Su Mu felt rather depressed.
Judging by the strange phenomenon just now, the Tao Te Ching should have been something truly extraordinary, so why couldn't he feel anything different at all?
Su Mu tried for a while, but still felt nothing unusual. Helpless, he pushed the door open and walked out.
"Come out."
Su Mu called to the lady in the painting.
The lady gracefully appeared. "Young master, what is it?"
"Keep teaching me to read."
Su Mu was rather enthusiastic. He kept feeling that the Tao Te Ching was a treasure, but this was a treasure he could neither touch nor grasp, which left him quite helpless.
Hearing this, the lady asked no further questions. She picked up an ink brush and began writing, teaching Su Mu to recognize the characters.
Su Mu also picked up an ink brush, copying her strokes and practicing his writing beside her.
"By the way, what's your name? It's rather inconvenient calling you without one."
Su Mu asked as he learned the characters.
The lady thought for a moment at his question, then said, "Young master, you may call me Xiao Lian."
This was the Painting of a Maid Picking Lotuses, and she had taken the lazy way out, simply having Su Mu call her Xiao Lian.
Still, any name would do, saving Su Mu trouble addressing her in the future.
Su Mu practiced writing for half a day. Seeing that it was getting late, he returned to Earth.
He still had to get up early and brew some medicine for his father.
Not long after Su Mu returned to Earth, he saw light already spreading along the horizon. He got up, washed, and went downstairs to light the stove and brew the medicine.
Before long, the rich fragrance of medicinal herbs began spreading.
I'll have Mom drink some medicine later too.
Su Mu stared at the medicine before him and thought it over. He felt he ought to have his mother drink some too, to strengthen her body.
If there wasn't enough medicine, he could simply go out and buy more later. Otherwise, with his parents going up the mountain to do hard labor every day, it would truly be exhausting without this medicine.
While Su Mu was thinking, the sound of a door opening came from upstairs. His parents were up.
His parents usually got up at the first light of dawn, as did everyone else in the village. Su Mu knew this well.
"Why are you up so early?"
Still a little sleepy, his mother's eyes weren't fully open yet. She came downstairs and looked at Su Mu in puzzlement.
"I'm brewing the medicine. You have to watch the heat when brewing it. Since it helps Dad, naturally, he can't stop taking it."
Su Mu's words gradually brought a smile to his mother's face. Her child had grown up and become much more sensible, knowing how to care for his parents. As a parent, she was truly happy.
"This medicine of yours really works. Your dad didn't cough once last night."
"Then you should drink some later too, Mom. This medicine is good for your health. You can drink it even if you aren't sick, just like that herbal chicken soup you used to make."
Hearing this, Su Mu hurriedly spoke up.
"This is for treating your dad. Why would I drink it?"
His mother hurriedly shook her head in refusal. For all her frequent complaints about his father, she often felt that if not for his accident at the construction site, they could have bought Su Mu a house by now, and said things along those lines.
Su Mu chuckled at her words. "It's fine, Mom. I bought plenty of this medicine when I came back. It should be enough, and if it isn't, I'll just go out and buy more. It isn't expensive anyway. Just drink a little to nourish your body."
As he spoke, Su Mu opened the medicinal herbs he had bought. Seeing the packages full of herbs, his mother hesitated.
"Just drink a little. This medicine has nourishing ingredients. You go up the mountain so often-if you hurt yourself somewhere, a hospital visit would cost far more than this little bit of medicine. Just registering and getting a scan would cost several hundred."
Su Mu's next words persuaded his mother. After a moment's hesitation, she decided to listen to him and drink some.
Just then, his father came downstairs too. His face had much more color now, his body was a little straighter, and his footsteps were much heavier, no longer seeming somewhat light and unsteady as before.
"This medicine really is good. That old Chinese physician truly knows his stuff. I had a good night's sleep last night!"
His father's face was full of smiles. Over the years, the constant coughing every night had tormented him to death and back. Now, at last, he could get a peaceful night's sleep.
"Then drink this medicine. You need to take it twice a day."
Su Mu pointed to the medicine he had already poured out beside him.
His father came forward and drank it without another word.
For the simple fact that it let him sleep peacefully, he would drink this medicine no matter how bitter it was.
After he finished a bowl of medicine, Su Mu's mother drank a little too. The two then threw together something to eat before hurrying up the mountain again.
Before leaving, they also took some bread and flatbread, saying they wouldn't be back for lunch and telling Su Mu to make himself something.
Su Mu didn't mind at all. He still had to return to the cultivation world and think about his grand money-making plan. He locked the front door downstairs and returned to his upstairs room.
A moment later, Su Mu was back in the cultivation world.
Just then, Xiao Wu happened to arrive in the courtyard.
"Here to harvest literary Qi?"
Su Mu greeted Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu nodded lightly and was about to begin.
Seeing this, Su Mu hurriedly stopped her and called her over.
Xiao Wu was a little puzzled, but still walked over. "What is it? Just say it."
"Well, I wanted to ask-I should still be able to write a few more calligraphy works. When the time comes, could I trouble the eldest princess to assign some people to me? I'd give her a share of the money I earn. What do you think?"
Su Mu thought it over. His original idea of giving her the Tao Te Ching outright wouldn't work, so how about simply giving the eldest princess a share of the profits instead?
The eldest princess was a Nascent Soul Realm expert, after all. Bringing her on board felt like it would offer some protection for his little life.
Xiao Wu froze at his words, then looked Su Mu up and down before closing her eyes.
A moment later, a cool voice rang out beside Su Mu's ear.
"I have no interest in that paltry sum you earn from calligraphy!"
The voice wasn't loud, but it shook Su Mu's soul until it nearly scattered. It seemed the eldest princess was somewhat displeased and had used a little trick.
"That wasn't what I meant. I merely hoped to work with Your Highness. Please understand!"
After steadying his mind, Su Mu hurriedly replied.
"Hmph. Wait until you can earn that much from calligraphy before saying such things!"
With that, the eldest princess's voice faded away. Beside him, Xiao Wu covered her mouth and snickered.
Both she and the eldest princess had seen right through Su Mu's little scheme.
Wasn't Su Mu simply worried that the little money he earned would make others green-eyed?
She had spent some time with Su Mu by now. Since he wasn't a cultivator, he must be an ordinary person. Now that he saw all this gold, it was only natural for his head to spin a little and for him to think others would covet it.
The eldest princess, however, felt rather annoyed. She was a dignified eldest princess, yet someone holding a few dozen taels of gold was afraid she would covet it. What was that supposed to mean?
"You really do worry too much. Just do the math. One six-inch calligraphy work only earns you a little over ten taels of gold a day. Even if you could write a hundred six-inch works..."
"Even counting fifteen taels of gold a day for each work, a hundred would only bring in fifteen hundred taels. Naturally, that's worth a great deal to ordinary families, but to the eldest princess, it's merely a little pocket money."
"Besides, could you write a hundred six-inch calligraphy works? In nearly a hundred years, Great Liang has only had a few dozen."
Xiao Wu covered her mouth and snickered as she spoke.
"But the original copy of a six-inch calligraphy work is extremely valuable, isn't it?"
Seeing how utterly unconcerned she was, Su Mu couldn't help speaking up.