abnabooks Chapter 57 Wang's Pharmacy
Chapter 57 Wang's Pharmacy
After arranging the herbs, Wang Zhengyu instructed the shopkeeper to prepare to withdraw silver from the treasury and pay Zhou Ye the money.
However, since he had come to the pharmacy, Zhou Ye wanted to ask about the prices of the auxiliary medicinal materials.
"Young Master, how much are your low-grade Qi and Blood Pills?"
"Oh! To be honest, we also source our Qi and Blood Powder and low-grade Qi and Blood Pills from outside. Our specialty is various remedies for injuries and wounds. If Brother Tian wants some, we can give you a few bottles. We'll use our internal wholesale price, nine taels and five mace per bottle."
"Uh-huh."
The price is about the same as at the martial arts school. The school also needs to source its supplies from outside. It's just five qian of silver, right? Let Junior Sister Dujuan earn a little; otherwise, that little money-grubber will definitely cry.
"Do you have any medicinal herbs to aid in body tempering techniques?"
"Of course, it's one of our main medicinal herbs. Brother Tian, which body tempering technique do you practice?"
"The Bull Tempering Technique"
"Then I recommend our Wangji Body Tempering Bath Powder. It's quite versatile and has a mild effect. Many martial artists use it."
"And the price?"
"One tael and fifty cents per pack. If you sell 10 packs or more, how about I give you 14 taels?"
"Okay. Then give me 10 packs!"
Although the training of the Wild Bull Tempering Technique has not yet been scheduled, many things can be prepared in advance.
Now, the transaction between the two parties is complete. Zhou Ye quickly received 221 taels of silver and 10 packets of body-tempering bath powder.
However, just as they were bowing and saying goodbye, the shopkeeper suddenly cupped his hands and asked, "Brother Xiao Tian, do you have any yellow bellflowers? Our pharmacy urgently needs them, and the price is negotiable."
"Yellow bellflower?" Zhou Ye was puzzled.
He certainly knew about the yellow bellflower. Although it was a medicinal herb, it was commonly found in the mountains and forests, making it particularly cheap. A pound of yellow bellflower cost only about 55 coins. This was the price of dried flowers. Fresh flowers might cost less than 10 coins.
Because they are so cheap and can be seen frequently, Zhou Ye is too lazy to collect them.
"Shopkeeper, doesn't your pharmacy have a caravan that goes out of town to collect herbs? Just ask a few mountain travelers, they should have some on hand, right?"
"Oh, so you're a regular customer of our shop, young man," the shopkeeper chuckled. "You don't know, there was just a war, so many deserters have turned to banditry in the area. Our caravan was recently robbed, and several people were killed or wounded. The young master is having a major headache over this, and has even stopped all his herbal medicine purchases."
So that's how it is. Zhou Ye couldn't help but glance at Wang Zhengyu. No wonder this young master looked so haggard; he had assumed he was a womanizer and a drunkard.
"Then they're not available on the market?"
Wang Zhengyu chuckled wryly a few times: "There's a huge shortage lately. But we happen to have a batch of prepared medicine that urgently needs this herb. How about this? Could you help me get 100 jin (50 catties)? Fresh flowers will do; our pharmacy will arrange for our staff to handle it. Even a few dozen jin (10-15 kg) will be fine. The sooner the better?"
Zhou Ye was indifferent. Why not take advantage of this free money? Actually, there was no need to venture deep into the mountains; just the area near the pass was covered in fields of yellow bellflowers. And the yellow bellflowers were quite large; a dozen or so would weigh about a pound.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ye replied cautiously, "Then I'll try to think of a way. Give me 10 days; I still need to make some preparations for going into the mountains. Just in case we can't find it, please don't blame me, either of you?"
"You're joking. Just do your best." Wang Zhengyu also laughed. "Brother Tian, if you find more, it won't just be limited to 100 jin; we'll buy them all."
"Alright!" But then Zhou Ye thought of something else, "Young Master, are there many bandits in the area lately?"
"I've heard there are quite a few," Wang Zhengyu said with a wry smile. "It seems many mountain hikers haven't returned. So many people are terrified, and now far fewer people are going into the mountains. This has also led to a shortage of several kinds of herbs. By the way, Brother Tian, if you go into the mountains, please be very careful."
Thank you!
This serves as a reminder to myself: I should indeed be more careful when going into the mountains in the future.
After leaving Wang's Pharmacy, Zhou Ye carried a bundle and headed towards the inner city.
When Zhou Ye went out today, he took all of the more than 100 taels of silver from his home with him, intending to go to Jintong Money Exchange to exchange it for more convenient banknotes.
Once inside the inner city, things proceeded as usual. Zhou Ye took the road leading to the Jintong Money Exchange, avoiding wandering around or visiting the luxurious shops on either side. Everything was done to maintain a low profile.
Not long after, Zhou Ye emerged from the Jintong Money Exchange, having exchanged the silver for three 100-tael silver notes. He now possessed eight notes and had over 70 taels of cash remaining.
Only then did Zhou Ye have the leisure to look around and become somewhat curious about the scene in the inner city.
Unlike when I first arrived in the county town, the inner city is now much more dilapidated and desolate, with several ruins visible. These ruins must be where the fierce battle took place; after that night, many of the wealthy and powerful families in the inner city had their homes ransacked and their property confiscated.
Take these recent incidents, for example! I've encountered people selling these things on the street, and I've also seen them being auctioned off on the spot. These valuable items were all confiscated from the homes of fallen aristocratic families. There were even instances of auctioning off young, fair-skinned ladies, like selling livestock?
After the raids, a considerable amount of valuable items did indeed flow out of the inner city. While the lion's share would certainly go to the military leaders, the soldiers who raided the houses would also reap substantial rewards.
Zhou Ye glanced casually to the side and saw that this was the situation before him.
Dozens of soldiers were seen hawking their wares, and a number of passersby had gathered around them, forming what appeared to be a small market.
Since we're passing by, why don't we go and take a look?
Zhou Ye showed no interest whatsoever in the exquisite silks, porcelains, furniture, and so on. So he just glanced at them and saw only the novelties.
However, as Zhou Ye approached the end of the market, he noticed an old soldier setting up a stall, with various odds and ends laid out on the ground in front of him. Among them were quite a few books.
Zhou Ye squatted down and rummaged through the books, finally finding only two that could barely be considered medical books, and they were mainly about health preservation.
Well, even a mosquito's leg has some meat on it. I wonder if the contents of these two medical books will be helpful for intermediate-level poison skills?
"How much for just these two books?"
The old soldier glanced at him sideways: "One tael per book."
"Never mind then." Zhou Ye tossed the two books aside. Did they think he was a sucker? Even though the books in the bookstore were expensive, weren't these all stolen from him?
Seeing Zhou Ye about to leave, the veteran immediately called out to him, "Young man, we can talk this over. Why don't you name a price first?"
"Two books for one tael!"
"make a deal!"
The old soldier eagerly accepted the silver tael. To him, these tattered books were utterly useless; the paper was too stiff even to wipe his bottom.
Zhou Ye happily put the two books away. But then, glancing to the side, something immediately caught his eye…