The speaker was a man around forty years old, slightly overweight, with an imposing air; he was probably a scholar.

Two people stood beside him. One was a thin man with a goatee, who looked to be in his fifties. His eyes were unreadable as he carefully examined Zhao Xian.

Another was a young man, around twenty years old, who was supporting his right arm with his left hand, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was injured.

What brings you here?

Seeing that the man speaking was polite, Zhao Xian also became more courteous in his tone.

"My name is Shen Yong, a merchant from Huizhou Prefecture. On this business trip, I was robbed by bandits who stole my carriage and travel expenses. I am now penniless."

We have traveled for half a day to reach this place. I wonder if you, sir, have any silver to lend us to help us out of this urgent need? We will surely repay you handsomely in the future.”

It turned out that a business owner had encountered bandits who not only stole his carriage but also his money, forcing him to flee here.

It seems they had sought help from others without success, so they came to me, a poor scholar. I should help them out.

But he only had one or two taels of silver on him, which was his start-up capital. More importantly, he still had twenty taels of debt to repay at the end of the month, so he had to hurry up and make money.

Seeing Zhao Xian's troubled expression, the man knew he was a poor scholar and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Excuse me, we'll think of another way." After saying that, the man turned around and left with the two of them.

I should help them out. I have twenty taels of debt, and whether or not I have that one tael of silver, I have to work hard to earn money. Now that these people are in trouble, I should lend a helping hand.

"Please wait a moment, everyone. I don't have much money on me. I don't know if I can help you. How much money do you need?"

The man was overjoyed and quickly turned around.

"We only need a little travel money, a tael of silver will suffice."

Zhao Xian was in a bind. This guy seemed to know that he had one or two taels of silver on him. Oh well, he would just give it to them.

He took out a small cloth bag from his body, opened it layer by layer, and finally revealed a tael of silver.

"I only have this one or two taels of silver on me, please take it." After saying that, she handed the silver to the man.

This is silver that Zhao Xian exchanged for a thousand copper coins from the system. It is of very high quality, unlike the silver circulating in the market, which is dark in color and covered with bite marks.

The man looked at the one tael of silver in his hand. This silver ingot should not have circulated and must have been carried with him all the time, which is why it was kept so well, like a work of art.

"May I ask your honorable name, sir? I will repay this travel expense in the future." The man bowed and thanked him.

"Scholar Zhao Xian from Narcissus Village, this is just a small amount of silver, don't take it seriously. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." After saying this, Zhao Xian turned and left.

The man looked in the direction Zhao Xian had left, nodded approvingly, and said to the man with the goatee beside him:

"I didn't expect this person to be a scholar. My lord, write down this person's name."

"Yes, sir."

As Zhao Xian walked, he pondered. Those people didn't seem like businessmen, but he couldn't tell who they were or why they had fallen on hard times.

He had a tael of silver on him just now, but now he's penniless again. He needs to hurry back to buy some ground mushrooms, exchange them for copper coins, and then purchase some necessary items from the system.

He spent four coins to buy two baskets and arrived at the town entrance, where he found Liu Erleng's oxcart still there.

Several people were already sitting on the oxcart. When they saw Zhao Xian get on, they were all very polite to him. One of the men even found a stool and handed it to him.

Seeing that almost everyone had boarded, Liu Erleng gave a shout, and the old ox started pulling the cart away from the town entrance.

"Scholar, the waterwheel you made is so useful. The ditch was cleaned before dark yesterday."

Many people worked through the night, carrying water and lighting torches, creating quite a lively scene. "A man shouted as soon as he saw Zhao Xian.

"That's right. This morning, before dawn, many people went to the water pump, and the village head also went."

The village has over a hundred households and more than two thousand mu of farmland, half of which is paddy fields. One waterwheel is definitely not enough, so the village head wants to build several.

Hearing this, Zhao Xian felt a little gratified. The waterwheel he made solved the village's irrigation problem and was loved by the villagers. This was a good thing, and he was happy to contribute to things like this.

The atmosphere on the oxcart was very lively. The group chatted and laughed, and soon they arrived at the village entrance. Everyone jumped off the oxcart.

Zhao Xian did not go home, but instead carried a basket to the grassy area by the embankment.

From a distance, he saw many people picking ground mushrooms on the grass, estimating there to be thirty or forty people.

If there are enough mushrooms today, he should be able to earn a lot of copper coins.

He used all the copper coins he had to buy steamed buns, more than forty in total. Based on his experience, these should be enough.

It doesn't matter if it's not enough. As long as you have copper coins, you can have plenty of steamed buns, and you can buy up as many wild mushrooms as you want.

The mushroom pickers were finally greeted by the arrival of the scholar, who carried a basket filled with steamed buns.

The crowd surged toward him, and Zhao Xian couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as he looked at the wild mushrooms they had picked.

Whether it was due to the weather or the large number of people, they picked very few mushrooms, some weighing only a few ounces, and the most they picked was no more than half a pound.

Moreover, these ground mushrooms were mostly shriveled up; I wonder if the system wants ground mushrooms of this quality.

Seeing their longing eyes, Zhao Xian decided to take the mushrooms first, and exchange them for a steamed bun no matter how many they picked.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised. They poured the mushrooms into Zhao Xian's basket, took the steamed buns, and left excitedly.

He picked up the basket, grabbed a handful of dried mushrooms, and examined them carefully.

【Grade 3 dried ground mushrooms, 120 coins per catty, are you selling them?】

Zhao Xian was pleasantly surprised. Dried ground mushrooms fetched a higher price. Thinking about it, this made sense, since the ground mushrooms, though shriveled, still retained some moisture.

If it's completely dried, it should be a first-grade dried ground mushroom, and the price should be higher.

Thinking of this, he quickly said to the departing people:

"After you dry the ground mushrooms, keep them for now and sell them to me at the end of the month. At that time, one pound of dried ground mushrooms can be exchanged for ten steamed buns."

Everyone was taken aback at first, then overjoyed. Dried mushrooms could be exchanged for more steamed buns. They would call their families to come and pick them, and a few pounds of dried mushrooms would make dozens of steamed buns.

Just as Zhao Xian was about to sell the mushrooms, he saw his younger sister Zhao Lingling standing beside him, staring blankly at him as if she didn't recognize him.

She was carrying a small basket containing some ground mushrooms.

"Lingling, what are you doing picking mushrooms here too?"

"Brother, I heard that you can exchange ground mushrooms for steamed buns, so I came to pick them. Just now they said that you traded steamed buns for ground mushrooms, and I didn't believe it, but I didn't expect it to be true."

"Yes, a restaurant in town needs wild mushrooms. I'm exchanging them for the restaurant. You go back first. I'll deliver these wild mushrooms I collected and then go home soon."

After Zhao Xian finished speaking, he put the few remaining steamed buns in his hand into his sister's basket.