The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2288 - 2263: So Busy

Junior General Meng’s smile instantly disappeared, and even Bai Shan couldn’t help but comfort him, "It’s just seven or eight days, it’ll pass in no time."

"How could it pass in no time? It’s such a long time."

"Is it really long?" Manbao and Bai Shan were both a bit puzzled and said, "We’ve been in Xizhou City for just five days, but it feels like just a blink of an eye."

The two sighed, "Every day is so busy."

Junior General Meng, who was bored to the point of aching from doing nothing while healing, couldn’t respond.

He simply asked the two, "What are you planning to do tomorrow?"

Yesterday, when he went to buy medicine, he heard them say that their medicine was almost finished, and they wouldn’t be making any more into medicine.

Recently, the medicine shops have been raising prices for the medicine they sell to them. Even when Junior General Meng sent people to buy it, their unfamiliar faces and large quantities made the shops reluctant to sell.

In Xizhou, many medicines in the shops are unavailable, and with few doctors and drugstores, medicines are generally not hard to sell; they’re never in danger of not being sold.

Though selling to anyone is selling, drugstores lose out when they sell large amounts of medicine to people like Zhou Man who don’t look at illnesses. Medicine should stay so other patients come to see the doctor and get prescriptions, earning consultation fees.

Selling medicine to people like Zhou Man means that when patients come for treatment next time, they might be out of meds, which is quite a loss, isn’t it?

Manbao knew this, so after the drugstores raised prices, she stopped buying.

The necessary medicines were ready, and next, they just needed to wait to set off, but Assistant General Nie seemed yet to find people and places.

Manbao and Bai Shan thought about it and said, "We might as well sell some things ourselves."

They had brought quite a lot of goods, some bought from Governor Duan and others from Assistant General Nie.

Otherwise, how did Assistant General Nie and his men have gold and silver? It was Bai Shan and his team’s exchange with them.

So the silks and porcelain in their luggage, along with some ornaments that would be very popular in the Western Regions, were their goods.

They all decided to sell and then split the money, with Bai Erlang being the most eager since he had the least cash, mostly relying on Bai Shan and Zhou Man for food and drink.

Bear in mind, in the past, he was the richest among them. Bai Shan and Zhou Man were stingy, and apart from shared expenses, other times he was the one footing the bills!

So Bai Erlang was shouting the loudest, holding a piece of silk with a deep red hue, trying every which way to praise it, "The color is particularly noble yet not flashy. It’s perfect for ladies and madams to make clothing—luxurious yet understated."

Actually, it was a bright red color that had dimmed because those horse bandits didn’t care for it properly.

Bai Shan and Manbao squeezed into the crowd, looked at the color, and thought about Bai Erlang’s recommendation. Honestly, it was quite fitting.

But unfortunately, no one was buying.

Many people came just to watch the bustle, with more onlookers and fewer buyers.

And those who did buy were after cheaper things, mainly wanting to chat with the five beauties standing behind the stalls.

The little beauties from the Protectorate, who had lived in their palace—talking to them was akin to speaking with people from the palace, wasn’t it?

When Bai Erlang saw the two, he immediately waved, "Come quickly, come quickly, we’ve sold quite a bit, and you still have a lot of goods."

Bai Shan looked at the mixed items and asked, "How do we divide what’s yours and mine?" Wasn’t the share supposed to be based on investment?

Bai Erlang hesitated and then said, "Anyway, everyone has to sell their goods, and I’ve already sold three pieces of cloth. At the very least, you both need to sell that much."

Bai Shan gave him a look and said, "Isn’t Steward Li supposed to be looking for buyers? Why so urgent?"

Bai Erlang was taken aback and asked, "Isn’t it urgent? Aren’t we in a hurry to leave the city to find things?"

Bai Shan calmly replied, "No rush, we haven’t found the place and people yet. This isn’t something that can be done in one go; we’ll probably go back and forth in Xizhou several times. Didn’t you notice we rented the courtyard for a whole month? If we don’t sell it this time, we’ll sell it next time."

However, it’s naturally better to sell now if possible, as they could use the money for something else.

So Bai Shan also started calling out while choosing fabric, but unlike Bai Erlang’s excitement, he seemed lazy, and told the onlookers they also accepted barter, like exchanging for gems and spices of equal value.

None of the onlookers wanted to barter, but word spread, and after they closed up and returned to the courtyard, someone came with items wanting to trade.

Bai Shan left this matter to Steward Li and said, "Choose carefully. Accept all the good gems and spices."

Steward Li seemed concerned, "Young master, we already have quite a few gems. If we trade more, it might be difficult to sell them quickly when we return."

Although gems are valuable and spices are consumables, too many at once could drive the price down.

Bai Shan didn’t mind and said, "Setting gems aside, spices can last for years. We don’t only have the capital; we also have Fourth Brother Zhou. They’ll pass through numerous towns on their way back to Mianzhou, and can sell them off."

"And there’s the route on our side, following the grain transport convoy; we can sell quite a bit," Bai Shan had already figured out the sales channels and glanced at Bai Erlang, Yin Huo, and Liu Huan sitting nearby drinking tea, adding with a smile, "And we have them too."

Each family has their connections, not to mention Yin Huo has six elder sisters, and Liu Huan has a slew of relatives and friends. Even Bai Er has many friends who’ve borrowed money who could buy at slightly reduced prices.

Steward Li felt reassured upon hearing this and went to work. He returned shortly with two gems for them to see.

Bai Shan examined them in the sunlight and said, "Average quality."

He put them in his pouch, handed it to Steward Li to keep an account, and said to Bai Erlang, "Tomorrow, let’s go out together to set up a stall."

Bai Erlang became excited, "Actually, setting up a stall here in the Western Regions is quite fun."

Liu Huan said, "Tomorrow, while you’re shouting, remember to help restore my reputation a bit."

Manbao suggested, "You might as well write a letter to explain your situation to your grandfather directly. We can’t deal with General Guo, but Minister Liu surely can."

"Can we still communicate from the Western Regions?"

Manbao hesitated, and it seemed they really couldn’t. The trade routes were severed, and other than military couriers, other channels for messages had collapsed.

She could only comfort him, "Don’t worry, since the trade routes are cut off, the news from here won’t reach the capital for now. You can write to your grandfather once the trade routes reopen."