Zhāng Kuí arrived with a large parcel, smiled slightly at Lǐ Qīngshān, and said, "Mister Li, I've come to do some business with you. I wonder if it's suitable?"
"What's not to be suitable? I'm deeply grateful," Lǐ Qīngshān replied with a smile.
Lǐ Qīngshān was genuinely grateful to Zhāng Kuí, as his first pot of gold came from Zhāng Kuí trading Ginseng with him. And now that Zhāng Kuí had come to do business with him again, Lǐ Qīngshān had every reason to be happy.
Lǐ Qīngshān raised his voice and said, "Brother Zhāng Kuí, I'll introduce the prices first so you have a clear idea and it's convenient to do business with me."
Lǐ Qīngshān was using the opportunity to explain prices to Zhāng Kuí to inform the surrounding villagers. He had previously only mentioned barter for transactions, but because it was his first time doing business, he hadn't thought things through and hadn't set clear prices. However, now Lǐ Qīngshān had definite prices.
When Lǐ Qīngshān announced the prices, everyone was astonished.
"Are these prices real? This is much cheaper than the market price."
"It's not just 'much' cheaper, it's a lot cheaper."
The villagers murmured, disbelieving the prices.
"A jin of coarse salt in Qīng Lián Town costs thirty wen, yet Mister Li is only selling it for ten wen. Sir, you are truly magnanimous. We will definitely buy a few more jin of salt," said a villager, who had studied for a few years and was considered half a scholar.
"Ten wen a jin for coarse salt is indeed something to buy a few extra jin of."
"Mister Li isn't just selling coarse salt cheaply; rice isn't expensive either, and he's offering a high price for Ginseng. He's buying Ginseng for three taels of silver per plant. He's truly offering a good price," praised another villager, giving a thumbs-up.
"Old Sixth, I remember your family has quite a bit of Ginseng. Looks like you're going to get rich," said an envious villager next to him.
Old Sixth chuckled, his face full of pride. His family did indeed have a lot of Ginseng, which he had collected from the mountains earlier. He had originally planned to take it to the county town to sell in a few days. But now that Lǐ Qīngshān's buy-back price was more favorable, he decided to sell it now.
Zhāng Kuí was also greatly surprised by the prices Lǐ Qīngshān introduced.
The reason he came to Lǐ Qīngshān first was purely out of trust in him. He hadn't expected that the goods Lǐ Qīngshān was selling would be so cheap, and the prices for reclaimed medicinal herbs would be so much higher than the market price.
"Sir, you are truly magnanimous. I'll entrust all my medicinal herbs to you for reclamation," Zhāng Kuí said excitedly.
Zhāng Kuí knew the market price for Ginseng, and the price Lǐ Qīngshān offered was much higher than the market price.
"Mister Li, why don't you take a look at my medicinal herbs first."
Zhāng Kuí said quickly, and as he spoke, he opened the parcel he had brought.
Zhāng Kuí was a herb collector and had quite a few valuable medicinal herbs. He would sell some of them to cover household expenses, and keep some. Today, knowing that Lǐ Qīngshān was reclaiming medicinal herbs, Zhāng Kuí had brought all of his.
Lǐ Qīngshān quickly examined the medicinal herbs in the parcel. Ginseng and reishi mushroom were relatively easy to identify, but he couldn't identify the other herbs.
Lǐ Qīngshān thought for a moment and, instead of pretending to be knowledgeable, sincerely said to Zhāng Kuí, "Brother Zhāng Kuí, I'm not skilled at identifying these medicinal herbs, so I'll need your help to explain them."
"There's also something else I need your help with, Brother Zhāng Kuí. When I reclaim the herbs later, I'll need your assistance in verifying them."
At this moment, it was better to be sincere than to put on airs.
Zhāng Kuí was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "No problem, that's my responsibility."
"Come, let me introduce you to these medicinal herbs."
"These are all Ginseng. There are seven roots in total. These two are ten years old, these four are thirty to forty years old, this one is sixty years old, and the best one is this hundred-year-old wild Ginseng."
Lǐ Qīngshān was greatly surprised to hear about the hundred-year-old wild Ginseng and immediately looked at it. The hundred-year-old wild Ginseng was indeed different from ordinary mountain Ginseng; it was larger and had more human-like form and resonance.
Lǐ Qīngshān also asked for advice on how to identify Ginseng. Zhāng Kuí was an expert in this field and immediately passed on his knowledge to Lǐ Qīngshān. These were simple tricks, not complicated, and easy to learn.
Lǐ Qīngshān suddenly understood. He picked up a Ginseng and identified it, and it was indeed as Zhāng Kuí had said. From now on, if he encountered Ginseng, he would know how to identify it.
Besides Ginseng, Zhāng Kuí had also brought quite a few reishi mushrooms and other medicinal herbs. The most valuable among them were naturally the Ginseng and reishi mushrooms; the other herbs were not very expensive.
Lǐ Qīngshān estimated the prices of these Ginseng and reishi mushrooms one by one. The remaining herbs were valued at five hundred wen.
Every time Lǐ Qīngshān quoted a price, Zhāng Kuí's heart skipped a beat because Lǐ Qīngshān's prices were too high. They were significantly higher than the market buy-back price.
"I'm going to get rich," Zhāng Kuí exclaimed inwardly.
"Brother Zhāng Kuí, I've estimated the prices for your medicinal herbs. The total is seventy-six taels of silver, plus five hundred wen. Do you find this acceptable?"
"If it's acceptable, I'll take them," Lǐ Qīngshān said in a raised voice. He wanted to let the surrounding villagers know that he was buying traditional Chinese medicinal herbs at a high price.
"Acceptable, more than acceptable! I'll sell!" Zhāng Kuí stood up, excited.
He had never dreamed that his medicinal herbs could fetch such a high price. Although there were precious medicinal herbs like the hundred-year-old wild Ginseng among them, Zhāng Kuí knew that even the hundred-year-old wild Ginseng wouldn't sell for a very high price in a shop.
The prices for these medicinal herbs were not low when customers bought them in shops, but herb collectors couldn't sell them for high prices when they took them to shops. Zhāng Kuí was aware of this, but they were helpless. This was the drawback of not having sales channels.
Lǐ Qīngshān didn't hesitate. He immediately took out glittering silver ingots, counted out seventy-six taels of silver, and handed them to Zhāng Kuí.
Lǐ Qīngshān smiled and said, "Brother Zhāng Kuí, here are seventy-six taels of silver. Please keep it safe. The remaining five hundred wen can be exchanged for goods here. I apologize, Brother Zhāng Kuí, I don't have copper coins on me, so I can only exchange it for goods."
"Alright, alright! I'll exchange it!" Zhāng Kuí said happily.
Zhāng Kuí looked at the goods on Lǐ Qīngshān's cart, his eyes shining. There was rice, salt, cotton cloth, iron pots, and kitchen knives – all good things!
Zhāng Kuí was now wealthy and generous. With money in hand, he naturally wouldn't be stingy. He immediately spent five taels of silver at Lǐ Qīngshān's place. He bought quite a lot of rice, cotton cloth, iron pots, kitchen knives, and salt.