Xiaoshan Village.
The sky was growing light, yet the gale was still howling fiercely.
Inside Li Xiu's dilapidated thatched cottage, the room was packed to the brim. Seven or eight people were crammed inside, making the already tiny space feel unbearably crowded.
Yang Ruixue gripped Yang Ruiling's hand and knelt by the bedside, crying, "Grandpa Village Chief, please save my sister! She has a high fever and is dying."
Li Daqing, the village chief of Xiaoshan Village and an old man well past ninety years of age, squatted down and pressed a hand against Yang Ruiling's forehead. After checking her breathing, he sighed, "Ah, this child's high fever won't break, I'm afraid she's going to..."
"Old Village Chief..." Hearing this, Yang Ruixue broke down completely, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Hehe, little lady, don't cry. What's the point of staying with that gambler? Why don't you come with me? I guarantee I'll give you a good life!" A rough voice rang out from among the good-for-nothing hoodlums—it was none other than Li the Scoundrel.
Li the Scoundrel stared fixedly at Yang Ruixue with a look of undisguised lust.
"Li the Scoundrel, what kind of bullshit are you spewing?" snapped the hunter Li Mingda in a booming voice. "As if a lazy good-for-nothing like you could give anyone a good life! You've just got your eyes on the little lady's body, and you can't even keep your own wife fed..."
"Hahahahaha!"
The whole room burst into loud laughter. Li the Scoundrel's face flushed bright red with fury, and he barked, "Li Mingda, none of your damn business!"
Looking at the jeering and bickering crowd, Yang Ruixue felt a flicker of utter despair in her eyes.
She raised her head to look at Li Daqing and pleaded, "Old Village Chief, please, think of something!"
Li Daqing shook his head and sighed, "Ruixue, it's not that I don't want to help, but we don't have a doctor in the village, nor do we have any medicinal herbs. With the wind blowing this hard, it's impossible to go out and fetch a physician. Where is your husband anyway? Where is he?"
"My husband, he..." Upon hearing this, a shred of hope rekindled in Yang Ruixue's heart, and she hurriedly said, "H-He said he was going up the mountain to gather herbs! Maybe—maybe he can save my sister..."
"Went to gather herbs?" Li the Scoundrel laughed uproariously. "That guy? A gambler who does nothing but drink and gamble? I bet he just ran away to save his own skin! Little lady, stop daydreaming. Come with me, I promise you—"
As Li the Scoundrel spoke, his gaze swept up and down Yang Ruixue's body with a lecherous gleam.
"Li the Scoundrel, shut your trap!"
A sudden, thunderous roar almost shook the thatch right off the roof.
At that exact moment, a figure rushed in through the doorway, travel-worn and looking as though he had just crawled out of the earth.
Who else could it be but Li Xiu?
"Li Xiu?!"
Everyone in the room was stunned, staring as if they had seen a ghost.
"Y-You're back?" Yang Ruixue looked at Li Xiu in utter astonishment.
"Did you manage to get the herbs?" Yang Ruixue asked tremulously.
"Gather herbs? Ha! As if he could find any herbs. I bet he came back empty-handed," Li the Scoundrel sneered, refusing to believe Li Xiu was capable of such a feat.
The rest of them shook their heads repeatedly as well, convinced that Li Xiu couldn't possibly have found any medicine.
Li Xiu was merely an idle gambler—what did he know about medicinal herbs?
Besides, with the wind howling like last night, and the mountain paths treacherous to walk, where on earth could he have gone to find herbs?
Ignoring Li the Scoundrel, Li Xiu stepped forward and said to Yang Ruixue, "Don't worry, I've found the herbs. Your sister will be fine."
As he spoke, Li Xiu set his bamboo basket down on the floor and pulled out the herbs.
"Houttuynia cordata to clear heat and purge fire..."
"Plantain herb to reduce swelling..."
"This is fan palm seed for clearing heat and relieving toxins..."
Li Xiu introduced each herb as he drew them out, leaving everyone in the room with their jaws dropping to the floor.
"Are these really medicinal herbs?"
"D-Did he actually manage to gather them?"
"How is that possible? Isn't he just a gambler?"
"..."
The crowd stood dumbfounded and speechless.
Watching Li Xiu take the herbs out one by one, Yang Ruixue's eyes reddened again, though this time tears of relief welled up in them. "Sis, you're finally saved."
Li Xiu looked at Yang Ruixue, a flash of heartache crossing his eyes.
Without wasting time, he prepared the herbal mixture and instructed Yang Ruixue to go boil the medicine.
This fellow Li Xiu had actually gone up the mountain to look for herbs?
Could anything be more unbelievable?
The villagers looked at Li Xiu as if he were a complete stranger.
Before anyone could recover from their shock, however, Li Xiu reached into the bamboo basket once more and pulled out another item.
It was the size of a fist and radiated a rich, potent medicinal fragrance.
"T-That's wild Dangshen?!" Village Chief Li Daqing widened his eyes and blurted out.
"Such a huge piece of wild Dangshen!"
"Pure dumb luck!"
"..."
Everyone present gasped in fresh astonishment and crowded around, staring with burning eyes at the wild Dangshen.
Wild Dangshen was a rare treasure; if they took it to sell in town, it would fetch a small fortune at the very least!
Li the Scoundrel's eyes popped wide open, utterly unable to believe that Li Xiu had actually found a wild Dangshen of this size!
How could anyone be this lucky?
"This wild Dangshen..." Village Chief Li Daqing stroked his beard, circled the root twice, and clicked his tongue in wonder. "Li Xiu, you really have incredible luck! You don't just stumble upon something like this every day!"
"Village Chief, how much do you reckon this wild Dangshen is worth?" Li Xiu asked with some uncertainty. Though he estimated its value to be around six or seven taels of silver, he still needed to check against the market price.
"With quality and size like this, if you take it to the apothecary in town, you won't get less than six taels of silver for it!" Li Daqing declared.
Six taels of silver!
The surrounding villagers broke into a clamor of gasps. This was a massive sum of money—enough to cover a typical family's living expenses for an entire year!
Scanning the scene, Li the Scoundrel noticed there was still something left inside the bamboo basket behind Li Xiu.
"Li Xiu, what else is in that basket? Let me see!" Li the Scoundrel blinked eagerly.
Li Xiu glanced at him. The bastard sure had a keen nose.
He had no intention of hiding it anyway; this item was bound to be sold sooner or later.
Li Xiu lifted the cloth covering the basket, revealing a glossy fungus.
"Hiss..." The crowd drew in a sharp breath.
"Ganoderma?!"
"Good god, such a huge lucid ganoderma!"
Another wave of commotion rippled through the crowd as pairs of eyes stared greedily at the bamboo basket on Li Xiu's back.
Li the Scoundrel's eyeballs nearly fell out of his sockets. He rubbed his eyes hard, scarcely believing what he was seeing.
That damned thing was a lucid ganoderma!
Its value far surpassed that of the wild Dangshen!
"This—this... such a massive ganoderma!" Li Daqing stammered. In all his ninety years of life, this was his first time laying eyes on a premium wild ganoderma of this caliber!
"Li Xiu, your damn luck is unbelievable!" Li the Scoundrel wore an expression of pure envy, practically drooling at the mouth.
Everyone around marveled at Li Xiu's good fortune, as if he had been blessed by the God of Wealth himself.
"Li Xiu, are you selling this wild ganoderma? I'll pay a high price for it!"
"Me too! I'll offer ten taels of silver!"
"I'll give you fifteen taels!"
"..."
While the villagers were scrambling and shoving to buy the ganoderma, Yang Ruixue brought the brewed medicine over to the bedside and began slowly feeding it to Yang Ruiling with a spoon.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
After swallowing the medicine, Yang Ruiling coughed a few times a moment later and slowly opened her eyes.
"Sister, you're awake!" Yang Ruixue pressed a hand to her sister's forehead and cried out in pleasant surprise, "Sister, you're better! Your fever is gone!"
"What the hell? How does Li Xiu know how to heal people?"
"What kind of trick is this?"
The villagers looked at Li Xiu in a completely different light now...