As if he knew what she was thinking, Dr. Xu continued, "These goji berries are easily damaged. If they were harvested raw, they would probably be almost all broken off after being transported all this way, thus losing their medicinal efficacy."
Cheng Yue thought to herself, "No wonder!" Then she asked, "Dr. Xu, if I may ask, does Wanhetang accept any other medicinal herbs?"
Doctor Xu asked in surprise, "You recognize other medicinal herbs?"
He thought Cheng Yue had only learned about this medicinal herb by chance, but he didn't expect her to inquire about other medicinal herbs. It seems she knows quite a few!
But I regretted it as soon as I asked. Wasn't that looking down on someone?
When he treated Chen An, they were still in the village, and Cheng Yue was dressed in rags. But in a short time, she changed into new clothes and her demeanor changed drastically.
This person is quite capable; it's not unusual for them to recognize some medicinal herbs.
Cheng Yue didn't mind and just smiled and said, "I don't know many of them. I only heard about them from other people."
Realizing he had misspoke, Dr. Xu stopped asking questions and simply said, "We accept all medicinal herbs, but the prices vary."
Common medicinal herbs are readily available in fields and along roadsides, so they are naturally cheap to buy. Rare medicinal herbs, on the other hand, are not something that everyone can find, so they are naturally more valuable due to their scarcity.
Chen Tong mustered his courage and asked, "Dr. Xu, do you accept cocklebur...?"
Cheng Yue chuckled; Chen Tong was really going after cockleburs…
Dr. Xu stroked his beard and laughed, "Of course I'll buy them. But cocklebur is easy to find and not expensive. Dried cocklebur is only three coins per pound."
The Chen sisters, Chen Tong and Chen Ning, looked at each other in disbelief. Had they heard correctly? Even the annoying prickly ...
How much money did they throw away?!
Chen Ning blinked and then asked, "Dr. Xu, what about dandelion?"
Doctor Xu loved children. He patted Chen Ning's head and said patiently, "We also buy dandelions. They're five coins a pound, and they have to be dried!"
Chen Ning looked at Cheng Yue and then at Chen Tong, feeling a little bitter. Five coins a pound. If only she hadn't eaten them as wild vegetables, she would have sold them for money!
Dr. Xu had already noticed that they recognized a lot of medicinal herbs. Although they were mostly common ones, Wanhetang had several branches, so they could handle both common and rare herbs. The pharmacy would never complain about having too many herbs.
Finally, he emphasized, "No matter what kind of medicinal herb it is, just bring it to us as much as you can find! We guarantee fair prices!"
With Dr. Xu's words of comfort, Cheng Yue felt relieved. "Thank you, Dr. Xu!"
Although the policy is to collect as much as possible, medicinal herbs are not like weeds that can be picked endlessly by the roadside, and they are not available every month of the year due to varying weather conditions.
Common does not mean ubiquitous.
To make money, you need to cultivate a large quantity of medicinal herbs, and specifically, herbs with relatively high value.
Cheng Yue kept this to herself, said goodbye to Doctor Xu, and then took Chen Tong and Chen Ning home.
It was already noon when they got home. Qian Yulan and Wang Chunmei had already prepared the meal. Cheng Yue wasn't home today, so they made a stew as usual.
Qian Yulan called out towards the door, "Cheng Yue, you're finally back! Come and eat!"
Cheng Yue smiled and replied, "Okay! Coming right away!"
Coming home to a hot meal is such a blessing.
Especially with the courtyard full of people, it was so lively and bustling that the food tasted even better.
"Here, give this to me, you take the child to eat first."
Chen An urged him on, then stepped forward, took the reins, and led the cow to the cowshed and tied it up.
Qian Yulan and Wang Chunmei served all the food for the mother and children, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Sister Cheng Yue, since you're not here today, we didn't know what to cook, so we just made another pot of stew."
There were many vegetables in the garden, but they didn't recognize several of them and didn't know how to cook them. They only picked eggplants and green beans.
Fortunately, Cheng Yue left a lot of pork, so everything she made tasted delicious. Otherwise, given their cooking skills, they really wouldn't have been able to make any signature dishes.
Cheng Yue shoveled a mouthful of food into her mouth and mumbled, "This is delicious too!"
She stewed it for a long time, and the eggplant and green beans were very soft and tender, which is the texture she likes.
Cheng Yue ate heartily, which made Qian Yulan and Wang Chunmei happy. "That's good, that's good!"
Cheng Yue swallowed the food in her mouth and continued, "Sister-in-law, I'll leave the cooking to you. You can cook whatever you want. Don't worry about me. As long as everyone eats well, that's all that matters."
"Okay, we understand!" the two replied with smiles. Cheng Yue trusted them, and they were happy about that.
Since there are vegetables and meat available, let them do whatever they want.
They were hesitant to fully unleash their talents before because they had tasted Cheng Yue's cooking and were afraid that Cheng Yue wouldn't approve of their dishes.
However, since Cheng Yue had already said so, they couldn't be coy.
After everyone finished eating, Qian Yulan and Wang Chunmei cleaned up the stove and prepared to go down the mountain.
Seeing that the vegetables in the garden had grown a lot, Cheng Yue called the two of them over and picked a lot of vegetables for them to take back. Considering that they had never eaten them before, she also thoughtfully explained how to cook them.
Qian Yulan and Wang Chunmei probably forgot, as they kept talking about it the whole way, and even on the way back they didn't forget to emphasize it to Madam Feng again.
The courtyard fell silent immediately. Chen Tong and Chen Ning quickly gathered around Chen An, chattering excitedly, "Dad, guess how much goji berries cost per pound?"
"You can also exchange prickly ash for money, and so can dandelions!"
"Dad, guess how much these can sell for?"
They had been itching to come back, and if there hadn't been a bunch of people in the yard, they would have wanted to brag to their father as soon as they got back.
Chen An cooperated readily, and after thinking for a moment, said, "I guess goji berries are ten coins a pound! As for prickly ash and dandelion, they're at most two coins a pound, right?"
The two sisters burst into laughter, "Dad guessed wrong, keep guessing!"
Chen An pretended to think, then shook his head and said, "It's too difficult. Dad can't guess. Tell me quickly, how much does it cost?"
Chen Tong held up his finger and said, "Goji berries are thirty coins a pound!"
Chen Ning straightened up, raised her little face, and said, "Dandelions are five coins a pound, and even prickly pears can sell for three coins!"
Chen An opened his mouth wide in surprise, "It's so valuable! Then Xiao Tong and Xiao Ning will have more money than they can spend just by picking things!"
The two sisters beamed with joy and immediately said, "Dr. Xu said he'll buy any medicinal herbs, so we'll try to learn about more!"
That way, even if the business fails in the future, they can still make a good life for their parents by collecting herbs!
After the two sisters finished speaking, they took out a large book and began to study it. Although they couldn't read the words, they could tell what the medicinal herbs looked like because of the pictures.
Chen An felt embarrassed by his son's enthusiasm; even as a father, he wasn't as proactive as his child.
Cheng Yue smiled, ignoring the two children, and continued speaking to Chen An: "I want to talk to the villagers about collecting herbs."
These are all common medicinal herbs, not worth much money, so they may not care much about them, but for the villagers it is a considerable income.
They are getting richer and richer, and the gap between them and the villagers is too big, which is not good for them.
Besides, they are all naturally grown medicinal herbs, so it doesn't matter who picks them.
The villagers treated them well, and they taught everyone to identify several medicinal herbs as a way of repaying them.
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