"So, what price do you find appropriate?"
Manager Qin stroked his beard, testing the waters. If the price offered was too low, he could still press for more.
Long Yue said, "Manager, look at the flower on this Lingzhi, it's such a large piece with many annual rings. This is clearly a precious perennial Lingzhi. Not to mention ten cents, even one hundred cents wouldn't necessarily buy it! Yet, you offered me ten cents for one tael, you're not sincere in doing business!"
Uh...
Manager Qin's old face turned red and he appeared slightly embarrassed. He initially intended to rip them off, but it turned out he encountered someone knowledgeable. Even Lingzhi's annual and perennial differences were known, leaving him quite ashamed...
He said sheepishly, "The lady is right, earlier Mr. Qin was being greedy. How about this, let's make it one hundred and ten cents per tael, how does that sound?"
"Um—"
Li Qingqiu nearly bit his tongue in excitement upon hearing the sudden increase of a full hundred cents.
He had weighed these Lingzhi when he arrived, and there were at least two pounds in weight, with one pound equaling sixteen taels (ancient measure), which meant... Wow, this wouldn't be less than three or four taels of silver.
He made a big profit this time!
Li Qingmu patted his younger brother's head, thinking he was a bit out of line, and feeling slightly helpless.
This family was too poor, and it was his responsibility as the elder brother. If he were to pass the official examination in the future, he certainly wouldn't let his family suffer along with him.
Long Yue ignored the emotions of her brother beside her, gauging that medical clinics generally accepted at one hundred and thirty cents per tael, and although this price was slightly low, it wasn't too far off.
"Alright, let's weigh it!"
Afterward, the weight was found to be a total of two pounds and five taels, along with some Plantain, Honeysuckle, and other things. Manager Qin deftly manipulated the abacus and smiled, "Miss, the Lingzhi totals four thousand and seventy cents, while the ordinary herbs here are three pounds and one tael. Let me round it up for you to four thousand six hundred cents, how about that?"
"Alright, Manager is straightforward."
"Ahem..."
The words stung a bit, causing Manager Qin to chuckle dryly.
"Manager, please split this silver and copper coins evenly for me."
"Alright, here you go, Miss."
One tael in exchange for a thousand cents, Long Yue gave Li Qingqiu two taels and three hundred cents, and the remainder to Li Qingmu.
Li Qingmu was puzzled, "Wife, what does this mean?"
Long Yue glared at him, "I've already said to save money for your examination! It'll take at least half a month in the provincial capital, and we can't accompany you. Without silver on your journey, it would be difficult..."
Before Long Yue finished speaking, the man suddenly kissed her, laughing softly, "Wife, I understand your intention, but it's better for you to keep the silver safe."
Long Yue: "..."
This scoundrel is always looking to take advantage of me!
The three left the clinic, with Li Qingqiu contemplating with silver in hand: "I'll give these two taels of silver to mother, so she can buy some food for the family, which will surely make her happy. Three hundred cents... Hmm, hehe, I'll consider it my pocket change. Third Sister-in-law, I'm going to buy some candied hawthorn!"
The little guy hopped over to buy candied hawthorn, while Long Yue rubbed her growling stomach, searching for a place to eat dumplings, and saw the man beside her already heading toward a side alley.
"Wife, this way."
Long Yue tugged at her brother-in-law, who was happily eating candied hawthorn, and the three went to a stall to have three baskets of dumplings. Upon coming out, they spotted a cloth shop right across the way.
"Let's go, buy some fabric scraps."
Long Yue was skilled at embroidery, and her craftsmanship was excellent. Making embroidery handkerchiefs from fabric scraps could also earn quite a bit of silver.
The cloth shop was called "Jinxiu," and the owner was a woman in red. As the three entered, a young attendant greeted them. After Long Yue explained her purpose, the young attendant fetched some fabric scraps from the corner.
"Dear lady, many missus come to our store regularly asking for these fabric scraps for embroidery work, and their prices vary depending on quality. Please have a look..."
Long Yue glanced over briefly and said, "How much is this in total?"
"Two hundred and ten coins."
"I'll take them all."
"Alright, miss, I'll go wrap them up..."
"Oh, isn't this my cousin? You are the esteemed daughter of the Pang family from the Capital City, how come you're in such a small corner here?"
The young attendant was interrupted by a delicate voice from behind him.
Long Yue frowned and looked over to see two women and a man browsing whole rolls of fabric at the opposite corner of the shop. One woman was dressed in a light purple skirt, the other in a pink dress, and there was a man in a blue scholar's robe beside them, looking like a scholar.
Long Yue curled her lips in a cold smile, recognizing the purple-skirted girl as her distant cousin, Zhou Zhiqin, whose family background and looks were far inferior to hers. She always harbored inexplicable jealousy towards her, and in her past downtrodden life, she ran to Pang Shuangyue to conspire against her.
Now she was here to disgust her again.
Long Yue glanced at her coldly, curious about what she would say.
"Oh, cousin," she hurriedly approached, gracefully saluting, "I almost forgot, I've heard from people coming from the Capital City that cousin seems to have gotten into some trouble... Oh dear, it must be quite a grievance for dear sister."
She purposefully glanced at Li Qingmu beside Long Yue.
Heh, she's trying to bring up the rumors of having an affair with other men to insult the couple.
Too bad, that thorn had just been pulled recently.
She laughed softly, "Thank you, cousin, for your concern. Sister's life is going excellently; marrying my husband is the blessing I've worked for over several lifetimes, not a grievance."
The purple-skirted girl suddenly looked displeased, while Li Qingmu's eyes gleamed brightly beside them.
"Oh, one certainly can't call it a grievance, after all, one must see what type of person they are? Someone with an affair, unclear and impure... Oh~ to marry someone was already not easy, how could one still expect anything more?"
A delicate laugh echoed, coming from the pink-skirted girl beside Zhou Zhiqin, her words were sharply pointed, carrying deep scorn and malice.
The man in the blue robe beside her only frowned slightly.
Long Yue looked up, about to give a harsh reprimand to this sharp-tongued girl, when Li Qingmu, who had been silent, suddenly looked up, with a face full of confusion, and asked, "Did this young lady say my wife had an affair? But Mr. Li didn't know what affair means? Could the young lady explain?"
"Pfft!" The pink-skirted girl laughed, speaking to the blue-robed man beside her, "Young Master Xiang, listen to him, he's such a bookworm. An affair... isn't that losing one's chastity, hehe..."
"Oh? Losing one's chastity, the young lady knows this word, could you have experienced it?"
Uh...
The pink-skirted girl's face immediately stiffened, followed by Long Yue's burst of laughter.
This man was feigning ignorance and innocence; could it be he had thwarted his opponents like this in his past life?
"You stop speaking nonsense! This girl is entirely pure, where is there any loss of chastity?"
"Oh, then I apologize for being rude, it's just seeing the young lady's delight in discussing these two words made me assume she had deep expertise."
"You..."
The pink-skirted girl originally wanted to insult Long Yue but failed, instead attracting dirt to herself, shaking with anger.
Yet, this man maintained weak words and a courteous manner, leaving her outmatched.
In frustration, the pink-skirted girl turned to speak to the blue-robed man beside her, "Young Master Xiang, don't listen to his nonsense, there's no such thing!"
Young Master Xiang frowned, "Women should avoid idle gossip, Miss Lu's words just now were excessive."
"I..."
The pink-skirted girl widened her eyes, unable to believe what she heard. This Young Master Xiang had always treated her well, even if she argued with other women, he would side with her. Was today an anomaly?
At this moment, Li Qingmu saluted Young Master Xiang, "Brother Xiang, there are things to attend to at home, I'll take my wife and leave now."
"Safe journey, Brother Li."
The two sides exchanged parting words as Li Qingmu and his group of three left. As they walked away, the pink-skirted girl wanted to ask something, but Zhou Zhiqin stopped her, looking at her with some contempt, thinking her companion was a bit foolish.
Then Zhou Zhiqin slowly asked, "Why was Young Master Xiang so polite to that person?"
"Polite? Haha, Miss Zhou overthinks. I only respect and avoid him."
"Why is that?"
Young Master Xiang remained silent, his gaze turned distant, and his fists clenched tightly, though no one saw the slight trembling...