After Ye Cheng finished his bath, his heavy exhaustion had mostly dissolved into the soothing warmth of the herbal essence. He changed into clean, coarse linen robes and stepped out into the main room, where the faint aroma of freshly cooked food awaited him. Bai Jing had already set the table with two steaming bowls of millet porridge, a plate of stir-fried wild greens, and two buns he had kept warm near the stove hearth.
"Eat while it's hot," Bai Jing said with a mild smile, setting down a pair of bamboo chopsticks beside Ye Cheng's bowl: "I'll go soak in the bath now."
Ye Cheng looked up, his dark eyes lingering on Bai Jing's pale face for a moment before nodding gently: "Don't stay in the water too long once it begins to cool. Be careful not to catch a cold."
"I know," Bai Jing replied softly. He turned and walked back into the side room, closing the wooden door quietly behind him.
Once inside, Bai Jing let out a soft, long breath. The bath liquid had lost its scalding heat, leaving a perfectly comfortable, lukewarm temperature ideal for relaxing his sensitive body. He slipped into the emerald-green water, leaning his head against the wooden rim. The gentle energy of the Silver-Dew Moss seeped into his skin, easing the lingering tightness in his lower abdomen and soothing his weary nerves.
He deliberately stayed in the tub, occasionally scooping water over his shoulders long after the heat had faded. In truth, he was stalling time. Even though Ye Cheng's attitude had softened remarkably over the past few days, the deep-seated apprehension in Bai Jing's heart was not so easily erased. The memories of Ye Cheng's former coldness and intense hostility remained vivid, leaving an instinctual caution within him. He hoped that by the time he returned to the bedroom, Ye Cheng would already be fast asleep, saving them both from any awkward interactions.
When the water finally turned completely cold, Bai Jing dried himself off, dressed in loose nightclothes, and crept quietly back into the main room. The oil lamp on the table had been extinguished, leaving only the soft moonlight filtering through the bamboo window frame. From the corner bed, the steady sound of breathing filled the quiet room.
Bai Jing let out a silent sigh of relief. His wish had come true. Moving as lightly as a feather, he climbed into the inner side of the bed, carefully tucking his portion of the quilt around his body to ensure he didn't disturb the man beside him. Settling into his usual spot, the physical exhaustion of the day quickly caught up with him, and before long, his breathing evened out as he drifted into a peaceful sleep.
The moment Bai Jing's breathing turned deep and steady, the dark eyes of the man lying beside him opened.
Ye Cheng turned his head slightly in the dim moonlight, gazing at the faint outline of Bai Jing's sleeping profile. He let out a barely audible sigh, a complex shadow of regret passing across his sharp features. Though Bai Jing had been friendly, polite, and attentive toward him even after all that happened, Ye Cheng wasn't blind. He could sense the invisible barrier Bai Jing maintained between them. The hesitation, the guarded tone, and the relief whenever they avoided close contact. Bai Jing was still afraid of him, and Ye Cheng knew with bitter certainty that his own past harshness was the sole cause of that distance.
He pulled the blanket slightly higher over Bai Jing's shoulder to shield him from the midnight chill, then closed his eyes once more in silence.
...
Over the next few days, the daily routine in Longxu Village was lively, and bustling. Every afternoon, villagers carrying bamboo baskets filled with fresh Silver-Dew Moss and Iron-Leaf Grass would line up outside Bai Jing's courtyard. Word of the easy money quickly spread, and almost every household in the village joined in the gathering effort. Thirty copper coins a day was a sum no farming family could ignore.
However, while the arrangement brought steady income, it did not satisfy everyone. Greed was an insatiable monster. Many villagers began to feel frustrated by Bai Jing's strict rule of accepting only one basket per household each day. They looked at the hillside covered in weeds, thinking of the hundreds of copper coins they could be earning if only Bai Jing weren't so stubbornly restrictive.
On a warm afternoon, a young man named Wu Kang from the Wu family stepped into the courtyard, dragging two heavy, bulging bamboo baskets behind him. He slammed them down onto the dirt floor with a loud sound, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Jing Ger! I've brought today's herbs!" Wu Kang called out in a clear and loud voice.
Bai Jing walked out from the doorway, his hand resting lightly on his back. He glanced down at the two baskets overflowing with freshly plucked green leaves, then looked up at Wu Kang with a calm, indifferent expression.
"Wu Kang, I set a rule clear to everyone from the very beginning. Each household is permitted to sell only one basket per day. Select the better basket, and I will pay you thirty copper coins for it. I will not accept the second one." Bai Jing said, his tone voice even and unhurried.
Wu Kang's face instantly darkened, his brows furrowing in anger: "Why not?! Look at these herbs! They are as fresh as can be, picked from the top of the ridge this morning! My mother and I spent half the day breaking our backs to get these! Why won't you take both when you clearly have plenty of silver?"
"My storage is limited, and I only need a specific number of fresh herbs daily," Bai Jing replied smoothly, completely unmoved by the young man's hostility: "Rules are rules. If I break them for your family, how could I face the rest of the village?"
Several neighboring villagers who had come to deliver their own baskets gathered around the bamboo fence, whispering among themselves as they watched the scene unfold with keen interest.
Wu Kang felt his temper raise under the eyes of the crowd. He sneered, hoisting one basket back onto his shoulder while grabbing the handle of the other: "Fine! If you won't buy it, don't blame me for finding a better deal! Since you're willing to throw thirty copper coins at a single basket of weeds, these plants must be worth a fortune to the medicine shops in town! I'll just carry them to Liyu Town myself and sell them directly to the apothecaries for fifty copper coins!"
Bai Jing's expression remained calm, but a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. He neither argued nor pleaded but simply put his hands in his sleeves and looked at Wu Kang with a cold and distant gaze.
"You are free to sell your goods wherever you wish," Bai Jing said calmly, his voice carrying clearly across the yard for the others to hear: "However, let me make one thing absolutely clear to you and your family. The moment you carry those herbs out of this village toward the town; you break our agreement. From today onward, I will never order or accept a single basket of herbs from the Wu household again."
Wu Kang froze for a split second, surprised by Bai Jing's swift and unyielding stance. But pride and avarice quickly overwhelmed his caution. He spat on the ground and scoffed loudly: "Hmph! Threatening me? Do you think you're the only buyer under the heavens? Just wait until I bring back silver from the town physicians! You'll be the one begging us to sell to you!"
Without another word, Wu Kang turned on his heel and marched out of the courtyard with his two heavy baskets, heading straight toward the dirt road leading out of the village.
Back at the Wu household, Wu Kang's mother and grandma were waiting eagerly. When Wu Kang explained what had happened, his mother patted her thigh in agreement rather than reprimanding him.
"You did the right thing, Kang'er!" His mother said greedily: "That city ger thinks he's so clever, buying our herbs cheap to make a profit! If those useless weeds weren't valuable, why would a sickly person like him spend thirty coppers every single day on them? He must be selling them secretly to town physicians for a high price! Once you sell them in town, our family won't have to look at his arrogant face anymore!"
The surrounding villagers who witnessed the conflict harbored similar suspicions in their hearts. Many exchanged knowing looks, their minds buzzing with calculations. They had long wondered why Bai Jing was so eager to buy common weeds. Watching Wu Kang set off for town, they secretly decided to hold back their own ambitions for a day or two, choosing to wait and see if the Wu family truly struck gold in the city before making their own moves.