Seeing Qin Yilin's excited expression, Shui Qing's suspicions deepened.
Why are you so happy? What could be the good news?
Upon entering the tea room, Qin Yilin, knowing no one was around, grabbed Shui Qing and asked with sparkling eyes, "Shui Qing, do you know what that white, lumpy thing in the stewed ribs is?"
Shui Qing's heart skipped a beat.
Of course she knew that those were yams bought from the mall. Yams are a good food for the body, and she would buy some from time to time to stew with pork ribs or stir-fry with wood ear mushrooms for the whole family to eat together.
She even bought a book on yam cultivation and read it to confirm that the climate and soil of Guangning Prefecture were suitable for yam growth, indicating that there might be yams here.
I've already come up with an explanation: it was dug up from the mountain behind the house.
However, Qin Yilin must not know any of this.
She blinked, feigning surprise and ignorance, and asked, "I don't know. Do you want to know?"
We dug them up in the back hill. After peeling them, we found they were snow-white and very pretty. We fed them to the chickens and they were fine, so our family started eating them too. They're quite delicious, aren't they?"
Qin Yilin, with an expression of knowing that she already knew, happily explained in detail: "This is also a kind of medicinal material. In pharmacies, it is called yam. It has the effects of strengthening the spleen and lungs, and tonifying the kidneys and replenishing essence."
It can not only treat lung deficiency and cough, but also kidney deficiency and seminal emission. Just think about the efficacy of these two treatments alone; its price won't be low!
Shui Qing feigned a shocked expression at the opportune moment, then asked, "How much can it sell for?"
Part of the shock was feigned, but the majority was genuine.
She now has a lot of money in her online store, which she earned first from mushrooms and water chestnuts, and later from fish maw.
Fish maw is expensive but infrequent, while mushrooms are the most reliable source and can also benefit the villagers of Shanshui Village.
The only downside is that the mall didn't cash out much money this year—Polygonum multiflorum is harvested in the autumn, and since it's a valuable medicinal herb, large quantities would be conspicuous, so it stopped selling by November.
They can only openly sell the produce from their own back mountain this autumn.
I did sell the calligraphy brushes quite a few times, but it was all done secretly, since I didn't make them myself and felt guilty.
Therefore, what Shuiqing wants most right now is something that can be cashed out!
They can even cash out openly and legitimately!
Seeing that Shuiqing was interested, Qin Yilin told her everything she knew: "Fresh yams can be used to make medicinal dishes and pastries, and can be sold to wealthy families. However, fresh yams have a drawback: they don't keep well. It takes more than an hour to walk from our Shanshui Village to Guangning Prefecture, not to mention outside."
Furthermore, there are only a limited number of wealthy families in Guangning Prefecture, and only a limited number of people can afford to buy them. Therefore, we still need to process them and sell them to pharmacies.”
Shui Qing listened quietly.
She knew that medicinal herbs needed to be processed, and that yam would become dried yam after processing.
Is it enough to just dry it in the sun?
"Prepared yams can also be used to make pastries and medicinal dishes. In Jinling," Qin Yilin paused, coughed, and then said, "wealthy families in other prefectures love them. As more people buy them, pharmacies buy more, and the price rises accordingly."
Actually, fresh yams are quite expensive, costing between 100 and 200 coins per pound. Well-processed yams cost over 400 coins per pound. Don't be fooled by the higher price; it's because it takes five or six pounds of fresh yams to produce just one pound of dried yams!
Shui Qing keenly sensed that Qin Yilin had a connection with Jinling.
It felt unnatural to bring it up, and I deliberately avoided it.
But everyone has their own secrets, and so does she, right? There's no need to pry; just live your life to the fullest.
She concluded, "It's profitable to sell fresh when the quantity is small, but not when the quantity is large. In hot weather, the food rots quickly over time, and there are few buyers in the prefectural city, so we simply can't keep up with demand."
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