Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Chapter 240: How to Preserve Ginseng

Zhou Mi waved his hands and said after a long while, "It's okay, I'll just take a break. It's just that my hands were too strong, so they're a little weak now. Are you okay? Your belly is so round and bulging from eating so much. Did I give you any bruises?"

Zhou Guo's mouth twitched. You know you are holding someone's waist tightly. You twisted your body and it seemed that there was no discomfort. "It's okay, it doesn't hurt at all. It's just, Third Brother, how do you feel?"

Zhou Mi said, "It's okay. I'll just take a rest. This horse is so scary when it runs. I don't even dare to open my eyes. I feel like I'll be thrown out at any time."

As he spoke, he still looked scared.

Zhou Guo asked curiously, "Riding on a horse so fast, do you feel nothing but shock? Do you feel the thrill of running on the wind?"

Zhou Mi thought about it carefully and shook his head sincerely, "I didn't even dare to open my eyes after running all the way. I was scared to death. How could I feel any pleasure? I wished I could walk there."

Zhou Guo said, "That shouldn't be the case. Aren't you quite skilled at driving a car? You can even control it when jogging, but you can't ride a horse?"

"How can riding a horse be the same as driving a car? I can drive a car, but I can't ride a horse." Zhou Mi felt very wronged. He felt that he could be thrown off at any time from the back, and if he was thrown off, he would either be crushed to death or have his bones broken into pieces.

Zhou Guo waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. We'll do it again when we get back. Then you won't be scared anymore."

Zhou Mi: "...I, how about I walk back?"

Zhou Guo patted his shoulder and said, "Don't be afraid. You are sitting here fine now. Nothing happened. You scared yourself to death. When you go back, you will be different from when you first left the village. You have experience now, so you won't be so scared. Don't worry, leave it to me. I will never let you fall."

Zhou Mi nodded helplessly.

After resting for a while, the two got up and went into the city.

Zhou Guo followed the route he remembered and found Xiazhuang.

The two of them walked around the shop, then came out again.

Standing at the door of the shop, looking up at the sky.

"Oh! I can't afford it!"

“It’s so expensive!!”

The two men spoke in unison, looked back at the box village, and walked away.

Who would have thought that a small box with an ordinary appearance and not even a single carving would cost three taels of silver.

The expensive ones cost more than ten taels of silver each.

There were cheap ones, but Zhou Guo looked at the rough workmanship and felt that the lid of the box was not tightly closed and there was a gap. Such a box would not hold ginseng, and even silver bills would be afraid of moisture.

After looking around, they found the cheap ones disliked and the expensive ones unaffordable, so they had to go out again and walk on the street, leading the horses.

Zhou Mi said: "What should we do now?"

Zhou Guo looked up and saw a medicine shop in front of him. He rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid. I have a way."

He stepped into the pharmacy.

Zhou Mi followed behind and walked in.

As soon as Zhou Guo entered, he saw two people dressed as villagers with two sacks in front of them. The middle-aged owner of the drug store was checking the contents of the sacks.

"Okay, the quality is pretty good this time." The shopkeeper was obviously very satisfied. He turned around and called the waiter, "Xiao Hu, Xiao Hu, come here, get the scale."

After a while, a young man came in from the back with a clatter, carrying a beam scale.

The two herbal farmers left with several heavy strings of money.

The shopkeeper then noticed Zhou Guo and the other two and said with a smile, "Do you want to get some medicine or see a doctor? If you want to see a doctor, you have to wait. Our doctor hasn't arrived yet."

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Boss, we are not here to prescribe medicine, we just came to ask you, do you accept medicinal materials?"

The shopkeeper said, "You saw it just now, so of course I collected it. I wonder what medicinal herbs you have in your hands?"

Zhou Guo asked, "I wonder how you guys collect wild ginseng here?"

The shopkeeper was stunned. "Wild ginseng? You have wild ginseng? How old is it?"

After saying that, he realized that he was too eager and coughed.

Zhou Guo remained calm and said, "The elders in my family said it's been about 30 to 40 years. We're not sure, but we're just asking you what price you'd like to pay for it."

She had thought it through. She had six ginseng roots at home and could sell a small one. Otherwise, if the ginseng roots were not stored properly, all of them would be ruined.

"Well, the price will naturally vary depending on the year. If it's really thirty or forty years old like you said, it can be worth about forty or fifty taels."

Fifty taels. Zhou Guo and the others were shocked. "So expensive? What if it's a hundred-year-old ginseng?"

"You still have century-old ginseng?!" the shopkeeper couldn't help but shout out, "If it's a century-old ginseng, the price will naturally be different. It can be sold for more than a hundred taels at least."

After saying that, he stared at Zhou Guo and the other person with some excitement.

Seeing the dog-like look in his eyes staring at the bone, Zhou Guo said apologetically, "I'm sorry, shopkeeper, we don't have any century-old ginseng. I'm just asking out of curiosity."

After saying this, she watched the shopkeeper's bright eyes dim. "Ah, it's okay, it's okay. Thirty or forty years old is not bad. After all, it's not easy to find a hundred-year-old ginseng. Where did you dig it?"

Zhou Guo said, "I stumbled across this in the deep mountains. Do you accept all kinds of herbs here? Do you accept processed herbs? Do the herbal farmers sell you raw herbs or cooked herbs?"

The two of them talked back and forth, and Zhou Guo asked about which medicinal herbs in the shop had high purchase prices, and then said, "When the elders in my family were young, they worked outside and learned how to prepare medicinal herbs. If this ginseng is prepared, how should it be preserved? The busy farming season is coming, and I'm afraid we won't have time to go to the city for a while."

After saying this, Zhou Mi became nervous.

The shopkeeper said, "This is easy. You can put some asarum in a jar. One ounce of asarum to one pound of ginseng. Seal it in the jar. It won't go bad for ten years. It's best to use a new jar."

Zhou Guo thanked sincerely and promised to send the ginseng when he was free someday. He also bought a small bag of asarum and said goodbye from the pharmacy.

The shopkeeper sent the two out with a smile on his face.

Zhou Mi came out and asked, "Do you really want to sell a ginseng? Didn't you say you wouldn't sell it?"

Zhou Guo nodded, "There are enough six ginsengs at home. I originally planned to sell two and only keep a few big ones. We don't know how to preserve them. It's not good to just go in and ask him directly. I might as well sell him one. I get money and a solution. It's not a loss no matter how I calculate it."

Zhou Mi nodded, "The price is fair. We calculated it at home and it's about this price. He didn't see that we were young and he took advantage of us."

The two looked at another medicine shop not far away and bought a few packets of asarum according to the ginseng they had at home.

Come out and turn to another street, which is full of small stalls.

The two of them rushed to the porcelain stall and looked around. Zhou Guo chose a rustic pottery jar, which looked like the pickle jar at home, except that the workmanship was more delicate and exquisite.