Chapter 402

Guo Dong leaned over, carefully using a branch to hook a golden-red fruit covered with fine, dense thorns to take a look.

Looking at their fine, dense thorns, the golden-red mature color, and the size...

At this moment, she was not afraid of the small thorns and directly stretched out her ruthless iron hand—

Song Tan noticed that although her hands were white, there were quite a few calluses on her palms.

Those hands nimbly passed through the branches and leaves, chose an angle from slightly below, extremely skillfully avoided the dense small thorns, and then stuck her fingernails into the gaps in the sparse area to carefully pick this dangerous Jin Yingzi.

Then she commented: "Your family's Jin Yingzi grows lushly, and the thorns seem even more fierce than those I've seen before!"

Song Tan tightened her face, feeling guilty.

Guo Dong carefully examined the picked Jin Yingzi, then found a handful of leaves to wrap it in, and similarly skillfully used her feet to step on it and grind it for a good while.

Wu Lan:...

She now believed that when she was a child, she used the soles of her shoes to rub this thing.

Related to the price of a new variety, everyone watched Guo Dong's movements very seriously, and she lived up to expectations; in a short while, she picked up the Jin Yingzi with the small thorns ground off, pushed aside the leaves, peeled off its outer skin in a few strokes, and tasted it—

"Hmm, so sweet! The sour and astringent taste is very faint."

She couldn't help but praise.

Qiao Qiao had already stopped rubbing the dog and was now looking at her expectantly:

"How sweet is it?"

Guo Dong let out a "pfft" and laughed, then gave him the remaining half of the Jin Yingzi: "Peel off the skin and just eat that thin layer of flesh. You can't eat that cluster of small seeds."

"Is it poisonous?"

Qiao Qiao curiously took it and observed it.

"Not poisonous, but it also has some medicinal properties... well, it's nothing if you really eat it."

Oh.

Qiao Qiao didn't quite understand, but for the sake of caution, he also learned from Guo Dong, slowly peeling off the thick fruit skin, and then carefully gnawed on that bit of fruit flesh with his front teeth.

Then his eyes brightened:

"It's really sweet!"

"Sister!" He looked at Song Tan expectantly: "Do you want to eat it? I'll pick some for you."

"Not picking today."

Song Tan touched his head: "Wait until sister buys you gloves and scissors later, then you can come again, otherwise it will hurt our Qiao Qiao."

Qiao Qiao indeed narrowed his eyes in enjoyment, then threw the Jin Yingzi to the back of his mind, squatted down, and seriously chatted with Da Bao and Er Bao:

"Da Bao, Er Bao, did you see? This can also earn money, and it's sweet, so don't call people to pick it..."

And seeing this, Guo Dong looked at these Jin Yingzi, which were clearly not in the peak fruiting period, again and again, and then deliberated:

"Auntie, the quality of your Jin Yingzi is truly beyond my imagination. How about this, I can offer 60 per jin for the dried fruit, and I'll take all of this patch. Is that okay?"

60...

Wu Lan hesitated: This is not a small amount.

Looking at this dense flower wall covering the whole surface, although it is still in the peak flowering period, it has also borne quite a few fruits; if there's nothing to do, one can pick them and see...

But...

"Just pick them and sun-dry them, right?"

"No, no, no," Guo Dong shook her head wildly: "Don't do that! After picking, first remove the thorns, then break them open, remove the seeds inside, and then sun-dry or dry them—it's best to dry them in a dryer."

Wu Lan:...

She didn't speak, and Guo Dong didn't notice, instead talking endlessly:

"Because the medicinal use of these small seeds is completely opposite to the function of its fruit flesh; their mutual promotion and restraint lie here."

"So even if you sun-dry the whole thing, you still have to break it open and remove the seeds when you finally use it, so I'm raising the price for you, and that process has to be done beforehand."

However, after she finished speaking, she saw the auntie who was slightly wavering just now, but now she was shaking her head repeatedly:

"No, no, this is too complicated; I thought it would be fine to just pick them and sun-dry them. Tan Tan, are you still selling this?"

【Given the current environment,

【402-45】

With this effort, she could have picked a basket of tea leaves.

Sigh.

Wu Lan secretly reflected on herself; she is truly wealthy now, and even finds earning money troublesome.

"Not selling."

Song Tan also smiled: "Anyway, it's not the peak fruiting period yet, and the quantity isn't large, so let's pick them and let Seventh Uncle soak them in wine."

The price of her wine definitely won't be low.

Guo Dong was a little anxious:

"Auntie, if it's not suitable, we can discuss it again; this price is really very high. You won't be able to find a higher price anywhere in the country."

Just listen to these words.

Wu Lan mainly disliked that it was too troublesome—having to break them open and remove the seeds; there was no time.

"Then how about this, Auntie," Guo Dong was very flexible: "Still 50 per jin as discussed before, you only need to pick them, remove the thorns, and sun-dry or dry them in a dryer; do you think that's okay?"

Wu Lan was no longer interested, but she remembered the old lady at home who was constantly looking for work—she had picked quite a few black wood ears this morning.

If it weren't for the fact that she had to accompany the child's grandfather to look at those hay in the afternoon, she would definitely be on the mountain now.

"It's not that it's impossible..."

She hesitated: If her own family did it slowly when they were free, it would be fine...

But, she looked at Song Tan: "Tan Tan, what do you think?"

Song Tan stared at Guo Dong for a while: "Sister Guo Dong, didn't you say this isn't used for strengthening the yang? As an ordinary medicinal herb, you purchase it at such a high price; how do you prescribe medicine or resell it later?"

Guo Dong was stunned—oh, did this family think she was a middleman?

Sigh, this is because they aren't in a planting base; otherwise, the surrounding farmers would be crowding to sell at this price.

But looking at that Jin Yingzi again—she didn't have Shennong's mouth and couldn't taste how good the medicinal properties were. But for Chinese herbal medicine, the medicinal properties are closely related to the planting situation.

Just looking at this state, she knew it couldn't be bad; she was originally on the path of finished medicine, so what's there to fear if the cost is slightly higher?

Being able to attract one more customer is a continuous stream of money.

With such good quality, how a pity it would be if she missed it!

Thinking of this, she also smiled generously: "My medical foundation was learned from my grandfather; I can't say how talented I am, but there are a few old formulas at home that happen to use this."

She saw Song Tan listening attentively, and saw Qiao Qiao teasing the dog with a foxtail grass, and the black-faced strong man and the white-faced scholar on the side...

And the auntie with her ears pricked up.

At this moment, she cleared her throat:

"Well, my family's secret ancestral formula for strengthening the yang is still quite famous."

???

Qiao Qiao pricked up his ears!

Zhang Yanping had a flat black face, unable to see joy or anger, but asked with extra pickiness: "Didn't you say this Jin Yingzi isn't used for... used for... cough..."

Guo Dong had seen many men like him who came to find her—eight or nine out of ten were in this secretive state—

Hmph, those of them who study medicine don't avoid this.

So she simply said: "It's indeed not used for strengthening the yang, but my family's formula happens to be able to use it. With the right combination of sovereign, minister, assistant, and envoy, it's effective."