RUHIP Chapter 012

Lin Ye actually didn’t want to keep secrets from Lin A’mo. But whether one called it a supernatural ability or something far more unsettling, his power was simply too extraordinary. He didn’t want it to bring unnecessary trouble, nor did he want it to create distance between himself and Lin A’mo.

He took a small bamboo backpack and carefully wrapped up a single lingzhi¹reishi mushroom, a medicinal herb. After glancing over the rest of his medicinal herbs, he informed Lin A’mo that he was heading out, slung the basket over his shoulder, and left home.

This time, Lin Ye wasn’t going to the town.

The kind of item he intended to sell was something a small town pharmacy neither dared to buy nor could afford. He was heading to the city instead, where only the larger pharmacies would be willing to purchase such a valuable medicinal herb.

The physical abilities of those with supernatural powers were exceptional. A journey that normally took an ordinary person nearly six hours required only a little over two hours for Lin Ye.

Once he arrived in the city, he went straight to the pharmacy where he had sold herbs before. The shop assistant recognized him immediately and promptly led him to the rear hall. The shopkeeper remembered Lin Ye as well.

After all, with looks as striking as his, forgetting him was nearly impossible.

“Young Master Lin, what treasure have you brought us this time?”

Without any pretense, Lin Ye removed the wrapped bundle from his basket and unfolded the cloth. Inside lay a lingzhi mushroom whose cap was nearly the size of two adult palms.

The shopkeeper had rarely seen a lingzhi with a cap that large. He stood frozen in astonishment.

Seeing the man’s expression, Lin Ye assumed the pharmacy might not be able to afford such an expensive item.

I wonder if there’s anywhere else willing to buy it…

“T-This… Young Master Lin… W-Where did you find this?”

The shopkeeper was stammering so badly that it was obvious he’d been thoroughly shocked. Lin Ye smiled naturally.

“I happened to come across it while gathering medicinal herbs in the mountains recently. Even I was surprised. I never expected to be this lucky.”

Seeing no sign that Lin Ye was lying, the shopkeeper sighed with envy.

Why don’t I ever have luck like that?

He had spent years taking his assistants into the mountains to collect herbs, yet he’d never stumbled across anything remotely this valuable.

“So… Shopkeeper, are you able to purchase it?”

The shopkeeper hurriedly replied, “Yes! Of course we can! Absolutely!”

Afraid that Lin Ye might change his mind, he rushed into the inner room. A moment later, he returned accompanied by a man dressed like the pharmacy’s accountant. Just like the shopkeeper, the accountant was visibly startled the moment he saw the enormous lingzhi. The two of them carefully examined it for quite some time before stepping aside to whisper among themselves.

After their discussion, the accountant returned to Lin Ye.

“Young Master, judging from its appearance, this lingzhi is clearly many years old. We’re willing to pay one thousand taels of silver for it. Would you find that price acceptable?”

Although Lin Ye had lived in this world for over a year, he still had only a vague understanding of the local currency.

He had no real concept of what one thousand taels represented. But judging from how cautious both the shopkeeper and the accountant looked, it was obviously no small sum.

When the shopkeeper saw Lin Ye remain silent, he assumed the offer was too low.

“To be honest, this lingzhi is worth more than one thousand taels. It’s just that our Yongshantang²literally means Hall of eternal goodness; the name of pharmacy simply doesn’t have any more cash available right now, so this is the most we can offer. If you’re dissatisfied with the price, you’re welcome to ask elsewhere. Of course… we truly do hope you’ll sell it to us.”

Lin Ye smiled.

“The last time I sold a He Shou Wu³Polygonum multiflorum, it is mentioned in previous chapters here, Shopkeeper, you never tried to cheat me just because I was an outsider. I have great respect for your integrity.”

“So… one thousand taels it is.”

“Let’s consider it my way of making a friend.”

The shopkeeper had never expected someone so young to speak with such tact and grace. He immediately broke into a broad smile.

Just as I thought. I hadn’t misjudged him at all. This young man really is an interesting person.

Now that the deal had been settled, everything else was easy to discuss.

The shopkeeper accompanied Lin Ye to the money exchange to withdraw the payment.

One thousand taels of silver was far too much to carry around, so in the end, Lin Ye deposited eight hundred taels into the bank. After paying a small handling fee, he kept one hundred ninety-nine taels and a little over nine hundred wen on him.

After bidding farewell to the shopkeeper, Lin Ye began shopping for New Year’s supplies. In just a few days, the market would close for the holiday, which was exactly why he had chosen to come on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Since it was the last market day before the New Year, the entire city was overflowing with festive cheer. The atmosphere here was completely different from the New Years Lin Ye remembered from his previous world. Back then, celebrating the holiday usually meant doing little more than playing cards with a few friends, and he had always found it rather dull.

Here, however, the streets were lined with bright red lanterns. Children chased each other through the crowds, laughing merrily, while smiles filled everyone’s faces.

Even Lin Ye couldn’t help being swept up by the joyous mood.

His first stop was the horse market. He had wanted a horse of his own for quite some time.

The moment he stepped inside, he attracted quite a bit of attention.

Lin Ye was exceptionally handsome. Even in a city this large, his appearance stood out from the crowd. After all, attractive people rarely lacked admirers.

Someone immediately approached him.

“What kind of horse are you looking for, young master?”

Lin Ye smiled politely.

“I’d like to buy a horse and carriage.”

After thinking it over, he had decided that a carriage made more sense than simply buying a horse. It would allow him to take Lin A’mo out for rides and also carry plenty of goods whenever they traveled.

The man immediately led him toward the eastern section of the market.

“You should pick a horse you like first. After that, we’ll help you match it with a carriage that suits your needs.”

So that’s how it works…

Lin Ye had assumed horse-drawn carriages were sold as complete sets. Apparently, buyers chose the horse first before selecting the carriage. Still a little bewildered, he followed the man through the market. As he examined the horses, people naturally struck up conversations with him.

They asked where he was from.

What he did for a living.

But somehow, the conversation gradually took a different turn.

“So… what kind of ge’er do you like?”

Lin Ye had been concentrating on choosing a horse. Hearing the question, however, he instinctively thought through every ge’er he had met.

To his surprise…

Yun Jiu’s face flashed across his mind.

Lin Ye immediately shook his head.

“N-No… I haven’t really thought about getting married yet.”

A middle-aged shu’mo immediately burst into laughter and turned toward the back of the stables.

“Lianyue! Lianyue! Come out here!”

The moment Lin Ye heard that, he had a very bad feeling. He turned to leave at once.

Unfortunately, before he could take more than a step, the middle-aged shu’mo grabbed his arm.

“Oh my, is the young man getting shy?”

“I’m telling you, my Lianyue comes from a respectable family, and he’s exceptionally good-looking.”

Lin Ye could only smile wryly.

I came here to buy a horse… How did this turn into a matchmaking session?

When Lianyue stepped out…

Well, he really was quite handsome. He wore simple homespun clothing without a trace of makeup.

Unlike many of the ge’er from Yunjia Village, he wasn’t timid or bashful. Instead, he calmly and openly looked Lin Ye over.

“See? I told you you wouldn’t lose out.”

“My Lianyue is one of the finest-looking ge’er around. If he weren’t so picky, he’d have been married long ago.”

It wasn’t hard to understand why the shu’mo was so anxious. Lianyue was already seventeen years old. By the following year, he would be assigned an official marriage partner by the government.

No parent wanted their child to end up in an arranged government match. That was why, whenever the shu’mo spotted a promising young man, he couldn’t resist questioning him from top to bottom. The problem was that Lianyue’s standards were simply too high. So far, he hadn’t met anyone who caught his eye.

“Young man, judging by your age, you must not be far from the age for an official marriage assignment yourself, right?”

When it came to age…

Lin Ye had actually already passed the government’s marriage-assignment age.

When he had first arrived in this world, he hadn’t understood what an official marriage assignment was.

Here, ge’er who remained unmarried by the age of eighteen would be assigned spouses by the authorities, while men faced the same requirement upon turning twenty.

Back when Lin Ye first arrived in Yunjia Village, Lin A’mo had been cautious. He told everyone that Lin Ye was only seventeen. That way, Lin Ye would have three years to find someone he genuinely liked before the government could intervene.

Lin Ye had already graduated from university and worked for several years in his previous life.

Who would have thought that after transmigrating, he would once again be able to pass himself off as a teenager simply because he had a youthful face?

Smiling helplessly under everyone’s scrutinizing gaze, Lin Ye said, “I’m seventeen this year, so I haven’t reached the age for official marriage assignment yet.”

Someone watching the lively scene couldn’t help chiming in.