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Doctor Li suddenly admired the young girl’s ability to admit her mistake and apologize.

Gladly, he said, “Knowing one’s mistake and being able to correct it is a virtue. It’s good to see you learning. Where’s Yingbao?”

Chen Tiantian fidgeted with her fingers and said, “She’s in the room and said she would not come back. Grandpa Li, you have to make her stay.”

Not coming back?

Doctor Li furrowed his brows, walked towards Yingbao’s room, stopping at the entrance he called her, “Yingbao.”

Yingbao came out from the room, and before Doctor Li could ask her, she said, “Grandpa Li, I was about to talk to you. I have learned all the herbs in the Medical Hall and now I would like to stay home and read classics. In my free time, I’d identify herbs found in the wild, so I no longer need to be here in the Medical Hall.”

She deeply bowed to Doctor Li and continued, “I’m forever grateful for your teachings in the past few days.”

After a long silence, Dr. Li had no reason to hold her back and sighed, “If so, you can go home. You can always come to me when you do not understand something.”

All of a sudden, Chen Tiantian ran over, her face pale, “Yingbao, it’s all my fault. I was just curious and moved your medicine box. I swear I won’t do it again. Please forgive me and don’t leave. Okay?”

Yingbao was taken aback by her dramatic performance, her temple twitching with irritation.

At that moment, Li Xihua also came out, her eyes welled up with tears as she held onto Yingbao’s hand, “Yingbao, are you really not coming back?” She really didn’t want Yingbao to leave.

Yingbao: “I will visit you when I have time, I will bring you persimmon cakes and roasted chestnuts.”

The chestnut harvest in her family’s orchard was in full swing. The persimmons were all picked by her mother and they learned from Aunt Yanru to peel the skins and make persimmon cakes. As we speak, the persimmons were hung on fine hemp rope under the eaves to dry.

Li Xihua wiped her tears and nodded, “Don’t forget.”

“I won’t.”

In the afternoon, Jiang Sanlang indeed came to pick up Yingbao.

When he heard his daughter was not going to work as an apprentice anymore, he was a bit surprised, “Why did you suddenly decide not to come?”

Yingbao: “The gourds at home have grown up. I want to go to the county town to sell gourds to earn money.”

Jiang Sanlang chuckled, “Alright then, I’ll let Jiang Quan take you to the county town. Xiaojie also has the day off, you siblings can spend some time together.”

After loading Yingbao’s things onto the cart, Jiang Sanlan bowed to Doctor Li, “Thank you for taking care of Yingbao these past few days. I’ll take her home now.”

Doctor Li waved his hand, “This child is very disciplined. I didn’t have much to worry about. Make sure she studies a lot once she gets home.”

He gave Yingbao a few medical books to read, asking her to return them when she finished and he would give her a test then.

The carriage passed the marketplace, where they saw many people drying clothes and quilts, young and old, all dressed in fringed hats and wearing chrysanthemums.

When they arrived home, Jiang Sanlang unloaded Yingbao’s bag and medicine box and carried them into the house.

Jiang Quan had been waiting in the yard. As soon as he saw Yingbao, he couldn’t wait to boast, “Yingbao, our gourds are selling like hot cakes! Haha, each gourd can sell for ten taels of silver.”

“So, how many have you sold?” Yingbao was curious about how well their gourds were selling.

Jiang Quan held out one hand: “Five! I sold five gourds in one day!”

“So, how many did you sell in total?” Yingbao asked again.

Jiang Quan: “Five.”

Yingbao:

So, they only sold five gourds.

Jiang Quan excitedly said, “Last time, I took five gourds and they sold out in a day. Tomorrow I plan to take ten.”

In fact, he wanted to take more, but the cart couldn’t hold any more.

“Besides selling gourds, how’s the rest of the business in the shop?” Yingbao interrupted her second cousin’s endless chatter.

Jiang Quan scratched his head: “Not so well.”

Most of the fruits from home were sold out and visitors to the shop dwindled. Luckily, he brought a few gourds to sell, otherwise the shop would be deserted.

“What about the candied fruits?”

“We occasionally sold some, but not much,” Jiang Quan responded, showing a sign of worry.

After pondering a while, Yingbao said, “Then, I will go to the county town with you tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Quan: “Oh yes, when we go to the county town, bring more chestnuts. The folks at the Tile House love boiled chestnuts. I plan to bring some to sell.”

The Brothel at the Tile House put on various performances and name-play shows every day, drawing a steady stream of people. Jiang Quan had been there once, and saw many vendors with baskets selling food by the brothel. Their business was booming.

At the time, he had the impulse to take the candied fruits from their shop to sell there.

Yingbao nodded: “Your idea is not bad, but there are lots of hooligans there. They will cause trouble when they see a new vendor.”

Jiang Quan was dumbfounded.

How did Yingbao know everything?

Yingbao: “So you should stay at the shop. We are here for big business, although the place is good for business, we can’t get rich there.”

She didn’t want her second cousin to end up as a petty vendor wandering around the brothel.

Though they were not a wealthy family, they had to think long-term. If not, they are better off farming at home and being counted among the farming class.

It took a lot of effort to transition from farming to business. If in the end, they just become a wandering street vendor, it’s not worth it.

But, her second cousin did give her an idea.

If they market their shop’s specialty well, with nice packaging, they would surely attract customers.

Their candied fruits were sold by weight, which didn’t necessarily reflect their worth as specialties.

Therefore, she planned to make a bunch of packaging boxes and package all the candied fruits separately. The wrapping paper must state the county town and the place of origin of the specialty.

Also, the County School was just across the street from their shop. Not all of the students were locals. Most of them came from different villages, and some of them were even from other counties.

When they returned to their hometowns, they would definitely bring local specialties for their families.

So, they should print auspicious phrases like ‘a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate’, ‘Golden List Title’, ‘Moon Palace Folding Branch’, ‘Five successful imperial examinations’ on those boxes.

Jiang Quan sighed, “Well, I’ll listen to you.”

Yingbao was right. There were indeed many hooligans around the brothel in the Tile House. He had seen them extorting money from a vendor, even causing the vendor’s nose to bleed.

At dusk, the Jiang family returned from the cotton field with big baskets of cotton. They gathered together for dinner.

Earnie whispered to Yingbao: “Chuchu is going to marry Master Zhang Meng.”

Yingbao blinked, not surprised at all.

Earnie continued, “Chuchu’s father initially disagreed. But after Zhang Meng’s master gave him thirty taels as a marriage gift, he agreed.”

“When will Chuchu get married?” Yingbao asked.

Earnie took a sip of soup: “It seems to be scheduled for the twelfth lunar month. Chuchu said she would go home to prepare for her wedding after helping us pick the cotton.”

Yingbao looked around: “Where is she now?”

Isn’t she supposed to be helping us with the cotton? Why isn’t she here for dinner?

Earnie gave a cheeky grin and said quietly, “She said she was going to cook for Master Zhang Meng. But I saw that Zhang Meng had already cooked the meal, just waiting for her to come back.”

Yingbao felt a small prick in her heart as she bowed her head to eat rice.

In the storyline she remembered, both Zhang Meng and Xu Kun became officials, but Zhang Meng’s wife was not Chuchu.

What was happening?