Jing Li felt relieved: "That's good..."

Qin Zhao glanced at him and said, "Why are you so worried about him? Have you forgotten what he did in the past?"

"Of course not, but he has helped me a lot these days, I——"

Jing Li was about to explain when he suddenly realized, "You...are you jealous?"

Qin Zhao put down the bowl and said frankly, "Yes."

Jing Li: “…”

This is the first time I've seen someone talk about jealousy so confidently.

Qin Zhao asked, "What are you looking at me for?"

"Nothing, it's just..." Jing Li said, "I feel like you're a little different than when I first met you."

Qin Zhao: "Isn't it good?"

"Of course not, that's fine."

Back then, Qin Zhao was silent and cold, keeping everything to himself and distrusting everything in the outside world. He was like building a thick protective shell around himself, so no one could get into his heart or gain his trust.

Now the protective shell is still there, but he has opened his heart to Jing Li.

Qin Zhao finished the last of his noodles, stood up to clear the bowl and chopsticks, and said calmly, "It will be even more different in the future."

Jing Li: “?”

Qin Zhao didn't explain any further and went straight to the kitchen with the dishes, leaving Jingli sitting alone at the table, wondering.

Which future did Qin Zhao say?

.

After lunch, Qin Zhao wrote two letters to the county town, one to Pei An and one to Mr. Xue, informing them that they had found the Astragalus herb.

He packed the letter and walked out of the house, only to see Jing Li sitting on a bamboo chair in the yard, staring at the Astragalus seedling in a daze with his chin propped up.

Qin Zhao: "..."

Although he found the herbs, Jing Li was not completely relieved.

The Astragalus root hadn't yet formed, and it would take several days before it could be used as medicine. Jing Li couldn't rest easy until he saw it dried and used as medicine.

Qin Zhao shook his head helplessly, stepped forward and rubbed the boy's head, saying, "Astragalus grows in the wild and has strong survival abilities. It doesn't matter if you don't guard it."

"But..." Jing Li whispered, "We only have this one..."

Things that only exist in one form or another are often the easiest to lose, as the stories say.

What if something goes wrong with the herb, wouldn’t all their efforts be in vain?

Qin Zhao felt somewhat helpless and asked again, "Do you want to continue to stay here, or come with me to the village entrance to mail the letter?"

"Send a letter? To Doctor Xue and the others?" Jing Li stood up decisively, "I'll help you send it."

Qin Zhao disagreed: "It's okay, I just want to go out for a walk."

He has been bedridden for so many days since he came back and has not even left the yard.

Jing Li hesitated: "Then...it can't be more than half an hour."

Qin Zhao: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

There is a post station at the entrance of the village, where you can rent ox carts to travel between the county town and nearby villages, or send letters to the outside world.

However, in this era, the transmission of letters was extremely slow. A distance that an ordinary person could reach in one day would usually take about three days for a letter to travel.

After paying the postage, Jing Li touched his purse, which was obviously much deflated, and put it back in his arms.

Qin Zhao naturally has no time to make money these days.

A few days ago, the town's bookstore sent a message to ask about Qin Zhao's health and whether he could start copying books. However, Qin Zhao had a high fever and couldn't even get out of bed, so he had to decline.

All in all, they have had no income for several months.

But spending has not decreased.

In addition to food and clothing, Qin Zhao fell ill some time ago, and it cost a lot of money to buy medicine and see a doctor for him.

If each household had not sent some gifts as a thank you when they returned to the village, and if the vegetables in the fields had not been almost ripe, they would probably have had trouble even getting food.

But if this goes on, he won't even have money to buy medicine for Qin Zhao.

Jing Li didn't want to bother Qin Zhao with these things, so he never told him the truth.

But... I have to find a way to make money.

Jing Li thought silently in his heart.

Qin Zhao didn't know all this. After sending the letter to Jing Li, he took him to walk along the newly repaired embankment.

When he returned to the village, he just took a look from afar at the entrance of the village and did not check the construction of the embankment up close. Today, he happened to come out to relax, so he walked slowly along the newly repaired embankment.