Chapter 73 - 73 Chapter 73. Purchase
73 Chapter 73. Purchase
Elder Qin asked Su Qing in confusion. When asked for the consultation fee, she said she would need a thousand taels of silver or a thousand-year-old Lingzhi. He was curious. Why did it have to be the Lingzhi instead of the thousand-year-old ginseng?
“Treating illnesses,”
Su Qing said indifferently. Old Qin laughed,
“Yes, I forgot that Miss Su is a divine doctor. You need to prepare the medicine. Alright, this old man will help you find a thousand-year-old Lingzhi. I don’t need the silver; you can keep it for the An family!”
Su Qing insisted on paying, and the old man laughed.
“This old man’s life is worth more than a thousand taels of silver. Miss has helped this old man cure an invisible illness for many years and saved this old man’s life. In the future, I will still have to trouble Miss to help this old man treat his illness. Do you still want to be polite with me for a mere Lingzhi?”
Hearing old Qin’s words, Su Qing could only keep the silver notes. She would repay the old man’s favor if she had the chance!
When Li Daniu saw the 1000 taels written on the note, he thought he had seen it wrong. He rubbed his eyes hard. “So much money?”
Ji Shuisheng knocked his head with his finger.
“Su Qing earned that money herself. Don’t even think about it.”
“I’m not planning anything. You make it sound like I’m greedy.”
Li Daniu grimaced in pain as he held his head and cried out in grievance.
Su Qing looked at him indifferently. She didn’t see any greed in Li Daniu’s eyes, but she had never seen such a shocked expression on his face.
After they left the government office, they immediately went shopping. The first thing on the shopping list was grain. They went to two grain stores and found that the price of grain had risen beyond belief.
In the past, one tael of silver could buy four piculs of brown rice. Now, one tael of silver could only buy one picul, meaning the price had increased by four times. Refined rice was even more expensive, costing five taels of silver per picul.
Salt was bizarrely expensive. In the past, a bag of salt only cost 50 Wen, but now it costs 500 Wen, a tenfold increase.
They only had seventy-three taels of silver, so they were naturally reluctant to buy polished rice. They spent twenty taels of silver on twenty stones of brown rice and five taels of silver on ten bags of salt. They had already spent twenty-five taels. After spending twenty-five taels of silver from seventy-three taels of silver, they were only left with forty-eight taels of silver.
It was hard to earn money but too easy to spend. The remaining money was not enough to support Jingshi Dao. The most challenging thing was that Jingshi Dao was more than ten times colder than Jincheng. In winter, they had to wear cotton clothes and shoes, but they only had a single layer of clothes. The so-called cotton clothes were just a layer of double-layered jackets, which could not withstand Jingshi Dao’s cold.
Therefore, they had earned enough money to buy cotton before they reached the Jingshi Dao.
Qiu Yongkang’s eyes flickered with worry. It seemed like he had to make as much money as he could.
Su Qing did not go with them to buy grain. Instead, she took Xiaoying to the shop beside the grain store. The shopkeeper saw two beautiful ladies and quickly welcomed them into the house. He invited them to sit on the chairs carved with sandalwood and smiled at them.
“Please take a seat, ladies. The waiter will make a cup of high-quality Longjing tea.”
The shopkeeper then ordered the waiter to make tea. Su Qing and Xiaoying were treated as distinguished guests. Su Qing was calm and composed, while Xiaoying was a little nervous. The little girl had seen the world and was not so timid. Fortunately, she had stayed at the courier station for a night and had a meal at the full moon restaurant.
The shopkeeper could tell from Su Qing’s demeanor that she was not ordinary. He poured her a cup of tea and asked with a smile,
“May I ask if the young lady is saving or withdrawing money?”
“I want the shopkeeper to help me exchange the silver notes.”
Su Qing took out a five hundred Silver Note and handed it over. The shopkeeper was shocked. She was not an ordinary person. She had taken out five hundred silver so casually.
“Okay, this one will help you change it, but there will be a small processing fee.”
The shopkeeper carefully told Su Qing that according to the rules, there was a processing fee for withdrawing silver and a processing fee for changing extensive silver notes into small silver notes.
“Sure.”
The silver bank’s tea was delicious. Su Qing nodded without even asking how much the handling fee was. She picked up the teacup and sipped slowly.
“May I ask what denomination Miss wants to change to?”
The shopkeeper asked with a smile when he saw that Su Qing had no objections to collecting the fees.
Su Qing pondered for a moment before answering,
“Change them all to fifty taels.”
“Is the handling fee of two taels of silver to be deducted from the banknote or paid separately?”
The innkeeper asked again with a smile. Su Qing took out two taels of silver and threw them on the table. The innkeeper took the money and left with a smile.
“Sister, why did you change it to a small denomination? You still have to give him money.”
Xiaoying’s heart ached for the two taels of silver. After the shopkeeper left, she asked Su Qing in confusion.
“It’s useful,”
Su Qing was still a woman of few words. Even Xiaoying did not tell her why she wanted to exchange silver notes.
Xiaoying blinked. If her sister did not want to talk about it, she would not ask. She picked up the teacup and drank some tea. The little girl’s eyes lit up after a sip. She whispered to Su Qing,
“Sister, this tea is delicious.”
Xiaoying amused Su Qing. Just as she was about to say she liked it, she saw the shopkeeper return with ten silver notes worth fifty taels.
“Young lady, I’m done. Please pass the check.”
The shopkeeper smiled and said to Su Qing, “There are only ten pieces. Do I need to count them?” Su Qing checked the authenticity of the silver notes. She would naturally know the amount of money after looking through it in her hands.
Ji Xiaoying, on the other hand, appeared to be very nervous. She checked every one of them before she was at ease. After all, she had never seen so much silver in her entire life. It was said that the people in the city were cunning, and she was afraid that her sister would be cheated.
“Shopkeeper, where did you buy these tea leaves?”
Su Qing put the silver notes away and pointed to the teacup.
“It’s in the teahouse across the street. The best Longjing tea is one tael for one tael.”
The shopkeeper’s face was full of pride as he spoke. Their silver shop was powerful, and they served their distinguished guests high-quality Longjing tea, which cost ten taels of silver per Jin.
“Alright,” she said.
Su Qing nodded and pulled Ji Xiaoying up. Ji Xiaoying quickly drank the last of her tea and followed Su Qing out of the bank.
Su Qing led her to the teahouse opposite. Ji Xiaoying pulled her hand and retreated. Su Qing stopped and looked at her. Ji Xiaoying whispered,
“Tea leaves worth ten taels of silver are too expensive.”
Su Qing couldn’t help but laugh when she saw Ji Xiaoying’s heartache. She almost wanted to tap the tip of her nose, but she held back and said with a cold face,
“Earning money is for enjoyment.”
Xiaoying was highly regretful. Her sister would not have wasted money to buy tea. She would not have said the tea leaves were delicious if she had known earlier. When she reached Jingshi Dao, her sister still wanted to buy a house to settle down. How could she buy a home with all the money spent?
Xiaoying’s heart was filled with guilt, and her face showed it. Su Qing saw this and couldn’t help but tap the tip of her nose.
“Sister can earn a lot of money. In the future, can I buy Xiaoying some good tea leaves that cost 100 taels per 500 grams?”
“A hundred taels?”
Xiaoying widened her moist eyes in shock and looked at Su Qing in disbelief. Did her sister suffer a blow? A hundred taels of silver for tea leaves?
“Ha.”
Xiaoying once again amused Su Qing. She did not know how beautiful she looked when she smiled. Her moist eyes were bright, and her pink face was delicate and pretty as she stared at Ji Shuisheng, who walked out of the grain store.