Memoirs Of A Widower’s Reform

Chapter 9

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The young man who spoke was none other than Jiang Mengzhen, who was "asked to leave" his house by Hao Cheng.

He still had injuries on his body, and taking this ginseng could indeed help him replenish his body.

But Hao Cheng remembered clearly that this man had nothing when she picked him up, so how could he have six hundred taels of silver to buy her ginseng.

Just as she was about to speak, the waiter from the pharmacy behind her showed dissatisfaction: "She wanted to sell this ginseng to us first."

If no one wanted it, she might have been reserved for a while, waiting for Hao Cheng to come back and lower the price. After all, they were the only pharmacy in the town that could afford 500 taels of ginseng. But now someone suddenly showed up to compete with them for business, so she was naturally at a disadvantage.

Without waiting for her to say anything, Hao Cheng stared at the man who came out to disrupt the situation and said, "Sir, you want to pay 600 taels of silver to buy this ginseng from me. Of course that's good, but can I see the money first? I'm used to paying first and then delivering the goods."

She was waiting for the waiter to call her. If the other party did not try to keep her, she could just take a longer route to the next town, where she would always be able to find a suitable buyer.

But she would rather earn less money. After all, she still wanted to settle down here, and she would probably have to do business in this pharmacy. She was also willing to give the store owner some profits.

It would be fine if this man was really rich and could buy the ginseng in her hand, but if he just came to cause trouble, she would not let him go so easily.

The waiter also noticed that the man was dressed very simply, but when he walked in, he had an extraordinary temperament. The shopkeeper had taught them long ago that they should never judge a person by his clothes alone. But since the ginseng seller said so, she didn't say anything and just stood in front of the medicine cabinet to watch the fun.

Jiang Mengzhen took out a handful of gold leaves from the small cloth bag that Hao Cheng had given him: "Take twelve gold leaves here. You can exchange them for six hundred taels of silver notes if you go to the bank."

In the Jin Dynasty, one tael of gold could be exchanged for ten taels of silver. However, this kind of gold leaf with exquisite workmanship and specific patterns was more valuable, and one piece was worth five taels of gold.

Hao Cheng was a little more surprised when she saw his look. She knew very well what she had put in the small cloth bag. There were only some dry food, water bag and a clean handkerchief. How could this man get so much money

She obviously forgot that Jiang Mengzhen was still wearing clothes when he fell. To be on the safe side, he wore pockets for gold and silver on the sleeves of his clothes. Silver bills were easily soaked by water, so he put a handful of gold leaves in his pocket, about thirty or forty pieces, worth nearly two thousand taels of silver.

When Hao Cheng gave him the bag, he also gave him the clothes. He originally thought that Hao Cheng was greedy for his money and wanted to drive him out, but when he turned over the clothes, he found that the valuables were still there, the pockets were well sewn, and not a single gold leaf was missing.

Only then did he realize that Hao Cheng was a good person, and a good candidate to protect him in the short term. After Hao Cheng left, he asked others about the town where Hao Cheng came from.

It was not easy for her to ask about the gold leaf in front of outsiders. Since the man was willing to pay 600 taels for it, she was naturally happy to do so: "In that case..."

Just as Hao Cheng was about to speak, the shopkeeper of the pharmacy said, "In that case, the lady can sell the wild ginseng to our pharmacy. We are willing to pay 610 taels of silver, which is a silver note plus 10 taels of silver in cash. When doing business, we should pay attention to the first come, the last served. After all, you negotiated with us first."

She had just seen the wild ginseng. It was worth no more than seven hundred taels of silver. The pharmacy also had to make money. Anyway, the ginseng was picked by this person and sent to them. It didn't take them any effort. They could still make a profit of ninety taels or even more by passing it on.

Of course she wanted to earn this money, but now that she had shown her sincerity, it depended on whether Hao Cheng was willing to give face to the pharmacy.

Jiang Mengzhen wanted to say something, but Hao Cheng turned around, took out the wild ginseng wrapped in red cloth, and placed it on the cabinet in front of him: "Since the shopkeeper is so sincere, I will naturally sell this wild ginseng to the medicine shop."

The deal was urgent, so Hao Cheng took the money and left.

The shopkeeper of the pharmacy smiled and said, "I will sell you this wild ginseng for fifteen gold leaves. Do you want to buy it?"

She saw that the fabric around the waist of the young man was dark, so he must have been injured and asked for ginseng to heal his body. Fifteen gold leaves were seven hundred taels, and her price was not high.

Jiang Mengzhen just glanced at her and walked away.

After the ginseng seller and buyer left, the waiter next to him said, "You are obviously going to rip him off. He definitely doesn't want it. Why are you asking this question?"

The shopkeeper moved the beads on the abacus and said, "You don't understand. If he really needs it, he would give us eight hundred taels, not to mention seven hundred. Even if he doesn't want it, we should give him some scorn. It's his fault for delaying our business and making us lose money."

The waiter suddenly realized what was going on and looked like he was being taught a lesson. Jiang Mengzhen was chasing after him in a hurry, holding his stomach as he trotted along.

Hao Cheng was in a hurry to leave, after all, she still had a lot of things she wanted to buy after getting the money. At least she had to go to a house she had previously taken a fancy to and buy it from the broker.

But this man was following her so closely that she couldn't do business in front of him, so she stopped suddenly at a remote corner and asked, "Why are you following me?"

She stopped for another reason. The man was still injured. He was walking so fast that the wounds on his body were about to split. After all, he was a life she saved. She would be angry that he didn't know how to take care of his body. She was angry that she had wasted her energy.

Jiang Mengzhen stood in front of her: "I just want to ask if you can take me in for a while. I will pay for accommodation and meals. It won't take long. If there are any gold leaves that can't be used up, I will leave them all to you as a reward."

Adding one more person wouldn't cost much more, but the gold leaves were not a small amount, and Hao Cheng was tempted for a moment. But she had no power, and she was most afraid of getting into big trouble. If she had money but no life to spend it, the money would be useless to her.

She doubted, "Since you have money, you can just find a house for yourself. With so much money, you can live in the best inn in this town for a few years. Why do you have to live with me?"

Jiang Mengzhen was sincere, and then gave Hao Cheng a good guy card: "I don't have any documents proving my identity, and it will take some time to contact my family. And I am alone, so it is inevitable that I will have some inconveniences. Your benefactor is a good person, so I naturally believe you."

Does she look so kind and honest? But this person was clearly very wary of her from the beginning. Hao Cheng hesitated and threw another difficult question to Jiang Mengzhen: "Then how are you going to explain your identity?"

"Just as my benefactor said before, my cousin from afar came to seek refuge, but was met with bandits on the way." If relatives come to seek refuge and it is clear that they do not live in the same room, there will naturally be fewer people gossiping.

However, she is the only one in Hao Cheng's family and she is not married. If they were in a place where no one knew each other, they could still call each other brother and sister. But in Xinghua Village, people would inevitably gossip about her, so she naturally had more concerns.

She was obviously not very satisfied with Jiang Mengzhen's solution, and she didn't covet his money, but she didn't like to keep idle people: "You should find someone else. With so much money, you can always find a satisfactory guard."

"I'm very useful!" Jiang Mengzhen said hurriedly. He liked to get along with smart people because they would not cause him trouble. However, this person was smart, but he was not as easy to fool as he thought.

Hao Cheng raised his eyebrows: "What's the use of you?" He can't cook, doesn't seem to do housework well, and has injuries on his body, so she has to take care of him. She took in such a person just to find a young master to serve her. She is not used to being served, but she is not a maid, so why should she suffer for herself.

Jiang Mengzhen stepped forward and said, "I just helped my benefactor to sell an extra 110 taels of silver. Is this useful? As for the miscellaneous tasks that are not done well, I can spend money to find a few capable maids and servants for my benefactor." If he had not helped just now, the wild ginseng Hao Cheng could only be sold for 500 taels.

Hao Cheng was silent for a long time, neither agreeing nor refusing. Without looking at the house, Jiang Mengzhen followed her all the way back to her room. But before entering the courtyard, Hao Cheng blocked Jiang Mengzhen's entrance and locked the courtyard door. He looked at this person expressionlessly, then turned and went into the inner room.

Jiang Mengzhen stood at the gate of the fence holding the small bundle, looking at her back pitifully, but Hao Cheng was obviously not soft-hearted enough and never looked back once.