The pharmacist was quite polite and returned the greeting to Jiang Sanlang, "What can I do for you, sir?"
Jiang Sanlang said bluntly: "I have some golden ears at home, I would like to ask if you will accept them?"
The waiter was stunned, looked at the people below, and said, "That depends on the quality. If the quality is good, of course I will buy it."
Jiang Sanlang quickly took the backpack and placed it on the counter. "Then please take a look at this."
The guy picked up a flower, looked at it over and over, smelled it, and pinched it.
He didn't say whether it was okay or not, but said to Jiang Sanlang, "Wait a minute, I'll go get the shopkeeper."
The waiter asked the medicine boy next to him to come and take care of the patient, and he turned around and went into the inner hall.
Not long after, a middle-aged man in his forties with a long beard came out with his assistant. He looked arrogant and glanced at the three brothers. "Are you selling golden ears?"
"Yes." Jiang Sanlang clasped his fists.
The shopkeeper came over, picked up a golden ear, looked at it, and said, "Gold ears of this quality cost one ounce of silver per pound."
"What?" Jiang Sanlang was stunned and his face looked a little unhappy.
Doctor Li paid ten taels of silver per catty, but he didn't expect that this pharmacy would only pay one tael.
Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang looked at each other, but they were not disappointed.
You should know that a pound of rice costs only three cents, and mutton costs only eighteen cents.
A pound of these small golden ears can be sold for one or two taels of silver, which is one thousand coins. That is a lot of money, equivalent to several months' income for these farmers.
But didn't my third brother say that it was 10 taels per pound? How could there be such a big difference? Jiang Dalang was confused.
Although Jiang Sanlang was annoyed, he could not lose his temper and only reminded him: "Shopkeeper, did you see it wrong? These are golden ears. They were sold for ten taels of silver per pound a few days ago."
The shopkeeper showed impatience and said, "This is the price we are buying at. It's up to you whether you want to sell it or not."
After saying that, he turned and left, and glared at the waiter as he passed by him.
The waiter looked embarrassed and said to Jiang Sanlang, "That's the owner of the pharmacy. Since you don't accept the price of one or two taels, please go back."
Jiang Sanlang frowned and said nothing. He packed up Jin'er's things and left.
Yingbao glanced at the guy faintly and sighed in her heart.
This clerk was the head of Jiukang Pharmacy more than ten years later. Alas, at this moment, he was still a powerless clerk who could not make decisions on anything.
Several people came out of Jiukang Pharmacy and discussed beside the donkey cart.
Jiang Sanlang: "Why don't we go somewhere else?"
"That's fine. I see there are quite a few pharmacies on this street. Let's go to a few and ask about the prices." Jiang Erlang said.
Jiang Dalang: "Yes, yes! Ask a few more and you will have an idea."
So the three brothers wandered around the county town for a long time and asked in several pharmacies, but none of them were satisfactory.
Although the price had been raised from one tael to two taels, Jiang Sanlang was still not satisfied.
Doctor Li clearly quoted a price of ten taels per catty, so why was it so much less when we got to the county town
I'm not willing to accept this.
Jiang Sanlang was upset, but there was nothing he could do.
Finally, when passing by a large shop with flying eaves and upturned corners, Jiang Sanlang stopped.
Furuifeng Trading Company.
Isn’t this the address given by the customer who bought fish last year
I had promised him that I would send him sturgeons when I caught them, but a lot of things happened later and I never went fishing again.
I didn't expect to pass by here today.
Jiang Sanlang hesitated whether to go in and take a look. After all, the sign said "Business" and it probably did some kind of business.
As he was hesitating, a middle-aged man came out from the gate. He was wearing a blue robe with longevity patterns on it and walked down the stairs, holding up the hem of his robe.
He looked up, exclaimed, and walked over quickly. "Aren't you the fishmonger? How did you catch a sturgeon?"
Jiang Sanlang bowed to him and said, "I haven't been fishing recently. I happened to pass by here today and wanted to go in and take a look."
The middle-aged man said with a little regret, "Oh, then you go in." Then he was about to leave.
Jiang Sanlang quickly added: "Actually, I brought some dry goods that I want to sell. Can you please help me with some advice?"
The middle-aged man paused and asked, "What's the dry stuff?"
Jiang Sanlang took out the golden ear from the backpack and said, "This is it."
The middle-aged man stroked his short beard, his eyes gleamed, and he said, "Then follow me."
After saying that, he took several people from the Jiang family to the backyard of the trading company.
After entering a spacious room, the middle-aged man asked several people to sit down, and then asked the waiter to serve tea, and then asked: "Can I take a look at your goods?"
Jiang Sanlang quickly handed the basket to the middle-aged man, "This is the golden ears made by my family. It took a lot of effort to make them."
The middle-aged man inspected it and said, "It's in good condition. What price would you like to sell it for?"
"To be honest," Jiang Sanlang said, "Before I came here, I sold a batch of them at a local pharmacy. The doctor paid me ten taels of silver per pound. I just don't know what the price is here."
The middle-aged man pondered, "Ten taels is really too high. I guess the doctor gave it to you based on the price sold at the pharmacy."
Seeing Jiang Sanlang's disappointment, the man continued, "Our company also needs to make money, and we have to travel long distances to transport them, prevent moisture and insects, and have zero weight loss. The risk is quite high, so the price we buy golden ears for is at most three taels per catty, no more. Even if you send them to the provincial capital to sell, the price will not be higher than this."
"Moreover, if you take these golden ears to a pharmacy to sell, they will only take 10 kilograms at most, and will not take more than that. It's different for a business. Since we take the goods, we will naturally ship them all over the world. The quantity we take is definitely more than that of a pharmacy, and it will take longer."
What he said was so sincere and reasonable that it actually wavered Jiang Sanlang.
With a long sigh, Jiang Sanlang said, "Forget it, three taels is three taels. I wonder what your name is, sir? Are you the head of the business?"
The middle-aged man stroked his beard and smiled, "My surname is Zhou, and my single character is Mao. I am the second manager of Fu Ruifeng. I can still make the decision to purchase some goods."
"So it's Manager Zhou. I'm so sorry." Jiang Sanlang clasped his fists and said, "My surname is Jiang, I'm the third child, and these are my eldest brother, second brother, and my eldest daughter Yingbao."
Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang hurriedly bowed to show their greetings, and even Yingbao called him "Uncle Zhou" in a soft voice.
Zhou Mao also stood up and returned the greeting, saying, "I wonder how many gold ears did the third brother Jiang bring? Why don't you bring them all to be weighed?"
He saw that the Jiang brothers brought a donkey cart.
Jiang Sanlang: "There is another basket. We have weighed it once at home. I will go get it and weigh it again."
Zhou Mao waved his hand and said, "You don't have to rush around. I will ask the servant to bring the donkey cart in." After that, he told the servant to go out and bring the donkey cart.
After a while, the donkey cart was pulled to the door of the house, and Jiang Sanlang moved the backpack and placed it together with the previous backpack.
Zhou Mao had already ordered the servant to bring a scale and weigh them one by one.
"Net weight: six pounds," the servant boy counted.
Jiang Sanlang nodded and felt relieved.
It seems that this business is very honest and does not cheat on the weight. The number reported by the waiter is the same as the one I weighed at home.
Zhou Mao: "For six catties, I will pay you eighteen taels of silver."
When Jiang Sanlang heard the amount of money, he wasn't very happy, but he breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the price is much lower than expected, I am satisfied.
In previous years, I came to the county town to find work, carrying sacks and transporting goods for others. I worked myself to death but only earned a hundred or two hundred coins. Now, I have earned more money than my parents had saved in their entire lives. What else is there to be dissatisfied about
Zhou Mao added: "If there are any left at home, please send them to me. If I am not here, just go to the front hall and report my name. Someone will receive you then."
Jiang Sanlang nodded.
After a while, the servant brought in three ingots of silver, each weighing five taels, plus three strings of copper coins.
Jiang Sanlang put away the silver and copper coins and bowed to Zhou Mao to say goodbye.