The faces of the two weren’t looking great either, eyes shadowed but spirits seemingly high judging by their bright eyes.
As soon as she entered the room, Gu Jiajie quickly ran to the door, locked it from the inside, then dashed to the bed to pick up the large flowery cloth bag.
When Gu Jin walked over, he handed her the money stuffed flowery cloth bag, his face full of excitement as he said, "All the meat sold out last night, the money’s all here."
Taking the money bag from his hand, Gu Jin walked to the bedside and glanced at the unmade bed.
With that glance, Gu Jiajie immediately got the hint, walked over, and roughly bundled the bedding, tossing it into the corner.
Gu Jin opened the bag, revealing the colorful bills inside. She turned her hands, spilling the money all over the bed.
The bills covered the bed, double the amount from yesterday.
"Usual practice, count together, settle afterward."
The other three had no objections.
This time, the four of them counting the money was very quick.
Gu Jin pushed away the small bills they brought and said, "We sold a total of seven hundred six dollars and fifty cents last night."
She informed the three of last night’s total earnings, then grabbed a handful of ten-yuan bills, counted out twelve, divided them into three parts, and handed them to her cousin, Liu Pingyuan, and Wu Zhiren.
As for the remaining money on the bed, she packed it all into the flowery cloth bag.
Liu Pingyuan’s expression was relatively calm, while Wu Zhiren, staring at the four ten-yuan bills in front of him, seemed dazed and a bit silly.
Just one trip to the county last night, and he earned forty dollars, more than a typical worker’s monthly salary.
Even though Jiajie had told him before that they made forty in one night with Liu Pingyuan, having the money right in front of him was still shocking, feeling somewhat unreal.
He wasn’t like Liu Pingyuan, who lived with his sister relying on each other, with his sister married to a town worker, and the household never worried about food and drink, as his brother-in-law’s family often "aided" him.
Nor was he like Gu Jiajie, whose family wasn’t wealthy but never worried about food and drink either.
Wu Zhiren was just a loafer in the village with a particularly bad reputation, but he refrained from doing petty crimes, and his roughness was just to avoid being bullied by others.
His family was so poor that even thieves weren’t interested, with a bare household and absolutely nothing, it was utterly miserable.
The forty dollars before him was the most money he’d ever seen in his life.
No, the seven hundred plus dollars covering the bed was actually the most he’d ever seen growing up.
Gu Jin packed the money into the flowery cloth bag and asked Gu Jiajie beside her, "Jiajie, did you find out the price of ginseng?"
"I found out, not many people buy this stuff, but there are some buyers. Like in the east where they plant ginseng, it’s only eight or nine dollars a pound. Wild ginseng prices are determined by quality, with wet wild ones at least fifty dollars per two ounces. If dried, the price doubles with age. A hundred-year-old wild ginseng is a sky-high price, but nowadays there are very few hundred-year-old ginsengs."
"Are you sure?" Gu Jin frowned slightly.
Gu Jiajie stuffed his share of the money into his pocket and said very seriously, "I asked clearly, the prices don’t vary much, and this is black market pricing, it’s probably a bit higher than outside."
He glanced at Wu Zhiren beside him, seeing him looking tearfully grateful, making a useless sight, and his mouth twitched.
Even though the first time he took money from the black market, he was extremely excited.