bookrebus Chapter 112 Cooperation
Chapter 112 Cooperation
The two men rode their horses, weaving through the shade of trees, chatting casually on the road. Zhao Huanxi did not show much emotional ups and downs.
As for Xu Qingzhao, if Zhao Huanxi didn't say anything, then she wouldn't say anything either. She would just occasionally lower her head and feel the aura coming from Huanxi, which already made her feel extremely at ease.
She was already very satisfied just being this close to Huanxi. She didn't ask for anything else.
She had taken Old Master Lu's words to heart. However, her identity could never be made public. Besides, as a woman, could she truly bring happiness to her? Thinking of this, the throbbing in her heart subsided a little.
After an hour's express ride, we arrived in the town and the first thing we did was go to Wenchun Hall.
"Xiao Ding, where is your master?"
As soon as she entered the pharmacy, she looked for Doctor He, but after looking around, there was no trace of the old man.
"Madam, the master is giving acupuncture to a patient in the backyard. Are you here to sell medicine today?"
She found a seat and pulled Xu Qingzhao to sit down. She put her bag on the table and winked at Xiao Ding: "This is the medicinal herbs I dug in the mountains a few days ago. There are some good things here."
After hearing this, Xiao Ding smiled and ran to the backyard to ask for Doctor He. However, Doctor He was not as cheerful as usual today. He had a sad and bitter look on his face.
"Hey, what's wrong? Doctor He, are you in a bad mood?"
Doctor He sighed and said with a wry smile, "The night before yesterday, a grown woman brought a patient in. I took her pulse and found out she had brain damage, muscle degeneration, and a stroke that left her paralyzed. She should have been brought in when she became ill, but it's been delayed for too long, and it's a bit tricky."
After saying that, he seemed to remember something and asked, "Girl, what good things did you bring today?"
Zhao Huanxi, with a mysterious look on his face, opened the cloth bag on the table. Inside lay a dozen or so pieces of Gastrodia elata of varying sizes, along with a small bundle of slender plant roots. A closer look revealed it to be Angelica sinensis.
Doctor He stroked his beard and signaled Xiao Ding to fetch the scales. "Regardless of size, the market price for Gastrodia elata is three taels of silver per tael. But that's the price after processing. Zhao Huanxi's price is just for the air-dried part, probably only two taels of silver per tael."
After listening to Doctor He's explanation, Zhao Huanxi had no objection. He nodded in agreement and asked Doctor He to put the Gastrodia elata on the scale.
"Gastrodia elata weighs three taels per catty. If two taels of silver are exchanged for one tael, that makes twenty-six taels of silver. Now, let's look at angelica. Angelica is five taels of silver per catty, and yours is two catties, which is ten taels of silver, so a total of thirty-six taels. Is that okay, Zhao girl?"
Zhao Huanxi smiled and nodded, so Doctor He sent Xiao Ding to get the silver and sat down to chat with Huanxi.
"Girl Zhao, who is this?"
"This is the older brother next door to my house, his last name is Xu."
Doctor He did not ask any more questions after hearing this, but he noticed that although Xu Qingzhao was dressed simply, his temperament did not look like that of a farmer, so he asked a question.
"How are you doing with the Pharmacopoeia?"
"It's not bad. As you know, I'm not very literate, so I read a little slowly. Doctor He, please don't laugh at me."
"How could that be? Take your time to read. There's no rush. The herbs you sent are all good stuff. I wish you could read more and send me more good herbs."
The two exchanged greetings while Xu Qingzhao quietly drank tea and listened to their gossip.
After a while, Xiao Ding came from behind and put the silver down neatly. Zhao Huanxi counted the money, accepted it, and said goodbye to the master and disciple.
After leaving Wenchun Hall, Zhao Huanxi took Xu Qingzhao to the restaurant they visited last time, Zhenxiu Pavilion.
The two of them asked for a private room, asked the waiter to bring some of the restaurant's special dishes for the day, and then closed the door to chat.
"Brother Xu, you've worked so hard today. Consider this meal a thank you. Don't be polite to me."
Xu Qingzhao took a sip of tea and smiled gently, "Okay, then I must eat more."
Zhao Huanxi had several reasons for bringing Xu Qingzhao to town today. First, she wanted to show him the way around. Since he'd agreed to be her family's bodyguard, he'd definitely have to run into town occasionally to get some goods. Second, she wanted to visit Hongying on the way. She had always felt that things weren't going well at Hongying's house.
The third thing is to talk to Xu Qingzhao about cooperation.
"Brother Xu, do we want to cooperate?"
Xu Qingzhao raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "What kind of cooperation?"
Zhao Huanxi poured himself a cup of tea, then leaned in closer and said, "Look, I go into the mountains to dig herbs, but that can only keep me warm for a while. If I want to make a living long-term, I have to find a way to make money."
"Oh? Go on?"
"I plan to buy some land and reclaim the area between my back door and the foot of the mountain to grow medicinal herbs and waxberry. Then I'll buy some more land to grow food for my family. But imagination is great, but the reality is that I can't handle everything by myself, so I need help."
After saying this, he had an expression that said, "You understand me." This made Xu Qingzhao laugh.
"So, I'm here to help?"
"You can be more than just an assistant. You can also be a partner or the head manager. It all depends on your own ideas. But the pay is determined by the effort you put in."
"Then can I, like you said, also invest some money and become a partner?"
Zhao Huanxi nodded and said, of course, but the partners' investment is limited and can only be invested in medicinal fields. Wax eggplant is not intended to be passed on to others.
Don't blame her for being selfish. Once wax eggplant starts to be promoted, it will definitely be widely loved. She also plans to build a summer resort near her home and open a private restaurant in the form of a farm stay, specializing in Sichuan cuisine with chili flavor.
The money earned is just a few years of fresh money. As long as everyone knows that this thing is edible, I believe that in a few years, those chefs will also develop these recipes.
So the only partner she needed was an investor in the medicinal fields. As for the wax eggplant, she could grow it by herself. She could then plant it in her backyard, buy some bricks and tiles, and build a large farm to grow medicinal herbs. It would be perfect.
"As far as I know, the land I want to buy has the most human and harmony land. If I want to buy it, I must buy a minimum of ten acres. Besides, it will cost a lot of manpower and material resources to open up the land. How much money do you plan to invest, Brother Xu?"
Xu Qingzhao smiled slightly: "How about fifty taels?"
Although she has only made a living by hunting over the years, she has also saved some money.
Besides, she had no choice but to come to Dashi Village to beg, and also to hide her tracks.
As for silver, when I was traveling with him, the Xu family was not poor at the time, so I had a lot of silver notes and money with me when I left home. But later, when I fled, I threw away the small change that was in the way, trying to escape.
She didn't dare to use the large banknotes, so she stuffed a few banknotes into her worn-out shoes and walked all the way to Dashi Village.
Although it was a bit worn, it was still usable, so the remaining silver notes were also a considerable amount. In order to repay the favor and test the village chief and his wife, she pretended that she only had one silver note worth 100 taels left and gave it all to the village chief and his family. At that time, the village chief and his wife persuaded her to accept it and said that it would be her dowry when she got married.
In fact, she still had three or four on her, but she was careful not to show them. Add to that the small change she had saved from hunting over the years, and she was actually the richest woman in the village.
Zhao Huanxi had no idea about all this. Seeing Xu Qingzhao's tone, he nodded. He said that if Xu Qingzhao gave fifty taels, he would give another fifty taels to buy land for reclamation and buy bricks and tiles. It should be enough.
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