Chapter 74 - 74 63 Reconciliation

Words : 1443 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

74: Chapter 63: Reconciliation 74: Chapter 63: Reconciliation Fifth Brother and the others still haven’t come back from the county town, so as soon as Manbao put the book down, she followed Datou to the fields to look for Silang. Manbao was particularly well-behaved today, not causing any trouble at all. Holding the small stones dug up by Zhou SiLang and the like, she walked outside, following Datou and the others to pile things up at the edge of the field. Zhou SiLang felt a bit unused to it and took the opportunity to ask her, “Why are you so well-behaved today?” Manbao said, “I’m always very well-behaved.” Actually, she had an ulterior motive—she had intended to help out first before mentioning it, but since Silang brought it up, Manbao spoke about it. She dragged Silang over to look at the Indian pennywort on the ground. Indeed, the plant was everywhere. “Silang, do you know what this is?” Zhou SiLang looked at his sister disdainfully and said, “It’s Indian pennywort, of course.” “Do you know it’s a medicine?” “Eh, so it’s a medicine. All I knew was to chew it and paste it to stop bleeding if I got hurt from falling.” Zhou SiLang stirred the cluster of herbs on the ground and looked up to ask, “And then?” “Then we pluck it, dry it, and send it to the pharmacy. Didn’t you want me to think about you? Here I am, thinking about you, right?” Zhou SiLang expressed doubt, “This thing that’s found everywhere, would a pharmacy want it?” “Bamboo is also common, yet many people buy the winnowing baskets and bamboo baskets made by Second Brother, don’t they?” Zhou SiLang seemed thoughtful. He hadn’t decided yet, but Datou and the others around him were already getting excited, “Little auntie, we’ll also pluck Indian pennywort. Can you help us take it to the pharmacy?” “I can’t, but I can ask Fifth Brother to help you.” Manbao had already planned it out and said, “The more the merrier. I’ll pluck, and you guys should also look for Indian pennywort with big leaves, the ones that are heavier. Maybe just pulling on them will give us a pound.” Even Zhou SiLang felt a spark of excitement as he stared intently at the Indian pennywort on the ground, thinking that this could be the start of great wealth! Manbao burst his bubble, “Let’s start reclaiming land first, Silang. You can pluck herbs when you rest. It’s not tiring anyway.” The dreamy smile on Zhou SiLang’s face faded as he got up to grab a hoe. However, Datou and the others were not willing to work hard for free anymore. They all ran off to look for Indian pennywort, then plucked it and piled it together, planning to take it home to dry later. Zhou SiLang looked at the field where he was left alone and felt utterly disheartened. He knew it—how could Manbao not cause him any trouble? When they came back home for dinner, Zhou ErLang returned with Wulang and the others, excitedly telling the family, “I’ve asked the pharmacy. They said they collect Ligustrum seeds; if the quality is good, it’s sixty wen per pound, and even if not great, it’s at least forty wen. But it has to be dried.” Zhou Dalang and the others got excited too. That price sounded more expensive than rice or flour. No wonder it’s valuable as medicine. Ms.Qian asked, “Did you ask how to dry this thing?” “I asked. The pharmacy owner said you could fumigate it first or blanch it before drying. Keep drying it until it’s completely dried, and then they’ll take it. As for how to fumigate it and blanch it, the owner didn’t want to say too much. He mentioned that their pharmacy has a cooperation with professional herb gatherers, so these methods are the craft of those herb gatherers. If he told everything, the herb gatherers might be unhappy.” Ms.Qian thoughtfully turned to Junior Ms.Qian and said, “Tomorrow should be a sunny day; you don’t have to go to the fields. Leave the stove free; we’ll try both fumigation and blanching to see which method yields better quality.” Junior Ms.Qian agreed. Ms.Qian then said to Zhou Dalang, “The next two days, if you’re free, go up to the hills to see if you can find more Ligustrum seeds. Just walk around outside, and don’t go too deep.” Zhou Dalang and the others were no longer children and knew the dangers. There were wild beasts and snakes in the mountains—they didn’t have the courage to venture too deep. Zhou Wulang and the younger ones were also plotting in their own room. He told Manbao, “I went with Second Brother at the time, and there was a herb gatherer there. When he saw Second Brother asking about Ligustrum seeds, his face didn’t look too happy.” He snorted, “It’s not their family’s business alone, why can they do it and not us?” Zhou Liulang also said, “Exactly. Someone copied our flower baskets and sold them these past two days, but their baskets didn’t have sugar, so their business wasn’t as good as ours. We’ve been changing locations, which is why we’ve been able to sell out every day.” Zhou Liulang was somewhat proud, but Zhou Wulang felt concerned, thinking that if this continued, they wouldn’t be able to carry on with the flower basket business; they could only sell sugar. But the sugar business was theirs, and although there was no clear path forward, if the flower basket business went downhill, the family would surely not allow them to go to the county town anymore. Manbao also felt that the flower basket business probably couldn’t last. As Keke had said, the market now had imitations, and once the supply outweighed demand, prices would surely drop, making it unprofitable. Manbao said, “Then we need to come up with some other excuse to go to the county town.” Zhou Wulang and the others deeply agreed, but this wasn’t something that could be figured out immediately, so they decided to count their money. After counting the money, not only did Manbao give Zhou Wulang a packet of sugar for the next day, but she also gave him a handful of coins to buy chickens at the market. She said, “It’s hard to buy chickens in the village, nobody sells them anymore.” Zhou Wulang asked, “Manbao, do you want to eat chicken? A chicken is quite expensive.” “It’s okay, I have money.” Manbao was particularly generous, waving her hand and saying, “Buy it to nourish Mother.” Zhou Wulang and the others collectively swallowed hard, not hesitating to agree. He secured the money and motivated Manbao further, “Manbao, are you really not considering selling more sugar?” Manbao firmly shook her head, “No, eating too much sugar is bad for the teeth.” Moreover, the points for the Ligustrum seeds hadn’t been tallied yet. She spent points every day without earning any, unsure when she would accumulate enough to buy medicine for her mother. In Manbao’s eyes, money wasn’t as important as points, and she had enough money for now anyway. Manbao was very satisfied with her current financial situation, and she didn’t think making money was that difficult. She told Fifth Brother that they had found another type of medicinal herb, indicating that even if they couldn’t sell the flower baskets, they could still sell medicinal herbs. For dinner that evening, the Zhou Family ate fish. Manbao drank a bowl of fish soup and contentedly lay down in bed. Unable to sleep for the moment, she flipped through the entries that had been input into the system before, browsing them one by one, and then strolled through the marketplace, paying close attention to her mother’s medicine. Then, satisfied, she fell asleep and woke up the next morning full of energy for school. She had already forgotten about the argument she had had with Bai Shanbao yesterday. But Bai Shanbao remembered it because he had felt uncomfortable all night long. He didn’t find any gold in the study, and his grandmother even laughed at him. His mother didn’t give him money, and his grandmother also agreed with what Manbao had said; without finding gold, his grandmother still made fun of him! So as soon as Manbao arrived, he pushed the pastries he had taken from the kitchen that morning towards her, inviting her to eat.

Chapter 74 - 74 63 Reconciliation

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