Chapter 16 - 16 16 Ginseng

Chapter 16: Chapter 16 Ginseng Chapter 16: Chapter 16 Ginseng The next morning.

Chen Jie, in a daze, felt a figure moving in front of him.

Opening his eyes, he saw Ruirui sitting in front of him, watching him anxiously.

Chen Jie turned over, and Ruirui immediately became worried, “Brother-in-law, wake up, the sun’s already shining on your backside.”

“What time is it?”

Chen Jie asked, and Ruirui replied, “It’s 5:30 AM.”

“What a mess, I’m going to sleep a bit longer.”

Chen Jie still wasn’t used to the timekeeping method of this era. 5:30 AM, according to the ancient method of twelve two-hour periods, was 6:30 in the morning.

“Brother-in-law, wake up, Sister has already cooked breakfast and has been waiting for you for a while.”

Ruirui said anxiously.

In fact, she didn’t really care what time Chen Jie got up. It was just that today’s breakfast was yesterday’s leftover rabbit meat and freshly cooked sorghum rice, and she was craving it.

However, Sister had said that they wouldn’t start eating until Brother-in-law woke up, so the little one could only wait anxiously by Chen Jie’s bedside.

Chen Jie wasn’t particularly fond of sleeping in, but after reading the information last night, he had been too excited to fall asleep.

The most important part was the fifth point: Doctor Bai had fallen into Wild Wolf Gully.

Wild Wolf Gully was deep and treacherous, and it was said that wild wolves roamed freely there. Doctor Bai had fallen in, shouting for help but to no avail, and had even twisted his ankle. *How desperate he must have been.*

If he happened to pass by and save him, wouldn’t Doctor Bai be eternally grateful to him?

Doing a favor for someone, making them owe him a big favor, would undoubtedly be greatly beneficial.

*He remembered that Doctor Bai’s son-in-law was the Manager of the fishery in Xiantao Village, and also a disciple of the Fishing Guild. If he could connect with this line, wouldn’t he be able to join the guild and become a member as he had hoped?*

Therefore, he had pondered this for a long time last night and didn’t fall asleep until after two in the morning.

Upon waking up, Chen Jie felt his head was a bit groggy. The sisters had both woken up and made breakfast, and if he slept until eight or nine o’clock, it wouldn’t be good. Besides, there was the matter of Doctor Bai; he shouldn’t be late and let someone else rescue him first.

After washing his face, he finally got to eat the sorghum rice that Ruirui had been thinking about.

The sorghum rice wasn’t very tasty and was quite hard, but Ruirui ate it very contentedly. The rice of this era was fine rice, also called official rice, which only officials or wealthy families could afford.

After eating two bowls of sorghum rice and more than half of the leftover rabbit meat, Chen Jie stopped eating.

He stood up and told Su Yunjin he was going to the back mountain to see if he could hunt some game.

Su Yunjin looked at Chen Jie with worry when she heard this, but Ruirui asked, “Are there more fat rabbits today?”

Chen Jie patted Ruirui’s head and said, “If you want to eat them, they will be there.”

Su Yunjin thought for a moment, returned to the house, and quickly brought out a small cloth bundle to hand to Chen Jie, saying, “Be careful, we don’t have any dry food at home. I saved some crispy rice leftovers for you during cooking. If you get hungry on the mountain, have some.”

“If you go up the mountain again in the future, let me know in advance, and I’ll pack some pancakes.”

Chen Jie looked at the crispy rice in front of him, knowing it was a token of Su Yunjin’s affection, while Ruirui, upon hearing about the crispy rice, smacked her lips. *Crispy rice was delightful.*

She really wanted to taste it.

Chen Jie smiled at Su Yunjin and then patted Ruirui’s head, instructing them not to go out today, assuring them that he would find a way to get food before heading up the mountain.

He needed to get to the mountain early. Who knew what time Doctor Bai fell into Wild Wolf Gully? If he went too late, *he might be carried off by wolves.*

He didn’t really care if Doctor Bai got eaten. The main thing was to avoid losing his opportunity for personal advancement.

Currently, Doctor Bai was very important in Chen Jie’s plans.

Once up the mountain, Chen Jie first went to Wild Wolf Gully for a look but saw no commotion, so he headed straight for Old Bull Cliff. After searching the spot mentioned in the information, he moved a large rock, and in the crevice, Chen Jie found a ginseng plant.

A ten-year-old ginseng was quite precious. While it couldn’t compare to those Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, it was excellent for nourishing the body. This ginseng could probably sell for three to five silver taels.

This was quite a considerable sum. According to Daqian’s currency conversion, one tael of silver was equivalent to one thousand cents.

Currently, in Daqian, the price of sorghum rice was ten cents per pound, pork was twenty cents per pound, and in the countryside, two silver taels were enough to buy a poor family’s daughter as a maid.

A strong laborer working long-term for a landlord earned only ten cents a day, and even working at a more lucrative dock as a laborer only got him thirty cents a day.

And this ten-year-old ginseng could sell for three to five silver taels, roughly equivalent to three to five hundred pounds of sorghum rice, enough to feed a family for half a year.

*Don’t think the price is cheap.*

Ginseng wasn’t really as valuable as it was made out to be; its value lay in its age. This was just a ten-year ginseng, and if it were twenty years, the price would double.

Thirty years would see the price double again, almost like a new price every additional ten years.

This ginseng was still too young.

Nevertheless, Chen Jie was happy. Selling this ginseng could at least alleviate a lot of the financial pressure on him, providing a solution for his food expenses, at least in the short term.

Thinking this, Chen Jie wrapped up the ginseng and placed it in the bamboo basket on his back.

This bamboo basket was made by Uncle Erba, and it was quite sturdy.

After securing the ginseng, Chen Jie also casually dug up a few less valuable herbs, putting them in the bamboo basket as well, before heading towards Wild Wolf Gully, posing as a herbalist.

Although he intended to rescue Doctor Bai, he couldn’t just march up brazenly, lest it arouse suspicion. It would be better to disguise himself as a herbalist; after all, he did have some medical knowledge, and gathering herbs was normal.

In this manner, he reached Wild Wolf Gully but did not find Doctor Bai. *Was he too early?*

Chen Jie thought as he leaned against a large tree. Having gotten up quite early that morning, he felt a bit groggy from lack of sleep.

He wanted to take a nap, but sleeping in the deep woods was courting death. *Who knows, he might wake up to find himself carried off by wolves.*

So Chen Jie began practicing the Yang Chun Skill directly.

Surprisingly, once he practiced the Yang Chun Skill, adjusted his breathing, Chen Jie quickly felt the fatigue dissipate. His mind became clear, and his overall condition improved.

It was as if he had had a long, satisfying sleep. Unbeknownst to him, Chen Jie had entered a deep meditative state.

And just after he entered this state, an old man wearing gray clothes and a bamboo hat, holding a medicine pickaxe, sporting a goatee, happened to be passing by Wild Wolf Gully. Looking down, he spotted a top-quality piece of astragalus growing on the slope of the mountain.

The old man’s eyes brightened, and he slowly approached it. Standing on the slope, he took out his medicine pickaxe to dig. But as he bent over, a snake suddenly slithered out.

“Aah!”

The old man was startled, stepping back two steps, but ended up stepping on a stone behind him and instantly lost his balance.

“Ah~”

He let out a miserable scream as he tumbled down the slope, rolling into the gully.