[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-above-the-mage":3,"chapter-above-the-mage-above-the-mage-chapter-40":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Above the Mage!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2257044,4404,"Chapter 40: The Herb Garden","above-the-mage-chapter-40",40,"\u003Cp>Eight people’s small herb garden—first, calculate the expenses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this world, the minimum annual living cost for a normal five-person family is 57 gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The herb garden’s situation is better, since the land and property are owned outright, so rent—a major expense—can be eliminated upfront.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But food, fuel, and clothing costs are unavoidable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calculating this way, the herb garden’s minimum annual living expense is 72 gold, or 1,440 silver, averaging four silver coins per day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That means he must earn at least four silver coins daily to keep the garden from going bankrupt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is only the bare minimum expenditure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De is now the garden owner; he can no longer eat black bread and pea soup like a slave—he must improve his diet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s another significant extra cost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The garden’s only fixed output is the one set of basic spider venom potion that Gao De prepares daily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Phil Magic Shop pays two gold per set of basic spider venom potion; raw materials cost about thirty silver, yielding a profit of roughly ten silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since some herbs can be grown in the garden itself, eliminating the need to buy from the shop, costs drop to twenty to twenty-five silver, raising profit to fifteen to twenty silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each set of basic spider venom potion that Gao De prepares also yields an extra half ounce of potion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That means for every twelve sets he makes, he gains one extra set.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Buy twelve, get one free”—three hundred sixty sets a year, thirty free sets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De reached this point and couldn’t help sighing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Master Seda had spent years building up a sizable herb garden and training apprentices skilled in herb cultivation, or else he’d have run away long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a profit of fifteen to twenty silver, and expenses set at five silver, he still has a daily surplus of ten to fifteen silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s three hundred to four hundred fifty silver per month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s three thousand six hundred to five thousand four hundred silver per year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking the midpoint, annual surplus is four thousand five hundred silver, or 225 gold in Xien coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Twenty-two thousand…” One Xien gold coin has roughly the purchasing power of a thousand yuan from his past life; after calculating, he estimated his annual income.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll have to give others a share—ten gold coins each per year, leaving me with 150 Xien gold coins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With profit-sharing, everyone is truly tied to the same boat, working harder and seeing themselves as part of the garden—Gao De understood this well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thirty free sets of basic spider venom potion are pure profit—his personal gain, no sharing required.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At two gold per set, that’s another sixty gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One hundred fifty plus sixty—that’s two hundred ten Xien gold coins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I can open Master Seda’s magic box and find potion recipes inside, income might rise further.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, those two apprentices who can brew the Minor Rest Potion—through practice, their success rate might improve.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Some herbs from the garden are raw materials for basic stamina potion, which I don’t know how to brew—so I can sell those herbs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s extra income—not much, but stable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, this is just a simulation management game,” Gao De chuckled after finishing his calculations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt like the genre had suddenly shifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Something still feels missing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De pondered, then rose, grabbed paper and pen, and wrote furiously. Moments later:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Name: Seda Herb Garden\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Personnel: 8. Fixed Assets: One herb garden, four herb plots (producing Snake Fang Grass, Mountain Wormwood, High Mountain Ironwood Root, Sunfire Fruit).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cash on Hand: 8 copper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fixed Expenses: 4–5 silver\u002Fday (living costs). Income: 15–20 silver\u002Fday (fixed output of basic spider venom potion). Irregular income not counted. Irregular Expenses: Herb seedlings, fertilizer, materials for “nutrient soil.” Looking at his homemade spreadsheet, Gao De nodded in satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s the ticket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With these calculations, the herb garden still has real potential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De instantly felt energized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no choice but to feel energized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire garden now depends entirely on his output! As the garden’s sole hope, Gao De immediately rose and went to his workshop to brew a set of basic spider venom potion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spring Bud Month, sixth day, morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De, still not fully recovered from his injuries, carried the one set of basic spider venom potion he’d brewed yesterday and left the garden for the city’s commercial district.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that he was suddenly motivated—it was simply that there was no food left at home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either Master Seda had stored all his savings in the magic box, or he had no savings at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In any case, when the apprentices cleared the ruins, they found not a single copper coin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the garden’s daily minimum expenditure of four silver coins was unavoidable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, food had been bought in bulk for several days, and Gao De still had ten silver and eight copper in savings, barely holding out for several days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today, they could no longer hold out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After these days of spending, Gao De’s savings were nearly gone—only eight copper coins remained. Without new income, everyone would starve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t Gao De’s first trip to Hogen City’s commercial district, but it was his first time leaving the garden in the morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Master Seda was alive, Gao De had to work mornings; only after brewing potions in the afternoon did he get any free time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The morning air was cold, carrying an indelible stench of filth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had entered Hogen City’s slum district.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the garden’s suburban location, avoiding the slums entirely on the way to the city center was impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once I have money, I’ll hire a carriage for commuting.” The lord of the herb garden, still relying on his own two feet, set himself a small goal—and held his breath, quickening his pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After crossing from the slums to the residential zone and reaching the commercial district, the sun hung high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t yet the busiest hour, but crowds had already begun to appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With an empty purse, Gao De ignored the tempting aromas drifting from food stalls lining the street and headed straight for Pierre’s General Store.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had only one set of basic spider venom potion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phil Magic Shop wouldn’t buy such a small quantity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So even though Pierre’s offered seven silver less per set than Phil’s, Gao De had no choice but to go with Pierre’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Gao De arrived at Pierre’s General Store, Pierre was just opening the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d always come in the afternoon; he never expected Pierre’s hours to be so late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his mind, small shops like this were always “eight to ten,” grinding out a hard-earned living.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Gao De was surprised, Pierre was visibly astonished to see him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boy, long time no see—I thought something had happened to you,” Pierre greeted first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the fourteenth day of Awakening Month, Gao De had been under house arrest by Master Seda; now it was the sixth day of Spring Bud Month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s over twenty days—no wonder Pierre’s first reaction was shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1176,"2026-06-19T14:28:48.629Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8d69f587b015f59ac56b6c8a12c55d27b4e11878d81b6702670d2d8d26aa00a3","above-the-mage-chapter-41","above-the-mage-chapter-39",529,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabove-the-mage-cover.jpg"]