Qin Xuemei Returns Home! Medical Skills Reach Beginner Level—Please Vote!

"That's wonderful!"

"We can go play again!"

Bai Fenghuan bounced with delight.

Qin Wang smiled at Bai Fenghuan. Bai Fenghuan was only a child, thirteen or fourteen at most; loving to play was simply in her nature.

At noon.

Over three hundred tables were laid out at Li Family Manor.

The Goldfish Gang Leader of Qingniu Town, the deputy gang leader, the fishmongers, and the tenant farmers from town all went to pay their respects.

Qin Wang and Bai Fenghuan also followed behind Doctor Bai into Li Family Manor.

Qin Wang had already scouted the two places where Li Laocai had hidden his silver—the burned-out bedroom and behind the latrine. All that remained was to wait for the right time to retrieve it.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, five days went by.

Before dawn.

Martial Arts: Ancestor's Long Fist (Beginner)

Progress: (201/800)

Effect: Agile footwork, long-range strikes and close-in body checks, powerful explosive force, skilled at close-quarters combat. Can reach minor mastery in two months.

Skill: Medical Skills (Beginner)

Progress: (2/800)

Effect: Skilled in the art of healing, with an initial grasp of pulse diagnosis and medical principles. Diligence can make up for inadequacy. Can reach minor mastery in one year.

"Medical skills have finally reached the beginner level."

Qin Wang looked at his panel, satisfaction glinting in his eyes.

Over this recent stretch of time.

After eating that Golden Winged Red Carp, his physical condition had unexpectedly improved severalfold. His steps were no longer weak and unsteady. Though he still looked thin and frail, his sinews had tightened, and his bones were gradually growing sturdier.

His strength had increased greatly, several times what it had been before. Qin Wang felt that his current strength had already surpassed that of a grown man.

"It's time to dig up Li Laocai's 1,350 taels of silver!"

"Then head for the county seat."

Qin Wang looked at today's intelligence on the panel and murmured inwardly.

The intelligence showed that Zheng Kecheng had taken Li Chunxia back to the county seat after handling Li Laocai's funeral three days earlier. Li Family Manor had become completely deserted. Since people had died there, no one even dared to go near it during the day.

Let alone at night.

Over the past three days, Qin Wang had investigated thoroughly.

No one went to Li Family Manor at all.

Carrying a small hoe and a sack on his back, Qin Wang avoided the night watchman and headed toward Li Family Manor.

Before long.

He entered Li Family Manor, now reduced to broken walls and ruins. Not a sound could be heard anywhere. Qin Wang pulled his collar tighter and lowered his hat as he surveyed the surroundings. There was not the slightest sound. He came to the side of the manor's latrine.

According to the intelligence, five hundred taels of silver were buried one zhang east of the latrine.

Qin Wang estimated that five hundred taels of silver would weigh around forty jin. It would be better to dig this up first; anything heavier would be difficult to carry away.

Qin Wang began digging with his hoe, pausing from time to time to listen for movement around him.

When he had dug three chi down, Qin Wang felt his hoe strike something hard. He immediately cleared away the soil around the object bit by bit. Before long, a three-chi-wide earthenware jar emerged from the pit.

The jar was sealed with mud. Qin Wang directly smashed the seal with his hoe. By the faint light outside, he saw silver gleaming within.

"It really is silver!"

"The intelligence did not deceive me!"

Qin Wang looked at the silver inside, immediately opened the burlap sack he had brought with him, and loaded all the silver into it. Then he filled the pit back in, restored it to its original state, scattered bamboo leaves over it, and left under cover of darkness with the silver.

An hour later.

After winding this way and that, Qin Wang returned home.

He bolted the door from the inside, braced it with an iron rod, then went into the kitchen and counted the silver by firelight.

"A full five hundred taels!"

"I'm rich!"

Qin Wang found forty silver ingots weighing ten taels each, along with a hundred one-tael silver pieces shaped like steamed buns. He immediately dug a hole beneath the kitchen floor and hid the four hundred taels in silver ingots there, while wrapping up the hundred taels in small silver pieces in a bundle.

"There are still another eight hundred and fifty taels under the bed. I'll bring those back tomorrow night."

Qin Wang looked at the sky and found that it was nearly the third watch. The eight hundred and fifty taels would weigh around sixty-eight jin. Going there and back would take quite some time, and the small vendors of Qingniu Town generally rose early. It would be bad if anyone spotted him.

The next day at noon.

A thin young girl in green, carrying a small bundle on her back, stood before the tightly locked door of the thatched mud-brick house with its mottled earthen walls, her delicate brows tightly furrowed.

"Xuemei! It really is you!"

Just then, the door to Li Yunhai's home opened not far away. A woman of around forty emerged, leading a little boy by the hand. Surprise appeared on her face when she saw the girl.

"Auntie, do you know where Wang Zai went?"

Qin Xuemei looked at Xiao Yan, deep worry in her eyes.

"Xuemei, after you went to the Chen Family in the county seat, your brother entered Hundred Herbs Hall as an apprentice medicine boy. He should be at the pharmacy right now!"

Xiao Yan said.

"Thank you, Auntie. I'll go take a look at Hundred Herbs Hall!"

As Qin Xuemei spoke, she took a piece of candy from her clothes and handed it to the little boy beside Xiao Yan before heading toward the market.

Hundred Herbs Hall.

Qin Wang was sorting medicinal herbs when Bai Fenghuan suddenly entered and said, "Big Brother, there's a big sister outside who says she's looking for you."

"Looking for me?"

Qin Wang was somewhat puzzled. He put down the herbs in his hands and walked outside.

The moment he stepped out of the pharmacy, Qin Wang saw a pretty young girl standing at the entrance. She was very thin, her face sallow, a small bundle slung over her arm. As she looked at Qin Wang, her large eyes brimmed with delight.

"Wang Zai!"

Qin Xuemei ran over, seized Qin Wang's hands, and looked him over from head to toe.

"Sis, you're back! I was planning to go see you after a while!"

Qin Wang also looked Qin Xuemei over.

His sister was still as thin as ever. It seemed that her two-plus months at the Chen Family had not been easy either.

"I asked the steward for leave to come back and see you. I'll return afterward."

A nearly imperceptible trace of gloom flashed through Qin Xuemei's eyes, but she broke into a smile.

"Little Qin, things aren't busy today. Go home with your sister and take the day off!"

Just then, Doctor Bai's voice came from nearby.

"Thank you, Grandpa Bai!"

Hearing this, Qin Wang thanked Bai Mingliang, then went home with Qin Xuemei. Along the way, Qin Wang bought some vegetables as well.

"Wang Zai, it's only been two months, but you look so much healthier."

After returning home, Qin Xuemei pinched Qin Wang's arm and chest, light sparkling in her eyes. Seeing her younger brother doing better made her happy from the bottom of her heart.

"Yes, at Doctor Bai's place, I eat three bowls of rice every day."

"You're at the Chen Family... are things all right for now?"

Qin Wang looked at Qin Xuemei and asked.

"I'm fine. Look, I brought back some silver for you this time. With this, you can build a house later. Be sure to spend it sparingly." Qin Xuemei opened the bundle in her hands and handed it to Qin Wang.

"So much? Where did you get this much silver?"

Qin Wang looked inside the bundle and found twenty silver pieces, each weighing one tael.

He knew full well.

His sister had sold herself to the Chen Family as a Laundry Slave. Other than not being allowed to starve to death, she would have no money. Where had she gotten this silver?

"When I was doing laundry at the Chen Family, I saved the Lin Family's young master. To thank me, the Lin Family's old madam gave me twenty taels of silver. So I took leave to bring it back to you. I'll stay home for two days, then go back."

As Qin Xuemei spoke, she began bustling around the house to prepare a meal.

This was the explanation she had come up with before returning.