Chapter 5: Selling the Ginseng

After discussing and agreeing on the plan, Wang Jinhe carefully wrapped up the ginseng and prepared to sell it the next day.

The following morning, after cooking breakfast and leaving Little Bao with Grandma Wang, Wang Jinhe went to the village entrance to catch a ride on the ox cart to the town.

After the discussion, Wang Jinhe carefully wrapped the ginseng and prepared to sell it the next day.

The next morning, after Wang Jinhe cooked and ate breakfast, she left Xiao Bao with Grandma Wang and headed to the village entrance to take the ox carriage to the town.

Xie family Village was a half-hour journey from the town, and some people on the ox carriage were clearly unhappy when Wang Jinhe boarded.

“Uncle Qi, why do you pick up anyone?” A woman looked at Wang Jinhe with disdain.

Uncle Qi frowned and gave the speaker a glance, “They paid to sit too. Why can’t they ride?”

Wang Jinhe looked at the elderly driver in surprise, he didn’t seem to be afraid of offending anyone.

Wang Jinhe had experienced such things before. In the eyes of these women, getting pregnant before marriage and giving birth to a child was considered to be an immoral behavior.

The unmarried girls in the village didn’t want to associate with her, and only one or two families had a good relationship with Wang Jinhe’s family.

But her family didn’t care about this at all. After all, they were not originally from Xie family Village. They were assigned to settle here by the government. Even if the people of Xie family Village were dissatisfied, they couldn’t say anything and could only exclude them privately.

“Some people just lack self-awareness. They know they are shameful, but they still go out and tarnish the reputation of our village. They should just stay at home and not come out to see people,” the woman said sarcastically to Wang Jinhe, as she dared not speak directly to Uncle Qi.

Wang Jinhe didn’t even bother to look at her. Since the woman didn’t name anyone specifically, why should she bother with her? She wasn’t foolish enough to willingly subject herself to criticism.

Seeing that Wang Jinhe completely ignored her, the woman was furious and her face turned pale. But since she couldn’t do anything about Wang Jinhe, she could only mutter, “Shameless.”

Wang Jinhe closed her eyes to calm herself and started to think about the matter regarding her fingers’ spiritual spring.

Her spiritual spring water could promote plant growth and improve the taste of the plants. For example, the cabbage she made before had a crisp and delicious taste, with a hint of sweetness, making it very flavorful.

At present, she hadn’t found a direct way to make money, so she was wondering if she could sell vegetables by growing them herself. Alternatively, if she could get her hands on some watermelon seeds, she could plant watermelons.

There were very few fruits in this area, so if they could grow watermelons, it would definitely be a big source of income for them.

However, the people in the Xie family village would probably not let it go so easily. After all, everyone wants good things, especially if it involves making money.

Forget about it, don’t think too much. The only thing she needs to do now is to earn money as soon as possible. As for how the people in Xie family village will plant watermelons later, that’s their own business.

After figuring it out, Wang Jinhe no longer thought about these things. When the ox cart arrived in town, she paid and jumped off the cart without even looking at those people.

In town, Wang Jinhe didn’t rush to sell ginseng at the pharmacy. Instead, she wandered around the streets, observing the current standard of living.

After wandering around for a while, Wang Jinhe had a good idea of how much things were priced at this time.

After wandering around, Wang Jinhe had a good idea of the prices at this time. A pound of polished rice cost about fifteen wen, while rough rice cost seven wen, and broken rice was nine wen. The price of meat ranged from twenty to fifteen wen per pound. An adult man could earn around fifty to sixty wen a day for labor, which amounted to one or two silver coins per year. As a family of seven, like hers, they would need around two taels of silver for their expenses, and they had to use it carefully.

After learning about the prices and some information from this era, Wang Jinhe inquired about the medical clinics in town, and finally decided to check out the “Ji Shi Tang” clinic.

As she arrived at the entrance, she was stopped by a pharmacy boy, who asked her, “What are you here for?”

The price of a jin of refined rice was about 15 wen, while coarse rice was 7 wen and broken rice was 9 wen. As for meat, one jin cost 20, 16, or 15 wen depending on the type. An adult man could earn around 50-60 wen a day, which added up to about 1000 wen, or one or two silver coins a year. For a family of seven like hers, expenses would be around two silver coins a year, and they had to be frugal with their spending.

After understanding the prices and some information about the era, Wang Jinhe inquired about the local medicine shops and finally decided to check out Ji Shi Tang, despite feeling reluctant.

At the entrance, she was stopped by an apprentice who asked, “What are you here for?”

“To a medicine shop, either for treatment or to sell medicine. Otherwise, am I here to eat?” Was this apprentice a bit slow in the head? How could he ask such a stupid question?

“Go away, we don’t want any of those random herbs sold here. You should go to Renhe Hall, they cater to people of your status,” the apprentice said dismissively.

Wang Jinhe felt unhappy listening to the apprentice’s words.

After giving the medicine boy a deep look, Wang Jinhe turned and left, thinking that with a medicine boy like him, this medicine shop was doomed.

When she arrived at Renhe Hall, a medicine boy approached her as soon as she reached the door. “Miss, do you need anything?”

“I’m here to sell ginseng, do you need any?” Wang Jinhe whispered, lowering her voice.

Upon hearing that the visitor was there to sell ginseng, the medicine boy quickly invited the person inside, saying “Please come in, miss. Please have a seat while I go fetch my master. Only he can make decisions regarding this kind of medicinal herb.”

“Okay.” Wang Jinhe nodded, feeling very fond about this pharmacy.

After a short while, the medicine boy returned with a middle-aged man and said, “Master, this is the young lady who wants to sell ginseng.”

The man nodded and said, “You can leave now.”

“Yes, master.”

“Miss, what’s the quality and age of your ginseng?” The man looked at Wang Jinhe and asked eagerly.

If it was a high-aged ginseng, that would be great.

The man carefully examined the ginseng and was pleasantly surprised by its quality and age.

“This ginseng is already 150 years old, and when it was dug up, the roots were intact and untouched. I can offer you this amount for it,” said the man, holding out a hand.

“Fifty taels?” asked Wang Jinhe.

The man was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head. “No, five hundred taels. A 150-year-old ginseng is worth about 470 taels, but I’ll give you 500 taels because the quality of your ginseng is truly exceptional.” The man said joyfully, feeling relieved that he made a fair deal.

“Sure, could you help me exchange some broken silver? I need to go buy something,” Wang Jinhe asked the man. ^[1]“Broken silver” refers to silver that has been divided into smaller denominations, such as coins or pieces of silver, rather than in a single, whole bar. In the context of the … Continue reading

“Of course, I can help you with that. My name is Huang Qi, and if you happen to find any other good items to sell in the future, please consider me first. I guarantee a fair price,” Huang Qi said to Wang Jinhe.

Wang Jinhe naturally agreed, saying, “Sure, if I’m lucky enough to find something else to sell, I’ll definitely sell it to you, Uncle Huang.”

Although she had the Lingquan water to cultivate ginseng, Wang Jinhe was aware that she couldn’t be too greedy and make too much money too quickly, as it could lead to suspicion from others.

If she ever wanted to sell ginseng in the future, she would definitely consider Huang Qi first. He did not take advantage of her lack of knowledge on the value and offered her a very fair price, which she appreciated.

“Alright.” Huang Qi happily went to get the silver notes and exchanged them for several ten-tael silver notes for her.

“I want to buy some medicinal herbs, Uncle Huang.” She needed some seasoning for her cooking, so her dishes would taste better.

“Just ask the apprentice to get them for you,” Huang Qi suggested, telling Wang Jinhe to find the young apprentice.