I have a martial arts panel.

Xu Lian overheard Xu Ning and Tao Yunchuan's conversation while cooking in the kitchen and learned that Xu Ning was injured.

"Sis, it's nothing serious, just some superficial injuries."

Xu Ning responded to Xu Lian's concern with a single word.

Looking at her older sister, with whom she shared a blood relationship, Xu Ning tried her best to remain calm.

Xu Lian was still worried, so she stepped forward and took a closer look.

"It's alright." Xu Lian looked her over for a while and, seeing that nothing serious had happened, finally felt relieved, but there was still some heartache in her eyes. "Go change your clothes, dinner is ready soon."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Xu Ning glanced at Xu Lian and Tao Yunchuan again, then turned and went into her room.

The simple conversation just now actually made Xu Ning feel a bit pressured.

Watching Xu Ning turn away, Tao Yunchuan suddenly sighed.

He looked at his wife, Xu Lian, with a somewhat forlorn expression: "It's my fault for being incompetent. You've suffered so much following me. Xu Ning is almost of marriageable age, and now you all have to support this family with me..."

"Don't say that."

Xu Lian looked at her husband: "If you hadn't married me back then, Xu Ning and I might have died on the streets. Don't say such discouraging things; things will get better from now on."

Xu Lian grasped Tao Yunchuan's hand.

"Um……"

Encouraged by his wife, Tao Yunchuan nodded silently.

……

Xu Ning returned to her room.

Intending to calm herself down, Xu Ning opened the door to find a little girl with pigtails sitting on her bed, playing with two wooden toys and muttering to herself.

Hearing the door open, the girl turned her face.

The sun was setting and the room was dim, but the little girl's bright, sparkling eyes seemed very clear.

Upon seeing Xu Ning, the little girl's face lit up with a smile.

"Uncle!"

Uncle?

Upon hearing this, Xu Ning instantly remembered.

The little girl in front of him was Tao Tao, the daughter of his older sister Xu Lian and brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan, and also his niece.

When Tao Tao saw Xu Ning come in, she put down the toy in her hand and jumped off the bed.

"Uncle, why are you only just getting back?"

Tao Tao looked up at Xu Ning.

"I……"

Faced with Tao Tao, Xu Ning hadn't yet figured out how to respond.

"what?"

Tao Tao suddenly asked a question. She looked at the hole and bloodstains on Xu Ning's pants, and her small brows furrowed.

"Uncle, how did you get your leg injured?"

As Tao Tao spoke, she brought her mouth close to Xu Ning's wound.

She puffed out her cheeks and blew hard into Xu Ning's wound.

"Peach, what are you doing?"

Xu Ning asked a question subconsciously.

"Does it still hurt?"

Tao Tao looked up at Xu Ning again.

Xu Ning then remembered that when Tao Tao fell and scraped her skin, her older sister Xu Lian would blow on her wound to relieve the pain.

Thinking of this, Xu Ning suddenly smiled knowingly.

He patted Tao Tao's head: "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Does it really not hurt anymore?"

Tao Tao seemed somewhat skeptical.

"It really doesn't hurt anymore."

Xu Ning tugged at Tao Tao's braid: "You go eat first, I'll come over after I change my clothes."

Tao Tao brushed Xu Ning's hand away: "Then I'll go out first."

But as soon as she left, Tao Tao turned back and took out a few green dates from her two pockets.

Tao Tao's hands are small, and she can barely hold three or four at a time.

"Uncle, this is for you."

Tao Tao stuffed the green dates into Xu Ning's hand.

Xu Ning took it: "You waited for me inside just to give me these dates?"

"yes."

Tao Tao nodded.

She didn't linger, and went out swinging her braids.

Xu Ning looked at the short figure, then looked down at the green dates in her hand.

"This child..."

Xu Ning had a smile on her lips that she herself didn't even realize was on.

He popped a green date into his mouth and chewed it.

"hiss……"

Xu Ning took a slight breath.

So sour.

"Perhaps it's all fate..."

Looking at the remaining green dates in his hand, Xu Ning pondered.

After a long while, he looked up; it was already dark.

Unconsciously, the distance between me and the world seems to be melting away little by little.

……

Xu Ning changed her clothes, roughly applied the spare ointment from the room to her wound, and then returned to the main house for dinner.

The dining table was a square table with a plate of light green vegetables, a dish of pickled vegetables, four bowls of porridge, and a flatbread.

"Our family's standard of living is still a bit low..."

Xu Ning thought to himself.

Although Taojiazhuang was a powerful clan in Kangyun County, Tao Yunchuan, the brother-in-law, was physically disabled, and neither he nor his sister had any outstanding skills, so they always lived in poverty.

The family's total income was about ten taels of silver per month.

Xu Ning calculated from his memory that one tael of silver in this world had the purchasing power equivalent to 200 yuan in his previous life.

Thinking of this, Xu Ning suddenly remembered the Jade Grass from before.

That's worth five hundred taels of silver.

It was precisely because of its high value that its predecessor risked its life to harvest it.

Xu Ning felt a pang of guilt as he realized that he had absorbed such a precious jade grass as energy.

"Please sit down."

After Xu Ning sat down, Xu Lian tore the bread apart.

She and her brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan received the larger pieces, while Xu Lian and Tao Tao each received a smaller piece.

At the dinner table, the family didn't talk much.

Soon, dinner ended, and Xu Ning, feigning exhaustion, returned to her room.

Night fell, and the room was dark.

Xu Ning lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

After the meal, he gained a more direct understanding of the family's financial situation.

I barely managed to eat my fill.

This is the current state of the family.

The more this happened, the more guilty Xu Ning felt about absorbing the jade grass worth five hundred taels of silver.

"I need to find a way to make money..."

Xu Ning's brain was working hard to think.

He needs to transform the force he has acquired at great expense into tangible help for this family.

……

Early the next morning.

Xu Ning woke up a little late.

When he woke up, Tao Yunchuan and Xu Lian had already left.

Tao Yunchuan worked as an assistant at the rice shop in the village, while Xu Lian went to the tailor shop to mend clothes.

Tao Tao was still fast asleep.

Xu Ning didn't wake her up. Tao Tao woke up naturally and went to play with her friends. She didn't come back for lunch until noon.

Since it's inside the village, there's no need to worry too much about Tao Tao's safety.

After getting up, Xu Ning quickly washed up, ate a piece of the leftover biscuit from last night, and filled her stomach a little.

He sorted the medicinal herbs he had picked from the mountain yesterday and those he had picked before, put them in his basket, and then went out to sell them.

Picking and selling medicinal herbs is something Xu Ning has always been doing.

After leaving home, Xu Ning headed towards the herbal medicine shop in the village.

"Guo Ye".

Upon entering the herbal medicine shop, Xu Ning saw a robust young man.

He had dark skin, small eyes, and a beard, making him look somewhat mature.

"Here you are, Xu Ning!"

When the young man named Guo Ye met Xu Ning, he smiled warmly.

If you were to ask which young man in Taojiazhuang was closest to him, it would undoubtedly be Guo Ye.

Guo Ye's experience is similar to Xu Ning's. Having lost both parents, he followed his aunt to Taojiazhuang when he was young, and was also an outsider.

However, Guo Ye's situation is much better than Xu Ning's.

His aunt married Tao Yungang, a well-known medicinal herb merchant from Taojiazhuang. His business not only covered the nearby villages and towns but also Kangyun County, making his family very wealthy.

Tao Yungang usually went out to collect medicinal herbs and conduct business, while Guo Ye managed the medicinal herb shop for him in the village.

Previously, Xu Ning would always sell the herbs she picked here, and Guo Ye never tried to lower the price.

"These are the medicinal herbs we've harvested in the last few days."

Xu Ning placed the basket in front of the counter and took out the herbs inside.

He had already gathered the herbs and bundled them into several bunches.

"I'll weigh it."

Guo Ye's movements were very practiced.

"A total of three taels of silver."

Guo Ye had calculated the price.

"Three ounces?"

Xu Ning was quite surprised.

In my memory, these medicinal herbs were worth at most one and a half ounces.

"So many, you didn't specifically ask me to bring them, did you?"

Xu Ning asked.

"No," Guo Ye replied. "The price of Liangkucao (a type of medicinal herb) has gone up. It used to be 3 liang (1.3 kg) per jin (0.5 kg), but now it's 6 liang (0.3 kg) per jin."

As he spoke, Guo Ye took a bundle of dry, withered grass in his hand.

The surface was withered and yellow, and the grass blades were thin and long, making it look like withered weeds.

But when you put it under your nose, it has a faint smoky fragrance.

"Six ounces of dried grass?"

Xu Ning's heart skipped a beat when he heard the price.

He suddenly recalled a memory from his past life.

A month ago, his predecessor was unexpectedly transported to a certain place in the Yunze Mountains. On a more distant hillside, he discovered a large patch of withered grass growing there.

However, that place was too dangerous, too close to the inner circle of Yunze Mountain. The inner circle was teeming with wild animals, as well as poisonous insects and plants, posing a considerable risk. Therefore, after hesitating, the original owner still did not dare to go and pick them.

Now that my strength has increased and the price of Liangkucao (a type of herb) has just gone up, perhaps it's worth a try.