Chapter 58 The Ginseng Grows Bald
Wang Xifeng chuckled.
"I'm not counting on it in this life, but in the next life, Sister Yuan must help me out."
After exchanging a few playful words, Yuan Hongqu, urged by Wang Xifeng, opened the account book, glanced through it briefly, and then used the key to open the box.
Inside the box was a stack of silver notes, all of them being large denomination notes of one thousand taels each.
Yuan Hongqu counted out ten sheets and solemnly handed them to Wang Xifeng.
"Take this to your Jia Lian; it's for his publicity. If he hadn't gotten the broccoli into the palace and made it a hot commodity in the capital, it would never have sold so well."
"Sister, why give it to him? There's no point in wasting it. Keep it for yourself."
When Wang Xifeng heard Yuan Hongqu's distant tone, she was somewhat angry, but Yuan Hongqu's affirmation of Jia Lian's abilities made her feel inexplicably proud.
But this money must absolutely not be accepted!
Sister Yuan has already helped them a lot, and if they still want to take her money, then the couple will really lose face.
“Feng’er, you know me,” Yuan Hongqu said seriously.
“I never owe anyone anything, especially if it can be resolved with money. I would never repay it with a favor. It is only right that Jia Lian takes this money as payment for what he did this time. If you don’t take it back, then I will deliver it to him myself.”
"Sister Yuan..."
"Feng'er, we two are good friends, but I must be completely separate from Jia Lian and have no other entanglements." Although outsiders all think that this shop was opened because of the Rongguo Mansion.
In reality, the shop has absolutely no connection with the Rongguo Mansion!
Yuan Hongqu placed the silver note in Wang Xifeng's hand.
"Take this; it's what your Second Master Lian should do."
Having said all that, Wang Xifeng had no choice but to accept the silver note, planning to discuss how to handle the situation with Jia Lian when she returned home.
Yuan Hongqu didn't count the remaining silver notes; she simply put them in the account book and then locked the box.
She carried the box back to her room, and after thinking for a moment, she decided to take advantage of the fact that no one was in the room and threw the wooden box into her spatial storage.
Although money is just an external thing, she felt she didn't really know what to do with it, so she decided to leave it for now...
When Yuan Hongqu came out, Wang Xifeng was feeling quite depressed. Seeing her, she spoke...
"It's strange, sister. Cherry tomatoes were very popular back then, and tomatoes were even more expensive! In the end, when Jia Lian did the math, he only made a little over ten thousand taels." Wang Xifeng was very puzzled.
“Those tomatoes and broccoli you send to the palace don’t earn much, but they earn the Emperor’s praise. That’s something no amount of silver can buy! Your family is someone else’s protector, so the Emperor’s words are your family’s protector,” Yuan Hongqu explained earnestly.
"How many families did Master Lian give away the remaining cherry tomatoes? If those families paid you, that would be a real slap in the face for you! Don't you even look at how many families you've been visiting these past few months? Aren't there more than you think?"
"Have you been receiving more invitations to banquets lately? Were you this busy in the first half of the year? Now you're going out to banquets every other day!"
"Your three daughters, have they also made many friends from wealthy and influential families outside...? Can money buy those kinds of connections?"
"That's true, I've received quite a few invitations lately," Wang Xifeng recalled.
“Some people’s banquets are quite interesting. Why don’t we go together next time, sister? Lin Meimei is always at home alone. Isn’t she very bored?”
"You're being silly again. Daiyu is currently observing mourning and cannot go out to attend banquets. We'll consider these things after Daiyu finishes her mourning period."
Even if Daiyu was alone at home, Yuan Hongqu wouldn't let her feel bored; they had plenty to do every day! Lin Daiyu had no time to wallow in self-pity or wallow in melancholy.
What's more, Shi Xiangyun would come over from time to time to play with Daiyu, so Daiyu didn't feel lonely at all!
"Granny, Granny," came Daiyu's clear and melodious voice from outside the door.
"The ginseng root is bald... Come quickly and take a look! Is it damaged by the cold weather?"
When Yuan Hongqu heard this, she was taken aback. Then she thought, "Maybe it's because the weather is getting colder and all the ginseng leaves have fallen that Daiyu said that."
Wang Xifeng also found it strange: ginseng has hair?
The two walked to the ginseng and found that the five ginseng plants had all become bare stems, without even a single leaf left.
"Granny, is the ginseng dead or eaten by insects? Why is it all bald now? Second Brother asked me to take care of it. I saw it this morning and it was fine. How come it's bald now? Will Second Brother be angry with me when he comes home from school?" As soon as Daiyu saw Yuan Hongqu coming over, she rushed to her side as if she had seen a savior.
Wang Xifeng was also puzzled.
"Sister Yuan, I've often heard that ginseng has several leaves, like three leaves or five leaves. The leaves are a symbol of ginseng's identity, so how could they fall off?"
Yuan Hongqu leaned closer to examine the ginseng's condition, then stood up and said,
"It's nothing, it's just that the weather is getting cooler and the leaves are falling off normally. They will grow back when the weather warms up in the spring."
"It already has three leaves, what a pity. I wonder how long it will take for it to grow three more leaves?" Wang Xifeng felt very sorry.
Yuan Hongqu chuckled, "Where are you going to find three leaves? It won't happen that quickly! This little ginseng seedling has three leaves, it's called a 'three-flower seed'."
"Isn't it Sanpiye?" Wang Xifeng asked, puzzled.
"No. It will take at least four years for the three leaves to grow! Next year, when they can grow five leaves, the five leaflets will form a compound leaf like a palm. At that time, it will be called 'five-leaf' or 'palm-sized'. Don't the five leaflets look like five fingers?"
Daiyu nodded. It does look like a small palm. The name is quite vivid.
"If it grows for another year, that is, in the third year, it will grow two compound leaves..."
“This is called ‘two slaps’!” Wang Xifeng interjected.
Lin Daiyu was skeptical. "Sister Feng, if it really is called 'Two Slaps,' it's a bit vulgar."
Yuan Hongqu laughed and scolded, "Feng'er, shut up. Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand, lest you corrupt the children."
Wang Xifeng chuckled.
"Three-year-old ginseng is commonly known as 'two-year-old ginseng'; four-year-old ginseng can grow three compound leaves, and at that time it is called 'three-leaf ginseng'!"
"Oh, so 'Three-Leaf Ginseng' isn't a three-year-old ginseng, it's a four-year-old ginseng!" Wang Xifeng exclaimed in sudden realization.
“I’ve often heard that harvesting ginseng is difficult, but what’s so difficult about it? A hundred-year-old ginseng plant has ninety-nine compound leaves, so it must be very lush and visible from afar. How could it be difficult to harvest? It must be that those people are making up lies to deceive us in order to sell ginseng at a high price!”
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