The Peasant Wife: The Prime Minister's Beloved

Yu Qiongying sensitively captured the subtle alienation in the air. A smile of understanding flashed across her round face, and then she skillfully ended this slightly awkward conversation.

When saying goodbye, she gently patted the back of Sun Yanhong's hand. The two of them quickened their pace and gradually disappeared at the end of the winding path.

Chen Xi took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, and his whole body seemed to be bathed in an indescribable sense of freedom and tranquility.

Her eyes swept across this untouched mountain range. Among the lush vegetation, countless natural mysteries were hidden.

With every step she took, the ground beneath her feet seemed to whisper, leading her to the location of those precious herbs.

Soon, the bamboo basket on her back was already heavy with herbs of various shapes and colors piled in it, like treasures carefully selected by nature, exuding the vitality of life and the blessings of the earth.

On the way back with a full load, Chen Xi's thoughts had already flown to the distant town, and he was thinking about how to transform this fresh harvest into the nourishment of life in a timely manner.

She knew very well that time is to herbs as life is to flowing water. Once the best opportunity is missed, its value will be incomparable.

Passing by that ordinary herb-picking field, Chen Xi's eyes swept over the plants that the villagers had randomly collected, and he couldn't help but shake his head secretly.

Those messy and indistinguishable blades of grass obviously have not been carefully screened, and appear both amateurish and casual.

When the villagers noticed the full basket on Chen Xi's back, their eyes were filled with surprise and envy, and they couldn't help but follow him. Everyone was curious and curious about Chen Xi's herb-picking skills.

Arriving at the open area where the ox carts were parked, the villagers gathered naturally into a circle as if pulled by an invisible string, their curious eyes trying to penetrate the gaps in the backpacks to peek into the secrets inside.

Facing this scene, Chen Xi's lips curled up into an imperceptible smile, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She deliberately pretended to be completely unaware, and used a calm attitude to let the curiosity around her dissipate on its own.

Finally, it became clear in the afterglow of the setting sun, and Chen Xi quickened his pace, heading for the familiar and friendly clinic.

There, the shopkeeper Wanyu always greeted every visitor with her gentle smile and fair prices, especially to Chen Xi, adding a bit of family care and warmth.

In this small town, no place can make her feel the value of her hard work and a sense of belonging better than Wanyu's clinic.

Stepping into the threshold of the clinic, Chen Xi's feet seemed to have crossed the boundaries of time and space.

In front of her, it was still the clever and intelligent little medicine boy, but his eyes were unusually sharp, as if they could see into people's hearts.

When the little medicine boy saw that the visitor was the familiar Chen Xi, his eyes immediately lit up with excitement, and the smile on his face was like a flower blooming in spring, pure and sincere. "Doctor Lin, you are finally here! Please wait a moment, I will go and inform the shopkeeper immediately."

After he finished speaking, he walked briskly up the creaking wooden stairs.

A moment later, a figure slowly floated down from the second floor of the clinic.

Her steps were soft and graceful, and every step seemed to be on the clouds. She was surrounded by an indescribable gentle temperament, and the smile on her face was as warm as the spring sun, enough to melt the coldest heart.

"Hey, Chen Xi, you are really our honored guest! I wonder if you have found any precious medicine for us from that valley today?"

The words were filled with infinite expectations and genuine joy for what Chen Xi brought.

Hearing this, Chen Xi's lips curled up into a gentle smile. He gently took off the backpack he had been carrying for a long time and placed it on the ground.

The backpack was filled with various herbs that he picked himself at the beginning of the morning.

"I've been lucky this morning and have had a great harvest. Let's see if these herbs can satisfy your needs?"

Chen Xi's words show confidence in the fruits of his labor, yet he is also humble and low-key.

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Wanyu took light steps and approached the backpack filled with natural treasures. Her slender fingers gently touched each fresh leaf, as if she was having a conversation with these silent lives.

"This is amazing! These herbs are truly rare and fine products! Chen Xi, your ability to select herbs is becoming more and more unique."

Despite this praise, Chen Xi secretly murmured in her heart that she felt that today's herbs were not significantly different from those in the past.

"Well, since you are so satisfied with these herbs, how about we trade them at the price we agreed on last time? No need to waste any more words."

Shopkeeper Wanyu's frankness and generosity made the atmosphere on the scene more friendly and easy-going.

Chen Xi was a cheerful person, and seeing the other party being so frank, he naturally accepted it with pleasure.

"Deal, then we'll calculate it based on the last price. Please calculate the total amount of silver."

Her words were concise and powerful, revealing her deep trust in Shopkeeper Wanyu.

"Okay, the total is thirty taels of silver." Shopkeeper Wanyu's gentle voice was filled with a barely perceptible admiration. After quickly scanning the last line of numbers in the account book, she raised her eyes slightly and told the clever little pharmacist beside her to quickly go to the warehouse to get the silver.

At the same time, she turned her gaze to the young doctor, her tone full of care and expectation, "Chen Xi, will you come to see patients tomorrow? The people in the village are looking forward to your arrival."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi nodded gently, his eyes deep and firm, "Of course, I will arrive on time tomorrow morning and continue to help the villagers solve their problems."

This promise made the stone that was hanging in Wanyu's heart fall to the ground.

She knew in her heart that with Chen Xi's medical skills, she only needed to step into the mountains and forests and simply pick some herbs to easily get a generous reward of twenty or thirty taels of silver.

In comparison, the salary he received for working in the clinic for a month was only a mere thirty taels of silver.

The huge gap between the effort and reward always made her worry that Chen Xi would not want to step into this simple clinic again because he felt it was not worth it.

After bidding farewell to Shopkeeper Wanyu, Chen Xi's figure gradually blended into the darkening sky outside the door.

At this time, several villagers from the same village finished a day of hard work and set out on the road back to the village with their backpacks full of goods.

Some of them still had beads of sweat on their faces, with an uncertain yet hopeful light in their eyes. Perhaps even they themselves did not know whether those seemingly ordinary green plants in the baskets were weeds that could be found everywhere, or precious medicinal herbs that could relieve their pain.

Driven by curiosity and anticipation, they all chose to step into the clinic first, hoping to get a surprising answer from the shopkeeper Wanyu.

Not far from the clinic, a group of neighbors who liked to join in the fun gathered by the window.