Just as Lu Qiqi was about to leave the city, she saw a large crowd gathered at the corner of the city gate where government notices were posted. The crowd was packed tightly together, three or four layers deep.
Seeing this, she couldn't help but feel curious.
But with a horse in tow, it was difficult for her to squeeze in, so she grabbed an older man who had been pushed through and asked, "Uncle, what does the notice say?"
The middle-aged man had just been stepped on and his face was extremely sour, but seeing Lu Qiqi's smiling face, he couldn't take his anger out on a young girl. He said irritably, "It seems to be about recruiting doctors. I was pushed out before I could even see clearly."
After saying that, the uncle angrily squeezed his way in again.
Five hundred taels!
Someone shouted something, and the noisy crowd instantly fell silent, as quiet as a chicken.
A moment later, it became as noisy as boiling water.
Lu Qiqi led her horse back a few steps, and she could still hear what had happened.
"A physician who can cure the plague will be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver by the Heshun Prefecture. The Heshun Prefecture is truly generous!"
"Generous my foot! That's a plague! We might lose our lives, let alone have any money!"
"Exactly! Half the village in Heshun Prefecture escaped. With the manager being so incompetent, who knows what the situation is like over there!"
Hearing this, Lu Qiqi guessed the general idea: the prefecture of Heshun had failed to investigate and let half of the villagers infected with the plague escape. With no other options, they offered a large sum of money to lure doctors to come and cure the plague.
With the lure of a hefty reward of five hundred taels of silver, more and more people gathered at the foot of the city gate.
Lu Qiqi didn't stay long. Once she left the city, she mounted her horse and returned to the veterans' village.
After returning to the veterans' village, Lu Qiqi immediately immersed herself in the mushroom piles, spending several days observing the mushrooms in the factory, except for eating, drinking, and sleeping.
Li joked that she was growing into a mushroom.
That day, Lu Qiqi entered the factory with a basket in her hand.
Just as Li was about to spray water on the shiitake mushrooms, she saw the basket in Lu Qiqi's hand and couldn't help but ask happily, "Qiqi, can we pick these shiitake mushrooms now?"
Lu Qiqi smiled and nodded, "I'll pick some as a sample for the buyer to see. If we get a large order, we'll harvest in bulk."
After saying that, Lu Qiqi grabbed the stem of a ripe shiitake mushroom, twisted it gently, and the mushroom was twisted off.
The process can be described as refreshing and therapeutic.
Lu Qiqi looked at the plump, soft, and high-quality shiitake mushrooms in her hand and couldn't put them down.
In an instant, she transformed into a little girl picking mushrooms, humming a song as she quickly filled a basket with shiitake mushrooms.
Lu Qiqi covered the basket full of shiitake mushrooms with gauze to prevent them from losing moisture.
Then, they drove the carriage to Luzhou Prefecture.
Zuixianlou (Drunken Immortal Pavilion)
Led by Steward Dai, Lu Qiqi went up to the top floor of Zuixianlou again and entered Jiang Qinglan's pavilion.
As usual, Jiang Qinglan sat by the tea table, drinking the tea poured by her maid.
Upon seeing Lu Qiqi's arrival, he smiled faintly and said, "Miss Lu, what good business have you brought to my Drunken Immortal Pavilion this time!"
Earlier, when Lu Qiqi went upstairs, Manager Dai praised her endlessly, wishing he could praise her from head to toe in detail.
Upon hearing Jiang Qinglan's words, Manager Dai laughed and said, "Miss Lu, not only is your cooking skill excellent, but your business acumen is also top-notch. After we finished selling wolf meat, we switched to mutton and rabbit meat, and we made a fortune!"
Based solely on the bustling scene of selling wolf meat that day, Lu Qiqi knew that Zuixianju had made a lot of money, so she didn't bother with any pretense of politeness.
This would be entirely beneficial for her in discussing the mushroom business, so why not?
Lu Qiqi smiled and placed the basket on the table, then lifted the gauze.
A faint aroma of mushrooms wafted into their nostrils, and a basket full of shiitake mushrooms came into view.
When Manager Dai saw this basket of shiitake mushrooms, it was as if he had seen a basket of silver.
His eyes were fixed on the shiitake mushrooms, and then he picked one up and examined it closely.
Lu Qiqi sat down, and a maid poured her a cup of tea.
Jiang Qinglan said without changing her expression, "Miss is truly skilled, managing to procure so many fresh shiitake mushrooms."
Shiitake mushrooms are scarce, so they are valuable because of their limited quantity. Normally, you can only harvest enough fresh shiitake mushrooms to make a small dish a day, so it's rare to find someone who just brings in a whole basketful.
Since she was going to sell shiitake mushrooms, Lu Qiqi had done her homework. She said, "The government doesn't allow cutting down trees. Without tree trunks to grow shiitake mushrooms, relying solely on picking them from the mountains is obviously not enough."
"Manager Jiang, if I could supply you with these shiitake mushrooms every day, how many could you possibly eat?"
Judging from Lu Qiqi's tone, the amount was considerable.
Jiang Qinglan took a sip of tea and said, "A maximum of twenty catties per day."
Twenty jin?
The daily harvest from the factory is far more than twenty kilograms; it could easily be ten times that amount!
Jiang Qinglan explained, "After all, shiitake mushrooms are just a side dish, not a meat dish."
Unlike the new capital, where a delicate side dish can cost more than a meat dish and is still sought after by wealthy young men, Luzhou Prefecture is more about practical matters.
Another point is that if there are too many shiitake mushrooms, they won't fetch a good price.
After hearing Jiang Qinglan's words, Lu Qiqi was somewhat disappointed.
Lu Qiqi understood the principle that a good harvest should be sold cheaply.
But at this time, shiitake mushrooms were already in short supply, and if they had to be sold off cheaply, wouldn't all her efforts have been in vain?
Rather than doing it this way, it's better to find a new path.
Lu Qiqi said, "What the shopkeeper said makes a lot of sense, but twenty catties is too little. I need to go home and discuss it. Consider this basket of mushrooms as a gift from me to Zuixianju."
After exchanging a few polite words with Jiang Qinglan, Lu Qiqi left Zuixianju.
After seeing Lu Qiqi off, Steward Dai returned to the pavilion and asked, "Manager, these mushrooms are quite a delicacy, why don't we just eat them all at once?"
Jiang Qinglan said, "These mushrooms are good, but they're also hot to handle. This isn't just about a few pounds of vegetables; the potential profits are huge. I hope she can hold on to them."
Upon hearing this, Steward Dai said nothing more.
After leaving Zuixianju, Lu Qiqi took a carriage back to the veterans' village.
Upon seeing Lu Qiqi return, Madam Li, concerned about the large order Lu Qiqi had mentioned, hurriedly went to greet her.
"Seventh Sister is back," said Madam Li. "How is she? How much does the buyer want?"
Lu Qiqi felt ashamed of her boast when she thought of the twenty catties of shiitake mushrooms that Jiang Qinglan had mentioned.
Lu Qiqi honestly replied, "The shopkeeper said he would only accept a maximum of twenty catties per day."
Upon hearing this, Li's face immediately fell, feeling that all her hard work over the past few days had been in vain.
Li Qingshan and Lu Dahai remained relatively calm and offered Lu Qiqi advice one after another.
Li Qingshan said, "Why don't we go to a few more restaurants and ask if they need mushrooms? There are quite a few restaurants of all sizes in Luzhou County. If each one needs twenty catties, we can sell all the mushrooms we need!"
Lu Dahai said, "That's right! With so many people in our family, it wouldn't be a problem for one person to visit four or five places a day."
Despite hearing their advice, Lu Qiqi did not take it, saying, "Uncle, Third Uncle, let's not sell these mushrooms!"
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