How I Survived in Transmigration with My Ghost Hubby

17. What a Snob!

Translator: Annsmiley

The next day, when it was still dark outside, the two took the basket with them and went on foot to the nearest town. It would take them at least an hour to walk from the village to the bazaar in that town. The two walked as fast as they could, and when they reached the town, the sun had risen.

There were a lot of people walking on the street, and the street pedlars were crying their wares non-stop, which made the small town look quite prosperous.

It was not a big town and there were only three streets in it, but there was no shortage of various shops along the roads, including cloth stores, private banks, pastry shops, gold jewelry shops, pharmacies, and clinics. There were also all kinds of stalls lining up on both sides of the streets where vendors were selling vegetables, meat, steamed buns, baked flatbread, scripts, paintings, furniture, etc. The diversity of the goods was just beyond imagination.

After Ji Ran arrived at the town, he didn’t go into a random pharmacy and sell the medicinal herbs there. Instead, he went from pharmacy to pharmacy, talking to the folks there. As we all know, before we cross a river, we need to find out how deep the river is. And it was the same as Ji Ran, who needed to find out about the inside information before he did business with others.

“Bro, do you have Chinese knotweed in your shop?” Ji Ran wandered in the pharmacy for a while before he asked. When he saw that there were few people around, he leaned over to the counter and asked a shop assistant in a low voice. He thought that it was best that he asked about the most precious herb first.

“Yes we do, but…” The shop assistant looked Ji Ran up and down. Noticing that the clothes Ji Ran was wearing were quite shabby, he frowned, “You can afford it? Don’t be kidding. Just get out. I don’t have the time to chat with you. I’m quite busy here. Get out of my face!”

Humph! What a snob!

Ji Ran raised an eyebrow, “I can’t afford it? What makes you think so? Just because I’m not wearing expensive clothes, you think that I can’t afford Chinese knotweed? If every businessman judges his customers solely by their appearances like you do, humph, sooner or later, his businesses will be closed for good.”

“Hey, you…”

“And you know what, I’m actually not here to buy Chinese knotweed. I’m here to sell it.” Ji Ran had gone to three pharmacies in a row, but no one was willing to give him any useful inside information. He saw that this pharmacy was bigger and it had a higher customer flow, so he decided to play his trump card, “Right now in my hands, I have a very old human-shaped Chinese knotweed. Is your pharmacy interested in buying it?”

The shop assistant sneered and squinted at him with disbelief written all over his face.

Ji Ran didn’t mind. He raised his eyebrows and smiled. Then he put down the basket and signalled to the shop assistant to come closer by curling his index finger.

With Ji Ran keeping him in suspense like that, the shop assistant got a bit curious. He put down the rag that he used to clean the counter with and leaned over to Ji Ran.

Seeing that the shop assistant leaned over, Ji Ran signalled him to look closely. Then he extended his hand towards the basket and pushed the wild vegetables, mushrooms, and fruits aside.

As soon as the Chinese knotweed was revealed, he heard the shop assistant gasp. There was not only Chinese knotweed in the basket. There were also several other scarce herbs in it. For instance, Lingzhi was also much treasured!

Then Ji Ran covered the herbs and looked at the shocked shop assistant with a faint smile, “Do you believe me now?”

“Yes, yes, please wait here. Our shopkeeper is drying herbs in the backyard. I’ll go get him now…”

The shop assistant was about to run when he was pulled back by Ji Ran.

Ji Ran smiled, “Bro, there’s no rush for that. How about we making a win-win deal?”

The shop assistant looked at him in bewilderment.

“Just give me a hint. If I sell all my herbs to your pharmacy, what is the best price that I can get?” Ji Ran blinked, his eyes shining with schemes, “I assure you, you’ll get your fair share of it.”

The shop assistant was a smart man. His eyes lit up when he heard that. Everyone else was busy, so no one noticed what was going on here between him and Ji Ran. So, without hesitation, he sold his employer out. In a rather obscure way, he gestured to Ji Ran and mouthed a word.

Ji Ran understood immediately.

The shop assistant quickly went to the backyard to get the shopkeeper to the counter. The shopkeeper was a shrewd-looking old man, and there was a crafty look in his eyes. Ji Ran could tell that he was a cunning businessman.