"Mom, why are you cutting up the old clothes?" asking Cheng Xiao Xiao in a surprised tone when she saw her mother cutting up her old clothes in the yard.
Mrs. Cheng looked up and gave her a bitter smile, "Xiao Xiao, there are my old clothes. They are a little old, but the quality is quite good. I thought I'd alter them for your sister!"
"Mom!" Cheng Xiao Xiao walked up to her and casually took the clothing piece from her hand and sat next to her, "Mom, I am not going to stop you from making clothing, but do we need to wear the old ones any more? We have money now. Dad can go to the marketplace tomorrow and bring home some fabric. Then you can make us all new clothes!"
"Well, Xiao Xiao, we have tens of taels, I'm afraid…."
"Mom, don't worry!" Cheng Xiao Xiao interrupted her and smiled, "We aren't always going to have only tens of taels. If you are willing, we can easily bring in tens of thousands of taels. We don't need to be frugal and suffer anymore!"
"Xiao Xiao, you mean…." Mrs. Cheng was dumbfounded.
Cheng Xiao Xiao gave her a smile, "Mom, you know, the dimension has been producing quite a bit every day. We already have 10,000 dan rice in the warehouse along with close to 10,000 chickens and rabbits. Just think, if we are to sell them, tens of thousands taels are not a pipe dream."
"This…" Mrs. Cheng was bewildered by her daughter's words. She didn't think they have already accumulated so much mythical animals and produces in only three months.
She knew fairly well that if they truly were going to sell them all, never mind tens of thousands of taels, they could probably fetch upward of hundreds of thousands of taels.
"Xiao Xiao, are you serious?" asked Cheng Biyuan in disbelief as he walked through the door. He figured his daughter had accumulated quite a bit of mythical animals and produces, but the quantity stills surprised him.
Cheng Xiao Xiao nodded lightly at her father's question. Truthfully, she was being conservative about the numbers, there might be another 10,000 or so more.
"Great! That's excellent!" smiled Cheng Biyuan happily.
Mrs. Cheng had the exact same smile, "Ye, how come you are back already? I thought you were going to teach Zheng Yuan and Zheng Bin martial art?"
"I did, they are practicing in the bamboo forest!" His smile disappeared slowly and was replaced with a small frown as though he had ran into some problems.
Naturally, Cheng Xiao Xiao, who was standing next to him, noticed the change and asked, "Dad, what happened?"
"Nothing, both of your brothers are very talented, but I am afraid our family's lack of resources will hold them back, and I…." Cheng Biyuan frowned and continued, "I have a feeling that we will run into some troubles in a few days. Even though I am a martial master, but I am still a junior martial master, if only I could break through to mid-level…."
"Dad, don't you worry. We still have Yuteng. There's nothing to worry about!" Cheng Xiao Xiao was confident. She didn't believe they wouldn't even be able to overcome the minor setbacks when they were just starting out.
Nodding lightly, Cheng Biyuan smiled again, "Maybe I am just overthinking this!"
"Not necessarily!" smiled Cheng Xiao Xiao, "By the way, dad, we need some supplies around the house. Maybe you can make a trip to the marketplace tomorrow to replenish them? And, I think it's best we get a horse-drawn wagon as well!"
"Make sense. We can't keep borrowing Patriarch Liu's ox-drawn wagon every time we head to the marketplace!" Mrs. Cheng agreed as well.
Cheng Biyuan had an idea what they need around the house, and he hasn't been to the marketplace for a while now. He nodded, "Okay, I will go and get them tomorrow!"
"Dad, mom, I have another suggestion!" Cheng Xiao Xiao thought it over and decided to bring it up.
"What kind of a suggestion?"
Meeting the puzzled look in her parents' eyes, Cheng Xiao Xiao smiled and said, "Dad, mom, what I am thinking is we should hire someone to come and fix up the house some; otherwise, it's different to entertain guests in the future!"
"That's a very good point, Xiao Xiao!" Cheng Biyuan looked around at the 4 straw huts plus the courtyard and sighed, "This place is quite small, not to mention that it leaks in the rain storms. We should plan on some remodeling."
Mrs. Cheng didn't say anything but she agreed with the suggestion. After all, they hastily built these four straw huts. After being worn down by the weather all these time, they leaked during the summer and windy during the winter.
"There's no need to wait till next month. I will go look for someone from the village to come help us rebuild right away!" Cheng Biyuan was a man of actions, he was about to head out right away.
"Dad, hold off!" Cheng Xiao Xiao stopped him right away. After he stopped in his steps, she continued, "Dad, we should also plan on expanding our farm, which Yuteng could do overnight. If the villagers come help us rebuild now, I'm afraid it will raise questions. Let's hold off till we have Yuteng expand our farm!"
"Okay, whatever you say!" said Cheng Biyuan, what's another few days?
That night, after dinner, Cheng Xiao Xiao went back inside the dimension and happened upon Yuteng harvesting from the fields. She sat in front of the cottage and watched quietly.
Even though little Yuteng was busy, but she completed her tasks in a matter of minutes.
"Young master, what's the matter? You look unhappy?" Asked little Yuteng with a smile when she spotted the cheerless Cheng Xiao Xiao.
Cheng Xiao Xiao pursed her lips and said, "Not really unhappy. My dad wanted to break though to mid-level martial master. Xiao Yu1 is there anything you can do to help?"
"Just a little martial master, that's easy. If young master let him absorb a 5,000 year old wild ginseng, he could advance to level 5 or 6 martial master in a day, that will put him at mid-level!" said little Yuteng casually.
"5,000 years?" Cheng Xiao Xiao didn't know wat to say, "Where am I going to go find 5,000 year old wild ginseng? It's not we are talking about bok choy that you can find all over the place. Even if we go into the mountain I'm afraid that would still be a difficult task. 5,000 years, its about to turn into a fairy!"2
"Hehe, young master, you are right. 5,000 year old wild ginseng can be considered panacea, but not quit to turn into a fairy. It will take at least 10,000 years for it to gain intelligence."
Little Yuteng's commentary taught Cheng Xiao Xiao something new, "I see. I guess we will have the opportunity to encounter panacea in the future!"
"Hehe, young master. If you want panacea that will be easy!"
"What do you mean?" Cheng Xiao Xiao was dumbfounded, she gave the little fairy a sideway glance.
"Young master, you know how the dimension is saturated with mythical air?"
"Yes, very saturated, makes one feels good breathing it in!" nodded Cheng Xiao Xiao, but she was still not getting her point, "What does the mythical air in the dimension have to do with panacea?"
"It has everything to do with each other!" Little Yuteng pointed toward a field of herb vines and said, "Young master, the time in the dimension is several times that of the outside world. Just look at the herbs that I have planted at the beginning, they have aged tens of years already. Isn't that impressive?"
"Tens of years?" Cheng Xiao Xiao widened her clear eyes, her face filled with surprise.
"Yes, tens of years isn't enough. But, I can directly infuse the mythical air from the dimension into the desired herb and accelerate it's growth and age. I can achieve the 5,000 year old wild ginseng that you need in a month if not half a month!"
"That's wonderful!"