CHAPTER 595: CHAPTER 595: TARGETED

Du Qian and his companions hurriedly responded, "Ah, we will remember, and we definitely will not anger her."

Gu Jinli’s fierce reputation has been known since she fled from famine; she is extremely tough and has a commanding presence. Now that they need her help, they dare not provoke her.

Doctor Du gave them a few more instructions before leading them into Yanfu Building.

Qiu Lang and the others recognized Doctor Du and cleared the way for him, allowing them to enter the restaurant without much squeezing.

Upon seeing them, Du Qian asked, "Brother Four, who are these youngsters? Servants hired by the Gu Family?"

Doctor Du replied, "They are not servants, but the Gu Family purchased them as servants."

Hearing this, Du Qian and the others were surprised; the Gu Family had indeed prospered, even purchasing so many servants.

Doctor Du took them upstairs to a private room. Since Doctor Wu was not keen on dining and networking with officials from the county government, Gu Jinli had specially prepared this private room. Now, there were not many people in the room, mostly acquaintances from Xuanhu Fang.

Du Xusheng and Du Dingxiang were also there; seeing their clan uncle, they hurriedly moved stools for them to sit.

Du Qian smiled and said, "Brother Xu, you are thoughtful."

However, he didn’t sit down immediately. Suppressing the appetite aroused by the full table of dishes, he greeted and paid respects to the people in the private room.

Doctor Wu saw him and said, "You must be Du Qian? Elder Du mentioned, you are here to see the Gu Family’s daughter, right?"

He turned to Du Xusheng, "Brother Xu, go call your Sister Xiao Yu, tell her the old man is looking for her."

Du Xusheng’s eyes lit up, and he immediately replied, "Ah, Brother Xu will go now, thank you, Grandpa Wu."

Doctor Wu’s remarks meant he was lending their Du Family support, and it was necessary to express gratitude.

Before long, Gu Jinli and Nanny Tao arrived.

Seeing them, Du Qian and his companions immediately stood up, which amused Gu Jinli: "Are you the uncles from the Du Family? I am the second daughter of Gu Dashan from Gu Family Village, you should have an impression of me."

"Yes, yes, we remember you," replied Du Qian and the others.

Seeing how nervous they were, Gu Jinli didn’t beat around the bush and directly asked, "What brings you here?"

She had heard some things from Third Grandpa, but since Du Qian and his companions had come to ask, they needed to state their request out loud; if they couldn’t even speak it, she wouldn’t dare agree to it.

Du Qian, who was the youngest son of the previous Clan Leader of the Du Family and now the new Clan Leader, spoke bravely, "We heard that the Gu Family’s daughter is collecting Mingya Grass and wanted to inquire if you would buy it if we cultivated it?"

Gu Jinli asked, "Have you planted it yet?"

Doctor Du, being a doctor at Xuanhu Fang, could easily get some herb seeds from Doctor Wu, but the answer was unexpected. Du Qian shook his head saying, "Not yet... We initially planned to, but Brother Four said that Mingya Grass, this kind of medicinal herb, is not commonly used by ordinary pharmacies, and most pharmacies have their own channels for procuring herbs, seldom buying loose goods. Moreover, Mingya Grass grows too fast and in large quantities; once planted, it yields several hundred to a thousand kilograms, such a quantity only your family can handle."

"Brother Four asked us to inquire if you could accept the Mingya Grass we grow? If you can, we will plant it in spring."

Put simply, Mingya Grass is mainly used in large quantities for making mosquito incense and rarely for other uses. If Gu Jinli’s pharmaceutical workshop did not purchase it in large volumes, their cultivation would be in vain.

Doctor Du shared the key point with the Du Family People, leading to their visit today to earnestly request her consideration.

After listening, Gu Jinli nodded internally, recognizing that Doctor Du was a discerning man. She didn’t mince words and straightforwardly responded, "It’s no problem to accept your Mingya Grass, but you must abide by the rules set by our workshop. If there is any violation, we won’t accept a single stalk of Mingya Grass from the Du Family."

Upon hearing this, Du Qian and the others were almost moved to tears, "We can abide, we will definitely not do anything that wrongs the Gu Family, nor will we breach the workshop’s rules."

"Fourth Brother said Mingya Grass can be planted in the open space in front of and behind the house, harvested three times a year, without taking much space. It’s a good thing, once you plant it, it turns into silver."

"The family is very poor and desperately needs money."

Gu Jinli said, "Don’t get excited just yet, first take a look at the conditions of our workshop, they are quite harsh."

Nanny Tao is an experienced person, always carrying several booklets with her, one of which contains various contract templates.

She took out a template for the Mingya Grass contract and handed it to Du Qian: "Elder Du, take a look."

Du Qian was the youngest child and his family was doing well back in their hometown, he was literate. As he read, the more he read, the more alarmed he became. The Gu Family’s contract was indeed harsh, the penalties could cost lives, but now they were so poor they could barely survive, how could they be concerned with these details?

Du Qian agreed: "Gu Family’s daughter, we can agree to the conditions of your workshop, we will make sure to fulfill them and not cause any troubles for your workshop."

Gu Jinli nodded: "Since you can comply, let’s sign the contract."

"Ah?" Du Qian was shocked: "So soon? Aren’t we supposed to wait until we harvest the Mingya Grass before signing?"

Gu Jinli smiled: "If you want to wait until the Mingya Grass is harvested to sign, that’s fine by me, I’m not in a rush."

But the Du Family was in a hurry.

The Du Family People quickly pushed Du Qian, who immediately said, "No need, we can sign now."

Gu Jinli looked at the Du Family People present and said, "You also need to sign and leave your fingerprints."

"Sign, we will sign, everyone will sign!" Du Sanyang’s family had many children, they struggled desperately to protect their three kids and were afraid of losing this opportunity. They might face changes next year, and fear their children could starve, so they hastily agreed.

The other Du Family People also hurriedly agreed: "We’ll sign."

Upon hearing this, Nanny Tao took out papers, brushes, and ink, and wrote two contracts. After finishing, she let Du Qian write down the names of the Du Family People and then had them all press their fingerprints.

Doctor Wu saw the Du Family People struggling with poverty and wanted to help, acting as a guarantor, he also signed and left his fingerprint.

Holding the contract, Du Qian and his family were trembling with excitement, knowing that next spring, this contract could generate the money to save their lives.

After Gu Jinli collected the contracts, she said, "Du Family uncles, please have a meal first, then you can go home after eating."

Du Qian said, "No need to eat, our homes are in Chen Village, three hours away from here. Today is also Dongzhi, we need to rush back home."

In reality, several bachelors in Chen Village had their eyes on Du Qian and Du Sanyang family’s daughters. They didn’t dare to stay out too long and needed to rush back to prevent these bachelors from knowing that the men of the family were away and harming their daughters.

Upon hearing this, Gu Jinli did not insist on keeping them but asked Nanny Tao and Xiao Ji to fetch five Sauce Chickens and two bags of Fried Crispy Pork from the kitchen for Du Qian and his family to take back: "Today is a festival, and we are all from the same hometown, take some food back to celebrate properly with your family."

With tears, Du Qian and his family looked at the substantial amount of meat and said, "Gu Family’s Second Girl... you are so thoughtful."

These were all genuine meat dishes, and since they had been refugees, they had not eaten such good food.

Du Qian and his family thanked profusely and were then escorted out of the restaurant by Doctor Du.

Doctor Du was really reluctant to see them leave, wiping his tears he said, "Just endure a little longer, once you earn enough silver, move to the town, we will live closer and will be away from those bastards."

But for rural folks without shops or skills, how easy was it to just move to the town?

Du Qian and his family nodded, made a few polite responses, and took their things to head home. However, they had already been targeted, followed as they left the town and reached a secluded path, someone rushed up and kicked Du Qian’s back.