Chapter 917 Enlightenment
Zhou Liulang and Datou lowered their heads together.
Old Zhou got furious when he saw his youngest son like that. He touched his shoes and couldn't help but feel his temper.
Qian gave him a sidelong glance and said, "There's no rush. Let the children find it themselves. If not, we can just settle it down in a few years."
Qian looked at Zhou Liulang and said, "Do you want to look at it yourself, or do you want your family to arrange it for you directly?"
Zhou Liulang could make jokes and run away when facing his father, but he didn't have the courage to do so to his mother. So after weighing the pros and cons, he said, "I, I'll take a look myself."
"You are about to reach adulthood. I will give you three years. After three years, even if you are still unwilling, I will choose a wife for you."
Zhou Liulang lowered his head and responded.
No one dared to express their opinions when Qian spoke. In recent years, Qian's power in the family has become increasingly powerful.
Qian made the final decision, "Let the fifth son go with them. The eldest and third sons need to stay home to take care of the fields, and the medicinal herbs in the mountains can't be left unattended. The second son will go with the fourth son and get to know the shopkeepers of the medicine shops in Yizhou City. Next year, the job will be handed over to the second son, and the fourth son will go to the capital to bring the fifth son back."
Zhou Silang happily assured her, "Mom, I'm also very capable in managing the shop. When I go to the capital, I will definitely manage it well."
Manbao: "It's better to let Lijun take care of it, since you don't know how to manage the accounts."
Zhou Silang was unhappy, "Let Erya take care of it, then I'll go to the capital and eat free meals."
"Just keep selling medicinal herbs," Man Bao said, "The medicinal herbs in Yizhou City are more expensive than those in Luojiang County, and those in the capital are definitely more expensive than those in Yizhou City."
"That won't work," Zhou Silang said. He wasn't stupid. He didn't even need to count on his fingers to know it wasn't worth it. "I can transport the herbs from my home to Yizhou City in a day, but how long will it take to transport them to the capital? I can't eat, stay in a hotel, or pay taxes on the way. The journey is so long, and we might be robbed. That's how much it will cost. The price of medicine in the capital can't be much higher. I won't do this business that loses money."
Manbao has been working at Jishidiang for more than a year and has met all kinds of herbal farmers and dealers. She has had doubts in her heart for a long time, but unfortunately, when it comes to drug dealers and farmers, the shopkeeper, Old Zheng, is not willing to communicate too much with her. After all, she is someone else's supplier.
But Manbao is smart, and there is a little boy named Keke in his head with a rich reserve of knowledge. She would ask him when she didn't understand something, and he would check the encyclopedia when he didn't know something. Then Manbao figured out the tricks.
Years ago, when she saw her fourth brother delivering fresh ginger, sun-dried ginger, processed Ligustrum lucidum fruit and yam slices from home to Yizhou City, she wanted to talk to him.
It's just that she had too many things to do when she went home for the New Year, so this matter didn't stay in her mind for long and she forgot about it. Now that she remembered it, she was ready to talk to him.
"Fourth Brother, who do you think is richer, the herbal farmers or the herbal dealers?"
"Nonsense, it's the drug dealer, of course."
Manbao: "Then did you know that Jishitang is not only a medicine shop, but also one of the largest drug dealers in Dajin?"
Zhou Silang nodded, then shook his head. He certainly knew that Jishidiang was in the business of medicinal materials and was a drug dealer, but he didn't know that it was one of the largest drug dealers in Dajin.
Manbao said, "Now, in the eyes of Jishitang, our family is just a herbal farmer. Although our herbs are sold not only to Jishitang but also to other herbal medicine shops in Yizhou City, this level of production still makes us a herbal farmer. I've seen it all. At the end of the year, many families deliberately leave ginger pieces in the fields. After another year, they will become old ginger. At the beginning of the year, people even come to our house and ask for seeds and branches of Ligustrum lucidum to plant back home, right?"
Zhou Silang looked up at his three older brothers.
Zhou Sanlang nodded and said, "Many people have asked about it. Mother asked us to give it to them and even taught them how to grow it."
Zhou Erlang said, "People from other villages have also sneaked up the mountain and broken off many of our branches and damaged many of our trees. At the beginning of the year, my eldest brother and I even went up the mountain to guard them for a while."
Manbao said, "Think about it. With so many branches and seeds left over, if they don't show any sales this year, other families will start to compete with us for business next year. By the year after next, and the year after that, there will be more and more Ligustrum lucidum plants in our village and the surrounding villages. By then, will our Ligustrum lucidum still be able to be sold at a high price in Yizhou City?"
Zhou Silang, who was very experienced in business, shook his head repeatedly.
"Not only will our privet fruits be unsaleable, but I'm afraid other people's privet fruits won't be able to be sold either. What will we do then?"
Zhou Silang: "What should I do?"
"If a drug dealer comes and offers five or six coins per pound, will you sell it?"
Zhou Silang's eyes widened. "How is this possible? A pound of high-quality Ligustrum lucidum is sixty-five cents now, and he won't even give me a fraction?"
"But Yizhou City, Luojiang County, and the surrounding towns and counties are all well-stocked with Ligustrum lucidum. The pharmacies only have a limited number of patients who need it, so they can't just pile it up in the warehouse and get damp, right?" Manbao asked. "Let me ask you, five or six wen a pound, will you sell it to me or not?"
Zhou Silang was hesitant, and Zhou Wulang beside him said, "Not for sale!"
Manbao looked at Zhou Wulang.
Zhou Wulang said, "I'd rather use it as fertilizer in the dung heap than sell it."
Old Zhou couldn't help but turn around and say to Qian: "This is such a wasteful thing."
Qian hesitated and said, "I can't sell it. If I only give a small amount, it's better not to sell it."
Old Zhou said, "Any bit of money you can earn is a bit of money."
Zhou Silang also nodded, "Yes, any money I can earn is good."
Manbao nodded, but didn't say whose choice was right. Instead, he said, "So, in order to prevent Ligustrum lucidum from being sold for only five or six coins per pound, or to prevent it from being used as compost, we have to find other sales channels before other Ligustrum lucidum plants come out. The capital is a good place for that."
Manbao asked, "What are herbal farmers and what are herbal dealers?"
"Herbal farmers are those who sell traditional Chinese medicine and can only wait for drug dealers to set prices. Drug dealers are the ones who can influence drug prices," Manbao said. "To put it bluntly, if drug dealers really come to our doorsteps and try to lower the price of medicine for villagers in the future, we have opened up a way for everyone to at least have a chance to fight back."
"If others quote ten wen for the medicine, we can quote twenty. After buying the medicine and shipping it to the capital, even if we can only make three or four wen per pound, we're still making money. After all, we still have the final say on the price of our medicine, so we're not completely passive."
Everyone in Old Zhou's family was stunned. Most of them didn't understand, but some began to think about it.
Manbao patted his butt and stood up and said, "Anyway, you have a lot of subordinates now, right? Then when you go to Beijing to replace Fifth Brother next year, take them with you to Beijing to explore the road."
Zhou Silang said with a sad face: "It's very expensive to be on the road."
The next update will be around 4:00 PM
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
