Chapter 339: I

Wang Feiyin nodded slightly and said, "There's another matter: Old Qian spearheaded this, gathering several other gentlemen and officials to make merit at the Mountain God Temple, donating a total of three hundred and eighty taels. I'll give you the list later; have someone carve a stele and erect it before the temple—it'll publicly honor their merit."

Pan Yun cheerfully agreed, "Old Qian is truly a great benefactor."

Wang Feiyin agreed with this point—he had already donated to Pan Yun before, and this time he donated another hundred taels; the remaining two hundred and eighty taels came from the thirty-two people he invited.

The highest donations were fifty taels; several gentlemen donated twenty taels each; most gave two or five taels.

For them, it was the cost of a single meal; they didn't mind parting with it, gaining a good reputation while giving Old Qian his due.

The kitchen had no lamps lit, only firewood burning for warmth; by the flickering firelight, those who had been out and those who stayed behind happily shared stories from the past few days.

Pan Yun said, "Miao Zhen and I exchanged all the copper coins we got in the county for silver; the exchange rate then was one thousand and thirty wen per tael."

Miao He: "Wow, so we made a hundred and seventy wen profit per tael?"

Pan Yun nodded.

Wang Cong: "When we returned, the silver rate had risen again—to one thousand one hundred and twenty wen. With the New Year approaching, I think it'll keep rising, only dropping gradually after the holiday."

If we exchange then, we'll make a profit.

Moreover, silver exchange rates vary by region—the more prosperous the place, the higher the silver price.

Wang Cong could easily act as a silver-copper courier; he rubbed his chopsticks while gazing longingly at Pan Yun, "Little Xiao Shishu, my space artifact—"

Pan Yun: "I'll rest tonight; I'll make it tomorrow."

Wang Cong grinned, hinting, "If I buy a lot of copper coins, one might not be enough~~"

Tao Yanbai put down his spoon, squeezed beside Wang Cong, and looked up at Pan Yun too.

Pan Yun patted his shoulder with her damp hands, "Don't worry, yours won't be forgotten."

Tao Yanbai was satisfied—he only needed one.

"As for you, hehehe, I've carved every design I could on the jade pieces you gave me; I'll give you two, the rest are mine."

Wang Cong immediately agreed, "Fine!"

Pan Yun said, "Big Nephew, I also have a piece of jade rough—though not as good as yours, it's still fine material. Help me carve two jade plaques, no, five."

She decided to carve one for herself too.

Wang Cong wiped his chopsticks clean and handed them to Tao Yanbai, then immediately dried his hands: "Let me see what it looks like."

Pan Yun also dried her hands and pulled out the jade rough for him.

Wang Cong held the jade in his hands, silent for a long while, "You said how many jade plaques?"

Pan Yun held up one hand, "Five. One pair for Third Master and Fourth Mistress, one each for me, Miao Zhen, and Miao He."

Wang Cong took a deep breath and said to Pan Yun, "Forget it—I don't want the jade plaque space anymore. Just carve the two jade pendants for me; I'll hang one around my neck if I have to."

He said, "Give the pair I carved to Third Master and Fourth Master. With just this one stone… let alone five jade tokens, even carving three would require me to be extremely careful—you're being far too delusional."

Pan Yun leaned in to look, "How so? This stone is quite large, and jade plaques aren't big…"

Wang Cong's face was expressionless: "There's waste material inside. Wait till I cut it open—assuming no mishaps, the best spot for plaques is only the center portion."

"Jade plaques need to be thicker to avoid chipping. Getting three out is already due to my skill; the rest can become jade beads or small rings…"

Each to his own craft. Pan Yun had carved jade before, but never worked with raw jade. She murmured "Oh," and fell silent.

Wang Feiyin checked the time and urged, "Once the bowls are washed, go to bed. We leave early tomorrow."

Everyone agreed.

Pan Yun, Miao Zhen, and Miao He walked back hand in hand, planning to split the money.

Miao He called to Tao Yanbai, "Third Master, want to come along?"

Tao Yanbai hesitated, then said, "I have no money."

"No money? Earn some. What's there to dawdle?" Pan Yun grabbed his shoulder and pulled him along, "Come on, let's plot how to make money together."

Tao Yanbai followed them.

Pan Xiaohei mewed, didn't move, but dragged a pile of straw to the stove's side and curled up against it.

The stove still held embers; the pot held boiling water, kept warm by residual heat—by morning, the water would still be warm, perfect for washing up.

Pan Xiaohei thought this spot was warmer than Pan Yun's room.

Pan Yun didn't mind; she pulled Tao Yanbai back to the room to plan their next money-making scheme.

"After this money-making trip, I realized—claiming reward notices is extremely profitable," Pan Yun said excitedly, then paused as her gaze met Tao Yanbai and Miao He's faces, frowning: "You two… aren't suited for it."

Miao Zhen: "They can keep wanted criminals alive."

Pan Yun's eyes lit up, "That's one path."

Tao Yanbai: "... But aren't we supposed to capture wanted criminals? Why keep them alive?"

Pan Yun sighed, "Most reward notices specify whether the criminal must be captured alive or dead—the bounty differs."

Tao Yanbai swallowed hard, "So that means—"

Miao He: "It means Little Xiao Shishu is too powerful—she knocks them dead when she acts, so we have to keep them alive."

Pan Yun and Miao Zhen both nodded. Pan Yun: "Of course, besides reward notices, we can earn money other ways—we're down the mountain now, there are plenty of ways to make money."

She said, "I can sell talismans."

Miao Zhen: "I can give fortune readings."

Miao He: "I can't make house calls yet, but I can sell medicine!"

Tao Yanbai: "I can now make house calls independently—I could become a wandering Daoist physician, but it doesn't pay well."

Pan Yun patted his shoulder, "That's because you're not famous yet. Once you are, you'll get pre-booked cases like Third Master—those are wealthy clients who pay big."

"Look at the patient from Changzhou—he sent people all the way here to summon Third Master. Just travel expenses were a hundred taels, not counting consultation and medicine fees. Miao Zhen and I inquired—this one patient alone earned him this much."

"Eight hundred taels!" Tao Yanbai and Miao He gasped, both swallowing hard, murmuring, "Doesn't Big Brother earn that much after half a year's work?"

Pan Yun said, "Famous physicians make great money. The wealthy fear death above all—if there's even a sliver of hope, they'll spend a thousand or ten thousand taels."

Tao Yanbai stirred with excitement, then calmed, saying, "But I'm not like Third Master. My talent is average; my Upper Dantian's internal energy is limited, and what little becomes true qi is even less. Third Master sometimes uses true qi in healing, multiplying the effect a hundredfold…"

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Before he could finish, Miao He slapped his shoulder and said solemnly, "Third Senior Brother, I believe in you — you can definitely do it!"

Pan Yun also patted his shoulder. "I believe in you too. The vast majority of physicians in this world have no yuan power — does that mean they can't treat difficult and complicated illnesses? Yuan power is just one kind of energy. I believe that you medical practitioners will definitely be able to research out an energy that can replace yuan power, so that ordinary physicians can also treat those difficult and complicated illnesses."

Tao Yanbai's heart was suddenly filled with towering heroic feelings, and he could not help but look toward Seeing Miao Zhen.

Miao Zhen nodded at him.

Tao Yanbai let out a breath and laughed. Fourth Junior Sister was the best at discerning heavenly secrets — if even she nodded, then it meant this matter was feasible.

Since it was feasible, why shouldn't he take a gamble?

Tao Yanbai said seriously, "Little Xiao Shishu, when you go out to train again, take me with you."

Pan Yun agreed at once. "Alright!"

Miao He happily clapped her hands together and said excitedly, "Third Senior Brother, does that mean you're not leaving?"

Thinking of the past few months of being looked down on at home, Tao Yanbai squeezed out a smile and said, "I'm not leaving."

Once his mind was made up, Tao Yanbai could not sit still any longer. He immediately stood up. "Little Xiao Shishu, I'll go back to my room to get the money. I only have eight taels in total. When you exchange for copper coins next time, help me exchange a share too."

Although it was little, it could accumulate.

Accumulating day by day, slowly it would grow. All his money had been saved up this way.

Because he was young and his face was tender, the consultation fees Tao Yanbai charged for seeing patients were not much — mostly between two wen and ten wen. He usually charged five wen, and sometimes when he met people who were poor, he only charged one wen, or took no money at all.

That was why saving money was especially hard for him.

And rich people would not come to him for treatment either. Even if they could not invite Tao Ji, they would go invite the resident physicians of other medicine shops.

Just as Little Xiao Shishu said, it was still because he had no reputation.

If he had reputation, what did it matter that he was young?

Was Little Xiao Shishu not young?

But whether she was serving as a temple priestess at Mount Sanqing, or wandering the jianghu outside, there were people who respected her.

Because she had already built up a certain reputation.

The reputation she built as a temple priestess was something she had bought with money, by keeping her word;

The reputation in the jianghu was fought out.

Then if he wanted to become a Daoist physician, his reputation would have to be fought out through treating and saving people.

Wasn't Third Xiao Shishu also famous as a youth?

In the final analysis, it was still that his medical skill and Daoist arts were far inferior to Third Xiao Shishu's, and he had no way to let the world see his medical skill.

Tao Yanbai turned and walked to Wang Feiyin's door, pacing back and forth without leaving.

Wang Feiyin, who was inside rubbing the soles of his feet and planning to sleep, saw him walking back and forth. Even after the soles of his feet had been rubbed warm, he still did not come in, so he could only sigh and say, "Come in."

The person outside the room stiffened, and after pausing for quite a while there was still no movement.

Wang Feiyin said, "Stop standing there like a fool. I'm talking about you. Not sleeping in the middle of the night and pacing back and forth in front of my door — isn't it because you have something to say to me?"

Tao Yanbai could not help but look up in a fluster, and saw that Eldest Senior Brother was standing at his door at some unknown time.

Seeing him look over, Wang Cong gave him an encouraging smile, nodded slightly, and gestured for him to go in.

Tao Yanbai took a deep breath, mustered his courage, pushed open the door and went in. In the dim night, he saw Great Xiao Shishu sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Seeing him come in, Wang Feiyin waved his hand, and the oil lamp in the room was instantly lit, and the room became a little brighter.

The yellow lamplight falling on people added a touch of warmth for no reason, which steadied Tao Yanbai's heart a little.

He turned and closed the door, stood with his head lowered in front of Wang Feiyin. "Great Xiao Shishu."

Wang Feiyin: "Speak straight — what is it?"

Tao Yanbai raised his head slightly and said in a small voice, "I, I want to go to Long Hushan Academy to learn arts."

Wang Feiyin: …… Why was their Mount Sanqing today so determined to go up against Long Hushan?

See you tomorrow

(End of this chapter)