Chapter 4: Improvement
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Back at the Tao Village, the sun was starting to set again.
Xu Ning did not go home, instead he went straight to Guo Ye’s medicinal shop.
“Guo Ye!”
Xu Ning walked in.
“Xu Ning, why are you here again?”
There was currently no one else in the medicinal shop, so Guo Ye made a pot of tea and leaned on the back of the seat, but he stood up when he saw Xu Ning coming.
“Come here, weigh this!”
Xu Ning threw the back basket in front of Guo Ye.
Guo Ye stepped forward and saw the contents in the basket, his eyes widened.
.
“Heal-all Plants? This many?”
Guo Ye quickly leaned over, grabbed a handful, and pressed it against his nose. “The scent of soil… it’s freshly picked!”
“That’s right, I just picked it from Yunze Mountains.” Xu Ning explained, “I found this patch of Heal-all Plants in the past, but it was too dangerous. It was at the border between the inner and outer circles, so I did not dare to pick it. But then you said that the price of Heal-all Plants had risen, so I took the risk.”
“The border between the inner and outer circles?” Guo Ye was speechless. “You are ruthless!”
“The wages of sin is death.”
Xu Ning smiled and said, “Quick, weigh it.”
“Alright.”
Guo Ye dragged a large scale from the backyard.
After working at it for a while, the weighing was finished.
“24 pounds and a half…” Guo Ye said, “I’ll count it as 25 pounds, one pound for six taels of silver, a total of 150 taels!”
“150 taels…”
Xu Ning laughed when he heard the profits from his adventure.
“Kid, you’re rich!”
Guo Ye patted Xu Ning on the shoulder and said with a smile, “Wait a second, I’ll go to the backyard to withdraw the money for you.”
They did not have 150 taels of silver at the front counter.
Soon after, Guo Ye walked out with two silver notes.
“150 taels.”
Xu Ning took a look at the silver notes.
One note was 50 taels, while the other note was 100 taels.
“Thanks.”
Xu Ning put the silver notes into his pocket.
These 150 taels were equivalent to a year of his family’s income.
With this new sum of wealth, his family could live a lot more comfortably.
“Oh yeah, the price of the Heal-all Plant won’t go down for a while, right?”
Xu Ning asked Guo Ye.
“Not in the short term…” Guo Ye shook his head and frowned. “Kid, you have more?”
“I haven’t finished picking them yet. I can bring more in a few days.”
Xu Ning did not hide anything.
“Okay, I will buy as much as you have!”
Guo Ye was also very happy.
The number of Heal-all Plants he had bought today was higher than what his uncle Tao Yungang had gathered over the past few days.
This would gain his uncle’s respect.
“But you have to stay safe.”
Guo Ye reminded.
“I know.” Xu Ning waved his hand and said, “see you later”
He picked up the basket and walked out of the medicinal shop.
“Huff…”
Xu Ning stretched his body.
With money in his pockets, he felt more at ease.
He glanced at the sky and guessed that his sister and her husband had not yet returned home, so he went to the butcher shop in the village first.
Xu Ning was going to buy some meat.
The Tao Village was a big village with a large population so they had a high demand for resources.
However, in this kind of environment, with transportation being inconvenient, individuals had to travel a lot if they wanted to purchase basic necessities.
Thus, the Tao Village set up some trading places, such as a butcher shop, grain store, oil store and so on.
These places were all managed by the villagers.
Xu Ning entered the butcher shop, only to see the butcher leaning on the recliner.
“Buying meat?”
After seeing someone come in, the butcher stood up and picked up a deboning knife.
“Yes, I want two pounds of lamb leg.”
Xu Ning remembered that Tao Tao loved to eat lamb, as lamb meat was tender—she could chew it easily.
“Okay!”
The butcher was skilled with the knife.
Soon, the butcher wrapped two pounds of lamb leg meat and handed it to Xu Ning. “Half.”
“Half” meant half a tael of silver.
“Half…”
Xu Ning pondered and felt that it was indeed not cheap.
But he did not hesitate as he took out two shards of silver from his pockets.
These shards of silver were from the herbal medicine plants he had sold to Guo Ye in the morning.
He handed the silver shards to the butcher. “Half a teal, here you go.”
After leaving the butcher shop, Xu Ning quickly went home.
On the way back, Xu Ning passed by the schoolyard of the village.
“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”
“…”
Sounds of exercising could be heard.
Xu Ning looked over.
They were all teenagers. Under the guidance of the instructor of the village, some practiced with guns while some practiced with knives—the scene was full of enthusiasm.
The Tao Village was influential in Kangyun County, not only because of its large population, but also because of the number of martial arts masters in the village.
It was precisely because of the prevalence of martial arts that the Tao Village attached great importance to martial arts practice for younger generations.
Young people under the age of 20 would receive careful guidance from instructors as long as they signed up for training.
Xu Ning was 17 years old this year; he was considered a young man in the village.
Although Xu Ning was an outsider, the Tao Village was happy for him to learn martial arts with them. He was qualified to come for training.
However, Xu Ning only came to practice for a month. And after learning the Gale Knife Technique, he never came again.
It’s not that his predecessor didn’t want to practice martial arts, but that participating in a training camp required him to pay five taels of silver every month, for the instructor’s wages and to purchase martial arts equipment.
For Xu Ning’s family, this amount of money was too much.
In order to save money, after learning the Gale Knife Technique, Xu Ning had to practice alone.
Compared to others, his improvement rate was a lot slower.
But fortunately, he now had the Martial Arts Panel. He didn’t need to be taught by others. As long as he had enough energy, it was not difficult to improve his strength.
…
As Xu Ning got closer to the house, he heard Tao Tao chatting in the front yard of the house.
Xu Ning pushed open the courtyard door and walked in.
He saw Tao Tao holding a wooden stick in each hand, chasing an old hen.
While chasing, she yelled. “Petty thief, stop right there and eat my sword!”
Xu Ning reluctantly shook his head and smiled.
“Uncle, you’re back?”
Tao Tao let go of the old hen after seeing Xu Ning.
“You brought meat back as well?”
Tao Tao looked surprised when she saw the lamb legs in Xu Ning’s hands.
“You’ll have plenty to eat this time.”
Xu Ning patted Tao Tao on the head, then went to the kitchen to clean up the lamb legs.
Another half hour passed.
Tao Yunchuan and Xu Lian came back together.
When they saw the lamb soup and large chunks of lamb meat on the table, they were all very surprised.
“Where did the lamb meat come from?”
Xu Lian looked at Xu Ning.
“Uncle bought it!”
Before Xu Ning could answer, Tao Tao rushed to answer first.
“You used all your money from selling herbs to buy this?”
Xu Lian was obviously a little unhappy. She seemed to blame her brother for spending money recklessly.
For their family, the price of lamb meat was indeed too high.
“I’ll talk about it later, eat first.”
Xu Ning looked at Xu Lian, then gestured to Tao Tao, who was standing by the side, signaling that since Tao Tao was here, it was inappropriate to have this discussion.
Tao Yunchuan saw that Xu Ning seemed to have something to say, so he motioned to his wife. “Eat first, then talk later.”
The family enjoyed a rare sumptuous dinner.
Tao Tao ate the most lavishly, with foot bits stuck on her face.
Tao Tao was sent away to play after dinner.
“Xu Ning, why are you willing to spend money on this?”
As soon as Tao Tao left, Xu Lian asked.
She was confused about this meal.
Tao Yunchuan also frowned and stared at Xu Ning with a questioning glance.
“Because… I made money.”
Under the gaze of Tao Yunchuan and Xu Lian, Xu Ning took out two silver notes from his pockets and spread them on the table.
“What is this…”
Xu Lian’s heart skipped a beat.
She picked up the two silver notes carefully.
One note was 50 taels, and the other note was 100 taels.
“Where did you get so much money?”
Xu Lian covered her mouth with a look of disbelief.
Tao Yunchuan was calmer than Xu Lian, but he was also full of doubts.
“I got it from selling herbs.”
Xu Ning explained, “Today I went to Guo Ye to sell my herbs. He told me that the price of Heal-all Plants had risen. Now it is six taels for a pound. Coincidentally today, when I entered the mountains, I happened to encounter a patch of Heal-all Plants. I picked a lot, a total of 25 pounds, exactly 150 taels.”
Xu Ning purposely concealed the process and danger he went through to pick the Heal-all Plants.
“Such a coincidence?”
Xu Lian obviously didn’t believe it.
“Yep, a coincidence.”
Xu Ning had a confident expression. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask Guo Ye.”
Xu Lian obviously believed this.
“Good, I will ask Guo Ye tomorrow.”
Xu Lian felt that she still had to verify this herself.
However, even though she was still confused, Xu Lian had a smile on her face.