mesbooks Chapter 147 Buying Cloth and Selling Ginseng
Chapter 147 Buying Cloth and Selling Ginseng
"Although it sounds good, the price is still too high. You said it was the normal selling price, but now that there's a problem with the fabric, how much are you planning to sell it for?" Madam Liu touched the fabric again, still showing some dissatisfaction on her face.
Seeing Liu's expression, the shopkeeper mentally calculated the cost and then glanced at the material in his hand.
"One hundred and thirty coins per foot," the shopkeeper calculated in his mind and quoted the cost price directly.
"It's still too expensive, ninety coins a foot. I'll take the whole thing," Liu said, bargaining.
Upon hearing the price Liu Shi quoted, the shopkeeper almost burst into tears. "Sister-in-law, do you know how long a skilled weaver can weave in a day? Two inches! A skilled weaver can only weave two inches of gauze from morning till night, and it usually takes six months to make one piece of gauze. The price you're offering isn't even enough to cover the weaver's wages."
After saying that, seeing Liu's expression, he continued sincerely, "Sister-in-law, silk and satin are all expensive, especially silk. Why is this seemingly ordinary material more expensive than the most luxurious silk? It's because the weaving method is too complicated and the weaving is too slow. How about this, 115 cash, I'll reduce the price by 15 cash per foot. This is already below my cost price. Do you think my sincerity is enough?"
"What about the price of that plain floral silk? Was the price you quoted just now a normal selling price?" Madam Liu asked, pointing to the plain floral silk.
The shopkeeper looked at the bolt of fabric and sighed helplessly.
"Sister-in-law, the lowest price is twenty-eight coins per foot, no lower than that."
"..." Upon hearing the shopkeeper's price, Madam Liu silently calculated in her mind for a while before speaking to him.
"Let's calculate how much these two bolts of fabric cost. Also, find me a bolt of fine cotton fabric with some flaws."
"Alright, alright, I'll calculate the price for you right now." After saying that, she said to the young shop assistant, "Go to the back storeroom and find some of the dirty cotton cloth from before for your sister-in-law, and bring it over for her to see." After saying that, she pulled the abacus on the table and started calculating.
"Sister-in-law, one bolt of brocade is thirty-six feet long, at twenty-eight coins per foot, so this is one thousand and eight coins. One bolt of wicker is eighteen feet long, at one hundred and fifteen coins per foot, so this is two thousand and seventy coins. The two bolts together are three thousand and seventy-eight coins." After counting it once, he counted it again, just in case there was a mistake. Only then did he report the price to Liu.
"Yes, that's fine. Let's do it together once we find the cotton fabric." Liu nodded in agreement when she heard the price he mentioned.
It took the young shop assistant quite a while to bring out a piece of white cotton cloth with yellow water stains on it from behind. When it came out, there were still cobwebs hanging above its head, showing that it had been carefully searched. The cloth was probably five, six, seven, or eight years old.
"Sister-in-law, look at this fabric. It's gotten wet from the rain, and it's turned a bit yellow over time, but it'll still be usable after washing and making quilt linings or cotton-padded clothes linings," the shopkeeper said to Liu.
"Are you sure this is rainwater, and not rat urine?" Xia Yu looked at the yellowish watermark, the color of which made her feel uneasy.
"This is definitely rainwater. There's no way there could be rats in our warehouse. We're more careful about this than any other store. This batch of goods got rained on during transport due to improper storage. Our young man who was inspecting the goods didn't notice it before it was put into storage."
"How much is this?" Liu asked, touching the fabric.
"I'll give you this for a bargain price of eight coins a foot."
"Okay, let's do the math." Since the price was already lower than she had expected, Liu agreed without any hesitation.
"This batch is fifty feet, four hundred coins, plus the two from before, totaling three thousand four hundred and seventy-eight coins," the shopkeeper said after calculating on the abacus again.
Liu looked at Xia Yu and said
"Xiaxia, I have some money in my basket, could you help me carry it?"
Xia Yu immediately understood; her mother had no money left. She walked to the chair where they had been resting, took a five-tael silver ingot from the basket, and handed it to her mother. The shopkeeper and the assistant, watching this scene, couldn't help but marvel at the mother and daughter's audacity—five taels of silver so brazenly placed in their basket without fear of theft. Xia Yu and Liu Shi, of course, weren't afraid. The silver had just been taken from her spatial storage; no one but her could steal it from that basket.
After paying, the mother and daughter looked at the pile of fabric and said to the shopkeeper...
"My family might be a little late, so let's go out and take care of other things first. We'll have to trouble the shopkeeper to keep these materials safe for a while longer!" After discussing it, Liu and Xia Yu decided that since they didn't want to just sit and wait, they should go to the clinic to ask about the ginseng.
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all, sister-in-law, just go about your business. The fabric is right here, we'll keep an eye on it for you," the shopkeeper replied with a very attentive smile.
After thanking the shopkeeper and asking for directions to Baohetang, the mother and daughter left the cloth shop.
Following the directions given by the cloth shop owner, the two arrived at Baohetang Pharmacy in the county town. When they arrived, the rather large hall was already quite crowded. Some were getting medicine at the counter, while others sat quietly waiting for their turn. Everyone spoke in hushed tones, so despite the large number of people, it wasn't noisy. Seeing them enter, a young apprentice quickly approached and asked, "Auntie, are you getting medicine or seeking medical advice?"
Liu looked at her daughter and said, "We'd like to sell some medicinal herbs. I wonder if your clinic accepts them?"
"Excuse me, ma'am, what kind of medicinal herb is it, and how much is it?" the little girl asked. She needed to decide which person to take Liu to based on the rarity and quantity of the herb.
Liu hesitated for a moment, glancing around before whispering to the young apprentice.
"It's a ginseng root."
"Hiss..." Upon hearing Liu's words, the young medicine boy took a drag in disbelief, his eyes widening as he looked them up and down before speaking.
"Auntie, this way please. I'll take you to find our Manager Li." He then led the way, guiding them towards the back room. Hearing the young apprentice's words, Xia Yu wondered what connection this manager, also surnamed Li, had with the town's Manager Li.
When the young apprentice led them over, Manager Li was writing something at his desk.
"Manager Li, this lady says she has some ginseng to sell."
The person who was writing at the desk heard the boy's voice, looked up at Liu Shi standing behind the boy, and after a few seconds of reaction, he understood the meaning of the boy's words. He quickly stood up and bowed to Liu Shi, who returned the bow with a deep bow.
"Is your sister-in-law selling ginseng?"
"Yes, it was dug up in the mountains."
"May I take a look?"
Liu didn't say anything more, and directly took out something wrapped in a cloth from her basket. In front of Manager Li, she slowly unwrapped it, revealing a thick ginseng inside.
Upon seeing what Liu was holding, Manager Li's heart pounded wildly. He had been practicing medicine for many years, but he had never seen such a large and high-quality ginseng.
"Oh dear, you can't wrap ginseng in a cloth like that. This ginseng is so big, every single root is precious. Don't break it." As she spoke, she started searching in the cabinet behind her, rummaging around haphazardly. Finally, she found a black ebony brocade box, about a foot wide and two feet long, and wanted to take the ginseng from Liu's hand and put it in the box. But her outstretched hand stopped before it even touched the ginseng.
Manager Li smiled somewhat awkwardly at Madam Liu, "I was out of line. I just forgot my manners when I saw such a fine ginseng."
"It's alright, it's only natural. A hero cherishes his precious sword, and Manager Li, a master of traditional Chinese medicine, is naturally delighted to see such rare herbs."
"How much are you planning to sell this ginseng for?" Manager Li had returned to normal by now, but he still couldn't bear to see such a good thing lying on that old cloth, so he could only control his eyes and not look at Liu's hands.
"Manager Li, please name your price! If the price is right, this ginseng will be sold to you." The other members of the Liu family didn't say much, but Manager Li understood that if the price wasn't right, they would just go to another store.