Chapter 4 Part I

    "Why did Master Gu change his pharmacy supplier?!" A furious shout erupted from the reception room in the pharmacy. Shopkeeper Man, with his eyes as small as beans, glared at the manager, a middle-aged man responsible for managing the store.

    His pharmacy, Facai, was one of the three largest in the city, holding the most significant market share. Master Gu that the manager has mentioned, used to purchase medicines from their pharmacy in Fengfu City to sell elsewhere. Each time, Master Gu would buy a large amount of medicine from Facai to resell, maintaining a not-so-ordinary relationship through years of trade. But now, the manager reported that Master Gu no longer wanted to buy medicines from them, wishing to switch to a different supplier.

    "He said there's a pharmacy with medicines of better quality than ours, even though they're more expensive, but he could make a higher profit with them, master," manager said, his face downcast, worried that Shopkeeper Man might fire him despite his unimposing, short, and plump appearance.

    "How could there be any pharmacy with medicines of better quality than ours!"

    Shopkeeper Man was so angry that the small mustache on his face twitched. His pharmacy, Facai, is a large pharmacy that produces a significant number of medicines each time. High-level pharmacists in the city have been bought by his shop, up to three-tenths of the total.

    Although some are contracted with other shops, there are not many. The medicines from Facai pharmacy are of high quality. Moreover, his shop sells medicines at a slightly lower wholesale price than others, making most middlemen choose to buy from his shop.

    "And now you're telling me there's another pharmacy daring to take our customers?"

    "Shopkeeper, Master Gu said that pharmacy has high-quality medicines, and with every order, they could purchase 10 spirit energy pills."

    "10 pills!" Shopkeeper Man exclaimed in shock.

    How would it be possible for each order to include 10 spirit energy pills? Such pills were not easily available, even his pharmacy couldn't procure them so freely. Every order from his shop allowed for only two spirit energy pills to be bought.

    The production of spiritual energy pills must be made from spiritual herbs only. But how could spiritual herbs be so easily found? It was only once in a while that villagers would bring spiritual herbs to sell.

           “Go find out the name of that shop and whether they really have spiritual energy pills for sale. If they do, you must investigate where they get their spiritual herbs from.”

    It seemed he had missed something. Could it be that the shop had bought spiritual energy cultivators to nurture their herbs? Did they really have enough money to buy spiritual energy cultivators?

    "Investigate thoroughly, don't miss anything!"

    "Yes, Master!"

    They were unaware that the person causing Shopkeeper Man so much frustration was leisurely sitting in Ruyi Pharmacy's reception room, sipping tea and enjoying the dessert provided by Shopkeeper Tiao.

    "Ah, this dessert is so delicious. I must buy some to take back for Yu'er later."

    Today, she delivered another 25 spirit herbs and also offered to sell a new type of herb that He Ming had carefully cultivated, which Master Tiao was very pleased with, even intending to provide even more favorable terms.

    "Shopkeeper Tiao, my father has grown several plots of spiritual plants at home, but our family can't consume them all before they spoil. We thought about cutting some to sell in the city. Could you recommend a vegetable shop in the city that buys from locals?" The vegetables were grown enough for cooking, but her family certainly couldn't consume them all.

    "No need for hardship, little girl. I know a few vegetable shops that buy from locals. If it's inconvenient for you to sell them yourself, you can deliver them to Ruyi Pharmacy, and I'll have my manager take them to sell." Why would he let this little girl go out and sell vegetables herself? If other shops knew, they might poach this little girl from him, and then how could he continue to buy spirit herbs from her?

    Or perhaps he should expand his business to include a vegetable shop as well.

    He guessed that her family hadn't been growing vegetables and herbs for long because if they had, the entire Fengfu City would know them by now. Given the rarity of spirit cultivators who are farmers, he felt incredibly lucky to have met her first. But if others found out, everyone would surely compete to recruit her. Despite their fair trade, Master Tiao couldn't help but worry. He needed to secure a good relationship with little lady Zhu quickly.

    "Thank you, Shopkeeper," Zhenzhu smiled in response. She didn't want to go out and sell vegetables herself, revealing more of her secrets.

    "Oh, Master Tiao, currently, my brother and I are learning spirit cultivation from our father. We want to buy some spirit pills to practice with. Do you have any here?"

    "Oh, you're starting spirit cultivation? Excellent," Master Tiao exclaimed excitedly.

    If they succeeded, he would have three spirit cultivator partners, and the prosperity of Ruyi Pharmacy would be assured.

    "The pills needed for practicing spirit energy cultivation are spirit-enhancing pills. I do have some in stock and can sell them to you at the lowest cost."

    "Thank you."

    "Or how about this? I have some Nengyan herb seeds. If you take them to plant, once grown, they can be processed into spirit-enhancing pills. I'll give you a 50-50 raffle with my shop. How about it?"

    This exchange seemed fair as his shop had to hire pharmacists to make the spirit-enhancing pills.

    "But couldn't the spirit herbs I sell to you be used to make spirit-enhancing pills?" Zhenzhu asked, puzzled.

    "Indeed, but those aren't for spirit cultivation. The herbs you sell are general herbs used for treating certain diseases and body aches. While spirit herbs are always expensive no matter their properties, Nengyan herbs are essential for making spirit-enhancing pills. Unfortunately, they are very delicate, and only a few spirit cultivator farmers can grow them successfully," he explained, somewhat resigned. He considered himself lucky to have secured Nengyan herbs. There weren't many spirit-enhancing pills in his possession.

    "That's fine then. But if the Nengyan seeds don't grow or die, you can't charge me later."

    "Agreed! Will you buy some spirit-enhancing pills now, or wait to exchange it with Nengyan herbs later?"

    "How much are the spirit-enhancing pills?" She had 13 taels from selling herbs.

    "Normally, I sell each pill for 5 taels, but since it's you, little Miss Zhu, I'll sell them to you for 3 taels and 5 qian each."

    3 taels and 5 qian!

    That's incredibly expensive. Even if they sold their house, the two mu of land, and all the herbs and vegetables in the garden, it still wouldn't be enough to buy sufficient spirit beads for one person's cultivation training.

    Typically, a cultivator consumes one spirit bead every 5 days, requiring 6 pills per month. Thus, it costs 21 taels each month.

    21 taels!

    It's no wonder ordinary people can't afford to cultivate and spend 21 taels every month. Only the large families and nobility could afford such an expense. Those slightly well-off might manage, but her family was too poor. It was painful being born into poverty.

    Such rotten luck!

    "I'll try giving the herbs to my father to plant first," she said through clenched teeth, needing to save her money for other things rather than spending it recklessly.

    After finalizing the agreement with Shopkeeper Tiao, Zhenzhu excused herself to go home. On her way home, she stopped to buy sweet stuffed dough pyramid and candies for He Yu.

    Upon arriving home, she was startled to find Xiao She curled up at the front door.

    "Yu'er! Take it somewhere else to sleep right now!" It terrified her.

    "Big Sister, Xiao She is just sleeping," Yu'er defended his pet, the poor Xiao She, just sleeping, yet still got hate.

    "I've brought you sweet stuffed dough pyramid. If you want some, take Xiao She to sleep at the back of the house."

    "Really? Okay, and give some magical water to Xiao She too." Yu’er said, he then sweetly mumbled a few words to Xiao She, who then obediently slithered after him to the backyard.

    After dealing with Yu'er's clever pet, Zhenzhu went to the vegetable garden where He Ming was diligently weeding.

    "Big Brother, you should take a break. It's still hot. I'll bring you some cool water."

    "Just a bit more to finish, Zhu’er," he replied, wiping sweat streaming down from his hairline to the face.

    "Where's Mother going, Big Brother?"

    "She went to help with the wedding of Aunt Sun's son at the end of the village."

    "Oh, Big Brother, I have something to tell you about spirit-enhancing pills. Come sit down and rest for a while; otherwise, I won't tell you." She tempted him with the spirit-enhancing pills, knowing he wouldn't take a break otherwise. The weather was this hot, he could pass out.

    "Really?"

    Once he heard the word spirit-enhancing pills, he hurried over excitedly, sitting down on a bench under a tree to listen to what his younger sister was about to say attentively.

    "I'll get some water for you." She went back to fetch water for her brother, his face flushed from the sun, ears adorably perked up in anticipation.

    He eagerly and obediently drank water. "Hurry up and tell me," He Ming urged.

    Zhenzhu quickly recounted her agreement with ShopkeeperTiao, then showed him the Nengyan herb’s seeds.

    "Ah, so the spirit-enhancing pills are that expensive," He Ming sighed, disheartened.

    "It's okay. We can grow Nengyan herbs in exchange. But Shopkeeper Tiao said they are very difficult to grow."

    "It's okay, let's try planting it. Go! Let's plant it right now. You fetch some water, and I'll start digging over there," he quickly made plans, catching Zhenzhu off guard.

    See just how obsessed he is with spirit energy cultivation.

    At the beginning of the third month, the weather began to warm up, the winter was bidding farewell to this year. This winter was shorter than ever. The flora started to sprout new leaves, welcoming the warmer air.

    Zhenzhu, sitting on a rock by the stream where she often sneaked out to practice her spirit energy cultivation, under the cooling shade of a tree sprouting new leaves, practiced her cultivation techniques adeptly as described in the manual written by her father. She managed to create 39 spirit energy channels, feeling the delicate and fluid nature of the spirit energy within her Dantian spot. Her body gradually strengthened unknowingly, and her senses sharpened beyond before, allowing her to hear the distant insect sounds clearly.

    Zhenzhu would practice her spirit energy cultivation almost every day, 2 shichen each. Other than the practice, she would spend her time helping her brother and mother with the new plants and herbs they had recently sown, as the first batch of winter vegetables was just enough for their consumption, with the surplus sold to Shopkeeper Tiao. They were left with pumpkins and Chinese chives, which remained there because they did not finish the harvest.

    Shopkeeper Tiao then sold the vegetable to the vegetable buyer shop, the transaction Shopkeeper Tiao earned them 50 taels. Miss Wang was so thrilled since this was her first time seeing 50 taels, she was so happy that she fainted.

    Shopkeeper Tiao mentioned that Shopkeeper Caiji, the vegetable buyer shop owner, greatly appreciated these spirit-infused vegetables. Butlers of the prominent families in the city inquired at his shop daily, prompted him to crawl to Shopkeeper Tiao to ask him who was the owner of those vegetable, for him to continue purchasing from them. Shopkeeper Tiao, however, kept silent, leaving Shopkeeper Caiji to visit Ruyi Pharmacy daily to plead with Shopkeeper Tiao, only to be disappointed each time.

    Now, rumors in Fengfu city circulated about a spirit energy cultivator who grew and sold high-quality vegetables, surpassing the common cultivator's produce, causing many prominent families to search widely. They even whispered that Shopkeeper Caiji of the vegetable shop knew this cultivator's identity but refused to disclose it.

    Shopkeeper Caiji was in a difficult position because of their searching. But how could he answer, he did not know who the person was.

    After earning 50 taels from selling vegetables and another 50 from selling spirit herbs, minus various expenses, the He family had a remaining 87 taels. They planted a new batch of vegetables, focusing on drought-resistant or less-water varieties like bitter melon, cucumber, kale, malidjo, white cabbage, and bok choy.

    This time, they increased the amount by three plots each.

    However, Zhenzhu's current concern was the Nengyan herb seeds from Shopkeeper Tiao, which struggled to grow. Whether they germinated or not, they soon withered and died. Despite her trying different watering methods, including using spiritual energized water, regular water. She tried to water it once every two shichen, or even once every two days, but nothing succeeded.

    After her last cultivation session, Zhenzhu returned to the vegetable garden to check on the Nengyan herbs planted three days prior.

    "Big Brother, why that face? Has it not grown again?" she noticed He Ming's sad expression while he was looking at the little Nengyan herb’s sprout, which seemed to be withering again.

    "It's wilting again. It's dying," he said, disheartened.

    "Big Brother, it's okay. If we can't grow it, we don't have to. We'll plant other vegetables and herbs instead. When we sell them, we'll have enough money to buy pills. Don't worry, Big Brother" Zhenzhu consoled him.

    She felt sorry for He Ming, who devoted all his effort and heart to cultivating the Nengyan herb. He tenderly cared for it as if it were a little child, but each time it was about to grow, it would wither and die prematurely.

    He Ming nodded slightly and sat down on the ground, looking at the Nengyan herb with a downcast expression.

    Zhenzhu couldn't help but look on. Sigh, such a delicate herb, so hard to cultivate.