Chapter 211 - 207: Little Rich Woman_1
“Nothing went wrong.”
Doctor Li reached out and grabbed Jiang Sanlang, leading him to the study in the backyard.
After seating him on the chair in the study, Doctor Li asked, “San Lang, could you sell me some of your golden ears?”
Jiang Sanlang was puzzled as to why Doctor Li suddenly wanted to buy golden ears, but he nodded anyway. “How much do you want, Mr. Li? I can reserve some for you.”
“Five pounds, no, ten pounds.” Doctor Li had occasionally bought some before, but he never bought a lot each time, as his pharmacy sold very little of it.
After everyone in the township learned that golden ears were being grown in Dongchen Village, the golden ears in his drugstore were even harder to sell, so he simply stopped buying them.
This morning, his little granddaughter told him that the magic pills of Yingbao were extracted from the golden ears. Doctor Li immediately got excited, fumbled out the half pound of golden ears that Yingbao had given him as an apprentice, and sniffed it.
The subtle fragrance did indeed match exactly with the pills Yingbao had brought out.
Jiang Sanlang paused a moment before nodding. “Okay.”
He had a considerable crop this time. Not only did he plant eight hundred golden ears, but he also planted eight hundred snow ears.
If all were dried, he estimated he could harvest more than twenty pounds of golden ears and more than twenty pounds of snow ears.
When the time came, he would sell him ten pounds. After all, they were from the same village, and Old Li was also the master who passed on his skills to his daughter.
Having agreed on the purchase of the golden ears, Doctor Li cheerfully went back to the sickbed and took Xiao Chengjun’s pulse again.
The pulse was steady, and the condition seemed to be getting better.
Doctor Li then instructed Xiao family’s trusted aide to keep an eye on the color and shape of Xiao Chengjun’s urine and stool before returning to his room to tidy up the case notes.
In the afternoon, seeing that Xiao Chengjun was clear-minded, in good health and no longer feverish, Yingbao asked to leave.
Xiao Mo did not stop her, but suggested buying the herbal pills she had.
Yingbao thought for a moment, pretending to be in a bind, “These medicines are hard to prepare, and the ingredients are very valuable, each pill costs at least two taels of silver…”
“Just name your price.” Xiao Mo interrupted her incessant chatter. “I want to buy a hundred.”
Yingbao’s eyes lit up, “A hundred? But I don’t have that many now, it will take several days to prepare anew.”
“That’s alright, I can wait. Let’s first discuss how much for each pill.” Xiao Mo said.
“Well…even if it’s a discount for you, three…four taels of silver per pill, if you think that’s too expensive…”
“Three taels or four?” Xiao Mo asked.
Yingbao acted as if making a huge sacrifice: “Let’s say three taels, that’s the cost price for you.”
“I appreciate it.” Xiao Mo then turned to the middle-aged scholar, “Give her three hundred taels in silver notes.”
Silver notes? That won’t work!
That thing is just a piece of paper, and not universally accepted. Moreover, the inscriptions could get blurred if it got wet in the rain, the silver shop will not exchange for it.
Yingbao immediately refused, “I don’t want silver notes. I don’t know where to exchange them, and I heard they discount at exchange. If you don’t have ready cash, I’ll also take copper coins.”
To trade in copper coins equivalent to three hundred taels of silver, he’d have to cart them by mule, haha!
Xiao Mo looked at the little girl deeply.
He turned to the scholar, “Mr. Chui, could you please make a trip to the county town and withdraw three hundred…no, five hundred taels of silver.”
Chui Zhaochen saluted, “Yes.” He then rode to the county town with a few bodyguards to withdraw the money.
Yingbao purchased many herbs for treating external injuries and a bit of ginseng at Rongji Pharmacy before going home with her father.
Jiang Sanlang was very pleased to see his daughter heal the young master from the Xiao family.
His daughter was finally making a name for herself.
A disease that the doctor in the prefecture’s city couldn’t cure, was miraculously healed by his daughter, it was beyond his expectations.
Jiang Sanlang was full of pride, feeling that his back was straighter than others, he walked with a spring in his step, and when he greeted acquaintances, his voice was resounding.
When she returned home, the first thing Yingbao did was to prepare the medicine.
In order to reduce costs and maximize profits, she went out into the wild to dig up some herbs and added them all to the medicine.
In her view, the efficacy of these herbs is no less than the expensive ingredients in pharmacies, but the elites in the city are convinced that the most expensive ingredients are the best.
Little do they know that the commonest wild grasses, flowers, and vegetables are the real cure for diseases.
A few days later, Xiao Mo personally led the team to collect the medicine.
Looking at the five large coarse porcelain jars lined up on the table, he couldn’t help but twitch the corners of his mouth.
Pills priced at three taels of silver each are stored in such crude bottles by this little girl, with twenty in each one.
He had clearly seen that the small porcelain bottle she had earlier was exquisite and held only five pills; but when it came to him, everything had been simplified, hadn’t it?
Picking up a porcelain jar, he pulled the plug and poured out a pill.
The aroma was tantalising, intoxicating.
Packing up the pills, Xiao Mo instructed Mr. Chui to gather up the five large jars, then had someone bring in a heavy wooden box and placed it on the table.
“This is the money for the pills, please check, Doctor.”
Yingbao’s smile curved up her eyes as she unceremoniously opened the lid of the box and carefully counted it.
Ten taels silver ingots, shining with a silver luster, neatly stacked in the box, thirty in total.
“Good, it’s exactly three hundred taels, the price for a hundred pills.”
Yingbao touched the silver, casting glances at Xiao Mo all the while, appearing as if she had something to say but didn’t.
Where was her consultation fee?
What about the money for the pills she gave to Xiao Chengjun?
Why wasn’t he mentioning it?
Xiao Mo sat in his seat, seemingly oblivious to the little girl’s silent accusations, busily chatting with Jiang Sanlang.
“I heard that Jiang’s family has grown quite a bit of Aureus, may Xiao Mo have a look?”
Jiang Sanlang: “Sure, we’re harvesting it now, you’re welcome to come with me to the mushroom shed.”
“Great, please lead the way, Mr. Jiang.” Xiao Mo stood up.
After several people left the main hall for the mushroom shed, Yingbao scratched her head. Seeing no one around, she hastily packed up the silver ingots and stored them in an empty box in her room, locking it in her chest.
An income of three hundred taels all of a sudden, she was a rich little girl again.
However, she couldn’t disregard the consultation fee.
She was initially taken aback by the amount of silver she received and didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up, but she decided to mention it to Xiao Mo next time.
Yingbao excitedly ran to her own mushroom shed to harvest the Aureus.
This time she had grown six hundred Aureus and six hundred Xue’ers. They all were premium-size and brimming with nutrients.
If dried, she estimated she could get eighteen kilograms each of Aureus and Xue’er.
The yield from this batch, which had been completely soaked in Pupil Spring water, was much larger than previous yields, so the total weight of the harvest would certainly be more than usual.
Next year, when she plants mushrooms, she will also use Pupil Spring water to soak the mushroom spawn for her father and uncles, improving the yield of their previously planted mixture.
From now on, for cultivating Aureus and Xue’er, she would not be using the Five Dingzhi technique, as Pupil Spring’s effect was not inferior, so she may as well use it for soaking.
Yingbao spent the entire afternoon busying herself in the mushroom shed, completely losing track of time.
By the time she had harvested all the mushrooms, it was almost dark.
Yingbao’s mother came back from working in the outside mushroom shed to cook dinner and called her over for a talk.
“That Mr. Xiao left, he said he’ll come back for the Aureus in a few days,” Chunniang spoke while kneading dough. “He also said he would bring your consultation fee and medicine money next time.”
So, he wasn’t trying to avoid paying.
Yingbao breathed a sigh of relief.
Who knows how much he’ll give for the consultation fee. Well, next time she makes a home visit, she would lay out her charges in advance to avoid any ambiguity.