It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

He looked at the two men in patched jackets again and asked with surprise, "Do you recognize these herbs?"

Song Zhi nodded, pointed at the herbs in the basket, and named them one by one.

Seeing that he really knew about medicinal herbs, Shopkeeper Li felt less worried. He also saw that his family didn't seem to be well off, so he knew that he would have to sell herbal medicine in the future.

After calculating for a while, he finally said, "I do buy medicinal herbs, but the price won't be too high. I can only give you one cent per pound of this toad grass, two cents per pound of three-branch nine-leaf grass, and as for bupleurum and asarum, I can give you six cents per pound."

When Mrs. Wu heard that it could be sold for so much money, her face was obviously happy, but she knew that this was not the time to speak, so she looked at her granddaughter inquiringly.

Song Zhi was unhappy in her heart, but she remained expressionless. Although the price offered by this shop was much higher than the previous one, it was also a very low price.

But this was already the third pharmacy she had visited today.

Song Zhi bargained, "Boss, can you add a little more?"

Shopkeeper Li shook his head and said, "These herbs are all fresh. If they were dried, at least 60% of the herbs with leaves would be lost. That would be a huge loss."

Song Zhi knew very well that even if only ten kilograms of leafy herbs remained after drying, the price would still be high.

She had bought dried toad grass in modern times, and it cost twenty yuan per pound.

Across time and space, although it is difficult to directly compare the two, the truth is this.

Song Zhi was depressed, but she didn't argue with the shopkeeper. She continued to argue, "Shopkeeper, please give me a raise. Next time I dig up some herbs, I'll come here again!"

The shopkeeper had this in mind. The young lady's medicine was handled very cleanly, which saved a lot of trouble. After a moment's hesitation, he said:

"Then I'll raise the price of Asarum by one penny. If you're willing, I'll take these herbs. If not, forget it!"

This one sentence stopped Song Zhi from bargaining.

There was no other way. The family was in urgent need of money, so Song Zhi had to accept it even if it meant suffering a loss.

She nodded, "Thank you for your kindness, Shopkeeper!"

Shopkeeper Li called the medicine boy over and weighed the herbs in the basket one by one in front of Song Zhi.

Shopkeeper Li fiddled with his abacus as he said, "Twenty-eight catties of Toad Grass, thirty-one catties and five ounces of Three-branch Nine-leaf Grass, three catties and five ounces of Bupleurum, and nine catties of Asarum. That's a total of one hundred and seventy-five coins. Madam, do you have any questions?"

Song Zhi shook her head, then thought of something and said, "I wonder if the shopkeeper has any realgar here? And how much is it?"

"The mountains are densely forested, and there are countless snakes, insects, and poisonous insects. Buy some realgar to ward off snakes."

If she still wants to go up the mountain, she must be fully prepared.

But you can't rely on luck to save your life. You still need to buy some realgar and mix it with mountain herbs to use for self-defense.

Shopkeeper Li paused while counting the money and suggested, "We do have snake and insect repellent powder in our shop. Madam, why don't you just buy that?"

Song Zhi shook her head and politely declined, "I shouldn't refuse the shopkeeper's kindness, but my family is struggling financially. If realgar is expensive, I can't afford it!"

Seeing that she was dressed like a poor woman, Shopkeeper Li stopped trying to persuade her and said, "One ounce of realgar costs one penny. How much do you need, madam?"

Song Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Wu and asked, "Grandma, how about we buy the ten-cent one?"

Mrs. Wu was delighted to see her granddaughter earn so much money in a single day. When she heard she wanted to buy herbs to repel snakes and insects, she nodded vigorously and said, "Safety is the most important thing. Just buy them and don't be stingy with your money!"

So Song Zhi asked for ten cents of realgar.

Shopkeeper Li nodded and asked the pharmacist to get the medicine. He took out two strings of money from behind the counter, untied another string, counted out thirty-five copper coins from it, and handed the two strings of money to Song Zhi.

"Madam, please take a look!"

Just now, when the shopkeeper was counting the money, Song Zhi was standing by and watching it clearly.

She was also very generous. She simply wrapped the copper coins in the cloth used to cover the eggs and put them back into the backpack.

He said, "The shopkeeper has done something right, so there's no doubt about it. I still have some trust in him!"

Shopkeeper Li couldn't help but look at Song Zhi with more respect. This young lady was very graceful and generous in her work, which made people feel at ease.

After all, Song Zhi had been working in the workplace for five years. Even though she knew very well that the other party had severely lowered the price of the herbs, she had to try her best to be on good terms with him.

Who made her so poor now?

Ever since the grandfather and grandson came out of the pharmacy, the smile on Mrs. Wu's face has never faded.

She held her granddaughter's hand tightly and said happily, "Your cousin worked hard for the Wang family for a month and only earned 300 coins. I never thought that we could earn half a month's wages in just one trip today."

"Let's go back quickly. This time, call your aunt and take us along to pick the fruits. How much money can we make this month?"

Wu couldn't figure it out at once, but it didn't stop her from feeling excited.

Song Zhi said to Wu, "Grandma, that's not the way to calculate it. The herbs in this mountain are limited, and I secretly want to find another buyer. With all the herbs we have today, Shopkeeper Li will make at least three times the net profit!"

When Mrs. Wu heard her granddaughter say that the amount of medicine in the mountains was limited, she felt a little regretful.

When he heard that the shopkeeper had made so much money, he covered his chest in shock.

She asked in surprise, "How do you know?"

Song Zhi's heart skipped a beat. This was just nonsense. She had no choice but to use Doctor Zheng's name as an excuse to get away with it.

Seeing her heartbroken expression, Song Zhi continued, "So, we're not in a hurry to sell the medicine. We can sell the medicine while we're looking for buyers in the county town. At the very least, we can just sell the medicine to Shopkeeper Li, don't you agree?"

Seeing her granddaughter's idea, Mrs. Wu nodded repeatedly and patted her hand with satisfaction, "I'll do as you say!"

The grandfather and grandson walked along the main street towards the city gate. When they passed a grocery store, Mrs. Wu stopped and said, "Wait, we're out of salt at home. It's a good time to buy some to take back."

Song Zhi nodded and followed him into the shop. She wanted to learn more about the prices of goods in this era.

As soon as she entered the grocery store, Song Zhi saw the shop owner checking out a customer.

Mrs. Wu was not in a hurry and waited quietly by the side.

Song Zhi was also waiting, but her eyes were looking at the various foods displayed in the center of the shop.

At this time, the main food in the north was white flour, corn, soybeans, peas and other beans. In the past two days, she had been eating corn.

Her eyes swept over the prices inserted in the grains, which were nine cents, eight cents, six cents, five cents, and one catty respectively.

In my original impression, this price was considered fair. During the war last year, the price of white flour and corn even rose to fifteen cents per catty.

She looked around and wondered if there was no rice for sale here?

The customer who was checking out asked Song Zhi about her doubts.