Chapter 45: Old People Become Wise
What kind of look was that from Qian Lao? Did he suspect these medicinal herbs were hers?
Lan Mo had made it clear to Gu Yan’an from the start—she was helping a friend sell medicinal herbs, and the friend couldn’t show up in person. Gu Yan’an should be a smart person; he probably hadn’t said anything unnecessary to them, right?
Lan Mo teased, “Qian Lao, don’t look at me like that. These medicinal herbs aren’t mine. A friend entrusted me to find a buyer for him.”
Making up a friend out of thin air was something Lan Mo could do without batting an eye.
At first, Qian Lao didn’t seem to believe her, but then he remembered Comrade Gu mentioning that her partner worked at a hospital. Where would a doctor get so many precious medicinal herbs?
He guessed Comrade Gu and her partner must have received quite a few benefits from the seller, right?
Gently picking up a twenty-year-old ginseng from the small rosewood box, he examined it and asked doubtfully, “Little comrade, these ginseng all look almost identical. They seem like they were cultivated, don’t they?”
As the saying goes, “With age comes cunning; with time, things become strange.” Medicinal herbs from the same batch grown in the space indeed looked similar in size and shape, so it was no wonder he was suspicious.
“Qian Lao, why don’t you smell the medicinal fragrance first? Or you could pluck a ginseng root and chew it to see if it’s cultivated or wild mountain ginseng.”
“Little Useless in the Cultivation World”—her space was filled with Spiritual Energy. Even the ordinary ginseng she grew in her medicinal fields were clearly superior to the wild ginseng from Changbai Mountain.
Qian Lao first sniffed it, then actually pinched off a centimeter of the ginseng root and chewed it.
“Hmm, not bad! It tastes like wild mountain ginseng. In fact, your ginseng seems even more potent than wild mountain ginseng. But it’s strange—why do all your ginseng look exactly the same?”
“That’s because my friend deliberately grouped ginseng of similar sizes together for aesthetic reasons. Look, this batch of ginseng has been stored for about twenty years. Its medicinal efficacy should be much better than fresh twenty-year-old wild ginseng, right? Shouldn’t the price be a bit higher?”
“Wild mountain ginseng from Changbai Mountain under five years old is sold by the pound—about twenty yuan per jin. A ten-year-old ginseng with intact roots sells for twenty yuan each. Yours is twenty years old and has been stored for another twenty years, so how about sixty yuan per piece?”
A sharp glint flashed in Qian Lao’s bean-sized black eyes. Lan Mo smiled—this old comrade didn’t seem like an honest person either.
“Qian Lao, my medicinal herbs are clearly better than others’ thirty-year-old ginseng. How about eighty yuan per piece? I’ll sell you fifty pieces.”
Qian Lao waved his hand. “No, your price is too high. Even if I buy this many medicinal herbs, they’ll just sit in inventory and won’t sell quickly. How about we each take a step back—sixty-five yuan per piece?”
Lan Mo chuckled. “Taking a step back each would make it seventy, wouldn’t it? If I give in too much, my friend won’t be happy…”
Qian Lao slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Deal! Seventy it is, then.”
Damn it, this old man was about to become a crafty fox! Had she been tricked again?
Qian Lao laughed heartily. “Little comrade, there are still treasures in that big box of yours, aren’t there? Can I take a look?”
Lan Mo replied irritably, “Sorry, the medicinal herbs inside are for my friend to keep.”
Tan Minghui, who was standing nearby, chimed in, “Little comrade, Qian Lao brought enough money today. If your friend has any other good medicinal herbs, you can show them to us.”
Lan Mo pulled out a sandalwood box and handed it to Qian Lao. “Take a good look, old sir. This is a hundred-year-old ginseng.”
Qian Lao opened the box and exclaimed, “Wow, this is truly top-grade ginseng! Look at how beautifully shaped it is, and the roots are so perfectly preserved. Young comrade, would you consider selling me one piece?”
Coincidentally, his superior had previously inquired about where to buy century-old ginseng, mentioning that a high-ranking figure needed it for recuperation. If this deal succeeded, wouldn’t he be credited with a meritorious deed?
As a doctor, the health of family and oneself always comes first.
The greatest regret in life is working hard all your life without earning money; the saddest and most absurd thing is having money but losing your health—you pass away, and another woman spends your money, sleeps with your man, and disciplines your children.
Lan Mo originally had no intention of selling these century-old ginseng. Money can never be fully earned, and good things should naturally be kept for oneself. She didn’t want to end up with wealth but no life to enjoy it.
“I’m not selling. My friend said to keep it for nourishing her own health!”
“You’re so young, where’s the need for nourishment? Young comrade, sell me this century-old ginseng. I’ll give you twelve hundred yuan for it, how about that?”
A twenty-year-old ginseng costs only a few dozen yuan per piece, while a century-old one goes for over a thousand—what a huge difference!
Lan Mo smiled slyly, “Qian Lao, you must be joking. These medicinal herbs aren’t mine—I can’t afford even one of these ginseng pieces.”
“I’d like to nourish my health too, but my pockets are empty. I’m waiting to help my friend sell these herbs so she can treat me to a meal later.”
Lan Mo asked another question, “Qian Lao, how much does a two-hundred-year-old ginseng sell for?”
“Three thousand yuan for a high-quality one, though two-hundred-year-old ginseng is generally hard to find.”
Lan Mo raised an eyebrow with a half-smile. She had fifteen century-old ginseng pieces in total, but only five that were two hundred years old. She could sell one century-old ginseng, but it was better not to sell the two-hundred-year-old ones—keep them for future health nourishment.
“Young comrade, could it be that the purple jade box contains a two-hundred-year-old ginseng king?”
Hah, calling a two-hundred-year-old ginseng a ‘king’—then what would you call those two five-hundred-year-old ginseng pieces in the space?
“The purple jade box doesn’t contain ginseng but other medicinal herbs. My friend said they’re not for sale. She invested considerable money and effort into stockpiling this batch of herbs.”
“Alright then, I won’t look at the herbs in the jade box. Will you sell me one century-old ginseng?”
Lan Mo smiled at Gu Yan’an and said, “What do you think? Should we sell Qian Lao one century-old ginseng?”
How was Gu Yan’an supposed to answer? Saying no would make him seem greedy for her dowry, while saying yes would make him appear money-grubbing. Whatever he said would be wrong.
“Momo, whether to sell or not depends entirely on what your friend thinks.”
“Oh, my friend entrusted these medicinal herbs to me to handle. She said if the price is reasonable, one century-old ginseng could be sold. Qian Lao, do you want to buy? If so, let’s calculate the total price.”
Qian Lao immediately beamed with joy, “Yes, yes, yes! After hearing from Comrade Gu about a big deal, our leader specially gathered ten thousand yuan. That should be enough, I suppose.”
“Comrade Gu Yan’an, there’s a long pole scale and carrying pole in the corner. Could you and Comrade Tan here help weigh these?”
If her partner didn’t help with the work, was she, a female comrade, supposed to do it herself?
She kept ten jin each of red tangerine peel and dried tangerine peel, but sold all the mugwort—after all, she had stored a sack of each in her space.
In the end, the mugwort weighed sixty-six jin, the dried tangerine peel eighty-five jin, and the red tangerine peel totaled one hundred twenty jin.
The aged mugwort sold for 330 yuan, the nearly forty-year-old dried tangerine peel for 3,230 yuan, the twenty-year-old red tangerine peel for 1,440 yuan, and the fifty pieces of twenty-year-old ginseng for 3,500 yuan. Adding the sale of one century-old ginseng, the total came to 9,700 yuan. Combined with the sale of one thousand jin of paddy rice, Lan Mo earned 9,800 yuan today.
What did 9,800 yuan mean? That was being a ten-thousand-yuan household!
In this era, everyone was desperately poor—where were there any ten-thousand-yuan households? However, there were still hidden wealthy individuals; it was just that many people with family assets dared not reveal their wealth now.
Besides state-owned enterprises, there were also public-private joint enterprises in this era. The state took over capitalist enterprises and sent people to manage them, allowing the capitalists to retain some profits.
Could you say these public-private joint enterprise owners had no money?
They weren’t without money; they just kept a low profile.
No matter the era, the poor remained destitute while the rich grew richer—the wealth gap had never changed for thousands of years.
In the 1960s, with backward productivity, scarce supplies, and a stagnant economy, everyone was poor. In fact, the poorer you were, the more honorable it was.
What would Lan Mo do now that she had money? Of course, she would lay low first and not let outsiders know.
After receiving the money, she deliberately said cautiously in front of everyone, “Comrade Gu Yan’an, my friend won’t arrive until later. You must stay here and keep an eye on things for me. If this money is lost, I couldn’t repay it even if I sold myself.”
“No problem. Your friend won’t arrive until after six. I’ll wait here with you. Qian Lao, Comrade Tan Minghui, thank you for making the trip. We’ll wait here for the seller to arrive, so we won’t help you move these medicinal herbs.”
“Alright. Our pharmaceutical company sent a vehicle. I’ll go call Driver Xiao Ding to come and move them.”