Chen Yao wiped her tears and forced a smile. "Li Zi, you’re the only one who can help us now. If you could just lend us a little to get through this, our family will be back on its feet after this year’s autumn harvest."

"Can’t you use silver?" Chen Li asked.

He didn’t want to lend them grain.

He had about two thousand shi of grain at home.

Lending out eight hundred shi wouldn’t be a crippling blow.

But the grain from last year’s drought had a low yield, and the kernels were not full enough to be used as rice seed.

Now, he could only sift through the rice harvested the year before last, but that was difficult and required a lot of raw grain. Moreover, he planned to plant three hundred and twenty mu of land this year.

Chen Yao gave a bitter smile. "The person we owe knows my family can’t produce the grain or borrow it, which is why he’s insisting on being paid only in grain."

Chen Li asked again, "How much grain did you borrow from him?"

Chen Yao replied, "Twelve hundred shi. We have about five hundred shi left at home, so we only need another eight hundred to pay him back."

Chen Li pondered for a moment and quickly formed a plan. He asked, "What medicinal herbs did the Bai Family stockpile?"

Chen Yao didn’t understand why he was asking, but she fluently rattled off more than twenty types of herbs.

It was these very herbs that had dragged her, the Young Madam of a well-to-do family, into hell in the blink of an eye. She remembered them even in her dreams.

Chen Li listened intently. Among the herbs Chen Yao listed, five were ingredients for the Mysterious Black Tortoise Tribulation Secret Medicine’s formula, including the main ingredient, Snake Bone.

He couldn’t help but ask in surprise, "Why would he buy Snake Bone?"

Chen Yao explained, "They’re all herbs unique to the mountainous regions of Shaoshan in Jiangzhou. They have to be transported by water."

Chen Li nodded, listed the five herbs he needed, and asked, "How much of these does the Bai Family have on hand?"

Chen Yao gave him the approximate quantities.

Chen Li did a rough calculation. At pharmacy prices, they would be worth two to three thousand taels. So he said, "I can’t lend you the grain from my home. But I can give you two thousand taels of silver first. You can figure out how to buy the grain yourselves. As for this two thousand taels, it’s not a loan. It’s to buy the Bai Family’s medicinal herbs."

Chen Yao was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting Chen Li to propose such a solution.

After a moment’s hesitation, she still felt the need to warn him. "Li Zi, there isn’t much demand for these herbs here in Jiangzhou. Plus, new shipments arrive from Yongzhou every year. If you take them, you might not be able to sell them for many years."

"I have my own plans."

Chen Li was buying them for his own use, not to sell, so of course, he wouldn’t have that problem.

’Even though I only need five of them, I have to buy them eventually anyway. It doesn’t hurt to buy a larger batch at once.’

But he had no intention of telling her his true purpose.

The old saying goes, "a married daughter is like spilt water." That might not have been true in his past life, but it was absolutely the case now.

A flash of gratitude appeared in Chen Yao’s eyes. "Li Zi, thank you."

Seeing that Chen Li had agreed, Chen Yao was in no mood to stay any longer. She got up and headed back to her husband’s home with her young son.

Soon, Chen Yao and her husband, Bai Shixuan, delivered the herbs Chen Li required.

In addition to the five types of herbs he’d asked for, there were over a dozen more, filling a total of seven oxcarts.

For the Bai Family, this batch of herbs was already a sunk cost. Since Chen Li had offered to buy some, it was no big deal to give him some extras.

They kept some of the herbs that sold better on the market and gave all the rest to Chen Li.

The air in the Chen Family’s front courtyard was filled with a thick, mixed aroma of medicinal herbs—some bitter-sweet, some pungent, and some with a faint, fishy smell.

When Chen Li saw all the herbs, he was silent for a moment before handing them three thousand taels of silver.

Chen Yao and Bai Shixuan stared at the three thousand taels of silver Chen Li handed them, their faces filled with astonishment.

"Li Zi, this... this is too much." Chen Yao’s voice trembled. "We agreed on two thousand taels. This extra..."

An irrepressible joy flashed in Bai Shixuan’s eyes, but he still said, "Li Di, these herbs were unsellable. The fact that you’re willing to take them off our hands and solve our urgent crisis is already a tremendous favor. These extras really aren’t worth this much silver."

Chen Li smiled. "Just take it. I really do have a use for these herbs. Two thousand taels is for the herbs. As for the other one thousand taels... I’ll need to buy more herbs in the future. Since my brother-in-law has the channels, I’ll surely need to ask for your help with sourcing them. Just consider it an advance payment."

Seeing Chen Li’s firm attitude, Chen Yao and her husband no longer refused, accepting the silver with a thousand thanks.

A great weight was lifted from their hearts. The miserable looks on their faces finally vanished, replaced by a bit of life.

After offering a few more words of gratitude, the couple finally left Lingxi Village with their convoy.

After seeing his second sister’s family off, Chen Li immediately began to deal with the batch of herbs.

He chose a dry, well-ventilated side room and carefully moved the herbs inside, sorting them by type. The medicinal fragrance in the air grew even stronger.

Afterward, he personally selected the five ingredients needed to concoct the "Mysterious Black Tortoise Tribulation Secret Medicine"—Snake Bone, Essence Mushroom, Iron Wire Orchid, and others—and stored them away separately.

On his last trip to the county seat, he had already bought five sets of ingredients for the Secret Medicine.

He picked up a piece of Snake Bone to compare. The one he bought from the pharmacy was rather slender and grayish-white, while the segment from the Bai Family was much thicker and denser, with a deep, dark brown luster.

Chen Li thought for a moment and decisively switched the main ingredient. He put the five herbs provided by the Bai Family into a medicine pot and began brewing them, strictly following the steps and heat control described in the secret formula.

Unlike last time, the concoction he brewed this time had a deep amber color and was as thick as honey.

Chen Li took a deep breath and drank the warm liquid in one gulp.

The familiar warm current once again rose from his lower abdomen.

Not daring to delay, Chen Li immediately sat down cross-legged and circulated the Five Grains Qi Storage Technique.

Wisps of pure Inner Qi were rapidly refined and merged into his Dantian.

This time, he managed to refine over ten more wisps of Inner Qi than before.

「An hour later.」

Chen Li opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them for an instant. A satisfied smile spread across his face.

’I didn’t expect the batch from the Bai Family to be even more potent than what I bought at the pharmacy.’

For the next few months, aside from being busy with farm work, Chen Li spent most of his time on Cultivation.

The spring rains came exceptionally early this year, as if all the rain saved up from last year was pouring down all at once.

Before the Qingming Festival even arrived, a light, drizzling rain began to fall from the sky, moisturizing the parched earth.

In the midst of his busy days, a notification suddenly popped up from the system.

[Eldest son Chen Shouheng has advanced to the Marrow Refining stage of the Martial Dao. Reward: Pill Formula for the Nine-Turns Essence Rejuvenation Marrow Heart Pill, 5 years of life essence.]

’The eldest broke through?’

Chen Li was pleasantly surprised. He took out the Pill Formula for the Nine-Turns Essence Rejuvenation Marrow Heart Pill from the system and glanced at its description.

This pill could harmonize yin and yang. Not only could it replenish essence and marrow, but it could also nourish one’s innate foundation and stabilize their Dao foundation.

’It must be for Marrow Refining. The eldest can use it right now.’

Chen Li took a closer look at the ingredients needed for the pill. There were over twenty of them, but he only had three in his warehouse. He would have to go to a pharmacy to buy the rest.