The next morning, a gentle breeze caressed my face.
After having breakfast, Cheng Yue and Chen An packed the medicinal herbs and prepared to set off.
Chen Tong and Chen Ning were so engrossed in collecting medicinal herbs these past few days that they didn't even want to go to the county town. Before Cheng Yue and Chen An had left, the two sisters ran up the mountain.
"Kids should do whatever they like," Cheng Yue said, ignoring the two of them. She and Chen An picked up the village head and headed straight for Wanhetang in the county town.
It's inconvenient to move a whole cart of medicinal herbs around, so I'll sell them all first before doing anything else.
There weren't many people at Wanhetang today. As soon as Cheng Yue and the others parked the oxcart, the sharp-eyed young man from last time came up to them, his eyes widening as he looked at the cart full of medicinal herbs.
"Madam Cheng, how come you've managed to acquire so many medicinal herbs in such a short time?"
Cheng Yue smiled and said, "This was picked by the whole village, so naturally there's more than we expected."
The young shopkeeper was even more astonished upon hearing this, "People in your village all know about medicinal herbs?"
What village is this? He's been at the pharmacy for so long, how come he's never heard of it?
Before Cheng Yue could speak, Doctor Xu came out. "Yuanzhi, have you finished your work? What are you chatting about?"
Yuanzhi, seeing Doctor Xu's cold gaze, chuckled awkwardly, "Master, I just came out to greet Madam Cheng when she came over! I was just helping her carry the medicinal herbs!"
Doctor Xu gave a barely audible "hmm." This little apprentice was smart and reliable, but he was also very curious and talkative. If you didn't keep an eye on him for a while, he could dig up someone's ancestors for eighteen generations.
He had just overheard what Yuanzhi and Chengyue were saying. He didn't believe that the whole village knew how to gather herbs. If they were really that skilled, they wouldn't be an unknown little mountain village; they would probably be famous by now!
Yuanzhi breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, he reacted quickly! Otherwise, he would have had to be tested for the drug!
He trusted his master's abilities and knew he couldn't possibly harm him, but the medicine was truly bitter!
Cheng Yue greeted Doctor Xu with a smile, first introducing the village head, and then said:
"Dr. Xu, this batch of medicinal herbs includes not only goji berries, but also mugwort, anemarrhena, and motherwort. Please take a look at the quality first!"
"I want to see it! I want to see it!"
Doctor Xu was slightly taken aback. There were actually several kinds of medicinal herbs? Didn't Cheng Yue say last time that she only recognized a few common ones? Did she misunderstand the word "common"?
Moreover, he didn't tell her how to process these herbs, so we shouldn't waste such good medicinal materials!
Dr. Xu felt a pang of pain in his heart and immediately stepped forward.
"This is really good!"
The village head had been secretly observing Doctor Xu's reaction, and he thought something was going to go wrong, so his palms were sweating.
Hearing Dr. Xu's words, I finally felt relieved.
Fortunately, Dr. Xu didn't gasp for breath, or he would have choked on his own breath.
He knew Cheng Yue couldn't lie. This time, he saw that those brainless fools in the village had nowhere to cry!
Thinking about it, I realized something was wrong. He was the head of the village, how could he think of everyone like that?
The village head coughed awkwardly, trying hard to suppress the pride that welled up inside him.
Before Cheng Yue could ask, Doctor Xu immediately said, "The wolfberries are 30 coins per catty as agreed, the anemarrhena is 50 coins per catty, and the mugwort and motherwort are both 20 coins per catty. If there are no problems, we can weigh them now!"
Cheng Yue didn't know the going rate, but she knew that Dr. Xu would never take advantage of her, so she immediately agreed, "No problem!"
Doctor Xu nodded and smiled, then waved his hand, "Yuanzhi, call a few more people over and carry all the medicinal herbs inside to be weighed!"
"Alright, Master!" Yuanzhi responded and immediately called out two young apprentices to help move the medicinal herbs.
The village head swallowed hard in disbelief; if he hadn't been desperately trying to control himself, he would have almost stumbled.
Luckily it was him who came; if it had been anyone else from the village, they would have shouted out on the spot!
He thought goji berries were already the most expensive, but he never expected that anemarrhena would cost fifty coins per catty.
Chen An was also startled, but having seen a lot of money before, his reaction wasn't as strong as the village head's.
The young men were incredibly fast; they finished weighing everything in no time.
Cheng Yue and the others watched from the side and compared the data with yesterday's records. There was no discrepancy. As for the remaining odd amounts, Doctor Xu simply rounded them up. They had collected so many medicinal herbs, so a little extra wouldn't make a difference!
The young shop assistant immediately started calculating the bill: "182 catties of wolfberries, totaling 5 taels, 4 mace, and 60 wen; 120 catties of anemarrhena, totaling 6 taels."
Artemisia argyi and Leonurus japonicus weigh 134 jin and 160 jin respectively, totaling 5 liang, 8 mace and 80 wen, which is... 17 liang, 3 mace and 40 wen in total.
"Mrs. Cheng, please double-check to make sure there are no errors."
Cheng Yuezao had already calculated it, "They're all correct."
When Yuanzhi went to get the money, Doctor Xu specifically instructed him, "Change it to copper coins!"
Since the medicinal herbs belong to the entire village, there will definitely be a share of the profits when we get back, and copper coins are naturally more convenient.
Cheng Yue thought to herself, "As expected of a senior doctor at Wanhetang, not only is his medical skill superb, but he is also so good at putting himself in others' shoes!"
Because Cheng Yue and Chen An still needed to find a carpenter, they did not linger. After receiving the money, they bid farewell to Doctor Xu and the others.
Once outside Wanhetang, the village head finally dared to take a deep breath. "I've never seen so much silver before; my legs are still trembling!"
Then he quickly whispered to Chen An, "With so much money, take a few more baskets to weigh it down, so it doesn't rattle and attract too much attention when you walk on the road!"
Chen An obediently did as he was told, "Uncle Village Head, it's alright, don't worry!"
The village headman looked around cautiously before getting into the oxcart. "Alright! Don't say anything on the way. We'll talk about it when we get back to the village."
Cheng Yue joked, "Uncle Village Head, this makes us seem even more out of place."
Upon hearing this, the village head immediately sat up straight; he couldn't possibly try to cover up his misdeeds!
Cheng Yue and Chen An exchanged a smile. The old man is really interesting!
"Uncle Village Head, we still need to go to the carpenter's shop later, so let me take you to the braised food shop first. You can also visit Shaowen while you're there. We'll pick you up and take you home after we're done, okay?"
The village head nodded, "Why not! You all go about your business, I won't follow you."
Speaking of which, he really missed his eldest grandson. He could say a few words to him, and since the wedding date was almost set, he thought he might as well go and give him some instructions.
The braised food shop hadn't opened for business yet, so Cheng Yue delivered the village head over, said goodbye to Chen Lin and the others, and went straight to find Carpenter Hu.
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