Lin Chaonan continued:
“Dr. Li said that for fresh herbs, he’ll only take a hundred jin of each type. They’re for teaching the apprentices at the clinic how to process them. Licorice root is three wen per jin, rehmannia is seven wen per jin, Chinese pink herb is one wen per jin, pinellia is ten wen per jin, and polygala is two wen per jin.
For processed herbs, the prices vary. Those with good appearance fetch a higher price, while those with poor appearance fetch a lower price. Dr. Li said the price can only be determined after seeing the quality.”
“Wow! What’s pinellia? It’s ten wen per jin!”
Lin Chaobei exclaimed.
“Pinellia is crow’s eye.”
Lin Chaonan replied with a hint of pride.
The three brothers chattered excitedly about the herb names and prices.
But Yue Jiuyue frowned as she listened. If the clinic would only take a hundred jin of each type, everyone would want to sell the expensive herbs. Nobody would want to sell the cheap ones. Although some people would inevitably have to sell the cheaper herbs, there would definitely be those who felt it was unfair.
Of course, that wasn’t her problem to worry about. After all, she was just an ordinary villager. Issues like this would naturally be handled by the clan leader and the village head.
“Third son, come with me to the clan leader’s house.”
Now that she knew the prices and how much the clinic would accept, it was best to inform the clan leader and his wife as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the villagers dug up too many herbs and no one would buy them, there would certainly be deep resentment.
“This really isn’t going to be easy.”
The clan leader frowned after hearing what Lin Chaonan had to say.
Even though the villagers had only dug for one day, every household—except for those assigned to fetch water from the mountain—had almost everyone out digging. Even the children had come along to pick up herbs. Even if one person could only dig a jin per day, a family could still dig up ten or eight jin at least. Suddenly hearing that only five hundred jin total would be accepted, with varying prices for different herbs—of course it was a difficult situation.
“Yes, that’s why I came to you, Uncle, to see if you could think of a solution.”
Before even becoming the obvious target, she didn’t want to be resented by the villagers.
Having transmigrated into a woman in her thirties was already frustrating enough. If she also had to live surrounded by others’ hatred—especially from people she’d see every single day—how was she supposed to get by?
But even he, her uncle, had no solution!
“Here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to discuss this with the clan elders.”
One person has a short plan, two have a long one. Three cobblers can match Zhuge Liang. He refused to believe that six old men, whose combined age exceeded four hundred years, couldn’t figure out how to sell some medicinal herbs.
Since the clan leader had gone off to seek advice, Yue Jiuyue didn’t linger at his house any longer. She took Lin Chaonan and headed home.
The moonlight was bright, the stars twinkled, and a gentle breeze blew. If it weren’t for the cracked riverbed of the dry South River beside the road, and if the river still babbled, this scene would have been utterly beautiful.
Lin Chaonan had been hesitating for a long time—ever since they were at the clan leader’s house. But the clan leader and his wife had been so anxious about the herb situation that no one had noticed the expression on his face.
Yue Jiuyue didn’t want to notice either, so she pretended she didn’t.
“Mother… what do you think about me teaching the people in our village how to process the herbs once I’ve learned?”
Lin Chaonan couldn’t help but speak up.
He was also a member of Linjiagou. Part of it was that he couldn’t bear to see Grand Uncle Clan Leader struggling. But more than that, his mother had finally come up with a way to help the village survive the famine years, and he didn’t want that plan to just stall out.