Huang Dashan glanced at the young Lin Wan, clearly an outsider, and frowned slightly, "Young lady, what price are you offering?"
"Seven cents for mushrooms, nine cents for black fungus," Lin Wan had already inquired about the prices in the market.
Usually, she bought mushrooms for a dollar and black fungus for a dollar thirty at the market. Offering this price was already high, Lin Wan knew that the collectors were paying much less than the price she quoted.
The joy in the couple’s eyes was evident, "Young lady, do you pay in cash?"
Lin Wan nodded and smiled, "Of course, I pay in cash. How much do you have at home?"
Dashan’s wife said, "We have a small half-bag of mushrooms, some black fungus, but not much. We wanted to keep some for ourselves."
"Oh, it’s okay, whatever amount you have is fine. I’ll go and ask other households later."
"Sure," Dashan’s wife said, and hurriedly brought out their stock for Lin Wan to see. Lin Wan checked it over and was satisfied, then asked Huang Dashan to weigh it. In total, it weighed thirteen and a half jin. Lin Wan paid Huang Dashan nine dollars and fifty cents on the spot.
"Young lady, my brothers at home also have some. How many do you need? I’ll go and add it up for you," Huang Dashan, seeing real cash and a high price, realized she was no swindler, and his attitude became much more straightforward.
Lin Wan was considering this; asking from one household to another was quite troublesome. Since Huang Dashan offered, Lin Wan was, of course, happy to oblige, "Two to three bags of mushrooms and two bags of black fungus will do. I don’t need much, can’t store more in the shop. But I need them long term, so after I use them up, as long as you have some, I’ll come back. If Brother Huang’s relatives have some, bring them here, I’ll wait at your place."
"Sure, sure, dear, make the guest a bowl of sugar water to warm up, I’ll go talk to them."
"Alright, go ahead." Usually, they gathered mushrooms in the mountains when there was nothing to do, hoping to sell them for a few bucks to buy treats for the children, but unexpectedly, sold so much at once.
If it weren’t for the restriction from the county team not to enter the mountains, they could have gathered more.
"Young lady, come inside, it’s too cold outside," Dashan’s wife led Lin Wan inside to sit, while Huang Dashan hurriedly went to his brothers’ houses.
In no time, a group of people came over with their own dry goods.
Lin Wan took a general look, and the dry goods were all top-notch. She had them weighed and paid them on the spot.
There weren’t many with dry goods in the village now; some families had sold them earlier to a collector from the neighboring village for only four cents, almost half of what this young lady was offering.
Each of the brothers’ families had limited amounts, so Huang Dashan found a few more families for Lin Wan, collecting three bags of mushrooms and two bags of black fungus. He even collected two bags of sweet potato starch.
When Lin Wan went inside their house, she saw some stacked in the corner. Upon inquiry, she learned that the sweet potato noodles were homemade, and cheap, at fifty cents per jin.
In winter, with few vegetables, noodles are also a good option.
"Brother Huang, does your village have a bullock cart or donkey cart or something to help me with transportation? Just help me get them to the bus. I won’t let you work for nothing; I’ll give them an additional dollar," Lin Wan asked, looking at the several bags of goods. She had actually thought it through before coming.
Putting things on the bus, where they currently allow baggage, you can put goods on top, guests’ bags and such, and even hang a bicycle at the back.
But it requires paying some extra freight fees.