Chapter 500: 501: Too Dark Heart
"Hmm!" Zhou Yiding said angrily, "Doctor Xiao Wang, these drug dealers are too ruthless. You don't know how hard life is for the mountain people. They only earn fifty dollars for collecting herbs, but they make twice as much by reselling them!"
Wang Zhen: "It is inconvenient for people in the mountains to go out, and they are relatively isolated from the news. Some medicine dealers go to the mountains to buy medicine, and they buy the best medicine at a very low price."
Zhou Huaian said, "Doctor Xiao Wang, I want to go harvest herbs in the spring, what do you think?"
Wang Zhen thought for a moment and said, "It will be fine if Sister Yang goes with you after she gives birth to a baby, but she won't be able to go into the mountains with you until the first half of next year. If you want to go and harvest in the spring, harvest the herbs you recognize. This way you won't lose money."
Zhou Huaian thought what he said made sense, "Okay! I'll listen to you and collect the ones I recognize."
Wang Zhen thought it was good that Zhou Huaian listened to his advice. "If you come across good mulberry yellow from miscellaneous trees, collect them. If you encounter bad ones, it's best not to touch them. As for mulberry yellow, just follow my instructions to identify them. If they are good ones, it's okay to leave them alone."
"As for Magnolia officinalis, the price this year is high, but it may not be as good next year. You must find out the purchase price at that time before you purchase the goods. Because the purchase price of medicinal materials is closely related to market demand and production."
"I understand. With high demand and low production, even herbs that were worthless in previous years are likely to increase in value."
"Yes! Just like Magnolia officinalis, the best quality ones were only 40 or 50 cents per pound two years ago, but this year they have suddenly risen to more than 2 yuan per pound."
Zhou Huaian clasped his fists in gratitude, "Thank you, Doctor Xiao Wang, for your advice!"
Wang Zhen smiled and said, "Brother Zhou, we are friends. It's being too formal for you to say that."
"That's right!" Zhou Yiding patted Zhou Huaian, "We are all friends, why are you being so polite!"
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian smiled innocently and nodded, "I was wrong!"
Wang Zhen put down the mulberry fungus and stood up and walked towards the room, "I will settle the bill for the truffles first, and then weigh the mulberry fungus!"
Zhou Yiding hugged Zhou Huaian and whispered, "I think Doctor Xiao Wang and your younger sister-in-law have a chance. They are friends now and may be relatives in the future!"
After hearing this, Zhou Huaian looked at him and blinked a few times. He felt that he didn't realize that the two of them had that intention.
"Even a love veteran like me couldn't figure it out, how could a rookie like you figure it out?"
"Oh my god! Are you an old hand at love? You don't have any sense at all. My sister-in-law is willing to marry you, it must be that you did a great deed in your previous life!" Zhou Yiding said contemptuously, "If you don't believe me, let's make a bet!"
"Let's talk about it later when we get back!" Zhou Huaian kicked him. "Doctor Xiao Wang is out."
Wang Zhen came out with the money and placed the bundles of Great Unity on the table. "A total of eight thousand nine hundred and sixty, count them."
"No need to order, I don't trust you!" Zhou Huaian said as he put the money into his pocket.
Wang Zhen held down his hand and said, "Brother Zhou, money is different from other things. No matter who you deal with in the future, you must count the money in person."
"Okay, I'll remember that!" Zhou Huaian and the other man counted the money before putting it into the purse.
After Wang Zhen took the Coriolus versicolor to the clinic to weigh it, it weighed a total of one catty, three ounces and five cents, and was sold for two hundred and forty-three yuan, with each person getting a little over one hundred yuan.
Zhou Huaian looked at the time. It had been an hour and Huang Yongcai had not arrived yet. "Doctor Xiao Wang, Brother Huang said there is an old house for sale in the alley past the North Street Vegetable Market, close to the national highway on the east side. Do you know of one?"
"I haven't heard of that." Wang Zhen sat down and said, "Brother Yang asked me to find out about the land last time. I'll tell you after the New Year is confirmed."
He paused, "Also, regarding the construction that was originally scheduled for the New Year, will you still start the construction according to the original plan?"
Zhou Huaian smiled and nodded, "Yes! Thank you for your hard work after the New Year."
Wang Zhen smiled and said, "It's not hard work, just some talking. The construction team helping the Li family to build the house is working hard and on time. I've talked to their foreman and showed him the blueprints. I'll make an appointment, can you come meet them next time?"
When the three of them bought the land, they did not have much money and originally planned to build three rooms and then turn them into houses. Now that they have sufficient funds, they plan to build a two-story building to open a hotel and use the newly purchased land to build their own residence.
Zhou Huaian: "If you think it's good, then it's good. We don't know how to build it, and we stayed in Ning'an for a short time, so it disappeared."
Zhou Yiding nodded and said, "I've already told my old man about the wood. Ask him to make an estimate and I'll find someone to get the specifications."
Wang Zhen: "Then I'll go find him this afternoon and ask him to calculate it, and I'll give it to you next time you come."
"Brother-in-law, someone is looking for you outside!" Yang Dongmei shouted while standing at the back door of the clinic.
"Here he comes!" Zhou Huaian stood up, "Brother Huang is here, let's go take a look first."
"Okay!" Wang Zhen went to the clinic with the two of them. After exchanging a few words with Huang Yongcai, he sent the three away.
Zhou Huaian and the other man followed Huang Yongcai to the vegetable market, "Brother Huang, how big is that yard? How much does the owner want?"
Huang Yongcai said: "There are five rooms in a row, and the two small rooms on the left and right were built later. He asked for 2,500 yuan for the house, and said that if you really want to buy it, we can negotiate!"
Zhou Huaian thought that the land was already 600 or 700 yuan, and 2,500 yuan was not expensive. "Then let's go take a look first."
Huang Yongcai pointed ahead and said, "It's not far from the vegetable market. I haven't been there for a long time."
"oh!"
The three of them walked for five or six minutes and entered an alley paved with bluestone slabs.
Huang Yongcai said to Zhou Huaian, "Old Qian used to be my colleague. He was transferred to the Hua City Government Guesthouse two years ago, and this year his wife was transferred there too."
"His three children have grown up. After moving there, the house allocated by the company was too small to accommodate them. Thinking that the yard here was empty and no one lived in it, he planned to sell this one and buy a yard over there."
Zhou Huaian: "I feel that the houses in the company are like tofu blocks. I still need a yard to live comfortably."
At this time, he discovered that on both sides of the alley, wherever the sun could reach, there were groups of women with makeup on standing against the wall.
Some were young, some were older, and some were even doing needlework with insoles in their hands. They would glance at passers-by from time to time, and it was obvious that they were not decent women.
There are people setting up chess games, playing poker, fortune tellers, physiognomists, and horoscope readers on the roadside. There are all kinds of people there.
Zhou Yiding saw a middle-aged man and a young woman huddled together, talking in low voices for a few words, and then the two walked one after the other towards a narrow alley nearby.
Huang Yongcai glanced at the two men and led them to turn left into an alley about one meter wide. "Those were all secret doors, and they were not doing legitimate business."
It was the first time for Zhou Huaian and his companion to come here, and the first time they saw streetwalkers. "Is there no one to take care of it?"
Huang Yongcai laughed and said, "In the past two years when the control was strict, it was not as blatant as it is now. Now that it has been relaxed, all kinds of evil spirits have come out."
As they were talking, the three of them stopped in front of an old yard.
Zhou Huaian thought about it and said frankly: "Brother Huang, I think the environment here is not very good. The people coming and going are too complicated."
Huang Yongcai nodded, "It's a bit complicated. Now that it's here, take a look first. If you think it's suitable, buy it. If it's not suitable, I'll help you find a suitable one."
"Thank you, Brother Huang!"
"What's the problem?" Huang Yongcai said as he pushed open the gate. "The yard is quite big. If it didn't have those secret doors, it would be quite quiet to live in."
He pointed to the slope behind the house and said, "There is a small slope with an old cherry tree. The national road is on the slope. If you don't want to go that way, you can walk up the slope and take the national road to the street, but you have to go a long way."
Zhou Huaian saw that a small half of the yard had been hardened with cement, and the other half was used as a vegetable garden. There was also a grape trellis and a pressurized well in the yard. It was not a large square yard, but a small rectangular one.
Zhou Huaian felt that although this courtyard was in Ning'an, it was far inferior to the courtyard in the town. The environment was also so complicated. Zhang Xiuxiang would definitely look down on such a courtyard.
Huang Yongcai opened the door of one of the rooms. "The rooms are square and big. If it weren't for those secret doors on the way here, this yard would actually be pretty good. How about I ask for you?"
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Yes, it's just that the environment is too bad. I'll go back and discuss it with Chunyan, and I'll get back to you the day after tomorrow."
"That's right!"
After the three of them left the vegetable market, Huang Yongcai rode his bicycle back to the guesthouse.
Zhou Huaian and his companion returned to Deshengtang and saw Wang Zhen and Yang Dongmei were very busy. They stood at the door and greeted them, then started the tractor and went to the beef restaurant to eat a bowl of beef noodles before going back.
…
Yang Chunyan came out of the old house and just walked onto the main road when she saw Fang Zhiqiang riding a bicycle with Yang Xiaoxue. "Brother-in-law Fang didn't go up the mountain today?"
Fang Zhiqiang squeezed the brakes and said, "I spent the whole day looking for it yesterday and dug up about ten kilograms."
"Yan'er!" Yang Xiaoxue got out of the car and took her arm with a smile, "You take the things over first, and we'll walk over together."
Fang Zhiqiang nodded and rode away on his bicycle.
Yang Chunyan looked at her complexion and said, "Not bad, your face has gained weight and your complexion has improved."
Yang Xiaoxue touched her face and said, "Since the last fight with his mother, your brother-in-law has been much nicer to me. To be honest, if his mother's husband was like the old people in your family, I would love them to live with us."
"That's true. Ever since grandpa and the old man came to live with me, Huai'an and I have felt much more relaxed."
"When do you plan to finish this work?"
"Today is the 25th. We will stop working after delivering the last batch of goods on the 28th. We will resume work after the 8th of the New Year."
"I've been tired for so long, it's time to take a rest." Yang Xiaoxue continued, "I came here today to take a look at your medicinal field. I plan to open up the land behind my house and sow medicinal seeds in the spring. If I can grow them, I plan to contract the mountain land behind the old house to grow them."
Yang Chunyan nodded, "What kinds of medicine do you have stored?"
"Motherwort, Rhizoma Cibotii, Rhizoma Cibotii... there are about ten kinds of herbs. Which herbs do you grow at home?"
"We have planted Ligusticum chuanxiong, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Bletilla striata, Rhizoma Cibotii, and Rhizoma Cibotii... There are more than 20 species, some of which have already been planted, while others will not be planted until the spring."
(End of this chapter)
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