Chapter 4 The Town's Medicine Seller

  Two people started to move, Yang Yun found that using the Moonlight Spirit Eye to find the Moonlight Grass was really convenient, of course, it also had a lot to do with today being the fifteenth day of the lunar month. He just strolled around casually and would often discover one.

  Then Yang Yun pointed with his hand, and Yang Lin immediately pounced on it like a small dog seeing a bone, dug out the whole grass with a medicine spade bit by bit, and neatly placed it in the basket.

  Yang Yun couldn't help but feel pleased with himself, it seemed that bringing along his little sister was the right decision after all. At least when it came to digging up herbs, her careful nature was worth more than ten of him put together. If he had done it himself, he would have inevitably damaged a few plants.

  Unconsciously, the moon had already moved to the middle of the sky. Although the moonlight was still bright, in Yang Yun's spiritual eyes, the silver moonlight had begun to gradually decline, and the silver light on the grass and trees became more and more blurred.

  Yang Yun stopped and said, "Let's just look for these, it's time to go back."

  Yang Lin was covered in dirt all over her body, with mud and sweat streaked across her face, but she still stood upright, "The basket still has some space left, we haven't been to that mountain slope yet."

  Yang Yun shook his head, "The time has passed, can't find it anymore."

  After finishing speaking, he reached out and took Yang Lin's backpack, "Let's go, let's go home."

  On the way back, Yang Lin silently calculated, her own backpack had a number, "Brother, we've found almost a hundred trees, how much can each tree be sold for?"

  Yang Yun rubbed his chin, he only knew the use of Moonlight Grass, but had no idea about its price, just felt it should be quite expensive.

  Yang Yun didn't bother to calculate it carefully and casually said: "It should be worth a dozen or so coins, I'll take you to the town tomorrow to ask."

  Yang Lin did not make a sound, Yang Yun walked a few steps and felt something was wrong, turned around to see his little sister standing still in the same place.

  "Ten cents! This one clump of grass can be exchanged for several catties of rice!" Yang Lin exclaimed, as if waking up from a dream. In the past few years, Wu Guofeng's weather had been favorable and the price of rice was less than three cents per catty. The value of the moonlight grass far exceeded her expectations.

  On the way back, Yang Lin walked with a light and airy gait, repeatedly asking:

  "Brother, is this grass really worth over ten cents?"

  "Brother, we really have money now, can eat meat?"

  Yang Yun replied vaguely, "About... yeah..."

  The moonlight true energy had been circulating all night, Yang Yun was both tired and sleepy, it wasn't easy getting back home, he immediately fell onto the bed and fell asleep, sleeping until noon, not waking up until his mother called him to eat lunch.

  Excited Yang Lin had already told the whole family about picking herbs, but Yang's father and older brother Yang Shan went to the fields again, only Yang's mother asked Yang Yun for a long time.

  Yang Yun only said that he had read about the Moonlight Grass before, and when he was thinking quietly recently, he suddenly remembered it, so he took Yang Lin to try it out, but unexpectedly really picked some back.

  Yang's mother heard that it was from the book, and she couldn't help but believe a little. She didn't recognize a single character, and she couldn't help but be respectful and fearful of what was written in the book. However, Yang's mother had suffered a lot, so she didn't dare to fully believe that the grass brought back by Yang Yun was really worth that much money.

  Yang Yun said to his mother while eating, "This afternoon I'll take Xiaolin to Hui Chun Tang in the town. They're an old brand and it's easy to tell if the herbs are valuable or not."

  Yang's mother nodded in agreement, thinking that since the grass had been picked anyway, it would be good for San'er to try selling it. If it really could sell for a few coins, it would help supplement their household income. However, she couldn't bring herself to believe that a single blade of grass could sell for over ten coppers.

  The Liang family next door has a donkey cart, which goes to the town every afternoon to collect leftover dishes from wine shops and transport them back to sell to Butcher Wang.

  Yang Yun went and told Er Gui, who was driving the carriage, something, then he and Yang Lin got on the carriage together with their backpacks.

  The Second Master shouted, and the big green donkey slowly began to move its hooves. Yang Lin waved at her mother, who was leaning against the door of their home, and shouted: "Mother! Wait for me and my brother to bring you good things from town!"

  Out of the village, the donkey walked slowly, at a speed similar to that of an ordinary person. Yang Lin had been excited since last night and didn't take a nap like Yang Yun in the morning. On the carriage, she swayed back and forth, feeling drowsy, and soon fell asleep on the side of the carriage.

  The second child in the Wang family is younger than Yang Yue, the second brother of Yang Yun, by one month.

  Er Gui and Yang Yue have been together since childhood, playing in the mud. When they were young, they often took Yang Yun with them to catch fish in the water, hunt birds in the mountains, and chat while driving a cart.

  "Second Master, this big green tile roof of your house is leaking badly, I'm afraid it won't last a few more years?" Yang Yun asked.

  "Alas - who says it's not true? When I bought it, the teeth were already not small, and after these few years, they're almost useless now." Er Gui sighed.

  "Aren't you going to change your hairstyle?"

  "It's tough, our family does this with the help of Uncle Geng, but this job is small, and after calculating the cost of feed for the trip, we won't make much money. If we want to buy another donkey, we'll have to put in more money ourselves, it's not worth it."

  Yang Yun knew that Geng Shu was Wang Tuhou, the two noble families were related to him, and in fact, most of the villagers had the surname Wang, while the Yang family was a later immigrant with a different surname.

  At this time, Er Gui said, "It's still good for you, Xiao Yun. Now that you're already a Xiucai, if you pass the imperial examination in the future, you'll be an official, and at that time, you can pull us up too."

  Yang Yun smiled and said, "It's not that easy to pass the imperial examination. If that day really comes, I will definitely give you a big horse."

  "That's a good feeling, I've been wanting to hurry up and take the horse carriage for a long time." Er Gui smiled and said, he also knew how difficult it was to pass the imperial examination, even if one entered the school in the city, not necessarily one out of ten scholars could pass.

  "I really envy Yue Ge, if it weren't for my family not allowing me, I would also like to go running by the sea with him."

  "My brother went to sea because he had no choice, our family has little land. Your family has fields and this car, why go to sea to suffer from wind and rain? I heard there are also pirates, my mother worries about my second brother all day."

  "Farming and driving a cart is stable, but it's too boring. It's easy to make a living, but making money and marrying a wife are both difficult." Er Gui sighed and asked again: "By the way, can this grass you picked really be sold for money? It looks no different from ordinary wild grass."

  "Give it a try, the book says this is moonlight grass, which can be used as medicine."

  "Oh." Er Gui seemed lost in thought and stopped talking.

  Yang Yun knew that Er Gui had come up with an idea, but this was also within his expectations. Unfortunately, only he could pick the moonlight grass, and he still needed to think of a way to remind him.

  The big donkey trotted for almost an hour, and finally arrived at the town. Yang Yun woke up his little sister, bid farewell to Er Gui, and carried his backpack back to Chun Tang directly.

  Huichuntang occupies a large courtyard in the center of the town, and the tall "Huichuntang" sign can be seen from far away.

  As soon as I entered the gate, I saw that the courtyard was planted with wisteria and green trees, and there were bamboo pavilions and stone benches for people to rest. Many people were playing chess and drinking tea inside, looking very leisurely.

  The main gate was wide open, and inside sat several elderly doctors with white beards and hair, taking pulses and diagnosing illnesses.

  The east wing is the pharmacy, where apprentices are busy behind the counter collecting prescriptions and grabbing medicine. The west wing has several apprentice-like people processing various medicinal materials, cutting, grinding, washing, drying, etc., with a strong aroma of medicinal herbs wafting through the air.

  "Come with me." Yang Lin pulled Yang Yun's hand and rushed towards the west wing like an old horse that knew the way.

  Yang Yun knew that her sister had been here before. She would sometimes go into town to buy medicine for their parents, and occasionally sell some of the medicinal herbs she picked herself.

  The apprentice who was processing medicinal herbs ignored the two of them. Yang Lin slipped into a neighboring room and said, "The medicinal herbs are collected here."

  Yang Yun looked around, there was no one in the house, and a wall was densely covered with words. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the purchase prices of various medicinal materials. Generally, common medicinal materials were purchased by weight, each weighing several coins to several hundred coins.

  There was a copper bell hanging in the room, and Yang Lin couldn't wait to shake it.

  Before long, a fellow came in at the door and asked with a smile: "Do you two gentlemen have any medicinal herbs for sale?"

  Yang Lin pushed the basket back, "That's all, this is called Moonlight Grass, it's very valuable."

  The fellow took out a moonlight grass and carefully examined it in the light for a long time, with a look of doubt gradually appearing on his face.

  "I've never heard of any Moonlight Grass, it looks no different from ordinary wild grass."

  Yang Lin suddenly became anxious, "How come I've never heard of it? Look at the roots of this grass, they're completely different from ordinary wild grass."

  Yang Yun waved his hand and said to his partner, "I think it's better to let your master take a look. This moonlight grass can be used to make the best wound-healing medicine. With such a big signboard as Hui Chun Tang, there should be someone who knows its value."

  The fellow hesitated for a moment, then seeing Yang Yun's calm and confident appearance, finally said, "Then please wait a minute, I'll go find Master to come over and take a look."

  Yang Yun nodded, and the shop assistant disappeared outside the door.

  Yang Lin asked with some concern: "Brother, won't there be any problem?"

  "Don't worry," Yang Yun comforted, "the master of that fellow will definitely recognize him."