The Old Man in Boss’s mouth was the father of Zheng Shi. The man who came was the second sūnzi1 of the Old Man Zheng, the second son of Zheng Shi’s eldest brother. Zhulan only met the Zheng family’s grandson when seeing them off, and all the Zheng family’s children followed Old Man Zheng, he didn’t look like a military general at all.
Zhulan asked, “You’re here, who’s going to entertain him?”
Boss Zhou said, “Dad just came back and we met at the door. Dad welcomed him to the front yard and then asked me to invite Mother.”
Zhulan was surprised; Zhou Shuren had returned. How coincidental! He invited her over. Did this concern her too? She didn’t expect Boss Zhou to hear anything. She asked Xuemei to find Zhao Sshi and Xuehan, and she followed her Eldest son to the front yard.
Since they moved, the main and second rooms have been completely separated. Li Shi liked to be close to her, while Zhao Shi came less often. Mingrui was now one year old, and Yushuang could take care of him. Zhao Shi was relieved and had learned to embroider screen panels. She was now attempting larger pieces, with Xuehan learning alongside her, sticking close to Zhao Shi every day.
Zhulan arrived at the front yard and saw Old Man Zheng’s second sūnzi, whose name was Zheng Yang.
Zheng Yang stood up and said, “Hello, shěnzi2.”
Zhulan asked, “You have only been away for a month. You must not have returned to the northwest. Why did the Old Man ask you to come back?”
Zheng Yang thought to himself, no wonder Grandpa was optimistic about the Zhou family, even the women. With such a reaction, the Zhou family was indeed good. “I came back because of my shěnzi.”
Zhulan sat down and glanced at Zhou Shuren. Without any cues, it seemed that before her arrival, Zheng Yang had not mentioned why he had returned. He was waiting for her to discuss. She didn’t think there was anything about herself worth Old Man Zhou’s attention. If not about herself, then it must be about external matters. She narrowed her eyes and asked, “For the dried vegetables, or for the medicinal ointment?”
Zheng Yang admired her in his heart. He tested again, and it turned out that Yang Shi was not an ordinary woman, “My shěnzi is smart, she is right about both. The plaster that my shěnzi gave to Brother Yang was surprisingly effective. Grandpa asked me to come back and talk to Dr. Lu. As for dried vegetables, there are many wars in the northwest, and there are very few farmers. Even summer vegetables are hard to come by. Not to mention winter.”
Zheng Yang paused and continued: “Grandpa saw that my shěnzi sent well-dried vegetables to Brother Yang, so he asked me to collect some dried vegetables and mountain products to take away.”
Zhulan sighed once again at Mr. Zheng’s astuteness. The medicinal ointment must be obtained. A good ointment could save lives, and having it at home would be beneficial. Alternatively, offering it to the Zheng family could also bring advantages. As for the dried vegetables, there was a shortage of greens in the northwest, so it would be convenient to collect some while they were at it. Bringing them home for personal consumption or as a gift would also be beneficial.
Of course, merchants were selling dried vegetables in the northwest, but the variety she offered naturally caught the eye of Old Man Zheng.
She gave Wuchun several items: mountain wood ear mushrooms, mushrooms, monkey head mushrooms, dried bracken ferns, spinach, dried radishes, dried daylily flowers, and dried dandelions for making tea or soup, all of which were excellent choices with heat-clearing and detoxifying effects.
These items were all collected during the summer, with most of them being wild mountain vegetables. Except for mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms, which were sold in grocery stores, the others were not commonly available.
Zhulan said, “Shěnzi will be honest with you. Monkeyhead mushrooms and dried dandelions are only available from my and my daughter’s family. You might be able to find dried daylily flowers nearby, but all the monkey head mushrooms in the neighboring villages have been collected by me.”
Wild monkey head mushrooms naturally had a low yield, and if not properly processed after drying, they could become slightly bitter when stewed. Therefore, they were not as popular as mushrooms. Zhulan didn’t collect many of them either.
As for the dried dandelions, Zhulan wanted them to make tea. During the dry winters in the northeast, indoor heating could easily cause internal heat, so dandelion tea was perfect for relieving heat. Therefore, she dried quite a lot of them. There were dried dandelions available at the herbal medicine shop, but the quantity was limited.
Zheng Yang said, “Please sell me some monkey head mushrooms and dried dandelions, Shěnzi. I’ll collect the rest from various villages.”
Grandfather really liked stewed monkey head mushroom soup. When he was still in the Li family village, he would gather them every year from the mountains and save them to eat slowly. Upon returning, he specifically asked Zheng Yang to collect more to take back, saying that the family was only thinking about leaving quickly and hadn’t considered bringing some back together.
Zhulan’s family didn’t lack money from selling monkey head mushrooms and dried dandelions. They planned to send some to the Zheng family later. Zhulan asked on behalf of her daughter about the prices, “I wonder how much the purchase price is for other dried vegetables, xiánzhí3?”
Her daughter’s family followed her all summer. She also dried a lot of dried vegetables, originally for her own consumption in the winter, but she didn’t expect that she could make a fortune.
Zheng Yang came back yesterday and had already gone to the grocery store to inquire about the price. Unfortunately, the grocery store only had mushrooms and fungus, and the quantity was not particularly large. Every farmer would save some, and few people bought them.
Large households in the county would specialize in purchasing them and rarely went to grocery stores to buy them.
Zheng Yang said, “Mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms are 8 wens per jin, monkey head mushrooms are 50 wens, bracken ferns are 6 wens, daylily flowers are 10 wens, dandelions are 10 wens, spinach is 8 wen, and dried radishes are 4 wens.”
Hearing these prices, Zhulan felt like vomiting blood. Eight wen for mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms was the purchase price at the grocery store, which was not controversial.
However, daylily flowers couldn’t even yield one jin of dried flowers from several jin of fresh flowers. Zhulan’s family only had one bag in total, which seemed like a lot in terms of volume but was actually quite light, totaling only a little over three jin. They had also set aside quite a bit to send with Wuchun.
The same went for dandelions and spinach. These items didn’t account for weight. The price was too low.
Zhulan shook her head, “Let’s not talk about mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms, but the prices for the others are too low. Several jin of them couldn’t even yield one jin when dried. Monkeyhead mushrooms are naturally scarce, and when dried, they have even less weight. Monkey head mushrooms should be 100 wens per jin, daylily flowers should be 50 wens per jin, bracken ferns should be 20 wens per jin, dandelions should be 30 wens, spinach should be 20 wens, and dried radishes should be 5 wens.”
Zheng Yang deliberately estimated other prices based on the price of mushrooms. They were not available in the main market, so he naturally wanted to explore them first. After all, although the Zheng family was rich, he just wanted to lower the price. Well, this was why Grandpa asked him to come back to collect it. It was all because he had a temperament that would not suffer losses and wanted to take advantage of it.
With an air of finality, Zhulan stood up. “Xiánzhí, when you return, I’ll prepare the meal.”
With that, Zhulan left. She knew in her heart that if the old man of the Zheng family dared to send a sūnzi back, Zheng Yang must be skilled in calculation.
It was worth noting that Old Master Lu was also quite shrewd and not easy to deal with. Zheng Yang’s ability must be considerable if he dared to come alone to discuss medicine. The rest could be left to Zhou Shuren.
Zheng Yang, “.”
Zhou Shuren received Zhulan’s hint and smiled, saying, “Farmers have a tough time all year round. In the past, no one bothered to collect wild vegetables, but this year, it’s rare to bring in some extra silver for the family. Even though it’s not much, it can still buy some clothes for the children and make the year more prosperous. Nephew, don’t be too hard on them. Give them a fair price for the first year. If Grandfather comes to collect again next year, we can get more. Moreover, the profit from these dried goods is insignificant compared to what they bring in.”
Don’t overlook the value of mountain goods. In the hands of the old master, they would surely have been maximized. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have specifically instructed his sūnzi to collect them. He didn’t believe it was just a casual collection along the way.
Zheng Yang looked at Zhou Xiucai. It was indeed as Grandpa said, a fox that was difficult to deal with. He first complained about the farmers’ hard life and finally guessed Grandpa’s plan. He pursed his lips and knew in his heart that the price the Zhou family was talking about was a fair price.
Zheng Yang said, “Then let’s go with the prices set by shěnzi. I’ll be staying at shūshū’4s place for a while, so please spread the word about buying dried goods. I’ll need to use shūshū’s place to purchase them. Thanks, shūshū.”
Zhou Shuren smiled.: “I will ask your shěnzi to clean up the house for you.”
Zheng Yang felt uncomfortable. This used to be his own home, but now he is a guest. He couldn’t go back to live in his own house. “Then I will trouble, uncle.”
Zhulan had just instructed Mingteng to go fetch Li Shi when Boss Zhou approached her. “Mom, Dad asked me to tidy up the house for Zheng Yang’s stay. Oh, and he also wants me to spread the word that Zheng Yang will be using our place to collect wild vegetables tomorrow. Mom, the prices are set according to what you said.”
The corners of Zhulan’s mouth curled up, and she knew that Zhou Shuren would be able to handle it.
(End of chapter)
Footnote
- Grandson from son’s side.
- Wife of father’s younger brother
- Nephew from male line
- Father’s younger brother
Translating one chapter one day at a time 
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