Since advancing to the dark blue tier of spirit energy, her power in inscribing characters had also leveled up. Now capable of inscribing two characters a day, she could inscribe both the preservation and enduring characters on a basket each day. She intended to sell this basket, but where? Maybe leave it at Ruyi Pharmacy? Or sell it at He Family’s Vegetable Shop and announce that Master Ming Yang was a partner of Master He? And for how much? 30 taels, 50 taels, or 100 taels? Would 100 taels be too expensive? If it were her, she wouldn’t buy it. But for a merchant traveling between cities, this basket would be a treasure trove. The character she inscribed was a rare original character, no one could inscribe it. Even if one were to hire an inscription master, 100 taels might not be enough. So, would 100 taels be too cheap? She debated with herself. Decided, she’d sell it for 100 taels. If no one bought it, she could use it herself. After all, her family sold vegetables anyway. Unbeknownst to Zhenzhu, her 100-tael basket, if it fell into the hands of a traveling merchant, could indeed make them more than 100 taels for sure. Even if it couldn’t hold as much as a dimensional item, it was enough. How else could one easily purchase fresh seafood, exotic fruits, and foreign plants? Transporting fresh goods from the north to the south or vice versa could multiply their price, especially if the goods were from different regions. "Will anyone buy it, I wonder?" Zhenzhu murmured to herself. Zhenzhu walked out of the Fengfu City office with a heart full of pride, arms cradling several sheets of paper she had traded all her golden beans for. Now, she was back to being poor again. These papers were land ownership certificates for several plots of land near the He family’s home on both sides of the road. Xin Xi had inquired with the landowners if they were interested in selling. Most of these lands were inherited, with many of the owners being individuals who couldn’t make good use of them, lazy to work, only willing to sell the land left by their ancestors to buy food. Seeing that the land could sell for a good price, they agreed to sell without any reluctance. Zhenzhu, therefore, bought all of them, using the golden beans she received from the leader of the Water Dragon faction. Although some plots were not contiguous and some were only a few mu, she had no issues. She wanted the land for fruit gardens and housing for workers. Twelve land ownership certificates of various sizes plot lay quietly in her arms, one of which was a plot from Elder Zhi, sold for 5000 taels, still cheaper than the first plot she bought for 7200 taels. Elder Zhi’s land had been abandoned for a long time, overgrown with woods, no fences, no tool sheds, and no water sources nearby, requiring water to be diverted from a distant stream. She bought this land entirely with her money, while her father helped with the finances for the other plots. Zhenzhu looked at the cloth bag that once contained golden beans. Just the other day, it was full, but now only frayed threads remained, a sight that made her heart ache. "Money, did you just come to leave so soon?" "Big Sister Zhu, let me help carry those," Xin Xi offered, seeing her struggling with the stack of papers. "It’s okay, I can carry them myself," she insisted, wanting to cherish the warmth of her hard-earned purchase a little longer. "Big Sister Zhu, will you hire workers to clear Elder Zhi’s large plot right away?" "Yes, could you hire some day laborers for me? I’ll stop by Master Tiao’s place for a moment. Hire dozens so we can finish quickly. Here’s the money for the workers. Once done, meet me at Ruyi Pharmacy," she handed him a sum of money. Lately, Xin Xi had become more efficient, working quickly and meticulously. Lately, every day he was busy with his tasks, yet Zhenzhu increased his salary, motivated him, and he was now a respected young master in Fengfu City. Zhenzhu parted ways with Xin Xi and headed to Ruyi Pharmacy, intending to present her new product to Master Tiao - the Preservation Character inscribed basket, or what she called a golden basket. Selling them at He Family’s Vegetable Shop would draw too much attention to Master He, so she needed Master Tiao’s assistance once more. "Lady He, are you looking for Master Tiao? It’s a pity he’s not here today," a familiar employee of Ruyi Pharmacy greeted her upon arrival. "Ah, I forgot I had made an appointment. What a shame," she lamented, knowing Master Tiao rarely left Ruyi Pharmacy as it had become the top pharmacy in Fengfu City, attracting a steady flow of customers daily. Ruyi Pharmacy had to hire more workers, and Master Tiao came to look after the shop every day. Today, however, he was absent. "Master Tiao is out on a business deal with a major client today, so he couldn’t make it to the store." "Alright, I’ll come back another time then." Zhenzhu left Ruyi Pharmacy feeling somewhat disappointed, so she took the opportunity to look for more baskets. As she walked, she noticed an elderly man weaving baskets by the roadside. The finished baskets were neatly arranged next to him for customers to view and choose from. "How much are these baskets, sir?" she inquired, finding that these baskets were more durable and larger than those she had previously bought from a larger weaving shop. "100 brass coins each, young lady," he replied. Ah, it was 50 brass coins cheaper. "I’ll take 10, please. My cart is parked over there in the cart parking area. Could you deliver them for me, sir? I can’t carry them all by myself." "Oh, of course, I’ll call my grandson to help carry them to your cart," the old basket seller said, summoning a 12-13-year-old boy to carry the baskets to Zhenzhu’s cart. After paying for the baskets, she went to wait for Xin Xi at the cart. Next to the cart parking lot was a small, steamed bun shop, so she decided to go in and order some meat-filled buns to eat while waiting. This shop was located next to a busy road, constantly bustling with people. Zhenzhu noticed a traveler walking into the same steamed bun shop where she was sitting. He ordered vegetable buns, but Zhenzhu felt a chill run down her spine as the man passed by. He was a middle-aged man with an unremarkable face, dressed in light brown coarse linen, blending into the crowd so well that if he were to walk into a group of people, he would vanish without leaving any memorable impression. Such ordinariness made him invisible to onlookers. Zhenzhu almost missed him if not for the goosebump she had once he approached and sat at the table next to her. Aura of character’s power! For a moment, a profound aura of character emanated from him, yet Zhenzhu still got a goosebump, her heart was beating so fast that she had to touch her chest. That was the only emotion she could identify in her heart, unable to understand why she felt this way. She only sensed a brief release of an extraordinary character power, almost imperceptible unless one was well-acquainted with character powers. Yet, the fleeting character power he emitted were tinged with a scent of cruelty and death. Zhenzhu calmed herself. She might just overthink. Tao Shaotou, whom she revered as the Master of inscription art, had long passed away, and his books were now in her possession. His characters were mostly beneficial, with only a few harmful ones. Could there be another branch of character science focused on destruction? Zhenzhu was startled by her own thoughts but remained calm, pretending to eat her bun innocently. She kept an ear out for the man’s movements. "Miss, how much is it?" "Together with the tea and three buns, that’ll be 15 brass coins." The man paid and left the shop. Zhenzhu regained her composure, noting from his accent that he was likely not from the Yan Region, but she couldn’t tell where he was from. Never mind, it wasn’t her concern. "Big Sister Zhu," Xin Xi approached her, seeing her sitting in the steamed bun shop next to the cart parking lot. "Oh, are you done? Are you hungry? Do you want some steamed buns?" "I’m not hungry, we can go back now." Zhenzhu then paid the vendor and headed home. Yet, the memory of that man lingered in her mind. Upon returning home, she went to find her father, who was busy preparing for the next round of plant cultivation in the backyard. "Father, allow me to help," she said as she placed a basket down before sitting to mix the soil for planting. "Father, apart from Tao Shaotou, is there another famous inscription master who specializes in a different branch of character?" she couldn’t suppress her curiosity. "Oh, just wondering," she replied casually. "Hmm, another branch of character? Actually, there is another branch, but it’s one that focuses more on destruction. People tend to shun it, leading to widespread opposition." "Could you tell me more about it?" "Sure. Tao Shaotou was prolific in his character inventions and took many disciples to pass his knowledge onto. He had five students in total, all exceptionally bright and capable of comprehensively learning his teachings. However, one student was not satisfied with these characters. Driven by immense ambition, he claimed that greatness could only be achieved by stepping over corpses. With his ambition, he developed a dark branch of character art capable of killing people without staining his hands with blood, destroying lives without the need to wield a sword or swing a blade. He wrote a book on characters designed to take lives, but his character instilled fear across the lands, leading to a massive outcry and collective efforts to eliminate him. His book was burnt to ashes, and thus, his branch of character was buried in history." "Did none of his students carry on his legacy?" "Actually, he had three more students, but rumors say they were all hunted down and buried, leaving no trace. No one knows for sure if the dark character has survived to this day." "What would we do if they still exist today? Is there any way to protect ourselves?" "There’s no way, Zhu’er. If there were, people wouldn’t have been so fearful in the past. The only solution to dark character that might still exist is to withdraw them." "Why ask about dark character?" Dark characters were not only shunned by people all over but were also illegal in the region. Thus, inscription master who inscribes harmful character for sell must hide their identities. "Ah, I just curious, Father." Zhenzhu then focused on transplanting the sprouts of the caomei plants she had been cultivating into pots, managing to fill several dozen. Now they had three leaves. With only a limited number of seeds, she had to cultivate a new batch of seeds before she could plant them for sale. Zhenzhu moved the Caomei sprouts in their pots to a nursery near the worker’s quarters. Her father had built this nursery for cultivating certain plants from sprouts, where Zhenzhu had inscribed time-related character, accelerating their growth so they could be planted sooner than usual. Normally, watering with spiritual energized water could double the growth rate, but placing the sprouts in this nursery could reduce the time to maturity by four times. Therefore, the He family always had enough sprouts for planting. Zhenzhu intended to inscribe time-related characters in the vegetable and herb plots as well, but due to the large area and the time-related character requiring a six-day rest period between inscriptions, she couldn’t do it all at once. She took her time, inscribing the character gradually. "Big Sister Zhu, let me help carry these," Xin Xi came over to assist with moving the small saplings into the nursery. By now, Xin Xi and the three servants knew that she was the mysterious inscription master, or Master Ming Yang, whose reputation had soared. Initially shocked, they gradually grew accustomed to Zhenzhu’s surprising actions to the point of becoming desensitized. "Thank you very much. And how is the clearing of the plot going?" "That place was quite overgrown, but it’s all cleared up now. We are currently building a fence around the plot as Big Sister Zhu instructed." "Great job, Xin Xi. I’ll make you the manager of the fruit orchard and hire more workers. In the future, we’ll go to the slave market to buy more slaves," she became increasingly satisfied with Xin Xi’s work. "Erm..." Xin Xi seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Follow current novᴇls on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚑𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚑𝙣𝙚𝙩 "Hmm... If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me.” It’s good to have multiple opinions. "Big Sister Zhu, would you like to hire beggars? I know many with good hearts," Xin Xi proposed. Having grown up in a community of beggars, he was well acquainted with many of them. He knew that human beings, regardless of their jobs or backgrounds, could be either good or bad. Some beggars in his community were decent people. Since he had lived with them for a long time, he knew who was good and who was not. Having previously gone with Big Sister Zhu to buy slaves, it’s hard to know their personalities and whether they are good or bad. Bringing them back might do more harm than good. "Hmm, if you think they have good intentions, then invite them over. For those who want to sell themselves into slavery, give them 50 taels and a salary equal to Peipei’s, with slave quarters provided. For those who don’t want to become slaves, offer them a standard worker’s wage. For children, choose lighter work and adjust the wages according to their age," Zhenzhu agreed, appreciating Xin Xi’s knack for managing people. "Thank you, Big Sister Zhu. The worker’s quarters that Master He ordered built on the small land next to the fruit orchard are currently under construction. Once finished, I’ll head to the beggar community," Xin Xi replied eagerly, looking forward to providing a better life for his beggar friends. “Understood, Big Sister Zhu. Now we’re rushing the construction of the workers quarters that Master He instructed to build in the small plot near the orchard. Once finished, I will go to beggars’ community,” "Thank you so much. You must be tired from all the work lately," she smiled at the young boy. "I’m not tired, Big Sister Zhu. I’m happy to help," the young boy said. If it weren’t for Big Sister Zhu and the He family, he would still be a despised little beggar. How could he have become the esteemed young master Xin Xi, the close brother of Lady He? Now, he earns more than the headmaster of the Yongyuan Kuaile School, but he never forgets his roots or indulges in wealth. He spends moderately and saves the rest in a bank, having more than enough for himself. However, he wouldn’t leave unless others forced him out; he would continue to work for Big Sister Zhu forever. "Thank you very much," Zhenzhu truly regarded Xin Xi as her brother. After moving the saplings into the greenhouse together, they went their separate ways to work. Xin Xi had to learn wind-counter punch, while she went to practice her spirit energy. Lately, Baihu’s spirit energy practice had been progressing rapidly, whether due to increased diligence or the influence of the Flowers Engulf Sky Formation. Whatever the reason, she benefited greatly, now able to create 578 channels of dark blue tier spirit energy. Having Baihu as a bonded beast was truly a fortune for her. While she was meditating to practice her spirit energy, He Yu ran up to her, shouting loudly. "Big Sister, look at this!" The little boy took out a shiny, oval-shaped object about the size of an adult’s three fingers, glittering under the sunlight. "Amber? Where did you get this?" "Xiao She and Baihu were fighting, so I went to stop them but found this on the ground. Big Sister, go check on Baihu quickly." Zhenzhu shook her head. Were those two fighting again? She was tired of stopping them. They would return on their own once they had enough. "Never mind, Yu’er, let me have a look at what that is," she said as she took the piece of amber handed to her by her younger brother. Oh! This piece of amber is emitting some kind of power! Why would there be amber in her garden? Amber is the ancient, fossilized trees’ resin, but her garden doesn’t have any trees that could produce amber. "Yu’er, take me to the place where you found this amber." "Sure, follow me, Big Sister." Read ‘Rebirth: This Farmgirl Has Spirit Fish Scales’ before anyone else with more Chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en