Wild Dogs

"Clang! Clang!"

A gong rang out, waking up the many sleeping servants.

"A bunch of pigs, get up now!"

Manager Liu's loud voice echoed throughout the surrounding area.

Yang Fan quickly turned over and got up.

"Coo coo coo..."

Yang Fan's stomach rumbled, and he tightened the rope around his waist.

Whenever he was starving, he would tighten the rope, which seemed to make him feel less hungry.

Forcibly suppressing the hunger in his stomach, Yang Fan pushed open the door, and a gust of cold wind immediately rushed in, making him shiver.

"Strange, why wasn't it cold at all in the woodshed last night?"

Yang Fan tightened his clothes, hurriedly slung the medicine basket over his shoulder, and picked up the medicine sickle.

"Yang Fan, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and go gather herbs!"

Manager Liu stared at Yang Fan in a gruff voice.

Yang Fan was a medicine boy, and his most important task every day was to collect herbs.

"Yes, I'll leave right now!"

As Yang Fan spoke, he secretly put Xiao Hei into the medicine basket while Steward Liu wasn't paying attention, and then left the Xu family's house.

Once he left the Xu family's house, he immediately felt much more relaxed.

To be honest, he had wanted to escape from the Xu family more than once.

But if he runs away, his family will definitely be implicated.

Thinking of this, Yang Fan sighed and could only walk out of the manor.

I searched the other side of the mountain yesterday and found some medicinal herbs.

Today he's going to venture deeper into the area; perhaps he can find even more medicinal herbs.

After leaving Xu Family Village, Yang Fan released Xiao Hei from the medicine basket.

Xiao Hei immediately ran around excitedly, leading the way.

Not long after leaving Xujiazhuang, Yang Fan's stomach rumbled again.

"No, I need to eat something more, or I'll starve to death before I can find the medicinal herbs today."

Yang Fan remembered the half-eaten steamed bun in the small cauldron.

He took out the small cauldron, and after it grew larger, he reached out and took out the steamed bun.

But when he took out the steamed bun, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

At this moment, the half-eaten cornbread in the small cauldron turned golden.

"What happened to the cornbread? How did it turn out like this?"

A fragrant aroma of steamed cornbread wafted out from above, and Yang Fan couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Didn't I put in half a spoiled bun yesterday? How did it turn out like this?"

Yang Fan couldn't help but bite his arm, afraid that he was still dreaming.

Convinced it was true, Yang Fan hesitated, unsure if it was safe to eat.

"Coo coo coo!"

His stomach growled again, and Xiao Hei wagged its tail and ran to Yang Fan.

Looking at the golden steamed buns, Yang Fan gritted his teeth, broke the buns in half, and gave one half to him and one half to Xiao Hei.

"Fine, even if I die, I'll die with a full stomach!"

The man and the dog quickly ate the steamed buns.

As he swallowed the steamed bun, a warm current immediately flowed from his stomach into his limbs and bones.

The feeling of hunger disappeared immediately, and not only that, even the weather didn't seem so cold anymore.

"This treasure can actually be turned from trash into something valuable!"

Holding the small cauldron, Yang Fan trembled with excitement.

He signed a contract of servitude with the Xu family, meaning he would be a servant for life. He had already resigned himself to his fate, thinking he would never regain his freedom.

But with this small cauldron, hope was rekindled in his heart!

"If this little cauldron can turn stale cornbread into good cornbread, it can certainly turn other things into treasure!"

Yang Fan was already looking forward to it.

With such a wonderful thing, he could completely change his fate.

As Yang Fan walked into the mountains, he was already looking forward to the days to come.

The man and the dog walked into the mountains, with Xiao Hei leading the way for Yang Fan.

Xiao Hei's spiritual senses were noticeably sharper, and before long, Xiao Hei led Yang Fan to find a lot of medicinal herbs.

However, a large portion of the medicinal herbs had withered and died, which disappointed Yang Fan.

Suddenly, Yang Fan had a thought.

Since this cauldron can turn stale steamed buns into good steamed buns, can it also turn these withered medicinal herbs into good medicinal herbs?

He immediately placed a dried medicinal herb into the small cauldron.

After a long while, Yang Fan looked at the small cauldron again and was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

The withered medicinal herb has miraculously turned lush and green again!

"This is a great find; it seems it really can turn trash into treasure."

Since dead medicinal herbs can be transformed into living ones, can't living medicinal herbs also become better?

Yang Fan hurriedly added a few more good medicinal herbs.

Not long after, when Yang Fan took out the medicinal herbs, he was so surprised that he couldn't speak.

The medicinal herbs put into the small cauldron had all increased in age.

The medicinal herbs that were originally only one or two years old have become medicinal herbs that are twenty years old.

One of the medicinal herbs, which was already ten years old, has become a hundred years old.

"These medicinal herbs can surely be exchanged for a large sum of money in town!"

It's the dead of winter now, and the town is harvesting medicinal herbs.

If we take these recycled items to town and exchange them for money...

Once he had enough money, he went to Master Xu's place to redeem himself.

Once I'm free, I can take this treasure and give my family a better life.

"By the way, if we put these century-old medicinal herbs in, they might become millennium-old herbs."

Thinking of this, Yang Fan put the medicinal herb back into the small cauldron.

However, after a while, the medicinal herb showed no change.

After several more attempts, Yang Fan finally confirmed that the medicinal herbs that had already been aged once by the small cauldron would not cause any changes when put back in.

It seems that this small cauldron is only effective on these medicinal herbs the first time, and has no effect the second time.

Holding these medicinal herbs, Yang Fan lowered his head and pondered.

"These century-old medicinal herbs must be stored away, and we'll exchange them for money in town when we have the chance."

Giving century-old medicinal herbs to the Xu family would at most result in exchanging them for some food.

But if you take it to town, you can get at least ten taels of silver.

Therefore, he hid the older medicinal herbs himself and only put the younger, more common ones in the medicine basket.

After gathering most of the medicinal herbs, Yang Fan carried the medicine basket back home.

Xiao Hei was running around in front of Yang Fan, looking like he wanted to take credit.

Yang Fan picked up Xiao Hei and rubbed its head.

With Xiao Hei around, finding medicinal herbs became much easier for him.

Back in the backyard, Yang Fan first hid the medicinal herbs in the woodshed before going to report to Steward Liu.

"The medicinal herbs are quite good today."

Upon hearing this, Yang Fan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to go eat, Manager Liu snorted coldly.

"What's the rush? Can't you see the water tank is empty? Hurry up and fetch water. We'll eat when we've filled all the tanks."

After saying that, Steward Liu swaggered off with Yang Fan's medicinal herbs to find Master Xu.

Yang Fan clenched his fists, wanting to rush up and knock Manager Liu down with a single punch.

But the thought that he had already obtained the small cauldron made Yang Fan suppress his anger.

Wait a minute, once I've saved up enough medicinal herbs, I'll go to town to exchange them for money to redeem myself.

He picked up the carrying pole and immediately went to fetch water.

"Huh!"

As Yang Fan lifted the buckets of water, he immediately felt that his strength had increased considerably.

He was naturally thin and weak, and could not carry much water at a time.

But this time, he didn't feel tired carrying two large buckets of water.

Before long, Yang Fan finished fetching the water.

When he arrived at the kitchen this time, he hurriedly served the rice and prepared to leave with the food.

He had only taken two steps when Manager Liu blocked his way.

"Manager Liu!"

Yang Fan cautiously observed Manager Liu, wondering what he was planning to make things difficult for him this time.

"Don't be afraid. The master is very satisfied with the herbs you collected today. He said you should collect more so that he can send them to the young lady once you have enough."

A year ago, the eldest daughter of the Xu family was chosen by Qingyun Temple and became a disciple of the immortal sect.

To help his daughter, Master Xu searched everywhere for medicinal herbs, preparing to send them up the mountain.

"Serving the young lady is what I should do."

Yang Fan lowered his head, forcibly suppressing his anger, and spoke in a low voice.

"when!"

Manager Liu tossed a copper coin on the ground and strode away.

"This is a reward from the master, take it carefully, and don't say I didn't give you a reward!"

Yang Fan bent down and picked up the copper coin.

He knew that Master Xu would give him a much bigger reward, but all Steward Liu could give him was this one copper coin.

He clutched the copper coin tightly in his hand and silently took the food home.