Chapter 16 Ginseng

The following morning at dawn.

Chen Jie, in his drowsy state, felt a figure moving in front of him.

Opening his eyes, he saw Little Douding sitting in front of him, anxiously staring at him.

Chen Jie turned over, and Little Douding immediately became anxious, "Brother-in-law, wake up quickly; the sun is already heating your back."

"What time is it?"

Chen Jie asked, and Little Douding replied, "It's 5:30 AM."

"What a mess; I'm going back to sleep."

Chen Jie still wasn't accustomed to the timekeeping method of this era. At 5:30 AM, according to the ancient method of dividing the day into 12 two-hour periods, it was six thirty in the morning.

"Brother-in-law, wake up, sister has finished cooking the meal, she's been waiting for you for a long time,"

Little Douding said anxiously.

In fact, Chen Jie didn't really care what time he got up, but today's breakfast included leftover rabbit meat from yesterday and freshly made sorghum rice, so she was simply craving it.

But her sister said that they wouldn't start the meal unless brother-in-law woke up, so the little fellow could only wait anxiously by Chen Jie's bedside.

Chen Jie didn't particularly enjoy sleeping in either, but after reading the report last night, he was too excited to sleep.

The most important piece of information was the fifth item: Doctor Bai had fallen into Wild Wolf Gully.

Wild Wolf Gully was deep and treacherous, rumored to be infested with wild wolves. Doctor Bai's fall there, unable to summon help from heaven or earth, and even spraining his foot—how utterly desperate he must have been.

And if he happened to pass by and save him, Doctor Bai would surely be deeply indebted to him.

Doing a favor for someone, to make them owe him a big favor, would definitely have great benefits.

He remembered that his son-in-law was the manager of the fishery in Xiantao Village and a disciple of the Fishing Guild. By connecting with him, wasn't he bound to accomplish his goal of joining the guild and becoming a member?

Thus, he pondered for a long time last night, only falling asleep after two in the morning.

Getting up, Chen Jie felt groggy. Both sisters were already awake and had prepared breakfast. If he slept until eight or nine, it wouldn't look good, and there was also the matter with Doctor Bai; better not be late and miss the opportunity to save him.

After washing his face, he finally got to eat the sorghum rice that Little Douding had been craving so much.

The sorghum rice was not very tasty—it was very hard—but Little Douding ate it with satisfaction. In this era, polished rice, also known as official rice, was only eaten by officials or wealthy families.

After eating two bowls of sorghum rice and consuming more than half of the leftover rabbit meat, Chen Jie stopped eating.

He stood up and told Su Yunjin that he was going to the back mountain to see if he could hunt some game.

Upon hearing this, Su Yunjin looked at Chen Jie with concern, but Little Douding asked, "Will there be fatty rabbits today?"

Chen Jie patted Little Douding's head and said, "If you crave it, it will be there."

Su Yunjin thought for a moment, then went back into the house and quickly returned with a small cloth bag for Chen Jie, "Be careful. We are out of dry food at home. There were some rice crusts left from cooking; if you get hungry on the mountain, eat some."

"If you go up the mountain again in the future, let me know in advance. I'll prepare some patties for you."

Chen Jie looked at the rice crusts in front of him, knowing it was a gesture of Su Yunjin's care, while Little Douding, hearing about the rice crusts, smacked her lips—the rice crusts were really fragrant.

She really wanted to taste them.

Chen Jie smiled at Su Yunjin and then patted Little Douding on the head, instructing them not to go out today. He would figure out the food situation, and then he headed up the mountain.

He needed to go up the mountain early. Who knew what time Doctor Bai would fall into Wild Wolf Gully? If he went too late, a wolf might indeed carry him away.

It didn't really matter if Doctor Bai was eaten, the main thing was not to jeopardize his own future prospects.

Right now, Doctor Bai was very important in Chen Jie's plans.

Having climbed the mountain, Chen Jie first went to take a look at Wild Wolf Gully; there was no sign of activity. Then he headed straight for Old Bull Cliff. At the location described in the intelligence report, Chen Jie searched around and eventually moved a large rock. In the crack beneath the stone, he spotted the ginseng.

A ten-year-old ginseng was quite precious, though it couldn't compare to Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, but it was excellent for nourishing the body. This particular ginseng could probably sell for three to five silver taels.

That was a significant amount of money. According to Daqian's currency conversion, one silver tael was equivalent to one thousand cents.

Now in Daqian, the price of sorghum rice was ten cents per pound, pork twenty cents per pound. In the countryside, two silver taels could definitely buy a poor family's daughter to work as a maid.

A strong laborer working as a long-term worker in a landlord's house earned only ten cents a day; even the more lucrative job of working at the docks only paid thirty cents a day.

And this ten-year-old ginseng could sell for three to five silver taels—that was equivalent to three to five hundred pounds of sorghum rice, enough to feed a family for half a year.

Don't think this price was cheap.

Ginseng was actually not as precious as people imagined; the value of ginseng lay in its age. This one was just a ten-year-old ginseng. If it were twenty years old, the price would double.

Thirty years would double that again, nearly doubling in price every additional ten years.

This ginseng was still too young.

However, Chen Jie was very pleased. Selling this ginseng would at least alleviate a great deal of his financial pressure—at least his food expenses were sorted out for the near future.

Thinking this, Chen Jie wrapped the ginseng carefully and placed it in the bamboo basket on his back.

This basket was woven by Uncle Erba, and it was quite sturdy.

Having placed the ginseng in the basket, Chen Jie casually dug up a few medicinal herbs that were not very valuable and put them in the basket too. Then he slung the basket over his back, pretending to be a herb picker as he approached Wild Wolf Gully.

Although he was going to rescue Doctor Bai, he couldn't just strut in openly, or he would draw suspicion. It was better to disguise himself as a herb picker, and it was fitting since he knew a bit about medicine.

That was how he reached Wild Wolf Gully, but he didn't find Doctor Bai there. Had he arrived too early?

Chen Jie thought about it and then leaned against a big tree. He had gotten up quite early today and was feeling groggy from lack of sleep.

Chen Jie wanted to sleep, but sleeping in the deep forest was like courting death. Who knew if he might be carried away by a wolf the moment he opened his eyes?

So, Chen Jie started practicing the Yang Chun Skill.

And let it not be said, once he started cultivating the Yang Chun Skill and regulated his breathing, Chen Jie quickly felt his fatigue dissipate and his mind clear up. His whole state improved.

It was as if he had had a good long sleep, and before he knew it, Chen Jie had entered meditation.

Just as Chen Jie entered meditation not long before, on a nearby mountain, an elderly man wearing gray clothes, a cap, holding a medicine pickaxe, and sporting a goatee was passing through Wild Wolf Gully. He looked down and spotted a good astragalus growing on a mountainside.

His eyes lit up, and he gingerly made his way over. Standing on the slope, he took out his medicine pickaxe and was about to start digging when suddenly a snake slithered out.

"Ah!"

The old man jumped back in fright, stepping backward onto a stone, and instantly lost his balance.

"Ah~"

He screamed tragically and tumbled down the slope, falling into a large ditch.