Chapter 42: The Country Girl Goes to the City

She observed the two types of herbs carefully, confirming that they were genuine and well taken care of.

Smiling, she said, “The quality is good, I can buy it at the market price of 2.22 per pound, but since you’ve dried and dehydrated it, I’ll just offer you 3.0. Little girl, what do you think?”

In fact, after drying, the weight had decreased significantly, and the price of 3.0 was just a little more than a dime compared to the cabbage at the market.

Collecting herbs in the mountains was exhausting work, requiring identification, picking, sun-drying, and processing, which only cost a few cents, and it was much lower than Xia Li had expected.

However, since it was her first time here, the other party didn’t see her as just a country girl and didn’t intentionally try to haggle or pressure her. She smiled and thanked them.

In the end, the two types of herbs sold for less than five dollars.

After receiving the money, Xia Li nodded to the other person and casually asked, “How much do you sell wild goji berries for? It’s rare for me to come to the city, and my relatives want me to bring some back.”

“How many do you want? Regular goji berries are 1.3, the wild ones are 1.6.”

Xia Li thought for a moment, showing an embarrassed expression on her face.

The salesperson understood, smiled gently, knowing that the girl found it expensive.

Xia Li indeed didn’t mention buying goji berries again, and only spent a few cents to buy some oil paper for packaging the herbs before leaving.

The town was indeed much busier and livelier than the small village.

Not far down the street, she could see the largest factory with the words “Hualiang Glass Factory” written in big letters.

Xia Li took a distant glance, planning to try her luck.

The factory’s staff dormitory area was right next to the glass factory, and there was an old man at the iron gate, leisurely coming in and out with a glass cup.

Xia Li didn’t go in; she took down her basket and sat half on the edge of the shaded road, quietly observing the people coming and going.

A couple dressed in factory uniforms hurried past her, carrying large and small items.

As they entered through the big iron gate, the two murmured, “The director’s son’s kidney disease won’t be contagious, right? We’re just going to sit for a bit; it should be fine…”

After sitting for a while, the old man finally noticed her.

Looking at the young girl, he walked over and asked, “Hey, girl, where are you from? What are you doing sitting here?”

Xia Li smiled shyly, her cheeks showing two shallow dimples: “Sir, my family sent me to the city to bring some things to my relatives. I’m just waiting here; don’t worry, I won’t be a bother.”

The old man didn’t intend to chase her away and curiously took a look into her bamboo basket. “Oh, good stuff here.”

“Hey, these are wild goji berries that I grew myself. My relative was diagnosed with kidney disease a while ago, and my family thought it would be nice to send something to help.”

As she spoke, Xia Li took out a small handful of goji berries and offered them to the old man to try.

He put them in his mouth, squinting as he chewed slowly. “This taste is good, quite sweet.”

While chewing, he walked away slowly.

Not far off, a young man came along, also wearing a gray uniform from the glass factory.

He was carrying two high-end gift bags, looking a bit hesitant and nervous, clearly there to deliver gifts.

He first approached the old man at the gate and exchanged a few words, then hesitated a bit, glancing at the dormitory entrance, seemingly unable to muster the courage to go in.

Curiously, the girl’s voice suddenly called out from behind him:

“Today, a lot of people like you came by carrying things.”

The man turned around and saw a young girl sitting on the edge of the road with her knees hugged to her chest, looking fair and delicate, with a simple and curious expression.

He thought for a moment and quickly approached to inquire, “Little girl, what did you say? You saw a lot of people like me coming in with things?”

“Yeah, they brought things in and quickly took them out. What are you doing? Are you here to visit relatives like me?”

The young man chuckled awkwardly, wondering how he could explain to a stranger that he was visiting the sick son of a leader and bringing gifts along.

But this was troublesome; not only had he arrived late, but it also seemed that the leader really wasn’t accepting gifts.

That was his biggest worry, but since he needed something from others, he couldn’t just show up empty-handed, right?

Seeing Xia Li’s simple and well-behaved appearance, he noticed her basket full of bright red goji berries.

He had also heard her conversation with the gatekeeper…

Wait, the girl said her relative had kidney disease? Didn’t the director’s son have the same illness?