Once everyone was present, the clan chief and the five elders appeared, and the scene immediately fell silent.
Who dares to speak up? This is clearly something serious! Otherwise, why would five elders need to appear at the same time!
The village chief helped his father to sit in the position designated for the clan chief. The other five clan elders were also helped to sit down by their younger relatives. Only after the clan chief nodded in approval did the village chief step forward to speak.
"Dear grandpas, grandmas, aunts and uncles, I called you all over early this morning, and also invited our clan chief and elders. I'm sure you've all guessed it, it's all about the medicinal herbs that my nephew Chao Dong's third sister-in-law mentioned yesterday."
Well, last night, my cousin Chaonan told the clan chief how much medicinal material the town clinic was going to buy and at what prices. The clinic only buys 100 catties of each type of herb. The doctor said that this is to teach the clinic's apprentices how to process medicinal materials. And the price of each herb is different: sweet clover root is three copper coins per catty, chicken wine is seven copper coins per catty, carnation is one copper coin per catty, crow's eye is ten copper coins per catty, and fine grass is two copper coins per catty.
Before the village chief could continue, no one paid much attention to how much medicine the clinic was buying. They only heard that the price of the medicine was ten coins per pound and one coin per pound, and they immediately started chattering about it.
"Oh dear, crow's eye is ten coins a pound! Last night I dug up more than four pounds at my house! That's forty coins!"
"My family didn't dig much, but we dug more than a pound of crow's eye. Chicken wine is seven coins a pound, and my family dug two pounds. That's forty coins in total!"
"Sigh! My family dug up a lot of fine grass, more than four catties, while the others were less than a catty each, so it only cost about ten coins in total."
...
Some were overjoyed because they had dug up a lot of high-priced medicinal herbs, while others were devastated because they had dug up a lot of low-priced herbs. The various voices under different emotions intertwined and became increasingly noisy.
"Everyone, please be quiet! Please be quiet!"
The village chief shouted two sentences louder than all the voices present combined, and only then did it quiet down again.
"Listen up, everyone! The clinic will only accept 100 catties of each of these freshly dug medicinal herbs. Since the price of each herb is different, the clan chief and the elders came up with a solution overnight."
The village chief paused here, and the villagers present couldn't wait to ask:
"Da Bangzi, what's your plan? Tell me!"
"Yeah, Da Bangzi, what's wrong with you? Why did you stop at the crucial moment? Keep going!"
The village chief could only stretch out his hands, palms down, and press them down, while repeatedly explaining:
"Dear grandpas, grandmas, aunties, and uncles, after saying all that, I need to catch my breath. Please listen quietly as I continue!"
The representatives from each family, who had randomly chosen a rock to sit on, immediately burst into laughter.
"That's how it is. After nightfall, the clan chief and elders came up with a plan to divide the total cost of the medicinal herbs equally among each household."
The total price of the five medicinal herbs is two taels and three mace. There are thirty-nine households in our village. Thirty-eight households will receive fifty-nine copper coins each, and one household will receive one less copper coin, so it will be fifty-eight copper coins. These fifty-eight copper coins will be ours.
So, next it's time to weigh the medicinal herbs. We kindly request all grandpas, grandmas, aunties, and grandpas to bring the best herbs you have at home.
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