A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 15: Young Man

When Ergouzi returned to the temporary campsite, Laifu and the others had already come back. Seeing that he’d gone out alone, they naturally couldn’t resist teasing him.

Everyone assumed he was too shy to go with them, but ended up sneaking off alone to visit the dark alley.

There was no way to explain in detail, so he had no choice but to accept it with a bitter smile.

Ergouzi sat down beside Huang Laocai and thought for a long time before finally speaking up.

“Master, would you consider selling the land on Shekou Mountain?”

“What? You want to buy it? That land is all rocks, not even a water source—why would you want it?”

Huang Laocai looked at Ergouzi in confusion.

This boy couldn’t even afford to eat a few months ago—his pants were torn at the backside—and now he wanted to buy land?

“Master, that plot is just rocky wasteland, not even good farmland. Why not sell it to me?”

“No way! Even the worst land is an heirloom for future generations!”

Huang Laocai waved his hand firmly, leaving no room for discussion.

Ergouzi felt disappointed by the refusal but couldn’t really blame him.

If he owned a piece of land, he wouldn’t sell it easily either—at least not unless he was starving.

His heart was filled with uncertainty again—where could he find a piece of land to call his own?

Many places might look desolate, but they all had owners.

They might sit there unused and overgrown, but the moment someone tried to till the soil, the owner would immediately show up.

Without a piece of land to his name, even with a magic gourd, he had nowhere to put it to use.

Right now, the only thing to do was keep practicing with his master and aim to become a Martial Xiucai—maybe that would turn things around.

The next morning at first light, Huang Laocai called everyone to push their carts to the county office.

When they arrived at a side gate of the county office, the gates were still closed—the officials hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet.

Already, the entrance was packed with laborers delivering taxes.

Everyone shouted and jostled, trying to push to the front for a better spot.

In past years, people had been crushed—bones broken, even killed.

“Quit pushing!”

“Line up properly, all of you!”

A constable finally appeared, saber at his waist and leather whip in hand, lashing at those not lining up.

Huang Laocai’s group could only obediently line up at the back.

They waited in line for over half an hour before the county gate finally opened, and the line began to move.

Then they waited another three hours before it was finally their turn at the gate. Laifu hoisted a bag of unhulled rice and started heading in.

“Bang!”

A kick came flying straight at him, knocking him to the ground.

“We’re done for today. Come back tomorrow!”

With a loud bang, the side door slammed shut again.

Laifu got up, rubbing his sore backside and grimacing—angry but not daring to say a word.

Looking at the sun, it was still high in the sky—they could’ve tilled a few more plots before dusk.

But that’s the officials’ rules—they had to obey.

They’d worked all day for nothing and had no choice but to camp at the gate overnight.

Ergouzi didn’t mind at all—it meant one more day to explore the county town.

He still wasn’t ready to give up on selling his Strength Pills.

After letting Huang Laocai know, he slipped away again.

Hong’an Hall’s street wasn’t far from the county office—it was the busiest part of town.

And there were three medicine shops on this street alone.

At the end of the street was a shop named Huichun Hall. It was the smallest and almost deserted.

In broad daylight, a young man was slumped over the counter, sleeping.

Ergouzi coughed a few times to wake him up.

The young man rubbed his eyes. “You here to see a doctor or buy medicine?”

“You’re the doctor here?”

Ergouzi looked at him skeptically. His skin was fair, and he didn’t seem much older than Ergouzi himself—didn’t look like a doctor at all.

No wonder business was so bad. Who’d let a baby-faced guy treat them?

“Yep! I’m the doctor at Huichun Hall. Don’t judge by my age—I could read by three, learned herbs by five, studied medicine by seven, learned pulse diagnosis by nine, and read all the classics by eighteen…”

The young man clearly knew he looked too young and tried hard to prove he was legit.

“Please take a look at this.”

Ergouzi changed tactics this time—he didn’t mention selling medicine right away. Instead, he handed over a Strength Pill.

The young man took it, narrowed his eyes, and examined it carefully.

He seemed eager to show off his skills, inspecting it meticulously.

Then he scraped off a bit of powder and licked it with his tongue.

He squinted, tasting carefully. At first he frowned, then his brow smoothed and his eyes lit up with joy.

“This item is sweet and warm in nature—tonifies Qi and spleen, boosts central energy, strengthens the body… it’s top-tier quality.”

He rattled off a bunch of professional terms. Ergouzi didn’t understand most of it—he’d just thrown the ingredients into a pot and boiled them.

“I have more of these pills. Would you be interested in buying them?”

He pulled out a handful of pills and laid them on the counter, asking cautiously.

“Yes!”

“Absolutely—I’ll take as many as you’ve got!”

Ergouzi was overjoyed and quickly unwrapped the big cloth bundle on his back.

He’d made one dou of Strength Pills, but this bundle only held five or six sheng. The rest were in the gourd—not convenient to take out.

He unwrapped the hemp bundle, revealing several hundred pills.

Ergouzi casually grabbed one and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly.

“You should try one too—the more you chew, the better it tastes.”

The young man didn’t hesitate—he grabbed one and began chewing.

Sure enough, the more he chewed, the better it tasted. The flavor reminded him of a rare spiritual herb he’d once tried.

“Very impressive. How much are you selling them for per pill?”

Ergouzi considered the price. He’d originally aimed for 10 wen per pill—wishful thinking.

After repeated failures, he’d lowered his expectations.

One sheng of grain cost 20–30 wen and could make about 50 pills.

Even selling at one wen per pill would be profitable. Since this was now a medicinal product, it should fetch at least two wen.

He held up two fingers. But seeing how eager the young man looked, he cautiously raised a third finger.

Three wen per pill—about 150 wen per sheng. Huge profit. Ergouzi felt nervous, afraid the young man would accuse him of greed.

“Great! No problem!”

To his surprise, the young man didn’t hesitate and immediately agreed.

Ergouzi suddenly felt a bit of regret. If he’d known, he’d have tried asking for four wen.

But no need to be greedy—better to go slow and steady.

The young man opened the bundle, and they counted the pills together for half the day.

“Total: 285 pills, at 30 wen per pill…”

The young man began tapping his abacus.

“Th… thirty wen per pill?”

Ergouzi thought he misheard. He had said three wen.

His heart pounded. He calculated secretly with his fingers—how much would that be?

He hadn’t even dared to dream of such a high price. And he still had over 150 shi of rice in the gourd.

At this rate, he might even surpass Huang Laocai and become the richest man in Shexi Village.

“What? Didn’t you say 30 wen per pill?”

The young man stopped calculating, looking slightly troubled.

“Selling them at 300 wen per pill would be too expensive. Your pills are good, but not worth that much.”

He thought Ergouzi had meant 300 wen, and regretted agreeing too quickly without asking.

“Right now, the most expensive pill in Anchan County is the Peiyuan Gutben Pill—it sells for 10,000 wen. Your pills are good, but not that good.”

“I can give you 50 wen per pill at most. Is that alright?”

Ergouzi was still rejoicing over 30 wen per pill—and the young man had already bumped it to 50.

“Sure! That works!”

“Alright, we’ll settle at 50 wen per pill.”

Then came the crisp sound of abacus beads.

“285 pills, 50 wen each—that’s 14,250 wen.”

The young man finished calculating, then measured out 14 taels of silver and 250 copper coins, and handed them to Ergouzi.

Ergouzi took the gleaming silver and carefully wrapped it in cloth, tying several tight knots before stuffing it into his shirt.

Even after walking far from Huichun Hall, he still felt dazed—this sudden wealth had left him stunned.

He kept calculating in his head—how much more he could earn from the rice left in the gourd.

How much he could make each year going forward.

If he cultivated all the wasteland on Shekou Mountain, how much more could he earn?

Thinking of this, his desire to buy Shekou Mountain surged again.

If he could marry Huang Laocai’s second daughter, maybe, for her sake, Huang would agree to sell the land.

But she was the village beauty and the richest man’s daughter. He was just a tenant farmer—completely out of his league. A hopeless dream.

For now, he had to focus on farming and saving money, and diligently learning martial arts.