The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 858 - 836: Smoothly

Chapter 858: Chapter 836: Smoothly

Madam Huang really liked Manbao’s smile. Since the white peony was of great quality and not expensive, and since she had already bought the yaohuang peonies for 1,250 taels, she naturally didn’t mind buying two pots of white peonies. So she nodded with a smile, "Sure, then I’ll take two pots."

Madam Wei had just outbid Second Madam Ji to get the moutan peony and was very happy, indicating that she would also buy two pots.

Although Madam Ming didn’t manage to buy any flowers, she wasn’t too upset. After all, Madam Huang was her husband’s superior’s wife; had she actually won, it would have led to some tensions afterwards. Now, even though she missed out on the flowers, she was spared from an annoying worry.

She thus had the spare time to look at those white peonies and, upon seeing their excellent quality, she laughed, "Then I’ll take two pots as well. Second Madam Ji, would you like to buy some?"

Second Madam Ji didn’t look too happy but forced a smile, "I’ll also take two pots then."

With that, there were still two pots left.

Madam Ming laughed, "Then I might as well buy the remaining pots; I can give one to Madam Zhang and one to Madam Qi who both adore peony flowers."

And so, all the flowers Manbao had brought were sold.

Madam Wei knew about Manbao and Bai Shan; after all, her son had been beaten the night before last because of this. Hence, she asked with a smile, "As for the money, shall we send it directly to your residence or...?"

Manbao replied, "Send it to our house, please."

At this point, Madam Huang was certain these three were not there to gain her favor, so she also relaxed and said with a smile, "When I hold the flower viewing banquet later, I’ll also invite the three young friends to join."

Manbao expressed gratitude, but inside, she wasn’t very eager to attend.

A flower viewing banquet hosted by the wife of a military governor, the Princess Consort of Yizhou would certainly be there. She was still so young; she didn’t want to bump into her just yet.

After everyone finished their conversations, they went back to their respective homes. Before the afternoon arrived, the Huang Family and Wei Family sent people over with money.

The money was sent in chests. When Zhou ErLang opened one and saw the stacks of silver, his legs turned to jelly.

He looked up at Manbao and swallowed hard before asking, "Manbao, where do we put all this money?"

Manbao replied, "Let’s keep it under the bed for now; I’ll need it later to buy medicinal ingredients."

Zhou SiLang asked, "You’re planning to buy so many ingredients? Will you be able to use them all?"

"So?"

Zhou SiLang suggested, "Let’s send some back home. I just feel it’s not safe to keep so much money here. It’d be safer at home, where nobody can steal it."

Bai Shan cautioned, "Fourth Brother Zhou, I’m worried you might get robbed on the way."

Zhou SiLang, who had been robbed once, went silent and dared not to bring it up again.

Because he was afraid too.

The money eventually remained stored in chests under Manbao’s bed, as Zhou SiLang concluded it indeed seemed to be one of the safest places.

Now that the flowers were sold, the frustration that had been building up in Manbao’s chest finally dissipated, and she went back to pestering Shopkeeper Zheng at the pharmacy to find an herb farmer.

Shopkeeper Zheng almost dared not enter the pharmacy, but even when he did, he would take a detour upon seeing Manbao. He couldn’t help complaining to Doctor Ji, "I never knew this girl could be so stubborn."

Doctor Ji replied indifferently, "The stubborn ones are able to master medicine. Didn’t you praise her before for being able to endure hardship and for being stubborn?"

Shopkeeper Zheng turned around and walked away, only to bump into Manbao, who had come looking for him from the front courtyard. Shopkeeper Zheng: ...

With a beaming smile, Manbao greeted Shopkeeper Zheng and asked, "Shopkeeper Zheng, is there still no news from the herb farmers?"

Shopkeeper Zheng shook his head sorrowfully, "No."

A look of disappointment washed over Manbao’s face.

Just as she was about to turn around and leave, Gu came running from the front, shouting loudly, "Manbao, the herb farmers have come!"

After yelling, he realized the shopkeeper was there and immediately added another sentence, "Shopkeeper, someone from Xiao First’s family has arrived, you go out and have a look."

Manbao immediately turned and ran towards the front, her spirits leaping joyously, even Shopkeeper Zheng was cheered up a bit.

The three of them ran together to the front courtyard, startling the Xiao Family’s youngest son, who couldn’t help but take three steps back with his basket on his back.

Manbao recognized him; she had seen him last year when his family came to deliver medicinal herbs, but they had hardly spoken.

Manbao ran up to him and asked, "Are you here to deliver raw medicinal herbs?"

"Just a moment, just a moment, Manbao, don’t scare him, let me ask," Shopkeeper Zheng caught up from behind, pulled Manbao back slightly, and after catching his breath, asked Xiao Xiaosan, "Did your father send you?"

Xiao Xiaosan nodded, glancing at Manbao, and said, "My father received the message from the pharmacy, saying that the young doctor in the shop wants to recognize raw medicinal herbs, so he’s willing to count every three plants of raw herbs as one jin of processed herbs in terms of payment. So he sent me over with some, but I don’t know if it’s true."

"It’s true!" Manbao interjected, not even giving Shopkeeper Zheng a chance to speak.

Shopkeeper Zheng gave her a sideways glance and waved his hand, "Go on, go on, kids shouldn’t crowd around for excitement."

After shooing Manbao away, he then said to Xiao Xiaosan, "We’re not interested in just any raw medicinal herbs; I remember I had someone send you a list."

"Yes, all the herbs we brought are on the list," Xiao Xiaosan replied, setting down the basket and taking out an item wrapped in leaves, "This is Cuscuta, this is narrowleaf cattail, this is Du Zhong..."

In Manbao’s mind, Keke clanged, "Not recorded, not recorded, still not recorded..."

Even though it was a synthetic voice, Manbao could sense the cheerfulness in it.

Watching Xiao Xiaosan continuously take out items, Manbao was also very cheerful, squatting down excitedly to look. She was so engrossed that she no longer paid attention to Shopkeeper Zheng’s expression and kept waving her little hands, "Buy, buy, buy..."

She had money, she had just earned a lot of money.

With eyes sparkling like a sky full of stars, those unaware might think she was the one selling the goods.

Shopkeeper Zheng couldn’t bear to look anymore and for the first time, thought Manbao was quite foolish.

Even Xiao Xiaosan couldn’t help but laugh. After taking each item out, he said, "As soon as my father received the letter, he guessed it was Young Doctor Zhou who wanted to buy these new medicinal herbs, so he specifically told me to bring more of each kind, to let Young Doctor Zhou recognize them multiple times."

Manbao opened the leaves to look at the items inside. After Keke scanned them, it stated, "All have active properties, which can be cultivated and studied."

Manbao was overjoyed and said to Xiao Xiaosan, "I haven’t seen the fresh appearance of many medicinal herbs, so I want to recognize them. If your family finds any more rare herbs, please don’t process them. Bring them to me, and I will pay you the price of one jin of processed herbs."

Xiao Xiaosan agreed.

Indeed, it was Manbao’s tempting offer that made them pick a bit of each item and enter the city overnight. Otherwise, it would take a day or two just to enter the city; who would want to come all the time?

Shopkeeper Zheng sighed and waved his hand, "Alright, alright, since you two have made your deal, I won’t say anything."

Manbao looked at Xiao Xiaosan delightedly and turned around to take a sheet of paper out of her basket. It was densely packed with names of various medicinal herbs, "These are the names of the medicinal herbs I’ve listed in the past few days, all of which are raw ones I have not seen. Take a look and see if you have them. I’ll tell you if I add any more later