As soon as Chen An came down the mountain, Cheng Yue called out to Chen Tong and Chen Ning to bring out a scale and paper and pen, preparing to weigh the items later.
Although she doesn't profit from the price difference, she is the one who collects the medicinal herbs, and it's best if they are weighed in front of everyone and recorded so that everyone knows what's going on.
Just as Cheng Yue finished preparing the things, the village head and Feng Shi came over first, carrying baskets on their backs and a scale in their hands. "Cheng Yue, here, take this. There are many people in the village, so having more scales will make things faster!"
Cheng Yue quickly stepped forward, took the scale, and unloaded the two baskets from their hands. "Okay, thank you, Uncle Village Head and Aunt Feng! Oh! Your baskets are so heavy, why didn't you two carry them up?"
Madam Feng chuckled and patted her clothes. "Hey! The two of them went up the mountain to gather more medicinal herbs. We old folks can take a break here!"
The two daughters-in-law are hardworking people. They come to Cheng Yue's place in the morning to cook, and then go to the mountain to collect medicinal herbs in the afternoon. They don't go home until night and they can't stop working at all.
"We were just saying we'd get the money in the next couple of days, and you've already accepted it today! My mouth really does come true! Haha!"
As they were talking, everyone came up. Aunt Li was laughing and talking, and you could tell how much she had been looking forward to it.
Aunt Zhou joked, "Take it easy, take it easy, if you keep grinning like that your teeth will show!"
"Go away! You're not allowed to laugh when you're happy. How dare you say that to me? Your smile is so thick it's practically reaching your ears!"
Cheng Yue shook her head and smiled. Everyone was visibly happy; anyone who didn't know better would think they had already received the money.
The village head said helplessly, "I can never shut you up. Come over here and line up!"
It was both frustrating and joyful, because during this time, apart from a few troublemakers, everyone else was busy collecting herbs, and the village was peaceful and harmonious.
Upon hearing this, everyone put down their baskets and stood in line, but they still couldn't stop talking, muttering amongst themselves, all guessing how much silver they could sell for.
At this moment, Chen An also returned, carrying a basket on his back. Cheng Yue saw that Zhao Luoguo was also with him. The basket was heavy and could be seen to be quite heavy.
"Nephew, I can carry it!"
Zhao Luoguo looked embarrassed. Chen An went to inform him, and without saying a word, he carried the medicinal herbs and headed up the mountain. He was slow, so he could only chase after him and call out to him.
Chen An strode quickly and reached the gate in a few steps. He put the basket down on the ground and then smiled, "Uncle Hunchback, we've arrived!"
"Hey, Hunchback, you've got quite a lot of medicinal herbs! They're kicking up dust all over the place!"
"You're truly amazing! You're a real hidden talent! We're even better than you!"
Although Zhao Luoguo's body has recovered, he still lost an arm. He can do more work with only one arm than all of them who are fully recovered!
Some of them even had their whole family help out, but compared to Zhao Luoguo, it was just one more person's portion.
The more they looked, the more astonished they became. Could it be that they had raided a medicinal herb den?
Surrounded by onlookers, Zhao Luoguo felt his face flush red and said embarrassedly, "I'm an old bachelor, and Chen An and his wife took care of my lunch. I've been up on the mountain all day..."
Ever since he recovered, he had been looking for something to do, but with only one arm left, he couldn't do anything in the fields except weed with a hoe.
Fortunately, Zhao Datou was building houses for Cheng Yue and was getting paid, so he wasn't too worried. He just couldn't stay idle and always wanted to do something.
Ever since hearing Cheng Yue talk about collecting medicinal herbs, he ignored Zhao Datou's objections and went up the mountain every day from early morning to late at night, spending the whole day on the mountain except for lunchtime.
As for Granny Sun and the others saying that Cheng Yue was a liar, he didn't listen at all. People were thinking of him at lunchtime, how could someone like that be a liar?
Everyone was full of admiration, praising Zhao Luoguo so much that his back bent even more.
The village headman spoke up at the right moment, "Brother Hunchback, you still need to take care of your health!"
"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing!" He had a hard life and cherished it more than anyone else.
The village head waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's weigh it quickly!"
Chen An and Cheng Yue each held a scale, while Li Zheng watched from the side, and the sisters Chen Tong and Chen Ning recorded the data.
"The village head's family has twelve catties of wolfberries, twenty catties of anemarrhena, two catties of mugwort leaves, and six catties of motherwort!"
Goji berries are heavy, even when dried. Of these medicinal herbs, only mugwort is lighter.
"Sister-in-law Lanfen's family has 10 catties of goji berries, 4 catties of mugwort leaves, 13 catties of anemarrhena rhizome, and 7 catties of motherwort!"
"Aunt Zhou's house..."
Cheng Yue and Chen An weighed the items while calling out to each other, and asked everyone to come forward and watch carefully before recording the weight.
Because of Granny Sun's last commotion, there were fewer people competing, so the remaining people collected a lot of medicinal herbs.
On average, each family can have 30 to 40 jin (15-20 kg) of herbs, some have 10 to 20 jin (5-10 kg) and some have 40 jin (20 kg), the difference being the type of herb.
Some goji berries are harvested in large quantities, while others anemarrhena are harvested in large quantities; they are all different.
Last time Cheng Yue mentioned the price of goji berries, but she wasn't sure about the other items. However, whether it's a lot or a little, picking them means money, so everyone is picking whatever they can find.
Fortunately, Houshui Village is surrounded by mountains, making it difficult to harvest all the medicinal herbs.
In particular, Cheng Yue was surprised to find that there were quite a lot of goji berries on the mountain!
After weighing everyone's medicinal herbs, Cheng Yue said, "We'll go first thing tomorrow morning. As we agreed before, everyone can choose one person to come along."
"That's unnecessary. Why would we need anyone to follow us? We said we trust you, and we really mean it!"
"Let's do it as we agreed before. Having you come along and see for yourselves doesn't conflict with whether you believe me or not. It'll give everyone a clear understanding!"
Since Cheng Yue had said that, no one dared to say anything more. After thinking for a moment, they said, "Why bother looking for someone else? Let the village head go!"
"Yes, Uncle Village Head, we've hardly ever been to our town, and we've only ever made a fool of ourselves in the county seat. You're the most suitable person to go!"
Anyway, the village headman is in charge of all matters, big and small. He is fair and just, and has seen the world, so he is the most suitable candidate.
Let them go; otherwise, they might say something inappropriate and embarrass Cheng Yue!
After all, that was a county town; the thought of it made them shudder!
The village headman didn't refuse, "Alright! Then this old man will go!"
He was thinking that this would be the most he'd go. He understood what Cheng Yue meant: since no one knew the prices of the other medicinal herbs, he wanted someone to go and check them out so he could tell everyone back, just to put their minds at ease.
Cheng Yue smiled and nodded, then said to Zhao Sihou, "Uncle Sihou, you don't need to go tomorrow. I'll go every time we deliver the medicinal herbs!"
She only delivers two or three times a month at most, which gives her time to go to the store and take a look.
Zhao Sihou chuckled, "Alright! I'll go gather some medicinal herbs then!"
What's wrong with making money? Not delivering goods is a good opportunity to gather medicinal herbs. He even likes to go up the mountain!
After all, delivering goods is too easy, and the money earned always feels uneasy in your hands. It's more satisfying to see the medicinal herbs that you dug up yourself with great effort!
"Alright! Everything's been said, everyone can leave now!"
After the village head finished speaking, he and Madam Feng picked up their baskets and headed down the mountain. It was still early, and there were plenty of medicinal herbs on the mountain!
Upon seeing this, the others took off running, afraid of being left behind if they were too slow.
The village head was shrewd; knowing he was getting old, he ran away first! And he ran so fast!
Not to be outdone, Chen Tong and Chen Ning chimed in, "Mom, we're almost up the mountain too!"
Cheng Yue smiled helplessly, "Let's go!"
Fortunately, they have their own mountain, so they don't have to compete with the villagers; otherwise, they really wouldn't be able to win.
Chen An was even more helpless; these three women ran faster than rabbits!
Alright, he can clean up this mess!
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