The morning sunlight streamed through the thin bamboo windows of the thatched house, casting a warm, bright golden glow on the clean wooden floor. Bai Jing sat on the edge of the bed, leaning against a rolled-up blanket. His face was still somewhat pale, but the high fever that had nearly killed his child two days ago had finally subsided, leaving only slight weakness.
Beside him, the fluffy little creature, Scruffy was curled up in a ball, its tail gently patting the blanket every few seconds. It only showed up after Ye Cheng left. When Bai Jing reached out to stroke the soft fur behind its ears, Scruffy let out a contented purr, opened one of its blue eyes to look at the human, and then closed it again.
Ye Cheng had gone to the Refining Guild in town early. Before leaving, he placed a cup of warm water and a plate of steaming hot buns on the wooden table, making sure Bai Jing could reach them. Although Ye Cheng remained reserved and aloof, the shift in his attitude from hostility to little care brought Bai Jing a sense of security he had never felt since transmigrating to this world.
Bai Jing had just finished drinking a bowl of warm water when the peaceful atmosphere of the courtyard was broken by footsteps and rustling sounds outside the low bamboo gate.
"Oh dear, is Jing Ger home?"
A sharp yet familiar voice came from inside the courtyard. Bai Jing immediately recognized her, it was Aunt Wang, the notoriously gossipy woman in Longxu Village.
Bai Jing straightened his outer robe, concealing his slightly protruding belly, and slowly stood up. Before he even reached the door, it was pushed open, and five or six villagers walked in uninvited. Aunt Wang led the way, and the group included several middle-aged women and two men from the east side of the village, all exuding exaggerated enthusiasm and concern.
"Oh dear, Jing Ger! You're finally up!" Aunt Wang hurriedly stepped forward, with concern on her face as she took Bai Jing's hand: "We heard from Old Man Lan that you fell ill the night before last and were taken to town in the middle of the night. As fellow villagers, how could we not come to see you?"
"Yes, Jing Ger," another aunt chimed in, her eyes greedily scanning the yard, glancing towards the kitchen: "We were all very worried about you and Young Master Ye. You two are still young, and you've only just arrived in the village. If you need any help, please let us know!"
Bai Jing naturally withdrew his hand, offering a polite but distant smile: "Thank you for your concern, uncles and aunts. The fever was just a cold from the night wind, but I took some medicine prescribed to me by the town physician, and I'm much better now."
He knew very well that if these villagers truly cared about his health, they would have brought a basket of eggs or fresh vegetables, not come empty-handed with shifty eyes. They came under the guise of concern, but their main purpose was his business. He's not deaf, he'd hear them talking about it on multiple occasions.
For the past two weeks, Lan Zhu had been taking baskets of fresh mushrooms to town every few days, returning with a few silver coins. In this poor farming village, every household toils hard all season and can barely earn a few taels of silver. Seeing an unmarried Ger and an abandoned nobleman's Ger so easily earning copper coins and silver makes everyone envious.
After a few pleasantries, the visitors could no longer conceal their true intentions.
A middle-aged man named Uncle Chen, rubbing his hands, said: "Jing Ger, we heard you've been selling wild mushrooms to the Daode Restaurant in Liyu Town. But do you know, my brother-in-law works at a much bigger restaurant in town, Xianfeng Pavilion! He casually mentioned yesterday that they're recruiting wild mushrooms, offering at least 20% more than Daode Restaurant!"
Aunt Wang immediately chimed in, nodding eagerly: "Yes, yes, yes! Daode Restaurant is just trying to rip you off since you're new here! Why let them take advantage of you? Besides, Lan Zhu is just a young ger, carrying a heavy basket. My eldest son has a sturdy oxcart! If you let our family handle the transportation and sales, we can give you a higher price, and you won't have to worry about anything!"
"And what about mushroom picking?" Another aunt excitedly joined in, her voice growing louder the more she talked: "The mountain is so big, and Jing Ger, you're pregnant. How many mushrooms can one person pick? Why not teach the children here how to identify which mushrooms are edible? We're all neighbors. If our family can pick them all up, we can supply the whole town, and make silver together!!"
Hearing their aggressive and shameless suggestion, Bai Jing sneered inwardly.
They wanted him to break his contract with Boss Li of the Daode Restaurant, replace his loyal partner Lan Zhu with Aunt Wang's son, and then, under the guise of "neighborly assistance," teach them his unique mushroom identification method for free. Once they learned how to identify mushrooms, they would immediately kick him out and monopolize the business.
Bai Jing, however, remained unusually calm, showing neither anger nor hostility. He sighed softly, a hint of regret in his voice, gently stroking his belly as if exhausted.
"I'm very grateful for everyone's suggestions," Bai Jing said softly, her tone full of helplessness: "but I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I signed a formal contract with the Daode Restaurant, and Boss Li has a lot of influence in town. If I breach the contract, my family can't afford the penalty."
Seeing the villagers' faces darken, Bai Jing continued before they could react: "Moreover, this special edible mushroom only grows in cool, damp places in the mountains. After these past few weeks of harvesting, this batch of mushrooms is almost completely gone. Even if I wanted to pick some more, there aren't any left."
Disappointment and disbelief flashed across the villagers' faces. Aunt Wang opened her mouth, clearly wanting to ask further, but Bai Jing cleverly changed the subject with a gentle smile.
"However… since everyone is so enthusiastic and willing to help me, I do actually have something urgent that I need your assistance with."
The villagers paused, their eyes regaining their curiosity: "What is it, Jing Ger?"
Bai Jing walked to the wooden table in the main room and took out a stack of coarse paper and a brush. On the paper, he neatly drew detailed diagrams of three common plants, including leaf veins, root systems, and stem.
Bai Jing said, holding up the drawn diagram of the medicinal bath for everyone to see: "As you know, I'm weak, and the town physician prescribed me a medicinal bath to stabilize my pregnancy and clear heat and detoxify. I need a lot of these three herbs for my daily bath. Because my legs are inconvenient, and Ye Cheng is busy with guild matters, I can't collect enough myself."
The villagers gathered around to look at the diagram, some immediately bursting into laughter, while others started scoffing.
"Hey, Jing Ger, isn't that iron-leaf grass and silver dew moss?" Uncle Chen pointed at the blueprint and exclaimed, "These things are everywhere on the hillside behind the village, like weeds! Even the cows won't eat those hard bits! You call this medicine?"
"That's right, these are weeds!" another villager added.
Bai Jing smiled calmly, completely unfazed by their mocking tone: "To others, they're weeds; but the physician said they're essential medicinal herbs. If you're willing to help me pick them, I'll pay you thirty copper coins for every basket full of fresh herbs matching the blueprint."
"Thirty copper coins for a basket?!"
The courtyard instantly buzzed with excitement!
Thirty copper coins were no small sum for a farmer! Picking a basket of weeds behind the village could be done in less than an hour by adults and children! If the whole family came to pick for a day, wouldn't they earn several hundred copper coins?
Aunt Wang and the others' eyes gleamed with greed instantly, immediately forgetting about the mushroom business. Since they could easily earn money by picking weeds right at their doorstep, why bother going to the city and dealing with restaurant owners?
"Jing Ger, I'll go pick them for you right now! My family can deliver ten baskets to you before sunset!" Aunt Wang called out eagerly, turning and running as if she were heading up the mountain.
"Wait, Aunt Wang, everyone." Bai Jing called out, stopping them in their tracks.
"My house is small, and storage space is limited," Bai Jing said calmly, pointing at his house: "Besides, the herbs for the medicinal bath must be fresh. Therefore, I've set a rule: each household will only receive one basket of herbs per day. After checking each afternoon, I will pay thirty copper coins. Any more than one basket will not be accepted."
This restriction was like a bucket of cold water poured over the villagers, instantly shattering their plans to scheme.
Receiving only one basket per household per day meant that each household in the village could reliably earn thirty copper coins daily, with no single family able to monopolize all the profits or the business. Those with ill intentions had no choice but to give up.
Aunt Wang and Uncle Chen exchanged a glance, still somewhat reluctant, but earning thirty copper coins a day by picking common weeds was a profitable deal neither wanted to miss.
"Alright! One basket it is!" Aunt Wang quickly took a herb drawing from Bai Jing's hand: "Jing Ger, save one basket for my family! We'll go pick the freshest herbs this afternoon!"
"My family too!"
"Give me one too!"
Not long after, the villagers left the courtyard with their herb drawings, running towards the mountain path to begin picking wild herbs.