple of days, Gu Ming was worried that she¡¯d be disappointed. Heforted her immediately by saying that, ¡°In a few more days, when we wrapped up in collecting wild vegetables, I will head into the mountain again and ce a few more traps. I am sure we will get more games than we do right now!¡±


    ¡°Ge, didn¡¯t you promised me that you won¡¯t go into the deeper part of the mountain alone?¡± Gu Ye pretended to be unhappy and looked at him with her unreasonablyrge eyes disapprovingly.


    Gu Ming immediately added, ¡°Of course I am not going alone! I will go with Zhang Lihu and his dad when they go into the mountain. You know they have even hunted bears before!¡±


    Gu Ye searched her vague memories and recalled that Hunter Zhang had, indeed, brought back a blind bear before. But he also said that the blind bear fell into a trap all on it¡¯s only and was nearly dead when he arrived. That being said, Hunter Zhang was the only one in the vige who dared to go inside the deep part of the mountain; they have earned the respect of the vigers.


    Gu Ye wanted to go inside the mountain to look around again, but she hadn¡¯t had the right opportunity. Perhaps Gu Ming was too traumatized from her falling off the cliff that other day. Now everything they went into the mountain, he¡¯d tell her to not go too far away and always made sure that she was within his sight before he¡¯d go about collecting wild vegetables. Who¡¯d have thought that a doting brother would became suChapter a sweet burden?


    ¡°Ge, what kind of bird is that on the tree?¡± Gu Ye had learned that there were many tasty birds in the mountain. She couldn¡¯t help but to ask when she saw the grey bird perching on the tree branChapter when she looked up.


    Ling Juechen, in his hiding spot, already have a small stone in his hand and trying to find the right timing to knock down the pigeon. The gluttonous look on Gu Ye had pleased him greatly. In their previous lives, may of the birds had already gone extinct; edible animals were not remotely as abundant as they were here.


    Gu Ming looked up on the tree and said, ¡°Oh, that! That¡¯s a pigeon! I have heard that pigeon soup is way more nourishing than pheasant soup. Mei mei, I will go and borrow Zhang LIhu¡¯s slingshot tomorrow so I can shoot them down and make soup for you!¡±

 Chapter 30 – Slingshot Wasn’t That Difficult! (2)

    <h4>Chapter 30 ¨C Slingshot Wasn¡¯t That Difficult! (2)</h4>


    While Gu Ye was a bad cook, she was very picky about her food. Days of having strong herb vored pheasant soup made her not even want to think about soup anymore. Perhaps pigeon soup would taste different?


    Immediately after Gu Ming had finished saying that, a young adolescent voice came from not far behind them, ¡°Xiao Ming¡¯zi, what you trouble maker talking about me now?¡±


    Gu Ye turned around and saw a stocky and honest looking young man. With slightly darker skin, thick brows andrge eyes, this was Zhang LIhu, son of Hunter Zhang.


    ¡°Lihu ge, do you have your sling shot with you? I just want to shoot down the wild pigeon so I can make soup for my sister.¡± Gu Ming looked up and smiled at the young man as he waved at him.


    Zhang Lihu strolled over in big strides and ruffed up Gu Ming¡¯s hair with his hand as he said jokingly, ¡°With your skill? Our sister would be lucky if she can have your pigeon soup by this time next year! It¡¯s just a pigeon, watChapter me!¡±


    Zhang Lihu fished out a crudely made slingshot from inside his chest. The stic portion of the slingshot was made from quality deer tendon. It has great sticity and a long range. He was the only one in the vige with anything like that. He treasured it quite a bit.


    Zhang Lihu bent down and picked up a nicely shaped stone and set it in his slingshot. He aimed at the wild pigeon grooming it¡¯s feathers in the tree. He released his left hand and the stone shot out. Unfortunately, he missed! The startled wild pigeon fluttered its wings and flew away!


    Zhang Lihu scratched his head embarrassingly and chuckled, ¡°Mistake, mistake. Um, sister Gu Ye, do you like turtledove? I can shoot a turtledove for you...¡±


    Unfortunately, today was not his lucky day. After a whole morning, he wasn¡¯t able to shot down anything. Zhang Lihu felt very embarrassed.


    ¡°Lihu ge, can I take a look at your slingshot?¡± Gu Ye was itching to give it a try. She has apact one in her dimension, whiChapter was a gift from iced face. It was perfect for hunting. Unfortunately, she had never had a reason or opportunity to take it out.


    Normally, the slingshot was Zhang Lihu¡¯s treasured item and he wouldn¡¯t usually allow others toy hand on it. He hesitated when he heard Gu Ye¡¯s request. The super protective Gu Ming wasn¡¯t happy with his reaction and immediately said, ¡°Lihu ge, you¡¯ve already referred to my sister as ¡®our sister¡¯ and said that you treat her as though she¡¯s your own sister. She just wanted to take a look at your slingshot, what is the big deal? Then why do you refer to her as ¡®sister¡¯? Lihu ge, I never pegged you as suChapter a petty guy!¡±


    Hearing that, Zhang Lihu immediately responded, ¡°Who said I am petty? I was just worried that our sister will hurt herself inadvertently as she had never used one before was all. Sister Ye-er, this deer tendon is very stic, you be careful not to hit yourself with it.¡± He shoved the slingshot into Gu Ye¡¯s hand as he said that while he stared squarely at the slingshot with his eyes.


    This was a slingshot made from a ¡°Y¡± shaped branch. The handle part was smoothed out meticulously. The stic part was from deer tendon and even a small piece of skin from some sort of animal. Gu Ye flicked the slingshot a few times and quickly adjusted to its sticity.


    Coincidentally, a wild pigeon happened to fly over their heads at that very moment. Gu Ye aimed, pulled, shot all in one shoot action and a wild pigeonnded not far from them in their surprised looks.


    Hiding in a tree crown, Ling Juechen¡¯s lips twitched a little. With his amazing vision, he could clearly see that the pigeon that she shot down was a special messenger pigeon trained by the military.


    Aye... to be able to be shot by that little girl and became her dinner, it has certainly fulfilled its mission! Ling Juechen had no concern whatsoever about why the pigeon was there in the first ce.

 Chapter 31 – Slingshot Wasn’t That Difficult! (3)

    <h4>Chapter 31 ¨C Slingshot Wasn¡¯t That Difficult! (3)</h4>


    Zhang Lihu dashed over to the pigeon. When he picked up the pigeon, the tiny bamboo tube tied on its foot fell off but Zhang Lihu didn¡¯t notice that at all.


    ¡°Sister Ye-er, have you been practicing your slingshot skills? That was amazing! It was so high up that even my dad might not have been able to shoot it down!¡± Little stars of appreciations sparkled in Zhang Lihu¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s just beginner¡¯s luck! I was surprised too! I can¡¯t believe I was able to shoot it down!¡± Gu Ye looked at the pigeon, it seemed a little different than the other one that they have just saw.


    But, since the seasoned hunger Zhang Lihu didn¡¯t feel that there¡¯s anything wrong with it; she stopped worrying about it. She was going to wait till she was alone before she go and stew it. Ugh... there should be some recipes on stew pigeon soup in recipe book in the dimension...?


    Gu Ming has noticed the changes in his sister more and more ¨C she was no longer timid and cried as muChapter as she used to; she has the courage to stand up to Mrs. Gu; she somehow took care of Da Zhuang who tried to bully her... all these were good changes in her that he wanted to see.


    But when his sister raised the slingshot, he noticed without mistake the confident radiated from her. That was no beginner¡¯s luck like she tried to pass off of. But, when had she ever practiced using a slingshot? Gu Ming was very baffled.


    Even though Gu Ming has some smarts, but there was no way he could have guessed that her sister body now carried a different soul ¨C a strong one came from a different world!


    Days went by when the two were picking wild vegetables, fruits, or other goods from the mountain. Soon a month had gone by.


    In that one month, Ling Juechen¡¯s right hand man led the troop up Mount Jiuchong and found the xuepo. Ling Juechen stalled as long as he could but finally had to take his elite troop and with his heart filled with reluctance from leaving Gu Ye, departed Dongling and headed toward Yian.


    After observing it for some twenty days, Ling Juechen was sure that that Mrs. Gu would not be able to cause the girl any harm so he decided against taking care of her. Might as well save her for the girl¡¯s entertainment, right? That being said, just to lean on the safe side, he still left a stealth guard to watChapter over the little girl. It wasn¡¯t easy to run into her again in the other world, he didn¡¯t want to make the same irrecoverable mistake as he did in the previous life due to his own carelessness.


    After being a mute for a month, Mrs. Gu finally got her voice back. One morning, when she was clearing her throat, she suddenly noticed that her voice was back. She was so emotional that she started crying.


    Nobody knew how she made it through the past month. When the vigers found out that she could no longer talk, they started gossiping behind her back that that was caused by all the evil acts of hers and she was being punished by the gods. At the beginning, she really wanted to rush up and fight with everyone who said that. s, she didn¡¯t think she could win a fist fight and she had lost her voice.... She had grown numb to it all overtime.


    During the month, she did do some self-reflection. If it was a punishment, then it must be due to the damned child Gu Ye. She made her so angry that she said all sorts of things whiChapter some of them offended the gods. Over this period of time, all her anger, sufferings, and insults.... She chalked them all up to Gu Ye!

 Chapter 32 – The Ill-Intended Mrs. Gu (1)

    <h4>Chapter 32 ¨C The Ill-Intended Mrs. Gu (1)</h4>


    Even though Mrs. Gu, who had recently regained her voice, had a lot of pent up anger, she did not act upon it like she used to. Even Gu Ming had noticed her abnormality, ¡°Mei mei, do you think she has really became a better person, or that she was just suppressing herself?¡±


    ¡°Who know? I guess only time will tell!¡± shrugged Gu Ye. She didn¡¯t think Mrs. Gu would be a changed person from this one lesson.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Inn is arriving with his mule caravan for mountain goods!¡± Someone, nobody knew who, shouted out from the entrance of the vige. All of a sudden, the vige exploded into bustling activities.


    Qingshan Vige was very remotely located; it was a two-day walk to the next closes nameless town. The rural roads in the mountain was narrow and ruggedly and difficult for horse-drawn carriage to make through. Only human and animals could barely pass through them. And that was the reason why it was so difficult to send mountain goods outside to trade for money.


    Nheless, mountain goods were very popr outside. Many women and young girls of wealth families were very fond of nuts suChapter as pine nuts, hazelnuts, or walnuts. In addition, there were usually a steady demand for mushrooms and ck mushrooms as well.


    As long as the opportunities were there, it would naturally attract merchants. They would usually bring with them somemon daily household items for sale to the vigers of the several viges and collect goods that were in high demand outside while earning money as the middle man. Shopkeeper Qian was one of these merchants.


    Shopkeeper Qian has a very mild temperament and has always been fair about money matters so, over time, he grew from a one man and one mule team to a caravan of dozen or so mules. The vigers, who used to refer to him as ¡°Xiao Qian¡± has given him the respectful title of ¡°Shopkeeper Qian¡±.


    Qingshan Vige was the furthest and most remote of all the vigers. By the time Shopkeeper Qian arrived there, the caravan was down to only five or six mules; the rest were already full loaded up and headed back.


    The arrival of Shopkeeper Qian was well received by the vigers. Everybody brought out all of the sun dried mountain goods andid them out in front of their house for Shopkeeper Qian¡¯s inspection. Shopkeeper Qian did not ept any low quality or molded goods. Anyone who tried to mix in other items to try to fool him would be cklisted and never ept any goods for them again. And Mrs. Wu was the only household cklisted in Qingshan Vige.


    Shopkeeper Qian let his hired seasonal workers took care of the heavybor tasks suChapter as collecting, weighting, and packaging of the mountain goods. Right now he was busy being surrounded by a group of woman making purchases of the merchandise that he had brought with him from the outside.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Qian, howe you have only brought with you so little fabric? And the selections are few. Did those old hags from the other viges bought all the rest of them?¡± Third grandma was only in her forties, but she was of the older generation and was well-respected in town. Nobody ever tried to fight with her when it came to making purchases.


    Her youngest daughter, Yinggu, was about to turn fourteen She had asked her older brother, who worked in town, to set her up with a family 20 miles away. They were going to meet up in half a month. She wanted to make a new set of bright colored clothes for her unwedded daughter but the only colors that were left were ck and grey. That was simply too disappointing.


    When Shopkeeper Qian heard that, he reached into the bottom part of his basket and took out a cloth package. He opened it up and it was a dark red colored cotton piece of fabric. He smiled and said, ¡°Third Aunty, I bought this specifically for my wife; since you are really in need of it, why don¡¯t you take this for Yinggu?¡±


    Third grandma touched the fabric, its thread count was high and even, and the dye job was even as well. She nodded satisfactorily and asked, ¡°That was so nice of you, Shopkeeper Qian! But I assume this was quite a pricey piece of fabric?¡±


    ¡°Truth be told, I bought this from the City of Yan for 200 wen. I will let you have it for the exact same price and not charge you anything extra,¡±ughed shopkeeper Qian.

 Chapter 33 – The Ill-Intended Mrs. Gu (2)

    <h4>Chapter 33 ¨C The Ill-Intended Mrs. Gu (2)</h4>


    Thanks to my wonderful patrons, I am able to meet the first goal and Resplendent Farming Apothecary will have a new update schedule of every other day. Yay!


    ***


    All the other women surrounding them, who also had their eyes on this piece of fabric, all gasped at the same time. Two hundred wen? That¡¯s the cost an entire roll of fabric, enough for eight or even nine sets of clothes!


    Even third grandma was a little hesitant. Mountain goods went for around 2 wen per jin (close to one pound, or 500 grams). Their family would have to sell a whole 100 jin to be able to recoup the cost of the piece of fabric. But the quality of the fabric was top notched, the color was bright. If her daughter have it on, she¡¯d most definitely be pretty like a flower.


    ¡°Third Aunty, this fabric was find cotton from the south, look at thebor and the dye job. A lot of the wealthy in town couldn¡¯t even get their hands on them even if they wanted to!¡± exined Shopkeeper Qian ad he started rewrapping the fabric. HE wasn¡¯t being pushy about it, he was merely exining why it was so expensive. After all, he did buy for that his wife; he never intended for it to be merchandise.


    When Third Grandma heard that, she gritted her teeth and stomped her feet and said, ¡°Okay, I will take it, Shopkeeper Qian. I will pay you after all the mountain goods were sold.¡±


    The family that the brother had spoke to for the daughter was a decent family, and close to town. Her daughter was quite fair as well. If only she could wear clothes from this fabric, this betrothal would be a done deal! If her daughter could marry out of this poor, remote vige and have a decent rest of her life, it was worth the money!


    All the other women from the vige were gathering around picking out needles, threads, and other household items. Those with some spare money would also pick some fabrics for making new clothes for the kids before the end of the year. There would not be any more merchants visiting them before the year was over.


    Mrs. GU, on the other hand, was not part of this group. She merely looked at the merchants and their merchandises from afar. She had her own ns in mind; she would be going into town in the next couple of days; the merchandises in town were cheaper than what the merchants brought with them. She wasn¡¯t about to pay extra for them. As for her mountain goods, the only reason she was doing business with the merchants was because she didn¡¯t have any mules. Otherwise, why would she be so dumb as to let the merchants made money off of her?


    Qingshan Vige had roughly thirty or so families. By the time all of the mountain goods have been weighted and paid for, it was already night time. Shopkeeper Qian and his men stayed the night in the vige and the caravan started their trip back the next day.


    Gu Ye had been waiting just outside of the vige since earlier that morning. At her feet was a basket filled with dried games.


    Naturally, Shopkeeper Qian was familiar with Gu Ye. He had heard all about her from the vigers all along. In his mind, she was a poor child who had been abused by her step mother.


    He was quite surprised when he found her stopped them in the path of the caravan. He walked up to her and asked, ¡°My child, do you have something you want to sell?¡±


    Gu Ye nodded and removed the leaves she had been using to cover up her basket. She asked lightly, ¡°I wonder whether Shopkeeper QIan would purchase dried pheasants or rabbits?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± There weren¡¯t a lot of proficient hunters in the few surrounding viges. Families like Hunter Zhang usually owned their own mules, making it easy for them to delivery their catChapter themselves. So it was unusual for Shopkeeper Qian toe across items like that.


    He thought about it for a moment and said to her, ¡°Tell you what? The going rate for dried pheasants and ducks is 20 wen a jin. I will pay you exactly that and not make money off of you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Shopkeeper Qian!¡± Even though Gu Ye was not familiar with the going prices of air dried game meat in town, but she did know that Shopkeeper Qian had always been fair with his pricings and that he would not try to cheat a little kid like her.


    Gu Ye kept taking out the dried games one after another. Shopkeeper Qian got progressively more startled as time went on. Inside the basket there were 8 pheasants, 5 wild rabbits, and a few pigeon-liked birds. After weighting them, it was close to 40 jin. Where did this kid got all these game from?

 Chapter 34 – The Ill-Intended Mrs. Gu (3)

    <h4>Chapter 34 ¨C The Ill-Intended Mrs. Gu (3)</h4>


    ¡°42.6 jin, we will call that 46 jin. That would be 860 wen!¡± Shopkeeper Qian knew better than to ask where did these game meats came from. He did the math using his abacus and have the result for her in no time.


    ¡°Thank you, Shopkeeper Qian! And please also help me keep my secret. We will be selling you more of my brother¡¯s game meats to you in the future!¡± Naturally Gu Ye could read his surprise and gave some sort of an exnation. After all, most of these games came from the traps dug by Gu Ming, technically she wasn¡¯t lying.


    That being said, there have been way less game meats in their traps in thest ten days or so. Sometimes nothing for days on end. These games appeared quite abruptly as well, almost as though someone had been tossing them inside the traps purposefully, but who could that be?


    Gu Ye mumbled to herself on her way back to the mountain on the little path after she received the money from Shopkeeper Qian and also purchased some fine grains from him. The hidden guard, who has been following her from a distance away, heard what she was saying to herself. He recalled his master catching pheasants and rabbits like a food and was very baffled ¨C what was so special about this little girl that could make his master did so muChapter for her? Was he... was he into ribs? But wasn¡¯t this small ¡°ribs¡± a bit on the young side regardless?


    That night, while resting from a tree not far from the Gu¡¯s, the hidden guard heard a n that was plotted against the subject of his protection.


    It was deep into fall and the temperatures vary greatly between day time and night in the mountains. The Gu¡¯s had already lit their stove. After rocking Xiao Zhuang to sleep, Mrs. Gu woke up the man who had just dozed off.


    Gu Qiao, who was woken up by his wife, was very impatient, ¡°What is it? I worked all day long, can¡¯t you at least let me get some sleep at night?¡±


    ¡°Hey, daddy of the kids! I have been giving this a lot of thoughtstely. The luck of this family and my voice... everything has to do with Gu Ye! I told you she brings us back luck and you didn¡¯t even believe me!¡± said Mrs. Gu through gritted teeth.


    Gu Qiao frowned and asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Look! You were the number two shopkeeper in town before; you married a maid released from a wealthy family. Your days were going up and up. But ever since that girl was born, you were kicked out by your employer and had toe back to this backward and poverty-stricken vige. And yourte wife Miao. She was fine all along and died so sudden of some mysterious illness. That was all because that girl brings bad luck! Look at my voice! I only lost it right after I scolded her!¡± No wonder everybody thought Mrs. Gu had been a different person this entire time; she had been quietly thinking about all these things all along!


    Gu Qiao thought about what she had said and there seemed to be some truth in it.


    See that her man was starting to be convinced, she pressed on with her agenda, ¡°As long as she was here with us, our days will never get any better. Perhaps as she grows older, the effect of her bad luck will be exemplified even more. Our Xiao Zhuang is still so young, I don¡¯t want her to have any negative impact on him....¡±


    ¡°Well, what are you suggesting? She¡¯s a human being, we can¡¯t just kill her!¡± Gu Qiao had not a shred of concern or fondness for Gu Ye, just nonchnt and displease.


    ¡°OH, listen to you. Am I that kind of a person?¡±1 said Mrs. Gu as she rolled her eye and continued. ¡°I have been asking around. There¡¯s an old woman in town who would pick and buy kids from poor families. She¡¯d then train them and sell them as maids into wealthy families.¡±


    ¡°You mean... to sell her?¡± There was some hesitation in his voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that umon in these days. You gave her life, you raised her to this age. You can consider the money you get from selling her as a token of appreciation from her to you as her father! Said Mrs. Gu ever so matter-of-factly.


    Gu Qiao thought about it long and hard and finally agreed with Mrs. Gu. As such, a plot against Gu Ye had begun.


    ___


    Trantor¡¯s Notes:


    1. Matter of fact, YES!

 Chapter 35 – The Duchess (1)

    <h4>Chapter 35 ¨C The Duchess (1)</h4>


    The sunset dye the entire forest red and casted golden dots on the crooked mountain paths through the tree leaves. The rays from the sunset extended the shadows of the two adults and two kids on the road. One of them kept on nagging, ¡°Hurry up! Stop stalling. If we don¡¯t make it to the big house tonight, we will leave the two of you here for the wolves!¡±


    These two adults and two children stumbling forward on the uneven road were Gu Qiao, Mrs. Gu, and the siblings Gu Ming and Gu Ye.


    Early that morning, Mrs. Gu had gone insane and said tenderly to Gu Yu, ¡°It¡¯s starting to get cold and you had long grown out of that jacket of yours. We will take you to town today to get some fabric for a set of cotton clothes for you.¡±


    Something was horribly wrong, Gu Ming stood vigntly behind his sister and asked, ¡°But Shopkeeper Qian was just here yesterday. Didn¡¯t he have fabrics with him? Howe we didn¡¯t buy from him but want to go to the town that¡¯s so far away?¡±


    ¡°Ming-er, this doesn¡¯t concern you! Go chop up more firewood before it starts to snow!¡± Gu QIao didn¡¯t want his son to ruin their ns so he sent him away.


    Seeing that the trouble-making Gu Ming walked away hesitantly, Mrs. Gu forced another smile and said to Gu Ye, ¡°What Shopkeeper Qian brought with him were all leftovers that nobody else wanted, why would we want to buy from him? On top of that, his charges two more wen for eaChapter yard of fabricparing to the merchants in town. He was like a blood-sucking grass-hopper, we don¡¯t want to buy from him! Ye-er, I don¡¯t think you have ever been to town. This will be a good opportunity to go check it out.¡±


    Gu Qiao joined in as well, ¡°There are steamed rice cake, jianbing, and crispy and yummy shaobing in town. Daddy will take you to have some!¡±


    Picture: steamed rice cake


    Source: mykitchen101


    Picture: jianbing (think of it like Chinese doughnut rolled in a crepe or an omelette)


    Source: twoeggs


    Picture: sesame coated shaobing (¡°bing¡± is sort of like bun or biscuit)


    Source: liaocheng.iqilu


    ¡°Dad, dad! Xiao Zhuang wants cake too!¡± The three-year old chubby Xiao Zhuang, instigated by his brother Da Zhuang, now wanted to go with them.


    Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu had real business to take care of; they weren¡¯t going to take the two trouble-makers with them. They had to tell them all sorts of things, including promising them they will be bringing back home steamed rice cake and shaobing before they were able to talk them out of going.


    Gu Ying took in the whole ¡°charade¡± coldly without saying a word. She wanted to see what the two were up to. Cross the bridge when shees to it. She can humor them for a bit! Not to mention that she was curious what this town that both Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhuang wanted to visit look like!


    It was a two-day walk from Qingshan Vige to town. Two hours after the plotting Gu Qiao and his wife had left with Gu Ye, they were caught up by the worried Gu Ming. So the party of three turned into party of four!


    At the end of the day, the body was still one of a child¡¯s, and a weak one at that. Even after trying to nourish it back to health for so muChapter time, it was still weak and needed intermitted resting. Surely there were potion that could enhance her physical strength, but she wasn¡¯t able to just produce them in front of the two adults and a child, so Gu Ye had no choice but to stagger along behind them.


    Gu Ming just walked next to his sister patiently and gave her a lift when ever she needed. He had suggested several times to carry her on his back but she declined him every time. After all, Gu Ming was still just an 11-year-old child. It was hard enough for him to just walk on the uneven mountain roads; she didn¡¯t want to give him even more burden than it already was.


    There was a stoned courtyard between Qingshan Vige and the town. Inside there was a simple strawed structure that provided shelter for travelers. Everyone who wished to spent the night must paid one wen in fees.

 Chapter 36 – The Duchess (2)

    <h4>Chapter 36 ¨C The Duchess (2)</h4>


    There were not houses within dozens of miles around here and there were beasts inside the mountain. It would certainly be dangerous to camp out in the wild. This courtyard provided a rtively safe ce for travelers to rest.


    It was beginning to get dark and they were still about several miles from the courtyard. Looking at Gu Ye, she must have blisters by now; every steps she took felt like she was dancing on a knife and the pain was excruciating. Limping like she was, she fell more and more behind from Mrs. Gu and the rest of them.


    A distinct howl from a wolf came from the dark forest and Mrs. Gu shuddered. Gu Qiao turned around and frowned. He suppressed his anger and said impatiently, ¡°Why are you so slow? If the wolvese, we will all be dead!¡±


    ¡°Dad, why don¡¯t you just go and leave me behind!¡± Gu Ye¡¯s feet felt like they were on fire, naturally she wasn¡¯t any less angry than he was and her tone wasn¡¯t muChapter better than his.


    Gu Qiao snorted inwardly and thought to himself: If it wasn¡¯t for the money that I¡¯d get for you, I would have! But, he put aside his anger and begrudgingly said, ¡°Come over, dad will carry you!¡±


    That was too good to be true! Gu Ye pursed her lips and climbed onto his back without hesitation. From the original owner¡¯s memory, this father had never even hugged her. He had always been distance and cold to her. She never thought there would be a day that he¡¯d be carrying her. If this was the original owner, she must be crying from happiness. Gu Ye, on the other hand, acted as thought it was the most rightful thing in the world ¨C if she could conserve some energy, why not?


    The hidden guard that were following behind them noticed how happy the little girl looked and he sighed to himself: You are about to be sold by our parents, and you are still so happy right now! You won¡¯t be smiling once you¡¯ve reached the town!


    That being said, he had a dilemma ¨C should he tell that to the little girl? But, when his master took off, he made it very clear that he should not expose himself to her unless it was a matter of life and death... perhaps he should wait a bit longer!


    Spending the night in the courtyard, Gu Ye secretly applied some medicine on her feet, took some recovery potion and had a good night sleep. She felt energized all over again the next morning. Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu, on the other hand, walked for a whole day and didn¡¯t get a good night rest, looked very exhausted.


    The four family members continued on the mountain path to the town with no name.


    Far away in the capital city of Dongling and inside the house of the Duke was a beautiful middle-aged woman around 40 or so years old. Inside her hand she was toying with a piece of white jade, tears slowly started to form and pool around her eyes.


    Picture: White Jade (¡°sheep fat jade¡±)


    Source: jade999


    The door was pushed open and in came a handsome and majestic looking middle-aged man. He was the rightful owner of this property, the Duke Chu Bufan. Seeing that his wife was crying while rubbing the half piece of white jade ne, he sighed helplessly. He walked over to her quickly and held her soft, white hand in his calloused one and said to her tenderly, ¡°Are you thinking about Bo-er again?¡±


    ¡°Husband, Bo-er has been weak since the day she was born. She wasn¡¯t even a month old when she left me. It has been over ten years, and I worried that....¡± She could no longer see straight through her tears. She looked up at the Duke pitifully, her face pale from worries.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I am sure that Bo-er is safe. Liao Er (second) and Liao Wu (fifth) are already on their way to Yan, I trust they will be updating us soon. Your body is weak too, don¡¯t think too much. If you get sick too, who will be taking care of our daughter when we find her and brings her back?¡± Naturally the Duke had his own doubts in his mind, but he wasn¡¯t going to let that show in front of his wife.

 Chapter 37 – The Duchess (3)

    <h4>Chapter 37 ¨C The Duchess (3)</h4>


    It has been almost a year since their return from their political rehabilitation. They had never stopped looking for their lost daughter for the entire year but have yet to find out anything about her. This time, he had sent his second and fifth sons to go look for her. Perhaps they would be linked to their sister through some sibling connection and would be able to locate their only daughter this time.


    It had all happened very suddenly, when his wife went home for her father¡¯s funeral and got the news, it had caused her to give birth to their youngest daughter prematurely. This was the first girl in three generations; and also the daughter that the Duke Chu Bufan had been hoping for after six sons.


    At the time, the Duke¡¯s family was used ofmitting treason and all the evidence also pointed to that and they weren¡¯t able to exin themselves. Even though they were in possession of the amnesty medallion, they couldn¡¯t escape the fate of being sent to the remote, undeveloped area. The Duke¡¯s wife at the time was worried about both the treacherous trip or the person who set them up in the first ce so she handed her new born daughter to her very faithful maid at the time.


    Yes, for the entire past year they had looked up and down the city of Yan but they were not able to locate the maid, let alone their daughter. The Duke¡¯s wife had been crying everyday and his sons had been unhappy day and night. If only his work wasn¡¯t so busy, the Duke would have gone to Yan himself to searChapter for his poor daughter.


    After hearing his words, the Duchess wiped away her tears and took in a deep breath. Tenderly and deterministically, she said, ¡°You are right! They always say that mothers and daughters are somehow connected. Once I get better, I will go to Yan myself. I am sure I can find and bring our daughter back!¡±


    The only thing the fearless Duke was afraid of was his wife¡¯s tears. Seeing that she had finally wiped away her tears, the Duke felt muChapter relieved. He produced a letter and put it in front of his wife, ¡°Yu-er had sent a letter. He has reached Chongguan with father.¡±


    ¡°Both Yu-er¡¯s martial and war art skills came directly from your dad and you, I am not worried about him. It was but an small scale invasion attempt from the Dirong, us the Chu¡¯s built on status with military aplishments, it was a matter of time before they have to go to war. It¡¯d be good experience for him.¡± The Duchess opened up and skimmed the letter quickly before putting it away.


    ¡°Master, Mistress, the two Miss Cousins have came to greet you,¡± announced Chunyan, the handmaid of the Duchess, as she lifted the curtains and walked inside to the room.


    The Duke stood up and said, ¡°Missus, I still have some more work to attend to, why don¡¯t you have Miao-er and Li-er keep youpany for a bit. Chunyan, make sure your mistress finishes her medicine! No gardener could revive that camellia outside with more herbs.¡±


    The Duchess blushed, gave him a stare and said, ¡°Okay, you go get busy! I will drink all the medicines.... Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if there are medicines that are good for you but don¡¯t taste bitter?¡±


    Jun Li-er smiled as she curtsied the Duke and the Duchess and cheerfully announced that, ¡°Aunty, I¡¯ve heard that apothecary Baili had just developed a new medicine that could harmonized qi and blood and also good for one¡¯s stomaChapter and spleen!¡±


    ¡°Apothecary Baili?¡± The Duke stopped on his way out, turned around to look at Li-er and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t he that 15-year-old who won number one ce at the alchemicalpetition and was able to make dan pills that are more effective and fast-acting than medicinal herb soup?¡±


    ¡°Uncle, that¡¯s exactly the one. Li-er said the new kind of medicine that he had developed is also in pill form. All you had to do is to take it with water, there¡¯s no bitterness at all!¡± Jun Li-er¡¯s look resembled that of the duchess slightly. The slight dimples on both side of her cheeks made her seemed young and energetic.

 Chapter 38 – Bartering (1)

    <h4>Chapter 38 ¨C Bartering (1)</h4>


    Naturally the duchess have heard of Apothecary Baili before. She frowned slight and slowly shook her head, ¡°The drugs from Apothecary Baili can¡¯t always be purchased even if you have lots of money. This year, Jishi Hall1 supplied drugs from Apothecary Baili exclusively, almost all of the medicines were already reserved by nobles. If we go there now, most likely we woulde back empty handed. Forget it, the medicinal soup is bitter, but it¡¯s quick, I will manage....¡±


    ¡°You keep drinking that nasty-tasting medicinal soup, it is going to ruin your appetite for everything else. Not to mention that you never had good appetite to begin with.... Let me see what I can do...¡± The Duke had made up his mind.


    Mrs. Chu shook her head slightly and said, ¡°Husband, if you are going down the path of looking for medicines for me, you must need to ask for favors. We had just returned to capital city, and your father has control of the military in the North. Now is not a good time to be asking for favors from the nobles.¡±


    ¡°You let me handle this,¡± said Chu Bufan while giving her aforting look. He then walked out of the room after nodded to his two nieces.


    Jun Li-er seemed more rxed in her mannerism after the departure of the duke. She stuck her face in front of Mrs. Chu and buttered up to her, ¡°Aunty, that Jishi Hall has a branChapter in the city of Yan as well. If you can¡¯t get them from capital city, your niece can write to daddy. With our status in the city of Yan, I trust that Jishi Hall will do us the favor and give us a few of their pills.¡±


    The word ¡°Yan¡±unched the duchess into troubled thought again. When Jun Miao-er saw that, she immediatelyfort her softly, ¡°Aunty, daddy and uncle had already pulled all the strings they have; as long as our cousin is still in Yan, we certainly will be able to locate her!¡±


    ¡°That is exactly right! Perhaps cousin had already found cousin and are on the way back to capital city!¡± Jun Li-er quickly chimed in.


    Jun Miao-er was tender and gentle and Jun Li-er outgoing and cheerful. The Duke had invited the two over from Yan specifically to keep his wifepany knowing how muChapter she missed their daughter. With these two chitchatting with her, Mrs. Chu was able to temporarily put aside her thoughts for her daughter and chatted about recent hot topics in capital city with the two of them.


    After Mrs. Chu had finished her medicine and went to bed, Jun Miao-er and Jun Li-er returned back to their own courtyard.


    ¡°Fifth sister, do you think... they will be able to locate our little cousin?¡± Jun Miao-er was soft and slow when she talked, her tone tender, it was almost like she was sighing.


    ¡°Who knows? It has been over ten years already. But, as long as she¡¯s still alive, they must be able to find her one day.¡± Jun Li-er spoke her mind, her mannerism that of straightforwardness.


    Jun Miao-er gave her a long and meaningful look before she chuckled and said, ¡°Fifth sister resembles aunty the most in our family. If one doesn¡¯t know any better, one might even think Fifth Sister is Aunty¡¯s daughter! If they aren¡¯t able to locate our little cousin... perhaps Aunty will adopt Fifth Sister to be her own child. By that time, Fifth Sister will leap forward to be the only girl in the Duke¡¯s resident!¡±


    ¡°Second Sister, why do I think there were subtext in your words?¡± Jun Li-er stopped smiling and looked nonchntly at her cousin.


    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t. Fifth Sister thinks too much.¡± Jun Miao-er¡¯s smile was all the more warmer and touching. She entered her own courtyard with a few lotus steps.2 Inside the Duke¡¯s residence, eaChapter of the cousins have their own courtyard. They were petite but eaChapter had their own uniqueness. Most importantly, they were close to the duchess¡¯s ¡°Qinghe Hall¡±.


    Jun Miao-er was amoner girl with special treatment in her family; she was sent by the family to keep her Auntypany because her mannerism was simr to hers. Her father was the oldest in the side branChapter and the future leader of the n. The title of ¡°n leader¡± might sound very respectful, but it was not an officer title, unlike Fifth Sister¡¯s father, who was a Sub-Fourth Rank Official in the Prefectural Magistrate.


    ___


    Notes:


    1. Literally meaning ¨C ¡°saving people in the world¡±


    1. Small steps. Not sure if women were still binding feet at that time, but basically women were supposed to take small steps and shuffle. You know, the weaker the women appear, the better. =.=

 Chapter 39 – Bartering (2)

    <h4>Chapter 39 ¨C Bartering (2)</h4>


    If she was the one to be adopted, she would be a daughter of an official family, and one in a First Rank Official family. She would be respected and fawned over wherever she went.... But, it was quite obvious that their Aunty favored Jun Li-er more than her. Jun Li-er was the biggest obstacles standing between her bing Miss Duchess!


    ¡°Xiao Mei, what do you think Second Sister meant by what she said? Why did it sound like she wanted me to interrupt Aunty¡¯s n to locate our little cousin?¡± Jun Li-er might be straightforward, but she wasn¡¯t stupid. How many stupid people are there within the noble families after all?


    Xiao Mei frowned, casted a nce over at ¡°Chunhui Hall¡± and said, ¡°Miss, don¡¯t listen to her! Never mind whether the Duchess will adopt a girl from the Jun¡¯s, the Duke and Duchess are so eager to find Miss Cousin; if they ever find out you tried to interfere, they would certainly dislike you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to tell me that!¡± Jun Li-er pursed her lips as she toyed with the knotted pouChapter on her waist. ¡°She is amoner girl after all, her mannerism was the same as her mother¡¯s ¨C always plotting and nning. Does she really think I am that stupid to let her use me as a tool? Sure, the title of Miss Duchess is quite attractive, but the title of Miss Prefecture isn¡¯t half bad either! Aunty likes me so much, I will never do anything that would hurt her. Xiao Mei, you and Xiao Zhao pay more attention to the activities within Chunhui Hall. I don¡¯t think Jun Miao-er to do anything stupid that will drag us down with her!¡±


    In the study of a courtyard in the front of the structure, an old man with a head of white hair and a face full of messy beard bid his farewell to the Duke, ¡°Major General, I have been away from my home town for almost 30 years, it was time for me to return and enjoy my peaceful golden years.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Gu, you have been with my father for 30 years. You nearly lost your own life while trying to save my second son during our exile. You are like family to the Chu¡¯s. You don¡¯t have any more family members, why don¡¯t you stay here and just train the youngsters in the House and help with training some guards...¡± The Duke tried the best he can to convince him to stay.


    Old Gu gave an honest smile and said, ¡°I am the only one left of my branChapter and I can¡¯t let my branChapter end with me. Before I joined the military the n leader had made the decision and helped me adopt a boy. I want to return to my home town so I can one, test out the nature of my adopted son. If he¡¯s any good, I will take him to Capital City to help you out. And two, my home town isn¡¯t far from Yan, I can also help with looking for your daughter...¡±


    When the Duke heard that, he stopped pushing him to stay. He had the steward brought over a few bank notes, totally around 1,000 taels and handed them all over to Old Gu and said, ¡°These are for you. I will have Zhang Gui look after your house in the east of the city while you are away.¡± Zhang Gui is the name of the steward, his family had been serving the Chu¡¯s for generations.


    After leaving the Duke¡¯s residence, Old Gu picked up a couple sets of old clothes, hired an old and dpidated cart and headed North toward a nameless small town North of Yan.


    Inside the nameless town, Mrs. Gu gave Gu Qiao a look, and Gu Qiao returned an almost unnoticeable nod. None of the exchanged failed to escape Gu Ye, who had been observing the couple intently this entire time.


    Gu Qiao cleared his throat and said to Gu Ming, who had been looking around curiously at all the new things and said, ¡°Ming-er, you must be hungry? You see that corner right there? They have shaobing over there, why don¡¯t you go and buy us a few, hmm?¡± Having said that, he handed over six wen to Gu Ming.


    The cost of shaobing was two wen each. Mrs. Gu¡¯s heart was bleeding when she saw that, ¡°You didn¡¯t need to give him so much. Just get one and we can split it and all have a taste of it. We did bring food with us.¡±

 Chapter 40 – Bartering (3)

    <h4>Chapter 40 ¨C Bartering (3)</h4>


    Sure, they did bring food with them, but those were rice balls made out of course grain and wild vegetables, nothingpare to the crispy and delectable shaobing. Gu Ming quickly grabbed the money from his father and started running toward the food booth. As he was running, he turned around and blinked at his sister, ¡°Mei mei, wait there, ge ge will bring back shaobing for you! Shaobing are so delicious!¡±


    Mrs. Gu started chasing after him but was stopped by Gu Qiao¡¯s shouting, ¡°Youe back! We are talking about two wen there. Forget it, we have more important business to attend to!¡±


    Mrs. Gu returned while grumbling and reached for Gu Ye with her pig hoof like ws but Gu Ye was able to dodge from her grip dexterously. Gu Qiao grabbed her right away and Mrs. Gu took the opportunity to pinched her hard in her waist a few times before she roughly dragged her to a quite area.


    ¡°Where are you taking me?¡± Gu Ye knew they were plotting something when they took her out of the mountain. They only gave Gu Ming money to send him away so they can carry on with their n with no obstacles.


    ¡°Where? Somewhere where you will have a better life!¡± When Gu Ye refused to cooperate with her, Mrs. Liu just grabbed the back to her shirt and picked her up like a young chick. Gu Qiao followed with his hands behind his back.


    ¡°Let me go! I am not going anywhere! I am waiting for ge ge here!¡± Gu Ye shouted out loudly. Unfortunately Gu Ming was too far away to hear her distress calls. And this was a more remote streets with houses on both sides having their doors closed shut. There were nobody in sight at all.


    Feeling a small shred of guilt, Mrs. Gu covered her mouth and quickly dragged her into an old courtyard. Inside the yard parked a horse-drawn carriage. One could hear low and suppressed crying noises from inside the carriage. A fat woman with a ck mole on her chin scolded with spittle flying all over the ce and her hands on her waist, ¡°Oh, stop crying already! It was your luck to be sold to me! When we get to Yan, as long as you are obedient, you will have unlimited supply of good food and drinks! If you dare to run away though ¨C we will break your legs!! Liao Hei, Da Zhuang, watChapter them closely! .... And what are you two doing here? We don¡¯t allow just anybody toe inside here!¡±


    Mrs. Gu fawned over her and stuck Gu Ye in front of the old woman. Bowing slightly she said to here, ¡°We heard you purchase girls here...¡±


    The fat woman looked Gu Ye up and down like she was examining some merchandise and criticized, ¡°Why is your girl so skinny? Is she sick?¡±


    ¡°No, no, she is plenty healthy! We are poor and have too many kids. She is just skinny because there weren¡¯t a lot of food to go around is all!¡± exined Gu Qiao hastily.


    Gu Ye gave Gu Qiao a deadly scare with her dark, ck eyes ¨C how terrible was this father who¡¯d want to sell his own daughter? Was his daughter¡¯s life truly so worthless that he could just so easily walk all over and dismiss?


    The fat woman looked at her for a while longer and said, ¡°Okay, she is a bit skinny, but not too bad looking! Especially that pair of eyes, many would probably find that attractive when she grows older! Okay, here¡¯s two taels. Take them and leave her. Now go!¡±


    Mrs. Gu wanted to barter some more but the fat woman already waved at them impatiently and said, ¡°Your girl is skinny like a stick. Even if you are to sell her by weight, how muChapter do you think she¡¯d be worth? It¡¯s two taels, take it or leave it. Stop wasting our time to head out to Yan!¡±


    Gu Qiao tugged at Mrs. Gu who was still feeling unreconciled. The two of them walked back onto the street. Grinning from ear to ear, Mrs. Gu weighted the two taels in her hands, then bit it with her teeth.

 Chapter 41 – Those Who Were Looking For Their Sisters (1)

    <h4>Chapter 41 ¨C Those Who Were Looking For Their Sisters (1)</h4>


    Now that she had finally gotten rid of the girl and gained two taels, Mrs. Gu was in a very good mood. Smiling, she said to her man, ¡°Husband, we didn¡¯t waste all our time on that girl. She was somewhat useful after all! This two taels are enough for Da Zhuang to get a wife!¡±


    ¡°Hey! You are going to use the money from my daughter to get your son a wife! You wish!¡± Gu Qiao tried to take the money from her.


    Mrs. Gu dodged from him moving unusually agilely for her body size. Seeing that her man was upset, she quickly added, ¡°What do you mean your son / my son? Why does it matter? When Da Zhuang is all grown up and find himself a wife, of course they will take care of you too! Besides, Gu Ming is almost 12, he will be looking for a wife too in just a couple of years. Who do you think will be the one doing all the run arounds for him?¡±


    She paused and her face full of smile and said, ¡°And then there is Xiao Zhuang. What a smart boy he is. When he gets older we can even send him to school so he can learn how to read and write. Perhaps he will even be an official someday, then you will be the father of an official!¡±


    When it came to his youngest son, Gu Qiao¡¯s look immediately softened, ¡°You are right, we will need money for all sorts of things in the future, you be sure to keep the money somewhere safe!¡±


    After purchasing shaobing and went back to the spot, Gu Ming could not find his parents or his sister. Worried, he walked down the streets looking for them. He spotted his parents from afar and ran up to them carrying the shaobing with him and happened to overhear their conversation, ¡°Perhaps that chap Gu Ye will even be thankful to us in the future! Didn¡¯t you say that the mother of these two kids was a maid for some wealthy family before? And that they awarded her with more money than she could spend every month? If she was sold to some wealthy family, her days would be muChapter better than what they would be in a remote mountain vige....¡±


    ¡°What? You sold mei mei?¡± Gu Ming ran up to them. When he saw the money in Mrs. Gu¡¯s hand, his eyes turned red. ¡°Where did you see her? Give me the money! I will go get her back!¡±


    ¡°Go away!¡± Gu Qiao took a step up and grabbed Gu Ming¡¯s shoulder as he was reaching out for the money. Gu Ming fell onto the ground with a shove from his father.


    ¡°Dad! I don¡¯t understand you. Sure, mei mei is a girl, but she was your flesh and blood after all. It is the Gu¡¯s blood in her veins. Dad, what is your heart made out of? How could you sell your own daughter?¡± Gu Ming looked at his father through his teary eyes as if he was looking at a stranger.


    Gu Qiao¡¯s mouth moved, it looked like he was just about to blurt out something. But he was also worried about consequences that they could not handled if he had said what he wanted to say. He changed his mind and kept his mouth shut. With stiffness, he said, ¡°Your sister will have a muChapter better life if she was picked by a wealthy family. It¡¯d be muChapter better than being at our ce and not having enough food to eat or clothes to keep warm!¡±


    ¡°Dad, what have you promised mom back then? You promised her that you¡¯d never sold us into servitude! It has only been a few years since mom was gone. Have you forgotten it all already? How will you be able to face her a hundred years from now?¡± Gu Ming struggled to get back up onto his feet. He looked straight at Gu Qiao and denounced him over and over again.


    Gu Qiao smacked him on his cheek and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare mention your mother in front of me! If it wasn¡¯t for her, I¡¯d still be second shopkeeper in Yan. You think I¡¯d be stuck in that remote vige in the mountains and dare not to leave? She should be the one who¡¯d be ashamed to face me!¡±


    Gu Ming wiped away his tears and looked at him with disappointment. He stumbled backward slowly and said, ¡°Dad, you have changed. You have changed so muChapter that I don¡¯t even know you anymore! You don¡¯t think of her as your daughter, but I think of her as my sister! I am going to go look for her!¡± Gu Ming ran off after he finished saying that.

 Chapter 42 – Those Who Were Looking For Their Sisters (2)

    <h4>Chapter 42 ¨C Those Who Were Looking For Their Sisters (2)</h4>


    ¡°Gu Ming! You get back here now!¡± Flustered and exasperated, Gu Qiao was about to run after him before Mrs. Gu stopped him.


    ¡°Oh, stop that already. Never mine if he can even find that trafficker; even if he can, he has no money on him, he won¡¯t be able to get her back. Just you wait. He wille back by himself when he is tired.¡± Mrs. Gu carefully put the money away and, with her man in toll, when inside the only cake and snack shop in town and purchased half jin of pastries.


    She had promised her youngest son cake before they left. If they didn¡¯t go home with cakes, he¡¯d for sure throw a big fit! Thinking of her youngest son, her face was full of motherly love.


    Putting aside Gu Ming who was running around town looking for his sister like mad for now. Inside the courtyard where Gu Ming was, the two stocky hatchet men were lying on the ground, their faces green and purple. The chubby trafficker eyes widened with fear. Meeting the cold look from Gu Ye, she couldn¡¯t help but shuddered.


    Who¡¯d have thought that the small girl barely ten years old could take out the two muscr and tall hatchet men like she was just toying with them. The female trafficker had been in this business for years and have seen quite a bit in her life time. She never thought she would have misjudged the situation so badly.


    Gu Ye tossed away the weapon that she had picked up casually ¨C a stick the thickness of a finger ¨C onto the ground. She looked up at the fat woman trafficker and said nonchntly, ¡°I am leaving now, any objections from you?¡±


    ¡°No, no, none whatsoever!¡± The fat woman trafficker looked at the two men who were still rolling on the ground moaning and shook her head like a rattle drum. This little girl in front of her was like a god of misfortune, she just wanted her as far away as possible!


    Gu Ye turned around in a chicly manner and started walking away toward the outside. Right when the female trafficker let out a long sigh of relief, she had turned around and returned.


    ¡°What... what do you want?¡± asked the fat female trafficker. She couldn¡¯t clearly hear her teeth ttering against eaChapter other.


    Gu Ye walked closer and closer to her and the fat female trafficker tripped over a rock on the ground and fell on her fat buttocks. She ignored the pain and pleaded for mercy.


    ¡°Well, if I just walked away like this, wouldn¡¯t you lose money on this deal?¡± said Gu Ye with a chilling voice.


    The fat trafficker quickly waved her hands and said, ¡°No, no, that is perfectly fine! Please feel free to leave. If you need money on your way, I can....¡±


    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s fine? A trade must be fair. If I have left, you must get your money back. The couple is probably still somewhere in town. I am sure you and your men can still catChapter up to them!¡± Gu Ye didn¡¯t want the evil couple to keep the money.


    The fat woman trafficker, upon hearing her words, started thinking to herself: This little girl looked nothing like the couple. Was she kidnapped? No wonder that couple showed no signs of distress at all, cause she weren¡¯t their flesh and blood! No, she could not let that happen! Nobody takes money from her, Li Guifen!


    After Gu Ye stepped out of the courtyard, the fat woman trafficker took her two limping hatchet men and stopped Gu Qiao and his wife at the entrance of the vige. Without a word, they gave them a good beating and took all the money on them and left.


    Gu Qiao and his wife had no idea why they were beaten up. They had lost not only the two taels, but also the changes that they had with them originally. Mrs. Gu cried and wailed and called the fat woman trafficker a bandit and said she wanted to report her to the officials.

 Chapter 43 – Those Who Were Looking For Their Sisters (3)

    <h4>Chapter 43 ¨C Those Who Were Looking For Their Sisters (3)</h4>


    Gu Qiao had his own secret and dare not go to the officials. He talked his wife out of it, the two looked at eaChapter other, resorted to epted that it was just bad luck.


    Inside the only inn in this nameless town, the two very elegantly dressed young men were dining inside when they heard this very deste cries, ¡°Mei mei! Where are you, mei mei?¡±


    ¡°Second brother, it seemed we are not the only ones looking for our sister,¡± sighed Chu Mubai, as he looked at the frantic kid running up and down the streets from the window.


    Chu Mufeng shook his head lightly and said, ¡°That kid looks to be about 10 years old, his sister must be even younger than him. If they were just separated for a bit, that¡¯s fine. And if she was taken by child kidnapper....¡±


    Chu Mubai put down the chopsticks in his hand and frowned in concern, ¡°Second Brother, do you think we will be able to find our little sister some day?¡±


    ¡°Yes, definitely!¡± Chu Mofeng felt pitiful everything he thought about this sister that he had never met before. ¡°Haven¡¯t we figured out who the trafficker was who sold Lan Xiang to the Chu¡¯s already? As soon as we find her, we will be able to find out where Lan Xiang was from and we will be that muChapter closer to finding our sister!?¡±


    ¡°Second Brother....¡± Chu Mubai was still worried, ¡°Do you think maybe our little sister had already.... After all she was so weak and so young when she was taken away from us...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible! Mother had left Lan Xiang with lots of money and jewelries that would be enough for them for several dozens of years. Our little sister will be fine and we will be able to find her!¡± Chu Mufeng sounded very convinced, as though he needed to convince himself.


    ¡°Hey, Second Brother, look....¡± Said Chu Mobai as he pointed outside the window.


    Outside the window and on the streets, a small figure cried out ¡°ge ge¡± toward the little boy who was looking for his little sister. Her sound was drowned by the noises on the street, but the little boy, as though he had sensed something, suddenly turned around and looked straight at the scrawny little girl.


    ¡°Mei mei!¡± The young boy ran over and grabbed her into his arms and tears streamed down his face all over again.


    ¡°That¡¯s so nice!¡± said Chu Mobai as he looked at the hugging siblings enviously. He wondered where their little sister was right now. He wonder when they would be able to reunite like this siblings in front of them. Little sister, just you wait, your brothers would find you soon!


    ¡°Mei mei, Mrs. Gu said she had sold you to human trafficker, did you manage to escape?¡± Gu Ming looked his sister up and down and didn¡¯t notice anything wrong with her. He finally felt relieved.


    Gu Ye nodded, ¡°Yes, when I was inside the courtyard, I found a dog hole. Luckily I am so small I could easily climb through it. Ge, let¡¯s leave town quickly before the woman trafficker and her hatchet men find us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are right! It¡¯s too dangerous here. Let¡¯s leave here quickly!¡± Gu Ming held onto the his sister¡¯s little hand and quickly walked toward the entrance of the town.


    When they got to the entrance of the town, Gu Ye asked casually, ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to wait for mom and dad?¡±


    ¡°Why would we do that? So they can sell you again? Mei mei, when we get back, I will go ask grandma n leader to let up split up into our own unit. Ge ge will hunt and farm to support you! We won¡¯t rely on them anymore so they will have no excuse to sell you again!¡± What Gu Qiao had done today hadpletely disappointed Gu Ming. They could not rely on this father anymore.


    ¡°Mei mei, you must be hungry. Have some of the shaobing that I just bought. They are a little cold now, but they are made from white flour. They smell really good. Here, try some!¡±

 Chapter 44 – The Path Was Narrow (1)

    <h4>Chapter 44 ¨C The Path Was Narrow (1)</h4>


    Looking at the shaobing that was bigger than her head by an entire ring, Gu Ye couldn¡¯t help but be amazed at how muChapter ingredient they put into eaChapter of them. She broke a shaobing into halves, gave half to Gu Ming and said, ¡°This will be enough for me. Let¡¯s save the other two for our way back.¡±


    Gu Ming was already famished from looking for his sister all this time. He gorged himself with food until he choked and coughed and teared up.


    Gu Ye, owing to the original owner¡¯s gastrointestinal issues, had grown into the habit of eating slowly. Seeing that her brother was choking, she fished out a couple coins and said, ¡°Ge, there are soups for sale over there. Let¡¯s go get a bowl. The soup will so will also make us warm.¡±


    Gu Ming finally swallowed the piece of shaobing lodged in his throat. He looked at the coins in his sister¡¯s hand and asked in surprised, ¡°Mei mei, where did you get the money from? You didn¡¯t steal that from Mrs. Gu, did you? She is the most frugal of all. If she ever finds out that you stole money from her, she¡¯d want to beat you to death!¡±


    Gu Ye rolled her eyes proudly and said to him, ¡°Who¡¯d steal her money? You know that woman cradles her money jar when she sleeps. How would it be possible for anyone to steal money from her? Remember the herbs that I have picked? I hid them in the mountain and sun dried them and sold them to Shopkeeper Qian yesterday in exchange for money. C¡¯mon! I will treat you to a bowl of soup noodle!¡±


    ¡°No! We shouldn¡¯t! Look at the sun, if we leave down now, we won¡¯t be able to find a ce to spend the night and it will be dangerous. With this money, let¡¯s look for a motel at a more remote part of town, it will beat spending the night in the streets!¡± If it was just him by himself, he¡¯d just look for a ce under the bridge and spend the night. But his sister is weak, he didn¡¯t want her to get sick from spending the night in the streets.


    As they were talking, their sight darkened suddenly and a piece of broken silver appeared in front of them. They looked up and saw a young man around 14 ¨C 15 in a ice blue brocade; his face was handsome and his eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky. What a good-looking young man! There were immediately stars inside of Gu Ye¡¯s eyes and she grinned like a kids with a new toy!


    ¡°Ugh... mister, we are not beggars.¡± Gu Ming¡¯s little self esteem was bruised. He looked down at his and his sister¡¯s clothing. They had on old, short, and patchy clothes and squatting at the side of the road eating their shaobing. They were not that muChapter different than the beggars that was sunbathing across from them. No wonder they were taken as beggars.


    Chu Mobai was stunned by the little girl¡¯s sparkling eyes momentarily. He cheered inside of him, ¡°What a pair of ck and clear eyes, like two deep pond of water, clear and pure. He wondered what his sister was like, would she have a pair of incredible eyes just like these?


    ¡°I know! Congrattions on finding your sister!! To be honest, my brother and I are also here to look for our little sister. Unfortunately, we were not as lucky as you and we still don¡¯t know where our little sister is!¡± A forlorn look crossed Chu Mobai¡¯s face, ¡°This money is for you to celebrate finding your little sister. The biscuit alone isn¡¯t going to be enough. Here, go buy some wontons for your little sister!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, xiao ge ge!¡± Grinning, Gu Ye reached out her little w and took the silver from him. ¡°Xiao ge ge, you are suChapter a nice person. I know that good things happen to nice people. I am sure you will find your little sister!¡±


    Chu Mobai looked at that little face that was so scrawny that it was almost twisted. For a second there he zoned out and thought that little face looked almost a little bit familiar. For some odd reason, he felt an unexinable sense of affinity toward it.


    He must have been looking for his little sister for too long. Now all little girls looked like his little sister. She has her own brother and only looked to be around eight or nine. His sister should be over twelve, it was not possible for this girl in front of him to be their Bao-er.

 Chapter 45 – The Path Was Narrow (2)

    <h4>Chapter 45 ¨C The Path Was Narrow (2)</h4>


    Looking at the departure of the fancily dressed young man and then at his sister who was toying with the money in her hand, Gu Ming struggled for a bit and finally said, ¡°Mei mei, how could we just take other¡¯s money like that?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Did he said it was for celebrating our reunion? Ge, I was also sold into brothel and we would never see eaChapter other again. Don¡¯t you this calls for some celebration?¡± Gu Ye weighted the crushed silvers in her hand and contemted weighting them on a scale. But they look to be a bit more than what that woman trafficker had paid for her.


    When Gu Ming heard that, he was about to start crying again. He gripped his sister¡¯s hand so tight that he never wanted to let go. The matters of the silvers became so unimportant all of a sudden.


    The two siblings had a bowl of wontons and finished the shaobing in their hands before they found a remote motel and spent the night. They left first thing the next morning to head back to the vige.


    On their way back and spent the night inside therge courtyard, it was inevitable that they ran into Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu. Gu Ye was ecstatic when she saw the two with their ck and blue eyes and noses. Gu Ming was a little surprised but he returned to feeling indifferent quickly. With all the evil things that they do, it was a matter of time before karma got to them.


    Seeing Gu Ye, Mrs. Gu let out a ¡°Oh!¡± and charged toward her while shrieking, ¡°So it was you who brought us bad luck all along! You heartless little brat, causing your dad and I to be beaten and robbed! I am going to kill you!¡±


    Gu Ye agilely jumped out of her way and hooked the tip of her foot around Mrs. Gu¡¯s ankle. Mrs. Gu¡¯s gigantic bodynded squarely onto the ground, even the ground seemed to have rocked a bit under her weight.


    ¡°YOU are the heartless bringer of bad luck! You lied to my sister and take her to town and sold her to human trafficker for money! You are the evilest person in the world! I am telling you now that your being beaten was just bad karma catching up to you! You know that¡¯s what happens to bad people!¡±


    Gu Ming ran over and stomped onto Mrs. Gu¡¯s hand and blocked in front of his little sister. He was like an angered lion cub, small but fearless.


    Inside the big courtyard were mostly simple vigers; when they heard his words, they all turned and looked at Mrs. Gu, who just managed to get back up tonto her feet, with very judgmental looks.


    Mrs. Gu was still trying to justify her acts, ¡°You shut up, you! I was doing it all for her own good. You think about it, fi she was chosen to be the handmaid of some wealthy girl, she¡¯d live happily the rest of her life. Good food and drinks, every month she¡¯d earn enough to support her family for the entire year and still has money left! You are so foolish for not being able to see that!¡±


    ¡°But.. but the traffickerdy said she is going to sell me and the other sisters into brothels! Dad, what is a brothel? Is it really like what mom said ¨C I will have plentiful of food, warm clothes, and get paid?¡± Gu Ye purposefully looked at her father with her pure eyes widen and an innocent look.


    All the vigers around them now stared at them angrily. Gu Qiao¡¯s felt his face burning up. He struggled for a while and still couldn¡¯t find the right words.


    Gu Ming had no idea what a ¡°brothel¡± is, but from everybody¡¯s look, he figured it wasn¡¯t any ce good. Angrily he tugged at his sister, ¡°Stop calling her ¡®mom¡¯, she is not our ¡®mom¡¯. She¡¯s not good enough!¡±


    ¡°How am I not good enough? Your father married me legitimately! You two unfamilial brats! And we have raised you for so many years. You two white-eyes wolves, ungrateful things....¡± Mrs. Gu wasn¡¯t going to stop shouting at them any time soon. Her words made others around them frowned even more.


    ¡°You keep yelling at people and your tongue will rot!¡± Gu Ye voice rang clearly and loudly while Mrs. Gu paused to catChapter her breath.

 Chapter 46 – The Path Was Narrow (3)

    <h4>Chapter 46 ¨C The Path Was Narrow (3)</h4>


    ¡°Your tongue will rot! You ungrateful, miserable girl! Your whole body will rot from head to toe, turn into a puddle of bloody mess that even the wolves won¡¯t eat....¡± If the damned girl didn¡¯t escape, she would not have been beaten. Thinking about the two taels that she had and lost, Mrs. Gu felt that someone had scooped out a piece of her heart. That made her want to jump up and bite a few pieces of flesh off of Gu Ye.


    ¡°Ge, let her keep going! Do you remember thatst time how she lost her voice for a month after she shouted at us? Obviously she hadn¡¯t learned anything from that!¡± Gu Ye tugged at her brother, walked around Mrs. Gu from afar, and walked toward the canopy.


    ¡°You damned child! You stand right there! Have you no manners? Your elders are talking to you! Where do you think you are going?¡± Mrs. Gu was jumping up and down in anger and she reached out to grab Gu Ye.


    Gu Ye took a sidestep and avoided her grab. She looked at her coldly and said, ¡°Are you talking to me? I couldn¡¯t tell you are saying anything sensible. You are right, I have no manners. Because I did not have a mother to raise me since the day I was born!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you ungrateful ma of bad luck. What do you mean you have no mother? Stepmother is mother too!¡± Mrs. Gu suddenly noticed a corner of a shaobing poking out from the side of her chest. She reached out and grabbed while shouting, ¡°You damned child, hiding food from us. Your dad and I hadn¡¯t eaten in a whole day and you didn¡¯t even offer up your food to us. What kind of ungrateful kids are you two?¡±


    ¡°Give that back to me! That my brother and my food for tomorrow! You give that back now!¡± The two siblings had bought two more shaobing before they left the town. Gu Ye was in charge of carrying them in her chest when in reality she had hidden them inside the dimension. Just a moment ago, she had telepathically picked out some powder from herboratory and added to one of the shaobing being letting Mrs. Gu noticed it intentionally. Sure enough, the shaobing with the added substances ended up in Mrs. Gu¡¯s hands.


    Mrs. Gu shoved her aside and broke the shaobing into two and handed the bigger piece to her man, ¡°Quick, eat! Don¡¯t let that two brats take it back! Scram, what do you mean yours? Everything of yours came from me. Another word from you and I will beat you to a pulp!¡±


    As she spoke, she opened her big mouth and started eating the shaobing. On top of the two taels, even the money that they had brought with them were taken by the female trafficker and her two hatchet men. The couple had already shamelessly asked to spend a night at a vige just outside of the town. With no food in them and walked for an entire day, they were already starving.


    ¡°Mei mei, don¡¯t bother fighting with them. I still have two meat buns stashed away in my back basket! Let¡¯s get some rest. We still have a long way in front of us tomorrow!¡± Gu Ming stopped his sister and whispered into her ears.


    ¡°Come, little girl. We can squeeze in two more here!¡± Inside the canopy it was already chalked full of travelers who arrived before them. In the very far back, a slightly chubby woman shoved her man a bit and made room just enough for one person and waved at this pair of siblings. Her eyes filled withpassion for them.


    ¡°Thank you, Aunty!¡± Gu Ye didn¡¯t like sleeping next to someone, but there really were no more room inside the canopy. It was already deep autumn; if they were to sleep outside, it would get quite cold at night. Choosing the lesser of the two devils, she had no choice but to walk toward the slightly chubby woman.


    Gu Ming knew that his sister didn¡¯t like to sleep with strangers so he gave her the inside corner and slept between her and the others. Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu eaChapter had half a shaobing and, see that there were really no more room inside the canopy, they looked for a spot inside the courtyard that provided shelter from the wind andid down on top of a thinyer of straw. They snuggled eaChapter other for warmth. When Mrs. Gu was having her shaobing, she ate it with garlic; now even her breath stank like garlic, whiChapter made Gu Qiao felt very disgusting.


    Everybody was tired. It wasn¡¯t long before snoring was heard from inside the canopy. Gu Ye,ying on a thickyer of straw, looked over at the directly of Mrs. Gu and a bone-chilling smile crossed her face.

 Chapter 47 – Grandpa (1)

    <h4>Chapter 47 ¨C Grandpa (1)</h4>


    ¡°Oh my god. It¡¯s hurts! My mouth! It hurts!¡± Mrs. Gu¡¯s shrieking woke up everyone who were sound asleep inside therge courtyard. When they looked over, they saw Mrs. Gu with her mouth wide opening and inhaling nonstop.


    Gu Qiao couldn¡¯t fall asleep till the middle of the night from that garlic breath of Mrs. Gu¡¯s and was woken up by her early in the morning. He was so angry that he gave her a kick and said, ¡°What are you shouting about so early in the morning?!¡±


    ¡°Husband... you... you....¡± Mrs. Gu, with her swollen tongue, could only made out mumbled words. She pointed her fat finger at Gu Qiao.


    It was then when Gu Qiao noticed pain from his forehead. He touched it barely with his hand and it was so painful he almost started to cry.


    ¡°Husband, you have three pus-filled sores on your head and one was leaking pus and blood!¡± Mrs. Gu didn¡¯t care about the pain in her mouth but fished out a handkerchief of ambiguous color to wipe away the pus and blood for her man.


    ¡°OUCH!¡± Gu Qiao shoved Mrs. Gu far, far away, ¡°What are you doing? It hurts like hell! And what happened to you? Did you steal some foodst night and burned your tongue? Is that why you are slurring in your speech?¡±


    ¡°My tongue hurts! My throat hurts! Take a look for me. Do I have canker sores in my mouth?¡± When she started talking, it hurt so muChapter tears were rolling down her face. She inhaled rapidly and opened up her mouth wide to let her man inspect it.


    The smell of the garlic she atest night, after festering overnight, in addition to Mrs. Gu not having the habit of brushing her teeth, could rival that of bioweapons! It stank so badly that Gu Qiao almost passed out from it.


    Gu Qiao gasped when he saw Mrs. Gu¡¯s rotten throat and tongue. What had she eaten? Her mouth had rotten overnight, there was not a single intact spot on her tongue.


    ¡°Aiya! Your tongue was all rotted!¡± said Gu Qiao without thinking.


    Mrs. Gu¡¯s eyes widen. Her tongue was already numbed from pain and she couldn¡¯t bare utter a word. She felt very suspicious too, if it was just from the food she ate, this couldn¡¯t have happened overnight. So what was it?


    When she caught site of a small figure out of the corner of her eye, she felt like she was stunned by lightning and she froze in the spot. What Gu Ye had said to herst night revolved around her head, ¡°Your tongue will rot if you scold someone¡±, ¡°Your tongue will rot if you scold someone¡±....


    Looking back, before she turned mute, that girl had also said ¡°the gods will punish you¡±. Was this all her doing? At that very moment, Gu Ye looked at her and gave her a diabolical smile. Mrs. Gu shuddered and she felt a tingle on her scalp.


    Something was wrong with her! Very wrong. Mrs. Gu remembered clearly that she had stopped breathing before she tossed her into the mountain. In addition, she tossed where the wolves go. Logic would have it that there wouldn¡¯t even be bones left after the wolves were done. But when she was found, the girl was in good spirit, almost like she had recovered from all of her illness.


    And ever since she came back from the mountain, everything started to go wrong. There was definitely something wrong with the girl, perhaps.... She was possessed by some demons in the mountain? Right! That must be it! This girl was no longer the original Ge Ye. She must be some demons from the mountain! Looking at Gu Ye, Mrs. Gu¡¯s eyes were filled with fear.


    Gu Qiao looked in the same direction that Mrs. Gu was looking and saw the two siblings. He sighs, ¡°Was there really karma? And it hade back to haunt us?¡±


    People back then always have the rightful amount of fear from gods and spirits. Mrs. Gu¡¯s fear was now deeply rooted. On their trip back she stayed as far away from Gu Ye as possible. She was afraid that the demon would appear all of a sudden and swallow her whole.

 Chapter 48 – Grandpa (2)

    <h4>Chapter 48 ¨C Grandpa (2)</h4>


    Even Gu Ming, who had nning to severe his rtionship with his family, noticed that Mrs. Gu had stopped causing troubles to his surprise. Even the way that Gu Qiao treating the two of them have changed slightly. When he brought up wanted to split up, his father shot it down and promised that they would not plot against Gu Ye ever again.


    Not that Gu Ming had any more faith in the two, but the winter wasing and now really was not the time to split out. Whatever happened, they would have to wait till after the winter and make ns in spring.


    The weather was turning colder and colder and the vigers busied themselves with picking and chopping up firewood. They must ensure there were enough wood tost the entire long winter.


    Gu Ye followed her brother back from the mountain with a small bundle of firewood on her back. Ever since they have returned from town, she noticed that the games had increased again inside the traps. She had further noticed that all the games had signs of human-caused injuries. Obviously, someone had hunted these animals then tossed them into their traps.


    Who could that be? And why were they doing this? Gu Ye had lots of questions. Questions or no questions, nheless did not stop her from epting these game meats. Soup, stir fried, braised, roasted.... The two siblings were now a healthy glow of pink and also gained quite a bit of meat.


    When Gu Ye looked in the mirror in the dimension, she was no longer startled by her own image. With the filling out of her face, one could tell she was quite a fair looking girl!


    ¡°Gu Ming! You need to hurry up and go home! You are about to gain a grandpa!¡± Li Hao ran with antelope like agility on the rugged mountain roads.


    ¡°What the heck are you talking about? My grandpa died years ago, how do I have another grandpa?¡± Gu Ming put down the bundle of firewood that was almost taller than him and wiped away his sweats as he gave Li Hao a stare.


    Li Hao grabbed his hand and started running toward the vige. As he was dragging him behind he said to him, ¡°It¡¯s hard to exin, why don¡¯t you just go see for yourself? He had been in war and now he¡¯s a cripple!¡±


    ¡°Hey, hang on! My firewood!¡± Gu Ming tried to pull free of Li Hao¡¯s grip but he failed. Having no other options, he let Li Hao dragged in the direction of his home, ¡°Slow down! My sister is still behind me!¡±


    Gu Ye shook her head slightly and stared at the pile firewood that was taller than her. Her brother had expended a lot of energy in collecting these firewood, she couldn¡¯t possibly just leave them here. She didn¡¯t want anyone else to walk away with them and wasted all of her brother¡¯s effort.


    She put down that almost weightless bundle of firewood in her hand and carefully looked to her left and right. She then wrapped her hand around her ears to listen to any activities close by before she fished out a bottle of ¡°strength enhancing¡± potion. This potion was blue berry vored and could enhance one¡¯s physical strength 10 fold for a period of time with no side effect. In her past life, this potion could save lives and was very popr.


    After drinking the potion, she ced the pile of firewood the resembled a small mountain onto her back and, with very limited effort, the pile of firewood was lifted into the air. She could even carry her own bundle of firewood with one of her free hands and continued walking down the mountain as if she was carrying nothing on her.


    Ling Juechen¡¯s hidden guard witnessed this and his eyes widened: What did these two siblings eat? The size of that bundle of firewood would be a struggle even for an adult yet the two of them made it look so effortless. The boy still made sense, but even the little girl that his master has his eyes on was so lively!

 Chapter 49 – Grandpa (3)

    <h4>Chapter 49 ¨C Grandpa (3)</h4>


    When Gu Ye returned home with the firewood, their courtyard was crowded with people. The Gu¡¯s n leader was there along with a few elders in the n. With the exception of one unfamiliar old man, the rest of the folks standing in the courtyard were vigers of Qingshan that she was familiar with.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly correct to call him old; he wasn¡¯t exactly old and decrepit. He was perhaps around 40 or so. He was a tall man. He only had to stand there casually and he exuded themanding air uniquely belonging to someone in the military. His hair was grey and his beard messy. He had on a set of old clothes and in his hand was his belongings wrapped in cloth. In his other hand was a cane that supported his weight.


    Picture: cloth wrapper (who¡¯d have thought a good picture of a good cloth wrapped was so hard to find!!)


    Source: dealmoon


    ¡°Xiao Qi (¡°little seventh¡±), what do you mean? Are you denouncing me as your father?¡± The man¡¯s voice was strong and full of live. His look solemn. His round eyes resembled those belonging to a tiger and stroke fear into those who saw them.


    ¡°That... Fifth Uncle. It wasn¡¯t about denouncing or not denouncing. My parents only said it verbally back them, we never edited our genealogy, so it wasn¡¯t really a true adoption,¡± said Gu Qiao as he secretly judged this distance rtive of his. He scanned through his old and torn clothes and finally stopped on his cane.


    When he came in earlier, he was limping and his movements restricted. Nobody knew how he was able to travel 100 miles in the mountain to get to where they were. Their family was already having a difficult time, he couldn¡¯t possibly take on another burden. As far as the adoption went, barely anyone knew about it; as long as he didn¡¯t admit to it, there¡¯s not muChapter he could do about it.


    ¡°I see how it was, Xiao Qi!¡± Gu Xiao wasn¡¯t surprised by this oue at all. He snickered, ¡°Back then when our country was being invaded and the government was drafting soldiers, eaChapter family with two boys must send one into the military. I was thest one left in my branch, normally I would not be drafted at all. Your branChapter had your dad and his older brought. The older son needs to prop up the family so your dad would be the one to be drafted. He was a coward and groveled for me to take his ce. He said he had three young kids at home and his family needed him. And that I was single and had no ties. And that if I¡¯d join the military in his ce, he¡¯d let you be my adopted son! Well, are you denying it all now?¡±


    ¡°Fifth Uncle, I was barely five years old when you joined the military. How muChapter could I recall? My dad had passed away many years ago, and I have never heard him brought this up before. How could I honor this?¡± Gu Qiao smiled bitterly and avoided eye contact with Gu Xiao.


    ¡°Liao Qi (¡°old seventh¡±), I knew about this! Back then Xiao di (¡°younger brother¡±) had to leave in a hurry so there wasn¡¯t enough time to make it all official. But your father had indeed promised you to be his adopted son!¡± The n leader chimed in to set the records straight.


    Gu Xiao, if everything was to detailed out, would be considered a distant rtive to the Gu¡¯s n. He was less than ten years old when his mother brought him back there. She passed away shortly after that leaving him behind to hunt for a living relying solely on his brute force. When he was 18, the government came drafting for soldiers and he went in the ce of Gu Qiao¡¯s father. He was gone for a total of 25 years. In these years, the Gu¡¯s had never heard a word from him; they had all thought he had died in the field!


    Mrs. Gu¡¯s eyes rolled in their sockets and when she caught sight of Gu Ming, her eyes beamed. She smiled and said, ¡°Fifth Uncle, aren¡¯t you worried that your branChapter will end with you? You are right that it wasn¡¯t a big deal that we be considered your children. But most people would prefer to adopt young kids. You know, you have more time to spend with them and form that bond, right? My husband is already 30, he¡¯d be aughing stock to be adopted at his age!¡±

 Chapter 50 – The Ruckus With the Adoption (1)

    <h4>Chapter 50 ¨C The Ruckus With the Adoption (1)</h4>


    ¡°Wife of Liao Qi, what are you trying to say?¡± At the end of the day, they were still seeing him as a burden and not want to have anything to do with him! Gu Xiao snickered within himself. He was d he changed into old clothes in town and wrapped the gold that he brought with him in worn out cloth. It was that easy to see a person¡¯s true colors.


    Mrs. Gu grabbed Gu Ming, dragged him next to her and continued, ¡°Fifth Uncle, you said my husband father has an oral agreement with you way back when and we are not going to go back on our words. We willpensate you with a son! This is the eldest son in our family, he will be turning 12 after the new year. He was better than some adults when ites to working. Look, he¡¯s not too old, you can still bond with him as if he is your own. You have a limp in your leg, he was just the right age to take care of you, what do you say?¡±


    Gu Xiao looked over at Gu Ming and saw a boy with a stubborn look; his eyes clear and pure and his back straight. He certainly has a lot of potentials!


    ¡°Well, what do you say, little boy?¡± Gu Xiao noticed that the body wasn¡¯t too emotional being ¡°sold¡± by his stepmother. He merely looked at a corner of the house. He looked at the same direction as him and find a scrawny little girl standing there.


    Seeing that everybody¡¯s attention was focused on him, Gu Ming frowned slightly. He didn¡¯t replied the old man right away but looked over at where Gu Qiao was and asked nonchntly, ¡°Dad, is it also your wish to have Fifth Grandpa adopt me?¡±


    Ever since they returned from the town, Gu Qiao noticed that his son was no longer on the same side as him. He always had his guard up like he was facing a thief and that the damned girl was his only family. If he was not going to be his son anymore, he might as well take his ce as the adopted son to repay him for raising him all these years.


    Thinking of that, Gu Qiao said with faked concern, ¡°Ming-er, even after you are adopted, you will still be my great son. Understand that dad... doesn¡¯t have any options either!¡±


    Gu Ming didn¡¯t have too muChapter hope to begin with so naturally there weren¡¯t a lot of disappointment either. He said nonchntly, ¡°I get it. But... dad, once I have adopted I will be someone else¡¯s son. Even if I still want to see you as my father I¡¯ll need to have Fifth Grandpa¡¯s consent. By then you will only be my ¡°Seventh Uncle¡±, and that will be that!¡±


    Gu Qiao¡¯s lips moved a bit, but at the end he did not say a word to try and keep him.


    Gu Ming lowered his eyes so nobody could see his disappointment. When he looked up again, it was only rity in his eyes. He looked straight at Gu Xiao and said with determination, ¡°Fifith Grandpa, I am willing to be your adopted child, but I have a condition?¡±


    ¡°Oh? What condition?¡± A shred of curiosity shed passed Gu Xiao¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Adopt my sister too! Don¡¯t worry, I can support her. My sister is very obedient and hardworking, she won¡¯t be a burden to you.¡± There was a sense of urgency in Gu Ming¡¯s voice. He looked at Gu Xiao pleadingly while awaiting his answer.


    After Gu Xiao entered the vige, he had asked around about Gu Qiao¡¯s family. He wasn¡¯t too thrill to learn about him and his wife being abusive to the two children from histe wife. As the saying goes, even a vile tiger won¡¯t eat its own young. Truth be told, he¡¯d be worried to have an adoptive son like that!


    That being said, even though there were someplications surrounding the adoption issue, he was quite happy with the oue after all. This child was way better than his father. Even at his young age he knew to take care of his sister; he was certainly a man with a sense of responsibility!


    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s do it then!¡± Gu Xiao looked at the n leader and smiled, ¡°May I trouble Second Brother to pick a good day and time so I can officially adopt these two kids? I will go into town tomorrow to take care of the paperwork!¡±

 Chapter 51 – The Ruckus With the Adoption (2)

    <h4>Chapter 51 ¨C The Ruckus With the Adoption (2)</h4>


    The n leader patted him on his shoulder and said, ¡°It¡¯s a good day three days from now! Both Ming-er and Ye-er are nice kids, I hope you¡¯ll treat them well.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Second Brother! They will be my grandson and granddaughter from now on, of course I will dote on them!¡± said Gu Xiao as heughed heartily.


    By now Gu Ming had already ran over next to his sister. With her hand in his, heforted her, ¡°Don¡¯t be scare, little sister! This grandpa seems very nice. He won¡¯t be like that terrible Mrs. Gu who was always plotting against you!¡±


    ¡°Ge, as long I can be with you, I am not afraid of anything!¡±1 Gu Ye gripped her brother¡¯s hand tightly, her voice assertive. With her experience in reading people in two lifetimes, this grandpa wouldn¡¯t be that bad of a person.


    ¡°Fifth Brother, why don¡¯t you stay over at my ce for a few days. We will pick a few strong guys tomorrow to help restore some of your courtyard.¡± Gu Xiao¡¯s old house, after twenty years of weather, had turned into uninhabitable rubbles years ago.


    ¡°Thank you, Second Brother. Then I will take you up on your offer!¡± Gu Xiao turned around and waved at the two children and said lightly, ¡°Ming-er and Ye-er, right? You guys put up with this ce for a few more days. Grandpa wille and pick you two up as soon as our house is ready, okay?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Qi, I don¡¯t care how you have treated them in the past. They are now my, Gu Xiao¡¯s, grandchildren. You better take good care of them. If you dare starve them or overexert them, I will beat you to a pulp so that even your mother won¡¯t recognize you!¡± As he said that, he waved his fist forcefully in Gu Qiao¡¯s direction.


    Gu Ye chuckled and said to her brother, ¡±Ge, I like this grandpa already!¡±


    She thought she had lowered her voice, but Gu Xiao heard herment anyway. He turned around, winked at the little girl andughed, ¡°Well, grandpa likes you two also! Remember, eat as muChapter as you can in the next few days and gain some weight. That¡¯s what Xiao Qi owes me!¡±


    The next day, Gu Xiao borrowed a donkey from the head of the vige and headed into town to take care of the paperwork.


    Before he started on his trip, Gu Ye looked for this brand spanking new grandpa and handed over to him the Ganoderma that she risked her life to get and said to him, ¡°Grandpa, ge ge said even though the rocks and woods don¡¯t cost anything for the house, but you will still need to cover the meals for those who came to help. My brother and I came across this gandoerma one day. You can sell it for money when you are in town.¡±


    Even though they hadn¡¯t spent too muChapter time together, but this grandpa left her with a good impression of being a very straightforward and easygoing man. She was certain that her days in the future would be no worse than the days at the Gu¡¯s. But, in order to gain some brownie points for her brother, she was willing to part with her Ganoderma.


    Gu Xiao looked from the Ganoderma the size of a half a palm to the skinny little girl, his look full of tenderness and kindness. He smiled slightly and patted her on her head with his rough andrge hand and said, ¡°Do you really think grandpa is so poorly that he can¡¯t even afford to eat? Don¡¯t worry your pretty little head! Your grandpa can at least afford to rebuild the house. You keep this Ganoderma, it just mighte in handy some day!¡±


    ¡°Well then... can you help me sell it and get me some white rice and flour? My stomaChapter is weak and I can¡¯t have coarse grain,¡± said Gu Ye as she secretly study his reaction.


    Gu Xiao looked just like usual and, still smiling, said to her, ¡°Just put it away. Do you not think grandpa will be able to feed the two of you? I might have a limp, but my hunting skill is as good as before. Let me tell you, I was the one who taught Hunter Zhang how to hunt! Okay, you are still a child. Stop worrying about all these things and go get some rest!¡±


    ___


    Trantor¡¯s Note:


    1. She wouldn¡¯t be afraid of anything regardless, with or without the brother. =D

 Chapter 52 – The Ruckus With the Adoption (3)

    <h4>Chapter 52 ¨C The Ruckus With the Adoption (3)</h4>


    Looking at Gu Xiao agilely flipped on top of the horse and skillfullymanded the horse and left, a real smile appeared on Gu Ye¡¯s face. It looked like this grandpa wasn¡¯t as down on luck as he wanted others to think. She wondered how muChapter Gu Qiao would kick himself when he finds out in the future.


    The two siblings continued to go and collect firewood in the mountain, with the exception that they were no longer bringing the firewood back to the Gu¡¯s, but to store them temporarily in Ninth Uncle and Aunty¡¯s house. All the rabbits and pheasants that were in their traps, they no longer tried to hide them from anyone. They have Ninth Aunty helped them preserved them with salt, these will be added to the workers¡¯ meals when theye to help with the rebuilding of the house.


    When Mrs. Gu saw Gu Ye bringing the pheasants next door, she just wanted to shout and yell at her. Unfortunately the canker sores in her mouth had not recovered it and she experiences excruciating pain every time she tried to open her mouth. All she could do was to bang on the table and chair to show her discontent.


    Gu Qiao wasn¡¯t in the best of mood after his son was adopted, her behavior made him shout at her, ¡°Will you knock that off already? The kids won¡¯t be staying here for muChapter longer! If it wasn¡¯t you picking fights all day long and wedge that distance between us, why would they bring all the good stuff next door?¡±


    ¡°Gu Qiao, you are suChapter a loser! He still has your, Gu Liao Qi¡¯s, blood running through his veins! You birthed him and raised him, so what you want a pheasant from him! That ungrateful white-eyed wolf!¡± cursed Mrs. Gu with her slurred words.


    Gu Qiao was a prideful man, when he heard her calling him a loser, he lost his temper immediately. He grabbed Mrs. Gu by her hair and dragged her outside like he was dragging a dead dog. Once they got into the courtyard he started beating her ruthlessly, ¡°Oh yeah? I¡¯m a loser huh? Why don¡¯t you go find someone who¡¯s not a loser then? Looking at you! Fat like a pig and so ugly you don¡¯t even look human! I must be blind back them to have married you!¡±


    Mrs. Gu pleaded for mercy from the beating. Xiao Zhuang heard all the ruckus and ran outside. He started bawling when he saw what was going on. Da Zhuang just hid inside the house and didn¡¯t evene out.


    When Gu Qiao was finally tired from the beating her, he let out a deep breath and said, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t your stupid idea to let Gu Ming be adopted, all the games that he hunted right now would be ours. And you call him a white-eyed wolf? You are the stupid pig! Oh you want pheasant? Have your precious son go hunt them for you and stop whining in front of me!¡±


    Mrs. Gu¡¯s face was swollen from the beating and she was bleeding from the corners of her mouth. She moaned and groaned from the ground. That irritated Gu Qiao and he gave her another kick before he walked out of the house.


    At dusk, the two siblings went to the entrance of the vige and, looking down the ruggedly mountain path and saw a huge figure riding on a donkey appearing in front of them in the fading light of dusk. Gu Ming went up holding his sister¡¯s hand in his.


    ¡°Fifth Grandpa, you are home!¡± said Gu Ming, feeling a bit awkward.


    ¡°Silly kid, why are you still calling me Fifth Grandpa? You are Gu Xiao¡¯s ¨C my ¨C grandson now!¡± Gu Xiao gently drummed his knuckle on the young boy¡¯s forehead and smiled. The way the kids have been tiptoeing around him had no escape his observation. After all, they are not yet familiar with eaChapter other. But he trusted that it would get better over time. Not just the kids have to get used to him, he also needed to get used being the head of household as well.


    ¡°Grandpa....¡± Gu Ming chuckled as he rubbed his head.


    Gu Ye tugged at her brother¡¯s clothes and that immediately jotted Gu Ming¡¯s memory, ¡°Grandpa, you haven¡¯t had dinner yet, right? Please have half of this pheasant for dinner.¡±


    Gu Ye facepalmed: Ge ge, whatever happened to your normal wittiness? Why were you all stiff in the way you talk? Grandpa wasn¡¯t going to eat you!

 Chapter 53 – Building A New House (1)

    <h4>Chapter 53 ¨C Building A New House (1)</h4>


    After all, Gu Xiao had been to the war zone, the aggressive belonging uniquely to a military man naturally exuded from him. Most kids would find him scary. In her previous live, Gu Ye had seen many men way more vicious, so she didn¡¯t think muChapter of it. The way that Gu Ming reacted toward him was the natural reaction.


    ¡°You are both good kids! Grandpa brought some meat buns back from town. You two go head them up for dinner. Grandpa, on the other hand, will take the roast pheasant!¡± Gu Xiao was quite pleased with the two children. There were very grateful children, muChapter better than that father of theirs!


    Other than meat buns, Gu Xiao also purchased pots, pans, bowls, buckets, types of daily necessities; a bag of rice and a bag of white flour; and also several jin of meat. The vige head¡¯s donkey wasn¡¯t strong enough to lug them all so he retrieved his horse that he had temporarily left with a native who lived outside of the town.


    ¡°Is this our horse?¡± asked Gu Ming as he stared intently at the maroon colored horse. He looked like he wanted to approaChapter it but was a little intimidated.


    ¡°Yep! It¡¯s ours!¡± nodded Gu Xiao.


    Gu Ming was so happy he kept on circling the horse and couldn¡¯t get enough of it. One must understand that a horse like this would cost at least 4 to 5 taels. Most families in the vige, even after working for an entire year, might not make that muChapter money. They barely have enough to eat, who¡¯d have the extra money to buy a horse for transportation? The vige head¡¯s donkey was already the envy of everyone. Now that they have this horse, that would make them top in the vige!


    Gu Xiao¡¯s horse was of a good breed from the Duke¡¯s residence. It¡¯d cost at least several hundred taels. Seeing how excited Gu Ming was, he picked him up and dropped him on the back of the horse and smiled, ¡°Grandpa can teaChapter you how to ride horses when he has some free times. Are you interested in learning?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I want to learn!¡± Sitting on the back of the horse, Gu Ming¡¯s body was a bit stuff but he looked ecstatic at that suggestion. Still, he did not forget about his sister. He said to Gu Xiao, ¡°Grandpa, you have to teaChapter little sister too. She¡¯s even smarter than me, I¡¯m sure she will learn it faster than me!¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright! I will teaChapter the both of you!¡± Gu Xiao picked up Gu Ye and plopped her onto the back of the horse also so she could sit behind her brother. With one animal in eaChapter hand, he walked into the vige with a limp.


    This huge horse naturally caused a lot of ruckus among the vigers. And, looking at all the supplies and food items on the back of the horse, the vigers immediately looked at Gu Xiao differently. So, everybody thought he was a beggar, but now that they thought about it some more, he had been in the military for dozens of years, how could he be so broke? Of course he has some money with him.


    Those vige women who weren¡¯t so fond of Mrs. Gu all looked on happily: The Gu¡¯s couple refused to recognize him as their father; they came up with so many ways to shove him up. Well, it¡¯s toote to regret about it now!


    Gu Xiao first went to return the vige head¡¯s donkey and also gave them two jin of fatty meat to repay them. For those living in the mountain who may only have meat a few times a year, this was a pretty sizeable gift. The vige head tried very hard to decline before finally epting it.


    Next, Gu Xiao lead the horse with the two children on its back and headed to the n leader¡¯s house. That night, he borrowed the n leader¡¯s kitchen and asked his wife to help prepare a very luxurious meal. He treated the vige head, n leader, as well as a few elders of the n to dinner; he and his grandchildren would be needing a lot of help from them in the future!


    Everybody had a hearty meal over at the n leader¡¯s house; Gu Qiao and his wife felt so awful that they could barely eat. Gu Qiao regretted greatly: that old man retried from the military with an injury, of course he would receive supplement from the government. He shouldn¡¯t have judge the book by its cover so quickly. Great, he had just shoved money outside his door!

 Chapter 54 – Building A New House (2)

    <h4>Chapter 54 ¨C Building A New House (2)</h4>


    Mrs. Gu was angry too, ¡°That damned old man, he was guarding against us! Other returned to their home town in style. Him? He dressed like a beggar to set us up!¡±


    ¡°Shut up! This was all your fault! It was all your stupid idea!¡± Gu Qiao angrily smacked his chopsticks onto the dinner table and stared at Mrs. Gu.


    Mrs. Gu wasn¡¯t going to just take that, ¡°So now it¡¯s all my fault? You were the one who didn¡¯t want to be his son so I was helping you out! You said so yourself that it was a good idea to have Gu Ming be his instead! Had I know he had money, I would have offered up our Da Zhuang. Our Da Zhuang was muChapter more grateful, unlike those two white-eyed wolf!¡±


    ¡°Are you done?!¡± Gu Qiao was enraged by her words. ¡°You think you are all that, huh? He was looking for someone to extend that Gu¡¯s branch! Is Da Zhuang a Gu¡¯s? He has the Gu¡¯s blood in him?¡±


    He paused for a bit and took a deep breath before he continued, ¡°I have done some research, Fifth Uncle was affected by his superior and had just returned from where they were exiled to. Matters of the imperial was hard to predict; he just might be arrested again sometime soon. We can¡¯t only see his money; it would be no joke if we were implicated along with him should that ever happen!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Did that old hagmit some crime when he was in the military? What kind of crime? I hope it wasn¡¯t something that they¡¯d cull the 9 ns1!¡± Mrs. Gu shuddered and asked.


    ¡°What are you worried about? His branChapter and ours were outside of the 5 costumes1, even when they are culling immediate family members we wouldn¡¯t get dragged down!¡± Gu Qiao felt better now, ¡°Just remember to stay away from them in the future so we don¡¯t get dragged down!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry! I couldn¡¯t stay away far enough!¡± Mrs. Gu noticed that the dough drop soup in her hand was cooling down quickly. Just when she wanted to feel her youngest son, she noticed that he was gone and she had no idea where he went.


    ¡°Xiao Zhuang,e out to have your dough drop soup! I even hid an egg in there for you. I am giving it to your brother if you don¡¯te out soon!¡± Mrs. Gu thought the little kid was hiding inside the house so she shouted at the indoor.


    Da Zhuang was drooling and staring at that bowl of dough drop soup, eagerly he said, ¡°Little brother heard that there were meat at grandpa n leader¡¯s house and ran over there. Mom, just give that bowl of dough drop soup to me!¡±


    Hearing that, Mrs. Gu split the bowl of soup into two and gave one bowl to Da Zhuang and the other one to her man, ¡°Husband, you think it¡¯d be okay for Xiao Zhuang to go over to the n leader¡¯s house?¡±


    Gu Qiao couldn¡¯t drink his bowl of dough drop soup fast enough. He nodded hastily and said, ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. Both his brother and sister are there; they won¡¯t let him starve. Gu Ming and Gu Ye will be returning here for the night in a bit.¡±


    When Xiao Zhuang shuffled his short little feet and arrived at the n leader¡¯s home, everybody was already happily eating away. Gu Ming and Gu Ye were sitting around the stove table on the inside with the n leader¡¯s grandchildren having a good time. On the table was covered with braised pork, daikon stew meat, poached cabbage, preserved vegetables and meat stirred fry. Gu Ye even heated up the meat buns brought home by her grandpa and gave eaChapter person one of them.


    ¡°Ge, ge, I want meat!¡± The smell of all the food made Xiao Zhuang drooled. He eagerly tried to climb up the stove, but he was too short to reach. He started bawling in distress.


    Gu Ming didn¡¯t want him to make a scene so he had no choice but to help him up the stove, ced a meat bun in his hand, and shove a piece of fatty meat into his mouth. It was then when Xiao Zhuang finally stopped his ¡°crying¡± with all noises and no tears.


    Xiao Zhuang finished therge meat bun and a few pieces of meats before he finally left with a full and rounded stomach. On his way out, he didn¡¯t forget to snatChapter the meat bun out of Ge Ye¡¯s hands as he added, ¡°Brat, why are you eating? What a waste!¡±


    ¡ª


    Notes:


    1. Five costumes and nine ns is a way to measure rtionships within a family in ancient (?) China. Without going into too muChapter details. 9 ¡°ns¡± is ¡°calcted¡± from self and going all the way up to great-great-grandfather and down to great-great-grandson. Five costumes is the five different types of costumes that one had to wear when someone in the family passes away. The closest one is to the deceased, the stricter the dressing (costumes) and daily ritual requirements.

 Chapter 55 – Building A New House (3)

    <h4>Chapter 55 ¨C Building A New House (3)</h4>


    At the end of the day, what did a three-year-old child know? Of course he learned that from some adult. Gu Ming was so angry he was about to snatChapter the bun back. Outside the room, the n leader and the elders all heard it clearly and they shook their head nonstop. Gu Xiao took a look at the short and stubby child and his snicker grew colder.


    The next day, the reconstruction of Gu Xiao¡¯s housemenced. This is the down time for farming so every freebor in the vige came to help out.


    The house was being rebuilt above the site of where his old house was abandoned. Gu Xiao¡¯s house was quite a bit of distance from the vige, located half way up the mountain. Even though the wall had already crumbled, but the stones used in the original wall could easily be repurposes, whiChapter saved a lot ofbors to acquire new stones. Once there were stones, the rest was easy. With the amount of manpower, the stone wall surrounding the courtyard was built in a day. (show me the houses that they live in!)


    As for the structures on the inside, the base that was dug in the past was still there. With stones as the base, then with a rectangle shaped wooden mold, y and straws were poured inside of it before hammeringpact with a wooden baton. Lastly, it was the beams andyering straws on top of the roof.


    Gu Xiao was generous in person and well rounded, and the food was delicious. Main food was mixed flour steamed buns and the side dish was always stewed vegetables with some sort of meat, either fatty meat or pheasants or wild rabbit. Never mind anything else, there were no shortages of volunteers to help out with that kind of meals.


    Picture: mixed flour steamed buns


    Source: meishichina


    The weather was nice for a few days in a row, the crude form of the three main rooms were done quickly. In addition to the three main rooms, they¡¯d also need a kitchen and a storage unit for misceneous items and firewood. In the backyard there needed to be a stable for the horse to stay warm. Under the persistent request of Gu Ming, some space was segmented out for a pigpen; he said he wanted to trap a piglet in the spring time to keep.


    In thest couple of weeks, everybody was way busy with the building of the house; even Gu Ming and his few buddies would join in and help from time to time. Finally there were nobody watching over Gu Ye like a hawk and she felt like a little birdie that was finally released and happily into the woods she went.


    The woods around the vige were rtively safe, but also well-travelled by all the vigers. It was almost impossible to find anything of value. Excitedly, Gu Ye looked at the farther and deeper parts of the mountain.


    This one day, she carried the back basket with her and took off without even telling anyone. Her destination was the big mountain behind their new house. After crossing two hill tops, the windy little path disappeared altogether. Waving the hatchet, she travelled along the path of thick bushes, asionally startling a baby pheasant who¡¯d fly out of the bushes.


    Before she went into the mountain, she sprinkled some beast-repelling powder onto herself. She had invented these powder at the very beginning of the beginning of the apocalypse. It worked wonders at hiding from and keeping away the low level beasts.


    Thinking about her previous live when the mutation had first started, all the once docile house pets turned into fatal enemies of humans. Docile cats turned into beasts more vicious than ferocious tigers; the once loyal canines turned abruptly into vicious beasts that hunted their masters.... Never mind about all the animals in zoos or circuses! Humans had fallen from the top of the food chain into preys in no time.


    And she was just a stupid at a medical school when they discovered her amazing talent in alchemy. In order to stay alive, the first drug she developed was exactly this beast-repelling powder. The smell from these powder was enough to drive away the vicious beasts. It was exactly because she has these powder that she was able to avoid the mutated pets, the farm animals in the countryside, and finally being picked up by Icy Face...


    ___

 Chapter 56 – Building A New House (4)

    <h4>Chapter 56 ¨C Building A New House (4)</h4>


    Why was she thinking about that person again? Gu Ye frowned her little nose a little bit and expelled Icy Face¡¯s cold image from her mind before continuing onto her journey.


    The hidden guard followed the diva from afar and felt his stomaChapter tightened seeing the ck bear about twice her height not too far from her; and a giant snake with diameter thicker than his arm swam under her feet; and a pack of starving wolves ran away from her with their tails behind their hind legs....


    The more he saw the more odd he felt ¨C why would all these normally vicious beast all ran away like they have ran into their natural predator whenever the diva got close to them. If it was his master, that then would still make sense to him; his master exuded this viciousness that even the beasts innately knew to stay away from him as far away as possible. But what made the ferocious beasts afraid of this scrawny little girl?


    ¡°Ginseng! Real wild ginseng!!¡± The little human from afar let out a loud, happy cry before she squatting down and happily dug away in the bushes.


    ¡°Looks good. At least several dozens of years. Should worth some good money!¡± Only money and pretty men could make Gu Ye so happy. She cracked out her mouth and smiled like it was a gold bar that she had just picked up.


    The further she walked the more previous herbs she found: rhubard, gastrodia, five-vor berry, Siberian ginseng, gentian.... Gu Ye¡¯s little back basket was quickly getting filled. These were all money on the ground! Gu Ye was smiling so muChapter that her eyes were now a straight line. Skipping on her way and humming her tuneless songs, she went on collecting her herbs happily.


    Picture: rhubard (looks like red celery to me)


    Source: goodhousekeeping


    Picture: gastrodia


    Source: new.qq


    Picture: Five-vor berries


    Source: pchouse


    Picture: Siberian ginseng (looks like ck berries if you ask me....)


    Source: pingguolv


    Picture: gentian


    Source: z.xiziwang


    Picture: gentian2 es in different color too!)


    Source: pchouse


    ¡°Eh? That piece of leave looks so familiar, it looked like wild Chinese yam.¡± Gu Ye immediately thought of Chinese yam and spareribs soup, Chinese yam and ck fungus (wood ear) stir fry, Chinese yam and carp soup.... All these yummy dishes were making her drool.


    Picture: Chinese yam (aka cinnamon vine)


    Source: pi


    Picture: Chinese yam and spareribs soup


    Source: xiachufang


    Picture: Chinese yam and ck fungus stir fry


    Source: xiachufang


    Picture: Chinese yam and carp soup


    Source: meishij


    She ran toward it as fast as she could and immediately started digging away with her little hoe. These wild Chinese yam mostly grew inside the crack of soft stones; plus their shapes were irregr, so it was no easy task to dig them out. But that wasn¡¯t a deterrent for Gu Ye, all she needed was a bottle of strengthening potion. There was quite some Chinese yam in this field and it took her a few hours to dug them all up. By this time, her little back basket waspletely full.


    Looking at the sky, it was starting to gette. As muChapter as she didn¡¯t want to, she needed to start heading home. Otherwise, her ¡°housekeeper¡± of a brother would be all nagging again. Aye, sometimes family could be suChapter a sweet burden.


    On her way back, she ran into a Siberian roe deer. Her strengthening potion hadn¡¯t all worn off yet. With a casual throw of her hoe, the deer was knocked out cold. With her back basketplete full and a 100 something jin (approximately 50 kg / 110 lbs) game, she was still walking in her regr pace.


    The hidden guard behind her rolled his eyes when he witnessed this. ThIs diva must be a naturally strong woman, even if she had ran into any vicious beast that didn¡¯t know better, she wouldn¡¯t have needed his help. Aye! Master, you sent me to stay here, but she didn¡¯t need me at all. As one of the four prestigious hidden guards of the Hall of Hidden Souls, all he did was follow a girl around day in and day out. Wasn¡¯t that kind of a waste of his ability?


    ¡°Mei mei! Where have you been? I have been looking for you for the longest time!!¡± Gu Ye could hear Gu Ming¡¯s voice when she approached their new house. She stopped in her way and prepared herself for his nagging.


    ___

 Chapter 57 – First Time Into the Deep Mountains (2)

    <h4>Chapter 57 ¨C First Time Into the Deep Mountains (2)</h4>


    ¡°Have you gone into the mountain again? How many times do I have to tell you to not go in there by yourself? IT¡¯s very dangerous there!¡± Gu Ming thought she was only in the mountain behind their house, but he still couldn¡¯t help but to nag.


    But when he saw the deer at her feet and the back basket full of herbs, he turned pale immediately. He ran toward her like mad and looked her up and down, making sure that she was alright.


    ¡°Did you go inside the deep mountain? Don¡¯t you think that was a little too reckless? There were so many beasts in the mountains that even Hunter Zhang didn¡¯t dare wander too far. What am I going to do if anything happened to you?¡± Gu Ming was so anxious that his eyes turned red. He lifted his hand up and was about to strike his sister. But when he said that pitiful little face, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do it. Angrily, he balled up his fist and waved it in the air.


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    Labels: Resplendent Farming Apothecary, RFA


    TWQQF Chapter 261 ¨C Fighting Among Themselves; The Gu¡¯s Are Coming (12)


    School of the Divine Condor!


    Inside the Dean¡¯s hall sat four associate deans and eighteen instructors, a total of twenty-three of them.


    The dean sat on the master seat. He was already 300 years old, his long and white goatie already reaching to his chest, even his brows were also down to his chin. He was, after all 310 years old, several fold of a normal person¡¯s life span.


    Photo: God of Longevity (sort of aical depiction, but fits the description given by the author quite well J)


    Source: 90sheji


    His foggy-looking eyes scanned across everybody there. Truth be told, none of these present were young. Even the youngest one there was close to 100, but he was still a youngster in the eyes of the dean nheless. The only ones there were close to his age were the four old men that cultivate behind closed doors perennially.


    The dean of School of Divine Condor rarely got involved with actual matters concerning the school anymore. Most of the matters have been handled by the four associate deans with the assistance from the eighteen instructors.


    This was the second time the dean had summoned everyone for a meeting within thest few months. This was almost unheard of in the past several years; normally nobody even saw the dean for a year or two at a time.


    Now he had summoned everyone again. Naturally, the ones present could more or less figure out the purpose of the meeting.


    ¡°Associate dean Shen, why don¡¯t you exin the situation to everyone here?¡± asked the dean nonchntly.


    Associate dean Shen dare not dy a second. He immediately cupped his hands at the dean and started recounting to everyone what had transpired at the Cheng¡¯s.


    If anyone from the Cheng¡¯s was there right now, they¡¯d recognize the man as the associate dean who brought his students to provide freebors for the Cheng¡¯s.


    He recounted all the events in great details; he neither cast their own as the ¡°good guys¡± in the stories, nor did he exaggerate anything to make the Cheng¡¯s out as evil people.


    Nobody spoke a word after listening to his recounting of the events. As for whether the Cheng¡¯s had gone too far, or that they asked for it themselves, they knew the answer in their minds.


    Right now, whether they should go pick fight with the Cheng¡¯s to preserve their face or just swallow their pride and let this one go, that was the question they wanted to consult the dean about.


    If they were to go off of their normal set of principles, the reputation of the school was definitely the single most important thing. So theoretically, they¡¯d go an make sure the wrongs have been right; and by that, they mean their face (reputation).


    ¡°Associate Dean Shen, thank you for your great work!¡± The dean started by praising Associate Dean Shen.


    Associate Dean Shen was ttered and he quickly replied, ¡°Dean, Cheng Biyuan was once a student of our school. In addition, Ning Xunzong and his lot had gone a bit far in this. The Cheng¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t entirely unreasonable!¡±


    The dean casted a nce at him. His look did not change muChapter and still looking as indifferent as usual. As he scanned across the others in the room, they immediately felt a burning sensation on their face, as though they had been burned by fire.


    ¡°Anyone else has anything else to add?¡± The dean was as nonchnt as normal but his words gave everyone chills.


    ¡°Hrm,¡± hrmphed the dean when nobody responded. Everybody just felt as though a thunder had hit next to their years, ¡°I have only been gone from running the matters of this school for a few years, little do I know that the students of our school had deteriorated so much. All the students that I have left to you had turned into robbers and bandits. How are you going to face all your predecessors of this school in the future?


    ¡°Do you still remember our guiding principles of benevolence, wisdom, propriety, truthfulness, music, loyalty, faith, heaven, earth, morality, and righteousness. Do you still remember their meanings? Why can¡¯t I see a trace of them in our students? Do none of you possess these anymore?¡±


    ¡°Dean, we were wrong!¡±

 Chapter 58 – First Time Into the Deep Mountains (3)

    <h4>Chapter 58 ¨C First Time Into the Deep Mountains (3)</h4>


    ¡°HA HA HA.... More than just a few! Back in the days when grandpa was on the field, him and his master general ¨C two mean and two swords ¨C fought over 100 enemy soldier and killed some of them while the others scurried away...¡± Gu Xiao started tooting his own horn when it came to telling stories of his past. No only did his stories attracted Gu Ming¡¯s buddies, even the vigers that were helping with the rebuilding of the houses were drawn in by them.


    The grandfather was definitely Gu Ming¡¯s newest hero. He had made up his mind that he¡¯d put in a lot of hard work to learn Kungfu from his grandfather and be a hero on the field just like him!


    ¡°Ye-er, what is the story about this deer?¡± asked Gu Xiao as didn¡¯t think the scrawny little girl in front of him could have hunted a deer that¡¯s bigger than her.


    Gu Ye had to hurry to make up some excuses, ¡°I didn¡¯t know what happened either. This thing dashed out in front of me out of nowhere and ran into a tree and knocked itself out. Well, I wasn¡¯t startled in vain as I got lucky with it.¡± Gu Ye gave her most innocent smile under Gu Xiao¡¯s scrutinizing look.


    Gu Ming bought her story right away. Gauging the weight of the deer in his hand, Gu Ming smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s around 100 lbs in weight! Mei mei is so lucky. You always catChapter something when you go into the mountains!¡±


    Gu Ye sweated profusely: all those little animals inside the traps had nothing to do with her. She, too, was curious whiChapter nice guy had been doing suChapter good deeds! As for where this deere from, she was the only one who knew the truth.


    ¡°Exactly! I am so lucky to have suChapter a wonderful brother!¡± said Gu Ye fawning over her brother to butter him up, trying to muddle the matters at hand.


    Sure enough, Gu Ming was so happy he busted outughing after hearing her words. When Gu Xiao saw that, he was minorly envious and cleared his throat on purpose to get the attention of his granddaughter.


    Surely Gu Ye did not disappoint him. Quickly she added, ¡°It was lucky for Gu Ye to meet grandpa too! The heaven must be trying to make up for me for all the hardships that I had to go through and blessed me with suChapter luck and letting me run into suChapter lucky events one after another!¡±


    Gu Xiao had learned all about the little girl. Her words made him sad and he said to her, ¡°My nice little granddaughter, you have had a few bad years. Don¡¯t worry, you have grandpa now and nobody can pick on you from now on. If you want, you can walk side way in the vige!¡±1


    ¡°Grandpa, only the crab walk sideways!¡± Gu Ye covered up her mouth and smiled. The grandfather and grandson Gu Xiao and Gu Ming alsoughed out loud with her.


    ¡°Gu Ming! Gu ming!¡± It was Li Hao¡¯s voice from afar, ¡°My sister and I walked passed your trap on our way back from collecting firewood and saw two pheasants inside. We had brought them back to you since it was on our way.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful! We will bepletely the beams and treating everyone to dinner tomorrow. This will be another good additional to dinner!!¡± Gu Xiao epted the two fatty pheasants and his eyes were a straight line from his smile. His grandson and granddaughter were truly lucky and were so good at picking the right locations for their traps, hunting all these pheasants and rabbits all the time. He had only been back for 20 or so days and have already feasted on these in over 10 of those days!


    Getting excited, Gu Xiao said to his grandson and granddaughter, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Grandpa will take you to a special spot where they had wild hogs from time to time. We will go dig a big trap and see if we can get a wild hog live!¡±


    Ninth Uncle, who was over to help immediately shot down his idea and said, ¡°Fifth Uncle, those wild hogs are vicious! They can take down an adult in no time. It¡¯s too dangerous with two kids in tow. I don¡¯t think you should go. Deer and pheasants are good enough. It¡¯s not worth the risk!¡±


    ___


    Notes:


    1. ¡°walking sideways¡± means generally acting in an unreasonable way

 Chapter 59 – Wild Hog Ridge (1)

    <h4>Chapter 59 ¨C Wild Hog Ridge (1)</h4>


    That said, meeting the hopeful and excited looks of the two children, he couldn¡¯t stand to let them down. Okay! He would take them with him! If they ran into a passel of wild hogs, he would take care of distracting the wild hogs and gave the kids a chance to run away!


    ¡°Alight, but if we run into any dangers, you don¡¯t worry about anything else other than running away full steam ahead, understood?¡± Gu Xiao, still a bit worried, repeated himself again when they were almost arriving at Wild Hog Ridge. The sibling Li Hao and Li Xiuniang also came with them. If anything happened to them, it¡¯d be very difficult to face the vige head after that!


    ¡°Yes! If we stay behind, we will only be hinderance for grandpa. The most important thing is to keep ourselves safe!¡± Gu Ye said this specifically for her brother. She knew that her brother was the altruistic. She worried that if something happened, he would rush over and became a burden for grandpa.


    ¡°Ah, my granddaughter is so smart!¡± Gu Xiao nodded approvingly at her. Even though this granddaughter seemed very weak on the outside, he quite liked her personality. Gu Ye gave her a bright smile in return.


    The group climbed over a hill and came inside a pine forest. ¡°Shhhh...¡± It wasn¡¯t long before Gu Xiao discovered wild hog tracks. The feces left behind from the wild hogs seemed very fresh; they must have just left this area. With his sword in hand, Gu Xiao looked around vigntly. There were four kids behind him, could one me him for being so nervous?


    After making sure that the wild hogs were gone, Gu Xiao rxed a little. He turned around at the four anxious children and smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s dig the trap here!¡±


    Gu Xiao started on the job with the two boys. Gu Ye noticed some mushrooms and took Li Xiuniang with her to collect them. Gu Ming was a little worried so he looked up from time to time and reminded her, ¡°Don¡¯t go too far. Be careful you might run into the hogs!¡±


    Naturally it was impossible for her to run into wild hogs, she still have the beast-repelling powder on her! Gu Ye kept on picking the mushrooms happily. These were no ordinary mushrooms, there were matsutake! Crisp and smooth and very vorful. The hogs loved them; that¡¯s why this ced was called Wild Hog Ridge!


    Li Xiuning was very nervous at first, but seeing how rxed Gu Ye was, she quickly got into the task. When the trap was done, the two girls had already collected a pile of mushrooms. Gu Ye lifted up the bottom of her shirt to hold them all. She grinned and showing off her two rows of white teeth. That smile was bright than the sun.


    ¡°Give me the mushrooms. You are a girl and you should act more like one!¡± Gu Ming has so muChapter to worry about this sister of his. He took off this shirt that was full of patches and was about to take all the mushrooms from her. It was deep into autumn and inside the gloomy forest it was even chillier. Gu Ming had on all two shirts ¨C his inner and outer wear. After taking off ayer, he shuddered.


    When Gu Xiao saw that, he cut a few vines with his sword and with his handywork, he was able to quickly weaved them into a simple basket, ¡°Here, stop with all that and put all the mushrooms in here. Little Ye-zi, good job for picking so muChapter matsutake! Boy, and some of them are truffle nests too! These were wonderful to stew chicken with!¡±


    What he referred to as truffle nests were actually truffles dug up from the soil by Gu Ye. They have higher nutritious value. Gu Ye was lucky today and she was able to get a few of those as well.


    Picture: matsutake


    Source: olive-hitomawashi


    Picture: truffles


    Source: timesofindia.indiatimes


    Picture: truffle nests


    Source: trufflefarming.wordpress


    After returning home, they made it just in time for dinner preparation. Ninth Aunty and a few other women from the vige were helping with dinner preparation inside the temporary straw kiosk constructed on the empty ground next to the construction sites.


    The main sustenance was abination of rice and millet made from sorghum and there were two big pots of those. Worry that there might not be enough food, there were alsobination steam buns. For the dishes there were cabbage stewed inrd, and a big bowl of wild hare meat with potatoes. These were the hares from Gu Ye¡¯s traps from the night before.

 Chapter 60 – Wild Hog Ridge (2)

    <h4>Chapter 60 ¨C Wild Hog Ridge (2)</h4>


    ¡°Dinner is ready!¡± called Ninth Aunty as she knocked the long wooden spoon against the dishes. All the busy workers in the construction site washed they hands and gathered around. With the crude ceramic bowls that they have brought from home, they received rice from Third Grandma and dishes from Ninth Aunty before they eaChapter took a steam bun and went over to the side to start eating.


    Unfortunately, Gu Xiao¡¯s house has no table or chairs and not even enough bowls so everyone had to make do. Nobody really cared about muChapter that, it was quite cheerful to sit around in group and chitchatted and ate at the same time.


    Some of the helpers would think about their children at home and bring the food home to share the meat and vegetables with their children before returning to helping them after they have finished eating.


    Suddenly, a small figure appeared in the line for food. She pressed her way into the front and matter-of-factly stuck out her bowl in her hand. After taking a closer look at the woman, Third Grandma frowned and her hand holding the wooden spoon paused in the air and said, ¡°Mrs. Wu, you didn¡¯te to help cook or help with the construction. How are you so shameless toe for the food?¡±


    This woman would go anywhere where she could gain something. Most of the vigers disliked her.


    ¡°What do you mean we didn¡¯t help? Didn¡¯t a worker from the construction site hurt his foot? Wasn¡¯t it my man who treated him? Why are you saying that that¡¯s not help?¡± said Mrs. Wu oh so matter-of-factly. ¡°Give me rice quickly. My man is hungry!¡±


    Third Grandma tossed the wooden spoon back into the pot and snickered, ¡°Yes, you are right that someone was hurt today, and yes, Dr. Wu came and treated him!¡±


    Mrs. Wu immediately have a prideful look on her face before Third Grandma continued, ¡°But, it was just a minor injury and Dr. Wu charged Gu Xiao 10 wen!¡±


    ¡°Exactly! Exactly! We paid for the treatment, how is that ¡®help¡¯?¡± Mrs. Wu had never been well-liked in the vige. It¡¯s a small vige, Dr. Wu could charge a nominal fee for small injuries or small illness as a favor. But no, his fees were higher than that of the Jimin Hall in town. On top of his wife with that annoying personality, the vigers usually tried to say away from them.


    ¡°You want food? Fine! Refund the 10 wen! Otherwise, step aside, you are holding up the line!¡± Third Grandma was very annoyed by her personality of always wanting to take advantage of someone else so she wasn¡¯t going to just give her want she wanted.


    Thinking about how frugal her man was. There was no way one could take the money he had received out of his hands. Mrs. Wu spit on the ground and walked away.


    This little incident did not affect others appetite for dinner. Everybody chatted and ate, and everybody got at least 4-5 pieces of rabbit meats in their bowl. On top that that, since the cabbage was made withrd, naturally it also tasted very vorful.


    ¡°Fifth Uncle,¡± said the oldest son of the n leader, who was some 5 years younger than Gu Xiao, ¡°Only your family can provide meals of this caliber. After all these years, your hunting skills was still as good as before!¡±


    When Gu Xiao joined the military, Gu Chen was already in his early teens. He remembered the times when he ran around after this Fifth Uncle, whiChapter was about the same age as him. Sometimes he would even get lucky and brought home a pheasant or a hare.


    Even though it was Gu Ye who brought back one or two game meats from the mountains asionally, everybody just assumed that they were from Gu Xiao. He had always been great with setting traps and hunting animals!


    Gu Xiao smiled but didn¡¯t rify. It was good enough that he was the only one who knew how resourceful his grandson and granddaughter were. There were no need to get the others know so they would get envious and say anything bad about the children behind their back.

 Chapter 61 – Wild Hog Ridge (3)

    <h4>Chapter 61 ¨C Wild Hog Ridge (3)</h4>


    The next day was the big day when the beams wereid. It was early morning when Gu Xiao brought home a young shoat. Gu Ming and his little friends all screamed andughed around the shoat like it was some kind of a festival. The hidden guard who witnessed this from afar wiped away his non-existing tears ¨C he spent half of his night being chased by a passel of hogs just to lure the shoat into the trap!


    After a very simple ceremony with the n leader as the host, the beams were set. After all, vigers were not too muChapter of sticklers to the rules. They quicklyid thickyers of straws on the roof of the house and covered it all up. Even the wooden sheds that were to be the kitchen and the storage room were mostlypleted.


    The dishes for the guests today were all delicacies: two roasted deer legs, an entire pot of braised deer meat, a te of stirred fried spicy deer meat, stewed mushroom and chicken, braised pork, stewed Chinese yam and ribs, stirred fryrge intestine, Chinese yam with ck fungus, matsutake and ck fungus soup.... Many of the dishes were made by a few vige women good with cooking with Gu Ye¡¯s instructions.


    The delicious smell of the food almost filled the entire forest and spread to every single corner of the Qingshan Vige. Those with no rtions with Gu Xiao and weren¡¯t able to join the dinner could only sniffed the air and eat their rough biscuits with the smell.


    Gu Xiao borrowed tables and chairs from the vige and put them all out albeit they were all of different sizes. Everybody who had helped out during this period of time were invited to this festive meal.


    Naturally, Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Gu weren¡¯t on the invite list. Mrs. Wu, her rice bowl in her hand, saw Mrs. Gu who were also peeking at the mountain in the front of her house came over and said to her, ¡°Both of his children were adopt from your house, you are an actual rtive. I can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t invite you. It seems he had no respect for you at all.¡±


    ¡°That old man was still mad at us! Remember how he really wanted to adopt my husband to take care of him in his golden years? Think about it, he had a bad leg, and is only going to get older by the day. Who else can he count on when he get sick or if something happens to him? My husband is no fool to take on a burden like him!¡± said Mrs. Gu in her usual caustic manner.


    Ever since that brat was adopted, her canker sores all went away and she felt muChapter better overall. And she was also able to rid of that boy so her sons would be the only rightful heir of this house. Of course, she has been muChapter happier than she was before. That girl was, indeed, a ma of bad luck, always there angering her!


    ¡°Exactly! You were so smart to get rid of those two burdens! Even though that old man might have some money, but those kids can eat a lot. The old man just returned to the vige with no food in stock and will need to buy just about everything. Whatever money he has would be gone soon, let¡¯s see how prideful he will be then!¡± Mrs. Wu was very unhappy that she weren¡¯t able to get some free food yesterday ¨C it was just a bowl of rice and a scoop of meat and vegetable. They were being so frugal!


    She continued, ¡°Chunhua, you better watChapter out and don¡¯t let that old man send the two young ones to ask for food from you!¡±


    ¡°How will my family have extra food for them? Even if I do, I¡¯d rather feed them to dogs before giving to them! Serves them well to starve to death!¡± The smell of stewed meat made her furious. She spit in the direction of Gu Xiao¡¯s house and went back into her own house. If she stayed out there any longer, she was going to start drooling.


    ¡°Meat! Meat! I want meat!¡± Seeing the coarse wheat biscuit and preserved vegetables, Xiao Zhuang immediately sat down on the ground and started throwing a hissy fit.

 Chapter 62 – An Injured In the Deep Mountain (1)

    <h4>Chapter 62 ¨C An Injured In the Deep Mountain (1)</h4>


    Mrs. Gu was already in a bad mood. She picked the child up smacked him a couple of times on his bottom and said, ¡°What meat? It¡¯s not new year or any festival, where do you think we will get meat form, huh? Do you want your mom to cut off some meat from her body to feed to you?¡±


    ¡°Your meat stinks! They won¡¯t taste good! I want good-smelling meat!¡± Xiao Zhuang had no meat to eat and got smacked a couple of times. He started bawling immediately. He bawled and scratched Mrs. Gu at the same time while saying that, ¡°I want to be Fifth Grandpa¡¯s grandson! I want to eat meat!¡±


    His words made Mrs. Gu lift her arm up high. But looking at the frowny little face of her son, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to hit him. She turned and looked Da Zhuang, who was shoving biscuit into his mouth and took her anger out on him, ¡°Da Zhuang, were you the one who taught him that? Your brother is so young, that was no way he could know that by himself. Say it, was it you who told him that?¡±


    After she was done talking she reached out to try and grab Da Zhuang. Da Zhuang finished thest sip of porridge, wiped his mouth, and agilely avoided her hand as he was screaming, ¡°Mom! What do I have to do with Xiao Zhuang being gluttonous?¡±


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t my son? I would have tossed and drowned you in the urine pail! Not leaving you in front of me to make me angry!¡± Mrs. Gu picked up a rod and chased after Da Zhuang in the yard. Suddenly, the crying of Xiao Zhuang, the screaming of Da Zhaung, the scolding of Mrs. Gu all formed into a cacophony of sound. All the ruckus going on in the courtyard made it very lively.


    Gu Qiao was so mad he mmed down his chopsticks and shouted, ¡°Can¡¯t I at least eat in peace?¡± The noises in the courtyard died down right away. Gu Qiao had been in a bad mood thest few days and blew up easily. Even Xiao Zhuang was afraid of him.


    Wave after wave of wager continued to re up inside of him. Gu Qiao had no one to take it out on. He stood up, kicked down the stool and walked outside with heavy steps.


    Everybody in the vige were talking about how stupid he was to have booted out the god of wealth when he knocked on his door. After seeing Gu Xiao ¡°bought¡± a horse and treating all the workers who helped out with the construction of his new house with sumptuous meals, he felt even worse. If only that old man didn¡¯t fake to be poor to trick him, all these money should have been his!


    Without knowing, he had arrived half way up the mountain. Gu Xiao¡¯s house¡¯s constructions have already beenpleted. The tall stone walls blocked his sight; and the cheerfulughter from the inside seemed so distant to him.


    With a chick leg in his hand, the youngest grandson of the head of the vige tried a few times to climb over the threshold of the door but failed. He frowned his little face anxiously. His son appeared inside the door and picked up the little guy and put him on the other side of the threshold. The little guy sat on the threshold, chewing on the chicken leg, and smiled like a fool.


    If only he did not have his eldest son took his ce in the adoption, he would be the one sitting there greeting the guests. And this boy sitting here with the chicken leg would be his youngest son who was crying at home wanting to eat meat. Thinking about this, Gu Qiao felt even worse than he was before and he left in heavy steps.


    Gu Ming looked up and saw the back of his dad walking away. He frowned but quickly returned to normal. It was him who gave up on him and his sister, from now on their paths would no longer cross. It would be eaChapter person for themselves.


    The dinner at Gu Xiao¡¯s housested all the way until the moon was up above everyone¡¯s heads. The women from the vige stayed till the very end and made sure all the clean up tasks were done before taking off.


    Gu Xiao patted his grandson and granddaughter on their heads and smiled, ¡°Just a few more days. Once the houses arepleted dried, the three of us will move in!¡±


    Ninth Aunty walked over to them and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we have Ming-er and Ye-er stayed over at my house the next few days. Li-er just came over and said Mrs. Gu is stirring up things again at home. I worry that if these two go back tonight, she will take it out on them.

 Chapter 63 – An Injured In the Deep Mountain (2)

    <h4>Chapter 63 ¨C An Injured In the Deep Mountain (2)</h4>


    Gu Xiao had quite bit of the glutenous rice wine that the head of the vige had brought over. A little under the influence, he waved his forceful fist and hrmphed, ¡°Who dare take it out on my grandson and granddaughter?¡±


    After he said that, he went down the mountain with Gu Ming and Gu Ye and went straight to Gu Qiao¡¯s house. He kicked opened the door that wasn¡¯t shutpletely and his thunderous roar could be heard throughout the entire backyard, ¡°Gu Qiao! You get out here right now! My grandson and granddaughter will be staying over at your ce for a few more days, you better be treating them nicely! If I found out that you have been mistreating them, HRM HRM!¡± Having said that, he mmed his fist on the mud wall violently and left a big hole.


    Mrs. Gu shrieked and disappeared from Gu Xiao¡¯s sight. Surely, she felt bad for the damage done to her house, but she dared not let that show. She knew that was a warning to her. The old man must have heard about how she used to treat the two and now he was backing them up!


    After the threat, Gu Ming and Gu Ye¡¯s days at the Gu¡¯s had became muChapter better. Mrs. Gu just pretended that they were not there. After all, the two brats only came home to sleep in the southern quarter; the rest of the time they were either out collecting firewood in the mountain or the helping out at the new house. They didn¡¯t even have dinner at the Gu¡¯s anymore; she wouldn¡¯t even have the chance even if she had wanted to pick on them.


    ¡°Grandpa, ge, I am going up to the mountains now!¡± Owing to the fact that she was unable to exin when she had gained all the knowledge about herbs, Gu Ye wasn¡¯t able to produce the herbs that she had collectedst time in exchange for money. She could only store them inside the dimension.


    The herbs, however, were plentiful in the mountains with many species that she did not possess in her dimension but had only seen in illustrated reference books. These were all money!! Certainly Gu Ye couldn¡¯t let them go to waste. Luckily her brother was no longer watching over her all the time and following behind her every step of the way anymore.


    Gu Ming was helping his grandfather in picking up the yard. When he heard her, he couldn¡¯t help but added, ¡°Don¡¯t go too far! Don¡¯t get too tired! Go with Li-jie and Ying-gu and stay with them....¡±


    ¡°Okay, I get it!¡± Gu Ye ran away as fast as she could before her brother was done. After she have left the house, she turned into the mountain behind them right away. In the interest of time, she took the ¡°speeding potion¡± ¨C her feet short feet moved like they were motorized and dashed straight up the ruggedly mountain paths.


    The hidden guard, who was tasked to follow and protect her, applied his qinggong1 to its maximum and only then was he able to barely follow her. The longer he had been following her, the longer Yin Ba was rmed: this girl that master has his eyes on is truly extraordinary. Not only does she possess super strength, her qinggong is also superior!


    That being said, when did this little girl, born to a farming family, had the opportunity to practice this caoshangfei (¡°flying on the grass¡±) qinggong? No, he should report this strange observation back to his master. A messenger pigeon fly up from the deep mountain of Mount Cangmang and out of Dongling, finally arriving at a majestic courtyard inside the capital city of Yian.


    A white and slender white hand removed the message slip from the messenger pigeon and, reading about news on Gu Ye, warmth had immediately returned to the wlessly handsome face of Ling Juechen like it had defrosted and thawed. This little brat was abusing all her weird potions again.


    There were only a few dozen words in the message. Ling Juechen read it a few times flipping it back and forth. Yin Kui, one of the four hidden guards, was very curious what sort of important message that was that his master had to read and reread it.


    Ling Juechen wrote a message back to Yin Ba and told him to just keep on following and protecting her, and to pretend he didn¡¯t see anything no matter what. He also warned him again to be careful and not let her discover him.


    ___


    Notes:


    1. A type of martial that allows one to move ¡°swiftly and lightly at super human speed¡±. More details can be read from this Wikipedia entry. (Wikipedia for the win!)

 Chapter 64 – An Injured In the Deep Mountain (3)

    <h4>Chapter 64 ¨C An Injured In the Deep Mountain (3)</h4>


    ***


    ¡°Kui, how¡¯s Meiing along on the task that I had assigned to him?¡± After drumming a few times on the table with his fingers, Ling Juechen asked Yin Kui, who had been standing behind him quietly this entire time.


    ¡°Hallmaster, Mei had already taken off with the sage apothecary a few days ago. They should be inside of Dongling by now.¡± Yin Kui¡¯s fair face showed no emotions whatsoever. It was almost like he was wearing a mask.


    ¡°Mmm!¡± Chilling cold light shed passed Ling Juechen¡¯s eyes. His full lips stretched into a thin line and he said, ¡°After he arrived at the destination with the sage apothecary, have Yin Ba and Yin Mei return right away. I can¡¯t stall the Second Prince for muChapter longer....¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± Yin Kui¡¯s face still showing no emotions at all.


    ¡°It looks like... I will need to light some fire under it and speed up the esction of the situation!¡± Ling Juechen¡¯s mind was where the little figure was; that made him lost the interest as a cat toying with a mouse. The Second Prince had been happily activetely; one just didn¡¯t know how muChapter longer he remain being so active.


    At this same time, the little girl that had been upying his mind was reaping all the generous gifts from the mountain. Her little back basket has already been covered by all sorts of herbs.


    ¡°Ow... Oww....¡± As she was squatting down and digging up a wild gastrodia nt, Gu Ye heard an almost inaudible faint groaning. Did some viger identally wander too far into the woods and was injured by a beast?


    She turned her attention away from the gastrodia nt and followed the sound. She walked about 2-3 li 1of mountain road and found an injured person leaning against a rock in the middle of a pile of rocks.


    It was an old man that she had never seen before. His beard was all white but there weren¡¯t a lot of wrinkles on his face. The fabric of his clothes were of good quality and a tipped over medicine basket could be seen lying next to his hand and some freshly collected herb scattered all over the ground. He was gripping his ankle with both hands and moaning loudly.


    Aer hearing some noises, the old man opened his eyes and, with a painful look, weakly called out to her, ¡°Help me... please help me....¡±


    Gu Ye frowned a little and her instinct told her immediately that something was off. An old man his age appearing all alone in this beast infested deep mountain? Something was not right about it!


    ¡°Little girl, I... I twisted my ankle. Pleasee and help me!¡± Seeing that the little girl stopped a distance away from him and looked at him dubiously, the sage apothecary¡¯s interest was piqued. Looked like the disciple that the Hall Master of Hall of Hidden Soul had found him was, indeed, extraordinary!


    Gu Ye didn¡¯t bite. She pointed at his medicine basket and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a doctor? Why would you need help just for a twisted ankle?¡±


    ¡°Who said only doctors can collect herbs? Can¡¯t I just be an apothecary who collect herbs in the mountains for a living.¡± The safe apothecary, sitting on the cold and hard rocks, the chilliness was getting into his bones. There was a hint of impatience in his voice.


    ¡°Apothecarys collecting herbs from the mountain would wear an outfit that cost upward of 2 taels?¡± Gu Ye crossed her arms in front of her and said, ¡°You need to try ahead. Even a kid won¡¯t buy your story!¡±


    ¡°Well, doctors make the worst patient! Besides, I really am an apothecary, not a doctor!¡± The sage apothecary found it both aggravating and funny at the same time. He was already quite fond of this little girl who acted just like an adult.


    ¡°Apothecary? You know how to make drugs?¡± Gu Ye¡¯s eyes beamed. She took a few steps forward and smelled an unmistakable smell of herbsing from him. She then looked at his hands. He has prominent knuckles and the lines in his palms were colors of herbs that would not wash off. She felt more confident about his words.


    ¡°Hey! Not only do I know how to make drugs, my apothecary skills was top of this world!¡± said the safe apothecary full of pride. He nced at the herbs inside the back basket of the little girl and said, ¡°Oh mi! You are able to recognize some herbs. That¡¯s quite good! If you save me and take me back, I¡¯ll take you as my disciple. What do you say?¡±

 Chapter 65 – Naturally Strong (1)

    <h4>Chapter 65 ¨C Naturally Strong (1)</h4>


    To My Dear Readers:


    It¡¯d appear that my Adsense is working again. Yay!


    As suChapter I¡¯d like to again ask you to please refrain from ¡°helping¡± me by clicking on the ads excessively and help me avoid my ount from beingbeled with ¡°illegal traffic¡±.


    Thanks!


    ***


    ¡°Tsk! What¡¯s the big deal?¡± As far as apothecary skills go, Gu Ye knew she was as good as anyone else. The only problem was that the potions and powder that she had developed didn¡¯t belong to this world, so she couldn¡¯t produce and use them.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Anyone else woulde rushing over covered in tears of joy with those words. This girl had nothing but a look of contempt. That was unexpected!


    ¡°So you are a sage apothecary just because you said so? Anyone can say that. And I am telling you that I am a miracle healer!¡± Gu Ye still felt that his appearance right here was very odd; naturally she wouldn¡¯t just take his words for it.


    Unexpectedly, the sage apothecary busted outughing after hearing her words, ¡°Good disciple! Very ambitious! And just like that we have removed that old thing¡¯s title as a miracle healer! From now out the two of us, master and disciple, sage apothecary and miracle healer, will dominate the world! HA HA HA HA HA!!!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s your disciple? What is master and disciple with you?¡± Gu Ye rolled her eyes. Shouldn¡¯t a sage apothecary be otherworldly, sanctimonious, and enigmatic? Then why was this old man in front of her acted just like a old big kid and didn¡¯t exude a shred of seriousness? Was he a fake?


    The sage apothecary seemed to have read her mind. He struggled to get up and limbed a couple steps toward her before he said to her, ¡°Okay, so you don¡¯t believe me, right? Take a look at this huang jing (no English trantion) made from my very own secret recipe. You won¡¯t find a second ce that can produce huang jing that are as effective as mine!¡± That darn kid Yin Mei, he kicked me for real! My ankle was swollen for sure!


    Picture: Huang jing


    Source: zhifure


    The sage apothecary was quite proud of his apothecary skills. One must know that the medicines that he made were well sought after in the market; sometimes one couldn¡¯t even buy them even if they were willing to pay top dors for them. Medicines made by a good apothecary could retain all of its efficacies and the results could be witnessed by all


    Gu Ye reached over and took the pack of huang jing from him. She picked up a small slice, put it in her mouth and chewed before spitting it back out and said, ¡°What secret recipe? That¡¯s just your everyday ¡®9 steam and 9 dried¡¯ method. Everybody on earth knew that!¡±


    The sage apothecary¡¯s eyes widened and he looked bewildered. Stuttering, he said, ¡°How... how you do know about my secret recipe? I haven¡¯t even taught that to your First Shi Xiong yet! And what is this ¡°earth¡± you speak of? Are all earthlings master apothecaries?¡±


    ¡°Ugh... I haven¡¯t said I will take you as my master yet, how would I have a First Shi Xiong?¡± Gu Ye shoved the huang jing back into the old man¡¯s chest, turned around, picked up her own medicine basket and was about to walk away.


    ¡°Wait... little girl! Don¡¯t go!¡± The sage apothecary wanted to chase after her, but the injury on his feet was too painful. He almost fell and sustained even more injury.


    Since he wasn¡¯t going to be able to catChapter up to her, he decided against chasing after her. He plopped down on the ground and shouted out loudly, ¡°Little girl, I was only going to make an exception and take you as myst disciple because you seemed to have talents in this area and the foundation of recognizing herbs. You better think twice about this, the disciple of the sage apothecary could walk sideways anywhere in the world of apothecary and will be well respected by all. Even the wealthy and nobles will be respectful to a master apothecary....¡±


    Not too far from them, Yin Mei and Yin Ba exchanged a look. They never expected there would exist someone who¡¯d decline the opportunity to be the disciple of the sage apothecary. If it was anyone else, just a few pointers from the sage apothecary would be beneficial to them for life. Yet this girl was just throwing this golden opportunity out the window. If others find out, she would no doubt be drowned in spit!


    Suddenly a great idea urred to Gu Ye and she slowed down in her walk. Oh right! This would be the perfect excuse for her! As long as she could find good exnation for the source and products of her own apothecary skills, why did it matter if he was truly a sage apothecary or not? She had nothing to use!

 Chapter 66 – Sage Apothecary? And I Am Miracle Healer Then! (2)

    <h4>Chapter 66 ¨C Sage Apothecary? And I Am Miracle Healer Then! (2)</h4>


    ¡°Master, allow me to pay you my respect!¡± Gu Ye gave him an extremely theatrical performance with one knee to the ground, her hands cupped, and bowed.


    The sage apothecary was sure what to make of this bizarre gesture of making him her master. He could tell that she wasn¡¯t sincere in wanting to learn any apothecary skills from him. But he didn¡¯t exactly have high hope of mentoring a genius apothecary either. As long as this girl wasn¡¯t too stupid and could pick up at least 10% of his skills, she would be set for life. Then the favor that he owed to the Hall Master of Hall of Hidden Soul would be considered repaid.


    ¡°My good disciple, why don¡¯t youe and give your master a hand?¡± The pain on the sage apothecary¡¯s foot made him wanted to cuss loudly. That jerk Yin Mei, did he at least gauge his force when he kicked him? He certainly hope none of his bones were injured!


    ¡°Ugh...¡± How long would it take her to get back to the bottom of the mountain supporting an injured person? Gu Ye pretended to be searching through her medicine basket but instead produced a bottle of red flower analgesic oil1 in a ceramic bottle from the dimension. ¡°Master, this is medicine made from my family recipe that works wonders for sprains and bruises. Let me put some on you and it will stop the pain right away.¡±


    Picture: Red flower analgesic oil


    Source: amazon (don¡¯t mind if I do)


    ¡°OWW! OW OW OW!! ... Be gentle!¡± When Gu Ye was applying the oil on his wound, the sage apothecary shouted like he was being tortured. But after she had rubbed it all in, the pain from his foot surely was muChapter better. As long he wasn¡¯t running or jumping, he was fine.


    ¡°Disciple, why don¡¯t you show that bottle of medicine to your master?¡± The sage apothecary was very curious about the medicine in Gu Ye¡¯s hand. He didn¡¯t expect something that would work better than even his own medicine. Not to mention that the medicine exuded a strong medicinal smell, yet he was not able to recognize any of the ingredients. This was all very odd!


    Stingily, Gu Ye put away her bottle of oil and with a secretive look, she said, ¡°This was passed down in our family and we rarely used it on others. Please, Master, just pretend it didn¡¯t happen, okay? It¡¯s gettingte, let me help you back!¡±


    Having said that, she pulled and tugged and got him up. Without further ado, she dragged him with her. The sage apothecary thought about it for a bit and decided to let it go for now. The little girl was already his disciple; he trusted that the opportunity would present it self in the future that would allow him to inspect this ¡°analgesic oil passed down in the family¡±.


    With an injured man in tow, naturally her speed going home was slowed down quite a bit. When she arrived home, Gu Xiao and Gu Ming were both anxiously waiting for her to return.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Gu Xiao raised his eyebrows and asked casually after seeing that his granddaughter had returned with a strange old man.


    ¡°Oh, I got lost and hurt myself when I was looking for herbs in the mountains. This nice little girl helped me down. Young man, you have a good granddaughter here!¡± The sage apothecary gave him the same spew, with no regards as to how convincing his cover story was.


    Gu Ming dragged his sister to one side and grumbled lightly, ¡°Mei mei, inside our Mount Congmang are all sorts of tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves. Very few individuals would enter the mountain alone to collect herbs. And, think about it, at his age, how was he able to climb through mountains after mountains and arrive here safely? Don¡¯t you find that odd?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so odd about it? He¡¯s a master apothecary. Naturally he has beast-repelling powder on him and need not worry about them. As for how he was able to travel suChapter a distance, perhaps he is very fit physically and goes into the mountains all the time!¡± replied Gu Ye with a very matter-of-factly look and tone.


    Sure enough, Gu Ming put all his attention on the ¡°master apothecary¡± part, ¡°Really? A master apothecary? You sure he¡¯s not a swindler?¡±


    ¡°What would be his intention to try and fool me? What could he possibly gain from that?¡± Gu Ye looked down on her clothes there were of the wrong sizes and covered in patches. She, too, wondered what was the real reason the sage apothecary appeared in Mount Congmang.


    ___


    Notes:


    1. Product description on amazon ¨C Provides relief of muscr aches and rheumatic pains, backaches, bruises, sprains, stiffness following exercise or sports and soothes itching from insect bites

 Chapter 67 – Sage Apothecary? And I Am Miracle Healer Then! (3)

    <h4>Chapter 67 ¨C Sage Apothecary? And I Am Miracle Healer Then! (3)</h4>


    Maybe... there were treasures waiting to be discovered in Mount Congmang? Didn¡¯t they run into a handsome boy there as wellst time? Surely, he said he was ¡°looking for herbs¡±, but maybe it was all a big lie. Gu Ye¡¯s imagination was going wild.


    On the other side, Gu Xiao had already confirmed the identity of the old man. Back when the Duke and his family was exiled to the Northwest, the old duke old illness returned. The Duke did everything within his power before he was finally able to locate the zijindan1 made by the sage apothecary himself and saved his father.


    For that very reason, he had done borate investigation on this sage apothecary and was quite familiar with the herbs and medicines from the sage apothecary. Especially after the old man produced his own brand of huangjing, he had no more doubt about his identify and seemed very emotional as well.


    One must know that nobody ever knew where the sage apothecary was at any given point in time; many wanted to meet him in person even just once never had that opportunity. He never thought that the day of him meeting the sage apothecary in his flesh woulde in this life time. How luck was that?


    The sage apothecary was quite contented that someone actually knew about and appreciate him in this remote area. Yet he pretended to be enigmatic. Waving his hand, he said, ¡°Alright, I am d you know who I am, but no need to announce it to everyone, okay?¡±


    The more well-known someone is, the more low-key they are! Gu Xiao nodded solemnly and promised he would not leak words about the sage apothecary¡¯s whereabout. They wouldn¡¯t want to attract the unwanted to disturb him peacefulness. He further expressed that the sage apothecary could stay and rest at his ce for as long as he¡¯d like; and he¡¯d be more than weed to stay there permanently should that be his desire.


    Gu Xiao¡¯s houses were already most dried and ready to move in. The three of them were in the process of picking a good day for the move. What better day than the day that the sage apothecary decided to pay them a visit? Naturally they¡¯d want to wee him into their house.


    Taking his grandchildren with him, Gu Xiao lit up the stove of all three of the houses. After half a day, the stoves werepleted dried. But they didn¡¯t have stove mat or nkets, etc. Gu Xiao ran around half of the vige before he was able to borrowed two sets of nkets for the sage apothecary.


    The sage apothecary was arranged to stay in the house on the east side. After a sumptuous dinner, the sage apothecary was tired from his days of travelling and retired to his room. That jerk Yin Mei had no idea how to respect the elderly. He body was short of falling apart from the trip. Finally, he was able to have a good night rest!


    Gu Ming and Gu Ye also went back to the Gu¡¯s to collect their own clothes, etc. and also brought with them their own two sets of old, old nkets in the name of ¡°borrowing¡± them. Even those the nkets were so old they were about to fall part, Mrs. Gu still had a hard time letting them take those with them. That was frugality to a whole different level!


    When Gu Xiao saw the nkets that the siblings had brought over, he could not have furrowed his brows more. With a sigh, he said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s just make do for a couple of days. Grandpa will go into town tomorrow and bring back some new ones!¡±


    Gu Ming quickly fished out a small piece of silver from a pile of old clothing and handed it over to his grandfather, ¡°Grandpa, can you also have a new cotton coat made for mei mei? Her old clothes already have too many holes in them.¡±


    ¡°We will get them all! Two sets of clothes for eaChapter of the three of us! And put your money away, grandpa can still afford to buy clothes for us,¡± Gu Xiao did not ask where the money came from. After observing them for this period of time; he was sure that they were both good kids and he was right all along!


    Gu Ming was persistent about shoving the money into his hand and said, ¡°Grandpa, I am always worried about losing it when I have it with me. Why don¡¯t you keep it for me for now?¡±


    ___


    Notes:


    1. rhubard & carthamus form

 Chapter 68 – World Treasure (1)

    <h4>Chapter 68 ¨C World Treasure (1)</h4>


    ¡°Look at you, that¡¯s not even that muChapter money. Is it necessary to be so worried about it? Fine, grandpa will keep that for you for now. You ask grandpa when you want to spend it, okay?¡± Gu Xiao knocked lightly on his grandson¡¯s forehead and took the silver that added up to less than two taels from him.


    Gu Ye took this opportunity to say to him, ¡°Grandpa, I want to learn how to be an apothecary from Grandpa Zheng, will that be okay with you?¡±


    The sage apothecary¡¯s real name was Zheng Duocai1. But after he had be very well-know, everybody started referring to him as ¡°Master Apothecary Zheng¡±, whiChapter morphed into ¡°sage apothecary¡±. Now very few individuals were aware of his real name.


    ¡°Yeah! Of course! But the grandpa next door is very selective about epting disciples. It will have to depends on whether he is willing to take you.¡± Gu Xiao didn¡¯t think his little granddaughter would be lucky enough to be picked by the sage apothecary; but, on the other hand, he didn¡¯t want to point that out directly and her fragile feelings. So he tried to be as subtle as he could.


    The sage apothecary had been well known in the world of apothecary for dozens of year; countless people had wanted to be his disciples. Yet, he had only taken in one disciple so far. Now even that one disciple had be a renowned master apothecary.


    ¡°When I was up in the mountain, I have already be his disciple! Grandpa Zheng said he will start teaching me how to identify herbs starting tomorrow!¡± said Gu Ye.


    When Gu Xiao heard that, he felt very emotional: epted her as his disciple?! Disciple of the sage apothecary? His granddaughter would be the disciple of the world-renowned sage apothecary? He must be dreaming! Perhaps... that was what his granddaughter had wanted. That must be it! She must have performed the ritual of bing a disciple when the sage apothecary was injured. Whether he¡¯d honored that would be a whole different story!


    If only Gu Ye knew what was going through Gu Xiao¡¯s mind right now, she would definitely roll her eyes as far back as she would: It was that old man who practically begged her to be his disciple. She definitely would not have bothered with it had she not needed cover stories for her healing and apothecary skills. Sage apothecary or what not, he may not even be as knowledgeable as her when ites to formting medicines!


    Gu Xiao got up before there was even light in the sky the next day. He needed to go on a shopping spree in town. He worried that one horse wouldn¡¯t be enough so he also went to borrow the donkey from the vige head. There were so muChapter he needed to buy that Gu Ming was dragged along to help out.


    The kids was so excited when he was riding on his grandfather¡¯s towering horse. His head was lifted high up when they were passing through the vige; he looked like a general returning from victory. All his buddies were envious of him.


    One must know that this red horse of Gu Xiao¡¯s was abat horse, and has a bit of a temperament. It didn¡¯t usually let others close to him without its owner being around. Even Hunter Zhang was almost knocked over by the horse once. So the kids could usually look at it from afar. It was suChapter an honor to be able to ride on a horse like this!


    The excited Gu Ming was hugged by his grandfather as the horse marched forward on the crooked mountain paths. Gu Ye, on the other hand, was summoned by her master of convenience to test her ability to identify herbs.


    He did not expect that the girl was able to identify so many different types of herbs at her young age, many of them he wasn¡¯t even sure about their results. The more he heard, the more the sage apothecary thought he had lucked out by running into her! He only came here to return his favor for the Hall of Hidden Souls; he didn¡¯t expect Gu Ye to really turned into suChapter a pleasant surprise like the Hall Master had mentioned.


    The way that the sage apothecary was looking at her gave Gu Ye goose bumps. Was that old man alright? Or did he have other special interest in her? Aiya, she really hoped that he wasn¡¯t some sort of a creep!


    ¡°My good disciple,¡± Gu Ye found the tenderness in sage apothecary¡¯s voice was almost unbearable. ¡°How did you pick up this ability to identify all these herbs? I don¡¯t think that you are going to be able to find any apothecary that¡¯s better than me in this world!¡± Even at the very end he did not forget to praise about himself.

 Chapter 69 – World Treasure (2)

    <h4>Chapter 69 ¨C World Treasure (2)</h4>


    Gu Ye went back into her own room and returned with an very-ancient-looking book that was written by hand and had already turned yellow from age. The book contained both illustrations and detailed descriptions of over 1,800 types of herbs, their medicinal characteristics, efficacies, and utilities. On the old covered scribbled four strong characters ¨C The Compendium of Materia Medica (or inyman terms ¨C ¡°The Encyclopedia of Chinese Herbs¡±). It was obvious that it¡¯s one of her antique collection from her previous life.


    As the saying goes: ¡°Gold for Apocalypse; Antique for Good Times¡±. In her past life, even though the human poption had dwindled to 1/10 of what it was, she still held on to the believe that a post-apocalyptic time woulde and peace would be restored. That¡¯s why she would sell her medicines for gold, but also collected antiques that were abandoned by others. She had a special spot for specifically for ancient books and paintings; they took up quite a bit of room in her dimension, even. And this Compendium of Materia Medica was part of her collection.


    Picture: Compendium of Materia Medica


    Source: js.ifeng


    She didn¡¯t think that after the sage apothecary saw the Compendium of Materia Medica, he was so emotional that tears were about to run down his cheeks. With shaking hands, he took the book from her with utmost respect and carefully flipped through a few pages of it. Once he was able to determine it¡¯s authenticity, he acted as though he had seen the best treasure in the world. With trembling voice, he said to Gu Ye, ¡°This was the herbal encyclopedia from Master Li that had been lost ages ago! How... how did youe across this priceless treasure?¡±


    ¡°Ugh... this was from my mother. She said she give some biscuit to a beggar who was about to die from starvation and the old beggar handed her this book that he said was passed down in his family. All my knowledge on herbs came from this book. Master, is this.... really a very precious book?¡± Gu Ye didn¡¯t expect the Compendium of Materia Medica to also exist in this world.


    From her grandfather, she had learned that this was a country and an era that did not exist in her history. The world was dictated by three equally powerful countries, they were Yian, Sen, and Chongwu, eaChapter of them having dozens of vassal states. And Dongling, where they were currently, was one of Yian¡¯s vassal states.


    There were theories of parallel universe in her previous life; perhaps she was sucked into a parallel universe right at the moment that she died and arrived at a time and ce that did not exist in her history. She did not, however, expect this Compendium of Materia Medica was so sought after here.


    ¡°It not only precious. To an apothecary like us, this was practically priceless. Look, my disciple, it didn¡¯t only record the herbs¡¯ physical appearances, their origins, the method of collecting and preparation, it had also detailed description of their smell, taste, utilities, method of consumption, and interaction with other herbs, etc. Look at these prescriptions that was included at the back of the book... having these, as long as one is not an idiot, given enough time any one could be one of the top 5 master apothecaries in the world!¡± The sage apothecary got more and more excited as he talked and was just short of putting the book up on a podium and bowed down to it.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Gu Ye¡¯s calmness contrasted greatly to sage apothecary¡¯s reactions.


    The sage apothecary gave her a stare as though she was the most unappreciative person on earth. His old face turned beet red and his pitChapter heightened, ¡°Oh, you child, how are you so unappreciative? Do you know what it meant to be in possession of this book?¡±


    ¡°Master, you are overreacting. We don¡¯t want to elevate your blood pressure and bring about a stroke. C¡¯mon, follow me, breeeeaath iiin... breeeaaathhh ooooout.... Breeaaattth innnn... breeaatthhh ooooutt...¡± Gu Ye was genuinely worried that he¡¯d have a stroke just from this. Surely, she has medicines that could stabilize his blood pressure, but how¡¯d she exin it away after she had produced it?


    The sage apothecary followed her rhythm breathed in and out with her a few times and started to calm down a bit. Looking at her nonchnt look, he felt defeated and asked, ¡°Disciple, are you listening to what I am saying at all?¡±

 Chapter 70 – World Treasure (3)

    <h4>Chapter 70 ¨C World Treasure (3)</h4>


    ¡°Yes, I did. Your disciple trusts that her master will be the number one guru among apothecaries and doctors!¡± said Gu Ye in a tone as though she was cating a child to calm down the old man. If he continued with his elevated state, he really might have a stroke.


    ¡°Shit!¡± The sage apothecary was so angry that he was spewing out cuss words. ¡°I am a sage apothecary. Would I take the herbal encyclopedia from my disciple? Are you trying to me?¡±


    Gu Ye paused for a second and, while feelingforted at this at his character, quickly exined herself, ¡°Master, I think you misunderstood. That was not my intention. As the old adage goes ¨C ¡®the best sword to the best hero¡¯. The best treasure would only be utilized to its fullest when it is in the hand of someone who could appreciate it.


    ¡°Look at this book. Before your disciple runs into you, she has only been using it as a tool to learn to read; I have only started looking at the pictures to learn to identify herbs after Shopkeeper Qian told me that herbs can be exchanged for money.


    ¡°This book would only be a tool that could spread its wings and benefit mankind in the hands of a sage apothecary like yourself. Your disciple is offering this up to her master willingly!¡±


    ¡°No! This is too muChapter of a gift for recognizing your master. I can¡¯t ept it!¡± In this world, it was customary to give a gift to one¡¯s master when one became his disciple. When the sage apothecary¡¯s first disciple became his disciple, he shared with offered up the secret method of preparing herbs that was passed down in his family. But, when it came to the herbal encyclopedia, even he wouldn¡¯t feelfortable to ept that as a gift.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s settled!¡± The sage apothecary worried that he would not have enough self-discipline and his determination would waver if she tried some more to convince him, so he said to her, ¡°Your master will pass onto your every ounce of his knowledge, you must buckle down yourself. As for this book, you must never let another soul see it. If you need help interpreting anything, your master can help you with it.¡±


    Alright, since her master felt so strongly about it, Gu Ye decided to drop the subject as well. But, nobody knew whether she did that intentionally or not, she had, in many asions, showed the encyclopedia to her master and sought his help.


    Feeling that he had been taking advantage of his disciple, the sage apothecary gave it all that he has when it came to teaching her. And, to Gu Ye¡¯s surprise, she noticed that this little brain of her was quite impressive when it came to learning. No matter howplicated the medicinal or herbal knowledge was, she could memorize them in less than three tries, and fully grasped their implications.


    And the sage apothecary definitely felt like he had encountered some unparallel raw talent. A kid with this sort of talent wouldn¡¯t be more than a handful in the whole, wide world. If he must say, perhaps only the Major General of Yian could rival. As the words have it, the Major General started showing his talent at a very young age. He was barely ten and was unrivaled, he joinedbat at 13 for the first time and his talent inmanding his troop was better than even the old General. When he was just 15, the old General retired to the backline and handed the troop over to his grandson. Within the short period of 5 years, he had earned himself the name of being undefeatable....


    For some odd reasons, whenever her master talked about the Major General of Yian, Gu Ye always saw this icy face in front of her eyes. In her past life, the icy face¡¯s military acumen was unparalleled and won every battled that he had engaged in. Even when ite to solobat, he was unrivaled. Many would kill to be a part of his troop. Being assigned to his troop, she had never once worried about her safety, whiChapter had allowed her to be able to dedicated all her time and focus into development medicines....

 Chapter 71 – Grandpa’s Foot Injury (1)

    <h4>Chapter 71 ¨C Grandpa¡¯s Foot Injury (1)</h4>


    Why did she think of him again? It seemed she had been thinking about that distasteful face from time to time ever since her transmigration. Okay, maybe not ¡°distasteful¡±, he wasn¡¯t bad looking. Contrarily, he looked quite masculine and attractive, but he also always looked like someone owed him a few million dors. He was always shouting at her that she wasn¡¯t allowed to this or that. So annoying!


    Even though he could be annoying at times, but she had always believed that he could create a safe ce in the post-apocalyptic world for mankind, a safe-heaven for people. Sadly, she would not have the opportunity to witness that with her own eyes...


    When Gu Xiao and his grandson returned to town after their shopping spree, it was already dark outside. The horse and the donkey were chalked-full of goods on their backs. There were three rolls of fabrics, some 30 jin of cotton, 200 or so jin of rough and fine grains, and half a rack of pork ribs.


    Gu Xiao¡¯s house was in the inner most area of Qingshan Vige so he would pass through most of the vige on his way home. Looking at all the goods that had purchased, all the vigers understood full well now that Gu Xiao was muChapter wealthier than he had originally let on. Never mind the other items. Even the richest in the vige might not purchase that quantity of fine grains and pork during new year time.


    Looking at all the goods, Mrs. Gu was so envious she was about to get sick. If it wasn¡¯t that damn old man faked poverty and tricked them, all these would have been theirs!! And that damn Gu Ming, smiling so happily; he wouldn¡¯t even bring any of the good stuff home for his own father! What an ungrateful thing that he was!


    What she would never thinking about was that he was already adopted into another family. Just for the way that she had been treating him in the past, why would he share any of his goods?


    ¡°There was no shop for nket¡¯s in town so we bought fabric and cotton. Xiao Ye-zi, you can tackle the tasks of sewing us some nkets, right?¡± Gu Xiao moved all the items into the storage and teased his granddaughter as he chuckled.


    Sure enough, Gu Ye was stunned after she heard that. Sewing nket? And jacket? What the hell? Her hands had only touched scalpels and surgical needles, she had never everid on hand regr scissors and threads. She searched the original owner¡¯s memory, the most she had done was patching some clothes and socks. She had no idea how to make nkets or clothes.


    (T/N : technically these hands. ;))


    Gu Ming couldn¡¯t bear to see his sister bothered and quickly added, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, mei mei. We can ask Ninth Aunty and Third Grandma to help. You are still young and never learned how to sew. Grandpa was only teasing you!¡±


    ¡°Well.... Should I learn how to sew? We can¡¯t always bother others to sew our clothes for us, right?¡± Gu Ye to herself: sewing clothes couldn¡¯t be that muChapter different than sewing human flesh, right? There was no reason why a beautiful genius girl couldn¡¯t figure it out, right?


    ¡°What sewing? You are the future master apothecary. If you have the time to learn how to sew, you might as well be learning how to make herbs with your master!¡± After a whole day of teaching, the sage apothecary was extremely happy with his new found disciple. Hrm! Sage healer, just you wait! Once my disciple had learned everything from the Compendium of Materia Medica, let¡¯s see how you can keep your title as the sage healer, HAH!


    He could almost see it in him the day when the sage healer was defeated by his disciple. He couldn¡¯t help but smiled with all the confidence that filled him at this moment.


    Through the sage apothecary, Gu Xiao learned that his BOGO1 granddaughter was very talented when it came to herbs. Full of surprises, he was, naturally, going to support her fully, ¡°Your master is right. You should focus on working on your knowledge in herbs. Don¡¯t worry about nkets and jackets!¡± When pushe to shove, he would just buy a woman who knew how to sew from town!2

 Chapter 72 – Grandpa’s Foot Injury (2)

    <h4>Chapter 72 ¨C Grandpa¡¯s Foot Injury (2)</h4>


    ¡°Oh yeah! Mei mei, guess who I ran into in town?¡± Gu Ming asked Gu Ye secretively when they were alone in the house.


    ¡°Who? The brothers who gave us silver?¡± They were the only two person they have ran into during their trip in town, was that supposed to be difficult to guess?


    Gu Ming was stunned and have a ¡°my sister was so smart!¡± look, ¡°Oh my god! Mei mei, that was incredible! You figured it out right away!¡±


    ¡°So, did they find their sister?¡± Asked Gu Ye casually. Truth was, the town wasn¡¯t all that big. Even if they were to knock on every single door it would have only taken them a few days. If their sister was really in town, they would have found her by now. If they still haven¡¯t found her, the news was probably grim.


    Sure enough, she saw Gu Ming shook his head and said, ¡°No. They said they had some leads, but they were dead ended. They are about to take off to look for her elsewhere! Both of them are suChapter nice people. I tried to pay them back but they won¡¯t ept it.... I hope they will find their sister soon!¡±


    As it turned out, the brothers Chu Mubai and Chu Mufeng were finally able to locate the female human trafficker and asked her about Lan Xiang. It had already been some twenty odd years, they didn¡¯t expect the trafficker to actually remember Lan Xiang, but she did. That because that was the only time in her entire career as a human trafficker, she was able to sell a girl into the Jun¡¯s of Yian, a wealthy family in the city. She bragged about that incident for years toe.


    That being said, she might remember the incident, but she still couldn¡¯t tell them where Lan Xiang was from. All she remembered was an older couple of refugees form the South, their son and daughter inw had died on the way and his way was severely ill. Back then, when Lan Xiang¡¯s name was still Erya (¡°second girl¡±), offered herself up to the trafficker in exchange for 3 taels for her grandmother to see a doctor.


    Unfortunately, the olddy didn¡¯t make it anyway. After that, Lan Xiang¡¯s grandfather fell ill as well and left with his wife. The trafficker helped her paid for funeral matters under Lan Xiang¡¯s crying and pleading.


    The fat human trafficker only knew that Lan Xiang and her family was from the South. Beyond that, she couldn¡¯t provide them with a more exact location, or whether she still has rtives back home.


    The lead to finding their sister ended again. The Chu¡¯s brothers were disappointed. They asked around in a few viges nearby but when they came up empty-handed, they had no choice but to leave town and headed toward the more affected vassal states back in the days in searChapter of new leads.


    When the two siblings were sighing for the good brothers in their room, they suddenly heard a loud thud as thought something heavy had fallen onto the ground. They both ran outside and saw their grandfather fell on the ground in the courtyard and wasn¡¯t able to get back up after struggling for a few times. The two of the ran up to him immediately and helped him up. Concerned, Gu Ming asked, ¡°Grandpa, what happened? Did you hurt yourself when you fall?¡±


    ¡°No, I am fine. Just my same old issue. Every time the weather changes, it was so painful I could hardly put any weight on it.¡± Gu Xiao¡¯s left leg was injured on the battlefield. When he was excided to the Northwestern district with the old general, he had sustained permanent injuries due to the harsh condition. He was fine during regr days, but when ite to rainy or snowy days, it would be swollen and painful.


    Gu Ye and her brother together helped their grandfather onto the stove in the main house. They have already lit the fire in the stove during dusk. Gu Xiao put his leg up and the pain immediately lessened from the heat. As Gu Ming ran over to add more wooden into the stove, Gu Ye rolled up her grandfather¡¯s pant legs and took a look. She noticed that his knee was swollen and a little out of it¡¯s original form. Luckily, it wasn¡¯tpletely deformed yet.


    She touched the bones around the joint and felt that one of the bones wasn¡¯t lined up correctly, most likely it wasn¡¯t stabilized properly after the injury. It wasn¡¯t a big deal, nothing that a small surgery couldn¡¯t fix. But, right now, the most important part is to relieve her grandfather¡¯s arthritis symptoms and lesson his pain. As for the surgery, she¡¯d need to wait for the appropriate time.


    Updates every other day!

 Chapter 73 – Grandpa’s Foot Injury (3)

    <h4>Chapter 73 ¨C Grandpa¡¯s Foot Injury (3)</h4>


    Oy! This was so pathetic. All her skills and she was worried about utilizing them. Having to hide her skills was about to kill her!


    ¡°Aye! Our Xiao Ye-zi, just after a day and you already looked like a real doctor! No wonder your master said you are very talented!¡± Looking at Gu Ye¡¯s serious face and her leave-like brows almost furrowed into a straight line, he couldn¡¯t help but to tease her.


    From the beginning of time, healer and apothecary have always been one of the same. As the words have it, the sage healer and the sage apothecary were students from the same master, it was just that they have different specialties. So it wasn¡¯t an odd thing that the apothecary was also a healer!


    ¡°Wait here, grandpa. Let me go ask Master and see what we can do for your leg!¡±


    She ran off before Gu Xiao could respond. Instead of heading toward the east wing where the sage apothecary was staying, she headed straight back to her own room. Carefully she put the lock down and entered the dimension with a brief thought.


    She looked through her own inventory and she didn¡¯t have any arthritis cream left! But, she had the ingredients memorized and she had already collected all of them. She left quite a bit of time in herboratory and finallypleted the ointment and cream that could relieve some of the arthritic pain.


    On her way out, she took apart an electric heating pad containing coarse salt and, using her non-existing sewing skill, sew the salt into cotton fabric before heading to her master¡¯s room.


    ¡°Master, will hotpress relieve some of the aching in my grandpa leg?¡± Gu Ye recounted her grandfather¡¯s symptom to her master and asked casually.


    The sage apothecary thought about it for a while and said, ¡°It will probably be difficult for your grandfather¡¯s leg to recover all the way. I am not even sure if the sage healer could pull that one off. But, if he is more attentive normally and not let it gets too cold, some of the symptoms can be alleviated. If we have the right ingredients, my special brand of ¡®huoxue zhitong¡¯ (¡°better cirction and analgesic¡±) paste will be somewhat effective.¡±


    ¡°Master, look at this Smx and Earth Dragon prescription in the Compendium of Materia Medica. It said here that it will ¡®promote blood cirction and remove obstruction in arteries and veins; warm the meridian and rid of moisture.¡¯ Sound like it matches up to grandpa¡¯s symptoms quite well!¡± Sage apothecary was suChapter a fanatic when it came to the Compendium of Materia Medica. Gu Ye flipped through it quickly in the afternoon and recalled seeing some mentioning of a prescription for arthritis.


    The sage apothecary took the encyclopedia over and read: smx ¨C 15 g, pheretima (earth worm) ¨C 15 g, one centipede, astragalus ¨C 40 g, cinnamon ¨C 10 g, Piper kadsura (Choisy) ¨C 10 g, Clematis chinensis Osbeck ¨C 10 gram, Glycyrrhiza uralensis FisChapter ¨C 8 g. One a day, boil in water for 20 minutes. There were also appendix below it ¨C if the joint was reddened and swollen, optional to add Lonicerajaponica Thunb ¨C 15 g, Anemarrhena asphodeloides ¨C 10 g, Phellodendron chinense Schneid 2.5 g; if patient¡¯s joints experienced severely pain in cold weather, optional to add.....; if the joint had deformation from chronic symptoms and had difficult flexing and extending, optional to add.....


    ¡°This is INCREDIBLE! This prescription is just amazing!! With this prescription, there just might be hope for your grandpa¡¯s recovery! Good disciple, if you can learn this book inside and out, then you can totally take over the title of Sage Healer! HAHAHA!!!¡± The sage apothecaryughed maniacally. It had been dozens of years and his shi de had always been better than him in his healing skills and it had always bothered him. Finally, the chance of him being able to gloat was just right around the corner!!


    But, his precious disciple just nodded at him calmly. With a ¡°Oh¡±, she turned around and left. Whatever did she mean by that?


    The highest level of an herbalist or a healer was a life goal pursued by many. Why was it that his disciple was so unambitious? What a strange girl! That said, she might be strange, but she was crazy talented. Given time, her skills would definitely surpass even that of his, and became one that was respected by all others!

 Chapter 74 – Hunting in the Snow (1)

    <h4>Chapter 74 ¨C Hunting in the Snow (1)</h4>


    Gu Ye walked into the room next door and said to her grandfather, who was sitting on top of the stove looking like he was in pain, ¡°Grandpa, my master gave me some of the medicines that he made. I don¡¯t know how good it is, but let me apply it for you.¡±


    This girl dropped the name of the sage apothecary and pulled out her own ointment. She was secretly happy about it and thought to herself: Hrm, there are certainly benefits with having a master!


    Had the sage apothecary learned that that all he was to his disciple, he might go look for a piece tofu andmit suicide by banging his head against it.


    (T/N: It¡¯s a Chinese saying.)


    The ointment used for enhancing cirction and getting rid of blood clot,bined with her massaging technique, the pain in Gu Xiao¡¯s leg was relieved before long. Gu Xiao thought to himself: Wow, the product of the sage apothecary was certainly no joke!


    After applying the ointment, Gu Ye brought over the bag of coarse salt that she had ced above the stove earlier and ced it on top of her grandfather¡¯s injured leg. Suddenly, her stomaChapter growled in discontent. She had been waiting for her grandfather and brother to return from town and hadn¡¯t have dinner yet.


    Gu Ye called out to her brother and went inside the kitchen with him. There was broth cooking on the stove withrge pieces of bones inside of it. The bones were from the wild hog that they had caught a few days ago. Now that the weather had turned colder, meat and vegetables couldst for longer.


    Gu Ye made some dough drop soup from this riChapter bone soup. Two bowls of dough drop soups made her felt full and warm.


    Most of the pain on Gu Xiao¡¯s leg was alleviated and he had a good night sleep. When Gu Xiao woke up in the middle of the night from being too cold, he saw his grandchild curled up and snuggled up against him. Through the cloudy paper window, he could tell it was snowy white outside. Thinking about the overcast sky at dusk, the first snow fall of this winter must be here already!


    Thinking about just a few years ago, his leg would be excruciatingly painful on every snowy day and he could never get any rest at night. The old general worried a lot about him and had sought out many healers for him, but none of them were able to help him.


    He moved his left leg slightly and merely felt a little bit of soreness; it was nothingpared to the grueling pain he had experienced before. Gu Xiao rolled onto his side, put his arms around his grandchild and, with a smile on him, fell back asleep.


    ¡°Mei mei, wake up! It¡¯s snowing!¡± Chattering, Gu Ming pushed open the door and a gust of chilling wind rushed into Gu Ye¡¯s room.


    Gu Ye was already awake, but her clothes were simple too thin to keep her warm in the weather of the first snow so she had no choice but to curl up in her nket and huddle above the stove to stay warm.


    When Gu Ming saw that, he put his icy cold hands on his sister¡¯s pink cheeks, eliciting loudints from his sister. He chuckled and said, ¡°Luckily we bought cotton and fabric yesterday. Grandpa had already gone and asked Ninth Aunty and Third Grandma toe help, we will have new nkets tonight! Speaking of, you should put on that vest that Ninth Aunty made for you from rabbit skin. Layers will be helpful in this temperature.¡±


    Ever since they had left the Gu¡¯s, Gu Ming had been muChapter more outgoing and bing more like a normal 11-year-old boy. Gu Ye could tell the changes in her brother and truly felt that her grandfather was the savior for the both of them.


    If they weren¡¯t adopted by their grandfather, she had no idea how Mrs. Gu would be treating them right about now. She wasn¡¯t even sure if they could make it through this long and cold winter with whatever little clothes that they had.


    ¡°Wow! This is some snow!¡± The snow was over the entire yard, covering all of the roof and the tree branches. The snow had stopped and the sun was out. Reflecting on the pure, white snow, it was too bright to look at directly. In her past life, the greenhouse effect continued to exacerbate and Gu Ye, who hadn¡¯t seen snow in years, couldn¡¯t help but be mesmerized.

 Chapter 75 – Hunting in the Snow (2)

    <h4>Chapter 75 ¨C Hunting in the Snow (2)</h4>


    Gu Ming rolled up a snowball and threw at a tree in the yard, instantly white powder fell down from all over the ce. He smiled after hearing Gu Ye¡¯s words, ¡°This snow isn¡¯t heavy at all. In the past when the snow was heavy, you disappeared as soon as you stepped outside the door being covered up entirely by the snow!¡±


    ¡°Gu Ming! We are going to hunt for wild hares in the mountain, do you want toe with?¡± The voice that was in the processing of changing into a deeper man¡¯s voice belonged to Zhang Lihu from outside the door.


    ¡°Yes! Of course! Lihu ge, do you mind waiting for me for a little bit? I haven¡¯t even had breakfast yet!¡± During snowy days, the hares couldn¡¯t run too fast in the snow and were muChapter easier to catch.


    This timest year, Gu Ming went with Zhang Lihu and his father to hunt for wild hare. Lo and behold, he was able to watChapter one. But even though he was the one who caught the hare, when it came to splitting the hare meat, all he and his sister got was the bones. But, even so, his sister was still chewing on it like it was some sort of delicacy. Thinking about this, he almost started crying again.


    ¡°Ge ge, wait for me!¡± Gu Ye, who had never walked on snow before, walked behind everyone with difficulty. She slipped always every step of the way and fell over altogether asionally. Luckily, she had lots of clothes on so she didn¡¯t sustain any injuries.


    Gu Ming turned around and looked at his sister who was falling behind. Having no other options, he turned around and walked back toward her and just in time to break her fall as she was about to facent into the snow once again.


    Zhang Lihu came over as well and took her other arm. In his coarse voice, he griped, ¡°I told you not to bring her, but you wouldn¡¯t listen to me. See? How she¡¯s just slowing us down!¡± As muChapter as he wasining, he kept on holding her arm and helping her walk.


    ¡°Thank you, Lihu ge.....¡± said Gu Ye in the sweetest possible voice she could mutter, so muChapter that she shuddered from her own voice. Boy, oh boy, coquetry really wasn¡¯t her thing; she disgusted even herself!


    In the past few weeks, Gu Ye had gained some weight. Her eyes were no longer sunken in, and her cheeks had also filled out a little. Her features had always been pretty ¨Crge eyes, longshes, tall nose, small mouth along with the small pointy face. She was turning out pretty well.


    With a pretty girl like that smiling sweetly at him, Zhang Lihu couldn¡¯t hold it any longer. His face turned beet read and he couldn¡¯t make a sound. Luckily, due to his darkplexion, it wasn¡¯t easy to tell that he was blushing.


    A fat wild hare dashed out of a dried bush in front of them at this very moment and ran around frantically. Gu Ming shouted out loudly as he ran toward it, ¡°Hare! Hare! Uncle Zhang, quick! Get him!¡±


    Hunter Zhang aimed his spear at the hare. With a swift twist of its body, the hare dodged the spear and continued to dash around between the three men that were closing in.


    Gu Ye wanted to join in the fun too but after just a few steps she slipped and facented into the snow. It was quite an embarrassing look. Luckily, both Zhang Lihu and her brother were focusing all of their attention on the hare, whiChapter saved her from being teased again.


    She picked herself up from the ground and walked cautiously. Suddenly, she looked up and saw a blue bird with a red beak perching on a bush, pecking at the seeds beneath the snow. She produced a small slingshot, extended it and aimed. A small rock shot out and the poor bird dropped to the ground. Gu Ye struggled to walk forward and picked it up.


    Not too far away, when the wild hare was finally tired from all the running, Zhang Lihu finally threw himself forward and got his hands on the hare.


    ¡°HAHAHA! Check this out!¡± Zhang Lihu held the fat hare in his hands with its ears and disyed it in the direction of Gu Ye. Gu Ye also disyed the red-beaked blue bird to him.

 Chapter 76 – Hunting in the Snow (3)

    <h4>Chapter 76 ¨C Hunting in the Snow (3)</h4>


    ¡°Hey! This slingshot is not half bad! Did your grandpa make it for you?¡± When Zhang Lihu saw the slingshot in her hands, he shoved the hare into Gu Ming¡¯s hands and took the slingshot from her. He stretched it out a few times and felt that its sticity was even better than his.


    Gu Ye had taken apart a metal alloy sling shot and reced the handle with a wooden one. Naturally the high-quality rubber band had muChapter better sticity than that of Zhang Lihu¡¯s. No wonder Lihu didn¡¯t want to put it down.


    Gu Ming and Gu Ye didn¡¯t want to hold Zhang Lihu and his father back so they parted ways quickly. The two of them headed toward their traps to check. The dried grass on top was it had copsed from the weight of the snow and it was empty inside.


    That¡¯s because Yin Ba, the one who had been responsible for tossing preys into the traps, had finally been summoned by his master to return. He was so emotional he almost started crying. Yin Ba was, after all, a quite aplished hidden guard of the Hall of Hidden Soul. What was up with him following behind a little girl day in and day out taking care of her?


    Even though there were nothing in their traps, the two siblings didn¡¯t exactly return empty-handed. Gu Ye shot one pheasant and three birds with her slingshot. Her incredible precision with her slingshot made Gu Ming envious and kept asking her to teaChapter him how to use a slingshot.


    ¡°Gu Ye, was the old man that you saved really a reputable doctor? I heard that he was the one who treated and cured your grandpa¡¯s leg?¡± asked Mrs. Wu with a smile as she walked up to the siblings when they returned to the vige carrying with them their catches.


    A hint of greed and envy shed passed Mrs. Wu¡¯s eyes when she saw the pheasant in Gu Ye¡¯s hand. But, even though a pheasant was important, the assignment given to her by her husband was even more important.


    ¡°Whether my master is a doctor, or whether he¡¯s an incredible doctor does not concern you.¡± Gu Ye did not like this Mrs. Wu a bit. Her shamelessness was astonishing. All she thought about all day long was how to take advantage of others.


    ¡°Master? The doctor took you as his disciple? Why her? She is still just a child!¡± Mrs. Wu was very rmed by what she had just learned. She didn¡¯t want morepetition for her husband!


    Her original intention was to find out when the skillful doctor was going to leave town. There were about thirty or so households in Qingshan Vige and, every winter, a lot of them would get sick and that¡¯s Mr. and Mrs. Wu¡¯s main source of ie.


    Early that morning Wu Danggui ran into the crippled Fifth Gu and noticed that the condition of his leg had improved greatly. He didn¡¯t even need to use a cane when walking in the snow. Slightly disturbed, he went up and asked and found out it was the man that Gu Ye saved from the mountain who had cured him. He was immediately rmed: If that old doctor were to stay in his vige for the entire winter, what would he live off of in theing year?


    That¡¯s why Mrs. Wu waited for almost two hours in the cold weather for the two siblings to return. But the first new that she found out was the damned child Gu Ye had be the old man¡¯s disciple to train to be a doctor. The old man was just staying at Fifth Gu¡¯s house while recovering from his injury; he had got to leave one day. But if this brat learned his skills, their business would be ruined.


    ¡°I have never heard of a woman bing a doctor. Think about it, there are lots of bodily contact when you examine a patient. You are a girl, if words got out that you touChapter men¡¯s hands and bodies day in and day out, who¡¯d want to marry you? Gu Ye-er, I only have your best interest in mind. This is not a good path for you!¡±


    Mrs. Wu figured that bringing up concerns about her future marriage would be enough to deter this timid girl from wanting to be a doctor.

 Chapter 77 – Severed Archille’s Tendon (1)

    <h4>Chapter 77 - Severed Archille''s Tendon (1)</h4>


    Yet, Gu Ye simply responded with a despicable tone, ¡°Whether I will ever find someone who wants to marry me is still none of your business. If you have the time to worry about that, why don¡¯t you spend more of your time on trying to improve your skill as a doctor? It¡¯s no joke when your patients die because of your ignorance!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you damn child. Who are you calling ignorant! You¡­.¡± Mrs. Wu blew up right away. She rolled up her sleeves and assumed a fighting stance.


    ¡°Mrs. Wu! Is Mr. Wu home? Hurry up! We need help!¡± Hunter Zhang carried Zhang Lihu, who was obviously in distress, on his back and ran toward them from the mountain not too far away. One of Zhang Lihu¡¯s ankle was wrapped inyers andyers of fabric strips. Blood soaked through al theyers and left a bright red trail behind them.


    ¡°Yes! Yes! He is in! Quickly, take the patient inside! Physical injuries are my husband¡¯s specialties! Don¡¯t worry, Hunter Zhang. I am sure your son will be alright!¡± Mrs. Wu only saw money in her eyes! Hunter Zhang was one of the wealth families in the vige. She n on inting the cost.


    There was a blood trail behind them and Zhang Lihu looked as pale as the snow underneath them. It was quite a horrifying scene. He was ced on a chair in an outside room. When Wu Danggui unwrapped the fabrics wrapped around his ankle and looked at the ugly wound underneath, he couldn¡¯t help but frowned.


    ¡°Hunter Zhang, how exactly did you son get injured? This is serious!¡± Wu Danggui asked while he was trying to get the bleeding under control.


    ¡°Oh man! I saw a pheasant in the mountain and didn¡¯t notice that my son had already lunged at it until my spear had already left my hand. It hit him right on his ankle. Mr. Wu, what is your prognosis?¡± Hunter Zhang was filled with guilt and regret.


    ¡°Bad. Your spear hit him right on his Archillle¡¯s tendon and severed almost all of it. Even when his skin heals, this foot would be barely mobile.¡± Said Wu Donggui regretfully as he shook his head.


    ¡°What? Are you telling me that I am going to be a cripple?¡± Zhang Lihu became emotional immediately. He grabbed his dad on his upper arm and shook him violently, ¡°Dad! I don¡¯t want to be a cripple. Dad! If I became a cripple, I won¡¯t be able to hunt. I won¡¯t even be able to support myself in the future! I am just going to be a useless garbage! Dr. Wu, please do what you need to save my foot!¡±


    ¡°Dr. Wu, if you can cure my son¡¯s foot, I will pay you however much you ask. Dr. Wu, I am begging you!¡± There were tears in Hunter Zhang¡¯s eyes and he was groveling.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that I don¡¯t want to treat him, it¡¯s that I am not able to help him! Not even the on site doctor at Jimin Hall would bel able to help me, let along me!¡± replied Dr. Wu helplessly.


    A shred of despair shed through Zhang Lihu¡¯s eyes. Did that mean he is going to turn into a useless cripple for the rest of his life? Then would there still be meaning to being alive?


    ¡°Uncle Zhang. The old man that my sister saved from the mountain was a very skilled doctor. Just look at my grandpa. His leg used to hurt a lot, but the symptoms had lessened greatly since he had use the doctor¡¯s medicines. He didn¡¯t even need to use the cane when he left the house today. Why don¡¯t you bring Lihu-ge over to him and see what he says?¡± Gu Ming had always been close to Zhang Lihu and couldn¡¯t bear to see him suffer, so he felt that he had to chime in.


    What the hell? Thought Mrs. Wu when she heard that. How could he tried to steal their business right at their ce? She was just about to snap and kick them out when her man put his hand on her and stopped her. Mrs. Wu breathed heavily and said, ¡°Husband, are you seeing this! What the hell was the meaning of this?¡±

 Chapter 78 – Severed Archille’s Tendon (2)

    <h4>Chapter 78 ¨C Severed Archille¡¯s Tendon (2)</h4>


    ¡°Let them go!¡± said Wu Donggui as he watched deviously at the back of Hunter Zhang and his son on their way out. ¡°I have never heard of leg tendons growing back once it is severed. When Zhang Lihu became a cripple after being treated by them, we will go and spread the words that his injury was treatable, but he ended up crippled under the man¡¯s treatment. Do you think he will have any more patients after that?¡±


    ¡°Great idea! Husband, you are so smart! Exactly, it was the mistake of the old man that crippled him!¡± Having heard that, Mrs. Wu¡¯s mood quickly improved and sheughed out loud at the thought.


    Gu Ye ran home as fast as she could and ran inside the house one step before Hunter Zhang and his son. When he found the sage apothecary pacing slowly in the backyard, she ran up to him and grabbed him by his hand. There was a strange glow in her eyes and she said, ¡°Master! We have patient! Quick! Go get ready!¡±


    ¡°Patient? What is wrong with him? Coughing or fever? These symptoms are not challenging enough, your Master don¡¯t usually treat patients like that. Isn¡¯t there a mediocre doctor in your vige? Just have him prescribe him some herbs and that will be that! I will take a look at the patient if he doesn¡¯t get better.¡±


    The sage apothecary¡¯s foot was still bruised and he was still limping a little bit. Despite that, he still tried to put on the show that he was oh so unfathomable. Being yanked expectedly by his disciple, he stumbled and almost felt on his back in the snow.


    ¡°Master! Master! It¡¯s not anymon illness. Lihu-ge was hurt. His Achilles tendon has been severed!!¡± Even though there was some worry in Gu Ye¡¯s tone, it was mostly full excitement.


    ¡°Injured? Just put some paste on it and stop the bleeding and that would... wait, what did you just say?¡± sage apothecary¡¯s nonchnt look suddenly turned very solemn. ¡°Did you say his tendon was severed? Then his leg was ruined. What is there to treat? Never mind about your master, even if the sage healer was here in person, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fix him!!¡±


    ¡°Master, sure, his tendon was severed, but all we need to do is to sew it back up!¡± In her previous life, that was but a minor surgery. Howe the all mighty sage apothecary, who was alwayspeting with the sage healer, made it sound like it was a hopeless case?


    ¡°Sew it back up? You made it sound so simple. Do you think it¡¯s like patching your clothes? Let me tell you, your master has been around for some 60 odd years, but I have never heard of severed tendons being re-attached!¡± If this was fractured bones they were talking about, he¡¯d at least be able to align it back for the patient. But this is the Achille¡¯s tendon that they were talking about! There was nothing he could....


    ¡°Grandpa Zheng. Lihu-ge was injured, can you please take a look at him?¡± Footsteps came running toward them from the outside, followed by Gu Ming¡¯s voice.


    Back when she was still at the Gu¡¯s and Mrs. Gu wouldn¡¯t let her eat anything, Zhang Lihu would save the birds that he caught, cooked them and have her brother sneaked them into the house for her. Whenever he found bird eggs, he would also give her a few. Without Lihu-ge and Ninth Aunty next door¡¯s supplements from time to time, the original owner would have starved to death muChapter sooner. No matter what, she couldn¡¯t just sit around and watChapter him turn into a cripple!


    What the heck! Gu Ye dragged her master back into his room before she run back to her own room and grabbed all her surgical equipment from her dimension. She packed them all and carried them with her to the east quarter.


    In her previous life, before the apocalypse, she was a talent student at the medical school. She was just 16 when she received her medical degree and had plenty of experience in performing surgeries. Whether it was theoretical or actual experience, she was skilled in most surgeries.

 Chapter 79 – Severed Archille’s Tendon (3)

    <h4>Chapter 79 ¨C Severed Archille¡¯s Tendon (3)</h4>


    Unfortunately, since the apocalypse, there weren¡¯t a lot of opportunities for her to utilize her skills so she turned toward apothecary and had developed many new drugs that would stimte a person¡¯s hidden potential in order to hold an important role in her troop. In a post-apocalyptic world, the useless ones were doomed to be left behind.


    ¡°Mister, please save my son!¡± Hunter Zhang¡¯s voice was filled with sadness and desperation. He wish he was the one who was going to be a cripple. His son was only 13 years old, how could he handle suChapter a tragical shock.


    Right before the sage apothecary could exin that he would not be able to help his son, he was distracted by all of his disciple¡¯s strange-looking tools ¨C all sort of odd-looking scissors, small knives, forceps, needles... All of them super shiny and made from some kind of material that he had never seen before.


    ¡°Uncle Zhang, my master does not allow others to observe when he was treating the patient. Why don¡¯t you put Lihu-ge on top of the stove and wait outside?¡± His disciple had already promised to treat the patient while he was studying the tools.


    ¡°Disciple, do you mean you can....¡± The sage apothecary suddenly thought of a possibility and immediately his eyes widened as he looked at the little girls busying herself in front of him. But he was interrupted by her before he could finish what he was going to say.


    ¡°Lihu-ge, you can stop crying now. As luck would have it, you have run into my master. You must know that my master¡¯s healing skills are even better than that of the sage healer! Don¡¯t worry, this is just a small injury. You will be running and jumping around in no more than two to three months!¡± Seeing how Zhang Lihu was covered in tears and his face a pale white color, Gu Ye couldn¡¯t help but tofort him.


    The sage apothecary smiled bitterly. Had he heard someone said that his healing skills was better than that of the sage healer any other time, he would have chimed in in agreement. But he truly would not be able to fix this severed Achille¡¯s tendon.


    ¡°Mr. Sacred Doctor, you must heal me. I.... I don¡¯t want to be a cripple.¡± Zhang Lihu cried so hard he was having hups. After hearing Gu Ye¡¯s words, he looked at the sage apothecary with hope in his eyes.


    ¡°I...¡±


    Just when the sage apothecary was about to say something, he was interrupted by his disciple again, ¡°Lihu-ge, don¡¯t worry! With my master here, you won¡¯t be a cripple even if you want to!¡±


    Soon as she finished saying that, she sprayed anesthesia medicine straight on Zhang Lihu¡¯s face. She was going to have to perform the surgery herself; it¡¯d be difficult to exin if Zhang Lihu saw that. In three seconds or less, Zhang Lihu fell into a deep sleep.


    The sage healer¡¯s eyes widened and asked, surprised, ¡°What was that? Knockout drops? I thought you were going to treat him? Why did you knock him out?¡±


    ¡°Master, I don¡¯t want words to get out that I can treat patients. I need you to keep this a secret for me!¡± As she was talking, Gu Ye injected anesthesia into the injured.


    ¡°What is it that you are injected into his leg? What is that tool you are holding in your hand?¡±


    ¡°Ugh... this is... ma fei san1!¡± Gu Ye had no idea how to exin anesthesia to an ancient person, so she just borrowed Hua Tuo¡¯s name2.


    ¡°Ma fei san?? You mean you possess the skills of Hua Tuo?¡± The sage apothecary¡¯s eyes beamed as he looked at Gu Ye, feeling emotional uncontrobly.


    The recipe for ma fei san that had been long lost has re-surfaced. This was good news for all wounded and injured in the world! He must look at his new-found disciple in a whole different light. Who was she? Where was she from? How was it that she had all these medical treasures with her?


    Compendium of Materia Medica, ma fei san, skills of Hua Tuo.... Any one of these would be enough to rock the world!

 Chapter 80 – The Master’s Imagination (1)

    <h4>Chapter 80 ¨C The Master¡¯s Imagination (1)</h4>


    Under the sage apothecary¡¯s intent stare, Gu Ye started talking slowly, ¡°Ugh... if you are referring to the technique of ¡®splitting open the stomaChapter and removing the lump¡¯, then yes, I know a little bit of it. As for the ma fei san, I am not sure if it¡¯s the same as Mr. Hua Tuo¡¯s ma fei san. But at least their effect and usage are the same.¡±


    As Gu Ye went on talking, her hands did not slow down at all. She cleaned the wounded area and sliced it open. She tightened the severed tendon with a pair of hemostatic forceps; found the best angle to apply the reattachment; tightened the suturing thread; and removed the excessive part of the tendon....


    It had been a while since she hadst performed a surgery. Gu Ye was a bit rusty at the beginning but quickly she got her feelings back and her fingers moved quickly performing the tasks. The mostly severed tendon was reattached in no time. She knotted the thread before she sutured his membrane and his skin....


    ¡°Okay, the surgery was very sessful!¡± Gu Ye thought about it for a second before she took two pieces of wood left over from the doors and windows and secure the patient¡¯s injury leg securely. It was a shame that she wasn¡¯t able to apply a cast to her patient¡¯s leg. She had to make do with what she has.


    ¡°Wow, this was indeed the sacred skills of Hua Tuo!!¡± The sage apothecary, who had been standing to one said, wished he could grow a second pair of eyes. He looked on foolishly while the wound was being dressed and he was still mesmerized by the surgery earlier. He was able to witness the Hua Tao¡¯s sacred skill. He felt that his life was nowplete.


    ¡°Disc... no, Little Miracle Doctor, you just let me observed your secret techniques, would you master be upset?¡± By now the sage apothecary no longer dare to refer to himself as her master. No wonder she had no reaction when he revealed his identity to her, nor was she excited when he suggested to take her as his disciple. With her kind of mad skills, what could she possibly need from him?


    Gu Ye gave Zhang Lihu another anti-infective shot and, hearing sage apothecary¡¯s words, she looked up as him as though she was looking at a fool and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you my master?¡±


    ¡°No... No...¡± The sage apothecary shook his hands frantically, ¡°Just with my skills, I couldn¡¯t possibly be your master....¡±


    ¡°We have already had the ceremony, and you have epted my gift. Are you trying to go back on your words now? Once the master, always the master. Master, I¡¯m afraid you are stuck with me!¡± Gu Ye wrapped her surgical tools back up in the worn-out cloth wrapper. She nned to disinfect them when she got back into the dimension.


    Sage apothecary continued to shook his head frantically then, suddenly, he thought of something. He said to her in a secretive manner, ¡°I get it! Disc... Little Miracle Doctor, your master must not want to you reveal your school. I know that there are many schools out there that prefer to remain anonymous. Their disciples would always keep their background a secret when theye out to hone their skills. Don¡¯t worry, I will keep your secret for you!¡±


    ¡°Master, you are overthinking this!¡± Gu Ye wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that. She was impressed by old sage apothecary¡¯s crazy imagination.


    ¡°I understand! I understand! You need a cover for your real identify. No problem! From now on, you are still my disciple in front of others. Oh boy, a disciple of the Hua Tuo branChapter is addressing me as Master, what more could I ask for?¡± the sage apothecary winked at her and gave her a look of tacit understanding.


    Whatever. At least she wouldn¡¯t need to spend so muChapter time in trying toe up with excuses anymore. She said to her silly master, ¡°Okay, I will let Master take care of the herbal tea prescription for his wound!¡±


    ¡°No problem. That¡¯s small case. I will take care of that!¡± the sage apothecary pulled out his stationeries from his medicine basket and scribbled the prescription.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I don¡¯t have all the ingredients handy, my homemade jinchuang yao1 is muChapter more effective than the ones you can find in the market. But... I didn¡¯t notice you used an jinchuang yao before you dressed his wound?¡± asked sage apothecary carefully.


    __


    Notes:


    1. Jin ¨C metal. Chuang ¨C wound. Yao ¨C medicine. Meaning ¡°medicine for wounds caused by metal [object]¡±. Not going to trante the page, but here¡¯s the recipe if you incline to make you own. =D

 Chapter 81 – The Master’s Imagination (2)

    <h4>Chapter 81 ¨C The Master¡¯s Imagination (2)</h4>


    ¡°I gave him anti-infective medications and some anti-biotics. That along with the herbal soup prescription from you shouldn¡¯t be sufficient.¡± Gu Ye looked down and studied the prescription scribbled by sage apothecary. Chinese herbal medication is her Achilles¡¯ tendon*. If she wanted to be sessful in this world, she must put some effort in understanding the vast area of Chinese herbal medications. Mm, she already curtsied and called sage apothecary her Master, she couldn¡¯t possibly let that opportunity go to waste. She must squeeze him for knowledge.


    (*T/N: pun intended).


    ¡°Anti-infective medications? Anti-biotics? Are these all medications?¡± The sage apothecary had never even heard of any of them, never mind seeing them. He was too mesmerized in the Hua Tuo¡¯s technique earlier and missed his opportunity. Well, there would be opportunities in the future, he hoped.


    ¡°Mm, they were both medications that help prevent the wound from rotting or being infected.... Lihu-ge, you are awake!¡± On top of the stove, Zhang Lihu¡¯s eye lips fluttered a little and, slowly, his eyes opened.


    ¡°My injury.... Grandpa Sacred Doctor, were you able to save my foot?¡± Gu Ye helped Zhang Lihu sat up. He looked at his foot that was stabilized by wooden nks and asked anxiously.


    Sage apothecary¡¯s mouth moved a little but he didn¡¯t know what to say. He wasn¡¯t the one who treated his wound, nor would he know how the suturing went. What could he possibly say? That being said, his disciple quickly came to his assistance and said, ¡°Lihu-ge, my master is a ssmate of the sage healer. A wound like this is nothing to him.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be a cripple then?¡± asked Zhang Lihu again.


    ¡°As long as you follow the doctor¡¯s instructions and work on the trainings afterward, we guarantee your foot will be like new!¡± It was just a minor tendon-reattaching surgery, Gu Ye could definitely guarantee the oue.


    The sage apothecary opened up the door and the anxious Hunter Zhang took a step forward, grabbed sage apothecary by his hand and asked, worried, ¡°Old Sacred Doctor, how¡¯s my son¡¯s foot looking? Were you able to fix him?¡±


    Gu Ye quickly repeated the same speeChapter to Hunter Zhang and added, ¡°This is a prescription from my master. Dr. Wu should have all the necessary ingredients. Come back after two weeks to my.... my master¡¯s to have the suture removed. Three weeks from now I will go to Uncle Zhang¡¯s house and help Lihu-ge with his physical therapy.¡±


    ¡°Oh... yes, yes!¡± What was ¡°removing the sutures¡±? What was ¡°physical therapy¡±? Hunter Zhang was utterly baffled. But, he was the renowned Old Sacred Doctor. Even someone as worldly as Fifth Uncle Gu referred to him respectfully as ¡°sage apothecary¡±. As long as he said his son would be fine, then he must be. ¡°Thank you, Sacred Doctor, thank you so much. Please let me know how muChapter are the fees, I will go home and get it for you right away.¡±


    Sage apothecary nced over at his disciple. He noticed that she was very focused on exining to her patient what he needed to pay attention to and had no intention to respond to this question over here, so he took the liberty and said, ¡°We can discuss once your son has recovered!¡±


    As soon as Hunter Zhang heard that it was free, he was worried all over again ¨C was it because even the sage apothecary wasn¡¯t sure that his son could be cured?


    Gu Ye seemed to have read his mind so she quickly added, ¡°Uncle Zhang, you and Lihu-ge had always been nice to my brother and I, we can¡¯t take your money. If you really don¡¯t feel right about it, you can leave the hare for my master¡¯s dinner.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s... that¡¯s not right. If the Old Sacred Doctor likes game meat, I still have a couple dried pheasants at home. I will be right back with them....¡± Having said that, he took off immediately before they could say anything else.


    ¡°Lihu-ge, your foot will heart a lot in the next couple of days. Just bear with it, okay? Why don¡¯t you spend the night here for observation and go home tomorrow?¡± Having said that, Gu Ye left with her surgical tools.


    __


    Notes:


    1. Jin ¨C metal. Chuang ¨C wound. Yao ¨C medicine. Meaning ¡°medicine for wounds caused by metal [object]¡±. Not going to trante the page, but here¡¯s the recipe if you incline to make you own. =D

 Chapter 82 – The Master’s Imagination (3)

    <h4>Chapter 82 ¨C The Master¡¯s Imagination (3)</h4>


    Returning to her room, she immediately entered her dimension to clean and disinfect her tools before putting them into her sterile medical tool box. She didn¡¯t rush to go back out but headed toward her ten or so acres of herb field, picked a fewmon herbs, and started preparing them ording to the method taught by her master.


    Preparing herbs was no small feat, it entails methods suChapter as steaming, boiling, stir-frying, baking, roasting, sauteing, fei¡¯ing1, etc. Many a times, the herbs needed to be processed in order to increase its efficacy, decrease its toxicity and/or side effects.


    With the Chinese asparagus she had collected, she peeled off its outer skin, slit it opened down the middle and removed its core. Then she steamed them for two hours with willow firewood, added some wine, and steamed them some more. After she was done with that, she took them out for sun drying and ready for using...


    Picture: Chinese Asparagus


    Source: zhifure


    T/N: Could have swore I have seen these in my neighborhood. =D


    As proven by fact, just knowing the method did not mean one could prepare good medicinal herbs. Gu Ye was not happy with her first few batches of Chinese asparagus. She has overly keen senses, she could tell the efficacy of the medicines just from its smell.


    She finally prepared a batched of eptable Chinese asparagus after five tries. She pinched off a small piece and chewed it in her mouth carefully before she spit out the dregs and rinsed her mouth. Alright! This should be good enough to pass her master¡¯s examination.


    ¡°Mei mei, it¡¯s time for dinner!¡± Since Gu Ye used studying medicinal herbs as an excuse, Gu Xiao and Gu Ming tried to disturb her as little as possible. Dinner was a joint effort between the two of them, Gu Xiao kneaded the dough and formed the biscuits and Gu Ming helped with starting the fire. Even though the biscuits were of all different thicknesses, but they were made out of white flour, so their tastes were alright.


    Their dinner table and stove table have yet to be made, so the family just put a piece of nk on top of the stove as their make-shift dinner table. Biscuit soup with braised hare meat, this was muChapter better food than what they had back at the Gu¡¯s.


    Even Gu Ye, who still has a weak stomach, was able to eat arge bowl of biscuit soup and had a few pieces of hare meat. One must know that they type of bowls they used were the ceramic ones that were bigger than one¡¯s face. Gu Ye inadvertently overate and had to take some syrups to aid with her digestion.


    Zhang Lihu also had dinner at the Gu¡¯s. As Gu Ye had reassured him repeatedly that there would be no residual effect to his injury, Zhang Lihu was relieved and had a great appetite. He had two big bowls of biscuit soup and one bowl of hare meat. Gu Ye was very impressed by his appetite.


    After dinner, Gu Ye went back over to her master¡¯s room to learn more about preparing medicinal herbs. She started by showing him the Chinese asparagus that she had prepared.


    The sage apothecary took the medicinal herbs from her, flipped it back and forth and examined it carefully. The more he looked the more contended he was. This disciple of his had only been learning from him for two days and had already grasped the essence of preparing medicinal herbs. Her techniques were still elementary, but he trusted that she would achieve great things in due time.


    ¡°Not bad, you have grasped the steaming process quite well. Now let¡¯s move onto boiling...¡± The sage apothecary felt that his disciple was like and that had droughts for too long. She could absorb almost everything he taught her. On the asions that she couldn¡¯t grasp it right away, she would firstmit them to memory then slowly understand them through physical exercises.


    Other than teaching her medicinal herb preparation, the sage apothecary also tested her on Gu Ye on her medical knowledge. The sage apothecary found it odd that even those Gu Ye possessed the technique of Hua Tuo, her basics in medical knowledge was almost non-existing. This included the most basics observation, auscultation and olfaction, inquiry, pulse feeling and palpation2. As odd as he felt, he had no choice but to cram basic Chinese medical knowledge with this disciple of his. Luckily she was a fast learner, otherwise he¡¯d be bored to death in no time.


    The sage apothecary was very curious who trained her in the secret techniques of Hua Tuo and how they were able to trained her to be suChapter a amazing surgeon when she knew nothing about the basics?


    __


    Notes:


    1. Grinding up the herbs with water into fine powder, add more water and stir, then take the finest dust floating on the surface of the water.

 Chapter 83 – The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (1)

    <h4>Chapter 83 ¨C The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (1)</h4>


    The few days that follow were all sunny and the temperature had climbed back up a little. But the vigers of Qingshan knew that light snowying days signified an uing long winter and everyone busied themselves in getting ready for the winter.


    Ninth Aunty and Third Grandma stayed busied for a few nights on end, helping Gu Xiao and his grandchildrenpleted 3 sets of nkets and a set of cotton-padded clothes for Gu Ye. All because Gu Ye had almost no clothes for winters, and the one she was wearing was so old that even a light touChapter would make a piece fall off. Neither her grandfather nor her brother had the hearts to make her get off the stove; they worried that her body wasn¡¯t strong enough for the cold. As for Gu Xiao and Gu Ming¡¯s share, those could wait.


    Gu Qiang, second son of the head of the n, was skilled in woodworking. He usually stayed in the town to look for business during regr time and only return to the vige in the winter time. He was hired by Gu Xiao to make custom furniture. All the wood came from the mountain, in addition to the cutting board, the stove table, chairs, and wooden boxes, Gu Ye had further drawn out a cab and a dresser to show him.


    Gu Qiang¡¯s work was fast and of high quality, especially the cab and the dresser. Many vigers went to look at them when they werepleted. The cab was practical and unique and the dresser, albeit it was the simplest kind with drawers, was still the object of marvel for the vigers.


    The families with daughters about to be married off, or those with sons who were about to have a wife, would tighten their belts and save up some money for an item. Winter, the usually slowest month for Gu Qiang, suddenly became busy for him. His wife was so happy she was seen smiling all day long ¨C they would be able to have a lush winter.


    Gu Ye¡¯s room now have a new nket and a new dresser on top of her stove; her lifestyle was really starting to look up. Gu Ye studied with the sage apothecary on herbal and medicinal knowledge, and, during her free time, she¡¯d learn how to pickle winter vegetables from Ninth Aunty! There were not enough supply of fresh vegetable in the winter so pickled vegetables were essential to every family.


    Gu Ye didn¡¯t know the first thing about pickled vegetable, but she knew the theories! In one corner of her dimension she found a ¡°50 ways to pickle vegetables¡±. She memorized a few ingredients and a simple pickling method, donning her new wadded jacket, she ran over to Ninth Aunty excitedly.


    She ran into Mrs. Gu, just returning home, outside of Ninth Aunty¡¯s house. Seeing Gu Ye, Mrs. Gu gave her a vicious stare, let out a loud hrmph before she walked inside and mmed the door shut.


    Gu Ye persed her lips and knocked on Ninth Aunty¡¯s door. It was Li-je who came to the door. Smiling, she took Gu Ye¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Heh, my mom was just saying that you should almost be here. So, do the pickling method that your master told you differ greatly from ours? Are they easy to follow?¡±


    ¡°I havemitted them to memory, I will let Ninth Aunty know in a little while. Let¡¯s pick some simple ones so we can try something new. Oh yeah, I have also got some herbs and spices from my master. Let¡¯s add some of them when we pickle the vegetables.¡± Gu Ye fished out a pack of Allspice and some other spices. Hehe, her master¡¯s name was so convenient.


    The vegetables at Gu Ye¡¯s ce was half sold and half given to them by the vigers. Ninth Uncle¡¯s household had grew a lot of cabbage and radish, so they gave her 50 kg of them.


    Ninth Aunty¡¯s household had already picked quite a bit of cabbages and radishes. When she was pickling, she thought about how Fifth Uncle Gu¡¯s household have no women and might not ur to them to pickle vegetables and made some extra for them.


    ¡°Ninth Aunty, my grandpa said of all the pickled vegetables that he had, spicy picked radishes and spicy cabbages were the best! I asked him for the recipes, do you think we can.... Give that a try?¡± Gu Ye mentioned her two favorite dishes as her eyes beamed.

 Chapter 84 – The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (2)

    <h4>Chapter 84 ¨C The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (2)</h4>


    Even though Gu Ye was still very skinny right now, she wasn¡¯t freakishly scary like she used to be. In the past, she was just skin over bones and looked like someone who was end-stage anorexic. Anyone who ran into her at night would be frightened.


    Now, on her small and pointy face was a pair of eyes that were full of spirit, her eyshes were long and thick, like two brushes that flickers. Her normally dried and yellow skin had lightened up a lot and also has a healthy red glow to them. Whenever she smiled, her dimples were slightly visible, making her all the cuter.


    Ninth Aunty couldn¡¯t help but pinched her little cheek and smiled, ¡°Alright, Ninth Aunty will listen to little Ye-zi. We will pickle anything you want, any way you want.¡± She figured as long as she added enough salt, pickled vegetables wouldn¡¯t go bad anyway. Even if it didn¡¯t taste good, they would still be edible.


    Ge Ye frowned slightly and started reciting what she had memorized, ¡°5 kg of radishes, 0.5 g of chili powder, 0.75 kg of vinegar, 125 g of sugar, 125 g salt, 3 g of pepper and aniseed, MSG... cough, cough, special spice, 2 kg of water....¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait! The rest are alright, but 0.75 kg of vinegar? Isn¡¯t that a bit much? And this sugar.... We are vigers, we can¡¯t afford that stuff. I know pepper, but what is aniseed?¡± Ninth Aunty was baffled and she also worried whether the pickled vegetable would be edible following this recipe.


    ¡°Ninth Aunty, I have already brought with me sugar, aniseed and M.... this kind of spice. If you don¡¯t like it too sour, we can reduce the amount of vinegar. Ninth Aunty, let¡¯s give it a try. My master won¡¯t lie to me, I am sure this pickled radish would be yummy!¡± And, again, Gu Ye used her master as her excuse.


    Soon as Ninth Aunty heard it, she almost bought into it instantly. The Old Sacred Doctor was so worldly, an odd recipe like this from him would probably be okay. So, under Gu Ye¡¯s instructions, she retrieved several kg of sun-fried radishes from her storage.


    Her heart ached when she was frying chili pepper in hot oil. Little Ye-zi brought the oil with her too. She was certain that Fifth Uncle Gu wasn¡¯t good with money, he must have bought these from town during hisst trip. Aye, there was no woman in their house, who could help them with managing the household budget?


    They mixed the fried chili oil in with the dried radishes before they mixed the salt, sugar, pepper, and aniseed into a pot of water and mixed them up and waited till the water started boiling. Then they added the MSG, and poured the entire content into the jar after the mixture had cooled.


    (T/N: What happened to the vinegar???)


    ¡°All done! Now we just need to flip them once a day and they will be ready in 2 weeks or so!¡± Seeing that Ninth Aunty hadpleted thest step, Gu Ye pped her hands together happily ¨C Done!


    Ninth Aunty prayed that this spicy picked radish would be sessfully. She didn¡¯t want al those good spices going to waste. The sugar that little Ye-zi brought with her was white like snow and amazingly sweet. Sugar of that quality must cost at least 100 ren for 0.5 kg, that¡¯s half a month of groceries for a regr family. That Fifth Uncle Gu was so wasteful!


    After they havepleted the spicy pickled radish, even though the process of the spicy cabbage was moreplicated, but theypleted it muChapter faster, while Ninth Aunty continued to grumbled to herself how wasteful that Fifth Uncle Gu was.


    Altogether they have made 5 KG of spicy pickled radish and 2.5 KG of spicy cabbage. All they needed to do now was wait two weeks and check the oue. Gu Li-er, who was helping out, mumbled, ¡°With all these ingredients, it won¡¯t make sense if they don¡¯t taste good!¡±


    ___


    T/N: The title of this part should be ¡°(pickled) food porn¡±. =D

 Chapter 85 – The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (2)

    <h4>Chapter 85 ¨C The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (2)</h4>


    Gu Ye had an embarrassed look on her: she was that one who could use the best ingredients and somehow ended up with disgusting tasting pickled vegetables. Aye, in her previous life, she was aplete fool when it came to cooking. It didn¡¯t look like she was any better in this life either. The rice that she prepared remained at the ¡°cooked¡± and ¡°edible¡± level. Even her grandfather¡¯s cooking was a little better than hers. Aye... when would she her wish of having delectable foode true?


    When she was busy with pickling vegetables, her grandfather and brother were busy as well. Everyday they would go into the mountains and checked all the traps that they had set previously ¨C naturally, the traps were empty most of the time. Gu Ming was very surprised: why was it that when his sister went to check them in the past, she was always able to bring back game meat?


    He raised this question with his grandfather. Gu Xiao couldn¡¯t figure that out either, so all he could say was, ¡°Your sister was luckily¡±. Hello? It was abnormal to have game meat every day, okay? It wasn¡¯t like preys were fighting to jump into the traps on Mount Congmong.


    When there was no game meat, they¡¯d chopped some firewood and bring them back. It looked like the sage apothecary had no intention to leave before winter and Xiao Ye-er didn¡¯t want to share the save stove with her grandfather and brother. With three stoves going over winter, they would need a lot more firewood than they currently have.


    Luckily, as his granddaughter insisted on massaging him with the medicinal oil daily inbination with hotpress treatment with the salt bag, the pain in his leg was now almost negligible.


    Gu Xiao couldn¡¯t help but thought about his old general and his old injuries from the battlefield. Every rainy days, the pain he experienced was no better than what he used to have. Should he asked the sage apothecary for some of his medicine and send them over along with the salt package?


    Back in the days, when he joined the army in Gu Qiao¡¯s dad¡¯s ce, he was just a 15-16 year-old child. When he saw all the dead and mangled up bodies on the battlefield, he almost peed his pants and even dropped his sword on the ground. If the old general didn¡¯t show up in time and lopped off the right arm of a soldier than was aiming at him, he wouldn¡¯t be standing here today.


    ¡°Pick up your weapon if you don¡¯t want to die! Your enemies are not going to show you mercy just because this was your first battle! Think about your family that are waiting for you back home. Do you want them to receive the news that you have died instead?¡± Yelled the old general at him as he pointed at the enemy soldier, now with his right arm missing, and had him lopped his head off.


    Killing your enemies on the battlefield was only scary the very first time! Gu Xiao had nobody waiting for him back home, but he had the ambition for achievement. From that moment forward, he had gripped his sword in his hand tightly. Even when he was seriously injured and on the verge of dying, he had never let go of it. With his viciousness, he had ughtered many of the enemy¡¯s soldiers. The old general liked him very muChapter and picked him to be on his close team.


    The old general taught him not just skills of physicalbat, but also military strategies and tactics. He had grown and mature over all the battles and became a good general himself. When he became a Fourth Grade general and could lead his own troops, he continued to think of himself as the general¡¯s little foot soldier. He always remembered that the old general had saved his life and given him everything that he had today.


    That was the reason why when the old general and his family was set up and were exiled to the northwest, he decisively left his high-paying official role that he had earned with his life and went with them to serve him by his side.


    Thinking about that, there was a longing look on Gu Xiao¡¯s face. He looked toward the north: a fast horse could get him to his old general in just five days. He would like to deliver the medicine himself when the timees. Even though he was no longer fighting along side the old general, he could at least assist him in a different way. Now that he had a goal in mind, he worked even harder than he was before!

 Chapter 86 – The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (3)

    <h4>Chapter 86 ¨C The Old General and His Little Foot Soldier (3)</h4>


    ¡°Lihu-ge, I am here to remove your suture!¡± Gu Ye pushed open the door to Hunter Zhang¡¯s house carrying herrge medicine chest in her small arm.


    Aunty Zhang, who was preparing breakfast, poked her head out from the kitchen and smiled, ¡°Hey there, little Ye-er. You are here so early! Have you had breakfast yet?¡±


    Other than during the busy times of fall harvesting and sprint nting, the vigers usually only eat two meals a day. Breakfast was between 9 ¨C 10 AM, dinner between 4 ¨C 5 PM. But as Gu Xiao had two growing children at home and he was in no shortage of month, their household had an additional meal, making their breakfast earlier than the others.


    ¡°Yes, I had! Aunty Zhang, I am going to go check on Lihu-ge¡¯s wound,¡± said Gu Ye as she smiled at Mrs. Zhang.


    ¡°Have a bowl of soup in a little bit! As the old adage goes, eat what your body needs the most. This is thick bone soups that I had simmered overnight!¡± Old adage said to eat the parts that your body needed the most, so all the long bones from the wild boar that Gu Ye killed went to Aunty Zhang. In thest two weeks, Zhang Lihu had so muChapter bone soup the mere thought of it made him wanted to puke.


    Gu Ye politely declined Mrs. Zhang¡¯s generous offer and stepped into Zhang Lihu¡¯s room. Inside the room, Zhang Lihu, who couldn¡¯t sit still was hobbling toward the door with one foot.


    ¡°STOP! And go back into bed immediately! If you don¡¯t follow orders and your tendon doesn¡¯t grow back normally, you will be a cripple!¡± With a stern looked she chastised him, her small face looking quite authoritative.


    Bing a cripple was Zhang Lihu¡¯s worst fear. He climbed back into bed obediently as soon as he heard that and ced his leg on the nket. Eagerly, he looked behind her and didn¡¯t see anyone. Baffled, he asked, ¡°I thought you are here to remove my sutures. Where¡¯s the Old Sacred Doctor?¡±


    ¡°Tsk. This is just child¡¯s y, you don¡¯t need my master for that.¡± Gu Ye opened up her medicine chest and gave the fool a sidelong nce, ¡°Give me your foot!¡±


    ¡°You? You are removing the sutures for me? You are going to stab another hole on my foot!¡± Zhang Lihu stared at the pair of surgical scissors in her hand with a mortified look. She had only been the disciple of the Old Sacred Doctor for a few days, and now she was doing home visits already? Or did she just steal the Old Sacred Doctor¡¯s medicine chest and just trying to get some practice in on her.


    ¡°What is that look?¡± Gu Ye was not happy that her medical skills were questioned. She gave the fool a threatening stare. This unappreciative person didn¡¯t even know how lucky he was. If it wasn¡¯t for me, that leg of yours would have been long gone! You think you would be sitting here whining right now?


    Mrs. Zhang, walking into the room with a bowl of soup in her hand, saw the resentful look on her son and his uncooperative stance, smacked him on his shoulder and said, ¡°Old Sacred Doctor said that Xiao Ye-zi was extremely talented when ites to medicine. She had already been training for over two weeks and you don¡¯t think she¡¯s good enough to treat your foot? You might not trust Xiao Ye-zi, but you should at least trust Old Sacred Doctor! If he was okay with Xiao Ye-zi taking care of you, that means she is qualified to do that!¡±


    Reluctantly, Zhang Lihu stretched his foot toward Gu Ye. Gu Ye removed the wooden nts and the gauze nimbly and carefully examined the healing of his wound.


    ¡°Mm, its healing well! The soup that Aunty Zhang had been simmering had helped a lot!¡± Noticing Zhang Lihu¡¯s resentment toward the bone soup, Gu Ye added that ill-intentionally. Hrmph! So you didn¡¯t believe in my medicine skills? We would let you have so muChapter soup that you¡¯d puke!


    After snipping the suture with the surgical scissors, Gu Ye grabbed one end of the string with a pair of forceps. Then, with a quick yank, Zhang Lihu barely felt a numbing sensation where his wound was and the string was freed. She continued to snip and pull until all the sutures had been removed before she rinsed his would with rubbing alcohol and applied some anti-inmmatory powder over it and rewrapped it with clean gauze.


    ___


    T/N: The title of this part should be ¡°(pickled) food porn¡±. =D

 Chapter 87 – Rumors Stop At Apothecaries (1)

    <h4>Chapter 87 ¨C Rumors Stop At Apothecaries (1)</h4>


    ¡°Okay, just hang in there for a few more days and you will be able to move this foot around some in 7 days.¡± Seeing that his eyes lit up suddenly, she added, ¡°But you still can¡¯t get off the stove or walk around. If you tear the reattached tendon again, then not even magic will be able to help you!¡±


    As soon as Zhang Lihu heard that, he immediately nodded and promised that he¡¯d be good. Aunty Zhang smiled and said to Gu Ye, ¡°Xiao Ye-zi, that was impressive how you could make him listen to you. His dad and I had been nagging him nonstop but he just wouldn¡¯t listen. C¡¯mon, have a bowl of bone soup!¡±


    ¡°Oh!!! Bone soup again? Can I have something else? Did dad get a pheasant yesterday? Can¡¯t we have chicken soup instead?¡± Zhang Lihu moaned loudly. He wasn¡¯t entirely being ungrateful, Aunty Zhang¡¯s recipes for bone soup really wasn¡¯t all that.


    Aunty Zhang watched until her son finished the bone soup before she said, ¡°Old Sacred Doctor likes game meat, your dad had already sent the pheasant over the Old Sacred Doctor long time ago. Old Sacred Doctor fixed your foot and didn¡¯t even charge us anything because of his rtionship with Xiao Ye-zi, it¡¯s only right that we send more game meats over.¡±


    Zhang Lihu nodded in agreement, but he was still resentful about the bone soup. It was his tendon that was injured, so why was it bone soup that was used to torture him?


    ¡°Mom, how many more days would the bones we have at homest?¡± Zhang Lihu prayed that they would run out of bones soon so he could be done with it.


    Aunty Zhang smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your dad will be delivering some game meats to town tomorrow and I will ask him to bring home more long bones. Those aren¡¯t worth muChapter anyway. They usually give you one for free with the purchase of a couple jin of meat. Don¡¯t worry, there will be more!¡±


    As soon as he heard that, Zhang Lihu immediately rolled his eyes andid on the stove pretending that he was dead ¨C how muChapter longer before he could be relieved from this bone soup hell?


    Zhang Lihu¡¯s sister saw Gu Ye to the door and Gu Ye noticed that she seemed to have something on her mind. Curiously, she asked, ¡°Ting-jie jie, what is it that you want to say?¡±


    Zhang Liting was a quite and tender girl. After a little hesitation, she said softly, ¡°There was a rumor going around in town and we don¡¯t know who started it. It was said that the old sacred doctor at your house is a fraud and that nobody had ever seen a broken part would heal just by being sewn back up. It also said that my brother¡¯s foot was fine originally, but it may not be now.¡±


    Having heard that, Gu Ye smiled in a carefree way and said, ¡°We have heard of that rumor as well. My master said that ¡®rumors stop at the intellectuals¡¯. I believe in ¡®truth says it all.¡¯ In another month, Lihu-ge would be able to stand up and start some basic training. As long as he could make it through the initial pain and does his training consistently, he would recover before the end of the year. The rumor will naturally go away then.¡±


    Zhang Liting nodded gently and said enviously, ¡°Ye-er mei mei, you have changed so muChapter ever since you started learning medicines and apothecaries from the old sacred doctor. For example, none of us had ever heard of sayings suChapter as ¡®rumors stop at the intellectuals¡¯ or ¡®truth says it all¡¯!¡±


    Gu Ye scratched her head and gave her a silly smile and said, ¡°In addition to medical and herbal knowledge, Master has always been teaching me how to read and write. I can recognize up to several hundreds of characters already. I can already read majority of herb names on medical books.¡±


    Zhang Liting had a awed looked on her and said, ¡°Ye-er mei mei, that¡¯s so impressive! That¡¯s more word than grandma head of vige knows, probably almost as muChapter as Third Uncle Gu. I never thought that even girls can learn to read and write and be a doctor to treat patients...¡±

 Chapter 88 – Rumors Stop At Apothecaries (3)

    <h4>Chapter 88 ¨C Rumors Stop At Apothecaries (3)</h4>


    Third Uncle Gu was Third Grandpa¡¯s oldest son, the third in the n, and was the only one in the n who studied in the town. Unfortunately, his was the most talented. After dozens of years of studying, he never passed the examination to be an official. Discouraged, he returned to the vige to be a teacher. Even though he was a teacher, he merely had just a handful of students. Every household in the vige was barely able to feed themselves, nobody had the extra money for pay for their kids to go to school.


    Gu Ye shook her head right away and said, ¡°I have only been studying for a few days and can only recognize a few words. I don¡¯te close to Third Uncle Gu. I must go back home; otherwise Master will scold me for beingzy and meandering outside again.¡±


    Gu Ye must pass through Dr. Wu¡¯s house on her way home from Hunter Zhang¡¯s. She could see Mrs. Wu from a distance talking about something passionately.


    Approaching them, she could hear Mrs. Wu saying in an enigmatic tone, ¡°Let me just say this, when my husband took a look at the wound of Hunter Zhang¡¯s son, tsk tsk tsk.... Sewing someone¡¯s tendon and skin together, even the stitches looked awful. That poor kid of the Zhang¡¯s, how muChapter do you think it¡¯d hurt for his skin to be sewn together! I couldn¡¯t believe that old scam artist had the heart to do that!¡±


    Mrs. Gu was stunned, ¡°Are you serious? I have only heard of sewing clothes, or shoes. My entire life I have never heard of sewing muscles and skins together. What was Hunter Zhang thinking just letting that old scam artist have his way? Did he want his son to keep his foot?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said! After my husband had taken a look, he told me that the foot of the Zhang¡¯s son was red and swollen. You know, if an injury like that wasn¡¯t taken care of properly, it would rot. From the way it looks it¡¯d be difficult for that child to keep his food! Well, they got what they¡¯ve asked for. It was their own dowing to pass up on the vige doctor that they are familiar with to go to that old scam artist!¡± said Mrs. Wu with a mean look as she spit in the direction of the Zhang¡¯s.


    ¡°Gossiping behind someone else¡¯s back. Aren¡¯t you afraid your tongue will rot?¡± Gu Ye, appearing suddenly behind the two women, scared them half to death.


    ¡°Who you saying will have rotten tongues?¡± Mrs. Wu acted like a cat with its tail stepped on and, jumping up and down, responded in a high pitChapter voice.


    ¡°The one who was gossiping behind someone¡¯s back and spreading untrue rumors, that¡¯s the one who¡¯s tongue would rot!¡± Gu Ye still saved some medicinal power that could make one¡¯s tongue rot. Unfortunately, since she had already moved out; otherwise, Mrs. Gu would never have the change to badmouth someone behind their backs.¡±


    As soon as she heard ¡°rotten tongue¡±, Mrs. Gu immediately felt a burning sensation inside her mouth. Back then, Gu Yu also casually mentioned ¡°rotten tongue¡± and she suffered for over 2 weeks. She didn¡¯t know how, but she was certain that Gu Yu had something to do with her misfortunes. Thinking about that, she got a little worried and took a few steps backward stealthily. She was going to run away before Gu Yu noticed her.


    s, it was already toote. When she and Mrs. Ng had been badmouthing about Gu Ye¡¯s master, Gu Ye had already released the medicinal powder. The powder has no fragrance or color and could be inhaled into one¡¯s body while they breath. That night, both Mrs. Gu and Mrs. Wu¡¯s tongue started to rot and it was painful to even drink water the next day.


    (T/N: The author used the term ¡°rot¡± so I did as well. Although, I don¡¯t think she meant it to be literally. It sounded like just a very bad case of canker sores.)


    Wu Donggai gave his wife some herbal tea to calm her body, but there was no improvement after five days. The words spread quickly in the vige that Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Gu were badmouthing others behind their back and this was bad karma getting back at them. The rumor about the sage apothecary as ¡°old scam artist¡± stopped all of a suddenly. A lot of other gossipy women all started watching what they were saying. Qingshan Vige had never been this peaceful ever.

 Chapter 89 – The Once-A-Year Herb Market (1)

    <h4>Chapter 89 The Once-A-Year Herb Market (1)</h4>


    ¡°Did you do that?¡± asked the sage apothecary, whilepletely immersed in studying the Compendium of Materia Medica, the priced treasure that any apothecary could only dream of. He wasn¡¯t intentionally trying to take advantage of his disciple. It was his disciple who told him that he¡¯d need to understand the entire Compendium of Materia Medica inside and out before he¡¯d be able to teaChapter her more herbal knowledge and apothecary techniques. Granted, he¡¯d freely admit that his disciple was muChapter better than him in many areas, but she alsocks a lot of basic knowledge.


    While he was studying this treasure of a book, the old sage apothecary felt that his level of apothecary technique has improved significantly and he had gained an indescribable amount from reading it!


    Gu Ye, on the other hand, had been focusing on preparing cmus. In order to prepare cmus, one must first scrape off it¡¯s outer thick cover with a copper knife before steaming it with its leaves, sun dried, picking out its branches, and grinding them up. Hearing her master¡¯s inquiry, she said without looking up, ¡°Do what? To what is Master referring to?¡±


    ¡°Fine! Keep faking it!¡± The sage apothecary¡¯s attention was caught by the usually green cmus in her hands. He was very curious how she was able to get her hands on fresh cmus in this season.


    He hade to realize that his disciple has a lot of secrets, but he had no intention of asking, or to tell any one else. Part of the reasons was out of respect for his disciple, but also that he had been warned by the Hall Master of the Hall of Hidden Soul to watChapter what he says, or he¡¯d make sure that he could never talk again!


    The Yama1 had a cold face and a cold heart to go with that. He wouldn¡¯t make any exceptions just because he was the famous sage apothecary, so the sage apothecary wasn¡¯t going to chance it with his own life either.


    Gu Ye ced the scraped cmus into the pot for steaming and added some firewood to the stove before she turned to the sage apothecary and giggled, a little pride sparkled in her eyes, ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s the punishment from heaven for badmouthing others. It has nothing to do with me. They shouldn¡¯t have badmouthed Master. They deserved it!¡±


    ¡°Oh you!¡± The sage apothecary was even more sure that she has something to do with it. He was very moved by her defending him, but he still need to warn her with utmost seriousness, ¡°Even though poisonse to us easily, but it is against the will of heaven. You must be careful when to use them!¡±


    He knew that his precious disciple had a bad childhood and didn¡¯t want her to be an extreme and vicious poisonous doctor, so he tried his best to talk her out of it.


    Gu Ye giggled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master! The drugs merely brought out the poison that was already in their bodies. It may seem awful but they are actually good for them. You know as poisons umte in one¡¯s body, it¡¯s a matter of time when one will get sick.¡±


    ¡°It really has no negative impact on the body?¡± The sage apothecary was still feeling dubious about it.


    Gu Ye rolled her little eyes, ¡°Of course it¡¯s true. Truer than gold, okay! Master, we are running low of herbs at home. I am going to go into the mountain and take a look tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You be careful.¡± The sage apothecary couldn¡¯t help but to remind her, ¡°This Mount Cangmang is located on the northern part, you will have to have your grandfather buy you the herbs that only grow in the southern region from town.¡±


    A little embarrassed, Gu Ye rubbed her nose. Perhaps she was being too careless. Ever since she brought home a basket of fresh panax notoginseng, her master has been looking at her like she was a monster. Aiya, she had forgotten that one could not get panax notoginseng from the northern region! Luckily, her master was pretty cool. As muChapter as he was full of suspicions, he never asked about them. Eh, it was quite handy to have a master like him around.

 Chapter 90 – The Once-A-Year Herb Market (2)

    <h4>Chapter 90 ¨C The Once-A-Year Herb Market (2)</h4>


    ¡°You silly goose. Do you n on having all the medicines that you¡¯ve made in the storage for lunch? These are medicine made from the sage apothecary branch, you think we will still have to worry about money? Darn! How did I end up with a stupid disciple like you!¡± The sage apothecary walked out of the medicine room with his hands behind him, seemingly in good spirit. It wasn¡¯t very often that he had the upper hand when it came to his disciple. That was suChapter a satisfying feeling!


    ¡°I am not stupid. Have you ever seen an idiot with photographic memory? You are just envious of my beauty and talent. Sigh.... Geniuses are always doomed to be lonely!¡± Gu Ye shamelessly tooted her own horn and her words made herselfugh.


    She got up and walked into the storage room. Inside there were plenty of wooden shelves filled with bags and bags of herbal medicines made by her. Gu Ye separated them into different categories: some were made by her master when he was demonstrating for her, anything from the sage apothecary must be top notch, they would for sure fetChapter a good price; some were made by her with minor errors here and there, but their efficacies were still better than normal medicinal herbs, she should at least be able to break even on those; and then there were the sessful ones that she prepared, both their presentation and efficacy could rival those from her master; hmmm, she ought to be able to make a small fortune with these.


    Looking at these medicinal herbs, Gu Yu could already see piles and piles of silvers in front of her. Her big eyes sparkled like stars in the sky.


    The little money-grubber couldn¡¯t sit still any more. She ran over to her grandfather¡¯s room immediate and, seeing that he was rubbing medicinal oil on his own leg, quickly took it over from him and obsequiously massage his leg and applied heat treatment to it. Her manner extremely solicitous.


    Gu Xiao chuckled as he watched his granddaughter busied herself in front of him and thought t himself: girls were so muChapter more attentive. Seeing that she had finished the entire treatment process but stayed behind, took a seat at the stove, and looked like she had something on her mind. He asked curiously, ¡°Ye-er, if there¡¯s anything you want to say, you can go ahead and say it. No need to hold back in front of me.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, our storage room is filled to the brim with all the medicinal herbs....¡± Gu Ye hinted very subtly.


    Nevertheless, Gu Xiao did not get her meaning. He pondered for a while and said, ¡°Oh, have we ran out of room for your medicines? No problem, grandpa will make you a few more shelves. We can put them on the outside, you can stack as muChapter as you want on them....¡±


    ¡°No! What I was trying to say is, let¡¯s sell them all so we can buy more fresh herbs for me to practice,¡± said Gu Ye, muChapter more straightforward this time.


    But Gu Xiao misunderstood her meaning again, ¡°Oh... so you are running out of herbs! Grandpa had been forgetful. It¡¯s deep winter now and you won¡¯t be able to collect more herbs from the mountains, no wonder you are running out of raw herbs. No worries, grandpa will go to town tomorrow and bring you back more of them... we have no shortage of money!¡±


    ¡°No, grandpa!¡± Gu Ye quickly stopped her grandpa from pulling out money from the cab, ¡°They are herbs. They are only valuable in the hands of those who need them. We keep stashing them in the storage room they will get moistened when it rains or snows and all my hard work will go to waste.¡±


    Gu Xiao looked down at his granddaughter¡¯s little hands there had became coarse from practicing herb-making and nodded solemnly, ¡°Alright, you are right. We can¡¯t let all your work go to waste. Okay, I will go into town tomorrow and ask for a quote from Jimin Hall.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, can you take me with you? I would like to check out the herbal market in town as well.¡± Gu Ye brought up her request. She wanted to see whiChapter kind of medicinal herbs were the best selling ones and could fetChapter the most dors. It was suChapter a pity that all her potions in her dimension could work wonder but she couldn¡¯t pull them out in exchange for money and now she had to re-learn all these primitive medicine-making methods. Aye... suChapter great talents she possesses but nowhere to apply them!

 Chapter 91 – The Once-A-Year Herb Market (3)

    <h4>Chapter 91 ¨C The Once-A-Year Herb Market (3)</h4>


    ¡°Okay! Grandpa will take you to get some good food too!¡± Gu Xiao patted his granddaughter¡¯s fuzzy little head and agreed to her request with a smile.


    The next morning the two of them got up before it was the sun was up. Gu Ye bossed her grandpa around loading the bags and bags of herbal medicines onto the back of the horse. Gu Ming pouted unhappily as he was helping out. Grandpa was going to take his sister to town, but not him. He was so sad!


    ¡°Ge ge, don¡¯t be sad. We will bring you yummy food when wee back!¡± said Gu Ye as her grandpa picked her up and put her on the back of the vige head¡¯s donkey. She saved her little paw at her brother and followed her grandpa out of town.


    The round in the mountains were rough and would only allow one horse to pass at one time. Luckily both Gu Xiao¡¯s war horse and the donkey that Gu Ye was riding were very adept to these mountainous roads. Even though they were carrying the medicinal herbs, they were still moving at a reasonable pace. When they were on the rtively tter ground, Gu Xiao even had them ran for a little bit.


    At the beginning, Gu Xiao was still a little worried that his fragile granddaughter would have a difficult time catching up, but every time he turned around, Gu Ye was sitting stably on the donkey. In fact, the way she was riding the donkey was quite skillful. He recalled how his grandson and granddaughter would ride his war horse around the front and back of the house house whenever they have the chance.


    The grandfather and granddaughter left when it was just daybreak and only arrived in town at the dark of night. Knocking on the door of the only inn in town, the two of them brushed up, had some simple food and went to bed.


    Gu Ye was woken up by the cacophony from the streets early next morning. Eh? Thest time they came the streets were quite empty. Howe it was so bustling with people today? She quickly washed up and got dressed, and walked outside of the inn before she even had breakfast.


    As soon as she stepped outside, she immediately smelled a thick scent of herbs in the air. On both side of the main street in this nameless little town were dozens of stalls of various sizes and all of them were piled with herbs. Once in a while, a customer would stop and barter with the stall owner.


    Gu Xiao had already gotten the information that he needed and came behind his granddaughter to address her curiosity, ¡°Herbs were riChapter in our Mount Cangmang and many make their livings by collecting herbs. Every year, between the 8th and 13th of eaChapter year, there will be merchantsing here from all over the ce to purchase herbs. Over time, it had turned into this scale you see today. It was sheer luck that we happened toe just at the right time for this major herbal market. Did you saw you wanted to buy some raw herbs? You can you go take a look. At least their price would be muChapter fairer than what you¡¯d find from an herbal merchant.¡±


    Gu Ye walked from stall to stall. Most of them were untreated raw herbs. Even when she saw the asional processed ones, their techniques were crude and their efficacy mediocre. As she kept on walking, she even ran into someone that she knew!


    ¡°Dr. Wu, you are here to sell your medicinal herbs too!¡± At Wu Danggui¡¯s stall was mostlymonly-seen herbs in Mount Cangmang, but all of them had gone through some simple processing so he seemed to have slightly more businesses than other stalls. That being said, most of his customers were bell doctors that walked from streets to streets for businesses. Better customers would not care these kinds of crude processing.


    Wu Danggui looked up at Gu Ye and her grandfather before he quickly turned his attention back to bartering with his customers. In his eyes, Gu Ye, who had been learning about medicinal herb processing, was apetitor of his. Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t be too nice to her!


    Seeing how interested Gu Ye was in his herbs, Wu Danggui was quite proud of himself. You little fart, so what you have been learning healing skills for a few days? You were still going to have to buy herbs from me in the future. WatChapter me price gouge you then!

 Chapter 92 – No Discussion (1)

    <h4>Chapter 92 ¨C No Discussion (1)</h4>


    Gu Ye, who was ignored, shrugged and kept on walking.


    ¡°Two Young Master, as I have said before. All you can find here are verymonly-seen herbs, nothing worth looking at,¡± urged a man in his forties with short beard to the two identical-looking boys following behind him.


    This twin brothers were around 14~15 years old, quite handsome-looking with sword-like brows that raised upward and pure eyes. What a handsome pair of boys! Gu Ye, who loved looking at pretty boys, almost couldn¡¯t look away.


    ¡°What are you looking at? Never seen twins before!¡± said the young man in blue, between his brows was a hint of unruly. Noticing Gu Ye¡¯s stare, he stared back at her impatiently. He had been getting progressively more agitated from being stared at as they were walking down the stress. It started making him felt like a monkey ying tricks for onlookers.


    Yet after he stared back, he noticed it was a 7~8-year-old girl. She was pretty fair looking, just a bit too skinny.... Ugh, why did he care if she was skinny or chubby? A girl should not stare at another person like that; that wasn¡¯t virtuous!


    The young man in azure gave his younger brother a stare and smiled gently at Gu Ye with an apologetic look in his eyes.


    Wowza! A tender and pretty young man! I like! There were stars in Gu Ye¡¯s eyes. Nevertheless, she still felt that the flower boy who saved her before was more of her type.


    ¡°Are you still looking?¡± The boy in blue dashed in front of Gu Ye and stared at her, like a bad-tempered, little wolfhound.


    Gu Ye blinked a couple of times and wrinkled her nose a little and said to him, ¡°Who said I was looking at you?¡±


    ¡°......¡± That¡¯s true, the little girl was looking at his brother, what did that have to do with him? No, wait! She couldn¡¯t look at his brother either, ¡°My brother and I look identical, looking at him is the same as looking at me!¡±


    ¡°Oh? Looking at him is like looking at you, huh? By the same token, if your brother has dinner, then you won¡¯t need to eat? If your brother goes to bed, then you don¡¯t need to sleep?¡± Certainly Gu Ye¡¯s logic had plenty of ws in them, but all the nosey herb farmers near them busted outughing. Surely, the logic might be a little off, but if one thought about it some more, it was still kind of funny.


    ¡°That... that is sophistry!¡± The young man in blue was so angry his face turned red but his upbringing taught him that one didn¡¯t hit a young girl, so all he could do was to jump up and down on the side of the road.


    ¡°Second brother!¡± The young man in azure found it quite amusing that his brother had lost to a little girl, but in order to not hurt his brother¡¯s feeling, he tried very hard not to let that show.


    With a smile like a spring-breeze on his gentle face, he said to Gu Ye, ¡°I apologize for my younger brother. That¡¯s how he always is. Please don¡¯t mind him, Miss. I will talk to him after we get home.¡±


    ¡°Ge, I didn¡¯t do anything wrong. Why are you apologizing to her?¡± The young man in blue was not happy about that; his look filled with stubbornness and unresigned emotions.


    ¡°This young master, there is no need to apologize. You haven¡¯t done anything wrong. I understand, life must be rough for you with a young brother who¡¯s always causing disturbance. Sigh....¡± Gu Ye shook her head like an adult and casted a nce over at the young man in blue purposefully. Her voice full of sympathy andpassion.


    ¡°Who... who is causing disturbance?¡± A shred of guilt shed through the young man in blue. Ever since they were kids, he has always been hiding behind his brother¡¯s back whenever he did something wrong. With their identical looks, his brother had taken some mes for him on asion. Needless to say, he wasn¡¯t going to mention that in front of the little brat.

 Chapter 93 – No Discussion (2)

    <h4>Chapter 93 ¨C No Discussion (2)</h4>


    The young man in azure gave him a stare and noticed that his obstinate young brother finally stopped talking. He looked at Gu Ye¡¯s pair of hands and said in a soft voice, ¡°Young Miss, it seems you have experiences in prepared medicinal herbs. Did you bring any of your herbs? This one is the shopkeeper of Jimin Hall. Why don¡¯t you let him take a look? I trust that he will offer you a fair price for them.¡±


    Gu Ye looked down on her hands that were now covered in small cuts. She turned them from side to side and looked at them, some of the wounds also had herb juices in them that wouldn¡¯te off with regr washing. This was a pair of hands belonging to a beginner apothecary; anyone in this field could tell by this signature look.


    ¡°Ye-er, I found an empty spot further up, let¡¯s try to set up our own booth too?¡± Gu Xiao walked through the crowd and noticed the two young men in fancy clothes talking to his granddaughter. He worried that they¡¯d bully her and immediately walked over to her.


    ¡°Okay!¡± Gu Ye had noticed a few men who looked like they could be medicinal herb merchants, perhaps one or few of them would actually be able to appreciate the quality of her work? When Gu Ye turned back to look at the pair of pretty boys, they had already walked away. Gu Ye shrugged, perhaps the young man in azure was only being polite and didn¡¯t mean anything by what he said. In addition, the two boys were too young; she didn¡¯t think they¡¯d have the experience necessary to recognize her master¡¯s work.


    By this time, Gu Xiao had already carried out two basket-full of medicinal herbs from the inn and ced them on the ground at the street corner. Gu Ye took a look, one of the baskets contained her practice ones with ws, the other basket contained her sessful work. As for the bag that was her master¡¯s work, she hadn¡¯t nned on showing them just yet.


    ¡°Eh? These medicinal herbs don¡¯t look half bad. I didn¡¯t expect to find processed medicinal herbs of an apothecary¡¯s quality here,¡± said a young man as he picked up a pack of five-vor berries from Gu Ye¡¯s practiced batChapter and show it to the old man next to him.


    ¡°Young Miss, pray tell who made these?¡± The old man carefully examined its form ¨C it had a small wrinkledyer and also ayered of white salt on its surface. Tasting it gave all 5 tastes ¨C sour, salty, bitter, spicy, and sweet. The work was that of a novice, but the efficacy was undeniable.


    ¡°They were made by me... I have more over here....¡± Before Gu Ye could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a loud, maniacalugh.


    Looking up, it was the young man in blue that she had ran into earlier. He was holding his stomaChapter with both hands and, as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world, pointed at her andughing nonstop, ¡°It takes one tens or even dozens of years toplete their apprenticeship. And you? Even if you started learning the minute you were born, we are still talking about just a few years. Are the medicinal herbs prepared by you edible? Who is going to be held ountable if your herbs turned out to be deadly poisonous?¡±


    ¡°Second brother!¡± The young man in azure was both baffled and upset by his younger brother¡¯s behavior today. What did he have against this little girl that he kept picking on her?


    After shouting at his younger brother to stop, he looked up at the old and young man and walked up to greet them, ¡°Greetings, Housemaster Zhao. Third Brother Zhao, it has been a while. How have you been?¡±


    He had no expected to run into the housemaster of Baicao (¡°Hundred Herbs¡±) Hall. Could it be possible that.... They have certain information?


    ¡°Young man, you are being too polite. How interesting running into someone we know in this nameless town?¡± said the old man as he nodded and smiled. Bai Jizheng was just about to ask about their purpose of visit when he was interrupted by a crisp voice.


    ¡°I will!¡± said Gu Ye with a stone-cold look and fiercenessing from her eyes. Her little body exuding an sacred and invible aura. The young man in blue slowly stoppedughing, but there were still disbelieve and contempt in his eyes.


    ¡°Young Miss, he....¡± The young man in azure was apologetic but before he could say anything else, Gu Ye had interrupted him.

 Chapter 94 – No Discussion (3)

    <h4>Chapter 94 ¨C No Discussion (3)</h4>


    ¡°Have you looked at my processed herbs yet? If you haven¡¯t yet, that what gave you the rights toment on them? In addition to the time spent, the skill of apothecary was also about talent. As far as I know, the number one participant atst year¡¯s herbal convention was a young man who had just reached adulthood, right? Applying your theory that the longer you spent learning, the better you get, then what is the point of having a apothecary convention every five years and holdingpetitions? Everybody could just stay and home and grind for years on end.¡± Gu Ye was truly annoyed now, and her articting and argumentative nature was starting to show.


    Gu Xiao, standing behind his granddaughter, couldn¡¯t help but looked at his granddaughter in whole new light. It looked like herbal processing from the sage apothecary did more than just discovering her talent in both herbal processing and medicine, but also changed her timid personality. Mmm, that was a good thing. The granddaughter of Gu Xiao should not be a doormat that everyone could walk all over.


    ¡°Young Miss couldn¡¯t be more correct! Bai Zhi, hurry up and apologize to this youngdy!¡± said Bai Ji, the young man in azure, his tender face now covered in ice and anger could be seen in his handsome eyes.


    Whenever his brother addressed him by his full name, Bai Zhi knew that his brother was genuinely angry, but still, feeling unjust, he said, ¡°Ge, we haven¡¯t seen her work yet. How do you know I wasn¡¯t right? What quality of medicinal herbs do you think a 7~8-year-old vige girl can bring?¡±


    ¡°You are right!¡± Gu Ye agreed with him all of a sudden. Even Bai Zhi was caught off guard by that, but what came next make him changed colors again, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t just believe anything that you¡¯ve heard, instead, you should see them with your own eyes. How would you know my medicinal herbs aren¡¯t good medicinal herbs before you have looked at them? Young man, I have an advice for you. You really shouldn¡¯t jump to conclusions so rashly!¡±


    That speech,ing from a young girl who looked to be about 7~8 years old, made everybody grinned. On the other hand, she was in the rights and nobody could find anything wrong with what she had said.


    Bai Zhi rolled his eyes in frustration. Alright, so he couldn¡¯t rebut her verbally, he¡¯d make his point with his actions. He picked up a piece of ash (cortex fraxini) that had been processed and snickered, ¡°Look, this cutting skill was obviously that of a novice.¡±


    ¡°You are right, this was my practice piece when I first started out. The cutting wasn¡¯t the best, but look the level of soaking and sun dried, did that affect the efficacy any?¡± Gu Ye pulled out another piece of ash from the other basket. The cutting skill on the second piece showed marked improvement. ¡°This ash, from collecting, cleaning, soaking, to cutting were all done by me independent. These two pieces were done in two consecutive days. Now take a look at this piece.¡±


    Bai Zhi was born in a medicinal herbal merchant family. Other families start their children from reading and writing; their family start their children from recognizing medicinal hears. Meaning, they¡¯d learn how to tell herbs apart before they even started learning how to read and write. Naturally, he could tell the different between the two pieces of ash. The one that the little girl was showing him had already achieved the level of high quality.


    Nevertheless, he refused to believe that the little brat could have some marked improvements in barely two days! Even the master apothecary Gu Shaoming, who were generally recognized as the genius in the field of medicial herb, couldn¡¯t have improved in suChapter a speedy manner.


    Before he could say anything, Housemaster Zhao said in a praising tone, ¡°Yes, the method of treatment for ash might be simple, but the simpler the process, the more skill it takes. If you have truly aplished this in two days, then Miss, you most certainly have a bright future in front of you!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mister. You are too kind!¡± said Gu Ye humbly for a change with a shy smile on her face, the dimples by her lips almost visible.

 Chapter 95 – Competition (1)

    <h4>Chapter 95 ¨C Competition (1)</h4>


    Bai Zhi felt disheartened. This little brat! Why was she so friendly to others but acted like a little tiger pup whose teeth hasn¡¯t even all grown out yet when it came to him? That difference between her mannerism was so drastic. He never thought about that if he wasn¡¯t being impolite to her in the first ce, Gu Ye, who strongly believed in conflict-avoidance, would never had treated him the way that she did.


    Bai Ji, who had been leaning over and rummaging through Gu Ye¡¯s basket of herbs suddenly honed in one a piece of processed huang jing. The mostmonly-seen huang jing on the market was processed like this: rid it of all foreign materials and washed clean, steamed for 12 hours, sliced, and sun dried. One only person in the entire world had came up with his new and unique way of treating Huang jing, with his end product have muChapter higher efficacy than others. And that person was ¨C the sage apothecary.


    Looking closely at the piece of huang jing in his hand, it was neither the processed with the mostmon-seen method, nor was it the work of the sage apothecary. It was a process that he has never seen or head before. This piece of processed huang jing was ckish brown and shiny in appearance, the middle of it was a dark brown color. It was soft, sweet, with excellent efficacy!


    ¡°Young Master, the piece of huang jing in your hand was boiled in yellow wine1 through a water bath. Using alcohol, it will make it nutritious without being oily. In addition, it has the effect to help smooth the meridians. Using yellow wine would further eliminate the numbing taste in the huang jing and avoid agitating the gastrointestinal track and further it¡¯s efficacy and its nourishment.¡±


    Seeing how the pretty young man in azure was flipping the piece of huang jing back and forth and studying it intently, Gu Ye kindly exined it to him. It¡¯s a shame that she had no resistant toward tender and pretty boys. If it was the young man in blue, forget it, don¡¯t let the door hit you on your way out!


    ¡°Ugh... will your family scold you for sharing this unique and private method in public?¡± reminded Bai Ji as he put down the piece of herb ufortably and looked around, anxious. He couldn¡¯t help but looked around them, worried.


    Gu Ye¡¯s impression of him immediately went up a whole level. She covered her mouth, smiled and said, ¡°Everybody knew about the sage apothecary¡¯s 9 steam and 9 dried method, but have anyone sessfully recreated the 9 dried huang jing? A minor deviation in herbal processing could result in major differences in the product. Well, Young Master, would you like to have some of these huang jing?¡±


    ¡°Did you really prepared these huang jing youself?¡± Bai Zhi continued to flip the piece of huang jing back and forth. He was just short of takin at bite out of it to see if the numbing taste was really eliminated.


    ¡°Of course!¡± said Gu Ye as she rolled her eyes at him. Then, turning to the pretty boy in azure and said, ¡°Young Master, I have other herbs here as well. Please feel free to look around.¡±


    ¡°Young Miss, you can¡¯t y favoritism!¡± said Housemaster Zhao as he looked at the interesting young girl with a smile, his voice that of a teasing tone.


    ¡°Mister, please feel free to pick whatever you¡¯d like. I¡¯ll give you 20% off.¡± Gu Ye had more or less learned about the pricing of herbs from the few stalls that were there. She wasn¡¯t aware that processed herbs could fetChapter a few times or even more than raw herbs, whiChapter means the few baskets full of herbs that she had brought with her could fetChapter quite a bit of money. She¡¯s rich! Thought Gu Ye happily, her money-grubbing nature exposed for all to see.


    Bai Ji picked some herbs from the basket. There were five to six different types of processed herbs and the longer he looked the more familiar they seemed. Even though most herbs were processed with the same method, but eaChapter master apothecary tend to have their own unique style.


    And the most famous and most unique one of all was, of course, the sage apothecary old Mr. Zheng. Even though nobody knew the whereabout of the sage apothecary for thest dozen or so years, but his processed medicinal herbs were still unrivaled; even his favorite disciple that had studied under him didn¡¯te close to 10% of his skills.


    ___


    Note:


    1. a type of Chinese alcoholic beverage made from water, cereal grains suChapter as rice, sorghum, millet, or wheat, and a q¨± starter culture. Unlike white wine, it is not distilled and contains less than 20% alcohol. (Wikipedia)


    2. came across this picture of Chinese meridian channels, thought it¡¯s kind of interesting

 Chapter 96 – Competition (2)

    <h4>Chapter 96 ¨C Competition (2)</h4>


    Every medicinal herb merchant pride themselves to have the sage apothecary¡¯s herbs for sale; unfortunately, the sage apothecary was an odd person who enjoyed teasing the herbal merchants that chased after him. Plenty of times he would have processed herbs, but instead of bring them to the merchants himself, he¡¯d have all individuals from all walks of life to deliver for him, and set the prices to be higher than normal herbs, but lower than the top notched ones.


    Many of the medicinal shop¡¯s shopkeeper weren¡¯t good at identifying his work and would inadvertently dismiss the sage apothecary¡¯s representative. That¡¯s when the sage apothecary would jump out of nowhere and identify himself and made somements, causing many to regret deeply for their actions.


    After words had gotten around, many of the well-known medicinal shops would spend a lot of time learning to identify the work of the sage apothecary. In addition, they would further have their younger generation to also focus a lot of their attention on being able to identify the work of sage apothecary, so as not to miss any opportunities to work with the sage apothecary. And Jimin Hall was one of these shops.


    Twenty or so years ago, Jimin Hall was but a small medicinal shop that nobody has heard of. Yet, with their abilities to identify the work of sage apothecary, they were able to bring in a batChapter of herbs processed by the sage apothecary himself and that was how their businesses and reputation began to grow. After twenty years of hard work in their business management, Jimin Hall now has shops all over Dongling with capital almost rival that of Baicao Hall, whiChapter had been around for over a century.


    Gu Ye¡¯s technique was taught to her by the sage apothecary after he had fully absorbed the content from the Compendium of Materia Medica, so naturally itbined some of the sage apothecary¡¯s uniqueness. The younger generation of the Bai¡¯s had been studying the sage apothecary¡¯s work since they started learning about herbs, naturally Bai Ji could easily spot the telling signs of sage apothecary¡¯s work.


    The quality of these herbs were good, albeit the technique was that of a novice. The little girl said she did these himself and Bai Ji didn¡¯t doubt that, but he also believe that her technique has a lot to do with the sage apothecary. Sage apothecary has a disciple who had alreadypleted his apprenticeship and nobody has ever heard of him having his own disciple. In addition, most master apothecary would never ept a female disciple, with the exception of that goofy and uninhibited sage apothecary...


    Bai Ji took a look at Housemaster Zhou and trust that he had the same idea as well. Why else would he spent so muChapter of his precious time in front of a stall of amon-dressed young girl. Bai Ji¡¯s pupil contracted slightly: No, he¡¯d rather make a mistake on it than miss the opportunity ofing across any herbals that have anything to do with the sage apothecary.


    ¡°Young Miss, I will take this entire basket of herbs!¡± Housemaster Zhao and Bai Ji pointed at the basket of processed herbs almost simultaneously.


    Housemaster Zhao still has the smile on his face even though he didn¡¯t seem to be really smiling and said, ¡°I have always heard that you have always been a properly-behaved young man. Naturally you know how to respect someone who¡¯s senior to you.¡±


    ¡°I have always heard that Housemaster Zhao has always be protective of those from a young generation. On top of that, Baicao Hall¡¯s has unlimited capital and been around for over a hundred years, I trust that Housemaster Zhao would not fight with a youngling over a basket of herbs.¡± Bai Ji was still courtesy, but his tone was decisive.


    Seeing how pulling his age card wasn¡¯t working, Housemaster Zhao turned to the little girl stall owner and said gently, ¡°Young Miss, you said earlier that I was free to pick what I want. I won¡¯t ask for the discount, but do your offer still stand?¡±


    Gu Ye just finished nodding before Bai Ji anxiously chimed in, ¡°Young Miss, I inquired about this basket of herbs first. ording to the rules of the herbal market, when we are in discussion over prices and, before one side clearly expressed their intent to withdraw, you can¡¯t sell the products to another party.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not right, young man. Young Miss merely kindly filled you in on that piece of huang jing because you seemed really interested in it. Never once did either one of you had expressed any interest in any sort of trading, so I wasn¡¯t breaking any rules of the herbal market here.¡± Reasoned Housemaster Zhao without backing off.

 Chapter 97 – Competition (3)

    <h4>Chapter 97 ¨C Competition (3)</h4>


    ¡°Housemaster Zhao, I was just about to express my interest to purchase when you interjected. I never expressed that I wasn¡¯t interested either! I don¡¯t think it was right for you to barge in.¡± Bai Ji wasn¡¯t going to back off either. Jimin Hall and Baicao Hall, one was a up anding in the herbal field and the one has been around for over 100 years; naturally, theirpetitions could be observed all over. This could make the difference between the life and death of Jimin Hall, he couldn¡¯t give up!


    Just when the conflict between the two was escting and things were looking like they were about to get ugly, a weak voice sounded, ¡°Um... there¡¯s no need to fight. We haven¡¯t even discussed the prices yet. What is the point of fighting now?¡±


    ¡°You name the price. I am taking this basket!¡± The old and young men said simultaneously again.


    ¡°Ugh... actually, I still have two more baskets at the inn. Their qualities were about the same as these. I will sell them to the both of you, so let¡¯s settle this amicably and no more flighting, okay?¡± Gu Ye hadn¡¯t expected anyone to recognize her master¡¯s work at this little herbal market, and more than one of them no less.


    She wiped away the proverbial sweat and secretly d that she didn¡¯t showcase the basket made by her master; otherwise, the two just might get into a fist fight over it! Oh boy, the reputation of the sage apothecary was no joke!


    As soon as they¡¯ve heard that she has two more baskets of the same quality, the escting conflict between the two dissipated immediately and they started chitchatting about random topics, as though the two person who were just staring eaChapter other down like cocks in a fighting ring were someone else. Gu Ye couldn¡¯t help but be amazed by how quickly the two could change their tones.


    Three baskets of herbs were split evenly between Housemaster Zhao and Bai Ji after some discussion between the two of them. Then came time to discuss the pricing. Gu Ye cleared her throat and said to her two big customers, ¡°Truth be told, I don¡¯t know the processed herb market very well. Why don¡¯t... why don¡¯t you quote me a price? I trust that with Jimin Hall and Baicao Hall¡¯s reputation, you wouldn¡¯t try to take advantage of a little girl like me.¡±


    Gu Xiao, who had been standing behind Gu Ye and watching everything going on this entire time, lowered his head and took a look at his granddaughter; somehow, he felt that she was grinning from ear to ear like a little fox. Hasn¡¯t she already figured out the going prices of process herbs as she walked down the street?


    If this little girl truly has anything to do with the sage apothecary, then they¡¯d need to y to her good side. Housemaster Zhao was the first to speak, ¡°The quality of these medicinal herbs is quite good. What say I pay you the same price as high-quality processed herb. What do you think?¡±


    Gu Ye turned and look at the little handsome boy in azure. Her guts told her that he wouldn¡¯t try to take advantage of her.


    Bai Ji nodded and said, ¡°Your technique has reached the level of an apothecary, but not yet to that of a master apothecary. Housemaster Zhao¡¯s assessment is fair.¡±


    Housemaster Zhao continued to butter her up, ¡°Young Miss, don¡¯t worry! Baicao Hall is known for being fair to everyone. We will have a lot of opportunities to work together in the future. I would not do anything that could harm our reputation.¡±


    Finally, the three baskets of herbs old for 56 taels, whiChapter well exceeded Gu Ye¡¯s expectation. Most of the herbs that she had processed were verymon-seen ones, even haung jing, the most expensive in the bunch, only fetched 80 wen / jin. The high price that her herbs fetched attributed only partly to the quality of her work, but also partly because of her master.


    When Housemaster Zhao asked about her whereabouts, she chose not to disclose it. She didn¡¯t want her family to be visited by strangers all the time, and she trusted that her master shared the same point of view as her.


    Bai Ji switched to a different approach. Pointing at the middle-age shopkeeper, he said to Gu Ye, ¡°Young Miss, if you have herbs for sale in the future, just visit Shopkeeper Fang at Jimin Hall. He will offer you a fair price for them.¡±

 Chapter 98 – Someone’s Dead (1)

    <h4>Chapter 98 ¨C Someone¡¯s Dead (1)</h4>


    At this moment, Housemaster Zhao regretted deeply that Baicao Hall did not have a branChapter in this nameless little town. Baicao Hall had been focused only onrge provinces and therefore overlooked small towns. Unlike the up anding Jimin Hall, who has branches over all provinces and towns.


    Nevertheless, if his assessment was correct, this girl was destined to rise above her current standing and one day they would be able to work together again. Thinking about that, the smile on Housemaster Zhao became even more tender as he said to her, ¡°If Young Miss ever goes and visits the City of Yan, do stop by Baicao Hall for a visit. I will let the shopkeeper know to be on the lookout for you.¡±


    As muChapter as Bai Zhi had no idea why his older brother and Housemaster Zhao valued the little brat so much, he could at least tell what was the important matters at hand. In a low, muffled voice, he said, ¡°Our Jimin Hall has a branChapter in the City of Yan too, alright!¡±


    ¡°Young Man Bai, if you are having meat, you should at least let others have a sip of the soup, okay? Besides, if we were right, do you really think the disciple of that person would just follow our arrangements? Unless.....¡±


    Housemaster Zhao suddenly turned his attention to the faces of the two young masters of Jimin Hall. They were, indeed, quite pretty. No wonder the little girl was just staring at them earlier. Housemaster Zhao began to ponder whether there was any young man in his family that was as pretty as them. After all, once a girl was married, she¡¯d became part of the husband¡¯s family. That was another reason why a lot of renowned master apothecaries were reluctant to ept female disciples.


    And... looking at the little girl¡¯s scrawny body, childish face, and ignorant look ¨C it might be a little bit too early to be considering that.


    Gu Ye wasn¡¯t exactly a 12-year-old girl on the inside; naturally, she has an idea what Housemaster Zhao was getting at. Damn, was he seriously thinking about conquering her with pretty boys? Well.... She looked back at the slightly-blushing pretty boy in azure. Okay, go ahead, send a dozen of boys that were as pretty as him! Oh ¨C more pretty boys please!


    As muChapter as she was having all sorts of dirty looks, she did not let them show on her face. After she had sent away her two best customers from Baicao Hall and Jimin Hall, her little stall was immediately surrounded.


    Many of the herb merchants there recognized the housemaster of Baicao Hall and the young masters of Jimin hall. They have no idea what was so special about Gu Ye¡¯s medicinal herbs, but if the two families were fighting over them, then it couldn¡¯t go wrong! The remaining basket of her practice work was also gone in no time. Of course, the pricing of those were only the same as any regr processed herbs. Even so, she was still able to sell them all for 5 taels!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, grandpa! I will treat you to a hearty meal!¡± With her 60 or so taels in her chest, Gu Ye stood straight up and her head lifted up so high that her nostril was almost pointing upward toward the sky. She walked like an obnoxious, riChapter man with a big stomach!


    Gu Xiao had never expected that the herbs from the streets could fetChapter suChapter a high price. That being said, the mere dozens of taels weren¡¯t arge amount for him. Seeing the look on his little granddaughter though, he decided to appease her by putting on a very proud look and said, ¡°Alright, guess I¡¯ll have the honor to let my granddaughter treat me to a good meal today!¡±


    As the grandfather and granddaughter pair arrived at the only inn that looked eptable in town, order all their good dishes and started devouring their food, Bai Ji had also returned to Jimen Hall and told Shopkeeper Fang, ¡°Have someone take the fast horse end these herbs to Yan and show them to my Third Uncle. Remember, leave right away. We must act quickly!¡±


    Shopkeeper Fang left to carry out the order and Bai Zhi, who had been holding back all of his questions, finally had a chance to ask, ¡°Ge, what was so special about that little brat¡¯s herbs that you cared about so much?¡±

 Chapter 99 – Someone’s Dead (2)

    <h4>Chapter 99 ¨C Someone¡¯s Dead (2)</h4>


    ¡°Hrm! You should have put in more effort when you were studying. You couldn¡¯t even distinguish the signatures of the few master apothecaries. What have you learned in thest ten years?¡± Bai Ji started at his brother wishing that he¡¯d be more studious.


    ¡°Ugh... but we have ge ge. I don¡¯t need to take over the family busy, why try so hard, eh?¡± Bai Zhi has guilty conscience and wouldn¡¯t dare look his older brother in his eyes, but was still making up excuses for himself.


    ¡°Neither did Big Uncle and Third Uncle. If they were all like you, our Jimin Hall would have been oupeted by the other three big herbal shops and gone out of business a long time ago. The rise of a family could not be propped up by just one or two individuals. Everybody in the family must work together as a team for that to happen.¡± Bai Ji felt helpless inside. He never should have defended his brother when he was being punished! He just hoped it wasn¡¯t toote just yet.


    ¡°Alright! I will learn from ge ge in the future, okay?¡± said Bai Zhi, honestly expressing hismitment in the future. With the exception of their father, Bai Zhi would only listen to his brother who was just only born 15 minutes before him. Yet he still didn¡¯t understand what his older brother being so respectful to the little girl has to do with him learning about herbs.


    Bai Ji sighed and addressed his confusion for him, ¡°We have been looking at herbs processed by the sage apothecary since we were kids, and you still couldn¡¯t recognize them?¡¯


    ¡°Ge! You meant the little girl¡¯s herbs were processed by the sage apothecary?¡± Hearing the name of the sage apothecary, Bai Zhi, who had just sat down, jumped up and started pacing back and forth in the room, ¡°What am I going to do? I think I have offended her. Would she hold grudges and never sell the sage apothecary¡¯s herbs to Jimin Hall?


    ¡°Ooooooh.... And I was wondering why that old man Zhao was fighting us over the herbs. So he figured that out as well. Ayaya, what to do, ge ¨C I think I really messed up this time. Do you think dad will banish me from the family?¡±


    If pping himself a few times could make things right with the little girl, Bai Zhi would not hesitate to smack his face swollen. It was always said that little girls were the pettiest. She must hate him by now, then she¡¯d project her hatred for him onto Jimin Hall..... oh, heavens! Earth! Just strike me with lightings!¡±


    ¡°What craziness are you talking about? Did the little girl clearly state that she processed those herbs herself? You think the sage apothecary¡¯s herbs were only worth tens of dors? Not even 50 taels of gold could have bought that!¡± Bai Ji was speechless, did his young brother left his brain at home during this trip?


    ¡°Eh? If it wasn¡¯t made by the sage apothecary, then why were you so respectful toward the little brat?¡± When Bai Zhi heard that, his heart that was about to pop out from his mouth finally returned to its normal location.


    Bai Ji picked up a piece of arrowroot, stuck it in front of his younger brother and asked, ¡°Look at this piece carefully and tell me what do you see?¡±


    ¡°This arrowroot was simmered. And the technique was mediocre!¡± That was Bai Zhi¡¯s conclusion after he had studied the arrowroot.


    ¡°Normally arrowroot was simmered with bran, but this one has a hint of rice smell to it. Do you get it now?¡± Bai Ji frowned. If his younger brother couldn¡¯t even answer this basic question, then he must consider sending him back home to start learning about herbs with all the beginner kids in the family.


    ¡°Smell of rice? You mean that was Mr. Sage Apothecary¡¯s unique method of ¡®Rice Soup Simmered Arrowroot¡¯?¡± With a stroke of luck, Bai Zhi was finally able to figure out what that piece of arrowroot was so special.


    ¡°Exactly. Up to this point, with the exception Mr. Sage Apothecary, his disciple Mr. Jiang would be the only other person to simmer arrowroot with rice. Early this year, Mr. Jiang had announced that he would not be epting disciples anytime in the near future. By that token... there is only one possibility!¡± Bai Ji¡¯s eyes were lit up with a colorful aura.

 Chapter 100 – Someone’s Dead (3)

    <h4>Chapter 100 ¨C Someone¡¯s Dead (3)</h4>


    ¡°Ge, are you tell me that that little girl was the sage apothecary¡¯s disciple?¡± Bai Ji¡¯s face immediately turned into the shape of a bitter melon, ¡°Ge, I have offended her. What do you think I should do now?¡±


    ¡°Even if that girl was not the sage apothecary¡¯s disciple, she had definitely received some pointers from him,¡± as he paused there, he wanted to scold his young brother again. ¡°And you! How many times have I told you? When you are out in public it is not the same as being inside our house. You must watChapter yourself carefully before you speak or act. So tell me, why were you picking on that little girl?¡±


    ¡°I will go apologize to her right away. Tell her that I was wrong, do you think it¡¯s toote now?¡± Bai Zhi lowered his head as though he had learned his lesson. The rise of Jimin Hall had muChapter to do with the sage apothecary. If he has truly offended his disciple and she was mad at them, that could mark the end of Jimin Hall.


    ¡°Yes, it is vital that you apologize to her, but don¡¯t worry too much. I think, for the most part, the little girl was just bickering with you. I don¡¯t think she¡¯d hold any grudges against you.¡± Bai Ji felt bad and couldn¡¯t help butforted his brother after seeing how down his little brother was.


    In the meantime, Gu Xiao and Gu Ye, the grandfather and granddaughter pair, had already finished their lunChapter and walking down the street in the small town with their round tummies. Gu Ye let out a burp and said to her grandpa, ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the herbal market and take a look in the afternoon. If wee across any good quality raw herb, let¡¯s just buy some here. Yan is too far away and will take a few days round trip. Ge ge will be worried at home.¡±


    ¡°Okay! We will do as you say,¡± said Gu Xiao very agreeably. Suddenly, he hesitated for a little while, and asked her in a low voice, ¡°Little Ye-er, does your master has more of that medicinal oil that he has given to me for the treatment of my leg? Will they work on old wounds from ages ago?¡±


    ¡°Ah, grandpa¡¯s bottle of medicinal oil was almost gone, master and I were just about to make some more. We will just buy some extra ingredients in a little bit and make some extras.¡± Her grandpa¡¯s medicinal oil was the most basic of all basics, Gu Ye could make them in the blink of an eye, ¡°Why? Grandpa want to give them away as gifts?¡±


    ¡°Yes, someone who had saved grandpa¡¯s life before. If it wasn¡¯t for him, grandpa would have died on the battlefield tens of years ago, and we would never have be grandfather and grandchild.¡± Talking about his old general, thankfulness and admiration filled Gu Xiao¡¯s eyes. The old general was more than just a superior to him, he was also his master, his senior. Now that he had came across something so wonderful, his first thought was to send a portion to the old general.


    ¡°Ah, grandpa¡¯s savior is Ye-er¡¯s savior. Don¡¯t worry, Ye-er will for sure... ugh... for sure ask Master to make some more high-quality medicinal oil! Master had said that his medicinal processing skills had improved greatly as ofte.¡± Said Gu Ye as she smacked her chest and made guarantees.


    Gu Xiao looked very appreciative. He was just about to say something when a loud ruckus in front of them drew their attention.


    ¡°Oh no! He¡¯s dead! Landlord Ding is not breathing!¡± Nervous shouting could be heard from the crowd. When Gu Xiao was distracted, his granddaughter was pushed into the crowd by the traffic.


    Taking advantage of her small size, Gu Ye navigated herself among the people and quickly came to the center of the crowd. Pupil dtion, greyish white skin, and cyanosis. Those were all symptoms of cardiac arrest! If they perform CPR right away, they had a 90% chance of bringing the man back.


    With the responsibilities of a doctor, Gu Ye pushed aside the crowd and walked up next to the patient. She then shouted at the onlookers, ¡°Spread out! The patient needs more air!! Grandpa, and you....¡± Said Gu Ye as she pointed at the young man who was looked down and checking on the patient, ¡°Come over and help!¡±

 Chapter 101 – Revival (1)

    <h4>Chapter 101 ¨C Revival (1)</h4>


    ¡°Young Miss, this man has no heart beat or pulse any more. He is beyond help.¡± The young man shook his head, picked up his medical kit and rushed away. Before he took off, he didn¡¯t forget to remind her, ¡°Whose kid are you anyway? Stop messing around. You don¡¯t want to be med!


    The servant that came with Landlord Ding shoved the crowd aside forcefully as he shouted loudly, ¡°Move! Move! The doctor from Jimin Hall is here!!¡±


    A path opened up in between the crowd and the servant dragged with him an old doctor in his 50s. Covered in sweat, he said to the doctor, ¡°Doctor, the master of my house just copsed, please take a look at him quickly!¡±


    The old doctor checked for his pulse and then leaned down over Landlord Ding¡¯s chest to check for his heartbeat. Then, shaking his head, he sighed and said, ¡°Your housemaster had severe heart problem, how could you let him go out on the streets? It¡¯s toote already, Start arranging for the funeral!¡±


    ¡°Master! Oh, Master!¡± The servant cried like his own mother has died. Why was he so unfortunate? Dragged to the herbal market by his Master and now this had happened. The old Mistress would for sure beat him to death!


    ¡°Stop crying! We might still be able to save your master!!¡± The servant immediately stopped bawling after he had heard that and hope was reignited in him. Yet when he looked toward the sound and saw that the one who spoke was a young girl, his face dropped again.


    ¡°Do you want to save your master or not? If you do what I say, there¡¯s 50% chance we can save your master. If you keep crying, your master will truly be hopeless.¡± This was an emergency, there were fierceness and impatient in her voice.


    The old doctor frowned and scolded her, ¡°Landlord Ding had already stopped breathing. Unless you can bring the dead back, how could you revive someone who had already stopped breathing?¡±


    ¡°Just because you couldn¡¯t, doesn¡¯t mean nobody could!!¡± Gu Ye ignored him and immediately checked for the patient¡¯s pulse from his neck. Yup, there was still a very light pulse.


    She had her grandfatherid the patient down t and knelt down next to the patient. She ce one hand on his forehead and the other below his chin and lifted his head up to open up his windpipe.


    Pointing at the chest of the patient, she said to Gu Xiao, ¡°Grandpa, do as I am doing right now. Put one hand on top of the other,ce your fingers and ce them right here. Use the force of your upper body and press downward directly. Yup, a little more. Don¡¯t bend your arm. Press down and let up immediately. Yes, just like that! Here, follow my rhythm, one, two, three, four....¡±


    Gu Xiao followed her beat and press down on the man¡¯s chest over and over again.


    ¡°You!¡± Gu Ye pointed at the servant and ordered, ¡°PinChapter your master¡¯s nose and blow air into his mouth.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Mouth to mouth?¡± Mouth to mouth with an old man? The servant was hesitant.


    ¡°Do you want to save your master or not?¡± Scolded Gu Ye sternly.


    ¡°Yeeesss....¡±


    ¡°Then do as I say!!¡± fulminated Gu Ye. Her solemn face exuded undeniable authority.


    The servant immediately leaned down and pinched his master¡¯s nose and obediently started blowing air into his mouth.


    ¡°Deep breath. Hold it. Covered his mouth with yours and quickly blow the air into him.¡± Gu Ye saw that the patient¡¯s chest expanded from the forced air and quickly said, ¡°Now let go of his nose. Blow into him one more time.....¡±


    Under her direction, cardiacpression and artificial respiration were performed alternately. At the same time, Gu Ye paid close attention to the life signs of the patient: temperature of his hand was returning and pulse at his neck growing stronger....

 Chapter 102 – Revival (2)

    <h4>Chapter 102 ¨C Revival (2)</h4>


    Suddenly, Landlord Ding let out a long breath and started breathing on his own.


    ¡°He¡¯s alive! Landlord Ding is alive!!¡± The crowd standing around let out loud cries and they all looked at Gu Ye with surprised, uncertainty, and amazement. Who was thismonly-look girl that could revive the dead?


    The old doctor from Jimin Hall couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. A patient that he had diagnosed as hopeless was brought back to life right in front of his own eyes. Did that mean he had misdiagnosed a lot of patients in the past? The old doctor started having doubts about his ownpetency as a doctor.


    ¡°Young Miss...¡± said the old doctor with difficulty, ¡°Does this method work for anyone who had just died?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! It only works for those who had stop breathing and have cardiac arrests.¡± Just what did he think CPR was? If it could treat all ailments, why would we still need doctors?


    Gu Ye reached inside her sleeve, when in fact she had reached into her dimension, and fished out a bottle of nitroglycerin (Su Xiao Jiu Xin Wan)1. She put three pills into Landlord Ding¡¯s mouth and said, ¡°Keep them under your tongue. Doctor, please take over from here. Just prescribe him what you normally do for heart diseases would be fine.¡±


    The old doctor didn¡¯t want anything to go wrong with the person who was just brought back to live. He quickly wrote out the prescription and showed it to the little sacred doctor.


    Gu Ye shook her head and said, ¡°I only learned this first aid method by chance and happened to matChapter Landlord Ding¡¯s symptoms. I am no sacred doctor. Doctor, you are the in-house doctor of Jimin Hall. I am sure you have solid skills. We all in faith in you! Come,e,e... everybodye and help bring the patient over to Jimin Hall.¡±


    A few sturdy men walked out from the crowd and carefully lifted up Landlord Ding and started walking toward Jimin Hall, whiChapter was not too far away. The crowed also followed them out. In the midst of the chaos, Gu Ye grabbed her grandpa and snuck away.


    ¡°Oh? You saved the person, gave him medicine but didn¡¯t charge him any money. Xiao Ye-er, that wasn¡¯t like you.¡± Gu Xiao, who was in a good mood, couldn¡¯t help but teased his little money-grubbing granddaughter.


    ¡°If we continue to stay there, people will stare at us like we are pandas or something!¡± Gu Ye tossed the bottle of nitroglycerin up and down and wondering how she could fetChapter a good price for them. That Landlord Ding looked to be quite wealthy. Of course, it wasn¡¯t just all about the money. Medicines must be in the hands of those in need for the values to shine.


    ¡°Did you learn that bizarre method of saving people for the old grandpa?¡± asked Gu Xiao as he pointed in the direction of Qingshan Vige.


    Gu Ye nodded naturally. She had been using her master¡¯s name all this time now she felt no pressure doing that any more. (T/N: Didn¡¯t think she ever did. ??)


    As they were looking around, Gu Xiao saw a clothing shop ahead of them. He looked at his granddaughter and saw the grey cotton jacket on her along with the simple braid. She looked nothing like how a young girl should look.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and buy you a set of new clothes!¡± Gu Xiao turned around and waved at Gu Ye before walking into the clothing shop.


    Gu Ye had made quite a bit of money today. She was a money-grubber, but not a miser. She was quite willing to spend money on herself and those she cared about. What kind of girls didn¡¯t like to look pretty? Naturally, she didn¡¯t object to buying new clothes.


    Nheless, when she saw the out-of-style winter clothes in the store, she suddenly felt that the dark blue coat that she had on wasn¡¯t that dark after all.


    ¡°What do you think about this one?¡± Gu Ye looked up and saw the set that her grandfather was holding up, she was about to drop dead. Aiyowei2, red button-down top with small floral prints coupled with a turquoise pleated skirt with small floral prints. The outfit of a typical vige girl. It was so out-of-style it wasn¡¯t even funny!


    ___


    Notes:


    1. Afraid not, my dear readers. Evidently you can buy this on amazon.


    2. Think ¡°OMG¡±

 Chapter 103 – Revival (3)

    <h4>Chapter 103 ¨C Revival (3)</h4>


    Noticing that his granddaughter didn¡¯t like that much, Gu Xiao scratched his head and said, ¡°But this is the only one that looked like it¡¯d be suitable for a young girl. It has bridge colors and the cotton inside is soft and thick. It¡¯d be warm on you. Let¡¯s get this for now, and get you a better set when we have a chance to visit Yan.¡±


    The workers at the clothing shop pursed their lips from one side and looked at the grandfather and granddaughter with a look of contempt. Even though both of their sets were new, but both the fabric and their style couldn¡¯t be moremon. If it wasn¡¯t that Gu Xiao had a majestic look on him, they would have said something to mock them already.


    ¡°Grandpa, I think we should just buy cotton and fabric and have Ninth Aunty help us make them.¡± Gu Ye really didn¡¯t want to put on the set of very out-of-style cotton outfit. She¡¯d feel like a fool.


    ¡°My little money-grubber, I don¡¯t need you to pay for them. Grandpa will buy them for you! Hey you, wrap this set up!¡± Gu Xiao didn¡¯t ask any further before he made the decision.


    Gu Ye wished she could cry. Alright, a fool she would be. If only just to entertain her grandpa.


    The two of them went back to the herbal market and bought 4 baskets of raw herbs. ¡®Lo and behold, being an apothecary was a pretty lucrative career. The four baskets of raw herbs close less than 5 taels while their processed medicinal herbs sold for over 10x that amount.


    When the two of them arrived back at the inn, Landlord Ding¡¯s son was already waiting there with lots of gifts. As soon as Gu Xiao grandfather and granddaughter stepped foot into the inn, the servant immediately said, ¡°Young Master, these two were the sacred doctors who saved Master¡¯s life. Even Dr. Li from Jimin Hall was raving about their technique and how they were able to bring Master back to life!¡±


    The 20-something year old, slightly chubby Young Master Ding immediately took a step up and, with a very appreciative look, said, ¡°Thank you, the two sacred doctors who had saved my father. Please ept my bow.¡±


    Gu Xiao saw that his granddaughter was hiding behind him and didn¡¯t seem to want anything to do with this so he helped Young Master up and said humbly, ¡°We are not sacred doctors, it was just some technique that was passed on down in our family and your father happened to have the same symptoms. It was his luck more than anything else.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, we are still appreciative that the two of you stepped in and helped during the time of need. We have some small gifts here, please ept them.¡± Young Master Ding gestured his servants behind him and they brought up the gifts.


    There were two rolls of cotton fabric, four boxes of delicate sweets, half a rack of pork, and a tter of silver summing up to 100 taels. The Ding¡¯s was a big family in town who owned more than half of the fields nearby. They also owned a dozen or so shops in town, 100 taels really were not a lot of money to them.


    ¡°From now on, if there is anything that my family can do for you, please just let us know. We will do everything that we can to help.¡± Doctors were well-respected everywhere that they went. After all, any one who was living and breathing would get sick one day. Befriending a good doctor was the same as having anotheryer of assurance on one¡¯s life.


    Master Ding wasn¡¯t the only Ding¡¯s family member who had heart problems. Young Master Ding¡¯s grandfather also died from cardiac arrest, at the young age of 43. Landlord Ding was not even 50 yet and eaChapter time he experienced heart issue it was worse than thest. There was no saying whether he could make it to his 50th birthday. Young Master Ding himself has also noticed symptoms suChapter as tightness of chest and palpitation, whiChapter were the same symptoms that his father had exhibited at the early stage.


    If the grandfather/granddaughter pair in front of him could bring his father back from death, perhaps they would have prescriptions that could alleviate their heart symptoms as well.

 Chapter 104 – Robbed (1)

    <h4>Chapter 104 ¨C Robbed (1)</h4>


    The chubby Young Master Ding was smiling eagerly at them. The fat on his cheek squeezed his features together in an odd way, making his originally somewhat elegant look looking just eerie now.


    ¡°I wonder what kind of medicine did the two of your give to my father?¡± Young Master Ding rubbed his hands together, asked them to have a seat, and even personally poured them tea.


    Gu Xiao looked at his granddaughter and Gu Ye gave him a look. Gu Xiao understood that instantly and said, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk out here. Please, Young Master Ding, join us in our room so we can discuss further.¡±


    After the rolls of fabric and the taels, all the customers in the lobby of the inn were looking at them. A look of understanding crossed Young Master Ding¡¯s face ¨C this was no ce for the discussion.


    Young Master Dine has his servants brought all the items into Gu Xiao¡¯s room and dismissed everyone else. When he was the only one left with Gu Xiao and Gu Ye, he eagerly brought up the subject again, ¡°Can you tell me now?¡±


    ¡°The medicine was called ¡®Fast Acting Heart Saver Pills¡¯ (nitroglycerin). They help with cirction, relief pain and bruises, increases blood flow of the coronary artery, and alleviate angina pectoris...¡± Gu Ye went on as though she was reciting straight from a book and went over all the symptoms that these heart pills would help alleviate.


    Young Master Ding listened attentively and when he thought about his father¡¯s and his own symptoms, they ovepped almostpletely! These were like pills that were custom made for them!


    He paced around the room in excitement and carefully asked, ¡°Do you have any more of those pills, Little Sacred Doctor? Truth be told, my dad and I both have heart diseases. My dad, especially, is at the end stage. Even the doctor in Yan said that it¡¯s any day now. If Little Sacred Doctor can treat my dad¡¯s illness, the Ding¡¯s will be willing to pay our entire fortune.¡±


    Money and power meant so little in front of illness.


    From Landlord Ding¡¯s symptom, he was already atte stage coronary heart disease. Gu Ye frowned, pondered over it some and said, ¡°Landlord Ding¡¯s illness can only be controlled by medications along with modification of his diet. As for you, your symptoms are still like. If you eat healthier, work out and take the pills for a period of time, the symptoms should go away.¡±


    Young Master Ding felt relieved as soon as he heard that. His father wouldn¡¯t die and his illness could be controlled and alleviated. Wasn¡¯t that everything that he had wanted? He had never doubted the little girl standing in front of him. So many onlookers witnessed it when she treated his dad in the middle of the street, that couldn¡¯t have been faked. Even the doctor from Jimin Hall was amazed. That had clearly demonstrated how knowledgeable she was in the medical field.


    ¡°Little Sacred Doctor, the pills that you have, was that from Master Baili? Master Baili¡¯s medicinal pills were too popr. I have tried to buy some earlier but had never seeded. What a coincident that Little Sacred Doctor has some at hand. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t want to take advantage of you and am offering to pay you double the cost.¡± Said Young Master Ding matter-of-factly.


    So there was already the early stage of medicinal pills in this world! Gu Ye wondered who this Master Baili was, who was able to be the first among all apothecaries to create pills. She wondered whether Jimin Hall has his pills as she would like to be able to get her hands on some so she could study them.


    ¡°You mean... with the exception of Master Baili, nobody else would be able to create medicinal pills?¡± Gu Ye gave him a sidelong nce and purposefully put on a contemptuous and displeased look.


    Young Master Ding immediately backpaddled, ¡°Of course not! I have heard that the sage apothecary had came up with the idea of recing herbal soup with pills some 20 years ago. Unfortunately, nobody had heard from him for years. If only he had the desires to, I am sure he could create even better medicinal pills!¡±

 Chapter 105 – Robbed (2)

    <h4>Chapter 105 ¨C Robbed (2)</h4>


    Gu Ye nodded and looking happier, ¡°That¡¯s better! Here¡¯s two bottles of ¡®Fast Acting Heart Saver Pills¡¯. Take 3 pills 3 times a day. EaChapter bottle is the quantity for one month. I will bring more for you next time Ie to town.¡±


    Young Master Ding carefully took the pills from her and preciously put them away in his chest. He took out a bank note from his sleeve that was for 500 taels and, slightly embarrassed, he asked, ¡°I left in a hurry today and didn¡¯t bring too muChapter money with me. Will these be sufficient? If not, I will have someone go and...¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine!¡± Gu Ye saw that Young Master Ding was an honest man and didn¡¯t want to price gouge him too much. ¡°I will take these for the cost of 10 bottles. From now on you can get them for 50 taels per bottle. The illness that you and your father have are chronic and will need medications long term. Don¡¯t throw away money like that in the again, you must n for the future!¡±


    Hearing that, Young Master Ding¡¯s nose wrinkled and was closed to tears: She was, indeed, a sacred doctor. She has a heart of gold and impably medical professionalism. Young Master Ding was short of honoring her like she was buddha!


    ¡°By the way! You and your father, do you normally want meat with every meal? And not like to exercise?¡± Gu Ye looked at his chubby body and felt tired just from looking at him.


    Young Master Ding was stunned, ¡°Are you a buddha? How do you know that? Truth be told, all the men in our family love meat, the fattier the better. I just had pig feet during lunChapter today!¡±


    Gu Ye grimaced and shook her head, ¡°Every day? Every meal? That was exactly why you developed this illness.¡±


    ¡°You mean to tell me that our illness was caused by having meat? The doctors had also told us to eat less meat, but nobody ever mentioned that having meat would cause heart disease.¡± Asked Young Master Ding, baffled.


    ¡°The te that you used to hold the meat at home, was there always ayer of oil on them?¡±


    Young Master Ding nodded forcefully. Even though he never needed to do dishes, he still havemon sense.


    ¡°A human¡¯s body was just like the te that holds the meat. Having too muChapter meat would cause the fat to umte inside your body. When there are too muChapter fat in your blood stream, it will cause clotting. When your blood can¡¯t flow freely and your heart wasn¡¯t getting enough blood, that is the cause of your heart disease!¡± Gu Ye had tried her best to choose words that a person from the past could understand, but still ended up mixing in a lot of medical terminologies. Welp... regardless of whether he could understand everything that she said, she had tried her best!


    Listening to her exnation, Young Master Ding looked more and more solemn. Then, looking like he had made the biggest decision, he nodded heavily, ¡°I will stop eating meat! And also look after my father and not let him have any more meat!! I wouldn¡¯t let these miracle drugs from Little Sacred Doctor go to waste!¡±


    Gu Ye gave him an approving look, ¡°Some illnesses, the medicine can only help you 30%, the other 70% depends on the patients themselves. And I am not asking you to cut out all meat, you can still have chicken, duck, and fish, just don¡¯t eat the skin. Beef andmb eat only the lean part. Have more vegetables regrly and exercise more! I¡¯ve heard that the Ding¡¯s have a lot ofnd in the country side. Go there often, walk, don¡¯t take the horse-drawn carriage!¡±


    Even though exercising and not eating fatty meat were painful to him, but he¡¯d have to grit his teeth and do it for his own life. Young Master Ding followed the instructions given by the Little Sacred Doctor and followed them to the T. The next time Gu Ye came to town and ran into the muChapter skinner Young Master Ding, she almost wasn¡¯t sure if she had the right person. Of course, these were stories for another day.


    With the 600 more taels she had just earned, Gu Ye felt like she was now a little riChapter woman. Generously, she said to Gu Xiao, ¡°C¡¯mon, grandpa, let¡¯s go shopping! Anything that you like, you tell me! I¡¯ll buy them for you!!¡±

 Chapter 106 – Robbed (3)

    <h4>Chapter 106 ¨C Robbed (3)</h4>


    ¡°Okay! Our Ye-er is riChapter now. Grandpa is benefitting from that too!¡± said Gu Xiao as he followed happily behind Gu Ye walking from one end of the street to the next.


    When they returned to the inn, Gu Ye was distressed like a soldier who was just defeated in a battle. The nameless little town was too small, all the shops have very limited selections. And Young Master Ding had already gifted them fabrics, snacks, or pork. They looked all over the ce and couldn¡¯t find anything that she wanted to buy. Gu Ye was very disappointed.


    Seeing how dispirited she was, Gu Xiao quicklyforted her, ¡°Grandpa will take you and Ming-er to Yan next time. There are muChapter more ces to shop at over there. You can save your money for now for when we go there.¡±


    The grandpa and granddaughter had a bowl of noodles and went to bed early. They left the next morning when the sky was still dark. It was long after they¡¯ve left town before Gu Ye noticed that they were being followed.


    It¡¯d seem some unwanted element had witnessed the 100 taels was given to them by Young Master Ding at the inn and was tempted. In a small town when a ordinary person¡¯s ie was less than 20 taels, 100 taels was an attractive amount.


    Anywhere one went, there were always those who eyed what wasn¡¯t them and wanted the shortcut way to riches. So, when the bad elements in town saw the elderly and a child having this ¡°massive amount¡±, how could they possible not target them?


    Gu Xiao noticed how his granddaughter looked behind them from time to time. While he thought to himself how smart and alert she was, he alsoforted her at the same time, ¡°Just a few robbers, not muChapter they could do. Don¡¯t worry, grandpa¡¯s here!¡±


    Gu Ye nodded and gave him the brightest smile, ¡°Mmm, Ye-er is not scared. Grandpa can take care of them all!¡± Having said that, she couldn¡¯t help but looked down on herself ¨C she was getting better and better at faking to be a good little kid.


    ¡°Stop right there!¡± The few robbers had no patience at all. Gu Xiao and Gu Ye have barely just left time before the robbers moved up and have them surrounded.


    The man who looked like the leader had a chubby face. He viciously pointed at Gu Xiao, spit on the ground, and said in a ferocious way, ¡°Old man, hand over your money if you know what¡¯s good for you. Otherwise... neither you nor your granddaughter will be leaving!!¡±


    ¡°You want money? We don¡¯t have any!!¡± Gu Xiao tugged on the reins and looked at the six robbers from high above, exuding a very intimidating might.


    Perhaps the sky was still dark, the robbers hadn¡¯t notice how strong their opponent was. They continued to shout out, ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t have any? Didn¡¯t that Young Master Ding give you 100 taels in payment? And those fabrics and pork, those could be exchanged for money as well. Hand them all over. Otherwise.... Hrm, hrm, you are asking for what is going to happen next.¡±


    ¡°You want our goods? Let¡¯s see if you are good enough to get them yourself!!¡± Gu Xiao didn¡¯t care about these weaklings in front of him at all. Turning to Gu Ye, he said, ¡°Xiao Ye-zi, step aside. I don¡¯t want you to get hurt!¡±


    ¡°Oh! The old thing is asking for it! Brothers, let¡¯s go! The one who brought down this old thing will take the biggest cut!!¡± As soon as the leader had finished saying that, a big fool stood out right away and aimed his rod straight at Gu Xiao¡¯s head.


    Gu Xiao moved out of its way and, with lightning speed, grabbed his rod with his left hand. With a slight tug, the big fool immediately lost control and stumbled forward. Gu Xiao reached out his foot and kicked him right at his stomach. The fool let out a loud cry that belonging to a ughtered pig and flew out about 2 yards before hended on the ground rolling and moaning.

 Chapter 107 – Naturally Strong (1)

    <h4>Chapter 107 ¨C Naturally Strong (1)</h4>


    The leader of the robbers was stunned. He didn¡¯t expect the old man to have some skills, no wonder he didn¡¯t seem to be intimidated. Nheless, they have more bodies. With a wave of his arm, he shouted, ¡°Everybody, attack!¡±


    The remaining 5 robbers rushed up in a very uncoordinated manner. Gu Xiao twirled the rod in a way that not even wind could pass through. Before the robbers even knew what was going on, their hands went numb and their weapons flew out of them.


    ¡°OUCH!¡± ¡°OH, OW!¡± The rod hit them on their heads, their shoulders, their backs, and their arms... The robbers covered their heads and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off as they scream in pain.


    Gu Xiao had already gone light on them. He only used 30% of his strength; otherwise, all the robbers would be down on the ground already.


    ¡°Stop... STOP!¡± The big fool that was sent flying earlier was now standing behind Gu Ye who had been happily enjoying the show this entire time. With one hand on his stomaChapter and the other one around her neck, he shouted loudly, ¡°If you don¡¯t stop, I... I am going to strangle her!¡±


    Gu Ye had her hands on his shoulder. It looked like she was struggling to get free when, in fact, under the dim light of sun rise, she brought a bottle of ¡°Power Potion¡± to her mouth and gulped it down.


    Seeing that his granddaughter was in the hand of the robber, Gu Xiao immediately stopped the one-sided show. He brought the rod up to his chest, tossed it onto the ground, and said to the big fool, ¡°Calm down! You just want money, there¡¯s no need for that!¡±


    ¡°You old man!!¡± The leader of the bandit, who now have a bruised eye, swollen face, and a big lump on his head, saw that Gu Xiao had tossed aside his weapon and lunged at him with his fists.


    Gu Xiao didn¡¯t even turn to look, but with a switChapter back kick, and loud cry could be heard followed by a loud thud of a heavy objectnded on the ground. The poor guy was kicked onto the ground. All the other robbers backed away with a fearful look after witnessing that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.... don¡¯t move!! If.... If.... If you move again, I... am going to kill her!¡± Stuttered the big fool, his stuttering even worse now that he was nervous. Seeing how the leader was sent flying, and remember how he was kicked, his stomaChapter seemed to be hurting even more than before.


    ¡°Why are you shaking?¡± A crisp, bird-like kid¡¯s voice cut through the early morning and reached everybody¡¯s ears, ¡°Oh, stop shaking already! That¡¯s making me very ufortable!!¡±


    The sun wasing up and Gu Xiao, looking at his granddaughter, noticed that there was no fear in on her, just full of impatience. That¡¯s his granddaughter. Brave! While he was trying to find the opportunity to go up and save his granddaughter, he suddenly heard a loud shriek from the big fool.


    Gu Xiao looked carefully and saw his granddaughter used two fingers from her right hand to pinChapter the big fool¡¯s wrist. It didn¡¯t seem like she was using muChapter strength at all, but the other man was holding his arm, shrieking.


    The big fool struggled a bit but failed to break his arm free from his opponent. This girl was the real hustler here. Her arm, barely half the size of his, was no mmed down on his wrist like arge plier. All of a sudden, his wrist felt like it had broken and was excruciatingly painful. He had lost control of half of his body.


    From the perspective of everyone else, it looked something like this: A girl half the size of the big fool gently holding his write. A smile on her face as though she was just ying with him, while the big fool was ying along and screaming and shrieking on cue to appease her.

 Chapter 108 Naturally Strong (2)

    <h4>Chapter 108 Naturally Strong (2)</h4>


    One of the robbers lost his patience and said, ¡°Damn stutter, is this the time to mess around? Hurry up, use that girl to exchange for the money!¡±


    ¡°Who... who¡¯s messing around? My arm.... My arm is going to break. OWWWww...¡± Gu Ye slightly shook her little hand and the big fool shrieked all over again.


    ¡°That¡¯s all you got and you want to be robbers? Go home and train for 20 more years first!¡± With a swift push, the big fool who was twice her size stumbled out and fell on the ground.


    Seeing that the big fool¡¯s face was pole and covered in cold sweat, the other robbers realized he wasn¡¯t faking after all. They exchanged a look and new that had run into a tough party. These hooligans had normally only been bullying the weak and the old in town, or to collect some protection fees from the vigers who were on their way to make some purchases in town. This was the first time they have attempted robbery and they hadn¡¯t expected they would run into someone some strong on their very first try.


    Even the girl who wasn¡¯t even 10 year old was so strong, what was the point in staying to fight? They should run! They would only be beaten up some more if they didn¡¯t run faster enough!! The leader of the group realized they were in trouble and was the first to dash. He was actually a surprisingly fast runner! The rest of them didn¡¯t want to be left behind and one by one they started dashing and eaChapter one of them faster than thest.


    Except for the big fool. He was still in pain from the kick to his stomach, and now half of his body had gone numb. He struggled for a while on the ground and couldn¡¯t even get up on his feet. Seeing the ¡°terrifying¡± grandfather and grandchild approaching him slowly, he suddenly burst into tears, ¡°Please... please don¡¯t beat me up... I... I... will never do this again!¡±


    ¡°Look at you! How did you find the courage toe out in the first ce?¡± A tiny girl with a childish face lecturing a man that was muChapter older than her with the experienced tone of an adult was really quite an interest scene.


    Gu Xiao chuckled from one side ¨C how was his granddaughter so amusing? No wonder the old general and his family were crazy for a girl in the family. A granddaughter as interesting as hers, he could use a dozen more!


    ¡°Will you try to rob others again?¡± Gu Ye grabbed a dried wild foxtail millet and swung it at the big fool.


    The big fool shrieked as though he was tortured, ¡°OOWWww... No, I will never do that again... please just let me go....¡± He was so frightened that even his stuttering went away.


    ¡°And will you bully the weak again?¡± She swung the wild foxtail millet at him again.


    The big fool shuddered again and shook his head, ¡°Never! Never again!!¡± And, who was the weak right now and who¡¯s being bullied? The big fool just wanted to cry.


    ¡°Good. Keep in mind that next time you are going to follow someone else, open up your dog¡¯s eyes and find someone more decent. You really should stay away from someone who¡¯d run away faster than any one else when things go south. Otherwise they¡¯d sold you and you¡¯d still be counting the money for them!¡± said Gu Ye as she kind-heartedly teaching him the lesson that he should be a better judge of characters.


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes.... Once I get back, I will stay away from them and never hang out with them again!¡± If the big fool¡¯s parents could hear his sincere regret, they would for sure be extremely appreciative of Gu Ye. The couple had tried everything, said everything, and been worried sick hoping that their son would turn out good to no avail. A word from this little girl seemed to be more effective than thousands of tens of thousands of words from them!


    Seeing that it was starting to gette, Gu Xiao patted his granddaughter on her shoulder and smiled, ¡°Okay, stop messing around with him. We better be on our way.¡±

 Chapter 109 – Naturally Strong (3)

    <h4>Chapter 109 ¨C Naturally Strong (3)</h4>


    Gu Ye turned around, covered her mouth, and smiled at the big fool, ¡°Remember what you told me today. If I so muChapter as hear about youmitting crimes again the next time I am in town, I will make sure you lose an arm. Now get!¡±


    The big fool shuddered and cowered, trying to making himself looked as small as possible. Then he said weakly, ¡°I... I can¡¯t move half of my body. My knees are too weak!¡±


    ¡°And you have the guts to be a robber? You are a sad reason for a robber.¡± Gu Ye rolled her eyes at him as she mounted her donkey. She then turned around and said to him, ¡°Try to move your right arm and see if it¡¯s mobile!¡±


    ¡°Oh.... Eh? It¡¯s fine now?¡± The big fool¡¯s eyes widened and he stared at Gu Ye dumbfounded. His mouth cracked open foolishly. He looked at her with both fear and respect all the way until she waspletely out of his sight.


    ¡°Ye-er, how are you so strong? Have you always been like that?¡± Gu Xiao having just witnessed his granddaughter taken care of a full-grown adult who was several times her size with merely a couple of fingers, couldn¡¯t help but to ask in surprise.


    Gu Ye thought about it for a little bit and gave him the most innocent smile, ¡°I was weak before because I never had enough to eat. Now that I am full every day, my strength has increased as well. Ge ge and I are both strong like that. Ge ge can even carry more firewood than an adult!¡±


    Gu Xiao had noticed that his grandson had greater strength than normal, even stronger than some of the adult males. An idea had been forming in his head, but he didn¡¯t know what the siblings would think of it.


    ¡°Grandpa, you took on 6 robbers earlier. That was so incredible!¡± Gu Ye quickly changed the subject andplemented her grandfather in an effort to change the subject before Gu Xiao could ask more questions.


    ¡°That was nothing!¡± Gu Xiao immediately got excited when his martial art skills were brought up. After all, he was trained personally by the Old General. Never mind a just a few hooligans, he could easily defeat even soldiers from the opposing army!


    ¡°Xiao Ye-zi, what do you say if.... Grandpa teachs your brother martial art. Do you think he will be interested in learning?¡± It was quite obvious that Gu Ming valued his sister Gu Ye¡¯s opinion the most, so Gu Xiao couldn¡¯t help but try to get an idea from her first.


    Gu Ye looked at him with her big and clear eyes quizzically and asked, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t he? Isn¡¯t that a good thing? The stronger big brother be, the better he can protect his sister, no?¡±


    That¡¯s right! Gu Ming had always put his sister above everything else; one must be strong and powerful in order to protect one¡¯s loved ones. Gu Ming would never turn it down when he could back it with suChapter a reason. Gu Xiao was so happy his eyes squinted. Gu Ming was so talented and he was destined to achieve higher aplishment than even his grandpa!


    Gu Ye, who had turned around and headed toward the mountains, grinned like a little fox. Her brother needed to have his own life; if he wouldn¡¯t n it for himself, then his sister would have to n it for him.


    One couldn¡¯t have too many skills. She wasn¡¯t too concern about whether her brother would be very sessful in the future but, if he could practice martial art, at least nobody could beat up on him. Plus, practice martial art was also good for health. There was certainly no downside to that.


    The grandfather and granddaughter pair traveled as fast as they could and was finally able to get back to Qingshan Vige when the sky was dark. They were still quite far away before they saw a familiar figure looking at their direction from the entrance of the vige. Gu Ye immediately recognize that as her brother waiting for their return.


    ¡°Ge¡ª¡± Gu Ye waved her right arm forcefully from the back of her donkey. Her high-pitChapter voice resounded and stirred up a lot of barking noises.

 Chapter 110 110 – The Power of Dreaming (1)

    <h4>Chapter 110 110 ¨C The Power of Dreaming (1)</h4>


    ¡°Mei mei....¡± The little silhouette ran toward them. After he approached them, Gu Ming took over the rein from his sister and, pulling the donkey with his sister and the goods, slowly walked toward the vige.


    He grumbled as he walked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you will be back home by the next day at the verytest? Howe you are a whole datete? I was worried sick that something had happened to you on the way. I¡¯ve heard that a viger from Muhua Vige didn¡¯t stay in the court to save money a while back and only his skeletons were found...¡±


    ¡°Ge....¡± Gu Ye interrupted her brother¡¯s prayer like grumbling and took out a set of stationary to offer up to him, ¡°Look what I got for you!¡±


    Gu Ming¡¯s eyes beamed with joy, but he frowned quickly and said, ¡°These are very expensive, how could you let grandpa spend that kind of money? It was hard enough that he has to support the two of us.¡±


    Gu Xiao watched the interaction between his grandson and granddaughter mirthfully. Having heard that, he immediately said, ¡°Ming-er, you were wrong about that. Grandpa didn¡¯t pay for this set of stationary!¡±


    Gu Ye patted her poofy purse and smiled proudly, ¡°I sold the medicinal herbs that I made over tens of taels. Never mind one set of stationary, I could at least 8 to 10 sets if I wanted to! Ge, I knew you used to always went over to Third Uncle¡¯s and peeked when he was teaching others to read and write. You can go to school there in the future if you want, your sister can afford it!¡±


    In the old days at the Gu¡¯s, they were lucky to not be starved to death. There was no way that Mrs. Gu would pay for Gu Ming to go to school. Gu Ming, on the other hand, was very persistent. He¡¯d always go over to Third Uncle¡¯s simple school to peek sneakily. Sometimes he¡¯d also have Zhang Lihu and Li Hao taught him. Now he could already read very simple characters, just couldn¡¯t write very well.


    ¡°It¡¯s the big brother¡¯s job to support their little sisters; there¡¯s no reason for a little sister to support her big brother. I am not taking the imperial examination, so I don¡¯t need to study that much. I just need to learn a few words so I can be an apprentice or innkeeper in town in the future.¡± Gu Ming didn¡¯t want to spend his sister¡¯s money.


    It wasn¡¯t easy for the sister to make those medicinal herbs. She should save the money she made from them to be her dowryter on. As Third Grandma had said before, a girl¡¯s dowry is her leverage in her husband¡¯s house. More dowry meant she could stand taller and straighter in her husband¡¯s house and won¡¯t be bullied.¡±


    Gu Ye pouted and was unhappy, ¡°Ge, do you not think of me as family? Why are things still considered whether they are yours or mine? If it wasn¡¯t for you, I¡¯d have turned into wolf¡¯s food even if I hadn¡¯t starved to death. I am happy to earn money for you to spend. So? Why do you have to be like this? I am upset! I am sad! I don¡¯t want to talk to you anymore!¡±


    Looking at his sister, who was closed to tear, Gu Ming panicked right away and apologized, ¡°Don¡¯t cry, mei mei. It¡¯s all ge ge¡¯s fault! I love the gifts that you bought me! Really!¡±


    ¡°Then... I¡¯ll want you to start ss at Third Uncle¡¯s ce. Are you going or not?¡± Gu Ye looked at him with her limpid eyes and a wronged look.


    How would Gu Ming be able to refuse her. He nodded immediately and said, ¡°Yes! Yes! Of course!¡±


    Gu Xiao chuckled and shook his head as he watched the two kiddos. His honest grandson would always be wrapped around his sister¡¯s little finger with no hope to getting out of it.


    ¡°But... I can collect firewood and hunt to pay for it. You should save your money for now, and only use them when it¡¯s necessary.¡± Gu Ming was stubborn as well. He couldn¡¯t just nilly willy spend his sister¡¯s hard-earned money.

 Chapter 111 – The Power of Dreaming (2)

    <h4>Chapter 111 ¨C The Power of Dreaming (2)</h4>


    ¡°Hey, I said, you two,¡± Gu Xiao felt that he should chime in at this point. His grandson and granddaughter were so mature that he many times that made him felt like he was just an ornament. ¡°Did you forget about your grandpa again? Xiao Ye-zi, do you really think grandpa can¡¯t afford the money to send your brother to school?¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, can you give us an idea of how muChapter money you have left?¡± Gu Ye had no idea how muChapter Donglong¡¯s military paid and how muChapter her grandpa had saved up in the past 30 years.


    The house was newly built and everything inside was newly purchased on top of nkets, clothes, food.... Grandpa had spent so muChapter money in thest month. She was so worried that they¡¯d spend all of her grandpa savings for his golden age.


    Gu Xiao seemed to have read her mind and chuckled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, okay? Grandpa has more money than you think. At least muChapter ore than what you got from the Ding guy!¡±


    Hearing that, Gu Ye¡¯s brows immediately unfurrowed. She had gotten over 600 taels from Young Master Ding. It¡¯d seem that her grandpa was pretty highly ranked in the military in the past. Otherwise, he would not have been able to have suChapter a lucrative saving.


    ¡°And, grandpa, what do you mean by ¡®money that I got from¡¯ the Ding guy? You made it sound so illegitimate. I legitimately got the money from selling my medicines!¡± Gu Ye stared in a pouty way. Her lively look made Gu Xiao and Gu Ming chuckled even more.


    Gu Ming was d he made the decision that he did. If they had stayed where they were, his sister would only continue tonguish and wither away. Their situation is muChapter better now, his sister was bing more and more lively and her healthy getting better by the day. She was also getting prettier and prettier. Seeing his sister like that, Gu Ming was very appreciative of his grandpa. He was appreciative of this stable and peaceful life that he had provided for them...


    Gu Xiao chuckled for a bit and suddenly recalled something and said, ¡°Never mind the money from the raw herbs and the money from the Ding¡¯s. We can¡¯t take the money from selling the medicinal herbs, those belong to your master.¡±


    Those were her medicines! And the money was hers too! Gu Ye couldn¡¯t only scream feebly to herself. That being said, she did use her master as an excuse left and right, so she had no choice but to nod. Her master probably, perhaps, maybe wouldn¡¯t ept the money?


    Gu Xiao noticed that even though his granddaughter was a little money-grubber, but she did understand the whole picture. He nodded satisfyingly and patted her on her head, ¡°If you feel sad about parting with those money, grandpa and pay you the difference. Grandpa¡¯s money is only going to go to the two of you anyway. It doesn¡¯t matter when I give them to you.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary!¡± said Gu Ye as she shook her head like a hand drum. ¡°Ye-er¡¯s medicinal herbal skill will only get better and better. Once I¡¯ve learned all the techniques from master, I will never need to worry about money again. Grandpa should hold on to your own money; I don¡¯t want to misce them.¡±


    The techniques of the sage apothecary were the products of 50-60 years of researChapter and hard work; it¡¯d be no small feat to ¡°learn them all¡±. But Gu Xiao felt that he should be encouraging to the child so he smiled and said, ¡°Okay! Our little Ye-er is so driven! Grandpa will wait for you to take care of me!¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. When I earned enough money in the future, we will buy a big house in capital city. And also lots and lots of shops. Then none of us will need to work anymore; we will just live off of the rents that we collect!¡± Gu Ye could already see that in her head; she smiled so muChapter that her eyes turned into a slit.

 Chapter 112– The Power of Dreaming (3)

    <h4>Chapter 112¨C The Power of Dreaming (3)</h4>


    ¡°Capital city? Is that bigger than city of Yan? Houses there must be very expansive.¡± Gu Ming started doing the calctions in his head ¨C what kind of job would he need to have to be able to save up enough to buy a house for his grandpa and sister in Yan.


    Gu Xiao looked at his grandson and chuckled, ¡°Capital city is muChapter bigger than Yan. The houses there are muChapter bigger as well. They have gardens, kiosks, gazebos. One after another living quarters...¡±


    He then turned and praise Gu Ye, ¡°Our Xiao Ye-zi is suChapter a good kid. Very driven! But all you need to do is to earn money for the shops. We already have a house in capital city.¡±


    When Gu Ming heard that, he became worried and said in a soft voice, ¡°So many quarters. That would take forever to clean. All we would be doing day in and day out is to keep the ce clean and nothing else!¡±


    Gu Ye chuckled loudly when she heard that. Her melodic voice resounded in the forest, ¡°Ge ge, nobody with a house that size does their own cleanings. They will have maids and servants. We¡¯ve heard that Landlord Ding has over 10 maids and servants!¡±


    ¡°Oh... now I see how riChapter people in capital city are!¡± said Gu Ming withplicated emotions.


    ¡°Just having money alone does not guarantee that you can buy a house either! You can ask grandpa if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± Gu Ye hopped off of the donkey in front of their house. She turned to look at her brother with a cunning look.


    ¡°Oh? Is that true, grandpa? Why is that?¡± Gu Ming couldn¡¯t help but asked curiously.


    ¡°The best houses were gifted to officials with high achievements by the emperor already. A regrmoner would not be able to purchase them. Only being able to earn money but without the ability to guard them would only bring about troubles.¡± Said Gu Xiao along the same line as Gu Ye.


    His grandson was strong naturally and was willing to put in hard work. He would be perfect to go down the path of practicing martial art. Gu Xiao would never let him spend his entire life as a nobody in the mountains.


    ¡°Third Uncle said all riChapter men in town must be extremely respective when they run into any government officials. They will have to give money to the government officials when asked. Grandpa, does that mean one must be an official in order to be able to protect one¡¯s family and one¡¯s wealth?¡± A concept was starting to form in Gu Ming¡¯s mind.


    Gu Xiao frowned a little before he snickered, ¡°Those corrupted officials will one day meet their fateful end. That being said, you were right about one thing. The more powerful are you, the better you will be able to protect those that need your protection.¡±


    The one that Gu Ming wanted to protect was, naturally, his sister. But now he has also added his grandpa to that list. Mei mei said she would earn a lot of money in the future; he¡¯d just help her guard her wealth then.


    ¡°Grandpa! I want to go to school! I want to take the imperial examination and be a schr, a provincial graduate! I want to be a good official who wouldn¡¯t take people¡¯s money!¡± Gu Ming¡¯s dream was starting to take shape.


    Gu Xiao smiled and nodded, ¡°That¡¯s very ambitious! But the path of the imperial examination was long and arduous. You can have other options!¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, ge ge is still young, don¡¯t send him into the military just yet!¡± In the battle field, ten thousands would die before one could be a general. Gu Ye knew only too well how brutal that path was and she didn¡¯t want her brother to go down that path. She¡¯d rather he had an ordinary life as long as he was safe.


    ¡°Your grandpa had been through that bloody path of being in the army, of course I wouldn¡¯t want him to follow in my footstep. But the emperor values military officers and holds imperial provincial examination for military personnel every three years. Candidates that passed the examination will be awarded military title... of course, you will still need to study hard. As the emperor had said before, ¡®strategyes before brute force.¡¯ A general without strategy will bring about the failure of the troop.¡±

 Chapter 113– Mrs. Wu’s Stupid Idea (1)

    <h4>Chapter 113¨C Mrs. Wu¡¯s Stupid Idea (1)</h4>


    ¡°Grandpa, you have seen the emperor?¡± There were admiration blinking in Gu Ming¡¯s eyes ¨C his grandpa must be very important in the military; how else could he have seen the emperor?


    Gu Ye, too, looked at her grandpa full of interest. The emperor! That¡¯s something that only existed in novels and TV shows. She wondered if the emperor of Dongling was a muddleheaded emperor like King Zhou of Shang or a benevolent one like Emperor Taizong of Tang?


    ¡°Mmm, I was lucky enough to have seen him a few times!¡± As a trusted general of the old Duke, he was always there when rewards were behind handed out. Had he not quite his official position he¡¯d be a second-grade official by now. But, for the sake of repaying the old general¡¯s favor, he never regretted his own decision!


    The word ¡°emperor¡± in the eyes of a peasant was almost holy. Gu Ming¡¯s look was filled with envy and yearning.


    Seeing that, Gu Xiao continued to reel in his grandson, ¡°No. 1 from the imperial provincial examination will be ordained by the emperor at the Hall of Supreme Harmony and might even had the opportunity to drink the wine awarded by the emperor himself!¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, I have decided. I will sit for the imperial provincial examination!!¡± said Gu Ming decisively. His look full of determination.


    Gu Ye casted her grandpa a look nonchntly and thought to herself: Yup, he was good. Barely a few words and had her brother hooked. But going down the imperial provincial examination path would be the best option for her brother.


    Night came like a curtain that covered up the entire Qingshan Vige. A few calls from night birds came asionally from the otherwise quiet forest. The sound made by horse hooves on the path were very clear. The three of them passed through the vige and returned to their ¡°home¡± half way up the mountain.


    The next morning, all grandpa and grandson woke up early. Gu Ming excitedly started to practice the basics of martial art under his grandpa¡¯s instructions ¨C the horse stance. The horse stance was a ¡°post¡± form of martial art. The intention is to train one¡¯s leg¡¯s strength, stability, endurance, static, and it was very good practice.


    It had crossed Gu Ye¡¯s mind to join her brother in his practice, but one has to assume the horse stance for at least an hour. That was just too monotonous and boring, she gave up after barely thinking about it. Yet, having experienced dystopia, she knew how important a strong and healthy body was. She took medicine daily to improve her body. Yes, she has cheats in hand, and she was not above using them!


    Gu Ming, with his incredulous stamina, somehow was able to make it. Seeing how her brother¡¯s legs were shaking like noodles, Gu Ye couldn¡¯t help but handed him a cup of hot tea. She had also sneakily added couple drops of potion that would assist him in getting rid of the weariness and quicken recovery.


    Wu Dongguai, who was also at the herb market, witnessed for himself how the little girl from the Gu¡¯s sold three baskets of herbs for 50 or so taels. That made him felt jealous and unjust. He thought that old man only knew how to treat people and nothing about making medicinal herbs. Yet his disciple for less than a month was able to well exceed him in her herbal medicinal preparation skills.


    Wu Donggaui, after he had gone home, locked himself inside his house for half a day and finally made a big decision. He pulled out his most precious piece of treasure from the bottom of his box ¨C a 100-year old gingseng and asked his wife to wrap it up in a piece of cloth before he started walked out.


    Mrs. Wu was hurting so muChapter from that the flesh on her cheeks were trembling, ¡°Husband, are you sure you want to take the ginseng as the gift to ask to be the old man¡¯s disciple? This was worth several hundreds of taels!¡±

 Chapter 114 – Mrs. Wu’s Stupid Idea (2)

    <h4>Chapter 114 ¨C Mrs. Wu¡¯s Stupid Idea (2)</h4>


    ¡°You are a woman. What do you know?!¡± Wu Dongguai gave her a stare. She didn¡¯t think he was hurting as muChapter as she was? But what other choices did he have? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Once he learned all of the old man¡¯s skills and techniques, he could make it all back!


    ¡°You were for real? The processed medicinal herbs really worth that muChapter money?¡± By now, Mrs. Wu had already heard the stories of Crippled Gu and girl Gu selling her medicinal herbs. A sh of greed and jealousy shed through her eyes. A basket of herbs for her man would fetChapter 2 taels at best. Somehow they were able to fetChapter tens of taels?


    ¡°That¡¯s not all!¡± Wu Dongguai recalled the story that he heard when he was in town and the beam of greedy from his eyes intensified, ¡°That girl saved Landlord Ding in town and they gifted her 100 taels in return! Imagine that. A girl that had zero background in medicine could learned so muChapter in suChapter a short period of time. What if it was me? If I could learn all the skills from that old man, do you think we¡¯d still need to stay in this town that even birds don¡¯t sh*t?¡±


    Hearing that story, as muChapter as it pained her to part with the ginseng, Mrs. Wu was no longer trying to stop her man from bing a disciple. Not long after the man had left, she thought some more about how that damned child Gu Ye took one trip to town and returned with 150 taels, in additional to a collection of fabrics, snacks, and pork. Her emotions became more and more unbnced.


    Her eyes, whiChapter had more white parts than ck, rolled in their sockets and a malicious grin crawled up onto her face. She lifted her protractor-like legs and twisted her snake-like waist and arrived at the front of Gu Qiao¡¯s house.


    ¡°Is di mei home?¡± said Mrs. Wu as she pushed open the ajar door and walked inside.


    There was still some time before the winter crops needed to be harvested so Mrs. Gu, with some free time on hand, sat on the stove mending the clothes for her kids. The two naughty boys at home always have clothes that needed mending. They would rarely sit still, just like right now, she had no idea where they went to.


    Hearing Mrs. Wu¡¯s voice, Mrs. Liu put down her needle and the clothing and said, ¡°Mrs. Wu, it¡¯s cold outside. C¡¯mon in!¡±


    Mrs. Wu lifted the curtain and walked in as though it was her own house. She took her shoes off and climbed on top of the stove. She pulled out a handful of melon seeds from her purse and started chewing on them. The entire time spitting the shells onto the ground.


    Mrs. Gu frowned unhappily and asked, ¡°What brought you over here today, Mrs. Wu?¡±


    ¡°Aye ¨C I just felt unjust for you!¡± said Mrs. Gu. She sighed a deep, long sigh and then proceeded to looking at Mrs. Gu with sympathy and pity.


    Mrs. Gu frowned and asked, ¡°Alright, just spill if there¡¯s something on your mind. Why was it that made you feel unjust for me?¡±


    Mrs. Wu stopped chewing on the melon seeds, leaned into Mrs. Gu and said secretively, ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? Your girl Ye-er, saved an old man who were collecting herbs and became his disciple to learn medical skills from him.¡±


    ¡°Tssk... she¡¯s just a girl, a losing proposition. She is going to marry in a family sooner orter. What is the point of learning medical skills? If it¡¯s that easy to learn medical skills, then everybody would be a doctor already.¡± Mrs. Gu¡¯s face was filled with despise. She looked down and continued mending her clothes.


    Mrs. Wu pursed her lips and snickered before she said in a peculiar tone, ¡°Oh, so you think. The ¡®losing proposition¡¯ that you were referring to sold four baskets of medicinal herbs for 60 taels!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Mrs. Gu let out a ¡°Ssss¡± sound as she put her finger that was poked by the needle into her mouth. Her triangr eyes widened and a look of disbelief on her face. ¡°Sixty taels?! You are kidding me. When Shopkeeper Qianes, we can barely get 1 tael for one basketful of herbs. How could she possibly fetChapter suChapter a high price?¡±

 Chapter 115– Mrs. Wu’s Stupid Idea (3)

    <h4>Chapter 115¨C Mrs. Wu¡¯s Stupid Idea (3)</h4>


    ¡°You areparing raw, unprepared herbs with prepared medicinal herbs. They are very different.¡± Mrs. Wu gave her a what-do-you-know look, ¡°One basket of medicinal herbs from my husband can fetChapter 2 taels of silver! The better one¡¯s technique in preparing the medicinal herbs, the higher they can sell for. Besides, what good would lying to you do me?¡±


    ¡°You mean to tell me that that damned child has 60 taels of silver in her hand?¡± That¡¯s 60 taels of silver! And all from just one time! And hat damned child had only been learning it for a few days. If that¡¯s how muChapter she could earn already, by the same method of calctions, she could make several hundreds of taels a year! Mrs. Gu felt as though someone had gouge her heart out with a knife and blood was pouring out of her chest. How could she be so blind and swept the god of wealth out of her own house!


    ¡°More than that!¡± The look of jealousy intensified in Mrs. Wu¡¯s eyes. She gulp greedily and said, ¡°That girl had also saved Landlord Ding in town. Young Master Ding had given her 100 taels to thank her on top of rolls of fabrics, a entire rack of pork, and boxes and boxes of snacks. All of them the best you could find in town!!¡±


    Mrs. Gu¡¯s pupil erged and her nostrils red. Panting heavily, she couldn¡¯t make a sound for the longest time. One hundred sixty taels of silver plus all the goodies. She had never seen anything like that in her entire life. All of those were hers. HERS!!


    Mrs. Wu was enjoying the look on her face and she chewed on the melon seeds even happier than before, ¡°You know, that was so silly of you. So you let that old man adopt Gu Ming to take care of him but how many more years do you think you need to feed that Gu Ye girl? She¡¯s probably going to grow into a pretty girl in a few years; then you will able to sell her to some prominent family as a concubine. She was be worth some money!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of talking about that now? We have already edited the genealogy and she had already moved away. Even if I want her back now, you think that old thing would let her go?¡± Mrs. Gu wanted to p herself a few times right about now. If only she had been better to that girl, she just might be able to get a little something from her now.


    ¡°Oh, look at you. You have raised them for so many years. They owe it to you. You might be the stepmom, but your husband is their real father. It is very important for them to be familial. If they don¡¯t give you money, you go and sue them and give them bad reputation. By then, they would be drowned in others¡¯ spit!¡± Mrs. Wu was a true viin, offering up sinister ideas one after another.


    ¡°Yes! Ask for money! Their father had supported them for over 10 years, we can¡¯t just let them go like that!¡± Mrs. Gu put down what she was doing with her hands, put on her shoes, and shouted at Da Zhuang, who was ying outside, ¡°Da Zhuang, Da Zhuang! Go get your dad! Quickly!¡±


    Da Zhuang was having a good time with his buddies outside and reluctantly went into the courtyard and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Why do you need dad home now?¡±


    ¡°Just go and get him! Why do you have so many questions?¡± Mrs. Gu smacked her son upside his head, smiled and tempted him, ¡°If you do well, I will get you new clothes and meat!¡±


    Da Zhuang was not interested in new clothes, but he started drooling as soon as he heard the mentioning of meat. He dashed out immediately, faster than a rabbit. All one could hear was his excited voice, ¡°Mom, don¡¯t worry! I will have him back before you know it!¡±


    Gu Qiao was huddling up in some shady courtyard in the vige and watching others gambling. He wanted to join in too, but every penny on him was taken away by Mrs. Gu. Hrm! That woman needed a beating. She loved money more than she loved her real dad. His first wife was muChapter better. Every time he left the house, she always gave him a handful of change, so that he wouldn¡¯t have no money in front of his friends.


    But... Gu Qiao frowned. If she didn¡¯t make that decision all on her own, he wouldn¡¯t need toe and hide out in suChapter a remote vige deep in the mountains in the first ce. All these was her fault to begin with!

 Chapter 116 – Money Over Face (1)

    <h4>Chapter 116 ¨C Money Over Face (1)</h4>


    Gu Qiao was not in a good mood when he was dragged home by his stepson. He snapped at Mrs. Gu as soon as he stepped inside the door, ¡°What do you want? Do you know what everybody was saying about you? Said you can¡¯t be away from your man for even a minute! Hurry up and say what it was that you wanted to tell me so badly. And give me some change so I can go try my luck!¡±


    It was rare that Mrs. Gu didn¡¯t snap at him after the mention of money. Quite contrarily, she walked up to him and grabbed his arm with a smile on her. Gu Qiao shook off her arm forcefully and said in the most solemn way, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? You really desire men now? It¡¯s still broad daylight and the kids are around. Keep your hands to yourself!¡±


    Mrs. Gu rolled her eyes and said, ¡°What are you talking about? I have great news to tell you!¡±


    Then she proceeded to tell him everything that she had heard from Mrs. Wu word for word. Gu Qiao had a lot of thoughts going through him. One hundred and sixty taels of silver. It¡¯d be a lie to say that he didn¡¯t want them. He was barely making one tael of silver a month when he was a second shopkeeper in the shop. One hundred and sixty taels of silver would be his sry for tens of years!


    But then again, Gu Ye had already been adopted and was now someone else¡¯s granddaughter. He has a reputation to keep. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to go over to her ce and ask her for money!


    Naturally, Mrs. Gu could tell what was going through his mind. She quickly added, ¡°Husband, think about it. We are talkinga bout 160 taels of silver. What¡¯s your important? Money or your reputation?¡±


    Seeing that her man was still quiet, she added again, ¡°Okay, never mind us, but think about Xiao Zhuang! Do you want to see him staying in this remote vige and half starved all the time? Thinking about it, once we have the hundred something taels of silver, we can buy a house in town. We can buy a few more acres ofnd, then Xiao Zhuang will be a town boy; it will be so muChapter easier for him to find a wife then.¡±


    Her words had moved the man. That¡¯s right! His biggest wish his entire life was to get out of this remove vige and be a true town-dweller. He was so close to fulfilling that dream back in the days but it was all ruined by histe wife! So, right now, it¡¯s only fair that her damned daughter would pay him back for all that was owe to him!


    When Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu appeared at the entrance of Gu Xiao¡¯s house, Gu Ming was chopping firewood in the courtyard. Mrs. Gu quickly nudged her man.


    Gu Qiao walked up to him and, with the most doting look, said, ¡°How could they let a child like you do this kind of work? Quick, give me the axe, dad will help...¡±


    If this was still two months ago, Gu Ming would probably still be touched by these pretentious words from Gu Qiao. But now, after experiencing them trying to sell of his sister, following by giving his own son up for adoption because he didn¡¯t want to follow through with it, Gu Ming waspletely disappointed at this father.


    He took a side to the side and avoided his dad¡¯s hands that were reaching for the axe. He remained silent for a little before he said, ¡°That¡¯s alright. I am used to these types of work. I wouldn¡¯t want to trouble Seventh Uncle for help.¡±


    Gu Qiao face darkened and he almost couldn¡¯t maintain the smile on his face. He chuckled dryly a couple of times and said, ¡°Oh, you child. What do you mean by ¡®Seventh Uncle¡¯, I am your dad...¡±


    Before he could finish with what he was saying, Gu Xiao came out of the house and said, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Little Seventh. Do you regret now and want your kids back? Too little, toote! The adoption had already been formalized and we have already edited the genealogy. Ming-er has nothing to do with you anymore. Adoption is a serious matter. You can¡¯t just take it back whenever you want. Where¡¯s your respect for the Patriarch? Where¡¯s your respect for our n?¡±


    ¡°Fifth Uncle, who said anything about regret? You are putting words in my mouth; I said nothing like that!¡± What else could Gu Qiao have said after the ¡°n¡± was mentioned?

 Chapter 117 – Money Over Face (2)

    <h4>Chapter 117 ¨C Money Over Face (2)</h4>


    ¡°Then why are you here? I don¡¯t wee anyone who goes back on their words!¡± Gu Xiao looked at him full of contempt. He seemed to be an honest boy before. Whatever have happened? Was it the way that he was raised or this was his nature all along?


    Gu Qiao could no longer hold the smile on him. Gu Xiao had to take off in a rush back then and wasn¡¯t able toplete the adoption procedure. It was his fault trying to back out of the deal, so now he didn¡¯t have a leg to stand on no matter what he said.


    Gu Qiao forced a fake smile and stuttered, ¡°I... I miss my kids. I am here to visit them.¡±


    ¡°Oh really? If you have them in your mind, you wouldn¡¯t let your wife almost staved them to death. I have fed them white rice and white flour for a month or so and they had finally gained back a little weight and now you want toe and talk about loving them? Oh, Gu Qiao, can you really call yourself a dad in front of these two kids?¡± Gu Xiao was not tiptoeing around the subject at all. He could tell the purpose of their visit from the greedy beaming in Mrs. Gu¡¯s eyes. The contempt for them thickened.


    ¡°Fifth Uncle, you can¡¯t say that. No matter what, they are his flesh and blood. You think it was easy for my husband to have raised them to this age?¡± Seeing that her husband was struggling for words, Mrs. Gu quickly stepped up.


    ¡°Grandpa, I am home!¡± Gu Ye was sent by her grandpa to deliver some pork to the Patriarch, head of the vige, Third Grandma, and Ninth Uncle. Young Master Ding had given them quite a bit of pork, some 25-30 kilogram. This was deep autumn and still wasn¡¯t too cold at night so the pork wouldn¡¯t keep. Gu Xiao figured he might as well share them with those close to him as favors.


    Gu Ye had made several trips to have them all delivered. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d run into those two the minutes she went home. Her smile disappeared right away and her little brows furrowed.


    When Mrs. Gu heard her voice, she whipped around and looked at her as passionate as if she was taels of silver on two feet. Faking a smile, Mrs. Gu put on a tender look and said in the gentlest voice, ¡°Oh, Ye-er, where have you been? Fifth Uncle, I can¡¯t believe you were enjoying yourself inside the house and let the two kids doing chores and running errands all day long. Were you adopting grandkids or looking for someone to wait on you hand over foot?¡±


    ¡°This auntie, can you please stop with that fake smile of yours? It¡¯s terrifying me.¡± Gu Ye walked around her and stood next to her grandpa before she said, ¡°You remind me of a big bad wolf.¡±


    Anyone else would have been fairly offended by now. Unfortunately, Mrs. Gu¡¯s shame knew no limit, ¡°Oh, you child, what are you talking about? Aye, that¡¯s what happens when you are in a household that doesn¡¯t have a woman. How could an unmarried girl talk like that? If words got out, you won¡¯t be able to find yourself a husband no matter how muChapter dowry you have.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that for me. Even you were able to get married, and twice. What do I need to worry about then?¡± Gu Ye looked her up and down and making a ¡°tsk tsk¡± sound as she did that. Gu Ming was trying very hard to not bust outughing on one side, so he quickly looked back down and refocused on chopping his firewood.


    Mrs. Gu gritted her teeth subtly and the corners of her mouth twitched. She stopped smiling, squeezed her eyes shut a few times, fished out a handkerchief that was so dirty that one couldn¡¯t even tell its original color, dabbed her eyes and y the pity card, ¡°I know, you are made that I never gave you enough food to eat, but we were poor. You can go and ask around the vige. How many of the households have enough food to eat? In our family, we had to put your father and your younger brother first whenever we have food. Your dad is the primary bread winner and your little brother was so young. You are his older sister; you wouldn¡¯t fight him over food....¡±

 Chapter 118 – Money Over Face (3)

    <h4>Chapter 118 ¨C Money Over Face (3)</h4>


    ¡°Then what about you? You said there¡¯s not enough food then how did you and Da Zhuang get to that size? Was it all air inside of you?¡± said Gu Ye as she looked at her chunky body with a look of disdain. ¡°You really didn¡¯t think I know it when you cooked more food for your son and yourself in the middle of the night? I knew everything you¡¯ve done in the middle of the night because I was so hungry that I couldn¡¯t even sleep!¡±


    At this point, Mrs. Gu had given up the pity card altogether. She scowled, her triangle eyes widened, and in a high pitChapter voice, she said, ¡°You damned child, if it wasn¡¯t for your dad supporting the whole family all these years, you think you can still be alive right now? Had I known you are going to turn out to be suChapter a spiteful white-eyed wolf, we should have strangled you long time ago and toss you out!¡±


    That had upset Gu Ming. Who was the spiteful one here? She was the most spiteful of all! He tossed away the axe and said loudly, ¡°And you¡¯ve done exactly that! If it wasn¡¯t me who begged the PatriarChapter and all the uncles in the vige to go look for mei mei in the mountains that very night, she probably wouldn¡¯t.....¡±


    Mrs. Gu stared at Gu Ye viciously like a poisonous snake waiting for its opportunity to attack, ¡°And just why didn¡¯t the wolves ate this damned girl...¡±


    ¡°Enough already!!¡± shouted Gu Xiao loudly. His voice sounding like a thunder in the clear sky, making everybody¡¯s ears rang. He looked coldly at Mrs. Gu and Gu QIao and hrmphed, ¡°Spill, what are you over here for? We are done talking about all the crazy talks!¡±


    Mrs. Gu nudged Gu Qiao with her elbow. Gu QIao summoned up all his courage and looked up, but as soon as he was met with Gu Xiao¡¯s swift and fierce look, he folded immediately like an inted balloon.


    Mrs. Gu, seeing that she couldn¡¯t count on her husband anymore, took a step up and, resisting the tremendous pressure from Gu Xiao, said loudly, ¡°Gu Ming and Gu Ye were raised by our family. Now they can work like an adult, we are going to need morepensation!¡±


    Gu Xiao casted a nce at Gu Qiao and his look had even more contempt than before. As though he was looking at a performing clown, he watched on as Mrs. Gu jumped up and down. After she was done talking, he asked calmly, ¡°Oh? So what are you suggesting? Let¡¯s hear it.¡±


    ¡°Give us money! Two hundred taels of silver, not a penny less!¡± Mrs. Gu hadpletely lost her mind at this point and just shouted out arge amount.


    ¡°That¡¯s ludicrous!¡± came the old Patriarch¡¯s voice. Everybody in the courtyard turned toward the voice and, other than the old Patriarch, a few other elders as well as the head of the vige, were walking toward them.


    Next to them was Li Hao winking at the siblings Gu Ming and Gu Ye. As it turned out, Li Hao was on his way to hang out with Gu Ming when they saw Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu heading toward his buddy¡¯s ce ¡°angrily¡±. He figured nothing good coulde out of that and perhaps they had learned about the pork that they have sent over and Mrs. Gu was now heading over there to cause a scene.


    Li Hao then rushed home to fetChapter his grandpa to back up Xiao Ye-zi. He didn¡¯t know that the old PatriarChapter was over at his ce ying chess with his grandpa. Hearing the news, he offered toe with them. The old PatriarChapter had a pretty good idea about what kind of a person Mrs. Gu was. She must have heard that Gu Xiao grandfather/granddaughter pair made some money in town and now she was eyeing them and wanted to get a cut for herself.

 Chapter 119– All Favors Are Gone (1)

    <h4>Chapter 119¨C All Favors Are Gone (1)</h4>


    On their way to Gu Xiao¡¯s ce, they brought along with them a few elders and figured they¡¯d rify everything once and for all to stifle Mrs. Gu¡¯s effort to keep on causing troubles with them every 2-3 days.


    They didn¡¯t expect that they¡¯d hear Mrs. Gu demanding Gu Xiao to pay her 200 taels of silver topensate for her raising the two children. Has she lost her mind? Two hundred taels of silver would be more than enough for 20-30 children, let alone two!


    For the sake of money, Mrs. Gu didn¡¯t care about anything else. She even talked back to the Patriarch, ¡°What do you mean by ludicrous? I have raised the kids all these years; kids that could make money no less. All I am asking for is 200 taels of silver. How is that not a fair amount? That little fart earned 160 taels of silver from just one trip to town, she could make that amount back in just two trips!¡±


    Of course she was here because of the money that Gu Ye had made. Gu Xiao snickered and said, ¡°Okay, so you¡¯ve heard about how muChapter Xiao Ye-zi had earned but did you know how she earned those money?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do! I¡¯ve learned all about it!¡± Mrs. Gu¡¯s expression clearly stated don¡¯t-you-even-try-that-on-me. ¡°That¡¯s the little fart¡¯s profit from selling her medicinal herbs and repayment for her saving that man in town!¡±


    ¡°What nonsense! That Wu Dongguai also went to sell his medicinal herbs in town. Even with his tens of years of experiences, you didn¡¯t see him bringing in tens of taels of profit! Xiao Ye-zi had only been getting her hands wet for a month. Are you saying that the herbs that she had processed were better than that of Dr. Wu¡¯s? Do you think she¡¯s a godsend?¡± Even the head of the vige couldn¡¯t help but rebutted her words.


    Gu Xiao nodded at the head of the vige and said, ¡°The vige head was right! Of the medicinal herbs that we have brought with us, the most valuable ones were those made by Xiao Ye-zi¡¯s master. Those were the ones that fetched the high prices!¡±


    He paused, then carried on, ¡°As for the 100 taels of silver in repayment, that¡¯s all pure rumor! The Landlord Ding had difficulty breathing for a moment there and his servant breathed into his mouth and saved him that way. Xiao Ye--zi put a pill into his mouth that happened to treat his symptoms. Young Master Ding merely paid us 100 taels of silver for the sake of buying more of these medicines, whiChapter also belong to Xiao Ye-zi¡¯s master. Ergo, we have given all the taels of silver to Xiao Ye-zi¡¯s master as soon as we got back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! All 160 taels of silver went to her master? Are you telling me that everything that she made was worthless?¡± Mrs. Gu expressed her doubts as she stared intently at Gu Xiao, trying to pick up some clue from his look whether he was lying to her.


    Gu Xiao had been around the blocks for years, would he really let any vige woman see through him? With a slight smile on him, he said, ¡°Who said my Ye-zi¡¯s medicines were worthless? Anything besides that 160 taels of silver were all her profit. Xiao Ye-zi, show what you¡¯ve made to your ¡®Seventh Aunt¡¯. We don¡¯t want her calling you a worthless girl who could do nothing but eat.¡±


    Gu Ye tried not tough as she produced five taels of broken silver from her chest and said, ¡°Here. That¡¯s what was left after I¡¯ve bought stationaries for my brother and winter clothing for my master. Six taels of silver for four baskets of raw herbs, no wonder Dr. Wu said it¡¯s better to pick herbs than to farm. Life can be quitefortable. Processing medicinal herb is suChapter a profitable trade!¡± As she was saying, she purposefully put on a prideful grin.


    Normally, six taels of silver in less than a month was still pretty decent ie, but Mrs. Gu was here with the 160 taels of silver in mind. She didn¡¯t care about merely five taels of silver.

 Chapter 120– All Favors Are Gone (2)

    <h4>Chapter 120¨C All Favors Are Gone (2)</h4>


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! You have your stories straight trying to fool me! You unfamilial little fart. You have so muChapter money on you and here your dad and your little brother could barely afford to buy food, but all you care about is yourself. I... I am going to sue, you little ungrateful brat!¡± With her hands on her waist, she shouted uncontrobly; her fatty body jittered as she talked.


    ¡°What was all the shouting about? It was so loud I couldn¡¯t even read my medical journal. You better watChapter out or I am going to poison you so that you could never talk again for the rest of your life!!¡± The sage apothecary was clearly unhappy that his favorite little disciple was called an ¡°unfamilial little brat¡±.


    She was suChapter a nice disciple. She has the much-treasured Compendium of Materia Medica whiChapter she¡¯d share generously and she has mad talent in herbal medicines. Not to mention her Hua Tuo skills that could cure the dead. She was suChapter a wonderful child yet her parents had no appreciation for her. All they wanted was to abuse her day and night. So what if her father didn¡¯t care for her? Her master did. He would stand up and speak for her!


    No matter what time period, people usually have an unusual respect for doctors/healers. This was also the case when it came to Mrs. Gu. Mrs. Wu had told her that Gu Ye used methods from her master to heal a dead man and worked better than a goddess. Everybody ate and would inevitably get sick one day and would need the help of the Old Sacred Doctor. Even Mrs. Gu wouldn¡¯t dare to offend the sage apothecary.


    ¡°It was only 160 taels of silver that we were talking about! A regr nourishment pill from me would cost over that amount. Come, disciple, you don¡¯t have time for these people. Come assist your master! Did you say you want to learn how to make that ¡°Fast-Acting Heart Saver Pills¡±? That Landlord Ding¡¯s family paid 100 taels in down payment for 10 bottles. Let¡¯s hurry up and get them out so we can bring in some more money before the year is over!¡± The sage apothecary didn¡¯t even bother giving Gu Qiao and his wife a look. He just waved at his disciple and retrieved inside the house.


    Gu Ye obediently greeted all the other elderlies in the backyard and pitter pattered toward the east wing of the house where her master was staying. She even made a face at Mrs. Gu as she walked passed her.


    ¡°Eh... eh!!! Husband, don¡¯t you have something you want to say about that?¡± When Mrs. Gu saw that the one she wanted to talk to was leaving, she quickly reached out to her husband for help.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Gu Qiao finally said something the moment before Gu Ye stepped inside the east wing of the house.


    He looked up and looked over at the PatriarChapter and all the elders and finally looked at Gu Xiao and said, ¡°Fifth Uncle, you only wanted to adopt a child to take care of you at your golden age. All those were done by boys.... Ye-er is the only girl in our family. I missed her quite a bit after she had left the house. Why don¡¯t we do this? We will have Ming-er continued to stay with you, but Ye-er goes home with us...¡±


    ¡°No way!!¡± The first one that jumped out in objection was, of course, the crazy sister-loving brother Gu Ming. Staring at Gu Qiao with his beet-red eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°What do you want her back for? So you can toss her into the mountains to feed the wolves again? Or to sell her again?¡±


    ¡°Oh, child. What are you talking about? Ye-er is my daughter. I am her father; why would I do suChapter a thing? All those were done by your stepmother behind my back. Now that I am aware of them, how would I let her keep doing that? Don¡¯t worry, I will protect my own daughter.¡± Said Gu Qiao as he looked lovingly at Gu Ye.


    ¡°Dad... this will be thest time I call you that. And that wasn¡¯t because I was adopted by grandpa; that was because you are not good enough to be my dad!!¡± Said Gu Ming slowly as tears streamed down his cheeks and looked at Gu Qiao disappointingly.

 Chapter 121 – All Favors Are Gone (3)

    <h4>Chapter 121 ¨C All Favors Are Gone (3)</h4>


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see you protecting mei mei back when she was about to starve to deaf. Nor did you protect her when she was being bossed around to cook, doundry, feed the pigs, chop firewood, go into the fields at a young age. How about the time when she was tricked into town to be sold to the woman human trafficker? So now that she can make money and you see what you can gain from her, you want her back? And said you¡¯d protect her? You are only looking at her as a money-making tool, just like Meizi¡¯s dad in Qianwa Vige!!¡±


    Meizi from Qianwa Vige was a girl who was very skillful in embroidery. The handkerchiefs that she made could sell for 10 wens more than others. And a pair of pillows that she made could be sold for up to a tael of silver. Her dad, for the sake of squeezing all he could out of her, force her to keep working day and night and never looked for a marriage for her until she was 20 year old.


    Meizi was shortly after 30 when her vision started to go bad for over exhaustion and could no longer work on embroidery. Her dad didn¡¯t want to keep a useless trash at home so he sold her to a very ill-tempered widower. She was beaten and deprived of food regrly. It had only been a year before she waspletely out of shape.


    ¡°Even tigers don¡¯t eat their own young! I can¡¯t believe there are fathers like you in this world!¡± bawled Gu Ming.


    ¡°Nonsense! What kind of son talked about their fathers that way? How dare you unfamilial little brat counting your dad¡¯s mishaps like that? Fellow uncles, kids like him should be sentenced to kneeling in the temple in front of his ancestors and ask for forgiveness!¡± Gu Qiao¡¯s face turned red and white as he listened to his son¡¯s usation. Not being able toe up with anything to rebut his words, he resorted to throwing out his elderly status and forcing the name of ¡°unfamilial¡± onto Gu Ming.


    Gu Xiao snickered and rolled his tiger-like eyes. Authoritatively, he said, ¡°Gu Qiao! Gu Ming is my grandson now; what right do you have to make that decision for me? On top of that, had he said anything that was untrue? The one who should be kneeling in front of the ancestors should be you, you ungrateful, unappreciative little thing!!¡±


    The old patriarChapter looked at Gu Qiao with disappointment and said, ¡°Gu Qiao, your behaviors over these years have been very questionable. Okay, this issue is closed. Gu Ming and Gu Ye have already been adopted by Old Fifth and have nothing more to do with you. If they were so poor they couldn¡¯t afford to eat, they wouldn¡¯t go ask for anything from you; and if they are so riChapter they don¡¯t know what to do with their month, that has nothing to do with you as well. If you let your wife to continue to cause trouble... then the Gu¡¯s n will have no choice but to banish your family. The Gu¡¯s n would not tolerate anyone ungrateful and have corrupted virtues!!


    In this world, the n was very important. Someone banished from their n would be like a homeless dog. They would be rootless like a floating leave. Gu Qiao didn¡¯t think this incident would blow up like this. He shut up immediately and dared not speak another word.


    ¡°But...¡± Mrs. Gu, feeling unreconciled, grumbled, ¡°We can¡¯t just raise the kids for free for someone else all these years. Fifth Uncle, you should at leastpensative us a little.¡±


    Gu Ming walked in front of his sister and said to her, ¡°Mei Mei, let me borrow your five taels of silver.¡± Gu Ye didn¡¯t even say a word before she put her money into her brother¡¯s hand.


    ¡°You sold mei mei for two taels of silver back in town,¡± said Gu Ming as he walked in front of his own father. Looking at him with disappointment and determination, he said slowly, ¡°This is five taels of silver. You can consider both me and mei mei were sold. From this point forward, you... are just Seventh Uncle, a distant rtive to us. We have nothing more to do with eaChapter other from this point forward.¡±

 Chapter 122 – All That Little Fart’s Fault (1)

    <h4>Chapter 122 ¨C All That Little Fart¡¯s Fault (1)</h4>


    Listening to how resolute his son was, Gu Qiao felt mixed emotions. He was also filled with hope and excitement when his sone was born. He had loved his smart and loving son for 7 years.


    When his son was young, they were very close. He loved to run up and threw his arms around his leg and called him ¡°Daddy¡± in a soft voice; he loved to run up to him as he walked in the door and have him lifted him high up into the air; he loved to be around him and massaged his back and legs...


    Since when had they grown so far apart? It was after he had moved back to Qingshan Vige. He fought a lot with histe wife and his temper was short. The loving way his son had looked at him was reced with fear. They had truly grown apart after he had married the current Mrs. Gu. Mrs. Gu would beat the kids behind his back, barely fed them any food. He was aware of all that was going on but what had he done? Nothing. He pretended that he wasn¡¯t aware of them.


    Then, he didn¡¯t stop Mrs. Gu from tossing away Gu Ye. He was one of the culprit when they tried to sell Gu Ye in town... and his son looked at him more and more like he was looking at a stranger. He had pushed his son further and further away from him...


    Mrs. Gu didn¡¯t care about all that. She wasn¡¯t going to get her 200 taels of silver today, but five taels of silver is better than one! She took a step forward and snatched the silver out of Gu Ming¡¯s hand before she tugged at her man to take off.


    But she was stopped by the old Patriarch, ¡°Hang on! Since you have epted the money, you have epted the terms that you have sold all ties and rtionships with the two children. As much, let¡¯s sign a tie-severing documentation today. The vige head and I will be the witnesses.¡±


    The PatriarChapter had Li Hao went and fetChapter Third Gu, the most cultured person in the vige and have him drafted up the tie-severing documentation. It was to say that Gu Qiao and Mrs. Gu, his wife, had epted five taels of silver from Gu Xiao and were to sever all ties with Gu Ming and Gu Ye. From this point forward, they were no longer rted. Any breaChapter to this document would mean being banished from the n and exiled from the vige.


    There were three copies of the documents. Both parties signed and pressed their hand prints on them. The old patriarChapter and the vige head also signed their names as witnesses. EaChapter party retained one copy of the document and thest one would be retained by the old patriarch.


    Gu Qiao was in a daze when he walked out of Fifth Uncle¡¯s house, the document in hand. From this point forward, his son would have nothing else to do with him. He had sold his son along with anyst shred of rtionships for five taels of silver.


    ¡°Well, that was a bummer! I thought we would be able to score a big one this time, not just this much!¡± Griped Mrs. Gu as soon as she walked inside the door, ¡°Tsk, that Mrs. Wu, she should have gotten her facts straight. She told me about 160 taels of silver, but they all belonged to Old Sacred Doctor and had nothing to do with that little fart! And you! Why didn¡¯t you chime in? You are his father. If you had chimed in, we might have been able to get more...¡±


    Before she was done talking, she was pped across her face. She was stunned from the pping. Baffled, she asked Gu Qiao, ¡°Why did you p me? Had I said something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯d p you! This was all your bad ideas... Are you happy now? I¡¯ve lost my son. He had nothing to do with me anymore. That¡¯s what you¡¯ve wanted, right? I am going to kill you, you bearer of bad luck. All you ever think about was money, money, money! Why don¡¯t you sell your son for meat, huh?¡± Gu Qiao¡¯s eyes were red and his look vicious. He rained punches and kicks all over Mrs. Gu, whiChapter made her bawled.

 Chapter 123– All That Little Fart’s Fault (2)

    <h4>Chapter 123¨C All That Little Fart¡¯s Fault (2)</h4>


    ¡°How could you me that on me? It was your son and daughter pair! Now that they can make money on their own, they didn¡¯t to be dragged down by their poor, old dad. That was why they had the tie-severing documentation done. How was that my fault? You are right, I did want to get more money from that old crippled. But who was I doing that for? I did that all for Xiao Zhuang! You didn¡¯t object to that either! How is it all my fault now?¡± Mrs. Gu, sitting down on the ground, covering her head and face with her arms, cried and defended herself.


    ¡°Gu Qiao! Is Gu Ming your only son? Is Xiao Zhuang not your son also? Your great son handed over the money himself and said that he has nothing to do with you anymore. He probably didn¡¯t want you as his father long time ago. And you were the only one who still think about your father-son rtionship!¡±


    Seeing that the pping had decreased in intensity, Mrs. Gu lifted up her head, wiped away her tears and snorts and continued to push away all responsibilities from herself.


    All Gu Qiao wanted was a scape goat to me it all on. Hearing his wife¡¯s words, thest shred of warmth and longing in his heart dissipated and he mumbled to himself, ¡°That¡¯s right. It was Ming-er who said we are severing all ties with eaChapter other! Haha, what a wonderful son that he was. He wasn¡¯t even riChapter yet and he couldn¡¯t wait to think his dad was dragging him down. All good! I don¡¯t need a son like him. He would just grow into a white-eyed wolf anyway.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! Exactly! You still have Xiao Zhaung! He would be familial to you after he grows up!¡± Mrs. Gu quickly climbed up from the ground and patted the dirt off of herself. She retreated to the front of the door and said, ¡°I am going to go bring Xiao Zhuang back. I don¡¯t want him to go crazy ying with the other kids and hurt himself now.¡±


    Having said that, she dashed out of the door as if she was being chased by vicious dogs. Her chubby body was moving faster than a rabbit!


    The courtyard was quiet with only Gu Qiao standing where he was. After a long while, he finally let out a long sigh, turned and walked back inside the house. That¡¯s right! From now on, Xiao Zhuang would be his only son left!


    Contrasting to the destion of Gu Qiao¡¯s house, Gu Xiao¡¯s courtyard was bustling with liveliness.


    ¡°Vige Head, Second Brother, All Other Brothers, nobody leaves today. I have a great bottle of wine here that¡¯s from my precious granddaughter. You must all have a taste of it!¡± Gu Xiao passionately invited everyone to stay for dinner after he carefully put away the documents.


    The Patriarch, vige head, and the several elders couldn¡¯t decline his passion and stayed. The vige head said to his grandson, ¡°Go get some radishes, cabbages, and potatoes for side dishes. Fifth Brother, don¡¯t try to stop him. We don¡¯t have anything fancy at home; these were all grown in our own farms.¡±


    The old PatriarChapter started to say as well, ¡°Fifth Brother, you came back herete in time and missed the time to pickle vegetables. You can¡¯t not have vegetables at all over the winter. I will have a couple of your nephews bring some over for you in a little bit. We have too muChapter anyway....¡±


    The other elders also expressed that they, too, have more than enough pickled vegetables at home that they could share with Gu Xiao. Last time the Gu¡¯s went into the mountain and couldn¡¯t finish up the wild boar that they have hunted so they sent some to eaChapter of these families. EaChapter family got about 2.5 kg. Nobody could even remember thest time the kids in the families have had meat. The several kilogram of wild boar meat was only too satisfying for them.


    And then there was today, Gu Xiao had received 25-30 kilogram of pork from the Ding¡¯s and kept only 5 or so for themselves. The rest was also divvied up to his several brothers. In their mind, Gu Xiao was a very generous man and everyone thought highly of him. Having their approval, Gu Xiao and the children would only be more well liked in the vige.

 Chapter 124 – All That Little Fart’s Fault (3)

    <h4>Chapter 124 ¨C All That Little Fart¡¯s Fault (3)</h4>


    Gu Ye went to get Li-jie¡¯s help and made hearty dishes suChapter as braised pork belly, stewed spareribs and potatoes, stewed pork and noodles, twice-cooked pork. The grandpas in the courtyard ate to their hearts¡¯ content and raved about them.


    Gu Ye, on the other hand, was not happy with the oue. Her cooking skill in her past life was at the level of ¡°idiotic¡±. She could make somemon dishes in this life, but their quality was at the level of mediocre, far from ¡°delectable¡±.


    She had memorized the recipe for the braised pork belly this ¡°Practical Recipes¡± from her collection in her dimension. She followed it step by step to the dot but the taste was still far from what she had previously.


    In her past life, those who knew about the ¡°genius apothecary¡± Mr. Ye knew that in addition to money, Mr. Ye loved food even more. A te of delectable food that she liked could be exchanged for a dose of life-saving medication. All the top-notched chef in the post-apocalyptic world all tried every trick up their sleeves in order to make dishes that could appease Mr. Ye in exchange for medicines that couldn¡¯t even be bought with money.


    In this world, first she didn¡¯t have the means, and now she didn¡¯t have the skills. Those in Qingshan Vige had very little ask when it came to food. Anything that could fill their stomaChapter was good enough. Nobody would go above and beyond in making delectable dishes.


    Her master, the sage apothecary, noticed the disappointment and distress on Gu Ye and quietly made a mental note of it all.


    This meal had more or less finished off the 5 kilograms of pork that the Gu¡¯s had saved for themselves. Li Hao, who stayed behind for dinner with his grandfather, said this was the best meal that he had in his entire life. He even joked that if only Gu Ye was his sister, then he¡¯d have delicious meals like this every day.


    Of course, at his house, they only used salt and miso as condiments. When it came to Gu Ye, she used anise, cinnamon etc. on top of five spice, MSG, chicken extract, etc. Naturally, the taste was muChapter better.


    Gu Ming, the sister-loving fanatic, almost started a fight with him for trying to steal his sister from him!


    Even though they had gone through all the pork, but Gu Xiao would still go into the mountain and hunt for small games asionally, there was never a shortage of meat in their house.


    As the weather turned colder, Gu Ye noticed that her grandfather seemed to have a lot on his mind. One day, when she was rubbing medicinal oil on his foot, Gu Xiao sighed and asked, ¡°Xiao Ye-zi, say.... If I asked the sage apothecary for this medicinal oil, do you think he will sell me some of them?¡±


    That reminded Gu Ye that her grandfather had mentioned in the past how he wanted to send some of these to his old superior located on the border. She patted her own chest and said, ¡°Grandpa, there¡¯s no need for you to ask. I¡¯ll ask him for you!¡±


    ¡°No! No! You didn¡¯t even ask your masterst time when you promised to sell Young Master Ding the heart pills. That wasn¡¯t right already. How can you go trouble the sage apothecary again now?¡±


    His granddaughter was lucky enough to be the disciple of the sage apothecary. It was a disciple¡¯s duty to share their master¡¯s troubles, not the other way around. Gu Xiao didn¡¯t want his granddaughter to annoy the sage apothecary, whiChapter was why he hadn¡¯t brought up the medicinal oil and warm saltpress for a while.


    ¡°Grandpa, do you not think of me as your granddaughter?¡± Pouted Gu Ye with her eyes rounded, looking very muChapter like a little hamster.


    Seeing her face, Gu Xiao couldn¡¯t help but chuckled, ¡°WhiChapter ungrateful person said suChapter a thing? If you are not my granddaughter, who¡¯s are you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your granddaughter¡¯s duty to serve her grandfather. If you truly think of me as your granddaughter, then you wouldn¡¯t say suChapter things! Wait here. My master has a few more bottles of these medicinal oil, let me go get them for you!¡± Having said that, Gu Ye ced the warm saltpress on her grandfather¡¯s knee, turned around and exited the room.

 Chapter 125 – The Mysterious Red Lotus

    <h4>Chapter 125 ¨C The Mysterious Red Lotus</h4>


    The sage apothecary was in the courtyard exercising when he coincidentally heard herst sentence, teasing, ¡°Little girl, you¡¯re trying to coax your grandfather by using my name?¡±


    Aftering back from selling medicine and handing a hundred silvers and five hundred silvers worth of banknotes to him, the sage apothecary held in his shock. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t exposed. He was confused when he heard his precious disciple talking about selling some sort of instant heart-reliever pills.


    After Gu Xiao left the money with them, his disciple exined the entire event to him. It was then that he realized his disciple used his ¡°name¡± again. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t miss the opportunity to see the effect of the ¡°instant heart-reliever pills.¡±


    Gu Ye had stocked ¡°instant reliever pills¡± in his storage and it was a purely traditional Chinese medicine prescription. It was of superior quality and even the sage apothecary praised it. He was more and more curious towards his discipline¡¯s Hua Tuo-like medicinal skills and manufacturing skills. He promised the Hall Master of Hidden Soul that he wouldn¡¯t press about her past. He acted blind towards the ¡°surprise¡± she gave him from time to time.


    ¡°Master, can you give me a few bottles of the ointment you produced in a bit?¡± Gu Ye shouted loudly at the sage apothecary, her back towards her grandfather¡¯s room as she gave her master a look.


    The sage apothecary finished hisst move and then tapped the girl smiling mischievously. Moodily, ¡°Don¡¯t you have all my medicines? Just take whatever you need.¡±


    ¡°I know that master adores me!¡± Gu Ye revealed a splendid smile seeing her master¡¯s cooperation. She stuck her tongue out at him and then made a cute ugly face.


    ¡°You cheeky girl. Stop ttering this master. Didn¡¯t you say you want to learn how to make Golden Sore Ointment? Get over here.¡± The sage apothecary was really satisfied with his disciple¡¯s talent in medicine. Even his carefully chosen senior disciple who took after him was inferior to her. In just a month, she learned how to concoct the majority of the medicinal ingredients there were. Of course, she was also hardworking. It was time to teaChapter her how to make some drugs.


    Gu Ye walked a few steps towards her master and prepared the ingredients to make the Golden Sore Ointment. The sage apothecary looked at her and said, ¡°Look carefully. I¡¯m only exining once. It¡¯s up to you how muChapter youprehend from this.¡±


    The sage apothecary went over the process slowly. While making the ointment, he exined in detail to his disciple. When they approached crucial steps, he would even ask the girl if she understood. Just like this. One carefully taught while the other paid attention. Up until lunchtime. They finally created a superior quality Golden Sore Ointment through the sage apothecary¡¯s hands.


    All of the sage apothecary¡¯s medicinal ingredients and drugs had their own distinctiveness. Those that were familiar with his style could tell with one nce. The effect of his medicine was muChapter better than ordinary apothecaries. This was also one of the reasons why he was fawned upon.


    ¡°Here, talk to this master. How muChapter did you retain?¡± Through this interaction, the sage apothecary knew that his disciple was smart. But he didn¡¯t expect Gu Ye to perfectly exin the process of the Golden Sore Ointment. Even the parts he emphasized with her.


    ¡°Good, good!¡± The sage apothecary was reassured. He looked at his disciple in satisfaction and eximed, ¡°Here, create the ointment for this master to see.¡±


    ¡°Old brother Zheng, rest first. We can finish lunChapter and then start.¡± Because the sage apothecary didn¡¯t want to reveal his identity, Gu Xiao called him ¡°old brother.¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s already lunchtime! Girl, you haven¡¯t even eaten breakfast yet did you? You must be hungry. Look at you. Don¡¯t you know that your body can¡¯t withstand hunger? You didn¡¯t even remind this master. Your brother and grandfather would fight me to death if I starved you!¡± In private, the sage apothecary was just a child in an old man¡¯s body who liked to joke around.


    Gu Ye smiled and eximed, ¡°Master, you¡¯re just great at teaching. This disciple was drawn into your exnation and I don¡¯t feel hungry at all.¡±


    Gu Xiao made lunChapter today. It was pheasant stewed with mushroom and stir-fried julienne potato. He got his cooking skills from the soldiers back then. The dishes were indeed good but after it went through his hands, the food was barely edible.


    Gu Xiao and Gu Ming enjoyed the food but poor sage apothecary and Gu Ye. Wherever the sage apothecary went, everyone served and waited upon him well because of his reputation. In the beginning, eating food from a pot was quite refreshing and new but then he¡¯d gradually feel sick of it, okay? As for Gu Ye, she had sharp senses so whenever something smelled off, the scent would be magnified in her mouth and be so bitter that couldn¡¯t be described in words.


    The master and disciples looked at eaChapter other. They saw tolerance and helplessness through eaChapter other¡¯s eyes. Gu Xiao thought that the pheasant was a good fish so he put this dish in front of the sage apothecary, the noble guest. He urged his granddaughter to eat some more, iming she was too skinny.


    Gu Ye tried her best to eat but all she tasted was salt as well as faint fishy taste. She lowered her head, afraid her grandfather would see her resistance to eating the chicken.


    After lunch, the grandfather and grandson pair went up the mountains to chop wood. Gu Yedled some warm water to rinse off the fishy taste in her mouth and then sighed heavily. ¡°If only we could hire a chef!¡±


    ¡°Then learn after your master to create medicine. Don¡¯t mention chefs in the future but you can hire as many maids and servants as you like.¡± The sage apothecary nced at his disciple¡¯s bitter expression andughed. People say that children who experienced harsh days were never picky. However, his disciple had the tongue of a wealthy person. She was even more picky than him, a glutton.


    ¡°Right! I have to earn a lot of money so I can live in a huge mansion in the future and have servants help me downstairs.¡± Gu Ye waved her hands energetically.


    The sage apothecary flicked her forehead and smiled. ¡°Are you disabled? And you want someone to support you huh? You¡¯re sozy! Hurry up. I just taught you how to make the Golden Sore Ointment. Show this master what you¡¯ve learned.¡±


    Gu Ye touched her head and suddenly, her gaze turned nk. ¡°Oh no. It¡¯s only been a lunch¡¯s worth of time and I¡¯ve forgotten how to make the Golden Sore Ointment...Master, can you teaChapter me again?¡±


    When the sage apothecary heard this, his expression changed. He was about to flip out when he saw his disciple¡¯s smile out of the corner of his eyes. He hmphed and flicked her forehead. ¡°You¡¯re ying around again, huh? Careful, this master might hit your hands with a ruler.¡±


    ¡°Master, if I be dumb due to your flicking, where else are you going to find suChapter a smart, clever, quick-witted and capable disciple?¡± Gu Ye said this only to see her master reaching for her forehead again. She hurriedly jumped to the side and then ran to the storage room. That was her temporary medicine manufacturing room.


    In theory, it was one matter but actually experimenting was another matter. Even though Gu Ye memorized the steps to making the Golden Sore Ointment, she still failed twice before making a sessful product. But her first product was ced on par with the sage apothecary¡¯s own Golden Sore Ointment and given an awfully great praise.


    After dinner, Gu Ye returned to her room early on and closed the door, going into her storage. The medicinal ingredients in the storage were still growing vigorously. Lately, in order to practice concocting medicinal ingredients, she picked out lots of medicinal ingredients from the storage space. There were many herbal seeds sprinkled on the storage ground and they turned into lush green sprouts with dark green leaves.


    In the pond, there was a mysterious red lotus growing and swaying lightly. There were sparkling and translucent dewdrops on the lotus petals whiChapter had a strange glow sparkling, seemingly summoning her. For some reason, Gu Ye felt like she was being guided by someone toe to the red lotus. She extended her slender fingers and gently touched the drewdrop. She ced the finger that was dripping into her mouth and she felt an essential power spreading in her tongue. This sort of power...seemed to be the power she was researching in her past life to strengthen the effect of medicine!


    Joy shed in Gu Ye¡¯s eyes. With this power, she could create even better medicines and drugs! She took over a jade bottle from herboratory and carefully collected the dewdrop.


    Just where did the red lotus that appeared in her storage after she was reborne from? The dewdrop that was produced on the petal had suChapter a magical effect. If she used the red lotus in her medicine, would she be able to bring the dead alive?¡±


    Detecting her thought, the red lotus trembled slightly as if it was a child about to fall into the hands of a monster. Gu Ye clearly captured the red lotus¡¯s fearful emotion.

 Chapter 126 – Pigeon Post

    <h4>Chapter 126 ¨C Pigeon Post</h4>


    ¡°Silly child. Your grandfather is just going to bring medicine to my benefactor. I¡¯m not going to fight in the war. What¡¯s there to be worried about? Look at you. Crying. Your sister¡¯s going tough at you!¡± Gu Xiao was reluctant to part with the two children as well. Thankfully, the sage apothecary was home to take care of them. The two children weren¡¯t delicate either. He didn¡¯t mind leaving them for a few days.


    Gu Ye held in his feeling of reluctance and waved at his grandfather. ¡°Grandfather,e back soon. Big brother and I will be waiting at home for you.¡±


    Seeing his granddaughter¡¯s cute smile and the reluctant look in his grandson¡¯s eyes, Gu Xiao finally understood what it meant to feel reluctant to part with someone else. He had a family now too. He couldn¡¯t be unruly like how he was in the past. No matter what happened, he needed to love himself. He couldn¡¯t let the two children cry and feel bad for him.


    After Gu Xiao left, Gu Ming felt a bit depressed. However, he followed his grandfather¡¯s instructions and got out of bed before dawn to practice the fundamental skills. Then, he¡¯d help his sister cook and go up the mountains to chop wood and hunt...


    Gu Ye continued to learn how to make medicine with her master. The biggest bonus she obtained from this was mastering both this world and the previous world¡¯s two types of medicine manufacturing. She was able to make a medicine pill that had the same effect as the drug itself. The heart-reliever pill that she created was actually better than the sage apothecary¡¯s! He smiled and eximed that there¡¯s nothing else he could teaChapter her a year from now. Gu Ye knew that her master was just being humble. His medical skills were wide-ranging and profound. It was enough for her to learn for the next decade or so.


    Besides learning how to manufacture and concoct medicine, Gu Ye also needed to take an hour out of her day eaChapter day to guide Zhang Lihu in rehabilitation. Since forty days after the surgery, she had a n to help him in physical therapy and rehabilitation.


    The process in rehabilitation was simple but painful. Whenever Zhang Lihu couldn¡¯t persist anymore, Gu Ye would scare him. ¡°If you don¡¯t toughen up, the injury I¡¯ve sewn together for you will end up being glued together and you¡¯ll be a cripple!¡±


    With the faith that he didn¡¯t want to be a ¡°cripple,¡± Zhang Lihu held in his pain and persevered with the pain that came along with the rehabilitation time after time. Whenever he finished with the session, he¡¯d be weed with a body of cold sweat. It was unclear how muChapter Zhang Lihu¡¯s mother cried in secret. However, she still smiled and encouraged her son whenever she was in front of him. Even more, she¡¯d cook the dishes his son liked as a reward.


    It was sunny today. The gentle sunshine sprinkled across the courtyard whiChapter settled halfway up the mountain. A skinny youngdy wearing rough cotton-padded clothes sat inside and tried her best to cut the medicinal ingredients. Her knife work was exquisite and she was able to cut the ingredients into equal pieces as if they were done from a machine.


    Gu, gu... Gu, gu.... Suddenly a pigeon¡¯s cry interrupted the silence in the courtyard. Gu Ye looked up to see gray chubby pigeons perched on the wall. She eximed happily, ¡°Wild pigeon! I was worried that we wouldn¡¯t have meat to eat today and ¡®this pigeon soup¡¯ kindly showed up in front of my door!¡±


    She suddenly took out a slingshot and quickly pulled the rope, aiming it at the pigeon and preparing to shoot. At the same time, the sage apothecary heard some voices and saw his disciple¡¯s action. Cold sweat drenched him. He hurriedly stopped her. ¡°Don¡¯t shoot, don¡¯t shoot!¡±


    Gu Ye maintained her position and turned around to look at her master confusedly. The sage apothecary lifted his hands gently and the pigeon flew and gentlynded on his wrist.


    ¡°Woah! It¡¯s a carrier pigeon.¡± Gu Ye tossed her slingshot away and walked over to the sage apothecary excitedly. ¡°Master, did you raise this carrier pigeon? Is it easy to train? Can I catChapter some wild pigeons and train them for fun?¡±


    ¡°Go, go. Go somewhere else.¡± The sage apothecary rolled his eyes at his steady disciple who was sometimes too lively. He eximed moodily, ¡°You think that carrier pigeons are that easy to train? And you want to capture wild pigeons?...Why don¡¯t you capture a sparrow and have it carry messages for you?¡±


    ¡°Hehe...¡± Gu Ye knew that she was also just imagining the impossible. She saw the little bamboo pipe tied to the pigeon¡¯s legs and curiously reached over for it, but her master pped her hands away.


    ¡°It¡¯s a personal letter. Don¡¯t meddle in my business.¡± The sage apothecary pulled out a sheet of paper from the bamboo pipe and ordered his disciple to feed the carrier pigeon some water and grain. Then he entered the room to read.


    ¡°Psh...so mysterious. Could the letter be from the master¡¯s paramour and she sent him a message through the carrier pigeon?¡± Gu Ye revealed a vulgar smile and thought about what the two had to say to eaChapter other.


    The sage apothecary nced at the words on the paper and muttered to himself, ¡°You just want me to discipline her and not ask about the strange things happening to the girl nor look into it either? Do you really need to tell me this? She¡¯s my precious disciple. Of course I¡¯ll help keep her little secret. I even need to cover for her. My good disciple. You have to be filial to your master in the future!¡±


    Then, talking in a gossipy tone to himself, ¡°This cier-like hall master actually cares about someone? If my disciple wasn¡¯t too young for him, I would¡¯ve thought he has some ulterior motives towards her. However, how did the hall master take a fancy to my little Yezi? He actually went through all this effort. First, he coerced me to ept her as a disciple but then he didn¡¯t allow me to seek out her secret...mn, there must be an inside story!¡±


    ¡°Since he¡¯s that nervous over my little Yezi, I¡¯ll use him to get some benefits of my own. I¡¯m not being too excessive am I?¡± The sage apothecary revealed a devious smile and wrote a letter back, tying it on the pigeon¡¯s foot before letting it fly.


    ¡°Master, if the poachers intercept the carrier pigeon, won¡¯t you end up writing the letter for no reason?¡± Gu Ye looked worried at the pigeon flying far away.


    The sage apothecary flicked her forehead. In a moody tone, ¡°Can¡¯t you say nice things? Don¡¯t jinx it!¡±


    ¡°Actually, I can train an eagle to be a carrier as well. It can fly high and further!¡± Gu Ye thought back to the novels she read earlier. There was a scene where the eagle was trained to deliver letters.


    The sage apothecary red at her and eximed, ¡°Do you think eagles are that easy to train and feed? Just be happy you have carrier pigeons. Don¡¯t think about training eagles!¡±


    People really did train eagles. The current general king of Yan Country was the first to try and seed. It was used towards delivering urgent messages within the military. Of the three major countries, only he knew how to discipline the eagle. Others could only dream on!


    Gu Ye pursed her lips. ¡°I was just making a suggestion. Just because it¡¯s easy to train doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t do it. We need to have a dream. What if ites true?¡±


    ¡°Stop dreaming! We have an urgent matter to attend to first. Here. Tell me if your master¡¯s process in making the heart-reliever pill is correct or not.¡± The sage apothecary ced his hands behind his back and walked to the medicine manufacturing room.


    Gu Ye followed closely behind and murmured, ¡°Why are you always pestering me to teaChapter you my unique secret medicine manufacturing recipe? Who¡¯s the master and who¡¯s the disciple?¡±


    ¡°What are you muttering about? Come inside!¡± Although the sage apothecary was over seventy, he wasn¡¯t blind or deaf. Naturally, he saw her little movement.


    The sage apothecary wanted to reaChapter the level of the manufacturing medicine great schr. That¡¯s all he pursued in his life. Although the outside world praised him and addressed him as the generation¡¯s manufacturing medicine great schr, he knew that he was far away from his level. This was the reason why he had been wandering around for the past two decades. He wanted to break through. Unfortunately, he got nothing all these years.


    But from the disciple he was forced to ept, he learned a lot, especially her unique and novel manufacturing medicine methods. It gave him a lot of inspiration. His instinct told him that he¡¯d find a way to break through on his disciple.


    As a result, when Gu Ye was manufacturing medicine, he stopped avoiding her. He¡¯d ask her if he didn¡¯t understand some things. Of course, if Gu Ye has a secret she keeps to herself, he wouldn¡¯t press her. But so far, his precious disciple didn¡¯t hide from him when manufacturing medicine.


    The sage apothecary was really touched. He secretly made up his mind. He¡¯ll bury the methods to manufacture medicine deep inside his heart. Once he obtains more advanced manufacturing medicine methods, he will only pass it to her only.


    He didn¡¯t get the title as a sage apothecary for no reason. He was able to manufacture a heart-relieving pill just looking at the process once as it was a prepared prescription. Plus, he was also able to obtain and measure the exact quantity for the prescription. He didn¡¯t have a precise instrument or urate measuring tool, yet he was able to do this precisely. Gu Ye admired him in her heart.


    In order to practice, the sage apothecary had manufactured dozens of bottles of heart-reliever pills. Gu Ye was secretly delighted. She didn¡¯t need to personally manufacture Landlord Ding¡¯s medicine anymore.


    While the sage apothecary was immersed in manufacturing heart-reliever pills, Gu Ye turned her gaze deep in the mountains, having some free time. Normally, her grandfather and brother would look after her so she didn¡¯t get a chance to explore deep inside the mountain. Now that her grandfather wasn¡¯t here and her brother was preparing firewood for winter every day anding homete, did that mean she could go explore the mountains?


    She went to explore the next day! Gu Ming just left the house with an ax and Gu Ye carried her bamboo basket, putting on the embroidered pouChapter that was filled with substances to expel beasts.


    The wild boar valley was about ten kilometers from the back mountain. Far away, she saw a sturdy wild mother boar with a few younglings who were looking for food in the forest. The hazelnuts, mushrooms, and chestnut white-bellied rats were all their foods.


    Today, the wild boars weren¡¯t her target. Gu Ye walked around them and went deep into the mountains. The deeper she was, the taller the trees were. The trees were like sturdy warriors standing up straight.


    Gu Ye brought out the machete from her storage space. Although it wasn¡¯t as strong as steel, she could still use it to open up the road for her. She climbed the rocks and passed through the dense forest, crossing over mountains and mountains before arriving at a vast valley.


    Because the surroundings were surrounded by mountains, she couldn¡¯t feel any coolness at all. The temperature in the valley was muChapter warmer than outside. The trees were still fresh and green and the grass was still lush as well. There was a clear brook that passed through the valley, making babbling sounds. The birds let out a crispy chant and the deers strolled through the grass. Even the wild rabbits slowed down and gently hopped past her.


    Gu Ye took a deep breath. The faint fragrance assaulted her nostrils. In this valley, she noticed lots of precious herbs. She couldn¡¯t help but pick them up. Unconsciously, she walked to the steep mountain cliff. She noticed a thick and solid vine whiChapter was wrapped around the mountain cliff.


    Gu Ye recognized it as a Chinese knotweed through the leaves and wine. The vines were as thick as the arms of a person whiChapter meant that the Chinese knotweed was quite old. She carefully dug this with a shovel.

 Chapter 127 – Fight Between Bear and Tiger

    <h4>Chapter 127 ¨C Fight Between Bear and Tiger</h4>


    The Chinese knotweed¡¯s solon was dugged outpletely. This Chinese knotweed was half a meter tall and around twenty centimeters in thickness. The surface looked like the silhouette of a person. The head, body, limbs, and even the ¡°organ¡± between the two legs were all vivid and lifelike.


    ¡°There¡¯s really a Chinese knotweed that looks like a human. If a superstitious person sees this, they would¡¯ve thought the Chinese knotweed had be a spirit.¡± Gu Ye muttered to himself. However, the Chinese knotweed was at least a century old. She carefully ced the valuable medicinal ingredient andmented at her journey here.


    Suddenly, there was an earth-sttering tiger¡¯s roaring from the valley whiChapter startled the humming birds and caused the deers to scatter. She looked in the direction of the noise. In her past life, she had gotten along with mutated wild beasts for decades. From the howl, she could feel its terrified and startled feeling and sense of struggle. This made her think of ¡°trapped beast.¡± What type of beast could cause the king of the forest to be at a disadvantage?


    Prompted by the strong curiosity, Gu Ye carried the basket full of herbs and gradually walked out of the valley, heading in the direction of the tiger¡¯s howl. With her acute hearing, she slowly approached the ¡°battlefield.¡± She stopped a good distance away to prevent the spray expelling beasts from scaring off the wild beasts battling. She climbed on a huge rock and looked down.


    There was a great brown bear on the spacious ground who was pouncing on an old tiger. It clearly was injured so it was unable to move as swiftly and nimbly. Clearly, it reached its end. It did its best to pounce, roll, move, and dash but was still unable to avoid the great brown bear¡¯s paw. When the bear started attacking again, the two beasts moved and the giant bear paw hit the old tiger¡¯s backbone.


    The attack obviously injured the tiger¡¯s backbone. It tried its best to lift its front paw and its back legs trudged against the ground a bit. It struggled for a bit before finally copsing helplessly.


    Just as the brown tiger was about to open its bloody mouth and feast on its prey, it suddenly heard a crisp voice, ¡°Hey! Big stupid bear, ce that tiger down!¡±


    The brown bear looked over to see a skinny figure standing on top of a huge rock, gesturing arrogantly about.


    Clearly, the huge fierce tiger was muChapter more attractive to the brown tiger. It faintly peered at her before lowering its head. As it was about to munChapter on the fresh tiger meat, an arrow shot through its head.


    The brown tiger had thick skin so the arrow naturally couldn¡¯t hurt it. However, the small human¡¯s provocation angered this huge animal. It roared and then dashed towards the human challenging its dignity.


    The huge brown tiger suddenly braked when it was only a few feet away from Gu Ye. Out of habit, the massive body rolled forward and bumped against the rock next to Gu Ye and finally came to a stop.


    This brown tiger seemed to be under a huge threat. Its hairs were like steel needles, standing up straight. Its pair of ck eyes was full of fear and disgust. It stumbled back as if its nemesis was chasing it. It scrambled off and during the process, it rolled and crawled.


    Gu Ye patted her hands whiChapter were full of the powder to expel beasts. She revealed a proud expression and muttered to herself, ¡°Even mutated animals would avoid me once they smell this. Don¡¯t mention a small brown tiger like you. It was quite a pity however. If the brown tiger hade a bit closer, it would¡¯ve been knocked unconscious. I would¡¯ve been able to taste the bear paws!¡±


    She slowly climbed off the rock and walked over to the old tiger who was on itsst breath. She tched. ¡°So tragic. Its backbone was crushed and the internal organs have been shattered. It¡¯s dead for sure!¡± She just finished her words when the huge tiger took itsst breath.


    Gu Ye kicked the tiger and then her gaze glowed. ¡°SuChapter a fat old tiger. I wonder if its meat is edible. Let me return and ask the master. However, the tiger skin is quiteplete. If I use the skin to make a nket for grandfather, his feet won¡¯t hurt in the winter. There are also tiger bones whiChapter can be used in medicine or to brew wine...¡±


    In this money grubber¡¯s heart, she wanted to tear the tiger apart and sell whatever valuable parts there were.


    The huge tiger was at least two hundred pounds but it wasn¡¯t a big deal for Gu Ye. She ced the corpse in her storage and hurried back. When she almost walked out of the mountain, she then carried the tiger on her back.


    Once she drank the Energetic Bottle Medicine, two hundred pounds was nothing to her. However, her small body was basically drowned under the huge tiger body. From afar, it looked like an old tiger whiChapter was walking on two legs on the mounts.


    ¡°Ah! Tiger! The tiger hase down the mountain!¡± A scared witless voice screamed loudly and hoarsely. A few shrieks apanied it. Gu Ye lifted her head from the corpse to see a bundle of firewood scattered on the ground as well as panicking figures running down the mountain.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s Li Hao and the others.¡± Gu Ye jolted the corpse on her back before slowly getting off the mountain. It was less than a kilometer from her ce. She just needed to persist longer and then she could be free. Although the Energetic Bottle Medicine could arouse her potential, she was still tired from all the walking. After all, she was only twelve years old.


    Gu Ye rested for a few minutes before deciding to carry the corpse back in one go. Before she took a few steps, she heard hurried footsteps and a few familiar hunters¡¯ voices, ¡°Where is it? Where is the tiger?¡±


    Gu Ye stopped and looked over. Li Hao brought the elders from the vige over. There were at least dozens of people and they were all carrying farm tools, all prepared to fight. They were quite quick. Looking at this scene, it seemed like all the young men in the vige were called over.


    ¡°It¡¯s over there. It even sat down. It¡¯s looking at us now.¡± Li Hao¡¯s voice shook. One could tell just how scared he was. He was quite the man for being able to endure his fear and bring the vigers over.


    ¡°Brother Zhang, what should we do? You take change! We can¡¯t let this bastard enter our vige and hurt the vigers.¡± The person talking was the oldest son of the n elder. He clutched the hoe in his hands tightly and stared at the ¡°tiger,¡± not afraid of death.


    Hunter Zhang lifted his hand and stopped the viger from approaching. He seemed to realize something was off. He eximed softly, ¡°Wait a second...¡±


    Enough. If she didn¡¯t say anything, she¡¯d be attacked by the group of people. Gu Ye hurriedly exined, ¡°Uncle Zhang, second uncle, what are you guys doing?¡± She then revealed her head from the tiger corpse.


    ¡°Oh my! Little Ye¡¯er!¡± Seeing the dirty and bloody face covered in tiger blood, Hunter Zhang and the others let out a gasp.


    ¡°Sister¡ª¡± A mournful voice rang from behind the crowd. Gu Ming walked through the crowd and rushed to Gu Ye¡¯s side, turning the tiger corpse over and then carefully checking her body. ¡°Tell this brother where you¡¯re hurt. Here, let this brother carry you back. Grandfather Zheng can treat your injury for sure.¡±


    His voice was trembling and on the verge of crying. His panicked expression was just the same as the day Gu Ye transmigrated.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m not hurt...¡± Her brother hugged her tightly the moment she started talking. She was doubtful towards everyone having experienced what she did in her past life. Even more, she wasn¡¯t used to physical touch.


    She wanted to push him away when she felt her brother¡¯s trembling body and his tears whiChapter made her change her mind. She felt warmness flood through her eyes and she reached over to hug her brother¡¯s skinny body. So this was what family was like. They would be concerned, love, and protect you unconditionally. The thought of someone being worried for her felt beautiful.


    ¡°Brother, it¡¯s my fault. Sorry for worrying you.¡± Gu Ye apologized sincerely.


    Gu Ming let his sister go and then turned to wipe his tears with his sleeves. He reached over to wipe the already dried blood stains for her and then asked worriedly, ¡°You¡¯re really not hurt? Where did the bloode from?¡±


    ¡°The blood is from the tiger. When I picked up the tiger, it was still warm so it clearly died not too long ago.¡± Gu Ye didn¡¯t lie. Although she did watChapter the old tiger take itsst breath.


    Hunter Zhang walked over and asked Gu Ye in concern. He reached over to inspect the tiger corpse and then stood up after a while. He looked at Gu Ye and said, ¡°Youngdy, you¡¯re extraordinarily lucky. This tiger probably got smacked by a bear. But the strange thing is the bear killed the tiger but didn¡¯t eat it. The tiger skin is mostlyplete.¡±


    The ninth uncle, Gu Feng, red at Gu Ye and said, ¡°Little Ye¡¯er, were you being disobedient again and went into the deep mountain? Look at you. For someone as small as you, why are you so courageous? Look. There are tigers in the mountains and even bears that can kill tigers. You¡¯re not even enough of a meal for them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Gu Ming patted his sister¡¯s head and eximed softly, ¡°You got lucky this time. Don¡¯t think that you¡¯ll get lucky again next time.¡±


    ¡°Mn, I know.¡± Gu Ye thought of her excuse and exined, ¡°Grandfather has been out for three days. I wanted to check the boar valley to see if our traps have been destroyed. I shouldn¡¯t have entered the mountain just relying on the powder to expel beasts that my master gave me. I won¡¯t do this in the future!¡±


    Gu Ming didn¡¯t have the heart to scold her anymore after seeing his sister¡¯s sincere attitude. Heforted, ¡°You must be scared to death. If you want to go to the boar valley, this brother wille with you in the future...¡±


    ¡°No one is going anywhere¡± Hunter Zhang furrowed his brows hearing this. ¡°Old Man Zheng left you guys some powder to expel beasts for protection against the wild beasts that might leave the mountains in the winter. It¡¯s not so you guys can go anywhere you want. Vigers, go back and warn your naughty children to be good. The wild boar valley isn¡¯t far from our vige. There are tigers and bears there. We need to stay more on alert and be carefultely.¡±


    The vigers nodded hearing this and eximed that they will go back to discipline their children so that there won¡¯t be any trouble in the future.

 Chapter 128 – Only Gentle To You

    <h4>Chapter 128 ¨C Only Gentle To You</h4>


    Gu Feng grabbed the front paw of the tiger corpse and pulled it up. However, he was unable to lift it. He looked at Gu Ye incredulously. ¡°Little Ye¡¯er, you have strong arm strength. This old tiger is at least 200 pounds, yet you were able to carry it back from the wild boar valley.¡±


    ¡°Ninth uncle, grandfather said that we are growing so he would often hunt for food in order to improve our diet. My sister and I have gotten stronger as a result.¡± Gu Ming exined for his sister.


    Gu Ye also hurriedly added, ¡°My brothers can lift the stone table in our courtyard up single-handedly. Grandfather said that he¡¯s made for practicing martial arts.¡±


    Hunter Zhang patted Gu Ming¡¯s shoulders and praised, ¡°Good boy! Practice with your fifth uncle Gu and you¡¯ll make something out of yourself in the future for sure. Old nine, let¡¯s help the kids carry the tiger corpse back.¡±


    Gu Feng tied the tiger¡¯s front and back paws together. The two carried the tiger in session with the sticks inserted in the body. They headed towards the house halfway up the mountain.


    There was a sudden voice behind the crowd. ¡°The prey in the mountain belongs to whoever hunted them. But what about the ones that people found? Shouldn¡¯t everyone in the vige get a share?¡±


    Hunter Zhang looked over to see Wu Danggui talking. This person didn¡¯t have a good reputation in the vige. Not only did he collect expensive fees, he also had a wife who enjoyed taking advantage of others. Everyone didn¡¯t like him.


    This person was even a bit unwilling toe when he heard that the tiger wasing and all the young men were to gather together. Up until the vige head said that whoever didn¡¯t participate would be kicked out of the vige. Only then did Wu Danggui slowly followed over. He wasn¡¯t earnest in killing the tiger but collecting benefits was another story!


    ¡°Physician Wu, in your case, the mushrooms, firewood, and goods that we picked up would have to be shared with you as well huh?¡± Gu Ye emphasized the word ¡®picked up.¡¯


    Wu Danggui wouldn¡¯t have said anything if the tiger was picked up by another family. A few days ago, he went to the sage apothecary and asked him to take him in as an apprentice in exchange for the wild ginseng he picked up, yet thetter gave him a disdainful look and rejected him. Wu Danggui made a fuss right then and then hated the sage apothecary as a result. Gu Ye was his disciple, so naturally he became jealous of her as well.


    Gu Xiao, who was valued by the vige head and the n elder, wasn¡¯t here. Therefore, Wu Danggui thought he could manipte Gu Ye easily, thus his suggestion. He thought that by saying this, the vigers would agree with him as they could get lucky with the harvest as well. Then, he could distribute some tiger bones and other items to the vigers. They were all valuable and expensive items! However, after saying this, everyone started throwing him criticizing gazes.


    Li Hao even went to say in disdain, ¡°So, you and your wife could do nothing and just reap on other people¡¯s harvest huh? Keep dreaming!¡±


    ¡°There are lots of things in the mountain, so it belongs to whoever picked them up. Physician Wu, you can go ahead and pick a tiger up if you have the ability. We won¡¯t be jealous or anything!¡± Hunter Zhang looked coldly at him before walking off with the tiger on his back.


    A young viger chuckled at Wu Danggui. ¡°Physician Wu, you dug up a century-old ginseng a while ago. You must¡¯ve sold it for lots of silver, no? Shouldn¡¯t you give us some silvers to spend?¡±


    ¡°Why should I share the ginseng I went through great efforts to dig up with you?¡± Wu Danggui¡¯s neck flushed from anger. He would¡¯ve fallen out with them if it weren¡¯t for the fact he couldn¡¯t beat them.


    The viges besides himughed out loud. ¡°Why should Gu Ye share the tiger she carried all the way back home with you then?¡±


    Wu Danggui had nowhere to vent his anger, so he returned home furious. He arrived at home, but didn¡¯t see his wife. The food wasn¡¯t cooked either. Under a whim of anger, he found his wife and gave her a beating.


    Hunter Zhang and Gu Feng carried the tiger to their house and then skinned it. They decided on waiting for the skin to dry before tawing it. He actually learned how to taw from Gu Xiao.


    The sage apothecary stood to the side and stroked his beard while looking at the tiger corpse. He raised his brows upon hearing that Gu Ye got the body from the mountains. He knew that his disciple had killed it. It was no strange deal. His precious disciple was capable, he knew!


    By the time they were done, it was almost dinner. The majority of the vigers only had two meals a day during winter. Dinner was usually around 4pm.


    Watching Uncle Zhang and her ninth uncle bustling around the entire day, Gu Ye thought it was only reasonable for them to leave with some presents. They had tiger skins, bones, and whatnot. However, she didn¡¯t have the heart to give them away. She wasn¡¯t sure whether the tiger meat was edible though. Therefore, she looked at the sage apothecary with a conflicted look. ¡°Master, is the meat edible?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡± The sage apothecary recalled the tiger meat he had once from many years ago. He smacked his lips and replied, ¡°The tiger meat is top-quality meat. If you encounter someone that knows how to cook tiger meat, the quality of the meat will always be delicious no matter how they cook it.¡±


    Gu Ye cut ten pounds of tiger meat for Hunter Zhang and her ninth uncle, so that they could try it out when they go home. Hunter Zhang and Gu Feng couldn¡¯t withstand her enthusiasm, so they epted the gift. Gu Ye left a generous impression in their hearts.


    Gu Ye then cut the tiger meat into five ten-pounds worth of meat. During the night, she went and distributed them to the vige head, n elder, and three elders. Gu Ye didn¡¯t even bother batting an eysh at her original house. To her, only her brother and grandfather were her family!


    After skinning the tiger and getting rid of its internal organs, it weighed at least 160 pounds in meat! Besides the 70 pounds of meat she gave away, there was still at least 90 pounds worth of meat left. There was on refrigerator during this era, so how could she preserve the meat? Although her storage space could keep things fresh, she couldn¡¯t really exin the disappearance of the meat in front of her master and her brother¡¯s eyes.


    As if responding to her conflict, snow started falling in the night. The second day, there was snow covering the height of one¡¯s lower legs. It kept snowing and the wind blew, the cold pressing. The tiger meat hung under the roof became very hard. They didn¡¯t need to worry about it turning bad.


    The sage apothecary and the Gu siblings sat on the warm bed and surrounded the furnace, eating the tasty tiger meat. Gu Ming couldn¡¯t help but feel worried for his grandfather in the north. ¡°I wonder if grandfather has arrived. Will he be stuck on the way there because of snow?¡±


    Gu Ye picked up a thin slice of tiger meat and dipped it briefly in the pot before shoving it in her mouth. She closed her eyes in satisfaction like anguid kitten. She carefully thought about it before saying, ¡°He said that he would arrive at Jung Pass at the very most, in five days. He¡¯s anxious to bring the medicine to his old boss, so he must¡¯ve quickened his pace on the way there. He must be there now. Brother, don¡¯t worry. I had him wear a rabbit-skinned vest and knee pads. He won¡¯t be cold.¡±


    ¡°I should¡¯ve gone with him. At least, he would have someone taking care of him.¡± Gu Ming sighed, acting mature. The fresh tiger meat in his mouth was tasteless.


    Gu Ye retorted, ¡°Take you along? He¡¯d have to take care of you while hurrying there. You¡¯d be a burden to him! Instead of worrying about him, why don¡¯t you sweep the snow in the courtyard away after eating?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that Gu Ye wasn¡¯t worried about her grandfather. Instead, she was confident in him. He had told her that he had defended the north for a decade, so the snow was nothing to him. However, she didn¡¯t know when the snow would stop and if it would affect his return date.


    While the three were surrounding the furnace and eating, Ling Juechen, who was in Yan Country¡¯s capital, held a written note. His features softened and his sparkling eyes filled with gentleness.


    The shadow guards in charge of protecting him today had juste back from Cangmang Mountain. Seeing the different Hall Master, he felt incredibly scared. He didn¡¯t expect his master to have suChapter a gentle side. It was unclear what the sage apothecary had written to influence the Hall Master¡¯s mood that much.


    Yin Ba became even more shocked when he recalled the sage apothecary being with the little vige girl from Qinshan Vige. Master isn¡¯t...a pedophile is he? No. There were so many exquisite, healthy, and lively girls in the capital but he didn¡¯t do anything. Why would he take a fancy to the skinny and ordinary viger girl from Cangmang Mountain?


    ¡°Heh...¡± What surprised Yin Ba even more was that his master...actually..ughed! His master, known as the millennium-old cier, actually melted and bloomed.


    Ling Juechen flipped the note numerous times as he read the words over and over as if they were alive. He recalled the lively figure in his memory. Muttering, ¡°That girl really hasn¡¯t changed her habit of being picky about food.¡±


    In the previous life, during the most difficult time period, the girl was addicted to ramen. She ate bowls after bowls of ramen as she scrunched her face together. No matter how many years passed, that particr memory was still fresh in his mind. From then on, he always collected all sorts of bread, cake, and chocte for her. He knew that she couldn¡¯t withstand sweets.


    He recalled the information he received on her when she just transmigrated. She had coarse grains and maize pancakes, and drank porridge. She only had vegetables along with a bowl of water every meal... He had no idea how the girl survived it. In her storage space, she had medicinal ingredients,boratory equipment, and some junk she collected earlier on. She hadn¡¯t brought food. Without him by her side, she didn¡¯t take care of herself!


    ¡°Ba!¡± Distress flickered through Ling Juechen¡¯s eyes and he summoned his shadow guard.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Yin Ba was...fantasizing about his master when he was suddenly called. He stumbled out from the dark, his face panicking. ¡°Uh...Hall Master, what is your order?¡±


    Ling Juechen shot him an icy gaze, almost freezing Yin Ba into a popsicle stick. His master was still his usual self. He must¡¯ve mistaken his master¡¯s gentle side.


    Ling Juechen was speechless towards his unrestrained subordinate. He ordered quietly and then added, ¡°Make sure this is done perfectly. Otherwise...I don¡¯t mind changing the Four Major Shadow Guards...:¡±


    Yin Ba promised his master with his integrity that it¡¯d be done perfectly. What a joke. He went through great costs to be one of the Hall Master¡¯s Four Major Shadow Guards. He wouldn¡¯t allow suChapter a small matter to cause his many years of hard work to go waste.

 Chapter 129 – Preparing for New Year in Advance

    <h4>Chapter 129 ¨C Preparing for New Year in Advance</h4>


    Under her master¡¯s guidance, Gu Ye was able to skin the tiger bones. She dried them after rinsing. Whenever she needed them, she could just knock a piece off. The sage apothecary used this opportunity to give his disciple a lesson.


    ¡°There are many ways to process the tiger bones. The mostmon products include tiger balm, vinegar tiger bones, sand-frying tiger bones, to list a few. For the tiger balm, you can just add sesame oil and roast it on fire. For the vinegar tiger bones, ce the tiger bones in sand and fry it until golden-yellow, and then dip it in vinegar and wait for it to absorb. For the sand-fry tiger bones, you would ce it in the sand and stir-fry it until it¡¯s a soft yellow. Then soak it in vinegar and dry it over a stove after fishing it up...¡±


    ¡°Is there a difference in terms of medicinal effect?¡± Gu Ye pressed.


    The sage apothecary looked at her and then nodded. ¡°Of course. The tiger balm is best for treating tibia pain. The vinegar tiger bones are remarkable in treating muscle pain. The sand-frying tiger bones are usually for...¡±


    One was immersed in teaching while the other was focused on learning. Gu Ming was sweeping the snow in the courtyard and he made sure to sweep quietly, afraid of distracting them.


    The snow stopped quickly. In the next few days, it was surprisingly sunny. Three dayster, the remaining snow had melted. Qingshan Vige¡¯s families all started to purchase items for the Lunar New Year even though there was still nearly two months before the date.


    Gu Li¡¯er knocked on Gu Ye¡¯s house on the first night. ¡°Little Yezi, my mother wants me to ask you if you¡¯re going to town to purchase items tomorrow. If you¡¯re going, we can go together.¡±


    ¡°Sister Li, isn¡¯t it still early from the New Years? Why are we in a hurry?¡± Gu Ye was confused.


    Gu Li¡¯er blew a warm breath on her hands and then removed her shoes, getting in bed. She smiled and said, ¡°Now that it¡¯s winter, it¡¯s going to snow more often. Sometimes, the snow canst for half a month. Many families in the vige learned it the hard way, so we need to purchase items in advance taking advantage of the good weather. Otherwise, we might not even have any food during the New Years.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I get it! Alright. I¡¯ve had two baskets of concocted medicinal ingredients stored. I¡¯ll go to town with you tomorrow and exchange the baskets for silver taels, so then I can purchase items for the New Years.¡± Gu Ming had been keeping a close eye on hertely, so she couldn¡¯t go to the mountains. She had been quite idle, so she wouldn¡¯t miss this chance to get in on the action.


    Gu Li¡¯er said, ¡°Ok, let¡¯s meet at the vige entrance tomorrow around 5am. Rest soon tonight. Otherwise, you may not wake up in time tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Ye entered the sage apothecary¡¯s room after Gu Li¡¯er left. She told him, ¡°Master, I¡¯m going to town tomorrow. Are youing along?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an old man. Walking fifty kilometers of mountain road will kill me! I¡¯m not going.¡± The sage apothecary was actually just afraid of being recognized and attracting unwanted trouble.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll bring you your favorite pastries.¡± The sage apothecary ended up eating half of the pastries that Master Ding had bought. It was then that Gu Ye realized her master enjoyed sweets just like her.


    The sage apothecary looked at her in disdain. ¡°The pastries in town aren¡¯t good. Now, the pastries from the capital¡¯s Wuwei Bakery are actually delicious pastries. If the opportunity arises, I¡¯ll treat you out. I promise you the taste will be unforgettable.¡±


    There was a sparkling glow in Gu Ye¡¯s eyes when food was mentioned. The capital must be a flourishing ce. The restaurants there must have lots of delicious food. It seems like she needed to earn more money and settle in the capital soon, so that she could taste all the delicious food there.


    The Gu siblings got out of bed before the day even turned bright the second day. Gu Ye made lots of scallion pancakes as snacks on their journey to town. It was two days¡¯ worth of walking from the vige to the town.


    Her master didn¡¯t know how to cook, so Gu Ye had to ask Aunt Zhang. Hunter Zhang¡¯s wife helped cook the meals for the sage apothecary. Before leaving, she reminded her master to add firewood on the kang and to stay warm at night, feeling worried.


    Watching his disciple nagging him, the sage apothecary was touched but found itughable at the same time. ¡°Ok, I know! I¡¯m already seventy. You think I can¡¯t take care of myself? Leave already. Don¡¯t let others wait for you!¡±


    The Gu siblings eaChapter carried a basket full of concocted medicinal ingredients. They were rather shortpared to the others, so it seemed like the baskets grew legs looking from behind.


    At the vige entrance, the Ninth Uncle, Ninth Aunt, and Sister Li were waiting. There were dozens of vigers there too. Wu Danggui and his partner as well as Gu Qiao and his partner were also there.


    The Gu siblings greeted everyone, including Gu Qiao. However, Gu Ye ignored Wu Danggui and Nee Liu. She was amiable to people with kind intentions, but she¡¯d remember who bullied her and find a chance for revenge.


    ¡° Big brother.¡± Gu Qiao carried Xiao Zhuang. He rubbed his bleary eyes. Seeing the basket behind Gu Ming, he revealed a ttering smile. ¡°Mother said the items in your basket could be sold for a lot of money. Big brother, I want sugar cakes as well as tasty pancakes. I want meat too...¡±


    Gu Ming¡¯s gaze swept over Nee Liu. He smiled at Xiao Zhuang and said, ¡°Have Seventh Uncle and Seventh Aunt buy you sugar cakes if you want. You¡¯re his only son. He¡¯d do anything for you.¡±


    ¡°I want you to buy it! My mother said that you and that cheap woman are both ungrateful people! You won¡¯t spend your money on your father, yet you use it to raise an old fart...¡± Xiao Zhuang mimicked Nee Liu¡¯s arrogance and haughtiness, his mouth full of insults.


    Gu Qiao¡¯s face flushed as he met the vigers¡¯ disdainful gazes. He hurriedly covered his son¡¯s mouth and yelled at Nee Liu. ¡°Look at you! Look what you¡¯ve taught our son. I¡¯m going to teaChapter you a lesson when we go hometer!¡±


    The past days have been miserable for Gu Qiao. Whenever Nee Liu did something he didn¡¯t like, Gu Qiao would hit her. She was afraid of his beating, so she shrunk back when she heard his words and stayed mute.


    ¡°Like mother like son! Be careful. What goes around wille around. Everyone will be old one day. I wonder if you guys will be ¡®old farts¡¯ one day.¡± Gu Ye said with a cold expression and looked sternly and icily at Nee Liu.


    What could a child know? The adults must¡¯ve taught him. Nee Liu had been restless these days. She must¡¯ve insulted them behind their backs frequently.


    Gu Qiao¡¯s heart felt heavy upon hearing the words. He had offended his old son. There was no turning back. He couldn¡¯t let his younger son be ruined in the hands of a woman. He decided that he¡¯d teaChapter his younger son once they returned from the town.


    The group set off while the sky was still hazy outside. Gu Mo watched as the basket would always touChapter her lower leg when she was walking, so he said, ¡°Little Ye¡¯er, give me your basket. You can carry mine.¡± His basket only contained a few empty sacks.


    Gu Ye shook her head and rejected the offer. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Ninth Uncle, I can carry it.¡±


    An elder within the vige also intervened, ¡°The journey there takes an entire two days. You¡¯re bound to run out of energy. How about this? We¡¯ll eaChapter carry a basket for you. You guys are still young. Don¡¯t hurt yourself.¡±


    These vigers had helped out the Gu Family when they were constructing their home. They had a pretty good impression on the generous and frank Gu Xiao, so they were all willing to help.


    The siblings didn¡¯t reject the vigers¡¯ enthusiasm. They gratefully divided the sack of medicinal ingredients in the baskets into two sacks, and ced them in separate baskets. That way, it made it muChapter easier when they traveled.


    Just like this, the siblings followed the group and spent the day walking on the mountain roads. They barely reached the tall walls and courtyard before dark.


    The wall in this courtyard was at least two meters tall. There was a thatched hut with five rooms inside. Besides this, the shed was vulnerable to the wind. Whether it be adults or children, they eaChapter had to pay one-fifth of a tael to stay the night. There was a huge kang within the hut. If they wanted to sleep inside, they needed to pay another tael. Children under five could sleep inside for free.


    A tael was the same as a day¡¯s worth of meal money for ordinary families. Despite the wintertime, there weren¡¯t many willing to sleep inside the room.


    The vigers from Qingshan Mountain hugged their clothes tightly and squeezed in a corner of the shed. They nned on getting by the night like this. Gu mo and his partner didn¡¯t want their daughter to freeze outside, so they paid ten copper coins to the proprietor, disregarding their daughter¡¯s protest.


    ¡°Mother, you and Sister Li should go inside. I can squeeze in with Ninth Uncle and Ninth Aunt.¡± Gu Ming watched as his sister countered twenty copper coins. He stopped her, feeling sorry. Ten copper coins was enough to buy five pancakes and half a pound of meat.


    Gu Ye wore a stern look and said unhappily, ¡°I won¡¯t go in if you don¡¯t! We can just save ten copper coins and buy more food!¡±


    His sister had just recovered a bit. Gu Ming didn¡¯t want her to suffer with him either. He would never forgive himself if she froze in the cold. He tried to persuade her, but his sister was stubborn and refused to rest inside by herself.


    ¡°Are you guysing in or not? If not, I¡¯m closing the door for the night.¡± The owner yawned and said to the siblings.


    The Ninth Aunt advised Gu Ming, ¡°Gu Ming, just go inside with your sister. Your Ninth Uncle and I are worried that the girls are just inside alone. You can take care of them. If you don¡¯t want to spend that muChapter money, I can pay half.¡±


    Gu Ming obviously wouldn¡¯t let the Ninth Uncle and Ninth Aunt pay for her. He hurried out of the shed.


    The moment the siblings paid and were about to enter the room, a voice stopped them. ¡°Ming¡¯er...¡±


    Gu Ming looked over to meet Gu Qiao¡¯s embarrassed gaze. He stuttered, ¡°Your brother is young, so he doesn¡¯t need to pay. Can you look after him for me?¡±


    The entire way here, vigers that weren¡¯t rted to them by blood all offered to help the siblings. However, their father did nothing for them. Despite him carrying his youngest son, he could still ask about their well-being. Even though he knew Gu Ming had given up on him, he still felt heartbroken. He had no idea how to make a request without feeling embarrassed now.


    But Xiao Zhuang was Gu Ming¡¯s brother after all. He couldn¡¯t really reject the request. He quietly held the little boy¡¯s chubby hands and walked inside.

 Chapter 130 – Caution is Everything

    <h4>Chapter 130 ¨C Caution is Everything</h4>


    ¡°Xiao Zhuang, listen to your brother and sister okay? Don¡¯t cause trouble for them. I¡¯ll buy you sugar cakes once we reaChapter the town tomorrow.¡± Gu Qiao was afraid that his youngest son might say something to provoke the Gu siblings, so he hurriedly coax him for now.


    Gu Ming¡¯s gaze dimmed. His father only revealed his fatherly love to his youngest son. Were he and his sister not his children?


    It might be because it was an unfamiliar environment and Xiao Zhuang didn¡¯t have his parents or that Gu Qiao¡¯s promise took effect, he allowed his big brother to hold his hands and behaved as they walked inside the room. Gu Li¡¯er held Gu Ye¡¯s hands and the two followed.


    They entered to see a huge kang that took over the entire room. There were already seven to eight people on the bed, either lying or sitting. They were chatting softly with their friends or family. They faintly nced at the door, seeing the door opening before shifting their gazes. Many families living in the mountain were all poverty-stricken. They didn¡¯t want to sleep on the kang, instead saving money to let their children sleep here. It was amon urrence.


    Gu Ming picked a side against the wall. Though he may be young, he was quite considerate. Gu Li¡¯er was about thirteen. Gu Ming wanted her to sleep on the side leaning against the wall. Gu Ye was next to her and Xiao Zhuang slept between the siblings.


    An elderly woman was beside Gu Ming. The woman watched him consider his sisters before him. She opened her mouth to reveal her missing teeth as she praised, ¡°You are a considerate young man. Are you engaged yet? If not, I can help you look for a woman.¡±


    Gu Li¡¯er and Gu Ye¡¯s shoulders trembled fromughter. Gu Ming¡¯s face flushed. Ever since they went to Gu Xiao¡¯s home, they had a better diet. They had lots of grains and would even have beef stew at times. This twelve years old man grew taller as a result. Even more, because he practiced his martial arts every morning, he had be muChapter sturdier too. He seemed to be older than his actual age. People within the mountains usually start talking about marriage at an earlier age. There were many who got married when they were only fifteen or sixteen. No wonder the elderly woman wanted to matchmake him.


    After finding out Gu Ming¡¯s actual age, the elderly woman thought it was a little unfortunate. However, she replied, ¡°It¡¯s ok. I will be able to matchmake you in about two years. WhiChapter vige do you live in? I can keep an eye for you...¡±


    Gu Ye watched her brother¡¯s face turn red to the point it was warm enough to boil an egg. She hurriedly helped him out, ¡°Granny, you¡¯re a great person! We¡¯re from the Qingshan Vige. There are three thatched rooms that have just been constructed...¡±


    The granny stopped talking about matchmaking when she heard about Qingshan Vige. That vige was deep within the mountains and known for its poverty. People were poor to the point they could only afford one coat for the family during winter. It was for whoever got off the kang. The others had to stay on there. There were also many families that couldn¡¯t afford food. Apparently, some vigers were mothers reaching their old ages, yet they¡¯ve barely been to the town. Who would want to marry their daughter to the mountains to suffer?


    Afraid that Gu Ye will press about matchmaking, the granny yawned and turned around, pretending to be asleep. Gu Ming finally sighed in relief and took out a pile of scallion pancakes from her basket. She walked to the kang and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to warm the pancakes up and then ask the owner for some warm water.¡±


    The scallion pancakes were baked withrd. Although Gu Ye¡¯s culinary skills were alright, she was still able to make delicious scallion pancakes. The two sides were golden and it emitted a delicious fragrance. Thankfully, it was all adults in the room. They sniffed the air and swallowed their salivas quietly before closing their eyes to pretend to sleep.


    Xiao Zhuang was getting drowsy lying on the warm kang when he sniffed the savory fragrance of the scallion pancakes from the air. He immediately woke up and made a fuss about eating pancakes.


    Gu Ming ripped a piece of the pancake and shoved it in Xiao Zhuang¡¯s hands. Then, he gave his sister and Gu Li¡¯er eaChapter a pancake. Gu Li¡¯er refused and said that she had her own food. Gu Ming knew that his Ninth Uncle only brought dry coarse grains, so he said, ¡°You can eat our pancakes. There won¡¯t be warm pancakes tomorrow afternoon anymore. We¡¯re more likely to get stomaChapter pains if we eat cold food. You can eat our pancakes tonight and tomorrow, we¡¯ll eat the coarse grains you brought. Sister Li¡¯er, our two families are close friends. We don¡¯t need to be so formal.¡±


    Gu Li¡¯er heard this and recalled how Gu Ming would always share whatever his family obtained like wild boar meat, pastries, and even the tiger meat from a few days ago...It was all because her parents had helped the siblings when life was hard for them. However, her family couldn¡¯t keep taking advantage of them.


    While hesitating, a pancake was shoved in her hands. She looked up to see Little Ye¡¯er pouting and widening her eyes, threatening, ¡°Sister Li, if you refuse, then that means you don¡¯t view me as your sister!¡±


    Seeing that there was no way out and the fragrance of the pancake was too appealing, Gu Li¡¯er finally received the scallion pancake and took small bites. Theyers of the scallion pancakes were clear and distinct, tasty and crispy. She thought it tasted better than the pancakes in town.


    Gu Ye bakedrge pancakes, so eating one was enough. Xiao Zhuang ate half a pancake and was full. Heid on the kang and fell into a deep slumber. He curled his legs up and extended his arms like a toad. Although he fell asleep, he clutched a corner of a scallion pancake in his chubby hands.


    Gu Ming wet the handkerchief and then wiped the boy¡¯s hands before calling him up and feeding him some water. He made him use the bathroom before coaxing the boy back to sleep. The granny saw how attentive he was in taking care of his brother and praised him while feeling unfortunate at the same time. If only he wasn¡¯t from the Qingshan Vige.


    The night was silent. Gu Ye was woken up by his brother the next morning. She was deep asleep as she carried dozens of pounds of medicine and walked the day. She rinsed her mouth with warm water before eating another scallion pancake. The siblings then followed the vigers on the journey.


    They walked for another day, all letting out a sigh of relief as they saw the town¡¯s silhouette during twilight. They quickened their tired paces.


    The sky turned dark after they entered town. The vigers within Qingshan Vige all walked towards the familiar tavern. It was time for them to rest after traveling for two days.


    Gu Ye stopped her brother who wanted to follow them. She told Gu Mo, ¡°Ninth Uncle, we¡¯re going to bring the medicine to Landlord Ding first. We¡¯ll catChapter upter.¡±


    The tavern¡¯s condition was about the same asst night. Gu Ye didn¡¯t want to squeeze on a kang with arge group of people and listen to the elderlies snoring. The inn that she stayed in with her grandfather when she went to the townst time was pretty nice. It was clean andfortable.


    Gu Mo knew the kids had their own ns so he reminded them, ¡°Be careful. Ignore strangers who want to talk to you. There are many beggars now that we¡¯re approaching the end of the year. Especially Little Ye¡¯er. They like beautiful girls ike you.¡±


    From Gu Mo¡¯s impression, Gu Ye was braver than adults. She wasn¡¯t scared of going to the wild boar valley by herself and she even carried the tiger back alone. Last time as well. She climbed the tall cliff by herself. She would¡¯ve been seriously injured if not for a master¡¯s help. He specifically reminded her because he was scared the girl might cause trouble in town.


    ¡°Understood, Ninth Uncle. I will follow my brother closely and I won¡¯t run around.¡± Kidnappers? Apparently, they would use knockout drops to knock out children. Heh! Speaking of medicine, she was the master of the master. She wondered who would actually be knocked out.


    After bidding farewell to her Ninth uncle, the siblings carried the baskets full of medicinal ingredients and walked on the dim street shoulder to shoulder. Gu Ming asked, ¡°Sister, where¡¯s Landlord Ding¡¯s family?¡±


    ¡°Eh? I forgot to ask. What do we do?¡± Gu Ye was confused.


    It was rare to see his sister being muddle-headed. Gu Ming patted her head and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Landlord Ding from a well-known riChapter family within the town. We should be able to just ask around.¡±


    He then looked around and held his sister¡¯s hands, saying, ¡°You must be hungry. There¡¯s a store selling wontons there. Let¡¯s fill our stomachs first.¡±


    ¡°Uncle, two bowls of wontons please!¡± Gu Ming helped put his sister¡¯s basket of medicinal ingredients down first before his. The siblings sat on the crude long wooden bench, waiting for theirte dinner.


    The owners were a couple in their thirties. One made the wontons while the other ced them in the pot. Quickly, the wontons were ready.


    ¡°Two bowls of wontons with meat fillings are ready!¡± The uncle selling wontons carried a coarse bowl of wontons, one in eaChapter hand and the size bigger than Gu Ye¡¯s head. He ced it in front of the siblings, saying, ¡°This is the marinated appetizer my partner made. We¡¯re about to close the store for the night so you guys can try this for free.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Gu Ming smiled sincerely and politely thanked him.


    The round-faced aunt came out with a small dish of marinated carrots and ced it in front of Gu Ye. It was gettingte and barely anyone was on the streets. She sat down and chatted with the siblings. ncing at the bamboo basket with ayer of hay on top of it, she smiled. ¡°You guys are from the mountain right? There¡¯s still items to be sold at this time?¡±


    Although Gu Ming wasn¡¯t that old, he still stayed on alert. He swallowed the wontons and nodded. ¡°We collected wild herbs during fall and dried them into dried vegetables. We n on exchanging this for a few pounds of flour to be used for making dumplings at the end of the year.¡±


    ¡°Oh...dried vegetables? You can sell them to riChapter families in town. Besides carrots, Chinese cabbages, and potatoes, there aren¡¯t many vegetables the families could eat in winter. The wild herbs from the mountain will be a fresh experience.¡± The round-face aunt continued to ask, ¡°It¡¯s just you two? Where are the adults?¡±


    ¡°My parents went to find some ce to stay. This is my sister¡¯s first time out and she never had wontons before. My father wanted me to bring her here to try out the wontons.¡± Saying this, Gu Ming ced a few more wontons in his sister¡¯s bowl, acting like a role model brother.


    Gu Ye was enjoying her brother¡¯s nonsense. But when she lowered her head, she saw a few extra wontons in her bowls. She hurriedly covered the top and eximed, ¡°Enough! It¡¯s enough! There are lots of wontons. I can¡¯t finish that much.¡±


    The uncle revealed a sincere smile hearing this. ¡°We make sure to give enough wontons for our customers. We can even fill a sturdy man¡¯s stomach. Kid, your sister is still young. Don¡¯t make her eat too much.¡±


    True, the filling was abundant within the wontons and there were at least thirty or so wontons within the bowl. Gu Ye barely managed to eat twenty. She couldn¡¯t eat anymore. Gu Ming finished his and as well as the leftovers from his sister¡¯s bowl.

 Chapter 131 – Acting Like A Snob

    <h4>Chapter 131 ¨C Acting Like A Snob</h4>


    ¡°Uncle, do you know the directions to Landlord Ding¡¯s house?¡± Gu Ming paid and carried his heavy bamboo basket, looking back to ask the uncle selling wontons.


    The round-faced aunt cleaned up the tables and asked, ¡°Why are you asking? If you¡¯re nning to sell dried vegetables to him, then don¡¯t bother. They won¡¯t open the door for you at this time. You and your father should find a ce to rest for the night and ask again tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Someone from our vige works in the Ding Family. His family wants us to deliver a message and it sounded quite urgent.¡± Gu Ming made up a story, lying as if it was her second nature.


    ¡°Oh...I see!¡± The round-face aunt pointed at the end of the street and said, ¡°Walk that way. The biggest house within the southern courtyard is their house. You guys should knock on the little door by the alley. Their servants always enter from that door.¡±


    ¡°Ok, thank you auntie and uncle!¡± Gu Ming thanked them and then pulled his sister up, walking in the direction they were guided in by the owners. Not longter, they encountered a hurried pedestriatian. He politely stopped them and confirmed the Ding Family¡¯s direction. He then rxed after he was sure they were heading the right way.


    Gu Ye found thisughable. ¡°Brother, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being too cautious? The round-faced aunt doesn¡¯t even seem like a bad person.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s always good to be cautious. You can¡¯t distinguish a viin by their appearance. Especially since we aren¡¯t adults. We need to pay more attention.¡± Gu Ming said with a straight face and reminded solemnly, ¡°Especially beautiful youngdies like you. You attract lots of kidnappers. Remember to not trust strangers easily, ok?¡±


    Gu Ye was afraid that her brother would continue to nag her so she hurriedly nodded. Today, her Ninth Uncle and her elder brother had both praised her as a ¡°pretty youngdy.¡± Gu Ye touched her chubby face and covered her mouth,ughing. ¡°Am I really beautiful? Da Zhuang said I used to look like a ghost and I could scare people to death with my appearance.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to his rubbish. Nothing good everes from him. My sister is the most beautifuldy within the Qingshan Vige!¡± Gu Ming said this sincerely.


    In the past, Nee Liu and his heartless woman wouldn¡¯t feed his sister, so she would frequently get sick as a result. She also lost a lot of weight. Later on, they got to live with their grandfather. They rarely had coarse grains anymore and even more, they had three meals a day. They would also go hunting to try something fresh. His sister recuperated and she also gained some weight. If her facial features got chubbier, she¡¯d be more beautiful than the fairy from the New Year picture.


    ¡°Will I be more beautiful than Yinggu?¡± Yinggu was the third grandmother¡¯s daughter and known as the belle within the vige. A family from the vige suburbs had taken one look at her and had taken a fancy to her. The two families were busy talking about their engagement!


    Gu Ming nodded firmly. ¡°When you grow up to be Yinggu¡¯s age, you¡¯d be more beautiful than her. You need to eat more, eat more meat. You can¡¯t be picky, ok?¡±


    Gu Ming only found out about Gu Ye¡¯s pickiness slowly. There would be a fishy smell if the wild animals weren¡¯t cooked properly. To some people, they only ate meat on a rare asion. Therefore, they would ignore the faint fishy smell. But for Gu Ye, her acute senses erged the fishy scent in her mouth. She couldn¡¯t eat it no matter what. Gu Ming worried helplessly. Haa. If only there was a woman in the family that could cook and manage the family!


    While talking, the siblings arrived at the Ding Family. True, it was easy to recognize the ce. Besides the big courtyard, there was also a horizontal inscribed board with the word ¡°Ding¡± engraved.


    Gu Ming knocked on the door softly. An unhappy voice rang, ¡°Who is it? Why are you knocking at suChapter ate time?¡± Then there was a series of hurried footsteps.


    The door creaked open. A servant in about his twenties furrowed his brows and peeked out impatiently from the door. He casually nced at Gu Ming before asking sternly, ¡°Brat, do you know where you are? Why are you knocking on the door if you don¡¯t need anything? Shoo, shoo! This isn¡¯t some ce you can y at.¡±


    ¡°How do you know we don¡¯t need anything? Like you said, why would anyone knock on your door in the middle of the night instead of sleeping if they don¡¯t need anything?¡± Gu Ming knew his sister was worried Landlord Ding would run out of medicine, so she came straight here after entering the town without even taking a break in between. Yet, she was mistreated instead. This made him a bit angry.


    ¡°Woah! Boy, quite the attitude you have there huh?¡± The servant looked at the basket behind Gu Ming¡¯s back and said impatiently, ¡°Here to sell items? Look at your wretched self. Nothing good could be sold from you. Our Ding Family doesn¡¯tck anything. Leave already. Keep staying here and this Laozi beat you up!¡± (T/N = Laozi is a way of referring to yourself. It literally means ¡®your father.¡¯)


    ¡°Who are you calling ¡®Laozi?¡¯¡± Gu Ye had the urge to beat someone up. ¡°You¡¯re just a guard dog within the Ding Family. What¡¯s there to act arrogant about? What? You performed CPR on your Lord and now you¡¯re his benefactor? You can be condescending?¡±


    That¡¯s right. This servant who was guarding the door was the unlucky man who was following the Landlord Ding when he rpsed. He had to perform emergency treatment and did CPR on his Lord.


    ¡°Who are you calling a guard dog?¡± The servant¡¯s eyes were zing. He lifted his right hand and was about to p Gu Ye when he saw her appearance. As if someone had pressed his pause button, he stayed frozen.


    Gu Ming hurriedly got in front of Gu Ye. He refused to let the servant hurt his sister. Even if he couldn¡¯t stop the p, he¡¯d make sure his sister wouldn¡¯t get hit from it.


    Who knew that servant seemed to be possessed. The hand he lifted ended up pping his own face several times. His arrogant expression had now changed to a smile. He looked at him...at his sister and said tteringly, ¡°Ah! Look at my blind self. I almost failed to recognize the divine physician! I¡¯ve been wishing for the stars and moon and you¡¯re finally here!¡±


    ¡°Wishing for me toe? For what? To be scolded by you?¡± Under the bright moonlight, Gu Ye¡¯s face appeared frost. Her pair of clear and bright eyes seemed to have a cold yet determined glow. Her small body was eluding a terrifying awe. This was Gu Ming¡¯s first time seeing this side of his sister. He froze for a moment.


    The servant saw the divine physician bing mad and hurriedly kneeled in front of Gu Ye with a thump. In a crying tone, ¡°Divine physician, it¡¯s my fault. It¡¯s my fault for being blind and offending you and this young master. This servant will kowtow you. Please show mercy and let me go this time...¡±


    Saying this, his head banged against the steps. He found out that his Lord took the divine physician¡¯s medicine and actually recovered when his condition sentenced him to death. He didn¡¯t even feel bad after walking a few times around the perimeter of the courtyard. In the past, his Lord¡¯s chest would ache in pain just from taking a few steps or even talking loudly.


    The eldest master listened to the divine physician¡¯s advice and made sure his father leaned towards a more vegetarian diet. He also made sure the Lord persisted on exercising and taking medicine on time. He stopped feeling chest pain and shortness of breath. He also became more energetic.


    The medicine that the divine physician had given them was enough tost them for a month. But five days ago, the Lord¡¯s sister hade to visit her brother and noticed this ¡®miracle medicine.¡¯ She snatched two bottles of it from the Lord as her great aunt also had heart problems. It just wasn¡¯t as serious as the Lord¡¯s.


    After giving the great aunt two bottles, the Lord and the young master¡¯s medicine was barely enough tost them these few days. Afraid that the gatekeeper might not recognize the divine physician, the young master specifically moved the current gatekeeper here. He wanted to make sure the divine physician was treated correctly.


    If the Lord and the young master found out he offended the divine physician, he was dead met! Therefore, kowtowing was necessary. He was hoping that the divine physician would forgive him seeing how sincere he was in acknowledging his mistake.


    ¡°You offended my brother, Even if you are to apologize, you should apologize to him.¡± Looking down on her brother was worse than looking down on her. She had been enduring her anger to kick him as she listened to the servant boasting and showing off in front of her brother. She didn¡¯t even bear to yell at her brother. How could she allow a servant to be presumptuous to him?


    The servant heard this and changed his direction. He started kowtowing at Gu Ming. ¡°Young master, this servant has offended you. You can beat and scold me as you wish. This servant is just begging you to put in some good words in front of the divine physician...¡±


    Gu Ming¡¯s heart softened seeing the bruise on the servant¡¯s forehead and his sincerity. ¡°He¡¯s only acting like a snob because of who he looks for. It¡¯s not like he hadmitted an unforgivable mistake. Let him go this time.¡±


    The servant looked pitiful at Gu Ye like a criminal waiting for his sentence. Gu Ye saw that he had received his punishment so she sneered, ¡°Since my brother has pleaded for you, I¡¯ll let you go this time.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks to the divine physician! Many thanks to the young master for putting in good words for me!¡± The servant sighed in relief. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t anger the divine physician into leaving. Otherwise...he wouldn¡¯t be able to endure the consequences.


    ¡°Is Eldest Master Ding at home?¡± Gu Ye looked at the sky and wrinkled her brows slightly. She was tired from traveling during the day. She wanted to give him the medicine and then find a tavern to rest with her brother for the night.


    ¡°Yes, yes!¡± The servant got to his feet and answered hurriedly, looking down.


    He urged the silent and fearful gatekeeper, ¡°What are you standing there for? Hurry and invite the eldest master over!¡±


    ¡°Please follow this servant into the guest lounge to drink some tea and warm up.¡± The servant¡¯s attitude was even better than the service seen at a five-star hotel. ¡°Divine physician, please ce the basket down. This servant will carry it for you!¡±


    Gu Ye didn¡¯t bother to be polite either. She ced the basket full of medicinal ingredients on the ground. The servant bent over to carry the basket. He stood up but the basket remained unmoved and it almost cracked his waist.


    So heavy! It was at least 170-180lbs. The divine physician looked quite small, yet she was very strong. It felt like there was no weight to the basket when she was carrying it. The servant¡¯s face turned red and exerted all his strength, finally carrying the basket. He stumbled on his steps as he guided the Gu siblings in front.


    The siblings entered the drawing room. The servant ced the basket down and then ordered a maid to bring over tea and snacks and then had his wife bring over a fire pan. He was really considerate.


    Before they even finished half a cup of tea, Gu Ye heard a series of rushed footsteps outside. It got closer and closer, quickly reaching the drawing room.

 Chapter 132 – Magnificent Hospitality

    <h4>Chapter 132 ¨C Magnificent Hospitality</h4>


    ¡°Divine physician, you finally graced us with your presence! I¡¯m going to run out of medicine if you don¡¯te. You came in time!¡± Master Ding seemed like an orphan who had just met his family for the first time when he saw Gu Ye. Tears warmed his eyes and he wore a grateful expression. If Gu Ming hadn¡¯t stopped him, he would¡¯ve hugged Gu Ye!


    Gu Ye¡¯s gaze was on him momentarily before she smiled faintly. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in half a month or so and you seem to be in a muChapter better state.¡± After controlling his diet and exercising some more, Master Ding had be muChapter skinnier. His eyes also appeared to be bigger and he appeared happier. Not bad.


    Master Ding also smiled, praising, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you! I strictly followed the diet and training you nned out for me. I also took my medicine on time. My heart stopped thumping rapidly now and I don¡¯t feel out of breath.¡±


    ¡°Good! But you still need to take the medicine. You also need to maintain a good diet and keep exercising. That way, you won¡¯t need to worry about your condition worsening. Also, be mindful of your emotions and make sure not to overwhelm yourself.¡± With the current conditions, it was a luxury to do surgery. Gu Ye needed to slowly relieve Master Ding¡¯s illness.


    ¡°Yes, I will make sure to listen to your advice.¡± Master Ding rubbed his hands together and continued, ¡°My father has been thinking about you. He wants to personally thank you. If it weren¡¯t that he had just fallen asleep, I would have supported him over to thank you. If it seems like we¡¯ve neglected you, please be understanding and forgiving!¡±


    ¡°His Lord is too polite! The physician¡¯s heart is with its people. I believe that any physician, as long as there¡¯s a glimpse of hope, they won¡¯t give up on their patients. I¡¯m just following the morals of a physician.¡± Gu Ye was familiar with pleasantries. In her past life, someone had substituted for as she was toozy to go to dinner parties.


    Gu Ming held the cup of tea in his hands and looked surprisingly at his sister. Could learning medicine change a person¡¯s personality? His originally fearful and timid sister had be confident and determined now. He was grateful for Grandfather Zheng from the bottom of his heart and he was willing to see his sister¡¯s changes.


    ¡°You have the demeanor of a divine physician.¡± Master Ding paused before saying, ¡°You might¡¯ve heard but a lot of our Ding Family members have heart problems. My great aunt has the same symptoms as me, a bit more serious than mine however. Can you give us more medicine this time?¡±


    The Instant Heart-reliever Pills were made from herself as well as her master, the sage apothecary. Though they imed the manufacturing was for practice, eaChapter bottle of medicine had reached its appropriate effect. The effect just couldn¡¯t bepared to hers.


    This time, she brought ten bottles of medicine she personally manufactured. She nned to give them to the Ding father and son. But now that the great aunt was involved, the bottles were far from enough. Thankfully, Master Ding and his great aunt¡¯s conditions weren¡¯t that serious. They could just take her master¡¯s medicine to control their condition.


    The sage apothecary was like a child. After he learned how to manufacture the Instant Heart-reliever Pills, he wanted to make more and manufactured another twenty bottles in one go. She had kept them all in her storage.


    Master Ding was delighted to hear the divine physician had brought thirty bottles this time. He hurriedly ordered the servants to bring over banknotes from the ounting room, afraid that Gu Ye might change her mind.


    ¡°Divine physician, is it still the same price asst time?¡± Master Ding took two sheets of banknotes from the thick pile when he suddenly thought of something. He paused and asked weakly.


    Gu Ye felt a bit guilty recalling that twenty bottles were his master¡¯s product. She coughed and retorted, ¡°What? You think it¡¯s too expensive?¡±


    ¡°No, no!¡± He had given Jimin Pharmacy¡¯s owner and the shopkeeper a look at the medicine the divine physician had given himst time. They all said that suChapter exquisite medicine was above the levels of a grand apothecary already. Even Baili Apothecary might not be able to manufacture it. Baili Apothecary¡¯s pills were extremely hard to obtain. It might be fifty silver taels a bottle right now but even if it was five hundred silver taels a bottle, people would still be fighting to buy it!


    Thinking that they still need to look up to the divine physician for their illness, Master Ding hurriedly exined himself, ¡°Divine physician, your medicine is a miracle. I¡¯m just afraid you¡¯re selling them for less than what¡¯s worth.¡±


    ¡°Heh. It¡¯s my first time seeing someone say the items are being sold too cheaply. Master Ding, you¡¯re interesting.¡± Gu Ye knew that she should be storing the valuable medicine for her own good. No matter how expensive she sold the medicine for, she didn¡¯t need to worry about losing customers. After all, the medicine proved its effectiveness. However, she didn¡¯t want their customers to be bankrupt in one go. Economy could get her a long way.


    ¡°Master Ding, with the current technology, it¡¯s extremely difficult to cure you and your father¡¯s illness fully. Therefore, you guys will need to take my medicine for a long time. If I set the price high, then your family will be bankrupt no matter how riChapter you guys are. Still the same saying. Physicians¡¯ hearts are with their people. I don¡¯t want you guys to be tortured by your illness. That¡¯s why I only made you guys pay the regr price...¡± Gu Ye made herself sound dignified.


    Master Ding felt incredibly gratified. No wonder the divine physician wore suChapter a simple outfit. She dressed up like a viger girl. As it turned out, she did so to treat more people¡¯s illnesses and didn¡¯t want to earn more than she should from them. How could he not be touched by her selfless personality?


    ¡°Divine physician...¡± Master Ding choked, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry for us. We have a few stores in town as well as several farmsteads in the suburbs. We have more than enough to pay for the medicine. The shopkeeper from Jimin Pharmacy had said it¡¯s even reasonable to sell it for two to three hundred silver taels a bottle. How about...I pay a hundred silver taels a bottle?¡±


    Woah! She didn¡¯t expect she could make so muChapter money from manufacturing medicine. In her past life, she made about ten copper coins per bottle, but here, she could sell them for hundreds of silver taels a bottle! Gu Ye silently gulped.


    Although she loved money, she had her principles. Since she already decided on a price with Master Ding, she wouldn¡¯t change them. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can pay ording to the price we decided on earlier. Fifty silver taels a bottle!¡±


    Master Ding suddenly thought this skinny and small figure had be mighty and dignified. She was a divine physician for a reason! Her medical ethics couldn¡¯t bepared to the apothecaries!


    He countered a thousand silver worth of banknotes and then handed them to Gu Ye in both hands. Master Ding asked respectfully, ¡°Divine physician, when is the next time you¡¯reing to town? That way, I can tell the servants to prepare for your arrival.¡±


    ¡°The medicine canst you for three months. If the weather permits during this time period, I¡¯ll bring you more bottles. It¡¯s gettingte. Master Ding, you should rest soon. My brother and I are leaving.¡± Gu Ye epted the banknotes. The banknotes here belonged to her master as he manufactured the medicine. She wouldn¡¯t take the reward for hisbor.


    Master Ding rushed, ¡°Divine physician, please hold up. I¡¯ve already ordered the servant to clean out the guest rooms. If you guys don¡¯t mind, please spend the night here.¡±


    Gu Ye was really tired so she didn¡¯t bother with the pleasantries. She nodded, ¡°Sorry for the bother then.¡±


    The Ding Family was one of the richest families in town. Even the guest rooms would be muChapter morefortable than the rooms in the taverns. The nkets were all new. Gu Ye stretched her body as sheid on the thick nkets and fell into deep slumber quickly.


    Gu Ming slept in the room next to her. Afraid that his sister may not be used to it, he visited her before he went to sleep. When he came over, he saw Gu Ye tugging her lips and snoring lightly, sleeping soundly. Gu Ming went back to his room to sleep after checking the windows for his sister,


    The next morning, Gu Ye was still sleeping when Gu Ming knocked on her door. Normally, she didn¡¯t have the habit of sleeping in. It seemed like she was really tired the past few days. Plus, the Ding Family¡¯s nkets were soft and warm, so she identally overslept.


    By the time the siblings were done rinsing and washing up, Master Ding was already waiting outside for a while.


    Master Ding invited the siblings for breakfast. In the dining hall, Master Ding¡¯s parents, grandmother, and his siblings all waited curiously.They all heard of the divine physician¡¯s name and admired her for saving the head of the Ding Family. They all wanted to see the physician who led the physicians within Jimin Pharmacy to sigh and feel bad about their skills.


    Although they knew the divine physician was a young female physician due to Master Ding, they were still shocked when they saw her in person. They didn¡¯t expect her to be so young. Was she even ten? She seemed like a child!


    But when she opened her mouth, everyone was convinced as she spit out the professional medical terms and the jargon. Even the elderly physician who diagnosed Lord Ding in the past might not even have as muChapter medical knowledge as her. Age is no factor in ambition!


    ¡°Divine physician, you must¡¯ve learned medicine at a very young age.¡± Master Ding¡¯s youngest sister, about twelve or thirteen, asked delicately.


    ¡°I only learned to manufacture medicine with my master this year.¡± Gu Ye didn¡¯t n on hiding anything. In front of absolute strength, everything else meant nothing.


    The youngest sister widened her eyes. ¡°Woah. You¡¯re so brazen. You¡¯ve learned medicine for less than a year and you dared to treat my father!¡±


    ¡°Sister!¡± Master Ding¡¯s expression changed upon hearing this, afraid that his sister¡¯s bluntness may have angered the divine physician. He hurriedly stopped her. Then, he fearfully apologized for his sister. ¡°Divine physician, my sister is ignorant. Please don¡¯t take offense.¡±


    Gu Ye swallowed the steamed dumpling before replying, ¡°Sister Ding is right. However, physicians should be brazen and meticulous. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m brazen but that my master is a good teacher! Even more, Lord Ding is lucky. My master just so happened to have taught me how to treat heart problems in an emergency. I also happened to have medicine that could treat him.¡±


    Madam Ding smiled. ¡°My Lord is very lucky to have encountered you. You¡¯re our lucky star. It¡¯s because of you that he survived! Speaking of, you¡¯re our family¡¯s benefactor! Our cook had made osmanthus cakes. It¡¯s her speciality! See if you like it.¡± Saying this, she looked warningly at her youngest daughter, warning her to watChapter her mouth.


    Old Madam Ding observed that the divine physician enjoyed sweets, so she also moved a tray of red bean pastries to her. ¡°Divine physician, this red bean pastry is sweet yet not greasy. It¡¯s crispy and delicious. Have some too. If we had encountered you a few years sooner, maybe my old man wouldn¡¯t have left so early...¡±

 Chapter 133 – First Visit to Jimin Pharmacy

    <h4>Chapter 133 ¨C First Visit to Jimin Pharmacy</h4>


    ¡°Grandmother, the divine physician, just started learning medicine with her master this year. A few years ago, she¡¯s just a child! Even if we encountered her then, there¡¯s nothing we could¡¯ve done.¡± Master Ding saw the sorrow in the Old Madam¡¯s eyes and exined.


    Old Madam Ding possessed magnanimity unique to her age. She smiled. ¡°I just thought of my old man and felt rueful. You guys need to listen to the divine physician¡¯s words. Especially you. You¡¯ll be given the family punishment if I find you straying from your diet n!¡±


    Her finger pointed towards the middle-aged Lord Ding. The family turned their gazes towards Landlord Ding who was silently reaching for the steamed dumpling with pure meat fillings.


    Landlord Ding froze and then his face flushed. He ced his chopsticks down embarrassed and sighed bitterly. ¡°Life is all about eating and drinking, having fun, and taking care of your needs. Foodes first. What¡¯s the point of living if I can¡¯t eat what I want? For the past half a month or so, all I¡¯ve been having is healthy food...¡±


    Old Madam Ding hit his head with the chopsticks. ¡°Unfilial! Is food more important than your mother? You want your mother to mourn for you? Then go ahead and eat as muChapter as you wish! At worst...at worst, I¡¯ll die with you and let my old man teaChapter you a lesson! Hmph. I think you miss being whipped by your father with a strap!¡±


    Landlord Ding was a bit naughty and mischievous when he was young, so he had been beaten by his father frequently. His father had even gone through a few straps. Later on, Landlord Ding slowly restrained himself and inherited the family business. The only thing he didn¡¯t change was his strong desire for great food. He enjoyed eating meat more than his father as if nothing was more important than that!


    Landlord Ding was a filial son. Hearing his mother¡¯s words, he hurriedly made an oath and promised that he wouldn¡¯t eat meat in the future, disregarding his reputation. It took a while to coax his mother.


    For her past two lives, Gu Ye had been desiring a lively and warm scene like the scene shopkeewithin the Lord Ding¡¯s family. She smiled faintly at the scene, wanting to keep this beautiful memory. Moved, she dictated a few prescriptions to treat coronary heart diseases for the Ding Family.


    One example included putting shelled peanuts and osmanthus into vinegar and soaking it for twenty-four hours. Then take fifteen pills every day after getting out of bed. Another example included washing the white fungus and edible fungus with warm water and then drying and cing them in a bowl. Add water and crystal sugars. Then steam it for an hour. Divide it into several portions for eating.


    The Ding Family trusted her fully. They persisted in taking these prescriptions every day. Paired with taking medicine, they also exercised whiChapter helped to alleviate the symptoms for coronary heart disease.


    She promised to bring medicine to the Ding Family again before the New Years. The siblings then bid farewell to the enthusiastic Old Madam Ding who urged them to stay. The siblings carried their bamboo baskets full of medicinal ingredients and headed to the Jimin Pharmacy.


    It was only a thirty minute walk to the end of the street within this nameless town. There were less than a hundred people in this town and also why Baicao Pharmacy didn¡¯t want to open a branChapter here.


    Jimin Pharmacy was at the end of the street, an inconspicuous shop front as well as the only pharmacy in this town. There was a diagnosing physician, a shopkeeper in charge of making up a prescription, and a shop assistant cleaning after the store. The two sides of the shop front were upied by rows of neat medicinal cabs.


    When the Gu siblings entered the store, there were no patients inside. The old physician sitting inside propped his head up with his arms as he snoozed. The shop assistant was diligently cleaning the medicinal cabs.


    He detected noise and turned to look at the siblings. Smiling, he asked, ¡°Are you two here for diagnosis or to grab a prescription?¡±


    ¡°May I ask where your Shopkeeper Fang¡± Gu Ye smiled back at their good attitude.


    ¡°Our shopkeeper is receiving noble guests right now. You guys can talk to me. It¡¯s the same.¡± The shop assistant looked at the bamboo basket on the siblings¡¯ backs, guessing their intention. He was familiar with the prices of selling herbs. There was no need to disturb the Shopkeeper Fang.


    Gu Ye softly shook her head. ¡°Your employer said that our herbs will be checked by the Shopkeeper Fang. You probably can¡¯t do anything about this.¡±


    The quality of the herbs within the bamboo baskets were muChapter better than the ones she soldst time. If the herbs fromst time were considered top-quality, then the herbs this time were definitely supreme quality. It was the peak of the top-quality. How could a shop assistant tell the difference?


    The shop assistant took another careful look at her. A small figure and an extremely skinny figure, with a pair of quick-witted eyes. Wasn¡¯t she the person that the shopkeeper and his employer told him to keep an eye on?


    The shop assistant felt anxious, afraid that he might¡¯ve mistreated the noble guests. He hurriedly smiled and said politely, ¡°Please have a seat. I¡¯m going to ask the Shopkeeper Fang toe over right now.¡± After that, he ran towards the backyard.


    The shop assistant knocked on the Shopkeeper Fang¡¯s door as he tried to catChapter his breath only to be scolded. ¡°Why are you running? What¡¯s with the rush? Didn¡¯t I tell you not to disturb us if there¡¯s nothing important?¡±


    The shopkeeper was researching the dapagliflozin he had brought from Gu Ye with the third Lord from Yan City¡ª Bai Jingxuan. He was unhappy to be cut off in the middle of a sentence.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Fang, thedy you wanted me to keep an eye on...had juste. She also came with two baskets full of herbs!¡± The shop assistant was also quick-witted. Before the shopkeeper took his anger out on him, he hurriedly exined the situation.


    Shopkeeper Fang and Bai Jingxuan looked at eaChapter other, revealing a delighted glow in their eyes. Smiling, ¡°Third Lord, we were just talking about thatdy and she¡¯s here!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! I¡¯lle with you to meet this suspected descendent of a sage apothecary!¡± Bai Jingxuan went into a pharmacy and researched the medicine he obtained from Shopkeeper Fang after he sent it to Yan City for several days and nights,pletely wrapped up in work.


    However, the sage apothecary had vanished for almost two decades. The medicine¡¯s manufacturing wasn¡¯t identical to the sage apothecary¡¯s methods. Therefore, they hadn¡¯t made any conclusions.


    Bai Jingxuan valued these medicinal ingredients and the apothecaries who knew how to concoct them even more. He heard from his two nephews that the apothecary was actually a ten years old girl. SuChapter a youngdy was that skilled? Could she really be the descendent of the sage apothecary?


    It didn¡¯t matter if their guesses were real or not but he felt the need to be on good terms with the girl. Even if she wasn¡¯t the sage apothecary¡¯s disciple, her talent destined her to be as good as Baili Apothecary a decade from now!


    They needed to use this opportunity wiself if they wanted the Jimin Pharmacy to surpass the pharmacies with long-established reputations. As a result, Bai Jingxuan didn¡¯t hesitate to lower his level to personally visit this remote and deste town.


    ¡°Lady Gu, you¡¯re finally here!¡± Shopkeeper Fang said the same exact words as Master Ding when he saw Gu Ye. He also appeared rather enthusiastic.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Fang, are you guys done selling the medicine I sold to youst time?¡± Gu Ye was a bit confused. SuChapter a small pharmacy would have great business? Her two baskets of medicine were at least 200-300 lbs. Did the townspeople take medicine like it was a normal thing to do?


    Shopkeeper Fang saw through her confusion. ¡°We obviously wouldn¡¯t be able to sell that muChapter medicine within the nameless town. But there are eight branches of Jimin Pharmacy just in the underlings of Guangyan City. Not to mention the other cities. Even more, your medicine is extremely effective.¡±


    Gu Ye nodded frankly. She pointed at the bamboo baskets next to her feet. ¡°The medicine this time has a better quality thanst time. Do you want to take a look?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it would be disrespectful to refuse. Third Lord, how about...we both take a look?¡± Shopkeeper Fang looked at Bai Jingxuan and motioned him over.


    Gu Ye had detected this refined man with an extraordinary temperament. So it turns out he was one of the owners of Jimin Pharmacy. He was ranked third within the Bai Family and the twins¡¯ third uncle! She had to admit that the Bai Family had good genes. Even if he was an uncle, he was still very handsome.


    Bai Jingxuan walked to the bamboo basket as Gu Ye observed him. He opened a bag of herbs. Inside was the licorice root she had concocted. It had been soaked by wine and cut into thin slices. It was scarlet yellow inside and outside. Truly a top-quality item.


    One could see how exquisite the apothecary¡¯s skills were. She was able to control the heat just perfectly. Her knife work was also good. EaChapter slice was even and well-cut. After many years of researching the sage apothecary¡¯s methods, Bai Jingxuan could tell that Gu Ye¡¯s licorice root cutting technique were definitely from the sage apothecary. However, there were some slight changes. The changes didn¡¯t change the nature of the medicine though.


    ¡°Not bad. The licorice root is a rare fine item within the top-quality items.¡± Bai Jingxuan sincerely praised. Gu Ye smiled at this.


    Bai Jingxuan and Shopkeeper Fang checked the other medicinal ingredients. Gu Ye had brought over eight types of medicinal ingredients. EaChapter one of them was quality good. Bai Jingxuan nced at the malnutritioneddy wearing a in outfit. He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Lady Gu, you concocted this yourself?¡±


    Gu Ye ced the cup used to warm her hands down and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. I manufactured them. Owner Bai, are you satisfied with the quality?¡±


    ¡°Yes, very!¡± Bai Jingxuan answered without hesitation. Even without the sage apothecary, Jimin Pharmacy wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain suChapter quality dapagliflozin.


    Only a few apothecaries that worked with the Jimin Pharmacy wereparable to the sage apothecary. Apothecaries who had reached this stage were all noble and arrogant. They decided on how muChapter medicine they wanted to manufacture every month. Jiming Pharmacy was also barely surviving amongst the pharmacies with a long-established reputation. They obviously desired good medicinal ingredients.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Fang, calcte the price of these medicinal ingredients. Count them as top-quality exquisite items.¡± Bai Jingxuan ordered. Shopkeeper Fang personally calcted the price with his people. The two baskets of herbs were muChapter more expensive than the four baskets fromst time. Gu Ye received an extra eighty-five silver taels.


    Though the silvers she obtained from selling herbs was nothingpared to the money she received from selling Instant Heart-reliever Pills, she did receive them due to hardbor. This was the new skill she learned sinceing to this world. This skill alone could help her be a millionaire.


    It was better if she stopped showing off her advanced manufacturing methods. After all, things could go wrong if she kept boasting. She didn¡¯t want to be seen as a monster and be hunted for her skills.


    ¡°Lady Gu, is it convenient for you to tell us who your master is?¡± Bai Jingxuan couldn¡¯t contain his urge and finally asked.

 Chapter 134 – Intention to Make Friends

    <h4>Chapter 134 ¨C Intention to Make Friends</h4>


    ¡°My master¡¯s surname is Zheng. He slipped and sprained his ankle when he was trying to pick herbs at the back mountain behind my house. I coincidentally encountered him as I went to pick wild herbs and brought him back home. In return, my master taught me how to concoct medicine. Maybe I was somewhat talented but he decided to officially take me in as his disciple.¡± Gu Ye exined.


    But her master had pretended he had a leg injury. She was still confused with his motives even now. Why did her master coincidentally appear on the same day she decided to go to the mountain? Even more, he tried to gain her sympathy by pretending to have a leg injury, pestering her to take him home. Taking her in as his disciple was also one-sided. She only decided to ept the offer to cover up her own concocting skills.


    But she learned a lot about concocting medicine from her master and it helped her understand the nature of medicine even more. When she entered the storage space to concoct an antidote and manufacture medicine, she noticed that her skills had clearly improved by another notChapter from her past life.


    Due to this, she stopped acting carelessly and concentrated on concoction with her master. Her master was right. If she didn¡¯t have a steady foundation, it would be hard for her to improve after reaching a certain degree of skills.


    Bai Jingxuan revealed an excited expression. Before the sage apothecary was addressed as that, everyone called him, ¡°Zheng Gong.¡± ¡°Zheng Gong Manufacture¡± guaranteed quality goods. Zheng Gong waster addressed as the sage apothecary and then people changed it to ¡°Sage Apothecary Manufacture.¡±


    He took a deep sigh and calmed down. He treated Gu Ye warmly and respectfully, ¡°Lady Gu, you must have some extraordinary talent whiChapter led you to be valued by the sage...Zheng Gong. I heard my two nephews say that you haven¡¯t learned medicine for long.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I barely learned for two months.¡± Gu Ye knew she had her past life¡¯s foundation so it would be easier for her to learn.


    But in Bai Jingxuan¡¯s eyes, she was more than talented to achieve the level of an apothecary when she barely learned medicine for two months. Even more, she was only ten years old! Even Baili Apothecary, who had learned medicine since he was a child, couldn¡¯t achieve the youngdy¡¯s level at this age.


    When the timees, this youngdy would be an unstoppable figure. She might even surpass her master! Though Bai Jingxuan was neutral-looking, he was overwhelmed with emotions. He must do everything he could to gain the youngdy¡¯s favorable impression and obtain the opportunity to get her exclusive medicine. When she became famous, Jimin Pharmacy would also make a name out of itself!


    ¡°Lady Gu, how muChapter of this medicinal ingredient could you make every month? Jimin Pharmacy will buy all of them. We¡¯ll also buy them at a higher price than now!¡± Bai Jingxuan said.


    Gu Ye wouldn¡¯t miss the opportunity to make money. She kept her head down and thought about it before giving a conseravative number. ¡°I manufactured all these ingredients within half a month. I weighed them earlier. It¡¯s 340lbs. I should be able to make 700lbs worth of medicine a month.¡±


    Bai Jingxuan was delighted. The two apothecaries that Jimin Pharmacy worshipped were unable to make that many medicinal ingredients even with theirbined efforts. This youngdy was too diligent.


    Gu Ye was still practicing endlessly. Besides essential needs, she spent most of her time on concocting medicine. It made sense why she had a bunChapter of dapagliflozin now. But even if she didn¡¯t need to practice as muChapter anymore, she wasn¡¯t worried about forgetting her skills. After all, she had a cheat device, her storage space! Time flew by muChapter faster there. She could provide a month¡¯s worth of goods by working two days in space.


    Bai Jingxuan empathized with her. Afraid that the future monarChapter of the apothecary world might be exhausted, he alleviated her workload. ¡°Why don¡¯t we sign an agreement? Lady Gu, you¡¯ll provide no less than 500lbs of goods for Jiming Pharmacy every month. We¡¯ll take in however muChapter you concocted for us. The price will be double the price of today, ok?¡±


    If that was the case, wouldn¡¯t she earn about 100 silver taels for two baskets of medicinal ingredients? Gu Ming, who had been silent, calcted the price and became speechless. They were able to make an ie of at least 200 silver taels from his sister concocting medicine alone! He was a bit moved, wanting to learn medicine with Grandfather Zheng too!


    Even if he wanted to learn medicine, the sage apothecary might not take him in as his disciple. Though diligence was important to learning medicine, talent was essential. He could be an apothecary after studying diligently for many years but it was going to be extremely difficult for him to be a grand apothecary. Be happy that two baskets of dapagliflozin could be sold for some silver taels.


    Bai Jingxuan wrote the agreement himself after Gu Ye nodded. She looked over it carefully before pointing at the agreement. ¡°Add a time limit to how long I will provide goods to you guys. Two years. If we¡¯re still pleased with eaChapter other two years from now, we can continue the agreement.¡±


    Bai Jingxuan was surprised with the girl¡¯s intelligence. She was only a ten years old young girl, yet she considered everything. No wonder the sage apothecary took her in as his disciple. He didn¡¯t have many expectations to be able to work with Lady Gu long-term. However, he believed that Jimin Pharmacy and Lady Gu¡¯s rtionship would be positive and stay that way in the next two years as long as they maintained it carefully.


    ¡°Lady Gu, do I have the pleasure to treat you guys out for lunch?¡± Bai Jingxuan asked politely.


    Gu Ye shook her head. ¡°We made ns with the elders in the vige to purchase New Year items today. I¡¯ll bother you next time.¡±


    ¡°Lady Gu, please stop.¡± Bai Jingxuan recalled Lady Gu saving the sage apothecary from her back mountain. Seeing how worn down her cotton-padded clothes were due to carrying the bamboo basket, he made a suggestion. He surmised that she lived in the mountains and the road from here to her home was far. To the skinny siblings, they would have to go through muChapter effort to carry the 300lbs of medicinal ingredients to the pharmacy.


    Whilst Gu Ye was shocked, Bai Jingxuan continued, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, you can let me know where you live. We can send people to pick up the medicinal ingredients to save you the trouble of carrying it all the way over.¡±


    Gu Ye thought about it before rejecting it. ¡°Our vige is deep in the mountains. It¡¯s very easy for people who aren¡¯t used to the road to get lost. We¡¯ll bring the medicinal ingredients over in the future.¡±


    ¡°Alright...¡± Bai Jingxuan thought she was just worried about revealing the sage apothecary¡¯s trace. He wouldn¡¯t force his suggestion on her. He ordered Shopkeeper Fang, ¡°Go and bring out the two mules.¡±


    Then he turned to Gu Ye. ¡°It¡¯s too muChapter work for you siblings to carry 500lbs of medicinal ingredients with your bare hands. We just happened to have two idle mules here. If you don¡¯t mind, you can take the mules.¡±


    Bai Jingxuan didn¡¯t gift them horses because mules were more practical when carrying a heavy burden and walking the mountain road. Plus, horses were more expensive. He was afraid Gu Ye wouldn¡¯t ept it.


    Gu Ye lifted her brows. Who would have mules just sitting around? Two mules at that? Owner Bai sucked ating up with excuses. But there were many opportunities for coboration so she wouldn¡¯t reject his kind intention.


    She led the mules and walked on the gradually lively street. Gu Ming had a lot of questions and he finally got to ask them now.


    ¡°Sister, when did you learn to write and read?¡± Before adoption, his sister worked all day long. She had no chance to learn how to read at her third uncle¡¯s family. He even taught her how to read her name. When they were signing an agreement earlier, his sister paid close attention to the content and pointed out the faults. Although her signature wasn¡¯t that legible, she signed her name correctly.


    Gu Ye rolled her eyes. ¡°I obviously learned from my master! Who else could¡¯ve taught me? Don¡¯t you see? Even if we¡¯re going to be merchants, we need to be literate. Otherwise, we¡¯ll get schemed into signing unfair contracts! Study well with your third uncle after you go back. Don¡¯t find excuses again. Even if you want to score in the military examination, there¡¯s a writing portion too.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can¡¯t fall behind since you¡¯re working so hard. I thought I was the big brother, yet you are always telling me what to do!¡± Gu Ming pretended to wear a sorrowful expression while Gu Ye smiled proudly.


    ¡°Oh right. These two mules must cost a lot. Should we really just ept them like this?¡± Gu Ming was a bit hesitant.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why do you think the owner of Jimin Pharmacy is so polite? That¡¯s because of the medicine I had concocted for them. He gifted us mules as a favor in return so that we would provide more medicine in the future. Since they mean this out of sincerity, we should just ept their kind thoughts.¡±


    Gu Ye knew that it was also because of her master that the pharmacy valued her. But they clearly wanted business and wouldn¡¯t do something that would make them lose business.


    The siblings chatted while talking when the pedestrians all rushed towards one direction. The crowd made a circle around not far from here.


    Gu Ye blinked her eyes and asked confusedly, ¡°What happened ahead? Is someone seriously sick again? Brother, look after the mules. I¡¯m going to take a look.¡±


    ¡°Hey¡ª be careful!¡± Gu Ming hurriedly catched the reins Gu Ye tossed. He barely had time to remind his sister when she nimbly scurried through the crowd.


    A woman in her thirties was on her knees, her clothes ragged as she shivered in the cold. Her hair was messy and underneath that was a skinny and stiff face. The woman coughed violently from time to time, clearly unhealthy.


    ¡°So pitiful. I heard she¡¯s a cook from a well-known restaurant within Yan City. The owner had vited thews and the restaurant had to be shut down. Because the cook had signed a life contract, she got sold off.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I think she got a disease on the way there. She¡¯s the only one left. I heard that the officials were going to sell her to the rascals in the mountain to be their woman.¡±


    Two people behind Gu Ye discussed it in a rather pitiful tone.

 Chapter 135 – Purchasing A Slave

    <h4>Chapter 135 ¨C Purchasing A ve</h4>


    ¡°Who would buy a servant on their deathbed? Their body will just be thrown to the nameless cemetery covered by a straw mat!¡±


    ¡°Haa...so pitiful! She must have great cooking to be a cook within a famous restaurant. Unfortunately, her condition is too serious. Look at how violently she¡¯s coughing. Could it be tuberculosis?¡±


    ¡°Tuberculosis? That¡¯s contagious! Friends, let¡¯s stay away from her. Only death awaits us if we be infected. I still have a family to support. Goodbye!¡±


    The two people Gu Ye looked at eaChapter other before leaving in session. However, Gu Ye was attracted by thement, ¡°great cooking.¡± The woman probably got a cold and because she didn¡¯t treat it in time, it developed into tuberculosis. In this era where antibiotics didn¡¯t exist, it might be considered a fatal illness. But to Gu Ye, it could be treated with just a few prescriptions.


    She currently had an ie of at least 200 silver taels. She had no issues supporting another person. Most importantly, she didn¡¯t want to force herself to eat the tasteless and disgusting food. She felt depressed!


    ¡°For just two silver taels, does anyone want to buy her? A cook with extraordinary cooking for just two silver taels. Even buying a maid from a broker will cost more than this price!¡± The burly chap looked fiercely at the woman. The audience knew that if no one bought the woman, she¡¯d be dead by tonight.


    Gu Ye interjected when she saw the whip being aimed at the woman. ¡°Stop! I¡¯ll buy her!¡±


    The man looked at her inconspicuous cotton-padded clothes and wrinkled his brows. Impatiently, ¡°Shoo! Where did youe from? Go y somewhere else! Have your parentse over if you want to buy her!¡±


    ¡°Why my parents? Can¡¯t I just give you the silver taels?¡± Gu Ye took out an ingot of silver tael from her sleeves, its weight about two silver taels worth, and threw it at the man.


    The fierce man caught it and juggled it in his hands before nodding. ¡°Ok, I received the money. Youngdy, don¡¯t me me for being unscrupulous. I¡¯ll give you a chance to reconsider your decision. If you leave with the woman, I won¡¯t be returning the money even if your parentse.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to consider. I can take responsibility for my action. Uncle, can I take her now?¡± After the man nodded, Gu Ye walked to the woman and propped an arm under her shoulder, helping her up.


    The woman coughed violently. After the coughing ceased, she revealed a glimpse of despair on her sallow face. ¡°Youngdy, my time hase. You should get your money back and leave me alone. Haa...¡±


    ¡°Auntie, this is just a small illness but you just dragged it out whiChapter is why it became serious. I know the shopkeeper at the Jimin Pharmacy. Let¡¯s go there and get you checked out by a physician.¡±


    Gu Ye did have medicine to treat tuberculosis but it was stock from her previous life. She needed to cover this abnormality. She decided to let the diagnosing physician at Jimin Pharmacy prescribe some medicine for the woman. Then, she could just add in her stock medicine into the prescriptions silently.


    Gu Ye supported the woman. They walked towards Jimin Pharmacy to meet up with Gu Ye¡¯s elder brother. At the same time, at a narrow alley in the corner of a street, the fierce man was talking to two inconspicuous men. ¡°Missionpleted. This is the twenty silver taels the woman gave us as well as the two silver taels the youngdy paid to buy her. You eaChapter get seven silver taels and I¡¯ll get eight silver taels. Any objections?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. We only did the bare minimum yet you had to withstand the harsh wind for a good two hours or so. You should receive the most anyway.¡± One of them took his reward and said.


    The other ced their silver taels away before inquiring, ¡°Elder brother, what did you think that woman¡¯s motive was? That youngdy doesn¡¯t seem like a young miss from a wealthy family. Why did that woman want to get close to her? Even more, she poured cold water on herself in an attempt to get sick to the point of near death. Her illness doesn¡¯t seem fake. She¡¯s not going to die, is she?¡±


    ¡°Why do you care? We¡¯re just getting paid to do what¡¯s told. It doesn¡¯t matter what happens. Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll return to Yan City and have a good one. This worn-down ce doesn¡¯t even have a decent restaurant.¡± The man and the other two slowly disappeared into the corner of the street.


    Shopkeeper Fang was in Jimin Pharmacy sorting through the medicine he received from Gu Ye. He then saw the Gu siblings helping a pale-looking woman inside. He asked hastily, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°This auntie is seriously sick. Please take a look at her!¡± Gu Ye helped the woman sit down. The old physician finished his prescription for his current patient and told the shop assistant to make up the prescription before he was free to take the pulse for her.


    The old physician¡¯s expression turned grave and withdrew his hand after a while. He sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a cold that wasn¡¯t treated so it gradually attacked and obstructed your lungs...I¡¯ll write a prescription for you but whether or not it¡¯ll do anything for you depends on your luck!¡±


    ¡°Youngdy, even the old physician isn¡¯t certain he could treat me. Don¡¯t bother wasting your silver taels on me.¡± The woman coughed while trying to stop Gu Ye from grabbing the medicinal ingredients.


    ¡°Aunt Yan.¡± Gu Ye advised, ¡°How do you know it¡¯ll be ineffective when you haven¡¯t even tried? Come with me. My master has great medical skills. I used the emergency treatment method he taught mest time and saved a patient with a heart disease. He might be able to treat you!¡±


    The old physician nodded. ¡°This youngdy is right. I¡¯ve seen this myself. She was able to revive a patient who had stopped breathing. Though you have a serious illness, it may be nothing in the hands of a divine physician.¡±


    Gu Ye saw the shop assistant bringing over tea from the inner lounge so she got up to take it from him. While everyone¡¯s attention was on the patient, she quickly grabbed a bottle of medicine to treat tuberculosis in her storage. This was more effective than an antibiotic and there were no side effects either.


    She poured the liquid medicine into the tea and gave it to Aunt Yan. ¡°Drink some tea to warm up.¡±


    Yan Qiutong really gave it her all toplete her master¡¯s mission. From the information given, her target knew medical skills. To make it seem real, she took a cold shower for three nights straight on her journey here. Even more, she hadn¡¯t eaten for three days already. This morning, she also stood in the cold for about two hours. She felt like she was half dead!


    No, the mission her master gave her wasn¡¯tplete yet. She couldn¡¯t die. She took the cup of tea and gulped it. The warm tea entered her stomaChapter and she finally felt some warmth. She didn¡¯t know whether it was her illusion or not but her abdomen felt warm and it spread through her body. Even her exhausted body felt lighter.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Fang, can you let Aunt Yan rest in your back courtyard? We¡¯ll bring her with us once we¡¯re done shopping.¡± She had no idea how worried her Ninth Uncle and Ninth Aunt would be at this point. They needed to hurry up and purchase the items needed for New Years.


    Shopkeeper Fang didn¡¯t reject it as he knew how important the youngdy was to the third Lord. Not only did he make sure the woman wasfortable staying at the courtyard, he even had the shop assistant cook the medicine for her. He also had her change into the new cotton-padded clothes that his wife just made.


    By the time Gu Ye and Gu Ming encountered the group, the Ninth Uncle¡¯s family was worried-sick looking for them already. The siblings genuinely admitted their faults as they listened to the couple¡¯s nagging and then exined why they werete.


    The Ninth Aunt wanted to say something when she heard that Gu Ye spent two silver taels to buy a sick servant and even spent money to treat her illness. In the end, she held back and sighed. ¡°She¡¯s a pitiful woman. Saving a person when you can is important. You guys did the right thing. But with this dy, we¡¯re going to have to stay an extra day in town.¡±


    Gu Li¡¯er smiled. ¡°Mother, it¡¯s not often we get toe to town. Let¡¯s shop some more. A day¡¯s not enough to buy all these items for New Years anyway.¡±


    The Ninth Aunt flicked her forehead. ¡°You make it sound so easy but don¡¯t we need to pay to stay and eat in town? I¡¯ll sell you to pay off the debt if we don¡¯t have the money!¡±


    ¡°Mother, I¡¯m the precious daughter of the family. You might have the heart but my father doesn¡¯t! Right, father?¡± Gu Li¡¯er stuck her tongue out, hoping to getfort from him.


    Gu Mo nodded. ¡°Right, my daughter is very sensible, hardworking, and considerate. I won¡¯t sell her no matter what.¡± Gu Li¡¯er smiled happily.


    This was how parents should interact with their children. It would probably be hard to find a second father who was as weird and strange as Gu Qiao. Yet, howe he had to be her father? Gu Ye looked at Gu Li¡¯er in envy.


    Gu Ming tugged on his sister¡¯s shoulders. His nose stung as he said, ¡°You still have me and grandfather. I¡¯ll treat you even better.¡±


    ¡°Will you still be this nice to me after you married my sister-inw?¡± Gu Ye withdrew her gaze and smiled at her brother, asking teasingly.


    Gu Ming¡¯s face flushed but he still nodded determinedly. ¡°Yes, no one is more important than you. Even...your sister-inw is no exception!¡±


    ¡°Sister-inw? Gu Ming, you¡¯re already thinking about getting married?¡± Gu Li¡¯er teased him and startedughing out loud when she saw his face turning redder.


    ¡°Sister Li, what do we need to buy for New Years? Tell us!¡± Gu Ye came to rescue her brother, shifting the topic.


    Gu Li¡¯er carefully thought about it before saying, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I just know we have to buy flour and meat for dumplings. We also need to buy rice, red beans, and bean paste buns. Also, buy more meat. That way, we can dry them and keep them preserved to eat during winter.¡±


    ¡°Sister Li, you¡¯ve just been mentioning food. What about the others?¡± Gu Ye pressed.


    ¡°Oh...families in a better condition can buy fabric to make new clothes. Besides that, they can also buy paper to write rhyming couplets and for paper cutting. They also bring out the god of the kitchen, buy joss sticks and candles, candies and refreshments to worship the deities...That¡¯s all I remember. Why don¡¯t you ask my mother?¡± Gu Li¡¯er racked her brains and only thought of this much.

 Chapter 136 – Bulk Purchase

    <h4>Chapter 136 ¨C Bulk Purchase</h4>


    The Ninth Aunt heard this and nced at the siblings. The mules had been brought back to Jimin Pharmacy. ¡°Buy your necessary items and as for the others, wait for your grandfather toe back home. You guys can find an opportunity to enter the city again. Let¡¯s go get some meat. We won¡¯t be able to get the good ones if we¡¯rete. Do you guys want toe along?¡±


    Gu Ye and Gu Ming were rather confused about what to buy so they followed the Ninth Aunt and Ninth Uncle. They bought whatever the couple got.


    The group arrived at the butcher¡¯s shop in the center of the supermarket. There was a crowd there and many came from the mountains to buy items for the New Years as well. A few of them were vigers from Qingshan Vige.


    The Ninth Aunt held her daughter in one hand and Gu Ye in the other, forcing her way through the crowd. She shouted at the top of her lungs towards the robust butcher, ¡°Brother Li, give me five pounds of fatty meat and two pounds of lean meat!¡±


    ¡°Alright! Sister Juhua, you came just in time. This is the second pig that just came. I haven¡¯t even touched it yet. Take a look. Do you like this one?¡± Butcher Li and the Ninth Aunt¡¯s maiden family had some connections. He skillfully cut off pure fatty meat for her and weighted it on the scale. It was a good five pounds. Then he weighed another two pounds of lean meat. He wrapped them up with oiled paper before delivering them to the Ninth Aunt.


    She paid for the meat before pulling Gu Ye to the side. In a loud voice, ¡°Little Ye¡¯er, quickly tell your Uncle Li what you want to buy!¡±


    Gu Ye had made up her mind already. She pointed at the pork belly in between a fat and lean meat, saying, ¡°Uncle Li, please weigh this one for me. I want the entire thing! Also, for this one, please cut it from here for me up until here. I also want four pig¡¯s trotters...¡±


    The Ninth Aunt saw that the pork belly itself was at least ten pounds and the lean meat she wanted was five or six pounds too. Including the pig¡¯s trotters, it had to be at least twenty pounds. Yet, Gu Ye wasn¡¯t even done. She pointed at other things.


    ¡°Little Ye¡¯er, will you guys be able to finish all of this?¡± She was afraid the youngdy was ignorant to the costs of all this meat.


    Gu Ye nodded genuinely however. ¡°I can. My grandfather and my master both enjoy eating meat.¡± Most importantly, she liked it too!


    ¡°What a filial child. You can have this pig¡¯s trotter for free!¡± Butcher Li happily weighed the meat and randomly picked a pig¡¯s trotter from the stall and ced it with the meat already weighed.


    Gu Ye¡¯s eyes brightened. She pointed at the leftover pig¡¯s trotters on the stand and asked, ¡°Uncle, how muChapter do pig¡¯s trotters cost? As well as this pig head, pig¡¯s tail...¡±


    The Ninth Aunt silently tugged her clothes and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re offering sacrifices to your ancestors. Why do you need a pig head? After skinning the pig trotters and pig¡¯s tails, there are only bones left. What¡¯s there to eat?¡±


    Butcher Li smiled. ¡°Youngdy, if you really want the pig¡¯s head, pig¡¯s trotters, and pig¡¯s tail, you can have it for twenty coins!¡±


    ¡°Brother Li, you¡¯re being unscrupulous here. You usually gift these pieces to people, yet you¡¯re making my niece pay twenty coins for them. I think...ten coins would be enough!¡± The Ninth Aunt knew that besides the pig¡¯s head whiChapter was worth a bit, the others barely cost anything.


    Butcher Li was easily negotiable. ¡°Since you¡¯ve spoken, ten coins it is. Youngdy, the total is fifteen pounds of pork belly, eight pounds of lean meat, and five pounds of pig¡¯s trotters whiChapter sums up to 1020 coins.¡±


    Gu Ye took out a silver taels worth in fragmented silvers and then counted about twenty bronze coins. She carried her bag of harvest and squeezed her way through the crowd. The prices were pretty cheap. Only about a silver tael or so for thirty pounds of meat.


    Only a silver tael? Vigers in the mountains had to meticulously n out their annual ie to ensure they had two to three silver taels left over after spending it on food. Gu Ye had money in her pocket so she had forgotten about the difficult times when she was poor.


    The Ninth Aunt grumbled to Gu Ye seeing her putting the pig¡¯s head and pig¡¯s trotters in her basket happily, ¡°Child, you may have spare money but you can¡¯t just spend them however you like. You bought too muChapter lean meat. Look at the pig¡¯s trotters and tails. There is barely any meat on them. You¡¯re being too wasteful.¡±


    ¡°Ninth Aunt, this lean meat is a loin, the most tender piece of meat on the pig. It¡¯s best for stir-frying. The pig head, pig trotters, and pig¡¯s tail can be stewed in special soy sauce and other spices. It tastes extremely delicious. Once I¡¯m done stewing it, I¡¯ll bring some over for you to taste. You won¡¯t be saying I¡¯m wasteful afterwards.¡± Gu Ye had a special fondness for stewed pig head, pig trotters, and pig¡¯s tail. With Aunt Yan who could also cook in the family now, she¡¯d get to taste all these delicious foods soon!


    The Ninth Uncle also mediated, ¡°She already got it. Let¡¯s say no more. Let¡¯s check out the grains store there.¡±


    When they arrived, after meticulous nning, the Ninth Aunt only bought five pounds of flour, yet she bought twenty pounds of sorghum noodles and corn noodles each. She had nted millets at home so she didn¡¯t buy them. She got some red beans and kidney beans, totalling less than three hundred coins.


    The family barely ate coarse grains as they went through them quickly. They had bought fifty pounds of flour and rice eaChapter half a month ago and they were almost done already. Gu Ye made another bulk purchase within the grains store. Fifty pounds of rice, a hundred pounds of flour, and barely any red beans and kidney beans. It was because she never had bean paste buns so she didn¡¯t know if she would like it or not. She spent another silver tael and six coins.


    At the fabrics store, Gu Ye got her grandfather, master, and brother eaChapter two outfits. Seeing a fresh green cotton cloth in the store, she bought it for herself. The red-based cotton-padded clothes she was wearing made her seem like a country bumpkin. The sooner she changed them, the better. She didn¡¯t know what to say regarding her grandfather¡¯s taste.


    Gu Ye had snatched a lot of processed wed fabrics from the store whiChapter could be used for bed sheets and curtains. Gu Ming smiled and indulged Gu Ye as he watched her spend money carelessly. The Ninth Uncle and Ninth Aunt both shook their heads. Thankfully their Fifth Uncle had been a soldier for so many years and had some savings. Otherwise, they probably couldn¡¯t deal with the girl¡¯s reckless spending. This damned Fifth Uncle. How could he let Little Ye¡¯zi be in charge of the money? They wondered who cultivated Little Ye¡¯zi¡¯s wasteful personality. It must be Nee Liu!


    They had no idea that Gu Ye earned the money by herself. Not only did she obtain her master¡¯s a thousand silver worth of banknotes, she also obtained an extra eighty silver.


    She spent her money recklessly, yet she barely spent over five silver taels. Gu Ye still wasn¡¯t done spending though. Seeing a jewelry store ahead, she dragged Gu Li¡¯er inside. Afraid that she might spend money carelessly, the Ninth Aunt ced the items bought outside the store and had the Ninth Uncle look after them while she also walked inside fearfully.


    There was a woman wearing morous clothes with hair pins all over her head picking out essories inside the store. There was a youngdy about eleven or twelve wearing a red dress whiChapter had flower designs sewn. She wore an arctic-fox colored cloak edged withce. She appeared adorable and delicate. If it weren¡¯t for the impatience and disdain on her face, she would appear pleasing to the eyes.


    ¡°Auntie! What good essories coulde from this cheap ce? I must be crazy to go home and visit our rtives with you. Look at these people. They¡¯re all country bumpkins who are ignorant. We¡¯re actually choosing essories with these lowly people. My sisters willugh at me if they find out!¡±


    The youngdy d in red swept her gaze over the group, her disdainful expression even more distinct. She quickly shifted her gaze as if looking at them any longer would make her unsophisticated.


    Anger flicked through the shopkeeper¡¯s eyes but he said calmly, ¡°This is the best silver bracelet in our store. Gems are embedded there and I brought this back from coastally. Madam, if you like it, I can sell it to you for fifty silver taels instead of fifty-two silver taels.¡±


    ¡°What? This broken bracelet costs fifty silver taels? The best silver bracelet in Yan City is only twenty to thirty silver taels. What? Are there golds embedded?¡± The youngdy¡¯s sharp voice rang again. The woman beside her hesitated before cing the bracelet down.


    The shopkeeper sucked in a breath silently before saying, ¡°No golds are embedded on the bracelet but there¡¯s a ruby embedded whiChapter is more worthy than golds. These are all brought over from abroad. If the bracelet was sold in Yna City, it would¡¯ve been sold for a hundred silver taels at the very least. Young miss, if you believe it¡¯s too expensive, you can take a look at the other styles.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯re looking down on me huh? The cheap essories in this store are only worthy of being sold to poor vigers! Gems from abroad? It looks like a cheap stone that has been dyed red. You¡¯re just trying to scam us because we have money! Ten silver taels! That¡¯s it. Are you going to sell it or not?¡± The youngdy acted high and mighty as if saying, ¡°be d I¡¯m even paying ten silver taels.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± the shopkeeper ced the silver bracelet with gems embedded away. In a calm voice, ¡°Ten silver taels isn¡¯t even enough for one gem. Since this store is too simple and crude for your tastes, please check out another store.¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re kicking me out? Do you know who I am? Believe it or not but I can shut your store down!¡± The youngdy was furious. Because she was an illegitimate daughter within Yan City, she was looked down upon by her sisters. This was also why she wanted to go with her auntie to visit her maiden home.


    Who knew that not only didn¡¯t anything go her way aftering to this worn-down location, even a small jewelry store¡¯s shopkeeper dared to give her attitude. She had to endure her urge to smash this store.


    ¡°Qing¡¯er, what did your father tell you before leaving? Don¡¯t bully others just because of your background. What? You forgot?¡± The woman pretended to reprimand. Wearing a small smile, she said, ¡°Shopkeeper, let¡¯s not talk about the authenticity of the gems but just the manufacturing is indeed worse than the jewelry stores in Yan City. How about this? I¡¯ll buy the bracelet for thirty silver taels.¡±


    ¡°Sorry! Madam, fifty silver taels is the lowest price.¡± The shopkeeper didn¡¯t want to talk anymore. He ced the bracelet away.


    He looked up and greeted the group of people who were waiting for him. ¡°What types of jewelry do you guys want to buy? I can help rmend...¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Look at their shabby looks. These country bumpkins can¡¯t even afford food. You think they could buy jewelry?¡± The youngdy was furious and had no ce to vent. She pursed her lips as she observed the Ninth Aunt¡¯s pale and old cotton-padded clothes.


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