Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 76 - 076: Making Money Now

Chapter 76: Chapter 076: Making Money Now

Xiao Liu is a moderately built middle-aged man. Hearing the call, he walked in with a sharp curved knife, picked up the hemp sack, brought it to the well in the corner of the courtyard, and began to extract the snake bile.

Half an hour later, Zhu Yu and Mu Tong had calculated the price of all the medicinal herbs and brought the Silver Coin to Gu Dashan: "The total is four taels and six hundred and thirty large coins, please count them."

Gu Dashan, shaking his hands, took the Silver Coin, somewhat in disbelief: "This, this much?" Almost five taels of silver, that’s the price of an acre of high-quality land.

Third Grandpa also felt that the Silver Coin given was too much. Although Xiao Yu found many types of medicinal herbs, the amount was small, totaling less than thirty catties, with many being very common herbs that were not worth much.

Mu Tong said: "Those three alive swollen-necked snakes, the master decided to give one and a half taels of Silver Coin, and those dried snake gallbladders, along with the centipedes, are also worth quite a bit of money."

Without those three alive swollen-necked snakes, there wouldn’t have been so much Silver Coin.

Gu Jinli asked Mu Tong: "Uncle Mu Tong, what is the specific price for those forty-three snakes?"

The live snakes were caught together by her, Qin San Lang, Luo Huiniang and her siblings, as well as Tian Xiaohua and her siblings. The profit from selling them had to be split equally. She needed to clear up the prices so she could tell them later.

Mu Tong told her the price.

Aside from those three swollen-necked snakes, one red bamboo snake also sold for three hundred cents, the highest price for the others was one hundred cents and the cheapest sold for only eight cents. The prices varied greatly, mainly based on the rarity of the snakes. Those forty-three snakes in total sold for two taels and eight hundred cents.

After Mu Tong finished talking about the snake prices, he also told her the prices of the herbs.

The dried medicinal herbs she sold totaled twenty-eight catties and one tael, altogether fetching one tael and eight hundred and thirty cents. The prices of the various herbs varied, but on average, they were about sixty-five cents per catty, which was quite good.

After speaking with Mu Tong, Gu Dashan returned the Silver Coin earned from selling the herbs to Gu Jinli: "This money includes Brother Qin and the others’ share, it’s not good to mix it with our family’s Silver, you should keep it yourself."

Gu Jinli smiled and took the Silver Coin, promising: "Dad, don’t worry, I’ll hide the Silver Coin well and won’t let thieves snatch it away."

Having taken the money, she ran to the front shop to buy medicinal herbs for dispelling cold and dampness.

Their family had been on the run, enduring a lot of cold along the way. They needed to buy some to soak their feet in, to dispel the cold within the body. Otherwise, without having to wait until old age, their entire family would be afflicted with rheumatism.

And there was Gu Jinxiu. She was of marriageable age already, and women especially should not endure the cold. Once chilled, and with the cold lingering in the body, it becomes difficult to conceive later. In ancient times, the inability to have children could lead to great suffering.

Mai Dong, the attendant standing by the medicine cabinet, knew that she hailed from the same place as Doctor Du and that Doctor Wu had bought her herbs, so he asked with enthusiasm: "Young miss, what kind of medicine do you want to buy? How much? Do you have a prescription?"

Gu Jinli smiled at Mai Dong: "I don’t have a prescription. I want to buy two catties of Sichuan peppercorns, two catties of mature mugwort, and half a catty of Xuzhangqing."

Xuzhangqing was a bit expensive; she dared not buy too much.

Mai Dong jotted down the names of the medicinal herbs she mentioned on a small piece of yellow paper. After she finished speaking, he personally took the yellow paper to fetch her medicine.

Shortly after, he handed her three packages wrapped in yellow paper: "This package contains Sichuan peppercorns, this one mature mugwort, and this small one is Xuzhangqing. The total comes to one hundred and seventy cents."

Sichuan peppercorns and mature mugwort were cheap, Xuzhangqing cost one hundred and sixty cents per catty, so her half catty was eighty cents.

"Thank you." Gu Jinli handed over the Silver Coin and took the three packets of medicine, unable to help feeling amazed. No wonder so many people died of illness in ancient times; poor medical conditions were one reason, and expensive medicines another. The medicines in her hand now equaled half a month’s wages of a healthy laborer.

By the time she returned to the backyard with the medicines, Doctor Du and the others were already saying goodbye to Doctor Wu.

Doctor Du had no silver coin, and Elder Doctor Wu advanced him two months’ wages, which moved Doctor Du to tears, as he kept thanking Elder Doctor Wu.

Elder Doctor Wu waved his hand and said, "Don’t mention it, just remember to come to work on the tenth day. If you’re worried about your grandchildren, bring them along. I’ve reserved a room in the back yard for you, which can be divided into two smaller rooms, enough for the three of you to live in."

Doctor Du was concerned about leaving his grandchildren behind when he worked in town, and Elder Doctor Wu’s offer solved a big problem for him. He was about to express his gratitude again when Elder Doctor Wu, frightened by the gesture, quickly called for Mu Tong to escort them out of the pharmacy.

As soon as Gu Jinli left the pharmacy, she ran to Qin San Lang and said, "Brother Qin, our snake sold well, we got 2800 copper coins."

Hearing this, Qin San Lang smiled, "That’s a good price, we’ll get a decent share." Especially for the Tian Family, the money would alleviate a lot of their pressure.

Doctor Du glanced at Qin San Lang, then turned to ask Third Grandpa, "Old Gu, are you going to buy New Year’s goods?"

Third Grandpa replied, "Yes, it’s the New Year, we have to buy some things and also need to purchase some household goods."

Doctor Du said, "I need to make some purchases too, let’s go together."

It was not easy for Doctor Du to meet folks from his hometown, and he was filled with nostalgia, not wanting to part with them too soon.

Third Grandpa naturally agreed.

None of the families had proper winter clothing, and even their shoes were straw sandals, leaving their feet frozen to a reddish purple, so they headed straight for the cloth shop to buy some fabric and cotton to make shoes, cotton clothes, and cotton quilts.

The cloth shop wasn’t far from the pharmacy, just a half an hour’s walk on the same main street.

With the New Year fast approaching, the cloth shop was bustling with groups of customers.

But when many people saw them, they stepped aside and whispered among themselves, "Look, they must be refugees allocated to Qingfu Town."

"Indeed, look at them, so thin they barely look human, and those clothes, tattered like beggars."

"Tsk tsk, not even a pair of shoes, their feet are almost frozen like pig’s trotters."

"Ah, it’s really pitiful..."

Some spoke with mockery, others with pity.

But Gu Jinli and her group didn’t take their words to heart.

They were contemptuous of those who mocked them. Having survived the harsh journey, they were heroes in their own right.

They needed no pity. They had hands and feet and could make a living on their own.

Gu Jinli, carrying her two hemp bags, slammed 200 silver coins down on the counter and said to the shopkeeper, "How much for cotton and cotton cloth?!"

The shopkeeper of the cloth shop, who had intended to send them away, seeing her smash down 200 silver coins, immediately said with a grin, "We have three kinds of cotton here: new, old, and mixed. New cotton is one hundred cents per pound, old cotton is sixty cents per pound, and mixed cotton is fifty cents per pound."

Third Grandpa furrowed his brows and said, "These prices are more expensive than previous years."

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "The old gentleman is right, the prices are indeed higher than in the past. But this year, many places in Great Chu are affected by disaster, and the prices of many things have risen. Now with the New Year upon us, when everyone is making new clothes, the prices are naturally even higher."