She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

"Could you please tell me when Master Zhu will be back?" Lanxiang asked anxiously.

Manager Liu shook his head. "I can't say for sure. The master's whereabouts are always unpredictable."

Shen Man gently patted Lanxiang's shoulder to comfort her, "Mother, don't worry, let's think of another way. Steward Liu, since the deal isn't going through, let's take the silk back with us!"

"Okay!" Manager Liu replied, returning the silkworm silk that the two women had left behind last time.

The mother and daughter walked out of the Zhu family's business, looking somewhat listless.

They never imagined that the seemingly kind-looking Steward Liu was a greedy and treacherous person who would join forces with Geng Qingsong to harm them.

"Man'er, thinking of the expectant faces of the villagers, I'm almost afraid to go back!"

Seeing her mother's worried expression, Shen Man decided to take her to get something to eat first.

They went into a noodle shop and ordered two bowls of meat broth noodles.

Lanxiang remained worried and unable to eat.

Shen Man patiently comforted her and told her some interesting stories from her time in the village, trying to help Lanxiang relax.

After finishing their noodles, Shen Man suggested they go to the market to see if there were any other business opportunities.

As they walked, they observed the surrounding stalls, occasionally stopping to inquire about the prices of the goods.

As they passed the shop where they had bought fabric before, the sharp-eyed shopkeeper spotted them and called out, "Oh, isn't this Lanxiang? Come, have a seat!" The shopkeeper greeted them warmly, "What, buying fabric again today?"

Lanxiang smiled a little shyly, "I'm not buying any fabric, I'm just browsing."

"Oh, I see. But you've come at the right time. I've just received a new batch of goods, all of which are the most fashionable styles right now. Would you like to take a look?" The proprietress said, taking out several bolts of fabric to show them.

"Madam, we really aren't in the mood to look at your fabrics today... By the way, do you know where else in this town, besides the Zhu Family Trading Company, can we buy silk?"

"Silk? You sell silk? Let me see it quickly!" the proprietress said hurriedly.

Lanxiang was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately opened the bundle to show her the silk inside.

The proprietress touched it with her hand and said, "This is wild silkworm silk, right? But wild silkworm silk doesn't seem to be this white..."

"It's wild silkworm silk. It wasn't originally this white; it's been processed by us," Shen Man explained to her.

"Hmm, wild silkworm silk is thicker, stronger, and more resilient than domesticated silkworm silk. Many wealthy families in the city like to use it to make outerwear, quilt covers, chair covers, and other items. How much do you have on hand?"

“It weighs about a hundred pounds!” Shen Man replied immediately.

"My husband is sending a shipment to the capital next month, so why don't I buy all this silk for you? But you should know that wild silk is about half the price of domestic silk, right?"

"I know, I know!" Lanxiang replied hastily, afraid that if she answered too late, the landlady would change her mind.

"Wait for me a moment, I'll find someone to watch the shop for me. I'll go with you to Xiaoyao Village!"

"Okay!" The mother and daughter felt relieved when they heard her say that.

Half an hour later, the proprietress had arranged everything and asked her servants to bring a carriage over, inviting Lanxiang and her daughter to get in together.

"I've seen you many times, but I don't know your name?" Lanxiang said to the proprietress somewhat shyly.

“My husband’s surname is Kong, so you can call me Sister-in-law Kong!” Sister-in-law Kong said readily.

On the way, Kong's sister-in-law asked Lanxiang curiously, "How did you get so much wild silk?"

Lanxiang then told her about their chance encounter with an oak forest in the mountains, where they found it covered with wild silkworm cocoons.

"What good luck!" exclaimed Sister-in-law Kong. "This wild silkworm silk is a rare and precious thing. If you have any more in the future, please bring them to me for sale."

As they were talking, the carriage had already entered Xiaoyao Village.

Lanxiang invited Kong's sister-in-law into her home, and at the same time sent Shen Man to fetch the village head and others.

"Please sit at my house for a while. I'll have Man'er invite the village head over. This silk is from our village."

Kong's sister-in-law nodded and followed Lanxiang into the house.

Before long, the village head and Jiang Qi and the others arrived at Lanxiang's house.

"Village head, this is Sister-in-law Kong. She's here to collect our village's silkworm silk!" Lanxiang happily introduced to the village head and the others.

Upon hearing this, the village head laughed heartily: "Good, good, welcome, Sister-in-law Kong! The silkworms are all stored in the village warehouse. Why don't you come with us to take a look?"

Kong's sister-in-law nodded and invited everyone to get into the carriage and head together to the warehouse in the north of the village.

Upon arrival, she immediately got out of the car and, together with her companions, inspected the quality of the silk.

"Yes, it's definitely good stuff." Sister-in-law Kong nodded in satisfaction. "Name your price."

Lanxiang glanced at her daughter nervously, and Shen Man said softly, "Just give me whatever you think is fair, as long as it's not too much lower than the market price."

Actually, they had a good idea of ​​the price of silk, because Jiang Qi was an expert in this industry and knew what price different types of silk could fetch.

However, prices in the border town are different from those in the capital, but overall they are not too different.

"This year, our trading company is buying domestic silkworm silk at three taels of silver per catty. We can only offer a maximum of 1,500 cash per catty for wild silkworm silk. What do you think?"

The village head and others were secretly pleased to hear this, as the price was higher than they had expected.

Therefore, he readily replied, "Okay, let's sell it at this price!"

The deal was struck, and the village head, holding the money, felt much more at ease. The villagers, who had been anxiously waiting, were also completely relieved at that moment.

This time, the village harvested more than 130 catties of silk, which sold for more than 200 taels of silver.

After working hard for half a year, the villagers saw a return on their investment for the first time, and they were all overjoyed.

Wild silkworms can be harvested three times a year. If this much silk can be harvested each time, it can be sold for five or six hundred taels of silver a year.

"Thank you very much, Sister-in-law Kong." After loading all the silk onto the cart, Lanxiang said gratefully to Sister-in-law Kong.

"No need to thank me. Remember to come to me if you find anything good in the future. My husband travels all over the country and collects all kinds of delicacies!" Sister-in-law Kong said with a smile.

“Okay, next time we have good stuff, we’ll definitely sell it to you first!” Lanxiang replied.

"Well, I have something to do, so I'll be going now!" After saying goodbye to everyone, Sister-in-law Kong instructed the waiter to drive away.

"Walk slowly!"

After Kong's sister-in-law's carriage had completely disappeared from sight, the village head asked Lanxiang, "Lanxiang, didn't you go to town to find the Zhu family's steward? Why did Kong's sister-in-law come instead?"