The old man Zheng mentioned by Boss Zhou is Zheng's father, the second grandson of Mr. Zheng, and the second son of Zheng's eldest brother. Zhulan had only seen the grandson of the Zheng family when she was seeing him off. The children of the Zheng family all look like old man Zheng and don't look like military generals at all.
Zhulan asked, "Now that you are here, who will entertain you?"
Zhou Laoda said, "Dad just came back and ran into us at the door. He welcomed us to the front yard and asked me to come and invite Mom."
Zhulan was surprised. Zhou Shuren was back. What a coincidence. He asked her to come over. Was it her business? She didn't expect the boss to hear anything. She asked Xuemei to find Zhao and Xuehan, and she followed Zhou to the front yard.
Since moving, the first and second wives have lived completely separately. Li likes to be around her, but Zhao comes less often. Mingrui is one year old now, and Yushuang can look after him so Zhao can let go. Zhao and her second sister-in-law have learned to embroider screens and are trying to embroider large pieces. Xuehan is learning from them and stays with Zhao every day.
Zhulan arrived at the front yard and saw Mr. Zheng’s second grandson, whose name was just Yang, Zheng Yang.
Zheng Yang stood up and said, "Hello, Auntie."
Zhu Lan asked, "You have only been gone for less than a month, you must not have returned to the northwest. What is the matter that the old man asked you to come back?"
Zheng Yang thought, no wonder Grandpa is optimistic about the Zhou family. Even the woman has such a reaction. The Zhou family is indeed good. "I came back because of my aunt."
Zhulan sat down and glanced at Zhou Shuren. Zhulan didn't get the hint. It seemed that Zheng Yang didn't tell her why he came back before she came. He was waiting for her to meet and talk. She didn't think that there was anything about him that was worthy of the old man's attention. If it wasn't for herself, then it was for external factors. She narrowed her eyes and asked, "Is it for the dried vegetables or for the ointment?"
Zheng Yang praised in his heart. He tried again. Yang was indeed not an ordinary woman. "Aunt is smart. Both are true. The plaster that Aunt gave Brother Yang was surprisingly effective. Grandpa asked me to come back and talk to Doctor Lu. As for dried vegetables, the northwest has been in war for many years. There are very few farmers. It is hard to get green vegetables in summer, not to mention winter."
Zheng Yang paused and continued, "Grandpa saw that the dried vegetables that Auntie brought to Brother Yang were good, so he asked me to collect some dried vegetables and mountain products to take away."
Zhulan sighed again at how smart Mr. Zheng was. She had to get the ointment. Good ointment could save lives, so she could keep it for herself or offer it to the Zheng family to make a profit. The northwest was short of vegetables, so she could just pick some and bring them home to eat or give them as gifts.
Of course, there were also merchants selling dried vegetables in the northwest, but the variety of vegetables she sent was so great that it naturally caught Mr. Zheng's eye.
She brought Wu Chun and the others some wild wood ear mushrooms, mushrooms, hericium erinaceus, dried ferns, spinach, dried radish, dried day lily, and dried dandelions, which are all good for making tea or soup, and have the effect of clearing away heat and detoxifying.
These things were collected in the summer and most of them are wild vegetables. Except for mushrooms and fungus which are sold in grocery stores, there are really no other vegetables.
Zhulan said, "I'll tell you something. Only my aunt and my daughter have hericium and dried dandelions. If you go to collect them, the best you can get is dried day lily. All the hericium in the nearby villages has been collected by my aunt."
The yield of wild Hericium erinaceus is already low, and if it is not properly processed after being dried and stewed into soup, it will be a bit bitter, so it is not as popular as button mushrooms, and Zhulan did not harvest much.
As for dried dandelions, Zhulan just wanted to make tea with them. In the Northeast, the room is dry due to the fire walls in winter, which makes people prone to getting inflamed. Dandelion tea is just right for reducing inflamed bodies, so she dried a lot of them. Chinese medicine shops do have dried dandelions, but the quantity is not large.
Zheng Yang said: "Aunt, please sell me some Hericium erinaceus and dried dandelions. I will collect the rest in various villages."
My grandfather likes Hericium erinaceus soup very much. When we were still in Lijia Village, every year when he picked it from the mountain, my grandfather would keep some for slow eating. When he came back, he would specifically ask him to bring back more. To be honest, the family was only thinking about leaving as soon as possible and never thought about bringing some away.
Zhulan's family has no shortage of money from selling hericium erinaceus and dried dandelions, so they will give some to the Zheng family. Zhulan asked the price on behalf of her daughter, "I wonder what the price is for other dried vegetables, nephew?"
My daughter's family dried a lot of vegetables with her throughout the summer. They originally intended to eat them in the winter, but they didn't expect to make a fortune.
Zheng Yang came back yesterday and had already gone to the grocery store to inquire about the prices. Unfortunately, the store only had mushrooms and black fungus, and the quantity was not particularly large. Since every farmer would stock some, few people bought them.
The big farmers in the county would purchase it specially and rarely go to grocery stores to buy it.
Zheng Yang said: "Mushrooms and black fungus are eight cents per pound, hericium erinaceus is fifty cents, bracken is six cents, yellow flower is ten cents, dandelion is ten cents, spinach is eight cents, and dried radish is four cents."
Zhulan felt like vomiting blood when she heard the price. Eight cents was the purchase price for black fungus and mushrooms at the grocery store, and there was no dispute about that. However, several pounds of day lily could not even make one pound of dried fruit. Zhulan's family only had one bag, and it looked like a lot, but it was not really that heavy, just a little over three pounds in total. She also grabbed a lot to bring to Wuchun.
The same goes for dandelions and spinach, these things don't weigh much, and the price is too low.
Zhu Lan shook her head. "Let's not talk about black fungus mushrooms. The prices of other mushrooms are too low. They can't even make up a pound of mushrooms. Hericium erinaceus is not worth much after being dried. Hericium erinaceus is 100 wen per pound, day lily is 50 wen per pound, bracken is 20 wen per pound, dandelion is 30 wen, spinach is 20 wen, and dried radish is 5 wen."
Zheng Yang deliberately estimated other prices based on the price of mushrooms. Since they were not available in the main market, he naturally had to test the bottom first. Although the Zheng family was rich, he just wanted to lower the price. Well, this was also the reason why his grandfather asked him to come back to collect them. It was because he would not suffer any loss and wanted to take advantage of more.
Zhulan stood up as if she didn't want to talk anymore, and said, "My dear nephew, come back. I'll go prepare the meal."
With that, Zhulan left. She knew in her heart that since the old man of the Zheng family dared to let a grandson come back, Zheng Yang must be very calculating.
You know, Mr. Lu is also a shrewd person and not easy to deal with. Zheng Yang dares to come here alone to discuss medicine, which shows that he is quite capable. The rest should be left to Zhou Shuren.
Zheng Yang, “… … ..”
Zhou Shuren received Zhulan's hint and said with a smile, "It's not easy for farmers throughout the year. In the past, no one has ever collected wild vegetables. This year, it's rare to add some money to the family. Although it's not much, it can buy clothes for the children at home and have a prosperous year. My dear nephew, don't ask too much. Give a fair price in the first year. The old man will be able to collect more next year. Besides, the money spent on collecting these dried goods is negligible compared to the benefits it brings."
Even though mountain products look ordinary, they must play their greatest value in the hands of the old man, otherwise he would not have specifically asked his grandson to collect them. He doesn't believe that he just collected them on the way.
Zheng Yang looked at Zhou Xiucai. He was indeed like his grandfather said, a difficult fox to deal with. He first talked about the farmers' difficult life and finally tried to guess his grandfather's plan. He pursed his lips, knowing in his heart that the price the Zhou family quoted was also fair.
Zheng Yang said, "Then let's accept the price set by Aunt. I will have to bother you at Uncle's house for a few days. Please spread the news that you are collecting dry goods. I need to borrow the space at Uncle's house to collect dry goods. Sorry for bothering you."
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "I'll ask your aunt to clean up the house for you."
Zheng Yang felt uncomfortable. It was his home before, but now he was a guest. He couldn't go back to his own room. "Thank you for the trouble, uncle."
Zhulan had just asked Mingteng to go find Li and come back when Zhou Laoda came over. "Mom, Dad asked me to clean up the house for Zheng Yang to live in. Oh, and Dad also asked me to promote it. Tomorrow Zheng Yang will borrow our place to collect mountain products. Mom, the price is set according to your request."
Zhulan's lips curled up, she knew that Zhou Shuren would be able to handle it.