Chapter 22: The Most Delicious Thing, “The Hundred Herbs Classic” (2-in-1 Chapter)

“In the river outside the village. Yesterday, Xiao Yan and I went fishing and were lucky enough to catch it,” Lu Qing replied.

“That small river actually has a Green Armored Fish of that age?” Old Doctor Chen was a little surprised.

The river outside the village was not large, so it was truly rare for a Green Armored Fish to grow to this size.

However, he suddenly thought that none of the nearby villages seemed to make a living by fishing.

Perhaps this was the reason why that Green Armored Fish could grow so large.

“No wonder you said before that you felt you had a talent for fishing. To be able to produce a fish stone of such quality, that Green Armored Fish’s size can’t be small. You were actually able to catch it?”

Old Doctor Chen looked at Lu Qing’s somewhat thin body and couldn’t help but look at him in a new light.

“This is all thanks to the silk thread you gave me, Grandpa Chen,” Lu Qing said modestly. “Grandpa Chen, that silk thread is truly exceptionally tough. Without it, I really wouldn’t have been able to pull up this big fish.”

“It’s good that it’s useful. In any case, that thing is useless to me.”

Old Doctor Chen waved his hand, not seeming to care much.

On the contrary, he was a little interested in the wooden bucket that Lu Qing had been carrying.

“What are you carrying in your bucket? It looks quite heavy.”

Because Lu Qing had put some branches and leaves in the bucket when he left to prevent the fish from being too frightened, Old Doctor Chen couldn’t see clearly what was in the bucket for a moment.

“Inside is something I want to give to you, Grandpa Chen,” Lu Qing began to take out the branches and leaves from the bucket. “Yesterday, Xiao Yan and I went fishing and caught two big fish in total. We ate the big Green Armored Fish, and I thought I’d let you try this smaller one, Grandpa Chen.”

“That’s right, Grandpa Chen, this fish is so beautiful, so beautiful. Grandpa Zhang and the others don’t even know what kind of fish it is,” Xiao Yan also said.

“Oh, so thoughtful. Then I must see what kind of fish it is.”

Old Doctor Chen’s interest grew even more upon hearing this.

“It’s this fish.”

Lu Qing cleaned out all the branches and leaves from the bucket and handed the bucket to the old doctor.

The old doctor looked into the bucket and saw the flame-like fish. His expression first shook, and then he was somewhat moved.

He blurted out, “This, this is a Red Moon Carp?”

The old doctor actually recognized this fish.

Lu Qing’s thoughts turned, but his face showed confusion.

“Grandpa Chen, do you know what kind of fish this is?”

The old doctor put Xiao Yan down, leaned forward, reached into the bucket to play with the fish, and after careful identification, he finally confirmed, “There’s no mistake, this is a Red Moon Carp!”

The old doctor looked at Lu Qing with real astonishment in his eyes now. “You can even catch a strange fish like the Red Moon Carp?”

“Grandpa Chen, what is a Red Moon Carp?” Xiao Yan asked blankly.

“This Red Moon Carp is quite something.”

Seeing that Lu Qing was also at a loss, Old Doctor Chen simply explained.

“The Red Moon Carp is a type of strange fish. In this world, anything that can be called a strange fish has its own unique characteristics.”

“This Red Moon Carp is famous for its deliciousness.”

“According to legend, its taste is incomparably delicious. Once you’ve eaten it, you’ll never forget it. Therefore, some people have also called it one of the ten most delicious things in the world.”

“One of the ten most delicious things in the world?”

This time it was Lu Qing’s turn to be surprised.

He hadn’t expected that this Red Moon Carp would have such a great reputation.

As expected of a strange fish that could be evaluated by his special ability as an extremely delicious thing.

“The big red fish is so amazing!” Xiao Yan was also a little stunned. “Then Grandpa Chen, have you ever eaten a big red fish?”

“I was once fortunate enough to taste this Red Moon Carp at a nobleman’s banquet. That taste…”

Old Doctor Chen didn’t finish his sentence, but even Xiao Yan could see the reminiscent look on his face.

“Then this Red Moon Carp is the most suitable gift for you, Grandpa Chen,” Lu Qing said.

“I don’t dare to accept this gift of yours,” Old Doctor Chen came back to his senses. “Do you know how much this Red Moon Carp can be sold for if you take it to the city?”

Lu Qing shook his head.

“One hundred taels of silver,” Old Doctor Chen held up a finger. Seeing the shock on Lu Qing’s face, he continued, “A top-quality Red Moon Carp can be sold for at least one hundred taels of pure silver.”

“A fish is worth one hundred taels of silver?” Lu Qing sucked in a breath of cold air.

He knew that the purchasing power of silver in this world was very strong.

One tael of silver was enough for a family of three to live comfortably for a month.

And in his memory, when the Lu family was at its wealthiest, their family assets probably didn’t even have ten taels of silver.

Now, a fish was worth one hundred taels. It was really beyond his expectations.

The key was that this was just a strange fish with a hint of red light in its white light. If it were a real red-light level spirit fish, how precious would it be?

“This world is very big, Lu Qing,” Old Doctor Chen sighed. “The daily expenses of those nobles are also beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Do you know how much a nobleman spends on a banquet?”

Lu Qing shook his head again.

“At least a thousand taels of silver. If it’s to entertain distinguished guests, the cost is even more unimaginable.”

“This Red Moon Carp is a rare and extremely delicious thing. For those nobles who are not short of money, what is a mere hundred taels of silver to taste such a delicacy?”

Lu Qing’s mouth was slightly agape.

Half of his expression was feigned, and the other half was genuinely surprised.

As expected, no matter which world it was, when rich people became extravagant, it was always so exaggerated.

“Well, do you still want to give this Red Moon Carp to me, an old man?”

Old Doctor Chen looked at the incredulous expression on Lu Qing’s face and teased.

Lu Qing came back to his senses, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded firmly, “Of course I’ll give it to you. Compared to your life-saving grace, Grandpa Chen, what is a hundred taels of silver? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be standing here, let alone catching this Red Moon Carp!”

“Hahahaha…”

Old Doctor Chen suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

After laughing for a while, he stopped and said with relief, “I’m very happy that you have this intention, but I really can’t accept this Red Moon Carp. It’s too wasteful for me to eat such a precious fish.”

“But Grandpa Chen…”

Lu Qing wanted to say something more, but Old Doctor Chen raised his hand and interrupted him.

“Alright, it’s settled. You leave the fish with me. In two days, I’ll take it to the city for you to sell and exchange it for silver. You can take it back for household expenses.”

Lu Qing’s mouth opened, but in the end, he didn’t insist anymore and just said, “Alright, but Grandpa Chen, the money from selling the fish must be used to pay your previous medical fees first.”

“Alright!” Old Doctor Chen nodded.

But he didn’t tell Lu Qing that in the soup he had prescribed before, the value of the precious medicinal herbs he had added was no less than this Red Moon Carp.

Because the old doctor could see that Lu Qing was a very proud young man.

If he knew the value of that soup, he would probably never accept the money from selling the Red Moon Carp again.

Old Doctor Chen looked at the Red Moon Carp in the bucket again.

Then he frowned, “Unfortunately, although your Red Moon Carp is of good quality, it’s a bit too big. I’m afraid it won’t be worth a hundred taels of silver, and its value will be slightly lower.”

“Why, Grandpa Chen? Isn’t it better for fish to be bigger?” Xiao Yan asked, not understanding.

“Generally speaking, that’s the case, but this Red Moon Carp is different,” Old Doctor Chen explained.

“The most precious thing about the Red Moon Carp is its deliciousness. And generally, a Red Moon Carp that has grown to about two catties is at its most delicious and tender. If it exceeds this weight, even if the deliciousness doesn’t decrease, the meat will be slightly old, so its value is naturally not that high.”

Lu Qing could understand this point.

Just like some seafood from his past life, it wasn’t that the bigger it was, the more expensive it was. On the contrary, when it was small, the unit price was higher.

“Regardless of the value, I’ll have to trouble you, Grandpa Chen,” Lu Qing said.

No matter how high the value of the Red Moon Carp was, Lu Qing couldn’t sell it.

He believed that if he really dared to appear in the city with such a strange fish, even if he could sell it for money, he probably wouldn’t be able to get out of the city.

Perhaps only a cultivator like Old Doctor Chen was qualified to participate in such a transaction.

“By the way, this Red Moon Carp has always been rare, and its habits are difficult to discern. It likes to be alone and its tracks are hard to find. How did you catch it?” Old Doctor Chen asked curiously.

“Perhaps it was luck. Yesterday, after I caught that Green Armored Fish, I fished for a while longer and happened to catch this Red Moon Carp,” Lu Qing replied.

But his heart moved slightly.

Habits are difficult to discern. Does that mean that even the old doctor doesn’t know that the Red Moon Carp likes to eat blood apricots?
“In that case, it really is your luck,” Old Doctor Chen sighed. “Perhaps it’s because heaven saw that you and your sister were living too hard, so it sent down these blessings to you.”

The old doctor thought of Lu Qing’s sudden recovery from his illness before.

Perhaps, the reason why Lu Qing’s illness could suddenly get better was also for this reason?

After sighing for a while, Old Doctor Chen put the Red Moon Carp in a water tank in the house to keep it for the time being, and then gave Lu Qing acupuncture.

This time, after the acupuncture, Lu Qing’s sleep was shorter than last time.

After waking up, he saw that the old doctor was still chatting and laughing with Xiao Yan in the courtyard. There was still a plate of yam cakes on the stone table.

“You’re awake. Come, have something to eat first.”

Seeing Lu Qing come out, Old Doctor Chen pushed the cakes on the table over.

This time, Lu Qing didn’t refuse. He picked up a piece of cake and ate it slowly.

Old Doctor Chen observed the color on Lu Qing’s face and nodded.

“Not bad. It seems that you have listened to my advice these past few days and haven’t neglected yourself in terms of food and drink.”

“Grandpa Chen, my brother and I have been eating delicious food every day these past few days. The food my brother makes is so delicious!” Xiao Yan showed off from the side.

“Mhm, I can see that,” the old doctor lovingly stroked the little girl’s head.

With his medical skills, how could he not see that the two siblings’ complexions were much better than a few days ago?

After Lu Qing had eaten a few pieces of cake, the old doctor said slowly, “I said before that after this acupuncture session, you are allowed to study medicinal herb knowledge with me for half an hour. Do you still remember?”

Lu Qing immediately sat up straight and said solemnly, “Of course I remember.”

“Then do you still have the heart to learn about medicinal herbs now?”

“Of course, my interest in medicinal herbs has never diminished.”

“That’s good,” Old Doctor Chen laughed. “I thought that after you caught a Red Moon Carp and were about to have a large sum of money, you would no longer want to take the path of collecting medicinal herbs.”

“I want to learn about medicinal herbs not just for a living, but because I am really curious about all kinds of magical medicinal herbs and want to know how they cure diseases and save people,” Lu Qing said seriously.

“In that case, you can come with me.”

Old Doctor Chen stood up and walked into the house.

Lu Qing quickly followed.

In the house, Old Doctor Chen took out a book and placed it in Lu Qing’s hands.

“Here is a copy of ‘The Hundred Herbs Classic’. It records the names, illustrations, and growth habits of various medicinal herbs. Take it and study it carefully. Compare it with the medicinal herbs drying outside the courtyard. If you don’t understand anything, come and ask me.”

Lu Qing was stunned holding the book, “Grandpa Chen, didn’t you say that I would help you dry the medicinal herbs and learn from you at the same time?”

Now he was directly given a book on medicinal herbs.

Lu Qing knew that in this world, books were very precious.

One reason was that paper was expensive, and the other was that ink was also expensive.

The original owner’s grandfather, when he was fleeing from disaster, didn’t bring anything else but a few books.

Unfortunately, the books were lost during the escape.

As a result, when the original owner was a child, he often heard his grandfather sigh that the loss of those few family heirloom ancient books was his failure to his ancestors.

Later, because the family was poor and couldn’t afford paper and ink, Grandfather Lu was never able to revise those few family heirloom ancient books.

Even the original owner only recognized some words because of this, and was very shallow in writing.

“What, are you not willing?” Old Doctor Chen asked.

“Of course I’m willing,” Lu Qing said quickly.

In this world, he still knew the value of knowledge.

“That’s good. Then you can start learning now.”

Seeing that the old doctor had said so, Lu Qing could only take the book and return to the courtyard.

After instructing Xiao Yan a few words, he walked to a quiet place and opened the book.

However, after roughly reading a few pages, Lu Qing couldn’t help but frown.

Because, in this “Hundred Herbs Classic”, the names of many medicinal herbs were quite strange, and the characters were very obscure.

The original owner didn’t know many characters in the first place.

Although he had the memories of his past life, the characters of the two worlds were different.

There were some characters that even he didn’t recognize.

This made “The Hundred Herbs Classic” very obscure to read.

If this continued, he didn’t know when he would be able to learn the knowledge inside.

Lu Qing knew himself; he was not the kind of person who was extremely intelligent.

He also didn’t have the ability to read ten lines at a glance and comprehend everything.

In his past life, he was just an ordinary person with a normal IQ who studied hard and barely got into an ordinary university.

So, if he wanted to learn “The Hundred Herbs Classic” as soon as possible, he probably had to bring out the same hard-working spirit he had for the college entrance examination.

After encouraging himself, Lu Qing continued to read the book.

Then, as he was reading, a hazy white light suddenly appeared from the medicinal classic in front of him.

[The Hundred Herbs Classic: A book that records a lot of knowledge about medicinal herbs.]

[By learning this book, you may have a rough understanding of the world’s hundred herbs.]

[Download?]

The first two lines of text were fine, but when the third line of text appeared, Lu Qing was completely stunned.

(End of this chapter)