Inquiries

To enter the city, you must pay an entrance fee. Even just entering with an empty purse costs a penny now. Of course, children like Datou don't need to pay.

However, Zhou Dalang still felt the pain in his heart.

He took out the money because he had spent several coins as soon as he entered the city. He was very worried, so he didn't go anywhere and went directly to the pharmacy with a cart.

There is only one pharmacy in the county, called Jishi Tang.

When the shop assistant saw Zhou Dalang approaching, he asked, "Are you here to sell medicine?" Please wait a moment; our shopkeeper will be here soon.

Zhou Dalang had been here twice before: once with fresh privet fruit to inquire about the price, and once with dried privet fruit to confirm if it had been processed correctly, so the shop assistant remembered him.

The shopkeeper came out quickly. Zhou Erlang was concerned about overcrowding in the pharmacy, so he asked Wulang to wait outside with the children. Only Manbao, driven by curiosity, accompanied Zhou Erlang inside to witness the commotion.

Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang glanced at their youngest sister, said nothing, and brought her closer to them to prevent her from getting lost.

These privet fruits had been dried after being soaked in hot water and were packed in fine cloth bags.

Zhou Dalang opened the bag to show the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper held the fruit in his hand, checked its quality, then ate one and nodded slightly, saying, "The drying is good, it would be even better if it were soaked a little longer next time."

He turned the item over and found that the quality was comparable. He nodded and said, "Alright, please weigh it." We will take all of it.

The shop assistant immediately brought the scale and said, after weighing, "The total weight is twelve and a half catties."

The shopkeeper said, "Your quality is average, so I will give you fifty coins per catty, totaling six hundred and twenty-five coins." "In the future, if you have more ripe fruit, bring it here." "As long as the quality is good, we will buy it."

Manbao curiously asked, "Shopkeeper, can the pharmacy sell so much privet fruit?"

The shopkeeper lowered his head and only then noticed the little girl at the brothers' feet. Upon hearing her address, he twitched his mouth and said, "Our Jishi Tang pharmacy is spread all over the world. Of course, we can handle this amount of private fruit." Even a hundred or a thousand times more is not a problem. Little girl, you should call me uncle.

Zhou Dalang wiped the sweat from his forehead and repeatedly apologized, saying, "My youngest sister is young and ignorant. Please forgive her, shopkeeper."

Only then did the shopkeeper look at Manbao again and smile, saying, "So she's your sister." Manbao replied, "That's understandable."

He looked about the same age as Zhou Dalang, so it's no wonder this little girl called him "big brother" instead of "uncle."

The shopkeeper laughed and shook his head, not minding it.

Manbao, still excited, changed her tone, "Uncle shopkeeper, if my family grows a lot of privet fruit, can your shop still buy it at this price?"

The shopkeeper was about to ask the assistant to give them the money and leave, but upon hearing this, he turned back and asked, "Are you planning for your family to grow medicinal herbs?" 

Manbao said, "We want to."

The shopkeeper asked, "It's not easy." Medicinal herbs are susceptible to pests and can be impacted by droughts or flooding. What kind of medicinal herbs does your family plan to grow?

Manbao asked him, "What do you think is suitable for growing medicinal herbs in our area?"

The shopkeeper looked down at the little girl and smiled after a pause, "There are many medicinal herbs suitable for growing here. The key is, can you grow them?"

"If we can't, we can learn."

Seeing her acting like a little adult, the shopkeeper couldn't help but smile and said, "As long as you can grow them, medicinal herbs will sell." "Because everyone gets sick, and when they do, they need medicine."

Manbao understood and turned around to ask her older brother to help her carry their dried snow lotus grass inside.

The shopkeeper saw them bring in two large hemp bags and curiously stopped in his tracks.

"Uncle shopkeeper, this is our dried snow lotus grass." Does your pharmacy need it?

The shopkeeper bent down and felt it, finding it quite dry. He nodded and said, "Yes, this stuff is great for cooling off in the summer." "Twenty coins per catty, let's weigh it."

Despite the two large hemp bags, they were actually quite light, totaling only thirty-five catties.

Wulang and the others were excited and stunned at the same time, wondering how they had collected so much, yet it was so light.

They were a bit disappointed, but when the assistant brought out seven strings of coins for them, they were stunned again.

It seemed like making money was quite easy.

Zhou Dalang was also surprised to see the children earning more than them.

The shopkeeper said, "Don't bring any more snow lotus grass next time." This information is widely known and does not require external verification. This amount is sufficient for our pharmacy to use during the summer.

Manbao, however, turned her eyes and said, "It's definitely not enough." During the long summer, it is essential for your family to prepare medicinal soup daily. Each person should consume at least one handful, which is equivalent to one catty. "This thirty-five catties will only last for thirty-five days."

The shopkeeper, seeing her understanding at such a young age, couldn't help but burst into laughter. He patted her little head and said, "In our small county, we don't need a catty of snow lotus grass a day." You want to exhaust everyone. This amount is sufficient, and I will not accept any additional funds if you bring more.

Manbao felt regretful, not expecting the snow lotus grass to be a one-time occurrence. She sighed like a miniature adult.

The shopkeeper found the child very interesting, mainly because he knew all the herb gatherers in this area, and Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang seemed to be farmers rather than herb gatherers.

He was curious about how they knew that privet fruit was a medicinal herb.

Many flowers and plants in the countryside can be used as medicine, and many elderly people are knowledgeable about utilizing these plants. For example, snow lotus grass is commonly used by people in rural areas to stop bleeding from injuries.

But they didn't know that snow lotus grass had other uses, let alone that it was also a medicinal herb in the pharmacy. They had never considered drying it and selling it to the pharmacy.

If snow lotus grass could be used as medicine simply by drying it, then many other medicinal herbs would require specific processing for preservation, a skill possessed only by doctors and herb gatherers.

Most people in the world tend to prefer engaging in activities they excel at and avoid those in which they lack proficiency. This is a natural instinct to avoid risk.

When a person suddenly enters an unfamiliar field, they must have something to rely on. And if the other party is an honest person, then their trust will be even greater.

The shopkeeper suspected that they had a medical book.

He had asked Zhou Dalang about it, but Zhou Dalang just smiled, and he couldn't tell if it was genuine or fake. While the assistant settled the bill, the shopkeeper took Manbao's hand and sat down to ask her, "From whom did your family learn the processing of privet fruit?"

Manbao said, "Huh, wasn't it you, Uncle shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper thought about it and realized that he had mentioned it. He paused and asked, "Then who recognized privet fruit as a medicinal herb?"

Manbao proudly said, "Me!"