The Domineering Cultivator Farmer

Chapter 2: Selling Ginseng

After finishing his meal, Fang Yun told the Gao sisters he was going out for a bit. Walking down the street, he looked around for a herbal shop, thinking he’d take a ginseng root out of his ring to sell—it was really inconvenient not having any money on him. There was a fairly large herbal shop right in front of him. As soon as Fang Yun walked in, a woman approached and asked, “Sir, how may I help you?” “Do you buy medicinal herbs here?” Fang Yun asked. “Yes, we do. Our shop is the largest in the area, and if you’re selling herbs, we’ll definitely offer you the highest price.” “Then could you take a look at this ginseng and tell me how much it’s worth?” Fang Yun said, casually handing the black bag he was holding to the woman. He’d just ducked into a public restroom on the street to retrieve it. “Ginseng?” The woman’s name was Jiang Lili, and her family owned the pharmacy. She had happened to spot Fang Yun walking in while she was making her rounds today, so, feeling a bit bored, she went over to greet him. Jiang Lili was a bit speechless. Who would just throw ginseng into a random plastic bag like it was trash? It probably wasn’t anything special anyway. “Ah!” Upon opening it, the woman couldn’t help but be startled. The ginseng before her weighed at least seven or eight liang; it had complete roots, branches, and leaves, and looked almost human-shaped—this was definitely wild mountain ginseng at least a hundred years old. Jiang Lili quickly said to Fang Yun, “I’m so sorry, sir. Please wait here for a moment while I ask the shop’s master to take a look.” She hurriedly called out to a girl nearby, “Xiaoqing, go get Master Huang and bring him to the office.” After saying this, Jiang Lili led Fang Yun into an office, invited him to sit down, and brewed him a cup of tea. Fang Yun was a bit taken aback—it was just a ginseng root; was all this really necessary? But what he didn’t know was that, due to excessive human exploitation, good-quality wild ginseng was now nearly impossible to find—let alone a century-old specimen—and it was practically priceless. If Jiang Lili were to buy this ginseng, the pharmacy’s prestige would immediately rise. Whether sold or given as a gift, it would yield enormous returns, and her family would certainly hold her in much higher regard. “Sir, where are you from?” Jiang Lili chatted with Fang Yun while discreetly trying to gather information about him. It would be even better if he still had more ginseng on hand. Of course, Jiang Lili knew this was a bit of a pipe dream—after all, ginseng isn’t as common as radishes on the street. In all these years, this was the first time she’d ever come across one. If it weren’t for the fact that her family ran a herbal medicine shop and she’d been exposed to all kinds of herbs since childhood, Jiang Lili wouldn’t have dared to believe that the ginseng before her was the real thing. Still, she wasn’t entirely sure, so she called Master Huang—the shop’s expert in herbal appraisal—to examine it. “Hehe, don’t call me ‘Master’—just call me Fang Yun.” “Where is it? Where is the wild mountain ginseng?” Before long, an old man barged into the office without even knocking. As a veteran practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine with decades of experience, Master Huang had a deep passion for all kinds of precious herbs. But these days, such rare herbs were becoming increasingly scarce, and it had been many years since he’d come across any decent-quality ones. When Xiaoqing from the shop had just come to tell him that someone had brought in a wild ginseng root of excellent quality—one that was almost fully formed—he’d thought the young girl was pulling his leg. If it hadn’t been for Xiaoqing’s solemn assurance—and the fact that Jiang Lili had asked him to appraise it—he wouldn’t have dared to believe it. “Master Huang, please take a look at this ginseng,” Jiang Lili hurriedly stood up. Master Huang was the shop’s most esteemed figure, and Jiang Lili wouldn’t dare treat him with anything less than the utmost respect. As soon as Master Huang laid eyes on the ginseng root on the table, he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Without a second thought for Jiang Lili, he immediately darted over to examine it closely. After a long while, Master Huang finally looked up: “This ginseng is of perfect quality—the roots and fibrous roots are all intact, without a single blemish. It’s at least 120 years old.” Fang Yun felt a surge of pride. The items inside the ring could be handled with a single thought—how could they possibly be damaged? “That’s wonderful! Sir, we’ll offer 3 million for this ginseng. What do you think?” Jiang Lili asked excitedly. Fang Yun was taken aback. After all, this was the smallest ginseng he owned—there were far better specimens in his ring. If he sold them all, wouldn’t he instantly become a billionaire? “I’ll sell it, but I want cash.” He had no choice—he didn’t have a single thing on him right now; he’d lost both his ID and his bank cards. “Okay, have a seat. I’ll have someone bring the money right away,” Jiang Lili said cheerfully, then immediately called to have the money delivered. Carrying a large box, Fang Yun declined Jiang Lili’s invitation to dinner and walked out of the pharmacy, his heart racing with excitement. Three million—a whole box full of cash. After making sure no one was around, Fang Yun walked into a public restroom, stowed the suitcase inside his ring, and kept only 10,000 for himself. Fang Yun went to a cell phone store and bought a phone; the phone and SIM card cost him over 3,000. He figured he’d be heading home tomorrow, so he’d leave a contact number for the Gao sisters in case they ever needed his help in the future. Fang Yun was deeply grateful to the Gao sisters for their kind assistance. He then went to a clothing store to buy two sets of clothes to change into. When he returned to the hotel, the Gao sisters were still in their room. Fang Yun took out 5,000 yuan and handed it to Gao Qian: “Gao Qian, thank you so much. This is for the hotel room and the clothes. See if it’s enough.” Gao Qian was taken aback. “Where did you get this money? You didn’t steal it, did you?” It was no wonder Gao Qian asked that—when she first met Fang Yun, he had been dressed in rags and had lost all his belongings. “Hehe, well, I’ve been wandering around Shennongjia for a month, and I got lucky enough to dig up a ginseng root. I just sold it.” “Oh, you didn’t need to give me this much.” Gao Qian took the money from Fang Yun’s hand, pulled out 500, and handed the rest back to him. Even though they’d only met today, Gao Qian could tell that Fang Yun didn’t like owing anyone a favor. “By the way, here’s my cell phone number. Write it down. I’m planning to head back tomorrow, but if you ever need any help, give me a call.” Fang Yun gave Gao Qian the number of the cell phone he’d just bought. Gao Qian discreetly rolled her eyes. Although her family wasn’t exactly among the wealthiest in the country, they still had assets worth tens of millions. She couldn’t imagine what she might possibly need Fang Yun’s help with. Even as she thought this, Gao Qian still wrote down Fang Yun’s phone number. Little did she know that this phone number would later save her life. Fang Yun wasn’t sure whether he should ask about Gao Lian’s health, so he stood there hesitating for a long time without saying a word. “By the way, how much did you get for the ginseng?” Gao Qian suddenly asked. “Hehe, not much—3 million.” Fang Yun had nothing to hide from Gao Qian. “3 million! My goodness, what kind of ginseng did you sell?” Gao Qian’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. Fang Yun replied honestly, “The master at the pharmacy said it was 120-year-old ginseng.” Gao Qian grabbed Fang Yun’s arm. “Which pharmacy did you sell it to? Take me there right now!” A surge of excitement filled Gao Qian’s heart—Lianlian could be saved. Seeing how excited Gao Qian was, Fang Yun asked in confusion, “What’s going on?” Gao Qian hurriedly tugged at Fang Yun, trying to pull him out the door. “I don’t have time to explain right now. I’ll tell you everything once we’ve bought the ginseng.” Fang Yun immediately stopped in his tracks, refusing to budge no matter how hard Gao Qian pulled. “Hurry up! I’m afraid if we’re too late, someone else will buy it,” Gao Qian said anxiously. Fang Yun said timidly, “If you need it, I actually have a better one.” With that, he pretended to reach into the garment bag he was carrying; with a thought, a ginseng root appeared in his hand. “Take it if you want.” Gao Qian stared at Fang Yun as if she were looking at an alien. “Your luck is truly unbelievable. Would you sell me this ginseng for 5 million?” Fang Yun hurriedly waved his hand. “Consider this ginseng a gift from me to thank you for helping me.” “That’s out of the question—it’s far too valuable,” Gao Qian insisted. She simply couldn’t accept a gift worth several million for what was, to her, just a small favor. “If you insist on paying for it, I won’t sell it,” Fang Yun said, starting to get a little annoyed. “Well…” Gao Qian looked at Fang Yun, then at the ginseng, and turned to look at her younger sister, a flash of tenderness crossing her eyes. “All right. I’ll just have to be shameless enough to accept it. Thank you so much, Fang Yun.” Taking the ginseng from Fang Yun’s hands, she choked back tears as she said to her younger sister, who was blinking her big eyes at the two of them arguing, “Lianlian, there’s a cure for your illness.” “Mm-hmm. Lianlian will get better soon, and then Mom and Dad won’t have to worry about Lianlian anymore.” Lianlian nodded her little head happily.