Dressed as the villain's stepmother

"I'm going to the market. I might be able to meet some people who specialize in buying and selling herbal medicines. The prices in their hands must be cheaper than those in those shops."

Jiang Lianzhu told Liu Qingqing, took some banknotes and planned to leave.

Without saying a word, Liu Qingqing put down the banknote in her hand and ran to Jiang Lianzhu: "I'm with you."

"it is good."

Jiang Lianzhu responded.

People were coming and going in the market, and the sound of hawking was endless.

Jiang Lianzhu led Liu Qingqing all the way inside, and what she saw were some herbal medicine stalls.

The two of them looked around for a while, and finally stopped at a stall.

"Boss, how do you sell these herbs you have?"

Jiang Lianzhu picked up a piece of ferngrass at random, put it in her hand and took a good look at it. The quality was definitely not bad.

"These different herbs naturally have different prices. If the girl wants to take them all, the ones on my stall will cost 80 taels of silver."

The man replied calmly.

The bosses on the side rolled their eyes with disdain when they heard what he said.

"How can what you have in hand be worth so much? You just think that this girl has just entered the industry and doesn't understand the rules. That's why you keep offering high prices, right?"

"Yeah, he definitely doesn't have any good intentions. Girl, don't believe what he says. Why not come to my shop and have a look. The prices are definitely better than his."

"The ones from my side are fine too! You won't make a penny of any loss, and the quality of the medicinal materials is much better than those from his family!"

Many people were boasting over there, while the man shook his head with slight disdain.

Jiang Lianzhu didn't pay attention to what those people said. Just when she was about to ask Liu Qingqing to help her choose, she saw her quickly turning her head away and holding the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands.

"what happened?"

"Shopkeeper Jiang, you can just pick these things. I won't get involved in this."

Liu Qingqing replied angrily.

She deliberately hid to the side to avoid the man behind the stall.

Jiang Lianzhu noticed something was wrong with her. She first glanced at Liu Qingqing with squinted eyes, and then looked at the man behind the stall.

The man had already noticed Liu Qingqing's dodge, took a step forward, grabbed Liu Qingqing's arm with one hand, and clicked his tongue.

"Liu Qingqing, you are quite capable. You have been hiding in the capital for so long."

"I, you, who are you? I don't know you at all!"

Liu Qingqing immediately took a step back, avoiding the man's sight with a slight evasion, and wanted to take his hand out, but no matter how hard he tried, it was in vain.

"You two know each other?"

Jiang Lianzhu squinted her eyes and looked at the man and Liu Qingqing carefully. The eyebrows and eyes of the two people were somewhat similar, so there was no guarantee that they were related.

"I am her father, how could I not even recognize my own daughter!"

The man sighed and ordered Jiang Lianzhu: "Girl, please help me keep her under guard. I will close my stall first. Then I will give you all the herbs you like."

"make a deal."

Jiang Lianzhu smiled and grabbed Liu Qingqing's wrist.

"Shopkeeper, are you really going to sell me out for this little thing?"

Liu Qingqing moved slightly and moved her head to Jiang Lianzhu's side, her voice slightly aggrieved.

She accompanied Jiang Lianzhu to the market with good intentions, but she was sold out in the blink of an eye. She really wanted to cry without tears.

"Why, I haven't asked you about your origins before. I still have some time now, why don't you tell me about it?"

Jiang Lianzhu didn't reply to her words and asked instead.

"My parents are from the Western Regions and came to the capital to do herbal medicine business. I came here with them...but they were not very interested in herbal medicine, so we worked as a doctor in a medical clinic."

Liu Qingqing told her story honestly. Seeing that the man had packed his things, he curled his lips and said, "Dad, let's go to the restaurant together."

"Okay." The man nodded.

restaurant.

As soon as the man entered the restaurant, he gave Jiang Lianzhu the two medicine baskets he was holding.

"Girl, I am here to keep my word. I will give you this medicinal material as promised."

"Thank you very much. I wonder what you call me?" Jiang Lianzhu curled her lips slightly and automatically ignored Liu Qingqing's slightly sad eyes.

"Just call me Liu Zi." He said and knocked on the table. Liu Qingqing immediately came back to her senses when she heard the voice.

Liu Zi glared at Liu Qingqing, then turned around with a smile on his face.

"My daughter has caused trouble for Shopkeeper Jiang these days. I will definitely teach her a lesson after I take her back."

"It's okay. Qingqing has her own way of practicing medicine and asking for medicine. If you are willing to continue to be a doctor in the medical clinic, then I will naturally welcome you here."

Jiang Lianzhu said calmly, and Liu Qingqing's eyes lit up when she heard it.

She raised her chin proudly, as if to demonstrate to Liu Zi.

"Also, listen to Qingqing, you are in the medicinal material business. My medical clinic happens to be short of some medicinal materials. If possible, we can also discuss cooperation."

Jiang Lianzhu said immediately.

After hearing this, Liu Zi was slightly stunned, unable to understand what Jiang Lianzhu was thinking.

He does have a lot of medicinal materials on hand that he can supply to Jiang Lianzhu, but the two of them have just met, so it would be a bit abrupt if they rashly start talking about cooperation.

"Miss Jiang doesn't even know where the medicinal materials I have come from. If you want to cooperate with me now, aren't you afraid that our cooperation will not be successful and we will end up with a grudge?"

Liu Zi said with a smile, with a hint of refusal in his words.

He turned to look at Liu Qingqing and cleared his throat: "Qingqing, your mother and I are still waiting for you. If you are still so ignorant, then there is nothing I can do, but -"

"Don't threaten me with those things, they are just some excuses to deceive children."

Liu Qingqing curled her lips in disdain and ignored what Liu Zi said.

"Dad, you have a medicinal field outside the capital anyway. If you sell some of the herbs you grow to anyone, you are not selling it. Why not just cooperate with Shopkeeper Jiang? I will definitely not lose anything to you."

Liu Qingqing was completely on Jiang Lianzhu's side, and was helping her both inside and outside her words.

Liu Zi was stunned by Liu Qingqing's words, and stretched out his hand to rub his chin: "Hey, we just arrived at the restaurant. Why are we in such a hurry to discuss business? Let's eat something to fill our stomachs first!"

Liu Zi waved his hand, and then called the waiter over and reported a list of dish names.

Jiang Lianzhu listened to Liu Zi's avoidance, and her remaining patience gradually disappeared: "Do you have any concerns?"