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

"If I don't receive the money in three days, we'll see each other at the government office, hmph!" Aunt Li stormed out of the Shen family's house.

Seeing that Aunt Li had left, the crowd decided it was inappropriate to continue watching the spectacle, and they left in twos and threes as well.

However, they were muttering something to themselves before leaving.

"Alas, the Shen family is truly pitiful."

"If I can't pay back the money, I'll have to go to jail."

"This eldest son of the Shen family is still studying."

"If you ask me, I really don't know what the Shen family was thinking, sending their child to school when they don't have the money."

“I saw the eldest daughter of the Shen family catching snails and clams in the river that nobody else wanted to eat just a few days ago. She’s so pitiful that she has no money for food. She definitely won’t be able to pay back the money in three days.”

After everyone left, Shen Cao asked his parents about borrowing money.

It turns out that some time ago, Shen Cao fell and was carried back covered in blood. The injury on her head was particularly frightening.

Since Mr. and Mrs. Shen had no money, they begged Aunt Li to lend them three taels of silver at a high interest rate before taking Shen Cao to the county to see a doctor.

After hearing this, Shen Cao realized that the money was borrowed because the original owner of this body was sick.

Since she had taken over the original body, she would have Yiwu pay off the debt for her.

Not to mention, this Aunt Li probably saw that I also went to the dock to sell food and make money today, and was afraid that I would take away her business, so she did this.

Mr. and Mrs. Shen looked at their three children with apologetic expressions.

Especially Shen's father, who was the pillar of the family, had spent all his money on houses and land since coming to this stone village, leaving him with very little.

Later, he also sent his eldest son to school.

He was supposed to be the sole breadwinner, but now his children are seeing such a shameful side of him.

He felt guilty and blamed himself, thinking that he was incapable of making money.

Shen Cao, Shen Wan, and Shen Qing were also very sad.

"Dad, Mom, we made money today, we can definitely pay back all the money we owe Aunt Li." Shen Wan said happily, thinking about the money they had earned today.

Sure enough, after hearing Shen Wan's words, Shen's parents remembered that the three children had gone to the dock that day.

"How did it go? Did it sell?" Mrs. Shen asked.

"Mom, we've sold out!" Shen Qing spoke first, showing off to his parents the fruits of his and his two older sisters' labor that day.

"Sold out?!" Shen's mother looked at Shen Cao in disbelief, wanting to confirm.

"Mother, we've sold them all. We made a total of forty-six coins," Shen Cao said. "We used the money we earned to buy a pound of pork fat. We have twenty-six coins left." As she spoke, Shen Cao's voice trailed off.

Hearing Shen Cao's words, Shen's mother knew that she felt she shouldn't spend money, so she patted Shen Cao's head and said, "You guys are great, you can all make money."

"Your parents are so proud of you," said Shen's mother, pulling Shen Wan and Shen Qing into her arms.

However, the tears she shed betrayed her true thoughts at that moment.

"It's your father and mother who have dragged you down."

"Father, Mother, we are family. There's no such thing as being implicated or not." Shen Cao reached out and wiped away her mother's tears.

"We may not earn much, but we'll always find a way. We'll go sell again tomorrow."

"Yes, Father, Mother." Although Shen Wan and Shen Qing were young, poor children mature early, and they were aware of what had happened today.

“We’re family, let’s figure something out together,” Shen Cao said.

"I'll go see the village chief tomorrow and see if I can borrow some money," Mr. Shen said after thinking for a moment.

"Cao'er, Wan'er, Qing'er, you haven't eaten yet, have you?" After hearing that her husband had figured out how to solve the problem, Shen's mother remembered that the children had gone to the dock early in the morning and it was already past noon, so they probably hadn't eaten yet.

"No."

"I'll do it," Shen Cao said.

"You haven't rested all afternoon, you must be tired. Why don't I go and cook?" Shen's mother was worried that Shen Cao was too tired, so she advised her to rest and went to cook herself.

"Mom, I'm not tired."

Shen Cao walked toward the kitchen as she spoke.

Seeing that there were still some wild vegetables in the kitchen, Shen Cao made a hot and sour dumpling soup with cornmeal.

After the family finished their simple meal, Mr. and Mrs. Shen went to the village chief's house.

Shen Cao looked at her impoverished home and fell into deep thought.

She went into her storeroom, hoping to find something she could sell.

After searching for a while, I found a wild ginseng root in the deepest part of my cabinet.

I don't know if it can be sold for money.

After thinking for a moment, she picked up her basket and led her younger siblings toward the back of the mountain.

"Sister, where are you taking us?" Shen Qing asked.

"Let's go dig for treasure in the mountains," Shen Cao said.

She observed the area yesterday when she delivered meals and found that the climate and environment were very suitable for the growth of some Chinese medicinal herbs. Today, she took her younger siblings to the mountains to try their luck.

She's only just started earning money now, and at most she can only earn forty-six coins a day. It would take her more than two months to earn three taels of silver.

But Aunt Li only gave them three days, which was definitely not enough to make money by selling food.

She thought that this place was blessed with outstanding people and beautiful scenery, and that the mountains must be rich in resources.

An hour later...

Shen Cao and her younger siblings had been wandering in the mountains for an hour and had only found some cheap Chinese herbs.

Although we found a Ganoderma lucidum, it was too small to sell for much money.

“Sister, shouldn’t Father and Mother have gone back by now? They must be worried if they don’t see us. Let’s go home,” Shen Wan said.

Shen Cao looked at the sun; it was getting dark. She and her younger siblings had already walked quite a distance and couldn't continue deeper into the mountains, or they would easily get lost.

Moreover, both his younger brother and sister-in-law were exhausted, their clothes soaked with sweat, but neither of them complained about the hardship.

Shen Cao immediately blamed herself for being too hasty today; those valuable items couldn't possibly be found so easily.

"Let's go home then, and come back tomorrow," Shen Cao suggested.

"Ok!"

Holding their younger siblings' hands, the three of them skipped and hopped their way home.

"Sister, what will we do if Father and Mother can't pay back the money?" Shen Wan asked worriedly. "Will they be in trouble?"

"Don't worry, Mom and Dad will be fine."

"Ouch!" Suddenly, Shen Qing tripped over something and fell down.

Several people, holding hands, were pulled down by the momentum of Shen Qing falling.

Fortunately, it was springtime, and the grass had already sprouted, so falling down didn't hurt.

He was just a bit disheveled.

The three children looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Haha, sister, you've got grass growing on your face." Shen Wan said, looking at Shen Cao.

"Second sister, yours's overgrown with weeds too. Hahaha!"

After the three of them had finished laughing, they got up and brushed the weeds and dirt off their clothes.

As Shen Cao bent over, she suddenly spotted a familiar plant and exclaimed in surprise, "We've stepped in dog poop!"