In April, the beginning of summer, the locust flowers are fragrant.
Doctor Li was teaching his grandson how to identify medicines in the pharmacy when he suddenly saw Sanlang Jiang walk in carrying a basket on his back.
Jiang Sanlang bowed to Doctor Li and said, "Uncle Li, I have roasted some more golden ears. Can you take them?"
Doctor Li immediately perked up after hearing this, stroking his beard and saying, "Bring it here and let me see it."
Jiang Sanlang placed the backpack on the counter and uncovered the linen cloth.
The backpack was filled with a golden glow, and the fist-sized golden ears looked like yellow hydrangeas, very eye-catching.
Doctor Li was surprised and looked up and asked Sanlang Jiang: "Where did Sanlang find so many golden ears?"
Jiang Sanlang scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "I didn't find it, I grew it myself."
"No wonder." Doctor Li was even more surprised. "No wonder they are all about the same size and the color is so pure."
He picked up one and squeezed it; it was very dry. He squeezed harder and the golden ear made a crackling sound, as if it would break in the next moment.
"Sanlang, you have put a lot of effort into this." Doctor Li said with a smile, "It is well made. If you keep it well, it will not go bad for a year."
He stretched his head to look at the golden ears in the backpack and muttered to himself, "I need to find something to seal it up."
He turned around and told his grandson to fetch two baskets to hold the golden ears.
This thing can't be pressed hard to avoid it breaking.
The little grandson ran to the back hall.
Doctor Li took out a scale and began to weigh the golden ear.
"It's three catties in total." Doctor Li said, "Based on ten strings of cash per catty, I'll give you thirty strings of cash. Do you want copper coins or silver ingots?"
Although Jiang Sanlang already knew how much the golden ears he brought today could be sold for, he still felt dizzy after confirming it again.
Mom, thirty strings of cash is thirty thousand copper coins. It will take a basket to hold it all.
However, there is still a lot of copper coins at home, which is enough for half a year's expenses. So it is better to take the silver ingots for storage.
"Silver ingots, I want silver ingots, they are easy to carry." He said with a smile.
Doctor Li also laughed and asked his grandson to come over to put the golden ears away while he went to the backyard to get the silver.
This time he took out five taels of silver ingots, a total of six ingots, and placed them in front of Jiang Sanlang, shining brightly.
It was the first time that Jiang Sanlang saw so many silver ingots. He couldn't help but chuckle and put them into his pocket one by one.
He put on his empty backpack and asked, "Uncle Li, I have some golden ears at home, do you want some?"
Doctor Li was shocked when he heard this. "What? There's more?"
"Well, my family planted a lot this time, and only 40% was brought here today," said Jiang Sanlang.
Now it was Doctor Li's turn to scratch his head.
He said with embarrassment: "Sanlang, to be honest, I only store these golden ears temporarily. After all, they are mostly consumed in autumn and winter.
This is all I can take now. If I want more, I don’t have cash to pay. Otherwise, you can send it to the big pharmacy in the county town to have a look.”
Jiang Sanlang was stunned for a moment, then bowed to Doctor Li, "I understand. Thank you for your advice, Mr. Li."
When he got home, Jiang Sanlang was a little depressed.
Although he earned another thirty taels of silver, most of the remaining gold ears had not been sold yet.
Moreover, his elder and second brothers were also looking forward to it, hoping to grow golden ears and become rich with him.
But now Doctor Li won’t accept them anymore. If the Golden Ears can’t be sold in the future, my elder and second brothers will be very disappointed.
Chunniang saw that her husband looked strange and asked quickly, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Sanlang repeated Doctor Li's words and sighed, "Doctor Li's medicine shop can't accept so many golden ears. It looks like I have to go to the county town tomorrow."
Yingbao heard this and her eyes lit up immediately. She raised her hand and said, "Dad, I'm going too! I'm going to the county town too!"
Seeing the little girl's anxious look, Jiang Sanlang couldn't help but laugh, "What are you going to do?"
"Let's go sell golden ears. Dad, please take me with you." Yingbao shook her father's sleeve and acted coquettishly.
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Jiang Sanlang picked up his daughter and said to his wife, "I'll go to the front yard to discuss with my eldest and second brothers to see if they are free tomorrow. It will be safer for us to walk together."
If the golden ears can be sold in the county town, there will be some money coming in. It would be bad if they encountered robbers on the way back, so they must have a few strong men to travel with them.
Moreover, since I plan to grow golden ears with my eldest brother, I need to find a merchant who can purchase them stably. Otherwise, all the efforts of the brothers will be in vain.
"Well, go ahead."
Chunniang looked at her daughter worriedly, "But... ... do you really want to take Baoer with you? It's so unsafe on the road."
Ying Bao didn't wait for her father to answer and immediately answered, "Yes! Dad promised to take Bao Er with him."
Chunniang glared at her little girl, "Naughty girl, Bao'er, don't you want a brother anymore?"
"If you want a younger brother, Baoer will come back from the county town and bring some delicious food for his younger brother and mother."
Her two younger brothers were seven months old now and could eat something to sharpen their teeth, so she went to the best pastry shop in the county to buy milk cakes for them.
Chun Niang: …
Jiang Sanlang smiled and said, "Let her go. Bring Dacheng with you and let him carry Baoer on his back."
Yingbao smiled and nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, Bao'er is not naughty. Bao'er is very useful."
Chun Niang was helpless and poked the little girl's forehead, "Then you have to be obedient and don't run around. There are bad guys in the county who will steal babies, especially babies like you."
"Well, Baoer doesn't run around."
The next day, Jiang Sanlang borrowed a donkey cart from Muramasa's family, and carrying two baskets of golden ears, the three brothers went to the county town.
Of course, Yingbao and her eldest cousin Jiang Cheng were also on the donkey cart.
We set out before dawn, stopping and walking along the way, and finally arrived at the city gate at noon.
The soldiers guarding the city asked them to pay a five-cent tax for horses and carriages before letting them pass.
After entering the city, several people drove the donkey cart around, mainly looking for a pharmacy that would buy golden ears.
Yingbao lived in the county town for several years in her previous life, so she knew the layout of the county town very well.
She directed her father to drive the car, turning left and right, and entering a busy street.
The streets are lined with shops, colorful banners are flying, and there is an endless stream of pedestrians, some pushing carts, some carrying loads, some leading donkeys and some driving horses.
Yingbao pointed to a shop and said, "Dad, that's a medicine shop, right?"
In her previous life, she had brought her brother to this restaurant for medical treatment and prescription medicine. The doctor on duty was an expert in Chinese medicine and the owner was also very trustworthy.
I just don’t know how it is now, whether it is the same as in my previous life.
Jiang Sanlang looked up and saw that it was indeed a pharmacy.
"Jiukang Pharmacy."
Just by looking at the name, you can tell that this is a long-established pharmacy.
"Brother, let's go take a look."
Jiang Sanlang called to his two brothers, "Take a basket of golden ears first, and put the rest in the car and let Dacheng watch over them."
Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang responded, got off the car, straightened their clothes, and dusted off their shoes. Then they followed their third brother to Jiukang Pharmacy.
Yingbao was held in her father's arms, her eyes rolling around.
The Jiukang Pharmacy in front of me seemed to be small in scale, and there were not as many medicine cabinets as in the past life.
But the Jiukang in the previous life was already the Jiukang Pharmacy more than ten years later, so it is naturally not comparable to the present one.
After entering the shop, Jiang Sanlang handed the little girl to his second brother and walked up to a pharmacy clerk who was about 17 or 18 years old and bowed: "Excuse me, is your shopkeeper here?"