Chapter 43: Good Luck Comes

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Zhang Village.

After arriving at Zhang Village, Chu Xuhua walked quickly towards Zhang Lin’s house. He bumped into Zhang Lin walking out of the house. “Uncle Zhang Lin, I’m here to buy oranges.”

This time, Zhang Lin was not as enthusiastic as before. He seemed to have something on his mind. He placed his arm on Chu Xuhua’s shoulder and brought him to the side. “Xuhua, I have something to discuss with you.”

Chu Xuhua did not think too much about it. He said solemnly, “Uncle Zhang Lin, if you have something to say, just say it.”

Zhang Lin hesitated for a moment and said, “Xuhua, I think the price of oranges is a little low. Can you raise it?”

Chu Xuhua was instantly displeased. They had reached an agreement. Why did he suddenly change his mind? “Uncle Zhang Lin, we agreed on the price at the beginning.”

Zhang Lin complained, “It’s hard for me to grow oranges. You have to understand me, right?”

Chu Xuhua asked seriously, “Uncle Zhang Lin, let me ask you again, are you selling the oranges at the original price or not?”

Seeing that Chu Xuhua’s attitude was unyielding, Zhang Lin wavered. However, the temptation of money made him not want to back down. “Xuhua, go back and discuss with your family. If you agree to increase the price, you can come to pick up the oranges. If you don’t agree, go elsewhere.”

He was the only one in the village who could supply such a large amount of oranges. He was not worried about the possibility that Chu Xuhua might disagree.

Chu Xuhua left angrily.

Chu Qingzhi was very angry and puzzled when she saw Chu Xuhua return empty-handed. “Brother, what’s going on?”

Chu Xuhua said angrily, “That shameless Zhang Lin actually wanted to raise the price of the oranges. If we don’t agree, he won’t sell the oranges to us.”

Chu Qingzhi thought for a moment and advised, “Brother, don’t be angry. At most, we’ll replace it with other fruits. Who said we must use oranges to make ice cream bars?”

Chu Xuhua nodded. “Yes, we don’t want his oranges. What’s the big deal? Qingzhi, I’ll ask around to see if anyone can supply us with other fruits.”

Chu Qingzhi smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

An old man walked over from afar. “Excuse me, does anyone in your village need fruits?”

Chu Qingzhi sized up the old man. He was a farmer. “Yes, Uncle. What’s the matter?”

The old man said happily, “I finally found it. It’s like this. There’s a family in our village who is a relative of the villagers of your village. He said that someone in the Chu Village uses fruits to make ice cream bars and needs a large amount of fruits. My family grows a lot of pears, so I wanted to ask if you need pears.”

See, good luck will come sooner or later… Chu Qingzhi smiled. “Uncle, how much do you plan to sell the pears for?”

The old man said, “The pears in the market are sold for 20 copper coins a catty. If you want them all, I can sell you for 15 copper coins a catty.”

Chu Qingzhi asked again, “How many catties of pears do you have?”

The old man counted with his fingers. “At least 10,000 catties.”

Chu Qingzhi thought for a moment and said, “Uncle, we can take all the pears, but we have to sign a contract. During the contract period, you can’t raise the price or sell it to others. When we come to pick pears, you have to cooperate and help us pick them. Can you agree?”

The old man agreed without hesitation. “Sure, sure, sure. What’s so difficult about that? It’s my duty.”

Chu Qingzhi said, “Uncle, let’s sign the contract. As for the money, I’ll pay ten taels first. I’ll pay you the rest in one go after I pick up all the pears. What do you think?”

The old man thought for a moment and agreed. With the contract in hand, he was not afraid of her going back on her words. “Sure, but I want the village chief to be a witness.”

Chu Qingzhi nodded. “Not a problem.”

Under the witness of the village chief, both parties signed the contract.

Chu Xuhua put away the contract. “Qingzhi, shall we sell sugar water cream bars today?”

Chu Qingzhi said, “Yes.”

Imperial Hospital in the capital.

The emperor’s personal eunuch, Eunuch Li Fei, sent the two prescriptions to the Imperial Hospital.

“Chief Physician Yuan Zheng, His Majesty asked me to give this to you. Take a look. If there’s no problem with these prescriptions, send them to the military camp in the south. They can’t wait anymore.”

Yuan Zheng was an old man in his fifties. He was wearing an imperial physician’s uniform. Even though he was calm, he could not help but feel nervous when it came to military matters. “Yes, Eunuch Li Fei..”