After getting off the train and breathing in the fresh air, Su Tian felt refreshed.
Because they both drank the spiritual spring water, they did not feel tired at all during the three-day and three-night journey.
"Gu Bai, let's go eat first. It's already evening. Let's rest for the night after dinner and set off again tomorrow."
"Um."
When they arrived at the restaurant, Gu Bai asked Su Tian to find a seat and went to the front desk to order two or three dishes.
After he finished ordering, he sat down next to Su Tian.
"Do you have money and tickets?" Su Tian couldn't help but ask him.
"Yes, I just received my salary and receipts a few days ago."
"How much did this meal cost? I'll give it to you first. We're on a business trip this time, so everything will be accounted for on official bills."
Upon hearing this, Gu Bai quickly declined, "No, I'd like to treat you to this meal. You've always taken such good care of me."
"Oh, alright then, thank you for treating me to dinner."
"You're welcome."
After the food was served, the two quickly finished their meal and booked two rooms at a nearby guesthouse.
The next morning, the two got up early, had breakfast, and then took a bus to Qiu County in Wenzhou Mountain.
The bus departed at 8 a.m. and didn't arrive in their town until 4 p.m.
"Gu Bai, let's rent an oxcart to go into the village. There are several oxcarts parked there."
"Um."
After renting the oxcart, Su Tian led Gu Bai onto it and had the old man driving it head straight to the village where the medicinal herbs had gone wrong.
Upon arriving in the village, they found the person in charge of the medicinal herbs waiting at the village entrance.
The villagers stared at Su Tian and Gu Bai, who were both tall and beautiful, and chatted amongst themselves.
As soon as Su Tian arrived, she asked him directly, "Uncle, I didn't hear you very clearly on the phone. What did you say was wrong with the medicinal herbs?"
The old farmer hesitated for a moment, a hint of guilt in his eyes, "It's just that there was a heavy rainstorm here before, and the warehouse where we store medicinal herbs was flooded."
We rushed to salvage and dry the fish, but we only managed to recover about half, roughly 500 jin (250 kg).
Su Tian asked calmly, "What kinds of medicinal herbs were salvaged? Would it be convenient for you to take me to see them now?"
"Yes, we have them all, such as Panax notoginseng, Paris polyphylla, Amomum villosum, and Dendrobium officinale."
"Okay, let's go take a look now."
Su Tian and Gu Bai followed behind the old farmer, and the villagers also went to see what was happening.
After watching Su Tian and the others walk away for a while, one of the aunties finally couldn't help but speak up.
"That girl is really beautiful, and that young man is also good-looking."
They're all tall and fair-skinned, unlike us farm workers who are tanned dark.
“They’re from the city, so it’s normal for them to be fair-skinned, isn’t it? I’m so envious,” another auntie chimed in.
"Shouldn't we go and watch the excitement? If they don't buy these medicinal herbs, then we won't have any income."
"What's there to be afraid of? The village chief is already preparing to sell it to a second person, who is offering a slightly higher price."
"What? How come I didn't know?"
The woman looked around and quickly made a shushing gesture.
"Keep your voice down. I overheard this by accident. I'll tell you after those two leave."
When Su Tian and her group arrived at the warehouse where the medicinal herbs were stored, a faint aroma of herbs mixed with a slight musty smell wafted towards them.
Su Tian carefully examined the salvaged medicinal herbs, her brows gradually furrowing.
She discovered that although many medicinal herbs had been rescued and dried, they still showed signs of dampness, significantly reducing their quality.
"Uncle, even if I take these medicinal herbs, I won't pay the original price."
"Because if I take it back, the efficacy of the medicine will be greatly reduced."
"If you don't charge us the original price, won't we be getting half the money?" the old farmer said, his eyes darting around.
Gu Bai also sensed something was wrong and quietly leaned close to Su Tian's ear, saying, "I feel like there's something fishy going on here." Su Tian nodded.
Other villagers also began to whisper among themselves.
Just as the atmosphere became awkward, the village chief arrived.
"It's all because of the poor management of our village officials. They didn't store the medicinal herbs properly during the heavy rain, which led to them being flooded."
"Or you can take these back; a slightly lower price is fine."
Seeing the village chief's eyes gleaming, Su Tian said, "I will only buy at half the original price. Whether you sell or not is up to you."
After considering it for a moment, the village chief nodded and agreed.
"Okay, there's something else I'd like to discuss with you. There's a boss who's come to our village to buy medicinal herbs."
The price was a little higher than what you offered, so we plan to sell to him from now on.
Su Tian calmly replied, "Okay, I understand. Gu Bai, take the receipt out of my bag and calculate how much it is?"
Give them another receipt and give them the money directly.
"good."
Gu Bai quickly calculated the price, wrote down the receipt, and handed the money and receipt to the village chief.
"Now that the money and goods are settled, we'll take the medicinal herbs with us."
"Hehe, of course. Yao Da, Yao Er, you two help this female boss move the medicinal herbs."
"Yes, village chief."
Gu Bai and two young men from the village loaded all the medicinal herbs onto the oxcart, and they finished loading them in no time.
"Village Chief, we'll be going now," Su Tian said, looking at him.
"Alright, take care."
After Su Tian and Gu Bai got on the oxcart, it slowly drove out of the village.
Did they deliberately spoil the medicinal herbs?
Suddenly, Gu Bai broke the silence.
"Yes, it seems so. This way, it will be easier for them to cooperate with the next company and get rid of Su's Pharmaceutical Factory."
"Then why are we still buying their medicinal herbs?"
"I've looked at them carefully. A small portion isn't of very good quality, but most are good. It's worth buying."
We'll rest in town for the night, and tomorrow we'll visit other villages and work with them again.
Actually, they could have just said they wouldn't supply us anymore, and that it was fine to stop cooperating.
Why resort to such a method? It's ruining perfectly good medicinal herbs.
Just then, the old man driving the cart suddenly spoke up, "Young lady, are you looking for a village that grows medicinal herbs?"
Su Tian's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes, sir, do you have any good recommendations?"
"Yes, there's a village next door that also grows medicinal herbs, and the varieties are similar to those in the village we just met."
The only problem is that the quantity is a bit small, and it's inconvenient to go to town.
So nobody goes there to collect them; they all take them out of town and sell them to the herbal medicine shops themselves.
Su Tian thought for a moment, "Uncle, could you take us to town later?"
"Wait for us at the usual spot tomorrow morning, and we'll go take you there."
"Okay, we've arrived in town. What are you going to do with these medicinal herbs in the car?"
"Move these to the guesthouse first, and we'll take them back by train tomorrow. Thank you, sir, here's the fare."
It was already 7:30 pm, and it was dark.
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