Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Zhang Xixi and Zhang Wenbo went home, hitched up the horse-drawn carriage, and took their fans to the county town.

The two of them sat outside and chatted along the way.

"Little sister, are you planning to use the vermicelli recipe to get the magistrate to be our backer?"

"That's what I originally thought, but then I thought about it again. Magistrate Sun has just taken office and has explicitly prohibited officials from participating in merchants' buying and selling transactions. I think he himself probably wouldn't participate either."

Zhang Wenbo gave Zhang Xixi an approving look, "I thought you hadn't thought of that, so I was going to remind you!"

"So I plan to start with the magistrate's wife, and if that doesn't work, I'll have to start with the grain!"

"We'll just have to improvise when the time comes!"

Upon arriving in the county town, Zhang Wenbo and Zhang Xixi stored the carriage and then went to a teahouse to inquire about the situation.

"Little sister, I wonder if it's true what this waiter said about the magistrate's wife developing health problems after giving birth!"

Zhang Xixi raised an eyebrow, "We'll know whether it's true or not when we go to the county government office!"

Zhang Wenbo and Zhang Xixi went directly to the back gate of the county government office and asked a beggar. The waiter told them the truth, and as soon as they sent the beggar away, the back gate opened.

An old nanny came out with a doctor!

Upon closer inspection, Zhang Xixi seemed to recognize the doctor. After the doctor left, she stepped forward to greet him, "Granny Yun, it really is you!"

Granny Yun was stunned for a moment. Who was this person? She didn't recognize him!

Zhang Xixi quickly reminded him, "Do you still remember the ginseng seller at the dilapidated temple?!"

"Oh, it's Madam Zhang! What brings you here!"

"We'd like to pay a visit to the magistrate's wife!"

Granny Yun forced a smile and said, "Madam is unwell and cannot see you!"

Seeing her like this, Zhang Xixi thought to herself, "Could it be that the noblewoman in the dilapidated temple last time was the county magistrate's wife? What a coincidence!"

Suddenly remembering something, Granny Yun asked quickly, "Madam Zhang, do you have purple lingzhi?"

"I did find a purple Ganoderma lucidum in the mountains, but I don't know if it's the right one, and it was only half there when I found it!"

"real!"

Granny Yun held Zhang Xixi's hand and said excitedly.

Zhang Xixi nodded, thinking to herself, "Could this matter be resolved with this purple Ganoderma lucidum?"

"Do you have it with you now?"

Zhang Xixi immediately replied, "I put it on the carriage. I'll go get it if you need it!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Madam Zhang!"

Zhang Wenbo and Zhang Xixi turned and went to the place where carriages were stored at the city gate. "Little sister, when did you bring medicinal herbs with you?!"

Zhang Xixi smiled awkwardly, "I was just bringing some medicinal herbs just in case! Sure enough, they came in handy this time!"

Zhang Xixi entered the carriage, took the purple Ganoderma lucidum out of her storage bag, broke off a small half and kept it, and put the rest into a box. She also bought a few health pills from the system shop, thinking that the longer her partner lived, the better!

Zhang Xixi got out of the carriage with several boxes. Zhang Wenbo opened one of the boxes and looked inside. There was indeed only half a Ganoderma lucidum inside. "Little sister, you should have a whole Ganoderma lucidum!"

Zhang Xixi nodded, "Of course, but there's only one Ganoderma lucidum, so we should keep some for ourselves, just in case we need it later!"

Aren't you afraid of being discovered?

Zhang Xixi waved her hand, "So what if they found out? You don't actually need much of the purple lingzhi in the medicine. As long as you get better, no one will blame you. Besides, what can they do to me if I just deny it to the death!"

Zhang Wenbo chuckled. "This little sister's skin is getting thicker and thicker."

When they arrived at the back gate of the county government office, Granny Yun was waiting anxiously. Upon seeing them, she hurriedly came to greet them.

"Did you get it?"

Zhang Xixi handed her the box containing the purple Ganoderma lucidum, saying, "Got it!"

Granny Yun opened it and saw that it was a purple Ganoderma lucidum, but she still had to take it to Doctor Zheng for confirmation.

"You all come inside with me and wait!"

"Ok!"

Zhang Xixi and Zhang Wenbo followed Granny Yun into the county government office.

Once inside, Granny Yun arranged for them to stay in a side hall and not to wander around, then took the purple lingzhi to the backyard.

Time passed slowly, and they had already drunk two cups of tea, but no one came out. Zhang Wenbo gave Zhang Xixi a look, wondering if something had gone wrong.

Zhang Xixi hesitated. "It shouldn't be like that!"

Her medicinal herbs are definitely fine, let's just wait patiently!

After a while, Granny Yun arrived with a smile on her face. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting!"

Zhang Xixi and Zhang Wenbo quickly stood up and replied with smiles, "It's nothing, it's nothing!"

"Madam Zhang, the purple lingzhi is genuine. Name your price, and we'll buy it!"

"We don't want money, we just want to ask you for a small favor, madam. Is that alright?"

After Zhang Xixi finished speaking, she glanced at Granny Yun's expression and handed over two more boxes. "Granny Yun, these are health-preserving pills, for conditioning the body. They are especially effective for people who are weak!"

Granny Yun didn't take the box, but looked at Zhang Xixi and said, "Tell us your request first!"

Zhang Xixi recounted how the village wanted to build a factory, but was afraid of being envied by others, and wanted to seek protection.

Granny Yun breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, thinking that they had committed some crime and were trying to pull strings.

"About this!"

"Yes, as you know, we've just settled here and aren't very familiar with the situation. We need to be careful in everything we do, lest we offend someone we shouldn't!"

Granny Yun took the box. "This is easy to handle. My lady's family also has a shop in Yun'an Town. We just need to give them a heads-up."

"Thank you very much, Granny Yun!"

After thanking Zhang Xixi with a smile, she said goodbye to Zhang Wenbo.

On the way back, Zhang Wenbo still couldn't believe that the matter had been resolved just like that!

"Little sister, are you sure you've got this done?"

Zhang Xixi said confidently, "Of course, they definitely won't accept gifts if those families can't do it."

"Okay, let's go then!"

"Wait a minute, brother, we're going to the money exchange!"

Zhang Wenbo was stunned for a moment. Weren't the money he received from these transactions all silver notes?

"You need to go exchange the silver!"

Zhang Xixi nodded, indicating that she was exchanging gold for silver.

Upon arriving at the Royal Bank, Zhang Xixi directly exchanged six thousand taels of silver notes for six hundred taels of gold, sixty gold notes in total at ten taels each. She also bought a small box to pack them up and exchanged two hundred taels of loose silver, which she needed to use to pay wages when she got back.

After that, the two went to the city gate, got into a horse-drawn carriage, and returned home. They finally arrived back in the deserted village after sunset.

The two went to Zhang Xixi's house for dinner first. After dinner, Zhang Xixi handed fifty taels of silver to Zhou Fu, asking him to pay Wang Daniu and the others their wages for last month.

Zhang Wenbo and Zhang Xixi had just left home to tell Zhou Dashan that they had found a powerful backer.