At the beginning of the Mao hour (05:00-06:59 AM), the couple woke up to prepare for their trip into town.

    Confident that they would earn a decent amount of money today, Haitang had sewn a new money pouch for her husband the night before. After she finished preparing breakfast, the four brothers helped load the cart.

    Haitang checked the kitchen supplies and planned to buy more today to last until the upcoming harvest.

    Both husband and wife were still wearing their old, worn-out clothes. However, Haitang's attire looked slightly better since only two of the three cloth rolls bought previously had been made into clothes for Qian San and Qian Xi. Thus, she chose an ordinary, albeit slightly old, outfit to avoid drawing attention in town.

    Haitang headed to the same pharmacy as before, even though the herbs they were selling this time were more valuable. This was because, in her previous life, her sense of smell was destroyed due to the most prominent pharmacy in town.

    This formed a prejudice in her mind, a grudge waiting to be settled.

    "Shopkeeper, I have more herbs to sell," she announced.

    There were two people arranging medicine inside, along with the shopkeeper who had bought her mint leaves last time, sitting and doing the accounts.

    "What have you brought to sell? More mint leaves like last time?" he asked.

    "No, this time it's something better. Here," Haitang said, presenting a fresh snow lotus root.

    "Is this fresh snow lotus? Did you bring the leaves and flowers as well?" he inquired.

    "This is everything," Haitang replied, signaling Qian Tai to bring in the snow lotus while she held the basket with leaves and flowers.

    "I'll give you two taels per catty for the roots and one tael per catty for the leaves and flowers," the shopkeeper offered.

    Haitang didn't argue. The roots of her snow lotus weighed a lot. Each root weighed nearly a catty because she only picked the most mature and robust ones, ensuring there were no small ones mixed in.

    The twenty catties of roots and five catties of leaves and flowers earned them forty-five taels of silver. This was a considerable amount of money—enough for some families to live on for two to three years without doing anything. But not for Haitang, who had many plans in mind.

    Haitang handed forty taels to Qian Tai to keep, retaining five taels for household expenses.

    Qian Tai accepted the money with trembling hands, never having held such a large amount before. Excited, he followed Haitang, who was already heading to the fabric shop where the Qian family often sold their embroidered cloth.

    Twenty pieces of embroidered cloth earned them one hundred epaes. In the past, this amount would have brought tears of joy. But now, with dozens of taels in her possession, Haitang didn't belittle the epaes. She believed that one should never disdain small amounts of money or rely solely on fate.

    "Husband, let's go buy some rice," she suggested.

    "Alright," Qian Tai quickly followed Haitang with the cart, not even noticing that she was leading them on a slightly longer path. His mind was preoccupied with the forty taels of silver hidden in his chest.

    "Hey, have you seen the notice?"

    "Yes, yes! It says there's a reward of up to ten taels per plant!"

    "Of course. How could ten taels compare to the life of the city lord's son?"

    "Do you think we should try looking for it?"

    "Don't be silly. Where would we find it? If it were that easy, would the city lord need to ask common folk like us to search for it?"

    Haitang's intention was to walk past the notice board, pretending to look at the announcements. It turned out that she didn't need to seek money; the money came seeking her and her husband.

    "Husband, could you go ask them what’s going on?"

    Haitang didn’t want to take the lead, so she asked Qian Tai to inquire instead.

    Her husband couldn't read, but something must have happened in the previous life because after he helped her, she found out that he had learned to read.

    Soon, Qian Tai returned but remained silent, simply urging Haitang to ignore it and hurry to buy the rice so they could go home.

    He then took the lead, pushing the cart, which was unusual for him.

    "Husband, what’s going on?" Haitang took the chance while waiting for the shopkeeper to bring out the rice to ask her husband.

    "It’s nothing. The city lord is just looking for something," Qian Tai answered evasively.

    "The city lord is looking for something? What is it?" Haitang pressed on, but Qian Tai seemed reluctant to explain.

    For Qian Tai, he didn’t want Haitang to use her abilities because he feared the endless troubles that might follow. He believed that even without the money, he could still manage by working hard, but his wife’s safety was paramount.

    "Oh, that notice? It’s said that the city lord’s son needs a medicine called barrenwort for treatment. However, this herb is very rare and usually only available in winter. It’s not available now, and getting it from Beijiang would take too long. So their only hope is to find it around here as quickly as possible."

    It wasn’t Qian Tai who answered; it was the shopkeeper who had brought out the rice and overheard Haitang’s question.

    "Really, shopkeeper?"

    "Yes, it’s said they’re offering up to ten taels per plant and will buy as much as they can find."

    "Oh, I see."

    "Here are your ten catties of wheat, totaling three hundred epaes."

    "Here are the three hundred epaes. Thank you very much, shopkeeper."

    There was no further discussion between the husband and wife about the matter. Qian Tai felt uneasy seeing his wife act as if she didn’t understand the significance of the herb the city lord was looking for.

    He truly had no idea what was going through his little wife’s mind at that moment.

    "Husband, should we buy some chicks to raise?"

    "Sure, whatever you think is best," Qian Tai replied.

    With her husband’s approval, Haitang selected ten chicks, spending one hundred epaes. She also bought pork, a chicken, and ten eggs.

    With money in hand, Haitang didn’t hesitate to spend it on nourishing her family.

    It had been a long time since they had eaten well. Besides the good quality wheat, Haitang also bought two jin catties each of job’s tears and mung beans.

    Previously, money was tight, but this time was different as she had earned a substantial amount. Therefore, Haitang bought new shoes for everyone, a set of ready-made clothes for each person, and new blankets and bed sheets for all three rooms.

    By the end of their shopping, the five taels of silver in Haitang’s possession were reduced to just three taels. However, compared to the money they earned that day, she had only spent a small portion of it.

    Upon returning home, everyone was astonished by the amount of goods they had purchased.

    Haitang said nothing, simply taking the money from Qian Tai’s chest and placing it in her mother-in-law’s hand.

    "Mother, this is the money we earned today," Haitang said.

    Zhushi looked at the money in her hand, extremely excited. It was a large sum for someone like her.

    "This money..." Zhushi felt conflicted, thinking about asking Haitang to keep the money herself.

    "Mother, you should manage the family’s money. It’s the right thing to do. When the three younger brothers get married, we can discuss how the other daughters-in-law want to handle it," Haitang said.

    "Daughter-in-law, if you say so, let’s do it this way. I’ve thought about this to avoid future problems. You earned this money, so give half to me as the family fund, and the other half for you and your husband. I won’t interfere with that part," Zhushi suggested.

    "Mother, I understand, but let’s wait until after we’ve repaired the house and sent the three younger brothers to study. Once we’ve earned more money, we can divide it as you said," Haitang replied.

    Zhushi considered this for a moment and nodded in agreement, seeing the logic in Haitang’s words.

    The immediate concern was that the house was not sturdy enough to withstand the coming winter. Last year, they had barely survived the harsh winter. Also…

    "Wait, are you planning to send the second, third, and fourth sons to study?" Zhushi asked, surprised.

    "That’s for the future. Whether they choose to study or not will be up to them," Haitang replied.

    Listening to Haitang, Zhushi began to feel a glimmer of hope and dreams. It would be wonderful if her sons could become educated men.

    Since their return home, Qian Tai hadn’t spoken much with his wife.

    With nothing urgent to do, Haitang went to rest in their room. Qian Tai, after hesitating outside the room for some time, finally decided to enter.

    Hearing someone enter, Haitang opened her eyes briefly before turning her back to him.

    Seeing his wife's reaction, Qian Tai thought to himself, ‘This is bad.’

    All sorts of kind words floated in his head, but he didn't know how to arrange them to sound good and make his wife stop being angry.

    "Wife, are you angry with me?" Qian Tai dared to ask directly.

    But Haitang didn’t respond. Her silence made the atmosphere in the room even more tense. Qian Tai decided to lie down beside her back. Knowing she was still awake, he gently turned her to face him and pulled her into his embrace.

    Haitang looked up at Qian Tai's earnest face and couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed by his simplicity.

    "What did you do wrong that makes you ask if I’m angry?"

    "It’s because I kept the city lord's herbal announcement a secret from you."

    "So why do you think I’m angry?" Haitang continued to press him.

    "You want to find the herb, don’t you?"

    "No. I am truly angry, but not because I want to find the herb. I’m angry because you kept secrets from me. We are husband and wife; we should discuss things and consult each other. But you chose to hide it from me. Do you not trust me, or do you not trust yourself?"

    "Wife, I just didn’t want you to use your abilities. It might attract bad people." Qian Tai looked at his wife apologetically.

    In truth, what Haitang said was not wrong. He should have told her instead of avoiding the topic.

    "If you had consulted with me, we could have come up with an excuse, using you and your brothers as the front. No one would have known about my abilities. If we discussed and found a solution together, that would be what a husband and wife do. But what you did was treat me like an outsider."

    "Wife, I never saw you as an outsider," Qian Tai hurried to reassure her, fearing she would be hurt.

    "Then don’t do it again. From now on, whatever happens, we must discuss it together. Understand?"

    "Alright. From now on, I will talk to you first."

    "Good." With that, Haitang smiled sweetly at him.

    "And about the city lord’s herbal announcement, are you going to look for it?"

    "Husband, go tell your second, third, and fourth brothers to come with us tomorrow. With more people looking for the herb together, it won’t be suspicious if one of us finds it."

    "Isn't it too risky?" Qian Tai was still worried.

    "We don’t do this often. For this big sum of money, we need to take the risk, but just this once. Afterward, we will continue with our usual livelihood. This money will be for emergencies and for the future of your brothers and our children."

    By mentioning children, Haitang left Qian Tai unable to refuse. He could certainly go without eating, but if Haitang were pregnant or they had children, he couldn’t bear to see his wife and children go hungry.

    With their plan set, Qian Tai didn’t delay. He left the room to gather his second brother to manage the farm, ensuring that tomorrow would be a day of luck without any family work worries.

    Haitang woke up to prepare dinner. Today, they had earned a lot of money and bought many supplies, so she didn’t hesitate to use the pork and lard to stir-fry more vegetables.

    With four growing boys in the house, no matter how much she made, it would all be eaten.

    The fragrant steamed rice, which the family hadn't had in a long time, smelled wonderful. With meat dishes, every dish seemed even more appetizing.

    "Mother, tomorrow I will take the brothers to find herbs on the mountain outside the city," Qian Tai spoke up, seeking permission from his parents during dinner.

    "Hmm? Why do you need to go to the mountain outside the city to find herbs? Have all the work in the fields been finished?" Zhushi asked her eldest son.

    "Everything is taken care of, Mother, so don’t worry. Today, Haitang and I heard in the city that the governor is looking for a certain herb, so we thought we might try our luck. That's why I want to take the brothers along."

    "Will it be dangerous?" Zhushi was still unsure and couldn’t help but worry about her sons.

    "Don't worry, Mother. I'm not taking them deep into the mountains; we just want to try our luck. If we're lucky and find the herb, that's great. If not, it just means that the reward wasn't meant for us."

    "Tomorrow, go with your eldest brother. Don't be careless, understand?" Zhushi reminded her sons a few more times before nodding her acknowledgment and allowing them to go herb hunting.

    "Mother, my old clothes are missing. Have you seen them?" Qian Xi finally voiced his concern.

    "Yes, mine are missing too," Qian San was also looking for his clothes.

    When they came home in the evening, after helping their father water the vegetables, they intended to change clothes but couldn’t find their usual ones. The wardrobe only had the new clothes that their mother and sister-in-law had just sewn for them.

    "I gave your clothes to your sister-in-law to make rags," Zhushi replied nonchalantly.

    "Mother, those clothes were still wearable."

    "Yes," Qian Xi softly supported his twin brother's words.

    "Then wear your old clothes and I’ll make the new ones into rags instead, how about that?"

    Faced with their mother's retort, the two boys quieted down and continued eating in silence.

    Earlier that day, after no one was in the room, Zhushi had placed another finished set of clothes and the ready-made ones Haitang had bought into the wardrobes of the two youngest sons, taking out the worn-out clothes for her daughter-in-law to use as cleaning rags. The trousers were turned into floor rags.

    The eldest and second brothers sat eating without commenting on this matter. They also had new clothes in their wardrobes, but their old clothes hadn't disappeared because they only had the ready-made ones for now. Zhushi and Haitang hadn't finished sewing their new clothes yet, so they still had to wear their old clothes alternately with the new ones. It was expected that once their new clothes were sewn, the old ones would be demoted to rags, just like the younger brothers’ clothes.

    Because of the big task awaiting them tomorrow, Haitang sent her brothers-in-law to bed as soon as they finished washing the dishes. She herself kneaded dough to steam mantou, preparing for the next morning so it wouldn’t be rushed.

    When the time came to hunt for herbs, Haitang led the four brothers up the mountain on the other side of the city.

    The four young men each carried a basket, hoping to gather valuable items to sell or bring home.

    This mountain was the one Haitang often visited to collect herbs in her previous life, so she knew the area well and where valuable items might be hidden. However, they still had to be cautious as they never knew when a wild animal might appear.

    Ten mantou were in the basket carried by Qian Tai. The couple shared one water bottle, while the three brothers shared two bottles.

    Qian Tai and Qian Sao both held knives, ready to clear the path for everyone. This mountain was rarely visited because it was not close to any village, and people from the city did not usually come to forage for wild items to sell.

    The five of them left home at dawn to wait for the city gates to open, allowing them to pass through the city and reach this mountain. By the time they climbed to the midpoint of the mountain, it was already late in the Si hour (09.00-10.59 AM). Haitang decided to stop and rest to eat before continuing, so they could quickly collect herbs and return home before sunset.

    “Big Brother, do you think we’ll really find the herbs the governor is looking for? When we passed through the city, weren’t the villagers also searching and couldn’t find them?” Qian Sao asked.

    Haitang, although having some idea of where the herbs might be because she had often come to this mountain, couldn’t guarantee they would still be there or be ready for harvesting.

“We won't know unless we try. With such a big reward, aren’t you interested?” Haitang didn’t guarantee they would find the herbs but used the reward as an incentive.