The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Just as Shen Cao bent down to tidy up, she suddenly saw a plant in the shadow of a large tree to her right.

The plant was hidden by the surrounding grass; if Shen Cao hadn't bent over, it probably wouldn't have been visible.

After Shen Cao walked over and looked closely, she was certain that she had not misjudged the situation.

In her past life, she went all the way to Changbai Mountain to find a local guide to pick fresh hazel mushrooms in order to make an authentic chicken stew with mushrooms.

She had encountered this plant on the way. At first, she didn't know it was ginseng. She just saw the red fruits on top, which looked a bit like red beans, so she asked the guide.

Unexpectedly, the guide told her that what she had found was actually ginseng.

She even went with a guide to try her hand at ginseng digging.

It is said that the older the ginseng, the thicker its root.

Shen Cao stared at the ginseng. Although the stem was quite thick, she didn't know if the ginseng growing underneath was valuable.

Remembering how the guide tied a red string to ginseng in his previous life, Shen Cao also pulled a string from his clothes and tied the ginseng up.

Then they began to carefully dig for ginseng.

The soil in the mountains is fertile and very loose. Shencao was afraid of breaking it when dug up, so he carefully and slowly dug it up by hand.

After digging for half an hour, they finally managed to dig out the last root of the ginseng.

The ginseng was very thick, about the thickness of three of Shen Cao's thumbs, and it had three large roots. Remembering that the guide had said not to break the roots when digging, Shen Cao dug very carefully.

Not even the finest tendrils were broken.

He casually peeled a patch of moss from a nearby tree, wrapped the ginseng in it, and put it into his basket.

By the time everything was finished, the sun had already set.

Shen Cao quickly led her younger brother and sister-in-law home.

As soon as they reached the village entrance, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Shen anxiously searching for someone.

"Father, Mother!" Shen Qing ran up as soon as he saw his parents.

"Where did you go?" Shen's mother asked anxiously.

“My sister took us into the mountains,” Shen Wan explained to her mother.

“The mountains are so dangerous. You were injured in a fall before and it hasn’t healed yet. Why did you go again?” Mother Shen looked at her with concern. “You don’t know, when we got home, there was no one there. We thought you might have gone to pick wild vegetables, but who knew that you wouldn’t come back even after the sun had set.”

"You're not allowed to run into the mountains without a word next time, do you hear me?" Shen's mother looked at Shen Cao and scolded him loudly for the first time.

"Okay, Mom, I'll definitely tell you in advance next time." Shen Cao stuck out her tongue guiltily.

"There will be a next time? Next time, Mom will take you. You must not go alone."

"Ok!"

"We go home!"

When Shen got home, her mother had already prepared dinner.

I simply made a cold dish, cooked corn porridge, and made cornmeal buns.

The group was exhausted from running all day and were starving, so they began to wolf down their food.

Although Shen's mother's cooking wasn't as delicious as Shen Cao's, they were so hungry that they quickly finished the meal.

After finishing his meal, Mr. Shen went to wash the dishes.

Shen Cao took her mother's hand and brought out the wild ginseng she had dug up that day.

"Mother, how was your trip to the village chief's house today?"

"The village chief heard about our family's situation and really wanted to help us. However, it was spring planting season, and all our money had been spent on seeds."

They can only lend us two taels of silver.

We are still short one tael of silver.

"Your father is planning to go to the county town tomorrow to see if there are any carpentry jobs available, so he can earn some money." Mother Shen began, explaining their plans.

"Mother, we went into the mountains today and found something good."

"Look, we dug up a wild ginseng." Shen Cao unfolded the wild ginseng she had dug up for her mother to see.

"What!" Shen's mother looked at the wild ginseng that Shen Cao was holding in disbelief.

After washing the dishes, Mr. Shen looked at the wild ginseng in his daughter's hand with some excitement.

He examined it carefully and confirmed that it was indeed ginseng.

"This wild ginseng is so big, it must be at least several decades old. It should fetch a good price." Mr. Shen, having seen a bit of the world, spoke up as he looked at the robust wild ginseng.

"I don't know, it must have been decades ago," Shen Cao said.

"Dad, Mom, let's go to the county town tomorrow and find a pharmacy to sell it. I'm sure the money will be enough to pay back Aunt Li," Shen Cao suggested.

"Yes." Mother Shen's hands trembled slightly with happiness, and she was also somewhat incredulous. "This has solved our family's urgent problem."

"I knew it, Grass is our family's lucky star."

“Then I’ll go to the county town with you tomorrow to sell ginseng,” Shen’s father said to Shen Cao.

"it is good."

After they found a way to repay the money, the whole family went to bed happily.

The next morning, Shen's father took Shen Cao to the county town.

Because he was going to sell the goods for money, Shen's father deliberately splurged and took an oxcart to the county town.

"Shen family, are you taking your daughter to the county town?" Uncle Ma, who was pulling the oxcart, asked as he saw Shen's father with Shen Cao.

“Yes, Brother Ma,” Shen’s father said.

"By the way, Brother Ma, I have a question for you. Do you know any pharmacies in the county town?" Mr. Shen asked.

"Of course I know. There are several pharmacies in the county town. I wonder which one you want to ask about?" Uncle Ma had been traveling to and from the county town for many years and was quite familiar with the situation there.

"What pharmacies are there in the county town?" Shen Cao asked.

Uncle Ma looked at the young girl who had spoken. She was precocious and had no childishness. Instead, she had a mature air about her, which impressed Uncle Ma. After listening to her, he began to introduce the pharmacies in the county.

"In this county town, there are three large pharmacies: Huichuntang, Wan'antang, and Fushoutang. Among them, Wan'antang is the largest, and it is said to be owned by the imperial merchant Shen family. The others are run by local merchants, but I don't know who they are."

"By the way, why are you asking about this?" Uncle Ma asked, puzzled.

"Oh! We're going to get some medicine," Mr. Shen said.

"If you're going to get medicine, you should go to Wan'an Hall. It's the biggest there, but the prices are the most favorable," Uncle Ma suggested.

"Hey!"

Along the way, the oxcart moved slowly, making Shen Cao feel a little sleepy.

Shen's father then pulled Shen Cao to his side and let her sleep on his shoulder.

After sleeping for about half an hour, the two arrived in the county town.

Having arranged the return time and place with Uncle Ma, the two walked towards the pharmacy while asking around.

"Dad, let's go look around first, compare prices at several stores, and then sell," Shen Cao suggested.

"That's what Dad thinks too."

"Let's go and take a look at Huichuntang first."

As he spoke, he pulled Shen Cao along, asking for directions as they walked towards Huichuntang.

When the waiter heard that the two men had come to sell medicine, he called out the shopkeeper.

When the shopkeeper saw the wild ginseng that Shen Cao took out, his face lit up with joy. Then he said, "This wild ginseng is quite old, I think it's about fifty years old. It could have fetched a good price, but look, the roots have all been cut off. I'll give you ten taels of silver at most."

Shen Cao looked at the broken part of the beard the shopkeeper was pointing to. The broken part was about the thickness of a hair. He then lowered the price to ten taels.

The two didn't sell, so they went to Fushoutang. The situation was similar to Huichuntang. The shopkeeper took advantage of their ignorance and offered a very low price, only fifteen taels. It was a little better than the previous shop.

The two still didn't sell. In the end, they went to Wan'an Hall, but before they even entered, they saw that the entrance of Wan'an Hall was crowded with people.