Transmigrated Leftover Woman in Rural Style

Here's today's update. Also, please vote for me in the Qidian 515 Fan Festival! Everyone gets 8 votes, and voting also earns you Qidian coins. I'm begging for your support and appreciation!

Upon seeing the Ganoderma lucidum, the two apprentices' mouths gaped open in astonishment. The man first gave Li Xiaonuan and her two siblings a meaningful look before casually tucking his folding fan into his waistband. He then expertly retrieved a pair of white cotton gloves from below the stage and slipped them onto his slender, well-defined hands.

After putting on his gloves, he picked up the three Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms one by one and examined them carefully. Once he finished, he arranged them back in their original positions. His right hand, still gloved, tapped unconsciously on the counter. His expression was relaxed, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

Li Xiaonuan and her brother watched him nervously, fearing he might bring a consequence they couldn't bear. After all, the man had looked very serious when examining the Ganoderma lucidum, but afterwards, he remained completely indifferent. That demeanor easily made them suspect that what they had picked wasn't Ganoderma lucidum at all.

Fifteen minutes later, Li Xiaonuan finally couldn't bear the tense atmosphere any longer. She realized the price of the Ganoderma lucidum might be lowered, so she wanted to put it away and try another shop. Seeing this, Xiaoyang also offered to help. Xiaogang, however, remained still, grinning foolishly as he stared at the man.

The man was taken aback by Li Xiaonuan's actions; a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, but it vanished instantly. He had only intended to tease the three siblings, after all, they had just teased his own apprentice. He was fiercely protective of his own and would never stand idly by and watch his family suffer.

Li Xiaonuan laid out her basket and was about to reach for the lingzhi mushroom. They always grabbed it directly with their bare hands before. But before her hand could even touch it, a pair of white gloves stopped her.

The man looked at Li Xiaonuan with a smile, revealing clean, even teeth. His smile was pure and bright, like a gentle breeze. But Li Xiaonuan, who had seen all kinds of handsome men in her past life, wasn't easily captivated.

She withdrew her hand, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Young master, have you taken a fancy to my mushrooms?" She emphasized the word "mushrooms."

Qi Ji's eyes widened in surprise again, but he remained calm and composed, never letting the other person see through his thoughts. Looking at the woman in the grey linen clothes before him, he still smiled. The difference this time was that his smile was genuine.

Li Xiaonuan cursed inwardly: What are you laughing at? Showing off your white teeth?

Noticing Li Xiaonuan's unfriendly expression, Qi Yi's clear voice rang out: "Miss, you're just an impatient person. You should wait for the person inspecting the goods to finish speaking, shouldn't you? It's because your mushroom is a good one that I took the time to assess it. If this has delayed your schedule, I apologize."

After Qi Ji finished speaking, he clasped his hands in a respectful bow, a rare hint of sincerity appearing on his face.

Li Xiaonuan thought to herself: "Pretentious."

But she said generously, "If you think my mushrooms are good, that's fine. I'm just afraid that I don't know their value and have picked a cow dung flower, which would offend your noble eyes."

Xiao Yang, who was listening to their rambling conversation, exclaimed anxiously, "Sis, this is clearly..."

Li Xiaonuan stopped Xiao Yang from speaking. She knew that the man opposite her definitely knew his stuff. And what he had done earlier was probably a test. Or... to avenge the young medicine boy.

Qi Ji laughed heartily at Li Xiaonuan's comment about the cow dung flower. He observed the interaction between the siblings but didn't intend to explain. He pointed to the three Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms and asked, "How much do you plan to sell these mushrooms for?"

Li Xiaonuan and Xiaoyang exchanged a glance, thinking about how to secure the greatest benefit, and were organizing their thoughts. Over there, Xiaogang said innocently, "We need to sell a lot of silver so we can pay for our parents' medical treatment. It would be best if we could get Physician Xu to treat them."

"This kid, how did he end up tricking people?" Li Xiaonuan suppressed a laugh, wanting to see the man's reaction.

Qi Ji's cultivation level was beyond that of ordinary people. Although he really didn't want to believe what the boy said, he couldn't see any sign that the child was lying. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Are your parents very ill?"

Xiao Gang's smile faded, and he sighed, saying, "Yes, they're very ill. My father has been bedridden for four years and is now just skin and bones. My mother has a stomach ailment, and she often faints from the pain."

As a doctor, upon hearing about a patient's symptoms, one always inquires first. Qi Ji was no exception, asking, "Have your parents seen a doctor? What did the doctor say?"

Xiao Gang wasn't intimidated at all. He changed his usual quiet demeanor and answered smoothly, "My dad used to get sick from overwork, and then he got liver damage from anger. We didn't have money to buy good medicine, so it dragged on on and off until it got worse. My mom got this sick because she kept it from us and secretly endured it."

After understanding the situation, Qi Ji nodded, and with a quick thought, made a decision. He shifted his gaze back to the Ganoderma lucidum on the platform and said candidly to the three siblings, "This is a rare mother-and-child Ganoderma lucidum; it's seldom seen in such a complete and high-quality state. I'm willing to offer two hundred taels of silver. I wonder if you're satisfied?"

The three siblings were overjoyed to hear that it could be sold for two hundred taels of silver. This was something they hadn't dared to dream of before, after all, Ganoderma lucidum wasn't a rare herb, and selling it for a few dozen taels was considered expensive. Moreover, this was the least valuable type of Ganoderma lucidum, the tree tongue Ganoderma. Clearly, the seller hadn't tried to bargain, but rather offered a very high price.

After her initial excitement subsided, Li Xiaonuan felt a little uneasy. She cautiously asked the man, "Young master, this Ganoderma lucidum isn't worth that much silver. Please give us a reasonable price so we won't feel uneasy after receiving the money."

Xiao Yang also expressed his reluctance to accept such a high price. It wasn't that he didn't want more money, but he always felt uneasy using something he had obtained for free. Xiao Gang, however, didn't care about such things. In his view, as long as the Ganoderma lucidum could be sold and his family didn't suffer a loss, that was enough.

Qi Ji never expected that these three siblings, who were clearly from poor families, would question whether the price he offered was too high. You see, even if the price were several dozen taels higher, people would still buy a red lingzhi of this quality.

Thinking that the other party might not know the market price, he patiently explained, "Although I set a relatively high price, that is on the premise that your Ganoderma lucidum is worth that price. In fact, you could ask for several dozen more taels more for these three Crimson Ganoderma lucidum, but our clinic cannot offer such a high price to buy them."

Hearing the man's words, Li Xiaonuan was somewhat shocked. Pointing to the three slightly reddish Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, she asked, "These aren't Ganoderma lucidum, but red Ganoderma lucidum?"

Qi Ji nodded. Based on his understanding and research of Ganoderma lucidum over the years, he was confident that he couldn't be mistaken. "This is undoubtedly Chi Ling, but it's still young. If it grows a bit older and retains this quality, it would be priceless."

Looking at the smooth, reddish-brown Ganoderma lucidum, Li Xiaonuan realized she had misjudged it. Therefore, she stopped worrying about the price and readily sold the Ganoderma lucidum. Qi Ji asked if they accepted cash or banknotes.

"Silver, the silver notes will be deducted when redeeming them." Li Xiaonuan didn't know this, but luckily Xiao Yang, who knew about it, was there.

Soon, the shop's accountant brought nineteen 10-tael silver ingots, five 1-tael silver coins, and five strings of 1,000-cash copper coins each. This was what Li Xiaonuan had requested; the silver ingots were too large to easily exchange.

Wrap the silver in an old bundle she brought from home and bury it under the haystack where the Ganoderma lucidum was hidden. Li Xiaonuan then had Xiaogang carry the small basket on his chest. She took a string of copper coins, thinking she would buy some food to take back later.

As he was leaving, Qi Yi called out to Xiao Gang, who was grinning from ear to ear. He took off the jade ring from his waist, handed it to Xiao Gang, and instructed him, "Bring your parents to the clinic in the next few days. When they come, just take out the jade ring and say you're looking for Qi Ji."

Holding the jade ring, Xiao Gang asked blankly, "Are you Doctor Qi?"

Qi Ji chuckled and replied, "I am Doctor Qi. If I cannot cure your parents, then let Doctor Qi examine them again, and I will not charge you extra for your consultation, how about that?"

Xiao Gang smiled and nodded in agreement. He placed the jade ring under the silver pouch, weighed it down, and covered the grass securely before thanking Qi Yi. Afterward, he caught up with Li Xiaonuan and Xiao Yang and left the Zangbaicao Medical Clinic.

Regarding this matter, Li Xiaonuan stated: "Good people still exist in this era. Good doctors are even more common, absolutely dedicated to saving lives and healing the wounded, with impeccable medical ethics."

After leaving the clinic, the siblings planned to sell the mushrooms and buy some other things to take home. Unfortunately, it was already past noon, the market had mostly closed, and they couldn't sell the two half-full baskets of mushrooms even if they set up their stall.

The three siblings were in a state of distress, even forgetting about their rumbling stomachs. Then, Li Xiaonuan had a sudden inspiration: those heroines in novels always sold mushrooms to restaurants, right? Why not give that a try?

Li Xiaonuan was not an unrealistic person; she chose a medium-sized restaurant called Yingkelai.

As soon as they entered, the waiter came out to greet them. "Gentlemen, are you dining in? This way, please. Our restaurant makes excellent vegetarian noodles, and the portions are generous. Would you like to try a bowl?" Although he paused for a moment upon seeing the three of them's attire, his service awareness was still quite good.

Li Xiaonuan stopped at the counter and said somewhat awkwardly to the waiter, "Sir, we're not here for noodles. We just picked a lot of mushrooms yesterday and were wondering if you'd like to buy some?"

The waiter said with difficulty, "Young ladies, if you had come earlier, our manager might have bought some. Unfortunately, the sun is high in the sky, and the mushrooms in the shop were already bought at the morning market. Our shop is small, and we really can't help you."

Li Xiaonuan and Xiaoyang both looked disappointed, but Xiaogang smiled and said to Xiao Er, "It's okay, we can sell to other places. After we sell out, come here for vegetarian noodles. I really like you."

Seeing that Xiao Gang wasn't lying, Xiao Er scratched his head sheepishly and assured him, "Yes, I'll wait for you. When you come, I'll have the cook make the best vegetarian noodles, and I'll make sure you eat your fill."

"Okay, thank you. We're going to sell mushrooms now." With that, Xiao Gang led the way out of the restaurant. Li Xiaonuan smiled slightly at the waiter and then followed him out.

This time, Li Xiaonuan specifically chose the largest restaurant. She planned that if she couldn't sell them, she would take them home, dry them, and keep them for herself. Having read novels before, Li Xiaonuan led the Xiaoyang brothers directly to the back door of the restaurant.

This "Guests at Home" restaurant is indeed quite large. They walked almost half a block from the front to the back. Because they were accepting orders all day, the back door wasn't closed, though there was a doorman.

Li Xiaonuan then asked Xiaoyang to go up and ask the gatekeeper if Binshirugui was still collecting mushrooms today. The gatekeeper looked through the mushrooms, and one of the guards even took a handful inside. After a while, the guard came out and let the three siblings in.

The purchasing manager was quite satisfied with the quality of the mushrooms. The shop had already almost run out of mushrooms, but seeing how fresh they were, and thinking he could put on a mushroom feast, he bought two large and a half baskets, totaling ninety-two pounds of mushrooms, at three copper coins per pound.

While waiting for the mushrooms to be weighed and the accounts to be settled, Li Xiaonuan toured the backyard of the largest restaurant in the prefecture. In the southwest corner of the yard, more than a dozen goats were tied up, all of them milk-producing ewes.

Looking at the swollen breasts and the goat milk that kept dripping onto the ground, Li Xiaonuan shook her head and muttered to herself, "What a waste. If we squeezed it out and made it into milk curd, it could probably fetch a good price. At the very least, we could boil it with some almonds or dried jasmine and drink it."

Before she could finish speaking, a man dressed in a peacock-blue brocade robe emerged from a small shed beside the sheep pen. He grabbed Li Xiaonuan's arm rudely and asked, "What is this milk crisp you mentioned? Why do you put almonds and dried jasmine when boiling milk?"

[May 15th is almost here! I hope to continue my efforts to climb the 515 Red Envelope Ranking, and on May 15th, I can give back to readers with a red envelope rain and promote my work. Every little bit helps, and I'll definitely update harder!]