“You can talk about it once you’ve actually opened it.”
Lu Yang agreed. After they finished eating, he collected the bowls and chopsticks and went home.
Meanwhile, in the prefectural capital—
Li Feng and the others arrived before the end of the month and first went to the docks to find Steward Xiao Hong.
Steward Xiao Hong was delighted to see them. “My uncle has been thinking about you for days! Lately, so many merchants have come asking for goods. Quite a few couldn’t wait and already left!”
There were still several waiting. Once the goods reached the prefectural capital, half of them were sold immediately.
They had arrived later than expected and thought there might be no warehouse space left, but Steward Xiao Hong led them over with a cheerful smile. “How could there be none? People come and go every day—there are always empty rooms.”
They wouldn’t be staying long anyway. That very afternoon, as soon as they set up their stall, nearby vendors greeted them one after another, calling them heroes. The merchants wandering the market immediately realized that these were the heroes who had captured bandits.
Land-based heroes couldn’t control water bandits. People came over just to look, to make friendly connections, asking whether they had dried mushrooms—thirty or fifty jin at a time.
With so many small buyers, the goods sold fast, and people even had to line up to pay.
Li Feng still had two ginseng roots on hand. He hadn’t processed them and took them to a medicinal trader.
The quality of the two ginseng roots was impeccable. Li Feng had dug them up with great care; every root hair was intact. Deep in the mountains where no one went, their age was over fifty years.
The medicinal trader, seeing such fine goods and knowing of their bandit-catching deeds, was willing to teach Li Feng how to process them.
Just as Li Feng had thought, the methods were similar—learn one, and you understood the rest.
He even said, “Isn’t this just like drying mushrooms?”
The medicinal trader laughed. “They’re all mountain plants—of course it’s the same.”
As a trader, he needed to make money, so he pressed the price down a little. Li Feng understood.
Ginseng was just a stepping stone. Once this connection was established, there would be more ways to make money later.
The medicinal trader said he liked Li Feng’s straightforwardness and explained, “Normally, when you buy medicine, even one qian of ginseng can be priced at seven or eight taels of silver. Once it’s sliced for medicine, some potency is lost, so they raise the price. Buying whole roots depends on the situation—here, I can pay twenty to fifty taels for one. If you go elsewhere and ask around, even seventy or eighty taels for one root is possible. But that’s not sustainable. How many wealthy families are there waiting for ginseng to save their lives? And good medicinal herbs aren’t limited to ginseng alone.”
His prices had a range, determined by quality and age. They weren’t higher than elsewhere, which was why he had many long-term customers ordering medicinal materials from him.
Occasionally selling one or two roots at a high price was a one-off deal; it was different from stable, long-term supply.
He wanted to set the price with Li Feng first. For these two roots, he offered forty-two taels of silver each.
“If you agree, our two families can do medicinal business together from now on.”
Li Feng listened and sold the ginseng.
“Our mountain hasn’t really been dug for ginseng much. We just find it by chance—no one goes there specifically to gather herbs. Do you have any illustrated manuals? Let me take a look so I can teach them. In the future, when they go into the mountains, they can gather herbs according to the pictures.”
The medicinal trader shook his head. “What’s the point of looking at manuals? I’ll send someone with you on a trip—he’ll teach you to recognize them.”
That was even better. Li Feng agreed on the spot.
They wouldn’t stay long in the prefectural capital this time.
Once the goods were sold, the brothers waited outside the city.
Li Feng went to the prefectural academy to pick up Xie Yan and return to the county.
He had come earlier in the month and arranged to leave at the end of it. Xie Yan had already informed the instructors in advance. He went to request leave, and while the book attendant quickly fetched the written leave, Xie Yan had already packed his belongings.
He had come lightly and left lightly as well. His dormitory was kept for him—he would come back to stay next time. What he took with him were mostly books and draft paper.
As he stepped out, he remembered something and asked Li Feng to wait. He then hurried off to say goodbye to Old Master Cui.
“Uncle Cui, I’m going home. Next time I’ll probably come back in early October. I’ll learn how to stir-fry sauce at home and bring you fresh sauce to eat.”
Old Master Cui, seeing how excited he was, tossed aside the chess piece in his hand. “Ah, no one to play chess with now.”
Xie Yan took out a book from his satchel. It was a chess manual he had drawn himself. There wasn’t much in it yet—only five game diagrams, all moments of counterattacks he particularly liked.
There were benefits to shamelessly taking back moves. Xie Yan had broadened his horizons, seeing many different strategies and difficult positions.
“I really don’t have time, so I only drew these few. Take a look to pass the time. When I come back, I’ll continue drawing the rest.”
Old Master Cui flipped through it. After just a couple of pages, the rest were blank. He handed the book back.
“Finish drawing it first, then give it to me.”
Xie Yan didn’t stand on ceremony, put the book away, and asked, “Do you have any instructions for me?”
Old Master Cui looked puzzled. “Weren’t you the one who came to see me? Why am I the one giving instructions?”
Xie Yan said shamelessly, “I want to learn something from you.”
There wasn’t much Old Master Cui could teach him. He only said, “The exam questions are written by civil officials. Civil officials are scholars, and scholars like good writing.”
Xie Yan didn’t quite understand, but nodded anyway.
“I’ll think about it carefully when I get home.”
Leaving the quiet room, Xie Yan could finally return to the county.
He was so happy he practically wanted to run the whole way.
The city was crowded, as were the carts, and the roads were congested.
Li Feng hadn’t brought a cart into the city. The three of them walked. After finally reaching the outskirts, Xie Yan saw the vast stretch of wasteland outside and ran far ahead like someone just released from prison. Only when the carts behind caught up did he climb aboard to sit.
He was going home. He was going home!
Li Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He suddenly remembered that Xie Yan was only nineteen, two months younger than the two Lu brothers, and was momentarily speechless.
He had said he wouldn’t compare himself to Xie Yan anymore—it felt like bullying a child—but then he saw Xie Yan sitting cross-legged, pulling out a notebook and flipping through it. Inside were drawings.
Drawings?
Li Feng had something to ask him now.
Li Feng had been rushing home and had carried with him the letters Lu Liu had written. They were neatly bound, and inside was a painting as well—a Mid-Autumn Moon Viewing scene.
The lanterns were left at home; he kept the painting with him.
When they stopped to rest along the way, Li Feng went to Xie Yan and asked him to draw another good one.
“That scroll hanging in your room—I thought it looked pretty nice.”
Xie Yan remembered that when Li Feng had come before, he had threatened him with ginseng and made him recite poetry the entire way.
Xie Yan’s eyes rolled. “There are small scrolls too, you know?”
He gestured with his hand. “Palm-sized, easy to carry around, filled with small paintings. You can take it out and look anytime—very convenient.”
Li Feng wanted a small scroll too.
Xie Yan said, “Sure. Call me brother-in-law, and I’ll make it for you.”
Li Feng: “……”
Li Feng turned and walked away.
Xie Yan persisted, explaining how convenient small scrolls were, how many paintings they could hold, how wonderful your mood would be when you opened them.
Li Feng said, “You’re the one in a good mood. I’ve never seen you look at a small scroll.”
Xie Yan laughed. “I can draw—why would I carry a small scroll? Small scrolls are made for my husband to carry. When he sees it, he can think of me. Your husband doesn’t have a scroll to look at! Why not? Because you’re too proud to say two words. Truly heartbreaking!”
Li Feng: “……”
Xie Yan continued, “Small paintings are easy. If you agree early, I’ll finish them while we rest on the road. Once we get home, I’ll find something to mount them. You can take them back the next day and give them to your husband. If you wait until later, I’ll be busy studying, and you’ll have to find someone else. You’ve heard, right? There aren’t many scholars who can draw well. The civil service exams don’t test painting.”
Li Feng: “……Two scrolls. Ten paintings.”
Xie Yan agreed.
Grinding his teeth, Li Feng called out, “Brother-in-law.”
Xie Yan burst into laughter, his voice echoing along the road.
Heaven gives every person a talent.
How it’s used—that’s up to you.
…………………………….
On the eighth day of the ninth month, Xie Yan arrived home.
It was hard to estimate travel time for long journeys. He had said he was going to study for one month, but it ended up being nearly two months before he returned.
Li Feng only escorted him to the street entrance. The roads inside were narrow—running was faster anyway.
