049 Musk
Gu An'an rubbed her ears, adjusted the things on her back, and headed to the pharmacy first.
The shop assistant's eyes lit up when he saw her. "Young lady, you've arrived!"
Very attentive.
It seems that the pharmacy made some money from the last batch of rose hips.
Gu An'an laughed. Seeing the shop assistant looking into her basket, she took the basket off and placed it on the counter.
When the waiter saw that it was a basket of meat, he exclaimed, "Young lady, what is this...?"
"Fragrant deer meat."
It's not roe deer meat, it's musk deer meat!
The Compendium of Materia Medica states: The musk deer has no fragrance; the one with fragrance is the musk deer, commonly known as the earth musk deer, or the fragrant musk deer.
The waiter's eyes lit up immediately. "Madam, please wait a moment. I'll ask the manager to come over."
While musk deer meat isn't particularly rare, there's one thing about this creature that's extremely valuable.
This young lady is clearly an expert in pharmacology, and she must have that thing in her hands.
The pharmacy clerk was overjoyed and went to the backyard to fetch the pharmacy owner.
Unexpectedly, Manager Qiu was having tea with someone in the backyard when he saw the impetuous waiter and scolded him, "Don't you know our distinguished guest is here? What kind of behavior is this?"
The distinguished guest, dressed in fine silk, chuckled as he looked at Manager Qiu. "I suppose you have something important to discuss. I have nothing urgent to attend to here, so I'll take my leave now."
Manager Qiu wanted to give the person away, but was stopped by this distinguished guest surnamed Lin.
As soon as the man left, the waiter rushed forward and said, "Boss, that young lady from last time is here again. This time she's carrying a basket of musk deer meat. I suspect she has musk in her hands."
Musk?!
Shopkeeper Qiu's eyes widened upon hearing this. "Why didn't you say so sooner!"
That's musk.
It is even rarer than ambergris used by nobles in the capital. It is said that Marquis Pingyuan prefers musk.
If this musk is offered to Marquis Pingyuan, wouldn't he be able to rise to great heights?
Shopkeeper Qiu was very excited and hurried to the front, muttering to himself, "Don't you know to invite that lady to rest in the back?"
The guy felt wronged; he had just been scolded for bothering him.
When the two pharmacists arrived at the front hall, they discovered that the young master Lin was chatting with the young lady.
Manager Qiu immediately realized that something was very wrong.
However, it was too late to regret it.
Lin Zixing had no intention of talking to the young woman, but as he walked over, he smelled a faint fragrance, a very subtle spiciness, which made him suddenly stop in his tracks.
When he saw the meat in the bamboo basket, he was quite certain that his nose was not mistaken.
"Does Madam have musk here?"
Upon hearing this, Gu An'an turned her head and noticed the tall and handsome young man.
He was a handsome and elegant man, and the dark bamboo-leaf pattern on his robe gave him a refined and graceful air.
"Young master, you have excellent insight."
Lin Zixing smiled upon hearing this, "I wonder how much Madam intends to sell this musk for? I'd like to buy it."
When Manager Qiu heard these words, he felt as if his mind had been blown away.
If this young master Lin wanted to take it from him, there was no way he could win.
This is musk! My bright future is gone just like that.
Shopkeeper Qiu was on the verge of tears.
Gu An'an glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and knew that this young man in brocade robes was someone of considerable importance.
"I shouldn't refuse your kindness, young master, but I had an agreement with the shopkeeper. If I were to break that agreement, it would be an act of cruelty and dishonesty. I hope you will forgive me."
Lin Zixing turned around upon hearing this and saw Shopkeeper Qiu nodding repeatedly, "That's right. This young lady picked those rosehips and sold them to me before. I'm sure you've heard about it, sir."
Golden cherry.
Lin Zixing chuckled upon hearing this, "So it was this lady's doing, but..."
He looked at the petite woman, a slight smile in his eyes, "I heard that Manager Qiu made quite a bit of money last time, I wonder how much he gave this lady?"
Gu An'an wasn't stupid; she naturally understood the implied meaning.
This young man in fine clothes looked respectable, but he was extremely stingy. After failing to buy the musk, he tried to sow discord between her and the pharmacy.
Money truly moves people's hearts.
Shopkeeper Qiu looked slightly embarrassed. The golden cherry was most effective at curing some of the hidden ailments of high-ranking officials and nobles, and he had made quite a bit of money with that prescription.
He only spent five taels of silver to buy the rose hips from this young lady.
He coughed lightly, "It's all thanks to this young lady. Please allow me to give her some more thanks."
Shopkeeper Qiu was reluctant to part with her, but he still took out the key to open the cash box and took out a one-hundred-tael silver note. "I had prepared it long ago, but the young lady was late and I didn't know where you lived, so I was delayed."
Gu An'an found the silver note rather amusing; the musk, on the other hand, had become a treasure.
Without musk, I'm afraid Manager Qiu wouldn't have offered this hundred taels of silver as compensation.
Of course, a hundred taels of silver is nothing to this young man in fine clothes; he probably just wants to make Manager Qiu feel the pinch and, incidentally, sow discord among them.
No one would complain about having too much money, so Gu An readily accepted the silver note. "Then I'll accept it without hesitation. But I wonder how much Manager Qiu is willing to offer for this piece of musk."
Lin Zixing, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped when he heard this, and looked at Gu An'an with a scrutinizing gaze.
He wasn't stupid. Knowing that he was interested, he brought both of them in, made them bid against each other, and even profited from it.
Not stupid, but not particularly smart either.
Still feeling the pinch, Manager Qiu felt like he'd been stabbed in the back when he heard this. What did this young lady mean?
If the price she offered wasn't right, was she planning to sell the musk to Young Master Lin?
"It's not that I want to ask for an exorbitant price, but my family member was injured while trying to catch this thing, and unfortunately, the injury was on their face. I'm worried that if it doesn't leave a scar, it will cost a lot of money. But if it does leave a scar, what's the use of having a lot of money?"
Gu An'an sighed softly, her voice filled with endless melancholy.
"The injury is on your face?" Lin Zixing chuckled. "May I ask how I should address you, my wife?"
“Gu”.
Gu.
The word rolled on his tongue, and Lin Zixing looked at the person in front of him meaningfully, "It seems I can share Gu Niangzi's worries. I have a bottle of scar-reducing cream here, which is used by nobles in the capital. It would be suitable for Gu Niangzi's family to use."
Scar-reducing cream.
Gu An'an looked up at Lin Zixing, "I wonder if Young Master would be willing to part with it?"
"As a man, I naturally have no need for this stuff, but I would like to ask Madam Gu for a favor as well." Lin Zixing glanced at Manager Qiu. "One thousand taels of silver. Manager Qiu, buy this musk from Madam Gu, and I will send it to the capital. Mention Manager Qiu's name in front of the nobles. If you don't believe me, it's not impossible for you to go to the capital with me to present this treasure."
Upon hearing this, Manager Qiu looked at Lin Zixing with a shocked expression.
This was clearly a case of using someone else's flowers to present to the Buddha, and all Lin Zixing had given in return was a bottle of scar-reducing cream.
What an incredibly shrewd businessman!
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