Lin Yuelan said lightly, “I’ve been planning to build a house recently, but I’m short of money. I have no choice but to go to Mount Da Ao to harvest some stuff and sell them for some silver.”
As she spoke, Lin Yuelan rummaged through her basket.
Shopkeeper Lin’s eyes widened, even more, when he saw what Lin Yuelan had taken out. He snatched it from Lin Yuelan’s hands and looked at it carefully. After confirming that it was the right thing, he looked at Lin Yuelan and said excitedly, “Girl, is this really the milkvetch?”
The milkvetch flower was a rare treasure that could rejuvenate one’s youth. Many people would spend sky-high prices to buy it, just to make themselves younger and more beautiful.
Ginseng was a treasure that could preserve one’s life. Therefore, rich people would usually spend a sky-high price to buy ginseng. The prices of ginseng would differ depending on its age. The older the ginseng, the higher the price. For example, thousand-year-old ginseng was worth a city. Such an item would only be owned by the rich and powerful, such as the royal family.
In contrast, the milkvetch flower was slightly cheaper than ginseng. The noble ladies in the palace valued their beauty the most. Hence, there was always a demand for milkvetch.
Lin Yuelan said, “Uncle Lin, this is our first time working together. We’re so lucky to have found a milkvetch flower in the mountains.”
At this moment, he was sizing up Lin Yuelan very seriously. She told him that she would provide treasures for him to sell. Back then, he thought she would continue to bring him ginseng. To his surprise, their first cooperation would include the legendary milkvetch.
It was just that the store simply couldn’t afford to have this treasure around. It might lead to unwanted disasters.
He frowned and thought for a while before saying, “girl, there’s an auction house in the provincial Prefecture city. I know the shopkeeper there. How about we auction this item there?”
Lin Yuelan’s heart skipped a beat when she heard shopkeeper Lin’s suggestion. She had never thought that the owner of a small medicinal herb store in town would have connections with the auction house of the provincial capital.
This was good. She thought that she would only get the market in the small town. She didn’t expect Shopkeeper Lin to have such deep connections. It was better if the flower was auctioned off.
However, in order to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble, Lin Yuelan said, “Uncle Lin, why don’t we sell this flower directly to the auction house? They can auction it for however much they want, but we’ll only take the selling price.”
Shopkeeper Lin was very surprised.
If they had the auction house auction the milkvetch for them, it would definitely fetch a lot of silver. They only needed to pay the auction house some commission. However, if they sold the flower directly to the auction house, they would only get the minimum auction starting price.
Shopkeeper Lin’s expression was serious. He stared sharply at Lin Yuelan and said, “Girl, have you thought this through?” The girl had refused a lot of money. How many people could do that?
Lin Yuelan replied seriously, “Uncle Lin, I’ve thought about it very clearly. The auction house will try to keep the origin of the items confidential, but people with ambitions will want to find the person who listed these treasures for auction.
“After all, if someone can find one such treasure, they can find other treasures. Do you think the two of us can stop them? It’s not an exaggeration to say those people might come to rob us. But,” Lin Yuelan’s clear eyes shone with intelligence as she continued, “it’ll be different if we sell it directly to the auction house. The auction will have nothing to do with us, and our identities will be kept safe because the host of the milkvetch will be the auction house.
“Furthermore, this will help us build a cooperative relationship with the auction house. We are providing them with a source of wealth. For the sake of huge benefits in the future, the auction house will take extra steps to protect us and hide our identities. Don’t you think, Uncle Lin?”
