Since it was her first time here, Jing Yunzhao nodded hesitantly, unnerved at everyone's stares.
The old man laughed at her response. "Sorry to let you down, little girl, but we don't buy herbs. You could perhaps sell your herbs to privately owned traditional Chinese medicine stores, but I doubt they would buy in bulk…"
Jing Yunzhao was surprised and confused at the information.
"This is a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy, so we do not take in raw herbs unless they are rare or have been processed into herbal drinks. Unfortunately, there are already plenty of herbal drink suppliers we are working with, so we will not be buying from you unless your products are better and cheaper than theirs," said the old man again.
Jing Yunzhao was smart and understood what the old man said right away.
Herbs could roughly be divided into three categories: unprocessed raw herbs, processed herbs that could be used as ingredients for herbal products, and finished goods made from herbs such as instant herbal medicines.
Jing Yunzhao's heart sank. She might have absorbed a lot of new knowledge from the Naling Jade, but not much of it was practical and she had made a mistake with this decision.
"Thank you for the information, sir, I know what to do next time. Would it be alright if I bring processed herbs here next time?" asked Jing Yunzhao politely.
Jing Yunzhao's soothing voice and lovely smile quickly made a favorable impression, and the old man looked at her contemplatively.
"We will consider it as long as the quality is good. By the way, little girl, I know a place if you want to sell those herbs fast," The old man offered kindly, wanting to give the nice little girl a little more help.
Jing Yunzhao's eyes lit up immediately and the old man chuckled.
"There is this weird old man in town who was a traditional Chinese medicine maniac. He would buy whatever herbs in whatever quantity so long as the herbs were of good quality, but at a price slightly lower than the market price. You could drop by to check it out, it is not far from here," the old man said and gave Jing Yunzhao an address.
Jing Yunzhao looked at the address and hesitated. It was already night time and while the place was not far away, it was in a remote area with many alleys and little people.
After thinking for a while, Jing Yunzhao decided to go to the place.
There was nothing to be worried about. She had her secret space and with the martial arts that she had recently picked up, there was a slim chance of her getting into trouble.
Jing Yunzhao left some dang shen for the old man in gratitude and went straight to the address of that traditional Chinese medicine maniac.
Jing Yunzhao walked through alley after alley in the dark, accompanied by the singing of nightingales. She would have been scared to death in her previous life, but she had become much braver now and wasn't afraid despite the creepy, unfamiliar surroundings.
Jing Yunzhao found the place after a good 30 to 40 minutes.
There was an unpleasant smell around the area-an odd mixture of herbs, fire, and something corrosive.
She came up to a house with a big yard, with a black main door that gave it a rather gloomy impression. Jing Yunzhao could hear someone moving about inside and decided to knock on the door.
The heavy door creaked open after around ten seconds and a young man who looked to be in his thirties appeared.
"Can I help you?" He asked, looking tired.