After returning to his residence, Hu Xiaobei carefully checked the medicinal herbs in the medicine basket and found that they were still as vibrant as before, completely putting his mind at ease!
Standing by the bed, Hu Xiaobei performed a set of military boxing before blissfully falling asleep...
In his dream, Hu Xiaobei dreamed that he married many, many wives...
The next morning, an invigorated Hu Xiaobei woke up!
"It seems that 'Nine Wood True Qi' really does enhance the body!"
After saying this, Hu Xiaobei put the medicine basket in his tricycle and then rode it straight to Lake Water County!
Along the way, Hu Xiaobei saw many villagers engaged in drought relief to save their seedlings!
"It's really a drought this year!"
Seeing everyone working hard, Hu Xiaobei silently sighed.
Xiaohe Village, being located in a plain, usually enjoyed good weather, but for some reason, it hadn't rained since the beginning of spring this year, causing all the crops to wither. Consequently, the villagers were forced to fetch water from the river for irrigation!
"Once I sell these medicinal herbs and have money, I might consider buying a water pump to make watering easier!"
Thinking this, Hu Xiaobei quickened his pedaling...
An hour later, Hu Xiaobei leisurely stopped his bike because the medicine purchase point wasn't far ahead.
Lake Water County had a large pharmaceutical factory that needed many medicinal herbs, so they had set up several purchase points throughout the county; Hu Xiaobei was approaching one of them...
Inside the purchase point, a middle-aged man was frantically upset, "In the past ten days, we've only gotten this much?"
Hearing such a cold inquiry, the manager of the purchase point quietly said, "Manager, there's nothing we can do! The medicinal herbs on the nearby mountains are becoming sparse, so even though we've raised the prices, we still can't get enough!"
When this purchase point was first established, they used to receive a lot of medicinal herbs daily, but now, it was no longer possible because the medicinal herbs on the mountain were dwindling!
Hearing the manager's helpless words, the man frowned and then said, "I know it's not easy to purchase medicinal herbs now, but you still have to try harder, understand?"
"Yes! I understand! By the way, Manager, I received a call yesterday. Today, there should be five or six types of medicinal herbs coming!"
Hearing about the five or six types of herbs, the manager got a bit excited, "Really?"
"Yes! The one who called is named Qian Fei, very skilled in finding medicinal herbs! She's brought us quite a few batches previously!"
"Then I have to meet her!"
"En, she'll be here soon! I'll introduce you then!"
"Good!"
...
Hu Xiaobei was unaware of the conversation happening inside the purchase point; at that moment, he was parking his bike, getting ready to take out his medicine basket.
"Oh, isn't that Hu Xiaobei?"
Hearing the cold mockery, Hu Xiaobei turned his head and soon slightly frowned...
The reason he frowned was that he recognized the speaker!
Her name was Qian Fei, Hu Xiaobei's ex-girlfriend. Previously, they were ready to get married, but then Hu Xiaobei's parents had an accident...
Since then, Hu Xiaobei had noticed changes in Qian Fei. Not only did she stop dealing with him, but she also constantly taunted him!
Convinced that it was impossible to continue with her, Hu Xiaobei had broken up with her and hadn't seen her since...
Now, seeing her again, Hu Xiaobei didn't feel any ripples in his heart, letting him know he had no lingering affection for her!
Seeing that Hu Xiaobei completely ignored her, Qian Fei became thoroughly annoyed!
In her view, people like Hu Xiaobei, who are at the very bottom of society, should proactively grovel and greet someone like her, a top-tier beauty. But now he wasn't doing that, making Qian Fei truly unable to accept it!
Without hesitation, Qian Fei hysterically yelled, "Stop right there! I'm talking to you, can't you hear? Are you deaf?"
Qian Fei's voice was so loud that at this moment, everyone nearby curiously turned their attention toward them!
Hu Xiaobei furrowed his brows and was just about to say something when he heard a duck-like voice saying, "Hu Xiaobei, you little rascal, you still have the nerve to show your face? Back then, you wasted so much of my daughter's time; tell me, how do you plan to compensate?"
Hearing that hysterical roar, Hu Xiaobei hadn't turned around yet but knew right away that it was Qian Fei's mother, Wang Tiehua!
After giving her a faint glance, Hu Xiaobei retorted, "Why should I compensate?"
"Why? Because my daughter is beautiful. Go around and ask in the ten villages around here; my daughter is definitely considered the most beautiful! She was with you for such a long time; don't you think you owe her compensation for the loss of her youth?"
Wang Tiehua completely exploded at this point!
Previously, Wang Tiehua thought the Hu family was decent, so she was willing to let Qian Fei and Hu Xiaobei get to know each other!
But later, after Hu Xiaobei's parents passed away, she felt it would be a loss for her daughter to marry into his family, and she firmly disagreed!
Hearing Wang Tiehua mention compensation for the loss of youth, Hu Xiaobei scoffed, "Wasn't my youth lost as well?"
Hearing Hu Xiaobei's retort, Wang Tiehua scoffed disdainfully, "You, a destitute nobody, lost what? Let me tell you, my daughter's reputation has been damaged, and don't talk nonsense with me, hand over ten thousand yuan for the restoration of her reputation, or else, I won't let this go!"
"Ten thousand? Why don't you go rob someone! Besides, didn't you already take the five sheep from my home?"
Earlier, due to a sudden mudslide, Hu Xiaobei was busy dealing with his parents' affairs, and by the time he had finished, he found that the valuables at home had been taken away, even the only five sheep had been taken by them!
Hearing Hu Xiaobei mention the sheep, Wang Tiehua disdainfully said, "Those five sheep aren't worth ten thousand yuan! They're not even worth five hundred! Qian Fei was with you for so long, aren't you supposed to compensate a bit more?"
"Mom, don't say anymore, talking any more with this pauper is just a waste of breath! He definitely doesn't have money, and besides, we still have other important matters!"
After Wang Tiehua had spoken, Qian Fei, full of arrogance, spoke with a face full of pride, positioning herself above everyone else!
Hearing Qian Fei speak disdainfully, Wang Tiehua coldly laughed, "My daughter is right, if he had money, how could he possibly be riding this shabby tricycle!"
"Exactly! Let's go! It's not worth wasting our time with him!"
After Qian Fei finished speaking, she wanted to leave quickly!
Now, thinking back to when she and Hu Xiaobei were once boyfriend and girlfriend made her feel uncomfortable, because she felt that Hu Xiaobei, that garbage pauper, truly wasn't worthy of her!
"Alright! Let's go!"
After agreeing, Wang Tiehua looked at Hu Xiaobei with arrogance again and said, "Hurry up and get lost from my sight! This is no place for paupers like you!"
...
"What a blessing in disguise!"
Watching their disgusting behavior, Hu Xiaobei suddenly felt fortunate that he had broken up with Qian Fei earlier, for truly being together with such people would be an endless nightmare!
Thinking this, Hu Xiaobei took a deep breath and quickly grabbed his medicine basket and headed straight to the collection point…
Not wanting to line up behind them, Hu Xiaobei quickly darted ahead to get in front of them!
"Is this pauper also here to sell medicinal herbs?"
Seeing Hu Xiaobei quickly running into the medicinal herb collection point, Wang Tiehua was slightly taken aback!
Hearing Wang Tiehua's words, Qian Fei, playfully flipping her hair, disdainfully said, "He probably just luckily found one or two medicinal herbs!"
"That's true! It doesn't matter anyway; he definitely can't have found as many as we have. This time, we found six types of medicinal herbs!"
Hearing Wang Tiehua speak excitedly, Qian Fei's eyes sparkled with pride, "Of course! In our county, I'm the most skilled medicine gatherer; no one can compare to me! Alright, let's go in now."
"Okay!"
Thus saying, the two of them entered one after the other…