Chapter 86 - 86 75 Not Afraid of the Unfamiliar

Words : 1496 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

86: Chapter 75: Not Afraid of the Unfamiliar 86: Chapter 75: Not Afraid of the Unfamiliar Manbao also took the opportunity to promote herself, “I can recognize many other herbs as well.” “Oh, what other herbs can you recognize?” Manbao hopped off the chair, ran out, and brought back a dirty yam for him to see, “Look!” The shopkeeper looked at the long piece of yam in amazement, then glanced at Manbao, and asked, “Did you dig this up?” “No, it was my brothers who dug it up!” Not yours to be proud of, right? The shopkeeper said, “You recognize yam?” Manbao replied, “I do.” Manbao had recently seen many attractive illustrations in a herbal medicine book, which she had memorized, so she began counting off on her fingers to the shopkeeper, “I’ve seen astragalus, licorice, and even ginseng; but what I like the most are red dates.” The shopkeeper simply started chatting with her, asking, “Why?” “Because the book says red dates are sweet and crunchy, and I like to eat sweet fruit.” “Do you have a herbal book at home?” “We don’t have one at my home, but my classmate does,” Manbao said. “My classmate’s family has so many books.” The shopkeeper’s attitude became even more respectful, “The little lady is reading books? May I know which teacher you are studying with?” “My teacher’s surname is Zhuang; he’s really amazing.” The shopkeeper found this little girl quite interesting as she seemed to think that everyone around her was remarkable, including herself. Her teacher was amazing because he knew a lot; her classmate was amazing because he read more books than she did and had many books at home; her mother was amazing, her sisters-in-law were amazing, her brothers were amazing, and even her little nieces and nephews who only dared to peer in from the doorway were amazing in her words, because they always did things she couldn’t do. The shopkeeper thought that her ability to recognize this was also quite impressive. Of course, she also thought she was amazing because she was very smart! Manbao was a talkative child, voluntarily revealing all sorts of family affairs without the shopkeeper even asking. Of course, she was also not shy, so during the conversation, she asked many questions as well, and the shopkeeper enjoyed chatting with her. After all, when someone tells you all about their family, you answer one question and they respond with ten, so when they ask you a question, you should at least respond with one answer, right? So Manbao learned that the shopkeeper’s surname was Zheng, and he was also a doctor. Within Jishi Hall of Luojiang County, there were only two doctors, him and the attending doctor, Dr. Qin. Although he also treated patients, most of his work involved dispensing medicine, buying medicinal materials, and bookkeeping. He said that since he managed the shop, he did managerial work. Doctor Zheng’s family was all there, and he had been living in this place for three to four years, familiar with the local herb gatherers. Manbao curiously asked, “What are herb gatherers?” “They are people who make a living by gathering herbs. However, in Luojiang County, there aren’t many such families—only two. So, most medicinal materials are brought in from other places.” Doctor Zheng, since he was willing to buy the Zhou Family’s herbs, naturally wasn’t afraid to tell them, “The medicinal materials from our area include arisaema, pearl powder, gallnut, peucedanum, aristolochia, chicken-blood vine, gambier vine, ophiopogon, tatarian aster, and kudzu root among others. The herb gatherers are basically familiar with these materials. They not only recognize them but also process them. The materials we get in our pharmacy are generally pre-processed.” He laughed, “Like your family delivering only one or two types of herbs at a time, you can’t even be called herb gatherers, but since what you bring is commonly needed, we buy them too.” Manbao was amazed, “Then they must be able to earn a lot of money?” Doctor Zheng shook his head, “How much money can herb gatherers make? They don’t own land and rely on selling herbs for food, clothing, and shelter. There are many snakes and insects in the woods, and it’s not that easy to find herbs, so working the land is a better life.” “Why don’t they have land?” Manbao asked. “Every family in our village has land. The village chief said if our land isn’t enough, we can just clear more. He’ll make sure it’s enough.” Doctor Zheng: “...” He hesitated for a moment and said, “Maybe because they don’t know how to farm?” “They could just learn,” Manbao said. “We didn’t recognize medicinal herbs before, but now we do, and we will recognize even more in the future.” Doctor Zheng took the opportunity to ask, “Will your family sell more herbs in the future?” “We will sell whenever we come across them,” Manbao asked him in turn, “Does your pharmacy still buy? Do you buy all kinds of herbs?” Doctor Zheng indicated that as long as they were herbs, he would buy them if they were brought to him. Manbao was delighted and continued asking him, “Do you have any herbal books? The ones at my classmate’s place don’t have very good illustrations. I’ve looked at them for a long time and still can’t recognize the herbs. If you have a better one, could I borrow it to look at it? Then, if I come across herbs next time, I’ll be able to recognize them.” Doctor Zheng looked at Manbao’s little face, was silent for a moment, then went to the back yard to fetch a book for her, “Return it to me after you’re done reading, and don’t damage it.” Just when Zhou Dalang and Zhou ErLang, sweating from calculating their money, turned around, they saw their little sister receiving a book from the shopkeeper’s hand. The brothers: “...” Happy to take the book, Manbao carefully wrapped it in oil paper and then gave the yam they had dug up to him, “Shopkeeper Uncle, take it home and stew it; yam can be stewed with chicken, it’s very nourishing and good for the spleen.” Doctor Zheng’s brows twitched a little, and he laughed, asking, “You even know this?” Manbao said proudly, “Of course, yams can also be made into yam cakes.” Of course, this was all just told to her by Keke, as she took their book and felt the need to give something in return. Keke said yam was very good. Doctor Zheng didn’t accept her yam for nothing, and still wanted to weigh and buy it from her. He also said, “Next time you dig up yam, don’t bring it fresh. Cut it into slices, dry it, and then bring it to the pharmacy. I’ll still buy it for twenty coins per jin. You can also sell it fresh in the market, some particular wealthy households will buy it to make medicinal meals.” Manbao didn’t want to take his money, insisting on having him eat it. Doctor Zheng thought for a moment, then didn’t refuse, but only took two, “Take the rest back home.” Zhou Dalang and Zhou Er glanced at the book in their little sister’s hand and bent over to say goodbye to Doctor Zheng. Doctor Zheng waved with a smile, “Don’t damage my book, remember to return it.” Manbao patted her little chest, assuring him, climbed onto the cart with the book, and told her elder and second brothers, “We need to buy chicken.” Knowing that their little sister wanted to eat chicken again, Zhou Dalang thought about their mother and couldn’t help saying, “Manbao, we’ve already eaten four chickens at home. Mother said if we buy more chickens, she’ll drive me and your Second Brother out. We can’t keep wasting money like this.” “Alright, then we won’t buy chicken. Let’s buy lamb!” Zhou Dalang continued to persuade her, so Manbao stretched out her hand toward him, “Big Brother, give me the money we earned, we’ll handle it ourselves.” Zhou Dalang immediately shut his mouth and didn’t speak. Zhou Er cajoled her, “Manbao, it’s not safe for you to carry so much money. Let Big Brother and Second Brother hold it for you, eh?” “Then give me fifty coins for meat, or I’ll start to cry.” Zhou Dalang and Zhou Er were in a dilemma as Manbao rarely cried, but they were really afraid of her crying because she could get breathless easily, vomit if she cried too hard, and while she might end up being okay, they’d likely be scared half to death. So after a moment of hesitation, they still gave her the fifty coins.

Chapter 86 - 86 75 Not Afraid of the Unfamiliar

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