I thought it was already difficult enough to buy medicinal herbs, but what was even more rare was that I came across someone selling wild honey.
This wasn't taken from a cliff, but from a tree; the arduous process was something she had seen in documentaries.
The mountain people stored it in jars, and many people came and went asking about it, but when they heard that the other party wanted grain, they could only shake their heads and leave helplessly.
How many kilograms is this?
Upon hearing someone ask, the middle-aged man, tanned dark and with a sorrowful expression, quickly came over to answer.
"Not counting these two large jars, it weighs a full eighty-three jin."
What do you want to change to?
"One hundred catties of fine grains. My daughter is sick. This is what my two sons and I worked hard for a year to get."
Wild honey is a gift from nature, and the father and son obtained it with great difficulty, as can be seen from their calloused fingers, their emaciated bodies, and their patched-up clothes.
Is there anything else?
The middle-aged man was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, there is, but..."
"How many do you have? Or if your village has any, I'd like some too."
“Oh my, there’s so much. Every household in the mountains keeps some. To be honest, I wouldn’t have taken it out to exchange if my child hadn’t been sick. My family probably still has about a hundred pounds.”
Xiao Jiu was immediately intrigued. If each family had a hundred or so jin of liquor, wouldn't the whole village have even more?
These things will be priceless treasures in later generations!
Just as she was about to ask further questions, Cuifeng behind her pulled her back.
"That's enough for now, the rest is up to fate. If you have the chance in the future, don't go into the mountains."
Cui Feng's gentle reminder immediately brought Xiao Jiu back to reality.
Yes, how could she forget? Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people, especially those in the mountains. We can't say they're all bad people, but it's too far from here. To get to the market, they might have to rush here in the middle of the night. If she goes with them, who might end up suffering the consequences?
Seventh Sister's reminder was very timely. After thinking for a moment, Xiao Jiu walked over and pulled the uncle aside to whisper something in his ear.
Then they politely pulled the cart toward the most remote corner of the town.
Having grown up in a small town, she knew where to go where no one was around, especially on market day, it was indeed not advisable to trade in public.
While her two older sisters were keeping watch for her, she took out about 130 catties of raw rice grains from her space, half rice and half millet. After releasing the grains, she had her two older sisters pull her to find a place to hide them.
After waiting for about twenty minutes, the uncle pulled his family's wheelbarrow, and his two sons carefully carried two jars on it as they walked towards the alley entrance. Xiao Jiu waved to them when she saw them.
"Daughter, I've brought it over. Where's the grain you mentioned?"
"Uncle, don't rush, let me take a look at your honey first."
I opened the bottle and tasted it; it was pure wild honey. As for the weight...
She deals with grains and vegetables every day, so she can roughly estimate the weight of different items.
After the other party unloaded the truck, she went up and hugged the two jars. Seeing this, the uncle said with a smile.
"Don't worry, honey, we're honest people, we would never cheat you. Once you've done it once, you can do it again, right?"
"That's true, but we still have to go through the proper procedures, right? When my grain arrives, you'll have to inspect it, won't you?"
After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the honey, Xiao Jiu went into the alley and asked the two older sisters to bring out the cart.
"This is the raw grain, a total of 130 jin. You can weigh it yourself; I weighed it myself."
The uncle glanced at his two sons, and the three of them went over and carried each other on their shoulders, then nodded in agreement.
"Alright, the young lady is quite reliable, so... shall we switch her?"
"Okay, we've changed it. You guys carry it and go ahead. My house is nearby, so you don't need to help."
The uncle immediately covered the grass on the wheelbarrow and covered it with a burlap sack. Only after he had done all this did he remember to ask her.
Do you still want the hundred or so pounds of meat I have at home? If you do, I'll bring it to you again tomorrow.
I also need grain. I'll get you 100 jin of honey, but I need 150 jin of grain.
If you return the original grain, you have to give us 220 jin.
"Uncle, you're quick with your calculations. Alright, we'll settle this at this time tomorrow. For this place, we'll exchange grain for honey."
The father and his two sons were overjoyed when she agreed, saying, "The other families in our village..."
Xiao Jiu shook her head, "If we're out of grain, then we don't need any more. We've already taken enough from your family."
They didn't insist any further. After all, once they had dealt with their own family's problems, why should they care about the others?
By the time the grain was delivered home, it was completely dark, and no one knew whether their transaction had been successful.
Actually, Xiao Jiu wanted to ask what illness his daughter had, but then she thought better of it. A family that was willing to buy fine grains for their daughter must be pretty good too!
After the transaction was completed, under the cover of the two sisters, Xiao Jiu stored all the medicinal herbs and honey in her warehouse.
Then they took out a few baskets and filled them with common market items like winter melon, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, cabbage, and radish as a disguise.
Once they arrived at their doorstep, they would place meat, eggs, refined grains, coarse grains, dried goods, and seafood on the table before taking them home. This way, they could prevent villagers from opening the containers to see what was inside.
After experiencing it many times, it became commonplace; after all, there were quite a few people watching those two families.
We went to the market and brought home almost all the ingredients we needed for the Chinese New Year. The two families will spend Chinese New Year's Eve together this year.
There aren't any relatives visiting, so there's no need to prepare too many things.
But Cuifeng and Cuilan still didn't quite understand why Xiaojiu spent so much money to buy so much honey.
"Sister, this is also a medicinal herb, and it's very nourishing. It's a good thing. I'll bottle it up a few more times so you can brew it with hot water and drink it regularly. It's nourishing and beautifying, and it'll make you look beautiful!"
Knowing that Xiao Jiu was knowledgeable in this area, the two sisters stopped lamenting about the grain they had exchanged.
On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, the three sisters went to town together again, at the same time and place, and sure enough, they met the father and his two sons.
The two sides were so in sync that they didn't exchange a single unnecessary word; everything was based on trust, and neither of them weighed the other.
"I hope we can meet again at this time next year. Our surname is Hu, and I am the third son. You can call me Hu San."
"Uncle Hu, I hope we can meet again next year. I hope your daughter recovers soon."
"Alas, my daughter has tuberculosis, and I'm afraid she won't get better! I can only hope she can have a decent meal while she's still alive."
With the medical level of this era, tuberculosis could at least be controlled, if not completely cured!
Xiao Jiu was about to say a few words when, to his surprise, they simply pushed the cart away.
Cuifeng said regretfully, "The cost of medical treatment is probably much higher than the cost of this food. If it were a boy, we might seek medical help, but if it's a girl, we can only leave it to fate!"
Cuilan chimed in, "A girl's life is worthless. We've already experienced that. Let's go home."
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