Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Rushing to Give Ningning Money
Following that, Uncle Deng and a group of villagers respectfully saw the pharmacy manager out.
Shen Ningning heard him say, "Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep and was treated promptly. From the looks of it, no vital spots were hit."
"However, the poultice needs to be changed every two days. I didn’t bring many herbs with me this time, so if you run out, come find me."
Uncle Deng nodded repeatedly. "Okay, okay... As for the consultation fee..."
He didn’t have any money on him, so he took a string of jewelry from a chest and offered it.
"Our family has been short on funds and we don’t have any ready cash. Please accept this, Shopkeeper."
The pharmacy manager quickly refused.
"This is far too much. I came to Xiangyun Village to find the young miss anyway. As for the consultation and herbs, I’ll collect the Silver next time. There’s no charge for today."
Uncle Deng thanked him profusely.
The pharmacy manager and Shen Ningning walked to the side, where he took out a bag of Silver.
"Young Miss, last time you left two catties of Aconite at my shop. I’ve been waiting for you to come settle the bill, but you never did, so I just brought the payment over."
Shen Ningning accepted the Silver and glanced at it. It was about 200 taels.
’Two catties of Aconite shouldn’t cost this much Silver.’
She said in her sweet, childish voice, "It was too hot before, so I didn’t want to go out. But Grandpa Shopkeeper, why did you give me so much?"
The pharmacy manager chuckled. "A certain noble in the palace has had their old ailment act up again, and they’ve been using a lot of medicine recently."
"So the Emperor has ordered me to purchase it in large quantities at a higher price. Whatever you have left, Young Miss, you might as well sell it all to me."
Shen Ningning thought for a moment. "Not much, only about six catties."
"That’s wonderful! I’ll come pick it up tomorrow."
"I have to go to my lessons tomorrow. I’ll leave the Aconite with my grandma, and you can just give the Silver to her!"
Once they had an agreement, the pharmacy manager took his leave.
Shen Ningning turned back to see Aunt Liu and her husband apologizing to Uncle Deng’s family.
"It’s all my fault. I got rough and started fighting with your wife. It ended up making the village chief fall. I’m so sorry!"
Uncle Liu added, "We’ll pay for the village chief’s medical expenses from now on."
But Uncle Deng shook his head. "I know full well whose fault this was. I don’t blame you two."
Aunt Deng, standing to the side, snapped out of her daze. "Deng Xiangji, what do you mean by that? If it’s not their fault, are you saying it’s my fault? My face is all scratched up!"
Uncle Deng scolded, "Will you ever stop? Haven’t you caused enough trouble? Father is already lying in bed, what more do you want?"
"You... you’re just a spineless loser! Your own wife gets bullied and you don’t even make a peep!" Aunt Deng started to cry and shout.
Just a moment ago, she had heard that the old village chief’s injuries weren’t very serious, and she once again felt she had gotten the short end of the stick.
That Aunt Liu had been too vicious; there were several red scratches on her face.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and Aunt Deng simply started to beat on Uncle Deng.
At first, Uncle Deng didn’t fight back, gritting his teeth and letting her vent her anger.
Aunt Deng cried and cursed, saying that when she married him, he was dirt poor and they had to rely on support from her family.
She even said, "If I had listened to my family back then and married my cousin, I’d be living a life of comfort by now!"
Uncle Deng couldn’t take it anymore.
He grabbed her wrist. "Fine! Since you feel so wronged, let’s get a divorce tomorrow!"
The surrounding villagers were in an uproar, and even Aunt Deng was stunned, forgetting to cry and shout.
"What did you say?"
"I said, divorce! Since your life with my family is so miserable, let’s separate. I won’t stand in the way of you finding your life of comfort!"
Aunt Deng stared with reddened eyes. "Deng Xiangji! My mother was against me marrying you back then, and I truly regret not listening to her."
"A divorce it is, then! Don’t you regret it!"
She shook off Uncle Deng’s hand, grabbed the frozen Deng Fugui, and turned to leave.
The villagers rushed forward to stop them, all saying it didn’t need to come to this.
But Aunt Deng wouldn’t listen to anyone; she climbed onto an ox cart and left.
Shen Ningning looked at Uncle Deng. His face was weary, but he forced himself to say he was fine before returning to his courtyard.
The chests of jewelry continued to glitter under the sunlight.
Perhaps it was because the wealth had caused trouble that the villagers felt too embarrassed to take any more.
In the end, it was Shen Ningning who called on Chen Ye and Granny Chen to help.
They packed three items for each family and delivered them door-to-door.
Shen Ningning also brought three fine items to the mad scholar: a block of thick ink, a Purple Hair Brush, and a bolt of satin.
A lot had happened in the village over the past few days.
But the mad scholar seemed cut off from the world, completely immersed in his sea of books.
Even when Shen Ningning told him the reason for the rewards—that the villagers had helped the government capture bandits—
the mad scholar was taken aback. "There were bandits in the village?"
A helpless look appeared on the little girl’s fair, tender face.
"They came, but it’s all been taken care of. Mad scholar, you should be able to use these three things."
"I see your clothes are very old. If you like this bolt of satin, I can ask Granny Chen to tailor a new set of clothes for you."
She remembered that Granny Chen was deft with her hands and excellent at needlework.
The mad scholar only glanced at the fabric before looking away without a shred of interest.
Instead, he picked up the Purple Hair Brush with immense care, stroking it repeatedly.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve used a brush like this," he sighed, his gaze tinged with the weight of years.
"Back then, a Purple Hair Brush was the worst kind we had in the house. My father, my brothers, and I preferred to use Calligraphy Brushes made from the finest white mountain sheep wool. The shafts were made of jade, and they picked up ink so smoothly."
He stared out the window, but his eyes seemed to be gazing into the past.
"We used to love composing poetry by the window and critiquing each other’s work. In the blink of an eye, all these years have passed..." The father and brothers who once sat with him by that window were now nothing but dust.
Shen Ningning sat beside him, her chin resting in her small hands, her large, bright eyes blinking.
"A Calligraphy Brush? How much Silver are they? If I see one next time I’m in town, I can buy one for you!"
"One costs fifty taels, more or less. Perhaps even more."
The little girl immediately fell silent.
She gave a little cough and mumbled in her sweet voice, "Then... then I’ll give you one when I have lots and lots of money."
For the first time, a smile appeared on the mad scholar’s gaunt face.
"A Purple Hair Brush is also good. For me, at this point, using anything is a reckless waste of a precious item."
Seeing that it was getting late, Shen Ningning prepared to take her leave.
However, just as she turned, the mad scholar grabbed her by the collar.
"Don’t go yet. You haven’t been here for lessons in a long time. We’ll cover two extra lessons today."
Shen Ningning’s watery eyes widened, and she kicked her little legs slightly.
"Mad scholar, it’s so late today! How about another day!" ’She still wanted to go home and eat the roast pork her grandma made!’
"If you listen attentively, we can finish before midnight. A scholar must not neglect his studies for a single day. Only through constant, diligent learning can knowledge be firmly retained."
As he spoke, he pushed Shen Ningning down onto a stool, picked up the book he had prepared for her, and began the lesson.
Left with no choice, the little girl could only send Lang Si home first to tell her grandma, so she wouldn’t worry.
The mad scholar, for his part, took the matter of teaching her with utmost seriousness.
His family was poor, and he didn’t have much lamp oil.
Usually, when Shen Ningning wasn’t around, he would read in the courtyard by the light of the moon.
With the little girl here today, he lit the oil lamp—a rare occasion.
Not wanting to disappoint the mad scholar, Shen Ningning studied with extra diligence.
She was only four years old, yet with him, she was learning things that others didn’t learn until they were seven or eight.
At a quarter past midnight, bright moonlight illuminated the mountain path.
The little girl, holding her things, lay sleepily on the Black Wolf King’s back as she left the mad scholar’s home.
The Black Wolf King whined in dissatisfaction the entire way. AWOO! AWOO!
’His dear Xiao Ningning was so young, yet she was forced to study this late!’
’It was one thing for the mad scholar to be mad on his own, but to drag a child into it!’
’If Shen Ningning hadn’t stopped it, it would have gone up and knocked the mad scholar out with a single swipe of its paw.’
Shen Ningning fell asleep right on the Black Wolf King’s back.
When she woke up the next day, the little girl’s eyes were brimming with sleepy tears.
She rubbed her eyes with her chubby little hands, looking like she hadn’t had enough sleep, which made the Black Wolf King’s heart ache.
It licked the little girl’s hand, urging her to go back to sleep.
"AWOO~" ’Don’t go to your lessons.’
’If anyone dared to hurry her to class, it would swallow them whole!’
But Shen Ningning sat up, her voice soft and sweet. "No, I have to go."
After a quick wash, Grandma Qin was still preparing tasty food for her to take to her lesson.
Taking advantage of this time, Shen Ningning entered her Immortal Realm.
She remembered putting Mo Changgong’s jade inside earlier and wanted to see if there were any changes.
However, this time the little girl wandered around the outside of the three great halls and even went to check the pen where the chickens and ducks were kept.
Nothing new had appeared.
’Could it be that Mo Changchong’s jade is a bad one? Does the Immortal Realm not eat it?’ Shen Ningning mumbled to herself.
She trotted on her little feet to the rear hall, originally intending to check on the fruit trees she had planted.
However, the moment she pushed open the door, she was stunned by the sight before her.
