Xiaoyue went straight to Tonghe Medical Clinic. When the shop assistant saw Xiaoyue come in, he greeted her warmly and asked her to sit on the bench opposite him.

Xiaoyue sat to one side and glanced at Manager Tong, who was taking the pulse of an old man.

Xiaoyue originally wanted to go to town for a stroll, but she only had 351 coins in her pocket. She could still buy some seeds, but she was still 1,400 coins short of paying for building the house.

Thinking about the feeling of being in debt, Xiaoyue sat quietly in the clinic and waited.

Xiaoyue turned her gaze to the doorway, where there were two little beggars.

An eight-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl, dressed in tattered clothes, squatted under the window of Xingfei Fabrics across the street. The girl hugged her legs, her head drooping to her knees, nodding off sleepily.

Seeing his sister's condition, the older brother took off his clothes and helped her lie down on them to sleep.

Xiaoyue saw that the boy's body was covered with whip marks, marks from when I hit him with a stick, and a purplish-blue mark on his dirty chest.

He recalled being whipped by Old Man Ge in his past life, and the wounds were etched into his bones.

Just as Xiaoyue was feeling down, a pair of gray silk cloth shoes appeared in front of her.

Xiaoyue looked up from the shoes and saw the shopkeeper wearing the same earth-yellow robe he had worn that day, with the sleeves tightened and a five-colored silk sash tied around his waist. He looked at Xiaoyue with a gentle expression, and his little mustache twitched as he spoke: "We meet again, girl."

Then, looking at Xiaoyue's basket, she smiled so hard her eyes narrowed into slits, "Let me see how the Ganoderma lucidum I brought this time is? Last time, it was all bought up by a medicinal herb buyer from a county. I don't have any stock left."

The young shop assistant chimed in from behind the counter, wiping it as he smiled at Xiaoyue and said, "That's the most expensive person I've ever met."

Xiaoyue bent down and placed the Ganoderma lucidum from her basket on the counter. Hearing the young shop assistant's words, she couldn't help but smile.

The shopkeeper stroked his mustache and chuckled, "What do you mean by the most valuable person?"

The young shop assistant chuckled, his eyes widening as he saw that the Ganoderma lucidum Xiaoyue had placed on the counter was even bigger than the last one. "Sister Xiaoyue, where did you find it? I want to go too! This makes more money than getting medicine here." After saying that, he seemed to realize he had said too much, and secretly glanced at the shopkeeper, sticking out his tongue.

Shopkeeper Tong carefully examined the three fine Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, then asked Xiaoyue with a gentle expression, "Are they from the same tree as the ones that came before?"

Xiaoyue smiled and nodded. Then she saw Manager Tong teasing the young shopkeeper: "Xiaoyue, when you leave, take my young shopkeeper with you and leave him in the mountains to see if he can find the same Ganoderma lucidum as you." He winked at Xiaoyue.

The young clerk immediately realized what was going on: "Boss, I'm not going anywhere, I'll just stay here in the clinic."

Xiaoyue smiled slightly, asked the shop assistant for a packet of herbs, spread it on the counter, and then took out the black lumps she had picked from the mountain from her basket.

When Xiaoyue took it out, Manager Tong frowned slightly. He didn't care that his hands were dirty, so he squeezed it himself and then brought it to his mouth to smell it.

Turning around, Xiaoyue saw that Manager Tong's eyes were shining, and hurriedly asked Xiaoyue, "Are there still such things in the mountains?"

Xiaoyue nodded.

"Is it a lot?"

"I don't know. I thought it was some firewood that I picked up. I met someone on my way down the mountain who told me to bring it here and ask you," Xiaoyue replied sincerely.

Shopkeeper Tong, unperturbed by the dirt, took the item in his hand, smelled it, and smiled at Xiaoyue, saying, "This is linden black gold, a very good thing. It's only valuable when dried. Even wet, it's worth 500 yuan a pound now. It's not firewood, and it's not easy to ignite. Are you mistaking it for something else?"

Xiaoyue nodded awkwardly.

At this moment, the waiter brought over a cup of tea and placed it on the counter, indicating that Xiaoyue should drink it.

The shopkeeper took the goods inside, got a scale, and weighed them. It weighed one jin and four liang. The shopkeeper showed it to Xiaoyue and told her that one star on the scale beam represented one jin and one dot represented two liang.

The shopkeeper pointed to the three Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms and said to Xiaoyue, "It's one tael and two mace, and the Linden Black Gold mushroom is also one tael and two mace. The total is two taels and four mace. Actually, if you go to the county town, these two things can be doubled in price."

Xiaoyue smiled at the shopkeeper, "I'll stop here. The county is too far, and it's inconvenient for me to go alone. Besides, there's no more Ganoderma lucidum this season. As for that black gold, I found a piece in a tree hole on my way down the mountain, but I didn't realize it was a medicinal herb. I still need to find that place. I'll bring it to you then."

"Yes, it's been a pleasure working with you." Xiaoyue drank the water and then walked out of the clinic. Manager Tong personally saw Xiaoyue out.

When Xiaoyue left the clinic, the two beggars had already left. It was probably because the cloth shop didn't allow beggars to beg in front of the door.

Xiaoyue didn't take it seriously and went to buy seeds with her basket on her back.

Upon arriving at Hu's Agricultural Supplies shop, Xiaoyue asked, "What kind of garlic, rapeseed, amaranth, cabbage, cucumber, celery, and carrots do you have? I'd like to buy a little of each."

In the end, the waiter packed a little bit of everything, which cost a total of 50 coins.

Xiaoyue picked up her basket and rushed back, only to find that the two beggar brothers had vanished into the walled house.

They turned into the cloth shop, went in and immediately came out again. The beggar had no time to hide and stood there dumbfounded in front of the cloth shop.

Xiaoyue took her brother to a secluded place without threatening him. The younger girl then told Xiaoyue, "When we entered the city, a tall man gave us two steamed buns and told me to follow you."

Xiaoyue frowned. Could it be that tall robber?

Since Xiaoyue was going back by oxcart anyway, she said to the two little beggars, "When you go back, just tell him the truth."

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