The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 88 - 77: Violent Profits

Chapter 88: Chapter 77: Violent Profits

Zhou Wulang and the others didn’t even have a scale, and in the end, it was the lady who brought a scale from the kitchen to weigh the wild yams.

They had dug up quite a bunch of wild yams, and since they’d just been unearthed not long ago, they were really heavy, weighing a total of twenty-five pounds and six taels.

Manbao generously offered to give them the extra six taels as well.

The lady glanced at Zhou Wulang and, seeing that he had no objections, knew the young girl was in charge. She smiled, calculated the money, and gave it to them, saying, "If you have more wild yams in the future, bring them to our mansion. The old lady here loves wild yam cakes and will take any amount you have."

Zhou Wulang happily agreed, feeling that selling herbs to wealthy families was more profitable.

Manbao felt the same way, but she also suspected in her heart that the seemingly amiable manager uncle was a swindler.

The system then said, "Host, the price Manager Zheng offered is fair."

Manbao asked, "Was the price offered by the Fu Family not fair?"

The system replied, "It’s fair. Whether it’s twenty wen or even fifty wen, as long as you can sell it, it’s considered fair."

The system said, "Wild yams can be cultivated, but no one in your area does so manually. Therefore, while dried wild yams can be bought from pharmacies, fresh wild yams are hard to come by."

"Moreover, Jishi Hall purchases herbs to conduct business; they also trade in medicinal materials. By buying from you, they not only use it themselves but can also sell it to other pharmacies or higher-level ones," the system explained. "The usual dose of dried wild yam in prescriptions is two or three qian, and when I scanned the pharmacy, their pricing was one qian of wild yam for one wen."

Manbao sat on the cart and began calculating with her fingers: one pound is sixteen taels, one tael is ten qian, one qian is one wen...

As she calculated, Manbao’s eyes gradually widened. Twenty wen for a pound of dried wild yams, and Manager Zheng was reselling it for one hundred and sixty wen.

Manbao couldn’t help but mumble, "Profiteer!"

Zhou Wulang, who had just finished the candy business with Qiuyue, heard her and immediately covered her mouth, whispering, "My little ancestor, who talks about their own brother like that? I let off a few pieces of candy for her; how am I a swindler?"

Manbao pulled his hand away and said, "I wasn’t talking about you. I was talking about Manager Zheng."

Zhou Wulang thought for a moment and nodded, "He is pretty crafty. If the fresh ones are twenty wen, he should not charge us the same for the dried ones. We won’t sell to him next time."

Zhou Wulang then regretted the wild yam he gave away, saying, "You shouldn’t have given him the yam for free just now. It would have been better to sell it; it weighed more than a pound."

Manbao turned away from him and stopped speaking.

Zhou Wulang didn’t mind, lifted her up onto the cart, and joyfully said, "Never mind, today is a huge harvest. Manbao, let’s go buy some meat, and get extra!"

Manbao ignored him, still talking to Keke in her mind.

When the system heard Manbao call Manager Zheng a profiteer, it reminded her, "Think about the book in your arms."

So Manbao was in a dilemma, unsure whether to label Manager Zheng as a profiteer.

Seeing her struggling, Keke explained, "The prices pharmacies sell medicines for are generally standardized, especially in large pharmacies like Jishi Hall, where prices are consistent across locations."

Manbao was puzzled, then what?

The system explained, "The cost of transportation is very high. For example, if they have to transport a batch of medicinal materials to Hebei Dao, it would take about two months on the road, they need escorts, money for food, drink, accommodation, as well as workers’ wages, and the pharmacy has to make a profit... "

After calculating, Manbao felt much more comfortable.

The system said, "Of course, medicinal materials are still highly profitable, but the price he offered you is fair, because that purchase price is the common one. So, for your own benefit, I suggest that in the future such medicinal herbs that can be used for daily meals don’t need to be sent to the pharmacy. Direct local sales, like this, are a great idea."

It also gave an example, "For instance, Indian pennywort is light, but it’s found everywhere and still sold at a good price because this type of herb is generally purchased and consumed locally, without transportation costs, so the offered price is more generous."

Manbao asked curiously, "What else can be used as daily dietary medicinal herbs?"

Keke replied, "That is something the host will have to discover on their own."

Manbao’s eyes swiveled thoughtfully, deciding she would have to take Keke to the mountains when she had time.

Having found good things in the mountains twice in a row, not only could she earn points, but she could also earn coins. To Manbao, the mountain now appeared to be a mountain of treasures.

It seemed to be hiding countless treasures.

Manbao made up her mind and began humming an out-of-tune song.

Zhou Wulang pushed her to go buy meat.

There weren’t many meat stalls in the market, as people at the time didn’t have a preference for pork; instead, there was more lamb, and with winter approaching and the weather starting to get cold, even more people were eating lamb to warm their bodies.

Zhou Wulang led a group of kids to the lamb meat stall, picked a piece, and asked the stall owner to cut two pounds for him.

Manbao was responsible for paying, using the fifty wen given to them by Zhou Dalang.

Having bought the meat, everyone bundled together happily, feeling that the allure of the county town wasn’t that strong after all; they wanted to go home, home to eat meat!

So they stopped wandering around the streets and quickly made their way through the county town, returning to the grain shop to find Zhou Dalang and his brother.

The grain shop was empty, so the group turned around and headed to the nearby cloth store.

Manbao, Daya, and Erya ran the fastest, dashing into the cloth store, where they saw Zhou Erlang squishing a bunch of cotton, bargaining with the shopkeeper.

Zhou Erlang was somewhat hesitant, but seeing Manbao charge in like a little calf (she had grown a bit taller after the spring), he decided.

It might have been because of decent meals or genetics, but she was already half a head taller than her peers. The clothes adjusted by her mother last year were now too small, revealing her wrists. When she stretched out her hands, half her forearm was exposed. It didn’t seem like an issue now, but in a month or so, when it got colder, she would freeze.

Zhou Erlang bit the bullet and said to the shopkeeper, "Add another pound, and put five more chi of cloth for me."

The shopkeeper agreed with a smile and glanced at the kids who rushed in, saying with a laugh, "Your young mistress is growing up well."

Zhou Erlang smiled back and gently patted Manbao and Erya’s heads.

After buying the cotton and cloth, Zhou Erlang didn’t want to spend money on food in the county town. He asked a nearby shopkeeper for some hot water and soaked the flatbread for them to eat.

Since Datou and the others were last-minute additions, they didn’t bring enough food, which was why Ms. Qian gave them extra coins, so they could buy some food in the county town.

They hadn’t anticipated such smooth sailing with selling the herbs, and it was only just lunchtime. So Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang tightened their belts, deciding to head back home before eating.

Eating out was not cheap, after all.

Although they were eating soaked flatbread, Manbao relished it. Seeing her big brother and Second Brother only drinking water and not eating, she slipped off the cart, ready to run and buy some baked buns.

But she had only taken two steps when Zhou Dalang scooped her up, chiding sternly, "Don’t run off. What if someone snatches you away? Just sit tight and behave."

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