We caught twenty or thirty large grass carp, wild river fish, fresh and plump, and put them all in a wooden bucket to soak.
"These fish need to be sold quickly; dead fish don't keep fresh," Qi Yu reminded her.
Fish that have just died can still be sold for a few coins, but fish that have been dead for too long cannot be sold, since river fish are very fishy and not many people like to eat them.
"Yes, I know," Li Xiaoxiao glanced at the sky. It was still early, and there were oxcarts from the village going to town. "I'm going to the market. Are you coming?"
Qi Yu stood on the threshold, coughing incessantly. He had been exposed to a lot of cold wind earlier, and his old ailment had flared up again.
Hearing Li Xiaoxiao's question, he barely suppressed his cough and nodded. With so many fish, selling them as soon as possible could help supplement the family income.
Unexpectedly, Li Xiaoxiao had no intention of selling fish at all. She pulled out an old ginseng root from her bosom, blinked a few times, and asked, "How much do you think this is worth?"
Qi Yu had seen ginseng before. When his mother was still alive, she saw that he was in poor health and secretly bought him a ginseng root to nourish his body. That ginseng root was only half the length of a finger and cost two taels of silver. Not to mention the ginseng root in Li Xiaoxiao's hand, which was almost as thick as three fingers of a child.
"Where did you get it?"
Of course, Li Xiaoxiao couldn't say that she had just randomly dug one out of her space, and judging from Qi Yu's expression, it seemed that the one she dug out was quite valuable.
She casually said, "I just found it while wandering around in the mountains."
Qi Yu felt a little heartbroken. He had gone up the mountain so many times, yet he had never encountered ginseng. This woman had only gone with him once.
"Let's hurry up and go. I don't know if Uncle Ge's oxcart is still there." Li Xiaoxiao immediately picked up a basket and decided to use the money from the ginseng to improve her family's living conditions.
I have quite a few things to buy today...
Only Uncle Ge's family in the village has an oxcart, but now few people go to town, so the oxcart is still waiting in the same place.
"Four coins for two people." Uncle Ge lifted his eyelids and saw that it was Li Xiaoxiao and her husband. He said in a cold tone that normally it was one coin per person to ride in an oxcart in the village, but Li Xiaoxiao was an exception.
Everyone knows what kind of woman Li Xiaoxiao is.
Even before her mother died, she was arrogant and domineering, and her mouth was always foul. No one in the whole village could get along with her. Now that she has a husband who married into her family, she lets him mess with her. She's really vicious.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't care about anything else. She quickly took out four coins and pulled Qi Yu, who was standing there in a daze, into the carriage.
This woman...
She used to refuse to spend a single penny on him, letting him walk there himself. As a result, Qi Yu never even went to town once. But now that Uncle Ge wanted two coins, she didn't hesitate at all.
Qi Yu closed her eyes and leaned softly against the oxcart. If she could stay like this, that would be fine. But how could a person change so much from beginning to end?
After entering the town gate of Qingxi, there was a large restaurant next door. The restaurant's flags fluttered in the wind, and the aroma of cooked wine wafted from inside.
The streets were bustling with people selling steamed buns, candied hawthorns, sugar figurines, and various kinds of noodles.
After making several inquiries, Li Xiaoxiao finally learned the location of the town's largest clinic—Jimintang.
"What medicine do you want?" the young clerk asked without looking up as he quickly fiddled with his abacus.
"Do you buy medicine here?" Li Xiaoxiao asked with a smile, taking the ginseng out of her bosom.
“We…” The young shopkeeper, who was about to say he wouldn’t buy the medicinal herbs, was shocked when he saw the huge ginseng. He looked up at Li Xiaoxiao, and although the woman in front of him was dressed in tattered clothes, her eyes were very clear.
They were probably herbalists who gathered herbs nearby.
"Madam, please wait a moment." He abandoned his abacus and hurriedly ran to the backyard. Whether or not to accept such a large ginseng was not a decision that a mere shop assistant like him could make.
During the time he was inside, Li Xiaoxiao kept looking at the medicinal herbs displayed in the shop and was pleasantly surprised to find that there were star anise, nutmeg, fennel seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon, and Sichuan peppercorns. Making a spice packet with these spices in a certain proportion would be a wonderful way to make some braised dishes.
Thinking about the delicious food she would soon be able to eat, such as braised chicken, braised goose, braised kelp, lotus root, and peanuts, Li Xiaoxiao chuckled to herself. But when she looked up, she met Qi Yu's gaze, which looked at her like she was an idiot. Feeling a little embarrassed, she quickly stopped chuckling.
"Madam, my manager invites you in." The young waiter hurriedly came out from the backyard and quickly welcomed Li Xiaoxiao inside, afraid that this distinguished guest would leave.
Qi Yu followed behind her, thinking that this woman was so naive, he was afraid she would be fooled later.
The shopkeeper picked up the ginseng and examined it closely. His eyes gleamed. This was an old ginseng that was at least a hundred years old. Its roots were well preserved, which was quite rare. After all, if the roots of a ginseng were broken, its medicinal properties would be greatly reduced.
He stroked his mustache, remembering that the county magistrate's mother had fallen seriously ill a few days ago and was desperately seeking a century-old ginseng root! Unfortunately, he couldn't find any anywhere to buy it, but now this timely help had come to him.
"How much is the ginseng for, madam?" After pondering for a long time, he finally asked. Seeing that the madam and her husband were dressed in tattered clothes, they must be struggling financially. As long as the price was reasonable, he would not haggle and would buy it directly.
Li Xiaoxiao had no idea about prices, but Qi Yu, seeing this, said with a slight smile, "Two hundred taels of silver."
In fact, if this ginseng were sold to a wealthy family, it would cost more than a thousand taels of silver. Unfortunately, this is just a small town, and the clinic can only operate on around two hundred taels of silver.
The shopkeeper looked pained; this was going to drain his clinic dry. But he knew he had already gotten a great deal, so he bought it without hesitation.
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