98: New ways to play with bitter apricot fruit

"I've checked, and while your Dantian is damaged, it's not severe.

Moreover, your meridians are clear. Theoretically, as long as you can Cultivate Mystic Truth Qi, you can slowly repair your Dantian with it.

It might take as little as half a year or as long as three years, but resuming Cultivation shouldn't be a big problem."

"Good!" Gong Qing clutched the 《Mystic Truth Art》 tightly, like someone clinging to the only piece of driftwood in a vast ocean.

Jiang Hanwen smiled faintly. This 《Mystic Truth Art》 was useless to him, but for Gong Qing, it was the spark to restart his destiny.

Now that Medicinal Cuisine had created the method of spiritual endowment, Gong Qing's strength had become the biggest obstacle.

Unable to Cultivate, he couldn't sense Spiritual Qi, let alone refine his Medicinal Cuisine.

Jiang Hanwen reminded him:

"Oh, right. I've had the Medicine Field collect bitter apricot fruits and bitter apricot trees at the foot of the mountain. When they arrive, use my share of the profits to buy some at a half-percent premium."

He was using the Zhuang family's manpower to plan for his future. While there was an objective to get his subordinates to adapt quickly, he also needed to keep public and private matters separate.

Upon hearing 'bitter apricot fruit,' Gong Qing's voice involuntarily rose by three points: "bitter apricot fruit?"

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Jiang Hanwen looked at him.

Gong Qing didn't answer his question. Instead, he carefully stood on the bed, retrieved several papers from a hidden compartment in the bed's canopy, and placed them on Jiang Hanwen's table.

"I originally planned to complete them later and then give you a surprise."

Jiang Hanwen looked at the four papers. The first three recorded the medicinal properties of different dishes, comparing the pros and cons of combining them with bitter apricot fruit, and proposing improvements for the bitter apricot fruit.

The last paper was an experiment on using qi gathering grass in medicine. Although not as effective as bitter apricot fruit, it showed good results if used in large quantities.

Time flows; no one stays in the same place forever.

In these days, while Jiang Hanwen made great progress, Gong Qing wasn't idle either.

This was Gong Qing's research summary, and also the greatest secret of his Medicinal Cuisine.

Now, it was completely revealed to Jiang Hanwen, without any concealment.

By the end, Jiang Hanwen grinned. Gong Qing's research not only provided him with a direction for cultivating bitter apricot fruit but also offered entirely new ideas he had never considered before.

"Good stuff," Jiang Hanwen unceremoniously tucked it into his pocket.

As for a 'thank you,' there was no need for such a thing between him and Gong Qing.

At most, next time they drank, he wouldn't mock him for his numb legs; nothing more than that.

"I want half of the bitter apricot fruits collected," Gong Qing said seriously.

"Alright!"

The two exchanged a smile.

Life, you know, eventually offers chances to turn things around.

Gong Qing, now restarting his Cultivation path, with resources, experience, and a Cultivation Technique, it remains to be seen if he can soar to great heights.

By the time he returned home, smelling of alcohol, it was already late into the night.

Jiang Hanwen pulled out a handful of shriveled, rice-grain-sized seeds from the bottom drawer.

These were all inferior seeds he had kept from the iterated qi gathering grass.

He put the seeds into a bucket, submerged them in a thin layer of water, then adjusted his breathing and used the Gathering Life Technique.

Wood Spiritual Qi, symbolizing vitality, swirled in his palm. Ten breaths later, a drop of emerald green liquid condensed in his palm and fell with a 'plink.'

Ten drops of green liquid fell in succession, and the bucket was already a vibrant green.

Jiang Hanwen stopped, and after half an hour, he scooped out the seeds.

Under the "treatment" of the Gathering Life Technique, like a disabled person growing bones, the shriveled, inferior seeds were restored to their original state, plump and full. They were now normal qi gathering grass seeds.

Jiang Hanwen looked at the seeds in his palm, his eyes shining brightly. A path to wealth was beckoning him...

The next day, Jiang Hanwen arrived early at the eastern side of the Medicine Field, adjacent to the farmlands.

Before him, as far as the eye could see, hundreds of thatched huts were arranged like brown fish scales, packed tightly together.

When the wind blew, withered yellow wheat straw drifted into the sky, flying from one house to another, and then from that house upwards.

These were the family members of those who had pledged allegiance to the Zhuang family.

"How many people?" Jiang Hanwen asked.

"Three hundred and eighty-seven," Song Shuming replied with a helpless wry smile. The Medicine Field had over four hundred old employees.

The current territory of the Medicine Field was simply not enough to fully accommodate these new arrivals.

But if they were placed in ordinary fields, there would be ample land. However, these people all had potential talents in their families, and offending them would not be good.

Moreover, bringing people to the Medicine Field was the family head's idea. It was easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away. Compared to yesterday's medicine shop, this was where Song Shuming truly had a headache.

Jiang Hanwen said: "Go collect qi gathering grass seeds of poor quality and give them to these people. Have them plant them in the farmlands. They are not allowed to use fertile soil; they must use the same methods as planting grain.

There will be a one-year assessment period. Those who can grow them well will be personally reviewed by me and admitted into the Medicine Field.

From now on, anyone who wants to enter the Medicine Field must first grow qi gathering grass well in the fields."

"Chief Steward, they can plant them, but what's the difference between qi gathering grass grown this way and weeds?

We can't just lose money to appease them, can we?" Song Shuming replied helplessly.

Jiang Hanwen couldn't possibly tell him, 'I have a way to get rich, so I'm having you work for me,' could he?

Too lazy to explain, he continued to speak to himself:

"I don't want the qi gathering grass they grow; I only want the seeds. Calculate their commission based on the quantity and quality of the seeds. You go finalize it."

Seeing Jiang Hanwen's seriousness, Song Shuming, despite having a million questions, still nodded in agreement...

Looking at Jiang Hanwen's departing back, Song Shuming sighed.

Perhaps, facing such a hot potato—a group of people who couldn't be offended yet had to be accommodated—Chief Steward Jiang, who usually had solutions, was also troubled and could only resort to this last measure.

The matters of the Medicine Field were temporarily concluded; he just needed to let his subordinates handle them.

Next, it was time to bring a much-needed, nourishing rain to the people at the foot of the mountain, who were on the verge of drying up.

The advantage of having a storage ring was that he could put anything he wanted inside.

After bathing, he changed into new clothes, brought his homemade poison powder, two hundred throwing knives, the Chixiao Sword, rations, silver, etc.

Fully armed, Jiang Hanwen disguised himself as a twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, a scar on his face, exuding a bandit-like aura. He entered the secret tunnel and went down the mountain.

The scarred face was like an ID card; Jiang Hanwen's fierce demeanor allowed him to move unimpeded down the mountain.

He bought two shops and reserved two rooms.

The largest shop was adjacent to the core medicine shop he had chosen. The other three were scattered, forming a triangular shape on the map.

Whether he lived there or not was secondary; he needed to have three hideouts like a cunning rabbit.

As he was surveying where to buy suitable land, the road became crowded, and a smooth, storytelling voice echoed like a valley's transmission, clear and resonant.

Jiang Hanwen squeezed into the crowd and saw a disheveled old man with temples streaked with white, holding a tattered paper fan, telling a story.

On the ground beside him sat a young boy, curled up on a bluestone, drowsy and nodding off, his head jerking with each doze.

"Stepping on the Big Dipper, his body like lightning, he used the wall for leverage with one palm. That young hero performed a magnificent 'Long Rainbow Piercing the Sun,' striking directly at the Ink-Armored Rhino's eye.

Everyone, what do you think happened?" The old man snapped his fan shut, clapping his palm with a 'pah' sound.

The young girl's life hung by a thread, and the young hero suddenly appeared—it was the most exciting part.

The deeply engrossed listeners beside him, their faces flushed, shouted:

"What happened?"

"Yes, tell us quickly!"

"..."

The old man bowed helplessly: "Those of you with money, please support us. My grandson and I haven't eaten all day. We've just arrived in this esteemed place, so please bear with us."

"Hmph~"

Upon hearing that money was requested, the gathered crowd waved their hands and retreated.

"Old man, you keep going. If the story is good, I'll reward you with a piece of broken silver."

A young man in a neat black outfit and a sapphire-blue round hat called out.

"Speak quickly, speak quickly!" The surrounding people immediately surged forward, egging him on.

The old man cleared his throat and nodded helplessly:

"Just as that young hero performed a magnificent 'Long Rainbow Piercing the Sun,' striking directly at the Ink-Armored Rhino's eye.

No sooner said than done.

A bolt of lightning shot from the Ink-Armored Rhino's eye, striking the long sword.

With no leverage in mid-air, the young hero couldn't dodge in time. His arm went numb from the electric shock, and he fell to the ground.

Just as he was about to use the ground to get up, a thorny long whip wrapped around the young hero's neck.

It turned out that this Ink-Armored Rhino was actually the girl's spiritual pet, and they were putting on an act to lure people in."

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!

What kind of crappy story is this? I want to hear about the two of them rolling in bed in the cave! If it's not good, you're not getting this money." The black-clad man withdrew the broken silver in his hand, and the others laughed and dispersed.

"Grandpa, did no one give you a reward again?" The six or seven-year-old grandson looked up, his face haggard, at the old man.

The old man swallowed, trying to moisten his parched throat as much as possible, and sat back down beside his grandson.

"Alas, I'll rest a bit more. The next story, the next story will definitely get a reward."

Prolonged hunger led to a lack of energy.

The old man's demeanor was a bit dazed, like a gambler who had lost everything at the gambling den and ran home to get more money, his eyes dizzy, firmly believing that next time, he could turn things around.

"Grandpa, why don't you just sell me? At least then you could eat a couple of mouthfuls of meat. If you don't eat soon, you won't be able to hold on." The boy looked at the old man worriedly, his eyes full of distress.

"What are you saying!

I'd sell myself before I'd sell you!

I'll tell one more segment; there's definitely going to be a reward." The old man propped himself up on his knees, trying to stand.

"Clang!"

A silver ingot cut through the air and dropped in front of the grandfather and grandson.