Chapter 18

The young apprentice didn’t expect a scholarly gentleman in long robes to come selling medicinal herbs and was taken aback.

Usually, herb gatherers wore short, simple clothing and straw shoes.

The shopkeeper, seeing his assistant speechless, smiled and approached politely, asking, “What kind of medicinal herbs do you have? We already have enough common herbs for this year, so we might not be able to purchase more.”

Feeling slightly relieved, Fan Jin revealed that he didn’t bring common herbs.

He took off his backpack, brushed away the grass covering the top layer of the bamboo basket, revealing the blackish lumps inside.

“Wonderful, it’s He Shou Wu!” the shopkeeper exclaimed, his smile growing wider. He squatted down in front of the basket, picked up a piece of He Shou Wu, and examined it closely. After carefully placing it aside, he picked up another piece from the basket, examining each one until he had seen them all. Then he stood up, cupped his hands towards Fan Jin, and said, “Since you brought these to Renjitang, you must trust our pharmacy. We always deal fairly and honestly, paying in full and never cheating on weight or price. You can rest assured.”

Fan Jin had chosen Renjitang because of its good reputation for fairness, as spread by word of mouth in his village. He respectfully cupped his hands and said, “Thank you, shopkeeper. Naturally, I trust you.”

The shopkeeper, seeing Fan Jin’s politeness, pointed to the two piles of He Shou Wu on the ground and said cheerfully, “I’ve already sorted them by quality. The larger ones, with longer growth periods and better quality, we’ll offer 450 wen per jin; the smaller ones, with shorter growth periods and less potency, can only fetch 210 wen per jin. If you’re worried about the price, you can always check with other shops before deciding.”

Fan Jin, having never sold anything before and not being good at bargaining, felt reassured hearing that the prices were close to what was quoted in his village. Seeing the shopkeeper’s sincere attitude, he said warmly, “I trust you, shopkeeper, so I won’t ask elsewhere.”

The shopkeeper, happy to receive a substantial quantity of He Shou Wu and finding Fan Jin easy to deal with, motioned for the young apprentice to weigh the herbs.

The apprentice quickly reported, “The high-quality He Shou Wu weighs twelve jin, at 450 wen per jin, totaling 5,400 wen; the lower-quality He Shou Wu weighs fifteen jin, at 210 wen per jin, totaling 3,150 wen.”

Hearing the weight matched what Shuiqing had measured last night, Fan Jin knew Renjitang hadn’t cheated him. Then, hearing the total amount of money, his eyes widened in surprise, and his mouth slightly opened. Eight thousand five hundred and fifty wen, more than eight taels of silver, was what he could earn copying books for half a year!

Shuiqing is amazing~

The shopkeeper smiled and asked, “Would you prefer silver or copper coins?”

Fan Jin, suppressing his excitement, replied, “Eight taels in broken silver, and five hundred and fifty in copper coins.” After carefully packing the money away, he thanked the shopkeeper and the apprentice before leaving the shop.

Last night, they had estimated the price based on 200+ wen for the good quality and 100+ wen for the lower quality, but now the price had doubled. The extra money could buy many things, and he was overjoyed.

With an extra four taels of silver, he began planning how to spend it. Hiring labor to build a thatched cottage would cost 25 wen a day, and with five or six people working, it could be done in three days, costing about 400 wen. The beams and thatch from the back mountain would be free, so half a tael of silver should be enough.

Food supplies like rice, flour, and oil were already available at Shuiqing’s place, so no need to buy more. However, he had promised the children to buy pork for lard rice, and he couldn’t break his promise. Pork was 35 wen a jin, or 38 wen for a fattier cut. For seven people, half a jin would barely be enough for everyone to have a few slices, and one jin would give the children six or seven slices each…

The three boys were fine; during festivals, their mother would at least give them a piece of meat. But Yan Qiu and Xing Hui, being girls, had only ever had meat at their grandparents’ house. Their grandfather, a butcher, often helped them out, but when they lived with the extended family, any meat was always given to the eldest grandsons by their mother. Yan Qiu and Xing Hui, and even Shuiqing, rarely got a piece.

Over time, the grandparents felt disheartened and stopped helping. Fan Jin should have bought meat from his father-in-law to support his business, but today he had too many things to buy and couldn’t make it to Niutou Town. Also, he feared his father-in-law would refuse the money as before. Better to bring gifts another day…

Thinking this, Fan Jin walked to the meat stall, looked at the marbled pork, and gritted his teeth, buying two jins! He spent seventy-six wen and received a big bone for free from the butcher. Smiling, he took it and went to the blacksmith’s shop. With the growing family, he bought a large iron pot, costing half a tael of silver.

After splitting from the family, they had some coarse pottery bowls and pots, but barely enough. When inviting villagers to build the thatched cottage, it was customary to provide lunch, even if breakfast and dinner were not included.

With this in mind, Fan Jin turned to the general store. He avoided porcelain and chose sturdy, cheap pottery bowls, buying ten large ones and five or six pottery basins for food and soup, along with some miscellaneous items. The total cost was 400 wen.

Carefully arranging everything in the bamboo basket and carrying the large iron pot, Fan Jin walked towards the city gate. He stopped in front of the fabric shop.

“Sir, we’ve just received a new batch of fabric, excellent quality and affordable. Come in and take a look!” the enthusiastic shop assistant called out.

Fan Jin glanced at the shop, hesitated for a moment, then walked in. Shuiqing had said they currently only had enough money for food and seeds. Fabric was on the “not enough money” list. At home, only he had rough cotton clothes. Shuiqing and the five children wore patched linen clothes.

With the weather cooling, he needed to buy some fabric and cotton.

·

Awoken by the warm morning sun, Shuiqing stared blankly for a while. The morning mist had not yet lifted over the fields, the air was fresh, and the green expanse was vast and soothing. The rural scenery was undoubtedly beautiful, with the sun warming her. But Shuiqing felt both joy and worry.

She was happy for the sunny day. Without a place to shelter from the wind and rain, she didn’t need to frantically protect their food, bedding, and clothes from the rain.

She was also worried about the sunny day. After the rain the day before yesterday, the woods were full of mushrooms yesterday, but with continuous sunshine, in a few days, there might not be a mushroom in sight…