Watching from the side, He Jiuniang couldn't help but sigh that it was no wonder she could become husband and wife with Li Shi and raise such a son; the whole family was cut from the same cloth.
Old Lu hadn't expected him to say that, and he immediately glared and bristled: "How could something happen in a perfectly good prison cell? As long as your Da Niu obeys the rules, he'll be out in a month! Besides, that's the county government prison, not a place where we country folk have any say."
Old Lu didn't want to talk to him anymore and pulled Lei Zi away.
Qian Tieshu grabbed his hand, his gaze turning fierce: "I don't care! You won't let you leave until you rescue my son today!"
Hearing the noise, Madam Sun came out of the thatched hut, cursing and swearing as she yanked Qian Tieshu's hand away. She said fiercely, "Your wife and son have already been beaten, and you still want to come to my house and act like a scoundrel? Come on, I'll take you to the county government office to get a beating too!"
As he spoke, he even waved to the thatched shed, signaling his daughters-in-law and daughters to come out. Since the men in the family were not around, the women could also step in!
Yu soon came out with several of her sisters-in-law, each carrying a bundle of rope, clearly not joking.
Qian Tieshu had never seen anything like this before. His eyes widened in fright, and he was about to say something when the noose was almost around his neck. He retreated in terror, looking at the group of women with a panicked expression, and said in a trembling voice, "The most, the most vicious hearts are those of women! You, you just wait!"
After saying that, he slunk away. Sun spat at his retreating figure and said, "Let's see if you dare to act like a rogue again! You shameless scoundrel!"
He Jiuniang couldn't help but click her tongue. She had been a little worried at first, but now it seemed that she had underestimated Sun's fighting power.
He gave Sun a thumbs-up, then mounted his horse and headed towards the county town.
When I came the day before yesterday, I took a quick look around. There were a total of six or seven clinics and pharmacies, three of which were relatively large and could both provide medical consultations and sell medicine. He Jiu Niang chose to go to these three.
"Madam, are you here for medicine or a doctor's consultation?"
He Jiuniang went to the most prestigious clinic in the city, called Yuyuantang. It had five doctors on duty and three or four waiters. The business was very good and there were many patients.
Fortunately, the young waiter was very enthusiastic and rushed to greet He Jiu Niang when he came in.
"I've gathered some herbs from the mountain. I wonder if you buy medicinal herbs here?"
Seeing his good attitude, He Jiuniang's voice unconsciously softened.
With medicinal herbs in short supply lately, upon hearing that someone had come to sell them, his smile deepened: "Yes, yes, just a moment, I'll go and call the shopkeeper out right away!"
After saying that, she ran inside like a gust of wind. He Jiuniang looked around and found that most of the people who came for treatment were women and children in tattered clothes. Most of them were refugees who had just arrived. They were all sallow and thin, with dry lips, and looked very miserable. They were only able to come for treatment because they had received resettlement allowances.
Fortunately, the doctors and waiters in the clinic were all kind people. They didn't give them a hard time because of their poor attire, and even poured tea for the patients waiting in line.
Indeed, no matter the era, a good attitude is the best way to attract customers.
The shopkeeper came out quickly. He Jiu Niang looked over and saw a short but exceptionally round middle-aged man with a small mustache, who looked quite comical.
"My lady, this is our manager, Mr. Ren."
The young waiter gave a very thoughtful introduction, and He Jiuniang nodded and greeted him, "Manager Ren."
Manager Ren smiled and acted like a young shop assistant: "May I ask what kind of medicine this lady wants to buy?"
He Jiuniang put down her basket and showed him the licorice and astragalus inside.
Upon seeing these two medicinal herbs, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up noticeably. These were herbs he had been using recently, and his stock was running low.
He picked them up and looked at them. Although they were all unprocessed, they were clearly of very good quality.
"How much does my wife have in total?"
"That's all for now, but if the shopkeeper can offer a good price, the quantity is negotiable."
He Jiuniang glanced at the patients around her and said, "It's not just these few herbs; we also have some commonly used herbs for colds caused by wind-cold or wind-heat."
The shopkeeper was secretly alarmed to see that she could understand the patient's general condition with just a glance; it seemed she was a medical expert.
These days, there aren't many people who understand medicine, and women who understand medicine are even rarer.
"Does my wife know medicine?"
He looked at He Jiuniang with great enthusiasm, but He Jiuniang shook her head: "I don't know, I only know a few medicinal herbs."
The shopkeeper was quite disappointed, but still said, "Our Yuyuan Hall has always bought medicinal herbs. As long as you have the goods, you can send them over. Different types of herbs have different prices, and the prices also differ depending on whether they are processed or not. The licorice and astragalus you have now are unprocessed, so the price is slightly lower. According to the market price, licorice is 18 wen per catty and astragalus is 23 wen per catty."
He Jiuniang then asked, "What if it has been processed?"
“If it has been processed, it will cost 15 coins more than any kind of medicinal material, unless it is not properly processed, in which case the price will be slightly lower.”
It's so much more expensive?
He Jiuniang was somewhat surprised; in that case, it would only be worthwhile to sell the processed products.
Moreover, processing medicinal herbs is not as difficult as one might imagine; while others may not know how, she knows it perfectly well.
However, we've just started building our house, and there's no place to process medicinal herbs yet.
She suddenly felt a pang of heartache, realizing she had missed out on a lot of money.
"Okay, I'll sell these for now and come back when I have more."
He Jiuniang agreed, and the shopkeeper asked the young waiter to get a scale to weigh the licorice. There were four and a half catties of licorice and four catties of astragalus. He Jiuniang received 173 coins.
Having received a lot of money recently, He Jiuniang only received less than two hundred coins this time. She pouted, "This little bit of money can't support a whole family. We have to work hard to earn more money."
Just as she was about to leave with her empty basket on her back, the shopkeeper called her back again: "If you agree to sell the medicinal herbs to only my shop, I can give you an extra two coins for each herb!"
As expected of a businessman, by monopolizing the medicinal herbs at He Jiuniang's place, he can guarantee the supply of medicinal herbs in his own shop and thus be able to see more patients.
He Jiuniang did not agree immediately, but said, "I understand the shopkeeper's kindness, but I cannot make decisions about family matters. I need to ask my family. I will give you an answer in a few days."
The shopkeeper readily agreed and had his assistant see her out.
He Jiuniang went to several other clinics to inquire about prices. These clinics were also crowded, but they were still inferior to Yuyuantang. The prices were not much higher.
That's true. Their businesses aren't as good as Yuyuantang's, so how could they afford to pay a higher price?
Another thing that annoyed He Jiuniang was that another well-run medical clinic was right next to Yuyuantang. When they saw that she had come out of Yuyuantang, they didn't even give her a friendly look and made sarcastic remarks.
He Jiuniang refused to be insulted and turned to leave.
Next time we need more medicinal herbs, we'll definitely send them to Yuyuantang again. It's two coins more expensive than the market price, so who wouldn't be happy?
She's not the kind of person who'd throw herself at someone else!
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