Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 438 - Chapter 438 438. Monarch ministers aides and envoys_1

Chapter 438: 438. Monarch, ministers, aides, and envoys_1 Chapter 438: 438. Monarch, ministers, aides, and envoys_1 Guo Dong leaned in, carefully hooking a branch to inspect a golden-red fruit covered in fine thorns.

Observing their delicate thorns, the ripe golden-red color, and the size…

At this moment, she no longer feared the thorns, and reached out with her merciless iron hand–

Song Tan noticed that although her hands were white, her palms also had a number of calluses.

Her nimble hands threaded through the foliage, choosing one at a slightly downward angle, skillfully avoiding the dense thorns, and then using her fingernail to hook into the less thorny crevice to carefully pluck the dangerous Golden Sakura fruit.

Then she evaluated, “Your family’s Golden Sakura fruit is flourishing, and the thorns seem even more fierce than I’ve seen before!”

Song Tan tensely clenched her face, feeling guilty.

Guo Dong scrutinized the plucked Golden Sakura fruit, and then wrapped it with a bunch of leaves, grinding it with her foot just as adeptly for quite a while.

Wu Lan: …

She now believed that as a child she really did rub these things with the soles of her shoes.

…

As it concerned the price of a new variety, everyone watched Guo Dong’s actions earnestly, and she did not disappoint, quickly grinding off the thorns from the Golden Sakura fruit, peeling back the leaves, and peeling its skin in a few swift movements, before tasting it–

“Mmm, it’s so sweet! The sour taste is very mild.”

She couldn’t help but praise.

Qiaoqiao had stopped his dog rubbing and was now looking at her expectantly:

“How sweet is it?”

Guo Dong laughed out loud, and then gave him the remaining half of the Golden Sakura fruit, “Peel off the skin and just eat that thin layer of flesh. You can’t eat that cluster of seeds.”

“Is it poisonous?”

Qiaoqiao curiously took it and examined it.

“No poison, but it does have some medicinal properties… well, even if you do eat it, it’s no big deal.”

Oh.

Qiaoqiao half understood, but to be cautious, he imitated Guo Dong, slowly peeling off the thick skin, and then carefully nibbled the fruit flesh with his front teeth.

Then his eyes lit up:

“It’s really sweet!”

“Sister!” he looked at Song Tan with anticipation, “Do you want to eat? I’ll pick some for you.”

“Not today.”

Song Tan patted his head, “Wait until your sister buys you gloves and scissors, then come. Otherwise, it will hurt our Qiaoqiao.”

Qiaoqiao indeed squinted his eyes in enjoyment, and then pushed the Golden Sakura fruit to the back of his mind, squatting down to seriously talk to Dabao and Erbao:

“Dabao, Erbao, did you see? This can make money too, and it’s sweet, so don’t let other people come and pick it, okay…”

Seeing this, Guo Dong gave the not-yet-ripe Golden Sakura fruit several careful looks, and then deliberated:

“Auntie, your Golden Sakura fruit’s quality is beyond my expectations. How about this, I can offer 60 yuan per jin for the dried fruit, and I’ll take all of this area. Does that work for you?”

60…

Wu Lan hesitated: That wasn’t a small amount.

Looking at the densely packed wall of flowers that was still in its blooming phase, while the fruits were also plentiful, it seemed a decent prospect to pick some during her free time…

But…

“All I need to do is pick them and dry them out, right?”

“No, no, no,” Guo Dong shook her head frantically: “Absolutely don’t do that! After picking them, you need to remove the thorns, then split them open, remove the seeds inside, and only then dry or bake them–baking is preferred.”

Wu Lan: …

She said nothing, and Guo Dong, oblivious, continued talking non-stop:

“Because the medicinal uses of these small seeds are completely opposite to the effects of the flesh, the concepts of mutual generation and mutual overcoming are at play here.”

“So even if the whole fruit is dried, when it’s time to use it, the seeds need to be removed, which is why I propose a price that includes completing that process beforehand.”

However, as soon as she finished speaking, she saw the aunt who had seemed slightly swayed now shaking her head vigorously:

“No, no, that’s too complicated, I thought it was just a matter of picking and drying them. Tantan, are you still selling these?”

With the time it took, she could have picked a basketful of tea leaves.

Sigh.

Wu Lan secretly reflected that she really was living large these days, finding even the prospect of making money too troublesome.

“Not selling.”

Song Tan also said with a chuckle, “Anyway, it’s not the peak season for fruit yet, so there isn’t much, we can just pick some and use them to brew alcohol for Seventh Uncle.”

Her alcohol definitely wouldn’t differ much in price.

Guo Dong was getting somewhat anxious:

“Auntie, if there’s something that isn’t suitable, we can discuss it further, the price I’m offering really is very high. You won’t find a higher price anywhere else in the country.”

She might as well have not listened to that.

Wu Lan’s main issue was that it was just too much trouble–having to crack them open and remove the seeds; she didn’t have the time.

“Then how about this, auntie,” Guo Dong proved to be very flexible: “We’ll stick to the original 50 per pound, all you need to do is pick them, remove the thorns, and either dry them in the sun or by baking. What do you think?”

Wu Lan was already disinterested, but she remembered the old lady at home who was constantly looking for chores–she had picked quite a few black fungus that morning.

If she wasn’t supposed to accompany her grandchildren’s grandfather to check on the dry grass in the afternoon, she’d probably be up in the mountains right now.

“It’s not exactly out of the question…”

She hesitated: it would be fine if her family took their time with it without any rush…

But, she looked at Song Tan: “Tantan, what do you think?”

Song Tan just stared at Guo Dong for a while: “Sister Guo Dong, didn’t you say that Golden Sakura isn’t used as an aphrodisiac? Ordinary medicinal herbs, and you’re buying at such a high price, how will you prescribe or resell them later on?”

Guo Dong was taken aback–oh, did they think she was some sort of middleman?

Sigh, if only she was at a planting base, farmers from all around would be clamoring for this price.

But then she looked again at the Golden Sakura–she didn’t have the magical taste buds of the Divine Farmer, so she couldn’t taste how potent its medicinal properties were. But as for traditional Chinese medicine, the medicinal properties are closely tied to the growing conditions.

Just looking at them, she knew they couldn’t be that far off, and her business was mainly in finished medicines anyway; why worry about a slightly higher cost?

Attracting one more customer meant a steady stream of money.

Such good quality; how regrettable it would be to miss out!

With this in mind, she smiled generously: “My foundation in medicine was learned from my grandfather, not to say I’m especially talented, but there are a few old prescriptions in my family that just happen to use this.”

She noticed Song Tan listening attentively and saw Qiaoqiao teasing a dog with a stalk of Foxtail Grass, as well as the dark-faced strongman and pale scholarly man nearby…

And the aunt with ears perked up.

At this point, she cleared her throat:

“That is, my family’s secret recipe for an aphrodisiac is quite well-known.”

???

Qiaoqiao perked up her ears!

Zhang Yanping’s dark face remained impassive, showing no emotion, but he asked with extra scrutiny: “Didn’t you say that this Golden Sakura isn’t for… for… ahem…”

This kind of behavior, Guo Dong had seen it plenty–of the men who came to her, nine out of ten were bashful like this–

Hmph, those in the medical field like her had no taboo about such things.

So she directly said: “It’s indeed not used for aphrodisiac purposes, but it just so happens to fit into one of my family’s prescriptions. When the ingredients are matched correctly, they are effective.”