Looking at the baskets of apples in the room and smelling the fruity aroma, Song Yan felt as if he had seen money.

Song Yan found it troublesome to grind wheat and corn into flour. He decided to simply sell corn and wheat directly.

Song Yan entered the space and watered the corn and wheat with spring water. The corn and wheat grew rapidly, were harvested when ripe, and then replanted...

Sacks of corn and wheat were piled up higher than a person.

I've collected a lot of eggs.

It's the dead of winter, and there are no chicken farms around; eggs are sold everywhere. Eggs are definitely a scarce commodity…

Cao Zhang was dumbfounded when he saw these things; Gangzi hadn't lied at all.

"I have some things here." Song Yan took out a cloth bag and handed it to Cao Zhang.

Cao Zhang couldn't help but swallow hard after opening the cloth bag; he was so surprised he didn't know what to say. He'd been in the black market for years and had naturally seen all sorts of good stuff.

He had seen ginseng of this age twice before, but the quality of these was not as good, and there were five of them at once.

Ginseng stems and leaves grow once a year, and after they fall off, they form a scar called a "reed bowl." The first bowl forms when the ginseng has grown for three years. Count the number of bowls on the ginseng and add 3 to get the ginseng's age.

As ginseng grows, the "bowl" at the junction of the rhizome and the ginseng body gradually degenerates and disappears, forming a round rhizome ginseng. Round rhizome ginseng is generally at least 15 years old. Younger ginseng usually shows bowl marks on the round rhizome. Only with older ginseng does the bowl mark gradually disappear. Ginseng without bowl marks generally takes 18-20 years to mature.

The five ginseng roots in Cao Zhang's hand were all round and without any bowl marks, with old, deep skin texture, tough and resilient rootlets, and obvious pearl-like spots...

Cao Zhang initially judged them to be genuine, but could he possibly see so many genuine items at once? He wasn't an expert. "I'll give you my highest price for the others, but this..." Cao Zhang hesitated, "I don't lie to a true expert. I'm not an expert; I need to find someone to take a look. Those who can distinguish the real from the fake are truly skilled; it's not something I can just ask for and expect them to come..."

Song Yan: "Speak your mind."

"The master craftsmen don't meet with outsiders, so I'll be taking the ginseng myself. Are you sure you're comfortable with that?" Cao Zhang had another concern: the ginseng was out of Xiao Mu's sight. What if it was fake, and Xiao Mu denied it, saying he'd switched it?

Song Yan: "It's fine for you to take it with you, whether you accept it or not is up to you! But if you don't accept it, you have to return it to me as is. You can't let such a valuable thing out of your sight."

Cao Zhang hesitated. He was reluctant to give up such a good thing, but he was also afraid that Xiao Mu would get trapped in it.

Song Yan: "I'm very honest. My dealings with Chu Shaowei were always fair, so you don't need to be afraid. Besides, Gangzi is your man, so he should tell you the truth, right?"

Cao Zhang realized that if Song Yan could handle Chu Shaowei, she wouldn't have gone through all this trouble if she didn't want a fair trade. "This stuff is amazing! I've never seen so much before!"

Is it easy for people to come and go in this black market without being checked, or to avoid inspection? Those who need to move around should move around.

Giving money away? With the crackdown so strict these days, they don't want to take the risk.

The best things are those that are inconspicuous and cannot be bought even if you have money.

Cao Zhang himself needed it, and when he put it out to sell, it became a hot commodity.

In the end, Cao Zhang couldn't resist wanting the ginseng.

2026 jin of wheat, 2182 jin of corn, 1235 jin of apples, and 6018 eggs. Wheat cost 45 cents, and corn cost 35 cents. The price was lower because it wasn't ground into flour. Apples cost 80 cents, and eggs cost 6 cents each. The total was 3084.66 yuan.

Cao Zhang hadn't expected so much stuff; he'd only prepared five hundred yuan. Even if he brought all the money from home, it wouldn't amount to three thousand. This was awkward.

These days, let alone three thousand yuan, not many people can even come up with three hundred yuan. Judging from Cao Zhang's expression, Song Yan guessed that he was short of money.

"I'm being presumptuous by calling you Little Mu, I really didn't expect you to have so much stock today. I had some money tied up in inventory, so I only have two thousand left... If you don't mind, I'll wait a few days..."

Song Yan interrupted Cao Zhang, "It's not a one-time deal. I'll take two thousand first, and we'll talk about the ginseng after you've had someone examine it."

"Excellent! I, Cao Zhang, am also a man of my word."...

After Cao Zhang brought the money, Song Yan left happily.

But why are they all called "girls"? How can you tell their age when they're covered up so much?

Song Yan counted out four thousand yuan and headed straight for his second aunt's house. Since they had the money, they should get her hospitalized as soon as possible!

…

Auntie looked at the money in Song Yan's hand and hesitated to take it. "How much is this?"

Auntie San remained calm, saying, "They just said yesterday that you could apply for the money, and you got it today?"

"It's because your second aunt and your condition can't be delayed any longer. They helped us raise this money first. We'll pay them back once the application for the funds is approved." What else could Song Yan say?

I was here when my second aunt had her surgery, so the funding application was approved. But what about my third aunt? How will she get the money? Will it be a huge remittance from the countryside?

If he did that, wouldn't Song Yan be complaining that he was living too comfortably?

Third Aunt: "Was this money wired through the post office?"

"No! It was sent by a friend of that soldier." Such a large sum of money was exposed as soon as it was checked at the post office.

Although her aunt didn't say anything, Song Yan felt that she didn't completely believe her.

Having said what he needed to say, Song Yan quickly made his escape. He didn't want his aunt to ask any more questions; if she did, his disguise would be exposed!