The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 5: Selling the Ginseng and Meeting a Kind Soul

The original owner of this body often came to town to sell herbs, so Xu Zhizhi was familiar with the roads.

Xu Zhizhi walked around the small town and realized that, compared to the luxurious scenes in TV dramas, this place was like heaven and earth.

The town was rather shabby, with people wearing patched clothes and hurrying about with their loads.

It wasn’t until she reached the main street that she saw men in long robes and women in flowing skirts. Xu Zhizhi continued forward and soon spotted the largest pharmacy in town: Kangning Hall.

Xu Zhizhi walked straight in!

It was said that the owner of Kangning Hall, Shangguan Zhuoping, was the most famous doctor in town and had once been a renowned miracle healer.

Normally, the original owner wouldn’t come to such a large pharmacy, but Xu Zhizhi was worried that smaller shops wouldn’t be able to afford the ginseng. She saw a middle-aged doctor consulting patients, while three young apprentices were busy preparing medicines.

“Miss, are you here to see a doctor or buy medicine?” A young apprentice, about fourteen or fifteen, asked Xu Zhizhi at the entrance.

“I’m not here to see a doctor or buy medicine. I’m here to sell medicine,” Xu Zhizhi replied directly.

“We usually don’t buy common herbs unless they’re of high quality…” The young man glanced at Xu Zhizhi’s faded, patched clothes, clearly identifying her as a village girl from nearby.

He wanted to make things clear upfront to avoid wasting time.

But then Xu Zhizhi took out an old handkerchief from her bag and unwrapped it, revealing a high-quality ginseng root.

“This is ginseng!” The young man exclaimed, drawing the attention of the consulting doctor.

“We’ll need to ask Dr. Shangguan to take a look…” The young man had never seen such a ginseng root and wasn’t sure how to proceed.

“What’s all the fuss about? It’s just ginseng. How inexperienced!” An elderly man emerged from the back room, glaring at the young apprentice.

Xu Zhizhi looked over. The man’s age was hard to guess, with deep wrinkles etched into his face.

“Master, take a look…” The young man began, but the elderly man had already stepped forward.

His eyes widened as he examined the ginseng.

He had seen many ginseng roots, but one of this quality—a thousand-year-old ginseng—was extremely rare.

Xu Zhizhi let the doctor inspect it. In her modern world, cultivated ginseng was everywhere, but here in ancient times, it was undoubtedly valuable.

“Miss, I am Shangguan Zhuoyun, the proprietor of this pharmacy. Please, come to the back room to discuss.”

Dr. Shangguan reluctantly tore his gaze away from the ginseng and led her to a private room, shielding them from prying eyes. The young apprentice poured a cup of water for his master, then reluctantly poured one for Xu Zhizhi under the doctor’s stern gaze.

Dr. Shangguan held the ginseng on the table, practically drooling over it.

“May I ask where you obtained this ginseng, miss?”

He had no other hobbies in life besides his love for rare medicinal herbs.

Never did he expect to find such a treasure in this remote town.

Xu Zhizhi wasn’t afraid of his scrutiny, but she wasn’t about to reveal her secret.

If she said she found it in the mountains, that might fool a child, but not this shrewd old man.

“Dr. Shangguan, are you buying or not? How much will you offer?”

Dr. Shangguan held up one finger.

“One hundred taels?” Xu Zhizhi frowned. That seemed a bit low.

“Nonsense! One thousand taels!” Dr. Shangguan glared at her. For a treasure like this, which seemed to be a thousand years old, one thousand taels was even too low.

“To be honest with you, miss, this could fetch five thousand taels in Luocheng. What a pity…”

Hearing this, Xu Zhizhi’s expression softened, and she felt a bit more favorable toward Dr. Shangguan. His offer was much higher than she had expected.

“What’s the pity?”

“The pity is that I can’t afford it!”

“Then I’ll sell it to you for one thousand taels,” Xu Zhizhi said decisively. She urgently needed the money and couldn’t possibly travel to Luoyang.

“But I don’t even have one thousand taels!”

Xu Zhizhi: “…”

She silently cursed: Then why did you mention such a high price?!

“How much can you offer?” Xu Zhizhi took a deep breath, feeling like the old man was toying with her.

“Six hundred taels. That’s all I have. How about I write you an IOU for the remaining four hundred?” Dr. Shangguan said with a sheepish grin.

“Fine. Write me an IOU for the rest.”

Selling it to someone else might not even fetch six hundred taels.

“Great, great! Sun Hao, go get the money!” Dr. Shangguan quickly instructed the young apprentice.

The young man hesitated but eventually brought out five hundred-tael silver notes, a fifty-tael silver ingot, and a pile of loose silver, placing them on the table.

Xu Zhizhi happily accepted the payment. This made things much easier. She put the loose silver in her pocket and the rest into her portable space.

After thanking them, she went to buy vegetables, meat, rice, and more.

“Master, she’s just a village girl. Why not just give her a hundred taels? Why be so honest?” The young apprentice grumbled.

“Do you think a village girl could produce such a rare, thousand-year-old ginseng? Sun Hao, your medical skills are lacking, and so is your judgment. You still have much to learn.”

The young man lowered his head and went back to work.

Meanwhile, Xu Zhizhi, now with silver in hand, bought everything she needed. Most of it went into he portable space, while she carried some meat, rice, and flour in her basket. She endured the bumpy ox-cart ride back to the village.

When she got off the cart, she saw her two younger brothers waiting by the roadside. They ran over as soon as they spotted her. Xu Da Niu took her basket, though the fourteen-year-old boy, thin and small for his age, struggled under its weight.

Her younger brother held her hand and asked what she had bought. Xu Zhizhi told them about the meat, rice, and flour as they walked home.

They arrived home around five in the afternoon, just in time to prepare dinner.

Xu Zhizhi unpacked the items, and her brothers helped put everything away. Finally, only a package of pastries remained on the table. The brothers drooled but didn’t touch them until Xu Zhizhi opened the package and shared them.

She then started cooking. First, she cut the fatty meat to render oil. She had bought rapeseed oil, but it was too heavy to carry, so she left it in her portable space.

Xu Xiao Wu volunteered to start the fire.

Xu Zhizhi washed the pot, added some water, and put in the fatty meat. Xu Da Niu came in and asked, puzzled, “Sister, why are you adding water to render oil?”

“Adding water makes it more fragrant,” Xu Zhizhi said matter-of-factly, though she was just making it up.

Before long, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of crispy pork cracklings. She told Xiao Wu to lower the fire.

Xu Zhizhi found a ceramic jar, filled a bowl with the cracklings, and poured the oil into the jar.

She handed the bowl of cracklings to Xu Da Niu and picked up a piece to feed Xiao Wu. The little boy’s eyes squinted with delight as he chewed.

Xu Da Niu also picked up a piece and held it to Xu Zhizhi’s mouth. “Sister, you eat first.”

Looking at her sensible brothers, Xu Zhizhi thought to herself: I must find a way to earn more money, improve our family’s life, and send my brothers to school.

(End of Chapter)