All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 7 Life is not easy
The next day, Zhou Qing got up early and filled the stove with firewood.

Yesterday I ate cornbread and steamed buns, went to bed early, and had some leftover wild vegetable and bran porridge, which I heated up for breakfast.

He placed four long wooden strips in the large pot, arranged them in a "well" shape, and then put the meat buns he had saved from yesterday on top.

After finishing the bitter wild vegetable and bran porridge, Zhou Qing wrapped the meat bun in a cloth and placed it close to his body.

Then, following the same procedure as yesterday, we took the basket against the wall and put the sickle, pickaxe, burlap sack, and two wine jars into it.

The silkworms at home have started spinning silk, so he can relax a lot these days.

Next, all we need to do is wait for the cocoons to form before we can start spinning the silk.

Afterwards, some silkworm cocoons are left behind. Once the silkworm pupae inside emerge from the cocoons and become silkworm moths, they will mate and produce silkworm eggs. Only then will it be necessary to harvest mulberry leaves.

"Wait another day or two, it should be about ready."

Zhou Qing was full of hope.

The process of silkworms spinning silk takes about two or three days, and today is the second day.

Reeling silk will be another troublesome task.

If you bring the silkworm cocoons directly to sell, the price will be much lower.

In the town, every family that raises silkworms works together, with clear division of labor, in order to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

However, when Zhou Qing thought of Zhou Xian, he still felt that being alone was better.

Zhou Qing locked the silkworm room, greeted Liang, who was feeding chickens in the neighboring yard, and then carried a basket out the door.

"Aqing, wait for me!"

A boy with a buzz cut ran out of the mud-brick house, holding a fried dough stick in his hand.

It was Liang Chao, who had gotten up early. He was wearing a light blue training jacket and black trousers, and he looked very energetic.

Zhou Qing stopped and waited for him. "Chaozi, why are you up so early too?"

"Now that we've finally gotten into the martial arts school, of course we have to work hard and not waste Father's hard-earned money."

Liang Chao muttered to himself as he ate the fried dough, his expression resolute and his eyes full of hope.

As he spoke, he looked at Zhou Qing, who was rather thin, and said seriously:
"Ah Qing, after we sell the silk this time, let's come to the Chasing Wind Boxing Gym to practice boxing together. From now on, the two of us will be the ones to protect Xin'an Lane!"

"I can't even get enough to eat, how could I dare to have such thoughts?" Zhou Qing waved his hands repeatedly.

As the saying goes, things are accomplished through secrets, and failure is revealed through words.

He is indeed going to learn boxing, but there's no need to tell anyone before things are settled, lest it create unnecessary complications.

"Sigh," Liang Chao sighed, and said nothing more. If his father hadn't risked his life to catch the treasure fish and sold it for ten taels of silver, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn boxing and change his fate.

"Let's go." Zhou Qing nodded and walked towards the market.

Liang Chao quickly followed.

When the two arrived at the central square at the intersection of the market, they found that the square was already crowded with people.

Normally there wouldn't be this many people at this time.

Seeing this, Zhou Qing and Liang Chao prepared to go around the crowd from behind.

"They're here! They're here!" The crowd suddenly parted in the middle, quickly making way.

"May the Greatly Loving Immortal Venerable be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and may the Witch God live forever."

"May the Greatly Loving Immortal Venerable be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and may the Witch God live forever."

Four burly men carried a white-robed Taoist priest with white hair and a youthful face through the crowd. Behind them followed a group of ragged civilians. These people were disheveled, but their eyes shone with an almost frightening intensity. They all had a fanatical expression on their faces and kept chanting in unison.

At this moment, two children dressed in white stepped out from the middle of the procession, carrying a basket covered with a white cloth.

The boy and girl lifted the white cloth and pulled out a handful of copper coins, scattering them outwards.

Even though it's just a broken copper coin, you can still spend it and buy food!
The crowd gathered nearby immediately began to scramble for the loot, but no one dared to charge into the middle of the line.

Immediately after the few copper coins were distributed, more boys and girls came out of the line, took out cornbread and black bread from their baskets, and threw them out.

"Mine! Mine!"

"Don't push me!"

"Ah! My hand!"

The onlookers started looting again, and shouts and cries filled the air.

Suddenly, a dark-colored steamed bun was thrown forcefully to the back of the crowd.

Zhou Qing instinctively reached out and caught it.

Those who were about to loot the place stopped in their tracks when they saw Liang Chao, who was wearing a martial arts jacket, standing next to Zhou Qing.

Liang Chao pulled Zhou Qing aside and lowered his voice.

"Ah Qing, it's best not to take anything the witch god taught you."

"Is there a problem?" Zhou Qing frowned slightly.

Liang Chao whispered, "I heard that someone disrespected the Dragon King, which caused several villages near the Blackwater River in the county to suffer from floods recently."

Many disaster victims who could not survive fled to several nearby towns.

This witch doctor cult took the opportunity to gather a large number of disaster victims; they certainly didn't do anything good.

I heard that these disaster victims followed the cult of witchcraft into the mountains and never came back.

The senior students at the martial arts school all said it's best to avoid any association with the Witch God Cult.

"Look!" Liang Chao said, pointing to the alleyway across the street.

"Even the government doesn't dare to interfere."

Zhou Qing looked closely and saw a minor official in black robes hiding at the entrance of the alley with two constables carrying swords.

"Understood." Zhou Qing nodded.

"I saw my senior from the martial arts school! I'm off!" Liang Chao ran to the right.

Zhou Qing looked down at the black steamed bun in his hand.

"Pfft." The Green Silk Gu responded.

"Poisonous?" Zhou Qing was taken aback. He walked to the corner and prepared to throw away the black steamed bun in his hand.

"Pfft pfft~" The Green Silk Gu said again, "Don't be afraid. With it here, this bit of poison is nothing."

"Okay!" Zhou Qing immediately brought the black bread to his mouth and took a big bite. The black bread was made of sorghum flour, dry and hard to swallow.

However, for Zhou Qing, who was still hungry, anything that could fill his stomach tasted delicious.

After finishing the black bread, Zhou Qing felt a strange sensation in his stomach.

At this moment, the Green Silk Gu entered his abdomen, and the strange feeling quickly disappeared.

At the same time, the Green Silk Gu said that this amount of poison was too little and not satisfying at all.

As Zhou Qing walked out of the town, he passed by the stream, where the old woman was already beating clothes.

When the old woman saw Zhou Qing, she put down the pestle she was using and handed him a steamed bun.

"Grandma, no need, I've already eaten." Zhou Qing quickly refused, and took out a cloth bag from his pocket, took out a still-warm meat bun and handed it to the grandma.

"Grandma, these are the meat buns I bought yesterday. I saved one for you."

"I'm too old to taste meat anymore," the old woman shook her head and stuffed the cornbread into his arms.

“If Grandma doesn’t eat it, I’ll feel bad asking for more cornbread,” Zhou Qing insisted.

The old woman paused for a moment, took the meat bun, and then took out a cornbread, stuffing both cornbreads into Zhou Qing's hands.

"Grandma, this..." Zhou Qing was taken aback.

"Take it. When the silkworms start spinning their cocoons, reeling silk will be more tiring than carrying mulberry leaves." The old woman's face was kind.

Zhou Qing hesitated for a moment before taking the cornbread. He was at the age where he needed to grow, but unfortunately, he hadn't had a proper meal in the two months since arriving in this world.

"Thank you, Grandma."

Zhou Qing carried a basket up the mountain, intending to repay those who had helped him once he had solved the most crucial problem of survival.

"If Ayu were still alive, he would be this big by now," the old woman said, reminiscing as she watched Zhou Qing's retreating figure.

The sun sets in the west.

Zhou Qing walked down the mountain, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, looking rather pale.

Today's harvest was much worse than yesterday's.

Although many poisonous insects were found, they were all small creatures and all ended up in the belly of the Green Silk Gu.

In his two jars, one contained an unidentified poisonous spider the size of a fist, and the other contained a centipede about a foot long.

This was specially left by the Green Silk Gu.

Qing Si Gu clearly didn't get enough to eat today.

The effects of regulating Qi and blood circulation have been significantly reduced.

Indeed, it's best to look for poisonous insects after the rain.

Unfortunately, Zhou Qing cannot go to higher places.

With his current strength, if he encounters a large, fast-moving poisonous insect, the Green Silk Gu, which is immune to poison, would be too much for him to handle.

"One mountain centipede and one poisonous spider, two coins each."

When the shopkeeper of Dafeng Pharmacy saw the poisonous spider, his eyes lit up, but he still offered it for one coin.

Zhou Qing didn't say anything, she just nodded silently.

It has been confirmed that the poisonous spider's venom is slightly stronger than the centipede's, but only by a limited margin.

The pharmacy owner definitely tried to lower the price, but there was nothing he could do; even a small price is still a price.

You must eat your fill, preferably meat, to replenish your qi and blood.

With the combined effect of the Green Silk Gu's blood-regulating properties, he was able to recover his blood and energy as quickly as possible, preventing it from affecting his martial arts practice.

"Hey buddy, take care! If you catch a poisonous spider that's even bigger than this next time, I'll give you two coins!"

Seeing Zhou Qing pick up two copper coins and leave decisively, the shopkeeper added a rare remark.

"it is good."

Although Zhou Qing didn't want to talk to him, she still responded.

This time, he went straight home, and when he passed the steamed bun shop, he kept his head down and didn't look at it.

I already ate meat yesterday, so I'll have to wait until I have more money next time to eat properly.

After the silkworms at home finish spinning their silk, if he wants to sell them for a good price, he still has to go to the county town.

You need to prepare your travel expenses in advance.

Back home, Zhou Qing opened the silkworm room and looked at the silkworms still spinning silk. His mood finally improved.

"This silk seems to be exceptionally good!"

Judging from the appearance alone, Zhou Qing felt that the silk this time was of very high quality.

It should fetch a good price.

The company had already lost over 10,000 silkworms, resulting in a shortage of supply and a sharp drop in income.

However, if the silk is of high quality, it can be sold at a relatively high price based on its quality.

In the end, they actually made a profit.

High-quality silk is used to make top-grade silk products, which can only be afforded by the very wealthy and powerful.

Selling in town would definitely result in the lowest price being offered, while selling in the county seat is dozens of miles away, and both the trip there and the return trip are dangerous.

These days, people who can't survive either sell themselves into slavery or become bandits in the mountains.

Should those who are already suffering not make things difficult for each other?
Just kidding, we're killing poor bastards.

I heard there's a Huanglong Mountain near Jiuhua Town, and a Jindao Village on the mountain. The village chief likes to eat vegetables.

The scariest thing is that the chieftain wasn't driven to desperation by hunger; rather, he simply had a particular fondness for this food.

"It's up to you guys."

Zhou Qing took out lime powder from the adobe house and sprinkled it in the silkworm room to disinfect and dehumidify.

"The lime powder is almost used up."

Zhou Qing looked at the nearly empty quicklime in the jar and sighed inwardly.

You don't know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt until you're in charge of the household.

(End of this chapter)