Chapter 38: The Hurdle in One's Heart

Yan Erdi found a nearby village.

Yan Erdi struck up a conversation with the locals.

Yan Erdi mentioned that someone was short on bowls and was willing to trade some greens plucked from the back garden for them.

Yan Erdi asked, "Whose coarse porcelain bowls are willing to be traded?"

Did he even need to ask?!

Of course they were all willing!

Every single household in the village began rummaging through their bowls.

At their current stage of hardship, would anyone still use one bowl per person? That would be a luxury!

It was enough for the whole family to take turns using one.

Yan Erdi looked at the pile of bowls being held up in front of him.

From their burning gazes, he could feel the warmth and enthusiasm of his fellow villagers!

"Uh, put them down first, don't break anything. I don't care whose they are, just grab a few. When the owners come to claim them later, they can take theirs back. Also, if you have useful things that are easy to carry and you want to trade them, I can take them along too. If someone takes an interest, we'll trade; if not, I'll bring them back as they are. How does that sound?"

"Brother Yan Er, how are you so capable!" Sister-in-law Cui exclaimed, slapping her thigh as she forced her way out from a crowd of women.

"Your family has quite a lot of things. Come with me quickly and let's take a look. We don't have much grain, but your Brother Cui has plenty of medicine. Let's see if we can trade some for life-saving water and food; no amount would be too much."

Yan Erdi scurried along after Sister-in-law Cui.

He wanted to see exactly how many medicinal herbs Brother Cui had brought.

Physician Cui was seriously massaging his own legs.

He sighed incessantly in his heart; he had originally been a traveling physician serving the surrounding villages, but his family's donkey cart had only been purchased for a short time, and he found himself struggling to endure even this short distance.

How shameful, how shameful!

"Son, hurry up. Sort through those extra medicines and let Brother Yan Er take them to see if he can trade them for water and food," Sister-in-law Cui said urgently.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry, don't worry. Is your family short on water and food?" Yan Erdi asked.

Sister-in-law Cui replied, "Not exactly, but isn't more always better? Having grain at home keeps the mind at ease. What's the use of having these medicinal herbs that can't fill our bellies? Trading them for water and food is more practical."

"Sister-in-law, you're being foolish! How can you say the herbs are useless? These are life-saving things!" Yan Erdi said with great seriousness. "We are traveling through the open wilderness; if someone catches a fever or a headache, Brother Cui's medicine will be put to good use!"

"Ah? This... it's useful?"

"Think about it, Sister-in-law. We aren't at home; we are in the middle of nowhere. If we truly fall ill, where else would we go to get medicine besides Brother Cui?" Yan Erdi was determined to make Sister-in-law Cui realize the importance of medicine.

Yan Erdi sighed and said, "If it weren't for the lack of money right now, I would want to buy even more herbs to stock up! Tell you what, Sister-in-law, if your family runs low on water or food, come find me. I'll find a way, alright?"

"Deal! Since you've said so, I can rest easy." She wasn't an unreasonable person; once Brother Yan Er explained it, she understood.

With the Yan family having so many supplies and Yan Erdi being so good at organizing, she felt somewhat relieved.

Physician Cui heard the whole conversation. "Some medicines might lose their potency if left too long. If there are any urgently needed ones, it's fine to trade them out."

Sister-in-law Cui was stunned. "When did we ever have medicine sitting around for so long? Didn't you sell all the extra herbs you gathered to the town's pharmacy?"

Physician Cui turned his head away uncomfortably and whispered, "There were some pre-prepared prescriptions that people didn't want at the last minute. It wasn't easy to unpack them, so they were left over."

Such a thing wouldn't happen in a pharmacy, where everything is prepared fresh, but the villagers were hardy; once they felt better, they were unwilling to take even one extra dose. When they tried to return the leftovers, what could he do? He could only refund them.

Everyone cares about their own health; it was just the poverty that caused this.

His wife was someone who loved money, so Physician Cui had kept the matter a secret.

It wasn't much, just three or four doses.

Sister-in-law Cui was so angry she wanted to grab his ear, but considering there were so many people around, it wasn't convenient. She remained silent in a huff, only glaring at him with her eyes.

"What symptoms were they for? Brother Cui, tell me so I can take note." Yan Erdi not only asked about the symptoms in detail but also repeatedly confirmed the duration of the medicinal effects.

Later, when he spoke to his wife and daughter, Yan Erdi felt quite moved.

"Don't be fooled by Physician Cui's mediocre medical skills; his character is truly excellent. If it were anyone else, not only would they not offer a refund, but they would have taken those herbs out and re-sorted them to sell them again. We laypeople might not notice, and they look like ordinary herbs—nothing seems wrong with them—but Physician Cui kept them until now just because of that tiny possibility of affecting their potency. It's truly rare."

...

An elderly woman was talking with her village sisters about the peddler who had come to her house to sell second-hand goods at noon. Unexpectedly, just after the sun passed midday, the man returned!

"Oh my, you're quite fast on your feet! You must not live far away, eh?" the elderly woman greeted him with a smile.

As the saying goes, "the first time is a stranger, the second time is a friend." Seeing Yan Erdi again, she felt quite a sense of familiarity.

"And you brought quite a lot of things? That's the way to do it; you can't make a trip for nothing." The elderly woman walked over quickly, wanting to get a first look, but the other sisters were even faster.

"Trading for old goods? This is the first time I've heard of it."

"Young man, where did you get this merchandise? If it's not good, we won't take it."

This time, Yan Erdi felt his entire demeanor was different; he had finally found the optimal cruising speed for the "Three Treasures."

"Aunties, these are all things used by village families. Life is getting harder to sustain, sigh! To tell you the truth, if it doesn't rain in the next two days, we will have to... sigh! Go see if we can survive elsewhere."

His family ultimately couldn't overcome the moral hurdle and decided to reveal a little. Just as they had said, trading wasn't the goal; the goal was to give a backstory to the items they were presenting.

Why go through all this trouble?

Simply because they wanted everyone's lives to be a little easier.

When hardship arrives, who can remain untouched?

People have hearts of flesh.

He traded grain from these people; when they eventually wanted to leave, would they remember him, or would they hate him as a black-hearted peddler of old goods?

The aunties fell silent instantly.

"What? Is it that serious outside?" one auntie asked cautiously.

"It's hard for people to leave their hometowns, young man. You must be careful!"

"How should I put it... our village chief said we should prepare early."

The aunties looked at each other, deciding to go back and speak with their husbands.

"Auntie, what do you think of this bowl..." Yan Erdi had already thought it through; at worst, he would use his own goods to trade for it, and once the platform opened, he could just sell it.

Even if it got stuck in his hands, so what?

"Sigh! You are an honest person. Come, follow me home, I'll pluck some leaves for you. It's fine, I tend to my vegetable garden well; they'll grow back in a few days."

Yan Erdi complied and followed her.

There really were many good people!

The elderly woman truly only plucked the mature outer leaves for him, gathering a large bundle that weighed about two catties.

Yan Erdi was so moved he was speechless. He pulled out two eggs and tucked them into her hands along with the bowl she had picked out.