Chapter 314

The red ribbons were simple, with few varieties, costing three wen each or five wen for two.

The hair ornaments, however, were much more expensive and varied in style. Cloth flowers, silk flowers, tongcao flowers, wrapped flowers, velvet flowers… the men only looked at the cloth flowers.

A small cloth flower cost nine wen, which astonished the men.

“It’s not too bad. Look at the velvet flowers, they cost fifty or sixty wen each. Cloth flowers are quite cheap in comparison,” Xu Laoda said, trying to convince himself and others.

Nine wen might not buy a big piece of cloth and couldn’t be eaten, but the velvet flowers were equally inedible and much more expensive. Compared to that, nine wen didn’t seem so bad.

Li Wen looked at the velvet flowers enviously. “Velvet flowers are still the prettiest.”

“What good is pretty? The price says it all! Having cloth flowers is good enough.” Fan Xiaoliu glanced at the various hair ornaments on the counter, thinking they all looked the same.

These non-edible, non-drinkable things were incomprehensible to him. Why did his sister love them so much? With this money, they could buy a jin of rice to make porridge.

But this was money his sister earned herself. After contributing to the community fund, she had sixty wen left. She could spend it however she wanted, and no one else in the family could say anything.

He sighed, wishing he could work at the medicinal herb workshop too. If he could save sixty wen a month, it would be amazing. He had never owned more than ten wen at any one time in his entire life, yet now his sister could have sixty wen of her own every month. It was unbelievable.

“You’re right. Shopkeeper, give me that sky-blue cloth flower.”

“I’ll take a sky-blue cloth flower too.”

“Me too.”

Hearing the chorus of requests for sky-blue cloth flowers, Xu Laoda was exasperated. “Hey, why are you all picking the same one as me? At least choose a different color! There are plenty of nice ones.”

It was frustrating. He was the first to buy, and now everyone else was following suit. The village girls would end up all wearing the same thing.

“Brother Xu, we have no choice. My sister specifically asked for a sky-blue cloth flower and a red ribbon.”

“Mine did too.”

“How come it’s the same for everyone?”

The men scratched their heads, bewildered.

“Forget it, just buy them. Maybe the girls planned it themselves and want to match.”

“That makes sense. Alright, the same it is then!”

Hu Wenhua, looking at the fluffy, cute velvet flowers, thought they seemed perfect for the cold winter. He pointed to a pink velvet flower and said to the shopkeeper, “I’ll take this pink one.”

The shopkeeper, surprised that one of these men would buy a velvet flower, quickly recovered and said happily, “Alright, sir, I’ll wrap it up for you! It’s fifty-six wen, but I’ll give it to you for fifty-five.”

The other men swallowed hard. Fifty-five wen for a single velvet flower?

Sure, the velvet flower had three small blossoms and was fluffy and pretty, but it couldn’t be eaten.

Even after Hu Wenhua paid fifty-five wen and the shopkeeper wrapped the velvet flower, handing it to him with a big smile, the men were still in shock.

“Shopkeeper, wrap me a silk flower! The best one you have!”

The familiar voice at the door made all the men turn their heads.

There stood Fan Erzhu and his brothers.

Fan Xiaoliu’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe they were here!

Weren’t they the ones who had run out of food and sold their daughter for grain? He could understand if they had saved a bit of money to buy coarse salt, but spending silver on a silk flower was beyond comprehension!

It wasn’t just Fan Xiaoliu; all the other men were equally baffled.

They didn’t think women shouldn’t wear flowers, but it was hard to understand how someone who had sold their daughter to avoid starving could afford silk flowers. And even if they had the money, could the women at home really feel like wearing them after such a loss?

The room fell into a stunned silence.

Fan Erzhu felt a bit embarrassed and turned away from their gazes.

Fan Qian forced a smile, but he had no intention of explaining.

Once Erzhu or Sanzhu secured Ding Jiajia’s affection, these people would understand his foresight!

A large group of men standing in the grocery store wasn’t quite right. Li Wen shouted, “Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s first meet up with Brother Ding and see how the medicinal herbs are being weighed. There’s important business to attend to later; don’t waste time.”

Reading notices and buying things like ropes and flowers at the grocery store were just incidental. Selling rabbits and buying cloth to make winter clothes was the real business. Originally, after selling the rabbits, they should have gone to the fabric shop to buy cloth. However, this time, weren’t they also expecting income from selling kudzu root? Most of them wanted to wait until they had money in hand before buying.

The other men pursed their lips. When they passed in front of Fan’s three men, intentionally or unintentionally, they muttered ‘phew’ and then strode away.

In the backyard of the pharmacy, the medicinal herbs had already been weighed one by one. The pharmacy boys carefully inspected their quality and dryness before calling the shopkeeper and Ding Heli to check the accounts.

Shopkeeper Qin first calculated the kudzu root, which had the largest quantity but the lowest total price. He moved the beads on his abacus, making a clattering sound, then looked up and said, “Twelve bags of kudzu root, eight hundred and thirty catties, eighteen wen per catty, totaling fourteen taels nine hundred and forty wen. Let’s round it up to an even amount for you.”

Ding Heli quickly interjected, “No, no need to round up. This belongs to people from my village, and I’m helping with the sale. The weight was agreed upon long ago. If you round up, how can I manage that extra money? It would be difficult for me.”

Helping others wasn’t like Hu Wenhua, who was clear and straightforward about settling accounts to get his rightful share.

Otherwise, it was earning nothing, but just doing a favor, with no gratitude received. Remember the principle of halfway helping and taking; in that case, even if you didn’t earn much silver in the end, you wouldn’t get appreciation.

Selling rabbits was a long-term affair, but kudzu root only came up occasionally, so it wasn’t too tiring for them these few times. Moreover, helping people from their village sell medicinal herbs was akin to escorting them along the way, which was mutually beneficial.

Shopkeeper Qin immediately understood upon hearing this and chuckled, “Alright, I’ll give you the exact amount in small silver pieces, to make it easier for them to divide.”

He then continued on the abacus, “Your tangerine peel is good, but the aging is too short, so it’s only one hundred and twenty wen per tael, alright?”

Tangerine peel was rare; with such a large fruit, only a little peel remained after drying.

However, this batch of goods had a short aging period. If it had been aged longer, it might have been worth a fortune!

When Ding Heli was at home, he had a rough idea of the pricing of this batch of goods. As long as it didn’t deviate too much from this figure, he would sell.

“One hundred and twenty wen per tael, so sixty catties would be seventy-two taels of silver.”

“Chinese yam is priced per catty. The price remains the same as last time, four hundred and fifty wen per catty, totaling five hundred and sixty catties, two hundred and fifty-two taels of silver.”

“Asiatic plantain is more expensive. Black beans are priced at five hundred wen per tael, so thirty catties would be one hundred and fifty taels; ginger is priced at six hundred wen per tael, so fifty catties would be three hundred taels; wine is priced at seven hundred wen per tael, so twenty catties would be one hundred and forty taels.”

“Tangerine peel, Chinese yam, and Polygonum multiflorum add up to nine hundred and fourteen taels. Let’s round it up for you, nine hundred and fifteen taels!”