After we parted ways, I went into the "Huichuntang" deep in the old alley in the west of the city.
This is an old pharmacy.
The old shopkeeper behind the Chinese medicine cabinet, wearing round-framed reading glasses, was weighing Panax notoginseng with a steelyard.
"Boss Wang, give me two catties of mugwort."
I put the note on the counter: "I want 30-year-old aged wine, do you have any here?"
The old shopkeeper adjusted his glasses, glanced at the crookedly written "Thirty-year-old aged Ai" on the note, and clicked his tongue.
"Good heavens, is your place haunted, bro? You want so much stuff all at once, and you're asking for so much! This stuff is more precious than gold, it's mugwort that's been aged for thirty years, you can't find more than a few places in the whole city that sell it."
I smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Boss Wang, please be kind to me. I need it urgently. Look at this note. Liu Sandao sent me here. He said you must have it here."
"Liu Sandao?"
The old shopkeeper chuckled and clicked the abacus: "What kind of feudal superstition is that old rascal up to now? I say, brother, what era are we living in? Still believing in these gods and ghosts... Oh, you people in this line of work, you really do believe in this."
"It's not superstition!"
I chuckled: "Mr. Wang, have you forgotten? Last year, your grandson kept crying in the middle of the night, and the hospital couldn't find anything wrong. In the end, it was Liu Sandao who came to the rescue..."
"Damn it!"
The old shopkeeper quickly waved his hand and dragged out a sandalwood box from the bottom of the counter: "I can't argue with you, but let me make this clear from the start: this dried wormwood is two thousand per catty, no bargaining."
"two thousand?"
I gasped, "Mr. Wang, you're ripping me off! They only sell it for eight hundred."
"Eight hundred? That's ten years old!"
The old shopkeeper lifted the lid of the box, and a strong medicinal aroma mixed with a musty smell wafted out.
"Smell this. This thirty-year-old aged artemisia is more valuable the longer it's stored. Besides, you only need a small amount. If I open the box, who will compensate for the losses?"
"If you think it's too expensive, you can buy it from another store."
I stared at the dark brown mugwort in the box.
The leaves curled up like withered leaves, and powder would fall off with the slightest touch.
Suddenly remembering Liu Sandao's instructions, he grabbed a handful and crushed it in his palm.
It was indeed as fine as cigarette ash.
If you take a closer sniff, in addition to the unique bitterness of mugwort, there is also a faint, almost imperceptible, burnt aroma.
"Mr. Wang, how about this?"
I took out my phone: "I'll give you two thousand, but you have to let me go to the warehouse and pick them myself. Some of the herbs look good on the surface, but they're infested with worms inside. I have to check them carefully."
The old shopkeeper looked me up and down suspiciously: "You're quite shrewd, kid. Alright, let's get this straight, you'll have to take everything that's left over. Come on, I'll take you to the warehouse."
The warehouse was dimly lit and filled with a strong smell of medicinal herbs.
The old shopkeeper poked the shelf with a bamboo pole: "Find it yourself, the aged medicinal herbs are all in there."
He slumped into a recliner in the corner, pulled out his pipe, and puffed on it.
I climbed up the creaking wooden ladder.
The sacks were piled higher than a person, and every step they took caused crumbs to fall.
"Mr. Wang, this mugwort labeled as twenty years old has all gone moldy!"
I opened the bag and saw green mycelium wrapped around blackened leaves, the musty smell making me cough.
The old shopkeeper exhaled a smoke ring: "It's normal for Chen Ai to have worms; it won't affect the medicine's efficacy. If you don't like it, take the bag next door, but the price..."
As he spoke, he tapped his pipe, and the ash landed precisely at my feet.
Just as I was about to speak, a half-sack of mugwort in the corner suddenly caught my attention.
The burlap sack was stained with dark red medicine, and the edges were worn white, revealing dark brown bits of leaves inside.
Just as he was about to reach out, the old shopkeeper suddenly appeared from behind, banging his bamboo pole against the shelf with a loud thud.
"That bag is no good, it should have been thrown away long ago!"
A flicker of panic crossed his cloudy eyes, but his pipe pressed heavily on my shoulder: "The one on the east side looks brighter, take that one."
I gripped the burlap sack tightly, my fingernails digging into the rough burlap.
The unique burnt and bitter smell of thirty-year-old dried wormwood mixed with the stench of blood rushed into my nostrils, and the broken leaves that my fingertips touched were as delicate as ashes.
Taking advantage of the old shopkeeper's inattention, I suddenly ripped open the bag and, sure enough, saw several greenish new mugwort leaves pressed at the bottom.
That old fox really did try to pass off inferior goods as superior ones!
Although this bag also has worms, it's much better than the previous one.
"This bag is the one!"
I yanked the sack over my shoulder and tossed it down, deliberately letting the insect debris fall in a flurry.
The old shopkeeper exclaimed, "Oh dear!" and jumped up: "This bag won't do! It's riddled with insects; the medicine's effectiveness has long since dissipated!"
"Even though it's all scattered, why are you still hiding it so well?"
I slammed the sack heavily on the ground: "You said the previous sack was fine as long as it was old enough, but this one is all about the medicinal effect?"
I grabbed a handful of mugwort floss and rubbed it into ash in my hand: "Look, the insects only gnaw on the parts without medicinal properties, but the essence is still there."
The old shopkeeper banged his pipe loudly: "You little brat, trying to scam me, huh? Two thousand yuan a pound, not a penny less!"
"Not a penny less?"
I scoffed, pulled out my phone, and opened the calculator: "You said I'd take responsibility for the losses, but this bag is at least 30% empty, not to mention the depreciation due to insect damage..."
I deliberately shoved my phone screen right in front of his face: "Three hundred yuan, that's the most I can offer."
"three hundred?!"
The old shopkeeper's face flushed red: "Are you robbing me?! This is thirty-year-old aged Ai, the best in the whole city..."
"You're the only place in the whole city that sells insect-infested goods!"
"Say what you will, anyway, we can't sell it for three hundred, let's go!"
The old shopkeeper waved his hand dismissively.
"OK!"
I pretended to throw the sack back onto the shelf, then suddenly lowered my voice: "Boss Wang, do you know which kind of business is most prone to being haunted by evil spirits?"
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