The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 109: The Old Village Chief’s Wisdom_1

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: The Old Village Chief’s Wisdom_1

"It’s not for eating, it’s for drinking!"

Li Qing explained to the village elder, "It’s said to be a kind of Chinese medicine, and it’s very effective for certain illnesses. So now people are making tea out of it, and the price they’re charging is pretty high."

"Oh, it indeed is a type of Chinese medicine," the village elder nodded, "It’s really good for treating rheumatism, fevers, and the like, and this medicine is also very effective for what you might call diseases of promiscuity in men and women."

Li Qing was somewhat shocked; this village elder, who looked every bit the simple farmer, seemed to know quite a lot.

"Village elder, how do you know all this?" Li Qing asked with a smile, "Although I’m the one buying it, I really wasn’t aware that it could cure those diseases."

"Oh, I’m a barefoot doctor; everyone has their specialty, right? I might not recognize many Western medicines, but there’s hardly any Chinese medicine I don’t recognize. If you want to make money from it, you definitely need to know more. Young fellow, your experience is still a bit shallow," said the village elder with a chuckle.

Li Qing was majorly embarrassed.

His knowledge was indeed somewhat lacking.

"The village elder is right; I really do know too little, and my experience is shallow," Li Qing said sincerely.

"Chinese medicine should indeed be revitalized; it’s our national treasure. Your work in buying it is very good," the village elder said with a satisfied look, "How much do you want? And what’s the price?"

"The price is thirty, I have to make a bit more from it, considering it’s tough to navigate the mountains and finding buyers isn’t easy," said Li Qing, "As for the quantity, for now, I’ll take as much as there is."

"A price of thirty per jin isn’t too low," the village elder nodded, "When the idle women in the village hear about this, they’ll probably head for the mountains with their baskets right away."

"Wenguan Trees aren’t worth much; people in the mountains don’t even want to chop them down for firewood. They don’t grow thick, and the wood is particularly tough."

"Village elder, it’s thirty per liang!" Li Qing reminded him.

Making twelve yuan in difference, he felt he was already being quite harsh.

If he outright transformed something worth four hundred into thirty, he couldn’t live with himself; it would be like cutting off his own path forward.

"Thirty per liang?!" the village elder exclaimed, nearly dropping his dry tobacco pipe in shock, "That’s an exorbitant price!"

This made Li Qing feel slightly embarrassed.

If the elder knew it was actually over four hundred per jin, would he regret it so much he’d want to chop him up?

But whatever the item, the price you sell it for is always a lot different than what it is after passing through a middleman.

"Young man, are you joking with this old man?" the village elder asked with a skeptical look.

When he thought it was thirty per jin, the old gentleman was all smiles.

He seemed already to be planning when to go up the mountain to pick Wenguan Leaves.

But when he heard Li Qing say thirty per liang, he started to doubt Li Qing’s intentions.

"Village elder, I’m not lying to you, I’ll come tomorrow to buy whatever amount there is. We’ll exchange goods for cash; there’s no loss for anyone, and you don’t have to worry about me cheating you, after all, there’s not much to cheat about," Li Qing said.

The village elder was so shocked his expression was almost horrific, "Tea leaves costing three hundred per jin, what kind of leaves are those!"

"Young man, I see you’re honest, but do you really make a profit with this?"

This question made Li Qing even more embarrassed.

But he had set a price and couldn’t really change it now.

Shifting business terms day by day is definitely a recipe for failure.

"Village elder, rest assured, I’m certainly making something, as long as you don’t call me a swindler later," Li Qing said with a smile.

"Like Zhuge Liang beating Huang Gai, one willing to beat and the other willing to take the beating, why would I scold you?" the village elder laughed, "Good, good, good, this is a good thing. I’m going to use the loudspeaker in a moment to inform all the idle men and women, young and old in the village to go up the mountain to pick leaves."

"Those aren’t just any tree leaves, those are golden leaves!"

Li Qing then elaborated on the acquisition standards to the old village chief.

There was only one standard, they only wanted the tender middle leaves, not a single old leaf.

After the old village chief’s enthusiastic persuasion, Li Qing and Gao Li had lunch with him, and then they headed for the next village.

On the road, Gao Li couldn’t help but ask in astonishment, "Qingzi, are those leaves really that valuable?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"They definitely are quite valuable," Li Qing said with a smile. "Is Gao Brother tempted, thinking of going into the mountains to pick the leaves?"

Gao Li shook his head, "I’ll pass, those tree leaves don’t weigh much, and even if it’s one or two for thirty, you can hardly pick a few taels in a day. I’d rather drive for you and run errands; it’s easier."

Li Qing smiled faintly.

This was indeed in line with Gao Li’s nature.

Hard and tiring work was not something he was meant for.

The two of them visited four villages in a row and had lunch at someone’s house. While resting under the big tree at their doorstep, Li Qing suddenly received a call from the police station.

It was that policeman with the surname Wang.

He asked Li Qing to come to the police station in the afternoon if he was free.

"We can only make it up to here today; we’ll come back tomorrow. The police station called me to come over, so Gao Brother, could you give me a lift to the county town? Half a day’s work still counts as a full day," said Li Qing.

Gao Li happily agreed.

The trip to the county town wasn’t far, and it’s much more relaxing than running around in the mountains. He would basically get to rest in the afternoon.

The two first returned to the village.

Li Qing asked Gao Li to wait at his house, and he himself went to Hu Youyu’s place.

This visit had Li Qing feeling somewhat nervous.

He had a great feud with Hu Youyu, but his relationships with Yu Lan and Hu Wei were pretty good.

With this situation, it was difficult for him to make this visit.

The police station had called him, and they would surely notify Hu Youyu’s family as well.

Before that, Li Qing felt it necessary to see Yu Lan and Hu Wei.

The Hu family’s large courtyard was quiet. Li Qing peeked around and tiptoed in.

There were clinking and clanking sounds coming from the kitchen, as if someone was cutting something.

Li Qing peeped inside and saw Yu Lan wearing an apron, cutting vegetables in shorts and a tank top fit for home wear.

The shorts barely covered her thighs, revealing her exceptionally fair and slender legs.

But today, Li Qing wasn’t in the mood to appreciate Yu Lan’s stunning beauty.

Li Qing gave a light cough.

Yu Lan turned around, and upon seeing Li Qing, her face immediately brightened with a hint of surprise, "Why have you come?"

But upon seeing Li Qing looking like a mummified figure, her expression changed drastically in an instant.

"What happened to you? Did Hu Youyu get someone to beat you up?"

"It’s nothing, Auntie, this time, I got off lightly!" Li Qing said with a light chuckle.

Yu Lan suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, tears instantly gushing out like a breached flood, "What does it take for you to think it’s serious? You’re already in this state! We can’t live like this anymore, I’m going to have it out with him!"