Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

After reading the list, Ji Yongling saw that it contained all the herbs from her previous prescriptions, and that they were also very common in the Niujiazhuang area. She nodded and said to Wang Defu, "Manager Wang, but what is the quantity and expiration date of these herbs?"

Wang Defu maintained his friendly smile and handed over another piece of paper, saying, "This is the time limit and the purchase quantity and price of each medicinal herb."

Ji Yongling took it, glanced at it, and saw that although the deadline was tight, the quantity was large and the price was fair, so he asked, "What will happen if we can't deliver the goods on time and in the required quantity?"

Wang Defu took the water Hu Xirong brought, thanked her, and said to Ji Yongling, "It depends on how the contract was signed at the time, but our boss specifically instructed that we don't need to be too strict about it. We need to act quickly. This time, we are mainly helping the people in the south to prevent and treat diseases. We will try our best to collect more than the agreed amount. If it is really not enough, we will transfer goods from other places."

Upon hearing this, Ji Manchuan immediately exclaimed excitedly, "How can we accept this? We are so grateful to Boss Liang. We have truly met a great benefactor!"

Grandpa Ji and the others looked at Wang Defu, smiling and nodding in agreement: "Master Liang is truly a great benefactor to our family."

Seeing that his family members were all smiling, Ji Yongling said to Wang Defu, "We will remember the care that Liang Dongjia has given to our Ji family."

"Of course, of course. Our master said that if Madam Ji thinks of any other prescriptions in the future, it's enough that she can think of him first." Wang Defu also likes people who are grateful and repay kindness, but he is afraid that some people will only take advantage of others, be greedy and insatiable.

After agreeing on the medicinal herbs, Wang Defu had his servant fetch a bundle of scraps of cloth from the carriage outside. He said to Ji Yongling, "These are scraps of cloth and some finished medicine pouches from our Jishi Pharmacy that I had prepared. Madam Ji, please take a look and you can make some samples based on them. I will come back tomorrow to discuss the medicine pouches further."

Ji Yongling took the scraps of cloth and said, "No need to trouble yourself. My father and I will bring the samples to you tomorrow. May I ask where you are staying?"

Wang Defu cupped his hands in greeting: "I need to arrange for people to prepare medicine packets with Mr. Xu of Xu's Pharmacy in the near future, so I will be staying at the large inn next to his shop for the time being."

After saying that, he left the gift and said goodbye, citing that he had other things to do.

"Manager Wang, wait a minute—"

"Does Madam Ji have any other instructions?" Wang Defu turned around and looked at Ji Yongling.

Ji Yongling picked up a black glazed jar that had been placed on the low table and handed it to Wang Defu: "Manager Wang, this is some newly made moxa wool from my family. Please take a look at it."

Wang Defu took the jar with suspicion, opened it and saw that it contained mugwort floss, so he took out a little.

This was clearly different from the moxa wool he had seen before. The moxa wool made by their shop in the past had a rough texture and obvious graininess, but the clump of fine, earthy yellow wool in his hand now had a pure and bright color, a delicate texture, and could be shaped with just a little kneading.

He had heard people say that the mugwort floss sent to the palace was also made of this very fine floss, but it was very expensive.

Their pharmacy had tried to make fine moxa wool, and in the end, they used a stone mortar and pestle to grind it thousands or tens of thousands of times. Several apprentices' arms were swollen, but they still couldn't get more than a pound of wool.

It's really too time-consuming and laborious.

"Did you really make this moxa?" Wang Defu carefully put the moxa back into the jar and looked up at Ji Yongling.

Ji Yongling smiled and nodded, saying, "Manager Wang, we just finished making this a few days ago. We were originally going to send it to Mr. Xu in the county, but now that you're here, we'll take a look and ask you to give us an estimate."

Wang Defu pondered for a moment and said, "Such fine moxa wool is rarely sold on the market. It is indeed very labor-intensive and time-consuming to make. If it is to be sold, it can only be sold to high-ranking officials and nobles. So if Madam Ji is willing to sell, I am willing to pay one tael and half a tael of silver for the wool."

Ji Yongling didn't speak, but did some mental calculations. Then he looked at the other family members and saw that the eyes of Old Master Ji and Ji Manchuan lit up when they heard the price. So he said to Wang Defu, "Thank you for your patronage, Manager Wang. This jar weighs exactly five jin. How many jin would you like?"

Wang Defu weighed the jar in his hand. Having dealt with medicinal herbs and weights for many years, he could tell how much was in the jar. He said, "I'll take the whole jar, how about it?"

Ji Manchuan and the others immediately broke into smiles. Seeing this, Ji Yongling said, "Then thank you very much for your patronage, Manager Wang!"

Wang Defu called out to the servant outside, "Dunzi, settle the accounts and get money for Madam Ji."

The servant counted the money and handed it to Ji Yongling with both hands.

Ji Yongling accepted the money and thanked him.

Wang Defu was about to leave with the jar when Grandpa Ji and the others warmly invited him to stay: "Manager Wang, please do us the honor of staying for a simple meal before you go. We've already rolled out all the long noodles."

Long noodles are the highest form of hospitality in rural Northwest China, especially in those times of food scarcity. Being able to bring out white flour to make long noodles is truly the greatest respect for guests.

Wang Defu knows that farmers have it tough. Nowadays, every family eats their meals sparingly, adding vegetable leaves along with the noodles. A single bowl of long noodles might be a family's food supply for half a month.

He declined repeatedly, then quickly jumped into the carriage and told the driver to drive away.

When the villagers heard the sound of horses' hooves, some of them peeked out and saw the carriage go to Old Ji's house. They then gathered in twos and threes at the door and whispered among themselves, assuming that the important person who delivered the mule cart had come to visit again.

Now, when they see the carriage coming out of Old Ji's house, everyone watches it leave with envy in their eyes.

Some of the restless old women planned to go to Old Ji's house after dinner to find out what was going on.

After seeing Wang Defu off, the Ji family members all returned to their courtyard.

Hu Xirong was overjoyed, patting her chest and exclaiming loudly, "My goodness! I can't believe it! Such a small amount of mugwort floss sells for more than twenty taels of silver, while two thousand catties of mugwort leaves only sell for a few thousand yuan!"

Yang glanced at her and said, "You're making a fuss over nothing. Hurry up and make the noodles. I've already rolled them out." Then she immediately put on a smiling face and looked at Ji Yongling.

Ji Manqing glanced at Yang Shi with a grin and said, "Mother, don't even mention my wife. I can't believe that little bit of stuff can sell for more than twenty taels. Although these past few days have been exhausting for this little bit of stuff, making my kidneys red and sore, it's still worth it. Let me do the math, one jin of mugwort leaves yields one tael of floss, and we still have several hundred jin of mugwort leaves..." After saying that, he excitedly shook his body.

Although Ji Manchuan had been grinning from ear to ear, he now puffed out his chest with pride and said slowly, "I guess we've finally made a deal with the big pharmacy in the prefecture."

Ji Manqing clicked his tongue and said, "This Liang boss is really generous. Such a big shop in the prefectural city, and he specially sent the manager to talk business with us. In the past, who would have dared to do that! Listen to this, the manager of such a big shop calls our Ling'er 'Madam Ji.' Oh my, should he call me Master Ji from now on?" After saying that, he was very happy.

"Hiss, who's messing with me?" Ji Manqing asked, hugging one elbow.

Ji Manchuan said, "I'm telling you to wake up. Don't dream of marrying Xi Shi. You're dreaming."