Chapter 29 Dragon and Phoenix Jade Pendant Lin Qing'an and A Bao said in unison...
Lin Qingan and A Bao called out "Uncle Hu" in unison, echoing Chen Gengnian's greeting.
Uncle Hu smiled and nodded, saying to Chen Gengnian, "Good, good, it hasn't been long since I last saw you and you've already gotten married. But your husband is very good, very good!"
He suddenly changed the subject and asked, "But I seem to recall you saying that it's just you and your mother in your family. How come you have an extra younger brother? Is he your husband's younger brother?"
Chen Gengnian shook his head, "Yes and no. His name is Abao. He was sold when he was a child. My husband couldn't bear to see him suffer, so he brought him back to live with us."
Uncle Hu turned his gaze to Lin Qing'an again, his expression showing admiration. He then looked A Bao up and down and chuckled as he teased Chen Gengnian, "Your little brother looks quite like you."
"Yeah?"
Chen Gengnian and Lin Qingan looked at A Bao at the same time, and A Bao also looked up at them. After some sketching, they did think it looked quite similar.
No wonder Lin Qing'an always felt that this little A Bao looked familiar.
After saying this with a smile, Uncle Hu walked towards the oxcart, patting Chen Gengnian on the shoulder and praising him as he passed by.
"The boss made the right choice; you really are a great guy!"
Upon seeing the wild boar and deer in the oxcart, their eyes lit up. "Wow, this is the first batch of wild game this year!"
Uncle Hu reached out and poked the wild boar in the oxcart, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad, you've fattened it up quite a bit over the winter."
After saying that, he instructed the person next to him: "Go and hang up the wild game sign, and then call someone over to carry it inside."
The man turned and went into the house after receiving the order. Uncle Hu then took out a money bag from his pocket, took out twenty-five taels of silver and handed it to Chen Gengnian. "Normally, a wild boar costs ten taels, but because it's early in the season, I'll give you seventeen taels today. Wild deer costs thirteen taels, so I'll give you fifteen taels today. That's a total of thirty-two taels. It's the new year, so let's have some change. Is that alright?"
Chen Gengnian accepted the silver without objection to the price and said to Uncle Hu, "Thank you, Uncle Hu."
Uncle Hu said, "Take your husband and younger brother inside for lunch before you leave!"
Chen Gengnian shook his head, "I declined Uncle Hu's kind offer."
"No need, we have some things to take care of."
Lin Qingan suddenly asked, "Uncle Hu, does your restaurant serve wild vegetables?"
Uncle Hu looked at Lin Qing'an and said, "Yes, young master, would you like to eat wild vegetables?"
Upon hearing that there was such a thing, Lin Qing'an took a step forward from Chen Gengnian, positioning himself completely face-to-face with Uncle Hu.
He bowed respectfully and asked, "Do you serve toon sprouts in this shop?"
Upon hearing Lin Qing'an's words, Chen Gengnian instantly understood his intention and waited quietly for him to speak.
Unexpectedly, Uncle Hu shook his head and then said with a faint smile, "Young man, you don't know, the taste of that toon is not something that ordinary people can eat, so after our shop promoted it for a while, it was boycotted and taken off the shelves."
"May I ask how you made this dish?" Lin Qing'an asked again.
Uncle Hu said, "Stir-fry."
After waiting a while and seeing that Uncle Hu didn't seem inclined to speak again, Lin Qing'an asked, "Is that all?"
Uncle Hu nodded.
Lin Qing'an smiled and said confidently to Uncle Hu, "Uncle Hu, if I can make this dish even tastier, would you be willing to try it before putting it back on the shelves?"
"This..." Uncle Hu hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Chen Gengnian, who bowed to him and said, "Uncle Hu, please discuss this with your employer. My husband is indeed quite skilled. I've tasted it, and it's delicious."
"Hehehe..." Uncle Hu chuckled and stroked his beard, readily agreeing.
"Alright! Since the young man says it's good, it must be good too. It's not the season yet, so remember to bring it when the season comes. If it's good, I definitely won't treat you badly."
"good!"
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian agreed in unison.
Uncle Hu invited them to the shop for breakfast again, but Chen Gengnian and Lin Qingan refused once more.
Uncle Hu didn't insist. After the people finished unloading the wild game from the car, someone took some things out.
Hu Bo took it and handed it to Chen Gengnian.
"This is a gift from the master to congratulate you two on your marriage. I hope you will accept it without finding it offensive."
Chen Gengnian and Lin Qingan looked completely bewildered.
Chen Gengnian waved his hand, "No need, Uncle Hu. Please thank the employer for me and my husband. He has always been very kind to us, so we cannot accept this gift."
Lin Qingan nodded in agreement, but Uncle Hu remained stubborn, his hand still in mid-air with a smile on his face.
After declining for a while, Chen Gengnian finally had no choice but to accept the wooden box.
Chen Gengnian opened it, and inside was a pair of mutton-fat jade pendants, with dragon and phoenix patterns.
Although the two did not understand, they could sense that the gift was too valuable. Just as they were about to ask to return it, Uncle Hu's voice rang out again.
"It's not worth much. It's a fake. Once the owner gives something away, they won't take it back. If you two don't want it, you can just throw it away."
After saying his piece, Uncle Hu didn't wait for the two to react. He simply said goodbye and went inside.
Only after the back door closed did Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian dazedly put the jade pendant into their treasure bag.
Lin Qingan only spoke up to ask Chen Gengnian after driving the oxcart quite a distance.
"Brother Nian, have you known Uncle Hu for many years?"
"Hmm?" Chen Gengnian thought for a moment before saying, "It's been five or six years! He's a good person, and not only him, the owner of Jinyun Hotel is also a good person."
"Oh, that's good." Lin Qing'an thought for a moment but ultimately didn't say what was on his mind.
He always felt that Uncle Hu's way of looking at people was a bit strange, especially when he looked at A Bao and Chen Gengnian, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.
But then again, being able to be the general manager of a restaurant does require some skill; perhaps it's just an occupational hazard.
Having figured it out, Lin Qing'an stopped worrying about it. After all, he wouldn't see these people often except for business dealings.
The three of them went to a street where vendors sold all sorts of miscellaneous goods. They found a slightly spacious spot and took out Lin Jing's herbs and the Dendrobium officinale that Lin Qing'an had found to sell.
This grocery street is bustling with people at the early morning market.
Almost as soon as the herbs were set up, someone came to ask the price. Lin Jing's herbs were relatively common, and the price she offered was fair, so she sold them all to the first customer for two hundred coins.
Lin Qing'an showed the buyer his dendrobium, but the man shook his head and said, "Young man, it's not that I don't want to buy, it's just that your herbs are too precious, and my small business can't afford them."
Knowing that this thing was expensive served as a reminder to Lin Qing'an.
On a sudden inspiration, he pulled out two stems and smiled at the buyer, saying, "Sir, look, these are genuine wild dendrobiums, not cultivated, and they're of such high quality. They have extremely high value for both medicinal and health purposes..."
Lin Qing'an paused for half a second, then whispered to the buyer, "I'll sell it to you for one hundred taels of silver per catty, and you can resell it for double the price..."
"How much? One hundred taels of silver?"
Before Lin Qing'an could finish his terrible idea, the old man suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "Jihetang only charges two hundred for their five-year-old Dendrobium ground into powder. Yours may be of good quality, but it's still not worth one hundred taels of silver. Why don't you just rob us!"
Having achieved his goal, Lin Qing'an hurriedly began to explain before a crowd could gather around.
"I was just joking, old man. Please don't be angry. I was just kidding."
The old man, however, was ungrateful and picked up the herbs he had bought, angrily confronting Lin Qing'an.
"A joke? Are we that close?"
After saying that, he didn't forget to kick the bundle of dendrobium.
Chen Gengnian and A Bao were both furious. They stood up and were about to drag the man back when Lin Qingan grabbed him and leaned close to Chen Gengnian's ear, whispering something to him.
Chen Gengnian then realized what was happening, quickly packed up his stall, and led the oxcart away.
At the entrance of Jihetang, Abao was assigned to guard the oxcart, while Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian took a handful of dendrobium and went inside.
Jihetang is the largest pharmacy in town. It has a wide variety of medicines and they are reasonably priced, so there are always many people coming and going to get medicine.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian went in intending to ask someone, but everyone was too busy, so they joined the queue with the people getting their medicine. After queuing for a long time, it was finally their turn.
Lin Qing'an sat down, and the doctor who was taking his pulse glanced at him, then asked with a smile, "Young man, what brings you here? Is it a pregnancy test or...?"
"Huh?" Lin Qing'an was so startled that the chair slammed against her buttocks with a loud thud, and the people queuing behind her all looked over.
Chen Gengnian, standing behind him, also covered his mouth and coughed awkwardly.
Seeing the two of them like this, the doctor looked knowing and urged with a smile, "Young man, put your hands up here! Let me take them first, there's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Um, we're not going to watch... no..." Lin Qing'an was so nervous that he couldn't even speak properly.
Just then, the doctor stared at Lin Qing'an's forehead with a worried expression and said, "However, the young man's pregnancy mark is too faint, so it may be difficult for him to have children!"
Lin Qing'an paused, but didn't have time to think further.
"Oh dear!" To avoid any misunderstandings, Lin Qing'an quickly took out the medicinal herbs from his pocket. "Doctor, we're not here to see a doctor, we're here to sell medicinal herbs."
"Hey, do you think your shop will accept these medicinal herbs or not?"
The doctor grinned from ear to ear when he saw the dendrobium in Lin Qing'an's hand. He took it, examined it, and said "take it" three times in a row.
"Collect, collect, collect!" he shouted to the shop assistant behind him. "Someone come quickly and take this young man to the backyard to see the manager."
And so, Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian were both led into the backyard.
The two had just sat down when someone brought them tea. Before they could even drink the tea, an overweight man walked over.
"You two must be here to sell dendrobium, right?" The man sitting opposite Lin Qing'an and the other introduced himself, "I am the owner of this pharmacy, my surname is He."
"Greetings, Manager He!"
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian both bowed.
Without saying much, Lin Qing'an placed the dendrobium on the stone table. Manager He took a look at it and asked with great satisfaction, "How much are you two asking for?"
Lin Qing'an held up one finger and said, "One hundred taels."
Manager He didn't reply immediately, but instead turned his gaze to Chen Gengnian beside him. Chen Gengnian immediately spoke up after receiving the message: "Manager He, everything in my household is decided by my husband. Whatever amount he sets goes."
"Hahaha..." Manager He then looked at Lin Qing'an again and sincerely praised, "Young man, you are very lucky. It seems that your man truly loves you."
Lin Qing'an smiled and didn't rush to ask any more questions. Instead, he picked up his tea and slowly sipped it.
Ah Meng had already told him about his medicine; it was top-quality wild Dendrobium. Judging from the shopkeeper's expression, if it weren't for this small place, Lin Qing'an would have asked for far more than a hundred taels.
Manager He then spoke again, "The price isn't too high, but I don't know how much you have on hand. If you have a lot, then we can do long-term business."
"We got this by chance while hunting, and this is all we have for now, but..."
As Lin Qing'an spoke, he immediately pretended to rummage in his pocket, then took out the two century-old wild ginseng roots and placed them on the table.
Shopkeeper He's eyes, which had been smiling, suddenly lit up as he gently touched the roots with his fingers, clearly enjoying them.
"This ginseng is wonderful! Excellent!"
Overjoyed, Manager He said to Lin Qing'an without even looking up, "Young man, bring out any other precious medicinal herbs you have. I'll buy them all for you today."
Lin Qing'an, however, did not do as instructed, keeping his guard up.
He slowly asked, "I wonder what price Manager He can offer?"
Manager He raised his head and said directly, "How about two hundred and sixty taels?"
Ah Meng said in his treasure bag: Almost.
Lin Qingan, having made up his mind, immediately approved the deal: "Deal!"
Shopkeeper He was still waiting for Lin Qing'an to bring out some more precious medicinal herbs, but after waiting for a while without any action, he asked again, "Young man, do you have anything else?"
"No more for now," Lin Qingan said.
Shopkeeper He was slightly disappointed and said, "Alright then, go and bring in the dendrobium, and we'll do the math."
As Lin Qing'an left, he put the ginseng back into his pocket. When he went out to get the dendrobium, Lin Qing'an asked Chen Gengnian, "Brother Nian, aren't you wondering why I didn't take out all the medicinal herbs?"
Chen Gengnian knew how many valuable medicinal herbs Lin Qingan had found on the mountain that day, which is why Lin Qingan asked that question.
Chen Gengnian laughed and said, "Hehe... You may not be very good at business, but you're not stupid, okay?"
The two exchanged a glance, smiled knowingly, and understood each other.
If all the medicinal herbs were brought out, it might attract envy. Not only would it put us in danger, but it might also attract more people to venture into the deep mountains. They couldn't control the deep mountains, but they couldn't disrupt the village's order.
Lin Qingan felt that living with someone who understood him was really great. A single glance or a single word could make the other person resonate with him, making life more and more interesting.
Lin Qing'an asked A Meng to come out and guard the oxcart with A Bao, after all, it's always good to be wary of others.
When all the dendrobiums were brought in, Manager He had already prepared the silver and was waiting there.
The dendrobium weighed nearly two catties, or 185 taels, and with the ginseng, the total came to 445 taels.
Because of the large amount, the shopkeeper sent someone to the bank to collect the money, while Lin Qing'an and the others waited on the spot.
Lin Qingan handed the money to Chen Gengnian, who counted it and nodded to Lin Qingan.
Just then, Manager He handed some fruit and pastries to Lin Qing'an, saying politely, "If you two find any good medicinal herbs in the future, please give them to me first. I will definitely not let you suffer any losses."
Lin Qingan nodded slightly and said ambiguously, "Then, I hope to become a long-term partner with Manager He."
Seeing Lin Qing'an's shrewd appearance, Manager He's smile widened.
With the payment settled, Manager He wanted to invite them to stay for dinner, but Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian both declined.
After some polite refusals, he still took the fruit and pastries that Manager He had given him and left.
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