After Mr. Wang finished looking at the prices, he was still okay with them. He looked towards Zhang Guoqing and his wife. If they had no objections, he would make the final decision.
Looking at the three boxes of 500-year-old wild ginseng in the middle of the table, Zhang Guoqing nodded slightly to the old man without Zhou Jiao's prompting. He would be willing to pay even 30% more, not to mention 10%.
Sitting on the kang, Xiao Ping'an remained silent, scanning the faces of everyone in the room. His mother had just mentioned in the room that the maximum acceptable limit was over 30%. Could it be that these things would be very valuable in the future?
Old Master Wang hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Okay. We'll take the price you proposed. If you have any Toad Oil, please bring it over and we'll charge a 10% markup on it."
As soon as the old man finished speaking, the four old men selling ginseng immediately smiled. One of them asked, "Brother, can the rarer items be 10% higher than the purchase station?"
An old man beside him laughed and scolded, "Don't be so ungrateful after getting such a good deal. Just do it well enough."
Zhang Guoqing took a special look at the old man. Seeing the twinkle in his eyes, he probably had a lot of good stuff on hand, especially since he heard that he had once harvested a thousand-year-old ginseng king and was injured.
He recalled the time he went deep into the mountains with Old Man Wang and the others, and the wild ginseng forest. For a place where a thousand-year-old ginseng king could appear, there couldn't be just one.
He could think of it, and of course Mr. Wang had thought of it too. He smiled and said, "Once the price is agreed, I won't waste your time. I'll be here for the next few days, so please help me find some good stuff."
"Okay, no problem."
"I'll go ask my old friend later."
Lin Quan handed Mr. Wang a small scale.
Mr. Wang shook his head. "You should do it. We'll pay immediately after each one of them approves."
So soon, as Lin Quan reported the weight in grams, Zhou Jiao quickly reported the amount, Zhang Guoqing paid on the side, and Uncle Wang repacked it.
In less than ten minutes, the four people paid about 18,000 yuan for the 37 wild ginsengs that were over 100 years old, including the three 500-year-old wild ginsengs.
The two sides were very happy with the deal, and even without Lin Quan asking for the change, the other party asked for it. After receiving the thick stack of money, the four old men each put it in their pockets and left.
As soon as Mr. Wang and the others in the east room left, he raised his hand to signal Zhang Guoqing to choose first.
Zhang Guoqing quickly shook his head. "Grandpa Wang, I mostly buy for others. If they're really out of stock, I'll just give them the money and take it back. You go ahead and pick out what you like. I'll still have time to take over once you've picked enough."
After hearing what he said, Mr. Wang was even more unwilling: "How about this, you paid just now, and it will be troublesome to settle the bill. These are all yours, and I will give them to the second batch when they come. How about it?"
Lin Quan interjected, "I've contacted a lot of people, and there are still several batches left. I don't have to worry about running out of stock. This is a good idea. Kid, quickly put your things away, someone else will be here soon."
Seeing this, Zhang Guoqing didn't hesitate any longer. He took the package, tied it up, and pushed it to Ping'an on the kang, saying with a smile, "Okay. If you can't get the old mountain ginseng later, we can divide it up."
After Ping'an took it, he immediately moved it to the corner of the kang and covered it with a quilt. The little guy leaned on it, his eyes smiling into crescent shapes with joy.
"Is Accountant Lin here?"
Lin Quan quickly responded and went out to welcome the other party in. This time there were two middle-aged men.
As soon as they entered the east room, without any further greetings, the older man took the black bag from his companion and carefully poured out ten wooden boxes from it.
Another middle-aged man explained, "There are twenty roots in there. We packed them together to avoid being too conspicuous. I also have a dozen or so young wild ginseng roots at home that I just collected from fellow villagers. They're still fresh. I didn't know if you wanted them, so I didn't bring them here."
"Let's deal with this batch first. Brother, you know a lot of people, so help me find out who has stock in the next few days." Lin Quan said, and explained to Mr. Wang and the others: "In previous years, drug dealers from other places would come to these two brothers."
Zhang Guoqing nodded in response. These were local middlemen who were well-known in the area, traveling to nearby counties to buy goods and profit from the difference.
Mr. Wang smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Please name your price."
"Grandpa, my brother and I don't make random offers. It takes a lot of effort to buy fresh ginseng from those people and then process it. Can we take the price at the purchasing station and add 10%?"
"These prices are all local market prices. Even for ginseng grown in the forests of farms, we still add a 10% markup based on what the purchasing station charges."
Given the previous deal, Mr. Wang had no objections this time. He opened the box, inspected a few, and found the preparation technique quite good. He smiled and nodded, signaling Lin Quan to begin weighing.
The wild ginseng that can be sold by middlemen must be of good quality and age. Unfortunately, except for one 300-year-old wild ginseng, the others are all 100-year-old wild ginseng.
Now Zhang Guoqing would pack the goods, and Uncle Wang would pay. Twenty roots of wild ginseng, by weight, cost Uncle Wang over 7,500 yuan.
Before the two of them left, Zhang Guoqing saw that Mr. Wang didn't want the fresh ginseng they had, so he asked them to leave their address and agreed that he would come to check out the goods tonight.
In his opinion, these two people have connections, so it would be more convenient to hand over the things he wants to acquire this time to them, and it would save him the effort of looking for them.
Next, until before dinner, two groups of people came one after another. After Mr. Wang spent a total of 20,000 yuan, he suggested that Zhang Guoqing buy the remaining ginseng first. After dinner, it was around 6 o'clock in the evening. After seeing off the last group of people, Zhang Guoqing spent a full 50,000 yuan on buying wild ginseng.
Fortunately, Mr. Wang had the foresight to take Lin Quan out of the east room to chat. Otherwise, Uncle Wang's expression of surprise and numbness would have revealed how much money Zhang Guoqing had spent.
Of course, Lin Quan wasn't blind; he could roughly estimate it. However, after Old Man Wang had vaguely mentioned Zhou Jiao's background, and the couple's return to their hometown to help bring goods to several large families in Beijing, he thoughtfully avoided the topic and kept silent.
From the moment Zhang Guoqing and his family of three followed him home, he could tell the couple were either wealthy or high-class. Putting everything else aside, the pair of genuine leather sandals on the fair and tender little kid's feet, and the way he ate, gave him some clues.
In the past, when he accompanied his master to the big cities, he saw those young masters, whose every move and gesture exuded calmness. That was the temperament cultivated by living a life of luxury since childhood.
However, he was also happy to deal with such people. Compared to those arrogant and domineering scoundrels who looked down on others, the fact that they could win the favor of his astute uncle showed that this family had good roots.
Zhang Guoqing was multitasking. With his good hearing, he certainly heard everything Old Man Wang said. However, since Old Man Wang had already made up his mind, he didn't bother to pay any more attention.
Since they came here, the couple had never intended to conceal their identities. They wanted Lin Quan to know their names, and anyone with a keen eye could find out who they were with a little inquiry.
With Mr. Wang's "collusion with corruption," as Zhou Jiao said, there is no need to worry.
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