Chapter 31 Selling Gastrodia

Lin Yuexi carried her backpack and got on Old Man Xia’s oxcart at the village office. After arriving in town, she transferred to a bus and went to the county. Relying on the original owner’s memory of visiting the county once, she kept asking people for directions. After half an hour, she finally saw a three-room storefront on the street from afar. A large plaque hung on the door, which read “Bencao Yiyuntang” with a sign next to it that said “Joint Venture.” This was the place she was looking for.

 Lin Yuexi walked in with her backpack. The store was three storefronts combined. There were medicine cabinets along the walls. Hundreds of drawers, even the air was filled with the smell of traditional Chinese medicine. It was clear that this was an old shop with a long history. In the middle of the hall, an old Chinese doctor was taking someone’s pulse and examining them. Seeing two clerks at the counter dispensing medicine, Lin Yuexi walked up to them and asked one of them, “Do you buy herbs here?” “Yes, we do. I’ll take you to the backyard.” One of the clerks said.

After saying that, he walked out from behind the counter and led Lin Yuexi to the backyard. The backyard was large, with four main rooms and three side rooms. She could vaguely see people moving inside. The clerk shouted, “Master Bai, we have herbs to sell…” “Coming…” Someone replied. The clerk pointed to a bamboo chair in front of Lin Yuexi and said, “Wait here for a moment. He’ll be here soon. I have to go back to the counter.” Lin Yuexi put down her backpack. Seeing that the person hadn’t arrived yet, she quickly took out another ten pounds of Gastrodia elata from her space and put it in the backpack. Just as she finished, a tall middle-aged man walked over and asked, “Little comrade, what kind of herbs did you bring…”

 When Lin Yuexi heard this, she quickly opened the bag in her backpack, took out a piece of Gastrodia elata, and handed it to him, “Gastrodia elata…” Master Bai took it and looked at it, exclaiming, “Wild Gastrodia elata…” Seeing this, Lin Yuexi took out some more from the bag and also took out the herbs she had collected on the mountain to show him. Master Bai looked at them and said, “These herbs aren’t worth much, but this Gastrodia elata is very good. You dug it up very neatly. How about I give you five yuan per pound?” “Okay…” Lin Yuexi replied. She thought to herself, five yuan per pound, five yuan per pound.

I have plenty more in my space. Anyway, I bought wild Gastrodia elata seeds. Since Gastrodia elata is so valuable, ginseng must be even more valuable. I should go back to the mountain tomorrow and say I found ginseng.

 Then I’ll take out one or two ginseng roots from my space and sell them. When I have enough money, I’ll buy a courtyard house in the county, divorce that scumbag Lu Cheng, bring my two children to the county to live, and completely get rid of that family. Master Bai didn’t know what was going on in Lin Yuexi’s mind. He thought he was very lucky today to have encountered such good wild Gastrodia elata. He was quite happy. He weighed all the Gastrodia elata on the scale in the corridor, “A total of 35.5 pounds.

And 10 pounds of herbs. I’ll give you two cents per pound…” After saying that, he took out a pen and paper from the satchel hanging on the wall, quickly wrote for a while, and handed the note to Lin Yuexi, “Go to the gatehouse to get the money.” “Thank you, Master Bai…” Lin Yuexi took the note. She went to the gatehouse window and handed the note in. A young man used an abacus to calculate, took out 179 yuan and 50 cents from a drawer, counted it twice, and handed it to Lin Yuexi.

Lin Yuexi took the money and pretended to put it in her inner pocket, but actually put it in the money box in her space. Thieves were common these days, so it was better to be safe. Then she found Master Bai and asked, “If I dig up more Gastrodia elata or other precious herbs, will you buy them?” “Yes, as long as the herbs are good, we’ll buy as much as you bring. We’re a joint venture. We collect all the herbs and hand them over to the state, which then distributes them to other pharmacies…

” Master Bai looked at Lin Yuexi and said with a smile. Lin Yuexi now had an idea. She smiled and nodded, then walked out. 35.5 pounds of Gastrodia elata sold for 179.5 yuan. Now, a worker’s monthly salary is only 20 yuan. This is almost half a year’s salary for a worker. If she continues to work for another month, she’ll have enough to buy or rent a courtyard house in the county! Thinking about this, Lin Yuexi’s mood improved considerably. It’s already November. Maybe that scumbag will be back for the New Year.

I should prepare early! Lin Yuexi left “Bencao Yiyuntang” and went shopping at the department store. Then she went to a state-run restaurant, ordered two dishes, and ate leisurely. After finishing her meal, she slowly strolled around the county. The county was not big, but it had everything. Lin Yuexi strolled leisurely on the streets of the county, looking at the various small shops on the street, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation for her future life.

She walked into a stationery store and looked around. She found that the notebooks of this era were different from the ones she had stored. So she picked out some paper, pens, and small notebooks, planning to take them back for Lu Ziyan and Lu Xiyun to use for learning. After leaving the stationery store, she continued to walk along the streets, truly experiencing the atmosphere of this era.

Unconsciously, the sun began to set. Lin Yuexi knew it was time to go back. She went to the bus station and got on the bus back to town. On the bumpy bus, she held her backpack tightly, but her thoughts drifted to the distance. She thought about what other precious herbs she could take out from her space to sell, and how to choose a suitable courtyard house in the county.

After returning to town, she got off the bus, took out some snacks and various dried vegetables from her space, pretending to have bought them in the county, put them in her backpack, and then walked to the place where Old Man Xia usually parked his oxcart. Sure enough, Old Man Xia was waiting there. When Old Man Xia saw Lin Yuexi, he said, “Third wife, you went to town today…” “Yes, Old Man Xia. I dug up some herbs on the mountain yesterday and went to the county to sell them. I bought some things for the family.” Lin Yuexi said with a smile. “Oh, Third wife, you are really diligent…

Other girls would just sit around and do nothing if they had their husband’s allowance…” “Old Man Xia, where are you getting that from? My husband’s thirty yuan allowance is hard enough to support two children. I’d rather be self-reliant…” Hearing Lin Yuexi’s words, Old Man Xia nodded slightly, admiring her diligence and good character. “Third wife, you’re right to think this way. You can earn your own money, and you’ll have a strong backbone.” Lin Yuexi smiled, then a few villagers who had come to the market got on the cart. When they were all on board, Old Man Xia started driving back.

Along the way, Old Man Xia drove the ox and chatted with her. “Third wife, you’re quite skilled at digging herbs. The herbs on the mountain aren’t so easy to find.” Lin Yuexi replied, “Old Man Xia, my grandmother was a descendant of a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. This is difficult for others, but not for me.”