Chapter 16: The "Irritable" Wife Loves Tenderly (16)

The old doctor beckoned to Su Qiruo, and she immediately stepped forward, carrying the hemp sack.

The old doctor, who had previously maintained a calm expression, was filled with shock when she saw the contents of the sack.

Su Qiruo felt a surge of joy, knowing that these items were likely very valuable.

In this era of medicinal scarcity, a thousand-year-old ginseng could be worth a fortune; her hundred-year-old ginseng would surely be worth at least a thousand or so taels of silver!

Bending down, she touched the soil clinging to the ginseng, then touched the lingzhi mushroom, lightly rubbing her fingers. Suddenly, the old doctor pulled Su Qiruo toward the back hall.

"Did you dig all of these up yourself?"

"Yes. My family lives at the foot of the mountain, and we make a living by selling medicinal herbs year-round. I dug these up yesterday around noon."

Su Qiruo was being cautious, claiming she sold herbs year-round to avoid being targeted by schemes.

"You are a lucky child. A sack of things like this is enough to earn me several years' worth of income."

The old doctor's eyes were full of delight. Once these items reached her hands, a simple turnover would provide enough for her to spend for years.

"I came here because of your reputation, and because I trust your character. Could you take a look and see how much these are worth?"

Su Qiruo maintained a sincere expression. The old doctor had also been a child from a poor family in her youth, so she truly couldn't bring herself to be too ruthless in lowballing her.

Biting her lip, the old doctor lowered her voice and said, "If someone else came to sell this ginseng, I would give them five hundred taels at most. But you are such an honest child, and I have no desire to act like a wicked merchant. I'll give you a fixed price—eight hundred taels for the ginseng, two hundred taels for the two lingzhi mushrooms, and though the remaining herbs look like quite a lot, they aren't worth much, so I'll add another ten taels. That makes a total of one thousand and ten taels. If you go anywhere else, I guarantee no one will offer a higher price than this."

Su Qiruo had originally calculated that these things would be worth around a thousand taels. Although the old doctor's way of speaking was a bit eccentric, the price wasn't actually that low.

Since this was the clinic with the best reputation in the city, Su Qiruo didn't want to cause any more trouble and simply nodded in agreement.

"You are a straightforward person, so I won't waste words. It is fate that this is my first time here; I will sell this sack to you."

The old doctor was delighted and laughed, "The youth is to be feared; you are a promising child."

She had thought Su Qiruo would be stingy and haggle further, but she hadn't expected this child from a poor family to be so magnanimous, not at all the type to nitpick over small matters.

"You flatter me, Elder."

"If you find such good things again in the future, come back to me. I will certainly not mistreat you."

The old doctor took the sack from Su Qiruo's hands, bent down to inspect it once more, and then called her apprentice outside to give a few instructions. The apprentice then hurried out.

"Good child, do not worry. This is too much silver; I must have someone go to the money house to withdraw it. Sit down and have a cup of tea; wait just a moment."

The old doctor said to Su Qiruo with a smile.

"I am in no hurry. However, my husband is still outside. If you don't mind, may I bring him in to wait? It is his first time going out with me, and he is a bit shy around strangers."

Su Qiruo wasn't afraid the old doctor wouldn't pay; she was just worried that Yun Zimu would get anxious if he waited too long.

"You certainly know how to care for your people. Then hurry and invite him in."

Upon hearing that Su Qiruo had brought her husband along, the old doctor enthusiastically ordered the apprentice to prepare some snacks and tea.

It wasn't until she held the one thousand taels in banknotes plus the ten taels of silver in her hands that Su Qiruo's heart finally felt completely at ease.

One thousand taels was indeed not a small amount for a person from the countryside, but if they wanted to buy a residence in Qingyu City, they could likely only afford the most remote, dilapidated, and tiny place, let alone buying a house and settling down in the capital.

After leaving the clinic, Su Qiruo took Yun Zimu to an inn. After the two had a hearty meal, Su Qiruo pulled Yun Zimu's hand and retreated into a corner, pulling him in front of her and whispering in his ear.

"Zimu, I am going out to exchange this thousand-tael banknote into hundred-tael ones. Once I leave, lock the door immediately. Use the needle and thread in this room to sew a pocket inside your inner garment, and sew the banknotes inside. Aside from us, do not let anyone else know about this money. Wealth should not be displayed; a tall tree attracts the wind. It would be bad if we attracted thieves."

If they tried to withdraw a thousand-tael banknote in Meihua Town, it would surely attract greed.

But in Qingyu City, this amount of money wouldn't be considered much.

Therefore, Su Qiruo wanted to exchange it into smaller denominations in advance, which would also be much more convenient to use later.

As her warm breath brushed against Yun Zimu's ear, a faint red mist rose to the tips of his ears, yet Yun Zimu still nodded obediently.

His Wife said she wanted to keep the money with him, which meant she truly trusted him.

This realization made Yun Zimu incredibly happy. He thought that perhaps his Wife really wouldn't sell him again.

After sewing the large-denomination banknotes into Yun Zimu's inner garment, the two of them only had the remaining ten taels on them, plus the three-plus taels they had brought from home.

Since there was nothing to do in the evening, Su Qiruo insisted on taking Yun Zimu out for a walk. Yun Zimu couldn't refuse her and followed along.

"Qingyu City is so lively."

Yun Zimu huddled beside Su Qiruo, holding the candied haws she had bought him, his large eyes full of curiosity.

"If you like it, Zimu, we can move to the city to live in the future."

Yun Zimu shook his head hurriedly and said earnestly, "Wife, Zimu is already very happy now. Please don't go into the mountains anymore, okay?"

If they spent this thousand taels sparingly, it would be enough.

Besides, didn't they still have two acres of land at home?

"Alright, I promise Zimu. I won't go deep into the mountains again."

Su Qiruo suddenly pulled Yun Zimu into her arms, causing a woman stumbling beside them to sway and fall to the ground.

Yun Zimu let out a startled cry. Before he could even realize what had happened, Su Qiruo had already held him and dodged away.

There was no logic to be found with a drunk person; if you ran into one, you could only accept your bad luck.

Moreover, life wasn't easy for anyone; if it weren't out of necessity, that woman probably wouldn't have drunk herself into such a state.

Since she hadn't hit Yun Zimu, Su Qiruo was unwilling to look for trouble.

When traveling, it was better to avoid unnecessary incidents.

Yun Zimu was still tightly clutching the candied haws, and his chin had bumped against Su Qiruo's shoulder. Although it didn't hurt, it made his eyes flush red with embarrassment.

"It's getting late, let's go back!"

Su Qiruo released Yun Zimu and protected him by walking on the inside, not noticing anything unusual about him.

Upon arriving at the inn, Su Qiruo realized she had only requested one guest room, which contained only one bed. She couldn't possibly share a bed with her little husband so soon, could she?

Although Su Qiruo was very willing in her heart, she was still afraid of being too forward with her precious one.

"Zimu, you sleep in the bed tonight. I'll make do on the chair for one night. If you pull the bed curtains down, you won't have to worry about anything."

Su Qiruo said to him after Yun Zimu had bathed.