Crossing the Unknown Country

Just when Su He was about to fall asleep, the family finally arrived in town. Her father took them to Huiyi Clinic and put Su He down. He asked Su He and her two brothers to wait at the door, as it was not easy for so many people to enter the clinic. Su He followed her father in, and Doctor Jin had no patients.

Su He walked in and said with a smile: "Uncle Jin, hello! I'm here to deliver some medicinal herbs again. Can you see what this is?"

Su He took the wrapped ginseng from his father, gently placed it on the table, and carefully opened it. Doctor Jin took a deep breath, looked over with wide eyes, and slowly lifted the ginseng with a cloth. He looked carefully at the ginseng with complete roots, a long age, and excellent appearance.

He asked Su He: "Did you dig this up? It's on the mountain near your home?"

Su He said: "I just happened to find it. I dug it for more than five hours. There happened to be a big snake protecting it nearby, so it is well preserved."

Doctor Jin smiled and said, "If there were no snakes watching, it wouldn't be your turn to pick them."

Su He told the story of how they hit the ground with sticks, scared the snake away, and found ginseng. Doctor Jin sighed that this child was really lucky, many people could not pick a ginseng in their lifetime. This child had only received the medical book for a short time, and he found ginseng, and it was a 100-year-old ginseng. This kind of luck is not something that ordinary people can have.

Doctor Jin said to Su He, "How about I give you 100 taels for this ginseng?"

Su He and his father readily agreed, and then gave the other medicinal herbs they brought to Doctor Jin, asking him to calculate the amount for them. Doctor Jin finally gave them 108 taels of silver. He also gave Su He a medical book and asked her to copy it when she was free and return it to the clinic. Su He knew that this was Doctor Jin's way of thanking them for sending the medicine, so she happily took it and bowed to thank him.

When Su He went out and saw his mother and two brothers waiting outside, he said with a smile: "Let's go buy a cow! Mother and brothers don't ask too many questions, because they know that wealth should not be revealed to others."

Doctor Jin waited for them to leave, then walked briskly into the back hall and called to his wife, "Come out, old lady, and see what I received."

Doctor Jin's wife is from a prominent family, because Doctor Jin's hometown is here. As she was old, she followed him back to his hometown to open this small clinic. Their children studied in Beijing and used to live with their uncle. When they grew up, they were admitted to the National Medical Clinic and are now doctors. They have already started a family and a career in Beijing, so they don't need Doctor Jin to take care of them.

Mrs. Jin came out and saw him holding a small cloth bag, and she knew that he had received some good herbs. She asked him, "What did you receive? You are so excited."

Doctor Jin followed her into the room and opened the small cloth bag for her to see: "Hundred-year-old ginseng, look how good it is."

Mrs. Jin saw that it was a pretty good-looking, century-old ginseng. She smiled and said, "You have found a treasure. If it were sold in the capital, it would be worth at least three to five hundred taels of silver. How much did you pay for it?"

Doctor Jin said seriously, "I received the 100 taels, but I won't sell it. I will keep it for curing and saving people. I won't take it to the capital to speculate. It's only worth a little over 100 taels. I can't let patients afford medicine just to make money."

Mrs. Jin looked at him in disapproval: "I just said it, and you're so anxious. We won't sell it, we'll keep it for saving people. Don't worry! You're the boss of our family."

Mrs. Jin had a lot of silver in her dowry, so she didn't care about this money. The money they earned from the clinic was enough to cover their expenses every year, and the family didn't have any other expenses. They had their own land in the countryside, and now they rented it out to others to grow crops, so they didn't have to buy food every year. They grew vegetables in their own yard, and they didn't have to spend money, just the maids and servants at home paid wages. So they didn't need any money, and there was still a surplus every year. If it weren't for Doctor Jin giving away medicine every time he saw poor people, the family would have a lot of income.

That's why Su He copied medical books for free. Doctor Jin usually helped people from poor families. He couldn't bear to see people who studied fall into poverty. It was not easy for people who could persist in studying in this world.

Su He and his friends went directly to the cattle and horse market, not in a hurry to look around. There were six or seven people selling cattle, two of which were selling calves, which Su He's family did not consider. There was also an old cow that looked very old and not very energetic, and this one was also eliminated. There were only a few left, and they began to look at their owners again. Those who were too shrewd needed to be carefully considered, and the price reduction should not be large.

Finally, he chose an honest old farmer, and Su He's father asked him, "How much is the cow?"

The old farmer stroked the yellow cow lovingly and said with a wry smile, "My family is in urgent need of money. I need twenty taels of silver. If you bargain, the lowest price will be nineteen taels."

Su He and his friends had already inquired nearby, and most of them were over 20 taels, with the lowest being 20 taels. These cows were clean and strong from the old farmer, and his price was the lowest.

Su He's father didn't bargain and gave twenty taels directly. They were all poor people, so there was no need to bargain to the lowest price. It seemed that he was really in urgent need of money, otherwise who would be willing to sell their own oxen.

They bought the yellow ox and went to the nearby store to buy an ox cart for two taels of silver. The family drove the cart out of town. They went to the library to hand in two books and took two more. They passed by a meat stall and bought three pounds of meat and two large bones. They went back to Su He's grandmother's house and split the money. The ox cart was faster than their walking, saving half the time and returning home early. The ox was still in its prime, and the ox cart was stable and fast, but of course it was faster than walking.