The Peasant Wife: The Prime Minister's Beloved

In order to let his younger brother concentrate on housework, Chen Xi decided to let him go home first.

Although Xiaohe Town is only a few miles away from the village, the only means of transportation is ox cart.

Chen Xi came to the ox cart and caught a glimpse of the village women inside. He couldn't help but groan inwardly.

What those aunties and grandmas like most is to gossip. Their eyes are like needles and can always accurately penetrate into other people's lives.

Today, Chen Xi unfortunately ran into them and felt that a verbal dispute was inevitable.

As expected, as soon as the village women saw Chen Xi, they all started to mock her: "Hey, isn't this the girl who severed ties with the Chen family?"

"That's right, she is the first woman in our village who dared to break off relations with her own family. She even dared to attack her own grandmother. She really doesn't recognize any relatives!"

Zhang Guifen's sarcastic words pierced Chen Xi's heart like a sharp sword.

Chen Xi could only suppress the anger in his heart, silently squeezed onto the ox cart, and let the rumors echo in his ears.

Another person interjected, his words mixed with malice and gloating: "Life must be hard for you if you marry the disabled guy from the Xie family? I heard that you have two burdens with you. You will be a ready-made mother if you marry him. Sigh, I feel so sorry for you."

She deliberately prolonged the ending tone, as if she was savoring Chen Xi's misfortune, with a hint of sarcasm at the corner of her mouth.

"What's in your backpack?" Zhang Guifen approached Chen Xi, gently picked up a piece of Nalan grass from the basket with her fingers, and held it in front of her eyes, her eyes full of disdain.

She looked at it for a moment, curled her lips, and said mockingly, "Is this a wild vegetable? The more I look at it, the more it looks like weeds on the roadside, haha!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people around him immediately joined in with a burst of laughter, the laughter was sharp and piercing.

Chen Xi clenched his fists and suppressed the anger in his heart.

She took a deep breath, straightened her back, and shot back with a sharp gaze, "You are so idle and have nothing better to do! How does my marrying Xie Tianyi bother you? I haven't eaten your rice or drunk your water, so who can say for sure whether I will have a good life in the future?"

These village women knew nothing about herbs and mistook the precious Nalan grass for ordinary wild vegetables. They also used this as an excuse to mock Chen Xi for his ignorance.

How could they know that these seemingly insignificant herbs were actually very valuable in the eyes of drug dealers, enough to be exchanged for a lot of silver, enough to support Chen Xi's family.

After more than half an hour, the ox cart finally drove through the bumpy country road with difficulty and arrived at the town.

Chen Xi felt relieved, finally getting rid of those people's endless sarcasm.

She straightened her clothes, adjusted her mood, and strode into the town’s largest pharmacy - Tonghetang.

Seeing Chen Xi's plain clothes with several conspicuous patches on his coarse linen clothes, the medicine boy's eyes flashed with disdain, and he asked unhappily, "Are you here to see a doctor or get medicine?"

Chen Xi lowered his head slightly, avoiding the medicine boy's gaze, with an embarrassed look on his face, and replied in a low voice: "Neither, I don't treat illnesses, nor do I prescribe medicine."

The medicine boy became more and more impatient, his nostrils flared slightly, and his tone became more and more contemptuous: "You are neither seeing a doctor nor prescribing medicine, so why are you here? Are you here to visit the market?"

Chen Xi mustered up all his courage, raised his head, and said word by word: "Is your shopkeeper here? I dug some herbs and wanted to ask if you are willing to buy them."

The medicine boy was about to make a sarcastic remark, but he heard a crisp response from behind the curtain: "Of course there must be one!"

Before he finished speaking, the beaded curtain swayed slightly, and a woman's figure appeared in sight.

Chen Xi couldn't help but be stunned. The woman in front of him was wearing a simple long dress, had dignified manners, and a capable look between her eyebrows. She was actually the owner of this store.

In this era, women were often confined to the boudoir and rarely got involved in social affairs, let alone running a pharmacy of such a scale.

However, the female shopkeeper in front of him dared to challenge traditional concepts and took charge of the world with her heroic spirit, which made Chen Xi respect her.

The seemingly nonchalant female shopkeeper's eyes lit up instantly when she caught a glimpse of the herbs in Chen Xi's backpack.

This is like a sleepy person meeting a pillow.

The clinic is in urgent need of these medicinal materials recently, but has nowhere to find them. Now someone is taking the initiative to deliver them to the door.

The female shopkeeper approached the basket and looked through the herbs carefully.

The rhizomes are plump and the leaves are emerald green, without any damage at all. It can survive even if replanted.

Her eyes sparkled with surprise and anticipation, and she immediately began to calculate the silver she would have to pay, praising Chen Xi's ability to identify herbs and his picking skills.

Chen Xi stood quietly aside, waiting for her offer.

Just looking forward to getting a fair price to start a long-term relationship.

"I am willing to pay twenty taels of silver for this batch of herbs." The female shopkeeper spoke sincerely with a frank look in her eyes. "This is the highest price I can offer for the first-time transaction of high-quality herbs."

Chen Xi couldn't help but feel warm inside when he heard these words.

The world is full of complicated people, especially among businessmen. There are many people who take advantage of novice sellers' ignorance of market conditions, arbitrarily lower prices, and ruthlessly squeeze profits.

However, the female shopkeeper in front of him demonstrated her integrity in business operations through her actions, without any intention of deceiving new customers.

Chen Xi smiled slightly and solemnly took the heavy twenty taels of silver handed over by the female shopkeeper.

She put the silver safely into her pocket, then picked up the basket with a smile on her face and prepared to leave the market.

As he turned around, Chen Xi's thoughts suddenly drifted back to rescuing the little girl a few days ago.

Afterwards, the space points increased by twenty points.

An idea quietly grew in his mind: why not use his knowledge of herbs and limited medical skills to set up a stall in the market and practice medicine for free. This would not only save lives and accumulate merits, but also earn points. It would be the best of both worlds.

However, when she looked around, she found that the stalls in the market had already been occupied by various vendors.

In desperation, Chen Xi had to turn to the female shopkeeper, hoping to learn from her where there were vacant stalls nearby for him to set up and practice medicine.

The female shopkeeper was slightly stunned when she saw Chen Xi asking, and then she patiently explained: "If you want to sell food, there are already several similar vendors on this street. The competition is fierce, and I'm afraid your business won't be very good."

Chen Xi shook his head slightly, "I am not planning to sell goods, but to open a free clinic to treat diseases for the people."

"Free medical consultation?" The female shopkeeper was so surprised that her mouth slightly dropped open, and her eyes revealed a look of disbelief. "You mean, you want to treat people for free? You... know medical skills?"

Facing the female shopkeeper's question, Chen Xi smiled calmly.

She is proficient in herbs, well aware of their properties, flavors and effects, and can accurately identify and dig them up intact in the mountains and forests. It is natural for her to know some medical skills.

The female shopkeeper fell into deep thought. After a moment, her eyes suddenly lit up and she made a suggestion to Chen Xi: "Since you want to practice medicine, why not just come and see patients in my clinic! I will pay you twenty taels of silver every month, what do you think?"