dognovel Chapter 21: Exchange of Money and Cutting of Meat
Chapter 21: Exchange of Money and Cutting of Meat
Old Mrs. Zhou had been to the drugstore many times. After pulling Zhou Mingshu through the crowded crowd and going around an alley, she finally found the drugstore with ease.
"Hey, Mrs. Zhou, why are you here? Are you feeling unwell?" The shopkeeper of Baicaotang looked up and saw that it was an old acquaintance.
"Doctor Chen, I'm fine. I got something yesterday and thought it might be useful to you, so I brought it here for you to take a look."
As he said this, he motioned to Zhou Mingshu to bring the backpack over.
Zhou Mingshu just realized why his grandmother was so familiar with the owner of this medicine store. He must have come here often to see his grandfather when he was sick.
Early in the morning, there were not many people in Baicaotang.
Doctor Chen is both a doctor and the owner of Baicaotang. He runs this pharmacy together with his wife, and their income is barely enough to make a living.
Old Mrs. Zhou opened the cloth wrapped around the Polygonatum odoratum, and a piece of Polygonatum odoratum shaped like ginger appeared in front of Doctor Chen.
"Mrs. Zhou, this is Polygonatum sibiricum, and it's such a big piece! This piece you have is bigger than the one Uncle Zhou got some time ago."
Doctor Chen's words were quite realistic, and Old Mrs. Zhou smiled so hard that her eyes curved.
"Yes, it's a rare trip into the mountains, and I actually came across such a good medicinal herb. My hands were shaking when I was digging it."
Doctor Chen smiled and took the small scale for weighing medicinal materials. This small scale is used to weigh medicinal materials and will be more accurate than the Zhou family's large scale.
After weighing it carefully, it weighs about one pound and one ounce.
"Mrs. Zhou, do you have any questions about the weight?"
What Dr. Chen meant by asking this was actually whether the weight was consistent with the weight she weighed at home.
Old Mrs. Zhou nodded naturally. The scale at home was certainly not as accurate as the one in the pharmacy, and the weight was just about the same.
Once the weight is confirmed, it’s time to negotiate the price.
Doctor Chen did not try to bargain and just asked for one hundred coins.
Although Mrs. Zhou was surprised, she did not agree.
If it was still one catty as before, I would just give her a hundred coins. But now it is one catty and one ounce, so I should give her one hundred and ten coins.
She couldn't be fooled.
Besides, her piece of Polygonatum sibiricum was large, so it must be of high age. Old Mrs. Zhou asked for 120 wen, but her target price was 110 wen.
The two sides talked to each other and finally decided on a price of one hundred and fifteen cents.
The extra five cents was a pleasant surprise.
Doctor Chen also wanted to make money. As a man, he was not good at bargaining. As long as he could make a profit without losing money, he would nod his head.
Old Mrs. Zhou was holding a handful of money and counting the coins carefully, while Zhou Mingshu was leaning over the counter and asking Doctor Chen if the pharmacy had any anti-itching ointment or something like that.
Doctor Chen told the truth, that the shop didn't have any yet, but it would be soon. The days were getting hotter and there were more and more mosquitoes. He would go to the county town to purchase the goods when he had some free time.
Many people have come to ask him recently, and he feels that it is time to restock the goods, as he himself has been bitten a lot.
"But little girl, this anti-itching ointment is not cheap. A small jar costs thirty cents." He said this because he naturally thought that Zhou Mingshu's family might not be willing to pay for it. After all, her family was quite poor.
"Then can I ask what kind of bottle this anti-itching ointment is packaged in?"
"Packaging?" It was the first time that Doctor Chen heard this word. After a moment, he realized what it meant. "It's a small porcelain bottle."
There was a porcelain bottle left over from last year on the counter, and Dr. Chen took it out and showed it to her.
Zhou Mingshu took a look at the small porcelain bottle. It was surprisingly small and could only hold seven or eight grams at most.
"Such a small porcelain bottle costs thirty cents?" Zhou Mingshu opened his mouth wide.
"Yeah, I told you it's expensive. If my family didn't sell this thing, I wouldn't be able to afford it." Doctor Chen was very patient with his guests and actually chatted with a little girl for such a long time.
"Well, it's really expensive. Are there many people buying it?"
"It's OK. After all, besides being able to relieve itching, many families can't stand it and will buy a can for the whole family."
More and more people came into the shop, and Doctor Chen didn't want to talk to her and hurriedly greeted the patients.
Old Mrs. Zhou counted the money and kept enough for buying things. She put the rest in a cloth bag tied to her belt, wrapped it with a rope a few times, and then stuffed it into a secret pocket in her pants.
"Sanya, let's go."
"Grandma, look, this bottle is for anti-itching ointment, and it costs thirty cents a bottle."
Old Mrs. Zhou took a look, nodded, and took her to say hello to Doctor Chen and went out.
"Grandma, do you understand what I mean? A small bottle of anti-itch ointment costs thirty coins. If I can make this anti-itch ointment, our family will become rich."
"I'll beat you to death, you unfilial daughter. If you keep talking nonsense to me, I'll sew your mouth shut."
Old Mrs. Zhou glared at Zhou Mingshu and pulled her into an empty alley.
"You silly girl, can you please keep your voice down? If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb."
Zhou Mingshu curled his lips and said, "Grandma, I clearly suppressed my voice just now. Don't worry, no one heard it."
Before she spoke, she looked at the people around her. Even though she had grown up, she had some awareness of this.
What was she doing wrong as a grandmother? It turned out that she was afraid that this matter would leak out in advance.
"Well, how can you be so sure you can do it? If it were that easy and anyone could do it, it wouldn't be worth that much money."
Old Mrs. Zhou had her own considerations. It didn't matter if it failed, the key was that it would be a waste of lard, which was so precious.
"Grandma, don't worry. I just smelled the porcelain bottle and it smells like mugwort. The anti-itching ointment is clearly made of mugwort. Let's try it when we get home. If it really works, we can exchange it for money. How great is that."
Maybe it was because Zhou Mingshu drew the pancake so big and round, Old Mrs. Zhou felt expectant and started laughing too.
"Okay, let's give it a try. Let's go to the market and buy some meat."
Now that he had money in his pocket and there was nothing in the backpack except an empty bag, Zhou Mingshu carried it on his back and followed Old Mrs. Zhou closely.
They cut a pound of fat meat, tied it up with straw and put it in a backpack.
The meat stall was not busy, and the butcher was chatting with Old Mrs. Zhou while wiping his knife.
"Auntie Zhou, it's been a long time since I last saw you. How are you doing?"
"Okay, okay, it's fine. Is your business good?"
"Haha, that's all, barely enough to support the family." The butcher was also a talkative man. He handed over a half-cut pig's internal organs, "Auntie Zhou, I haven't seen my brother Shouren for a long time. Please clean up for him and let him have a drink."
"You have to keep it and sell it for money. I can't take it." Then he pulled his granddaughter away.
The butcher had already cut the meat, so he would definitely not put it down. The butcher was surrounded by the board where the meat was placed and could not get out, so he aimed at the backpack on Zhou Mingshu and threw the meat.
The backpack on Zhou Mingshu's back sank and he almost fell on his butt.