Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 9 I Have an Idea

When Hu Yufen finished cooking, Shen Yuan and Sun Fuchun, carrying a medicine box, also entered the house.

"Uncle Sun".

Hu Yufen, who came out of the kitchen, quickly bowed and then looked at Shen Yuan reproachfully: "There was nothing wrong, but you had to trouble Uncle Sun to make the trip."

Shen Yuan chuckled: "It's better to confirm."

"Uncle Sun, please sit down." After gesturing for Sun Fuchun to sit down, he helped his wife to sit opposite him.

After a quick pulse diagnosis, Sun Fuchun smiled and stroked his beard, saying, "It is indeed a pregnancy pulse; there is nothing else to worry about."

Upon receiving confirmation, Shen Yuan felt much relieved and then quickly asked, "Uncle Sun, Yu Fen was in the midst of a flood when she gave birth to Anu, which damaged her vital energy. Do you think we should prescribe some medicine to help her recover?"

In this era, childbirth is undoubtedly a brush with death for women; the slightest accident could result in the death of both mother and child.

Over the years, many women in the village have lost their lives because of this, and he didn't want anything to happen to his wife.

Sun Fuchun nodded: "It certainly needs proper treatment. I have some prescriptions here, but..."

"Yu Fen, you and Shi Tou eat first. Uncle Sun and I will go outside to chat," Shen Yuan said, interrupting Sun Fuchun.

Hu Yufen nodded slightly and watched the two leave the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard, Shen Yuan quickly explained, "Uncle Sun, please forgive her. Yu Fen is very frugal."

Sun Fuchun nodded with a smile: "I understand, this prescription for treatment is indeed very valuable."

"For postpartum women, the greatest danger is insufficient qi and blood, which leads to a significant loss of vital energy and subsequent bleeding and death."

"Strengthening the foundation and nourishing the vital energy, replenishing qi and blood is the most crucial thing."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan was slightly taken aback and said, "I remember Uncle Sun once said that learning martial arts also requires strengthening one's foundation and cultivating one's vital energy, so could it be that..."

Sun Fuchun smiled and nodded: "That's right, the medicinal cuisine at the martial arts school in town is actually a good conditioning prescription."

"However, the medicinal diet contained some herbs that are contraindicated for pregnant women, so it cannot be used directly."

"The medicine I prescribed is much milder."

Without any hesitation, Shen Yuan said directly, "Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Sun."

Sun Fuchun waved his hand: "I will go back and prepare the medicine. You can pick it up when you have time."

"There are ten doses of this medicine in total, one dose per month, and each dose costs two taels of silver."

"This is a top-quality medicinal diet for conditioning your body. If you think it's too expensive..."

"It's not expensive at all." Shen Yuan cupped his hands and said, "I'll trouble you, Uncle Sun, tonight I'll go and get it."

He would have to find a way to get a life-saving medicine, even if it cost two hundred taels of silver, let alone twenty.

“Alright then, I’ll head back now,” Sun Fuchun said.

"I'll see you off."

"No need, let's go back and eat."

……

When Shen Yuan returned to the courtyard, Hu Yufen immediately came up to him and said, "I'm fine, don't waste money!"

Shen Yuan gently took her hand and said seriously, "It's just some ordinary medicine to regulate the body, it's not expensive."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

Hu Yufen blushed and remained silent.

She knew that Shen Yuan cherished her, but every expense in the household was a burden, and these burdens would eventually fall on her husband's shoulders.

"Let's eat."

Shen Yuan sat at his desk, watching Shen Wenxing shovel mouthfuls of white rice into his mouth, a smile appearing on his face.

After finishing his meal, he took Shen Wenxing and drove the oxcart to town to sell grain.

As Fu Gui had predicted, the Shen family's millet was plump and of superior quality, and its price was 30% higher than that of ordinary millet.

The father and son each loaded a cart full of grain, and sold it for a total of thirty taels of silver.

"Father, I want to eat roast chicken!"

As Shen Wenxing emerged from the grain shop, he spoke with anticipation.

That was his real reason for wanting to come to town.

Shen Yuan weighed the heavy silver in his hand and laughed, scolding, "You're just greedy!"

"Father..." "Buy, buy, buy! But we need to buy some fruit for your mother first."

Hu Yufen was newly pregnant and experiencing morning sickness and vomiting. In addition, the weather was hot, so she needed to eat some light fruits to supplement her nutrition.

The father and son drove their oxcart to a fruit shop in town and casually picked out some fruit.

When it came time to pay, they discovered it cost nearly one tael of silver!
These days, it's good enough to have enough to eat, so fruit is naturally a luxury. He guessed it would be a bit expensive, but he didn't expect it to be this expensive!
One tael of silver could buy nearly two bushels of grain, yet this little bit of fruit is worth two or three hundred catties of grain!

Although Shen Yuan felt the pinch, he gritted his teeth and paid the money.

At the end of the day, Hu Yufen took Shitou to Master Lu's house to pick up Anu, while Shen Yuan secretly took money to Sun Fuchun's house to retrieve the medicine.

After the family of four finished dinner, they put the two brothers to sleep.

"How much did you sell the millet for today?" Hu Yufen asked casually as she tidied the bed.

Shen Yuan scratched his head and stammered without saying anything.

Hu Yufen knew the family's finances very well, and there was no way to hide the fact that she spent money on medicinal cuisine.

Seeing that he did not answer, Hu Yufen immediately pulled out a small wooden box from under the bed.

After counting, they found there were only 168 taels of silver.

"This year's millet only sold for eight taels of silver!?"

She was not an ordinary woman who knew nothing; she knew exactly how much money her family's millet could sell for.

"Husband, how much silver did those medicines cost in total?"

Seeing her husband's inability to lie, Hu Yufen felt a mix of emotions.

"Two...twenty taels."

"Ten sets in total, each set will only cost two taels of silver!"

Shen Yuan hurriedly explained, trying to downplay the "huge sum" of twenty taels of silver.

Hu Yufen pursed her lips, sighed softly, quietly closed the wooden box, pushed it back under the bed, and then sat down next to Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan slowly reached out and put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her:
"Money is worthless, we can earn it back if we lose it."

"You and the children are the most important. There's a long road ahead, and everything will be alright."

Hearing this, Hu Yufen felt a lump in her throat and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I just don't want you to be so tired."

The couple nestled together.

"Yufen, I have an idea."

After a long while, Shen Yuan suddenly spoke up: "I bought fruit in town today, and it cost one tael of silver."

“I plan to wait until next spring to clear out five acres of our family’s ten acres of mountain forest, sell the timber, and plant fruit trees.”

"This should increase income significantly each year."

The mountain forest is not suitable for growing crops. Their ten acres of mountain forest are all planted with trees. They keep some of the firewood produced each year for their own use and sell the excess. The income they get is not much.

If the trees are cut down and fruit trees are planted, the income should increase significantly.

"This..." Hu Yufen hesitated after hearing this.

"I've heard that planting fruit trees is very troublesome, and my husband has no experience with it. Isn't this too risky?"

Shen Yuan nodded, then smiled and said, "If it were before, it might have been troublesome, but now..."

He gently stroked Hu Yufen's hair and said, "Have you noticed the two peach trees in front of Master Lu's house?"

Hu Yufen was slightly taken aback, recalling the two peach trees laden with fruit in front of Lu Zhiyuan's courtyard when she picked up Anu. The peaches on them were big and red, even better than those sold at the town market.

"My husband wouldn't be eyeing those two peach trees that the Master owns, would he?"

Shen Yuan shook his head slightly: "Of course not, but those peach trees were planted by Master Lu and Uncle Ya. They must be experts in this field. I will go and ask them for guidance tomorrow."

"If they are willing to help, I will find someone to sell some of the timber on the mountain later."

Hu Yufen felt somewhat relieved after hearing this.

She then looked at her husband reproachfully, "My husband really doesn't miss any opportunity."

Shen Yuan sighed slightly, thinking to himself, "Isn't this just what life has forced us to do?"

(End of this chapter)