Chapter 27 Selling Medicinal Herbs in the County Town
The next day, Li Wanqing and Gu Yan got up before five in the morning.
Li Wanqing went to the kitchen to cook. Not only did she have to make breakfast for them, but she also had to make some dry food in case they got hungry during the journey.
Li Wanqing was preparing to bake pies with wild vegetable and pork filling.
The dough was kneaded yesterday, and the filling was also prepared yesterday. You can just wrap it up in the morning.
Gu Yan boiled water to fill the water bag and packed the things he would need for the journey.
They are about twenty miles away from the town, and even farther away from the county seat, more than fifty miles.
If just the two of them walked, it would take a whole day to reach the county town.
If it were just him, it would be fine, but his wife is so delicate, he can't bear to let her walk such a long way.
Gu Yan had already thought it through. They would go to the town first, and then rent a carriage to go to the county town.
But they definitely can't come back today and have to stay in the county town for one night.
In addition to the water bag, Gu Yan also brought a set of clothes for Li Wanqing.
After the two men finished their meal, they set off with their dry food.
The two were in a hurry to travel, so Gu Yan took Li Wanqing on a small path that only their family knew.
Taking the small path can get you about half the distance than usual, but the path is steep and not easy to walk on.
In some areas, Gu Yan had to support and pull Li Wanqing before they dared to walk.
They did not stop when they reached the foot of the mountain, but went straight to the town along the road. On the way, they met a kind uncle who gave them a ride in a ox cart.
"Uncle, thank you. This is a pancake I made myself. Please try it." Li Wanqing took out a piece of pie wrapped in oil paper and stuffed it into the hands of the uncle driving the coach.
"Oh, no need, I just gave you a ride on the way, it's nothing." The uncle said honestly.
"Thank you too, uncle. We're leaving first. Goodbye." Li Wanqing said and followed Gu Yan.
Gu Yan had already told him that they would hire a carriage to go to the county town.
She had no objection to this. She could earn money, and she was willing to spend a little money to save herself from the burden.
When they arrived at the carriage dealership and agreed on a price with the owner, they got on the carriage.
Even if we took a carriage, it took us a full hour and a half to get there, a full three hours.
After arriving at the county town and paying the remaining half of the fare, Gu Yan took Li Wanqing inside.
Li Wanqing didn't say anything, but just followed Gu Yan slowly and took a good look at the county town.
They are now at the entrance of the county town, as they just came in through the city gate.
Perhaps because it was close to the city gate, Li Wanqing did not see any other shops, only two carriage and horse businesses.
Seeing the carriage and horse shop, Li Wanqing remembered that she still had two carriages in her space. If she had not been afraid to take them out, she would have sold them long ago.
The carriage was fine; it would take up some space and not be a problem. The most important thing was the horse; it needed grass. Li Wanqing had been cutting grass to feed it these days.
She had already fed him enough, but she had to do without.
When there is an opportunity, I have to get the carriage out and let Gu Yan sell it somewhere far away.
As you walk forward, you will see shops on both sides of the street, with antique facades, wooden plaques, and triangular or rectangular flags fluttering in the wind.
There were many people walking on the street, including peddlers carrying loads on their shoulders and shouting as they walked along. There were also farmers setting up stalls on the roadside with vegetables they grew themselves.
"Wife, the restaurant in front is the most famous restaurant in the county, called Jufenglou. I heard that the pig-killing dishes there are delicious. I will take you there to eat later.
This is a silk shop. The fabrics here are not only diverse in patterns and colors but also beautiful.
This is the blacksmith shop. I made my bow and arrow here. The boss’s blacksmithing skills are very good.
here it is……. "
Gu Yan introduced Li Wanqing as they walked.
Gu Yan didn't stop until he reached a medicine shop: "Wife, this is Dejitang."
Deji Hall is huge, with a large entrance in the middle, made of four panels, now all removed. Looking in from the entrance, one can see a wall of medicine cabinets.
There is a long row of counters in front of the medicine cabinet, and two guys are busy preparing medicines inside the counters.
There is a table on the left side of the entrance. Behind the table sits an old man with a beard. He should be the doctor of the pharmacy, because the most obvious thing on the table is a pulse pillow.
While the two of them were standing at the door, the shop assistant came over and asked, "Guests, do you want to see a doctor or get some medicine?"
Li Wanqing retracted her gaze and said, "Brother, I don't treat patients or prescribe medicine. I want to ask, do you sell medicinal herbs here?"
When the waiter heard that Li Wanqing and her team would not treat patients or prescribe medicine, he was disappointed for a moment, but he quickly adjusted himself.
"Yes, but fresh herbs are not expensive," said the waiter.
"They're not fresh. I prepared them all. They're all here." Li Wanqing signaled Gu Yan to put down the backpack.
The waiter didn't expect that Li Wanqing could prepare herbal medicine, but he was just an apprentice and didn't know much about herbal medicine.
"Doctor Zheng, someone wants to sell herbal medicine. Can you take a look?" The waiter called to a room inside.
"Here I come." As the voice came out, a man in his forties came out of the house.
"It's them." The waiter saw Doctor Zheng come out and pointed at Li Wanqing and Gu Yan.
"Let me see what these herbs are." Doctor Zheng said as he walked over.
Gu Yan carefully took out the herbs one by one from the backpack.
Li Wanqing divided these herbs one by one and wrapped them in straw paper.
"Is this Cordyceps? This...this Cordyceps, I've never seen such plump and large Cordyceps.
Is this Epimedium? Is this Rhubarb…” Doctor Zheng looked at them one by one and exclaimed in surprise.
"What's the price for these? My things are of top quality." Li Wanqing said.
“Don’t worry, I will definitely give you a high price. I just hope that you can sell good medicinal materials to our pharmacy in the future.
This Cordyceps is usually sold at five taels of silver per pound. Since yours is of good quality, I will give you six taels of silver per pound.
Epimedium usually costs three taels of silver per catty. I'll give you three taels and five cents.
I'll give you one ounce and two hundred coins per pound of rhubarb.
"Gastrodia elata is 1.400 wen per jin (approximately 200g), Gentiana scabra is 800 wen per jin (approximately 200g), and Schisandra chinensis is 120 wen per jin (approximately 200g). What do you think?"
Doctor Zheng saw that the quality of the medicinal materials was indeed good, so he raised the price of each one.
Li Wanqing calculated and felt that the price was about right, so she nodded and said, "Okay, let's weigh it at this price."
Doctor Zheng gave the waiter a wink, and he brought over a scale: "Two pounds and three ounces of cordyceps, three pounds and nine ounces of epimedium, one pound and four ounces of rhubarb... twelve and a half pounds of schisandra."
"Two catties and three ounces of cordyceps, six ounces of silver per catty, a total of twelve ounces and six qian. Epimedium is... Schisandra chinensis is twelve and a half, a total of one and a half ounces.
The total cost of these medicinal herbs is twenty-one taels and six hundred wen.
This is the receipt. You can take it to the cashier to collect the money.
If you need any good herbs in the future, remember to come back to our shop. Don’t worry, as long as the herbs are good and the prices are good.” Doctor Zheng said at the end.
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