When he thought that the results of the whole family's hard work for half a month were gone in the blink of an eye, Mr. Lin was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it with his son.
Mrs. Lin was so anxious that she slapped her thigh: "What on earth is going on? Either the medicine is sold to collect money, or the unsold medicinal materials are brought back intact? Is there anyone who robbed me in broad daylight?"
Seeing that my mother was very angry, I was afraid that she would fall ill, so I hurriedly explained the whole story clearly.
From the moment they were stopped at the door of the pharmacy, Xiangyun could tell something was wrong.
“The man said that he was a helper in a drug store and knew that the store would deliberately lower the price of the medicinal materials so that we could sell them elsewhere.
We had not been to the town a few times and didn’t know where else to need medicinal materials besides the pharmacy. He said that he knew a young man from a wealthy family. That family would save a lot of medicinal materials every year in case of emergency needs, and the price was reasonable. To be fair, we went along. "
The more Mr. Lin talked, the angrier he became. The man had figured out that the farmer was short of money, and blamed him for not being wary of others. He said a bunch of words of thanks on the way there, and even planned to give the boy a few pennies to make a meal after the incident was completed. Thank you.
But he didn't expect that people's hearts are unpredictable and he fell down hard.
"The man led us to the back door of a house. There was a young man dressed as a servant waiting. He said that the master of the house wanted to see the quality of the herbs first. We were worried at first and wanted to go in with him. But he said that he lived in a wealthy family. There are many rules and we are not allowed to follow them.
At that time, I saw that the boy was wearing the same clothes as the servants from the house. I thought that such a big house would not deceive us for such a small amount of money, so I asked him to take the herbs.
The man who brought us here excused himself by saying that he had something to do in the pharmacy, and left. We waited at the door for two hours, and when no one was seen, we went to knock on the door and inquire. As a result, he said that all the medicinal materials in the house were purchased by the housekeeper. Maybe I gave it to a boy to buy it, and then I realized I had been cheated. "
Lin Laoer frowned: "Have you gone to the drug store? If the guy can run away from the monk, can he run away from the temple?"
Zhao Ruoxia curled her lips and sneered: "That guy is also a fake! There is no such person in the drugstore. Brother, I'm not telling you, you are too easy to deceive. It's God's gift that children are ignorant, but you have lived for thirty years. After so many years, do you still want me to teach you the principle of paying with one hand and delivering the goods with the other hand?"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, as if she had picked the herbs from the mountains and dried them hard every day.
"Two big bags of medicinal materials were all lost due to the boss's troubles. Mom, should the big family pay for this money? He can't make the mistake alone. Our whole family will suffer the same!"
Mrs. Lin thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "What the second daughter-in-law said makes sense. I have to make up for the money. That pile of herbs is worth at least two taels of silver."
Zhao Ruoxia was so happy that her opinion was not dismissed by Mrs. Lin for the first time. She was so happy that she couldn't find a way to go. She just wanted to please Mrs. Lin with a few words, but what the other person said next made her face turn pale with fright.
"Since we have to settle accounts, let's be clear. In the past two years, the second daughter-in-law's family's harvest was not good, and her in-laws passed away. She asked my family to borrow five taels of silver, twenty kilograms of rice, and five kilograms of white flour. When the drought came, the in-laws If you run away without a trace, the money will belong to the second family." Mrs. Lin glanced at Mrs. Zhao coldly, "From today on, all the income of the second family will be handed over to the public until the debt is paid off."
Zhao Ruoxia dug a hole for herself to jump in. She regretted it so much that her intestines turned green. Lin Laoer dragged her to the room, cursing her all the way, wishing she could become mute.
The atmosphere in the hall was gloomy. Mrs. Lin had a stern face, and no one dared to breathe.
Xiangyun hummed softly "Ahhh", trying to distract Mrs. Lin's attention.
If the herbs are gone, then they are gone. She has a lot of them in her space, and she also has more expensive ones. It is not worth being angry. If you are sick with anger and have to take medicine, wouldn't it be worse?
Old Mrs. Lin picked up her granddaughter in the cradle and saw that she looked happy and not worried at all. She suddenly felt that the predicament in front of her was nothing.
I have encountered more difficult days and more troublesome difficulties. Now I just encountered a liar, which is really not a big deal.
She picked the herbs again when they were gone, and made money again after the money was gone. She was only worried that what happened today would leave a bad impression on her eldest grandson and affect his dealings with people in the future.
So the next day, Mrs. Lin found her sons and said that she was going to the town.
"Gather the remaining herbs at home and let's go there again. Since that group of people are out to deceive people, they won't just deceive our family."
The men of the Lin family immediately took out the ox, carried the old lady into the ox cart, and took her wheelchair with her.
Xiangyun was humming in the cradle and kept shouting "Na na...". Everyone thought she was hungry. Only Mrs. Lin knew that her granddaughter was calling her.
His little eyes were bright and he kept staring at the bullock cart, wanting to go to town with her.
"Take A Bao with you. With her luck, we might be able to get the herbs back today!"
"good!"
Before setting off, Lin Tianci whispered something in Lin Silang's ear, and then gave him a pair of gloves.
As soon as the ox cart drove away, it quickly drove away from the small courtyard and went farther and farther. Lin Tianci watched his grandma leave with tears in her eyes. She didn't even eat breakfast, so she picked up a small bamboo basket and went up the mountain to dig herbs again.
He had to earn enough two taels of silver quickly so as not to hinder his family.
White peony root weighs thirty cents per catty, plantain fifteen cents per catty, and platycodon root weighs twenty cents per catty. After drying, the dehydrated weight must be half less, which is equivalent to digging two catties of herbs to get one catty.
Tianci thought that he would have to dig for at least a year to earn two taels of silver. Unfortunately, he had dug almost all the herbs in the outermost circle of the mountain. If he wanted to find more herbs, he could only go further into the mountain.
The guilt in his heart drove him to keep moving forward. The medicinal book close to his chest seemed to give him strength, and his fear of the depths of the mountain forest gradually disappeared.
On the other side, the four sons of the Lin family obeyed their mother's instructions. The fourth son carried the medicinal materials and went with Mrs. Lin to the door of the pharmacy to wait. The second and third sons of Lin were walking around, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Because Mr. Lin had shown his face, he was not suitable to get too close. He wore a big felt hat and retreated further away, but with his peripheral vision, he kept patrolling among the pedestrians like an eagle.
Xiangyun nestled in the arms of the old lady and couldn't help but give her a thumbs up. Scammers liked to prey on old, weak, women and children the most, and they all took advantage of them.
Several people wandered around the door of the pharmacy for a long time, but no one came forward to strike up a conversation. Just when Mrs. Lin thought that today was going to be a fruitless day, the little granddaughter in her arms suddenly started babbling.
After staying with Xiangyun for a long time, Mrs. Lin was able to understand the meaning of her granddaughter's every tone at the first moment. The voice just now was reminding her.
Sure enough, Mrs. Lin looked up and saw a middle-aged man, wearing neat commoner trousers, walking over with a look in his eyes like a prey.
She immediately turned her head and said to Lin Silang.
"Son, we don't know the prices of herbal medicines. Will the drug store think that we are amateurs and fool us?"
Lin Silang immediately understood: "Don't worry, mother, Baohetang is the largest pharmacy in the town, and we will not be short of three melons and two dates."
"Little brother, you don't know something. The shop bully is the real face of Baohetang!"
The man who kicked his sleeves with his hands said to the two of them with a smile on his face.
