sbdcsierra Chapter 1890 Seeking to Purchase the Ginseng King
Chapter 1890 Seeking to Purchase the Ginseng King
Chapter 1890 Seeking to Purchase the Ginseng King
Zhao Youcai left without warning, giving Zhao Jun a sudden surprise.
Just then, Li Baoyu said to him, "Brother, Xiaochen and I are going to chase my uncle away. After we finish dealing with that Siberian tiger, we'll have our uncle tell you."
After speaking with Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu turned to Wang Qiang and said, "Uncle, we'll wait for you in the car!"
After Li Baoyu finished speaking, he hurriedly led Xie Chen out of the shack to chase after Zhao Youcai.
Zhao Jun looked at Wang Qiang with a puzzled expression, only to see Wang Qiang say with a serious face, "Nephew, isn't there a pothole on the sled path up the mountain?"
"Ah!" Zhao Jun responded. Wang Qiang continued, "When we came here, your dad told Baoyu to stop the car. After getting out, we saw that there was a big paw pooping next to the ditch."
Zhao Jun nodded upon hearing this. He was about to tell Wang Qiang that there seemed to be some wild beast approaching the shack earlier, but Wang Qiang interrupted him, saying, "Nephew, you'd better be careful tonight."
"It's alright, Uncle," Zhao Jun said. "There are dogs, we're not afraid."
As he said this, Zhao Jun sensed something was amiss. Knowing Zhao Youcai as he did, since they had discovered traces of a Siberian tiger on the mountain, he was absolutely not going back today. Why had he left so readily?
Just as Zhao Jun was lost in thought, Wang Qiang had already turned and left the shack. Zhao Jun followed him out to see him off, and saw Zhao Weipeng and Zhao Jinhui, father and son, squatting next to the plastic sheet covering the ginseng king, whispering to each other.
"Brother Peng, let's go." Wang Qiang called out, and Zhao Weipeng stood up and told Zhao Jinhui, "Your son will listen to your brother Jun in the mountains."
Zhao Weipeng spoke as if instructing a child, and then followed Wang Qiang away.
After watching the two leave, Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin, Zhao Jinhui, and Ma Yang returned to their shack.
Thankfully, the four of them returned quickly, otherwise Xing San wouldn't have been able to stop the little black bear. This guy seemed to be hungry and wanted to eat as soon as he smelled something delicious.
"Alright, Blackie!" Zhao Jun grabbed the little black bear's ear, and the little black bear, in pain, was forced to follow Zhao Jun to the door and lie down on the sack.
Zhao Jun got onto the kang (heated brick bed), and the group continued eating and drinking. At this time, Zhao Youcai was sitting in a jeep going down the mountain. Wang Qiang was on his left and Li Baoyu was on his right. Wang Qiang was holding his left arm, and Li Baoyu was holding his right arm.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai stared intently at Li Baoyu. Although his eyes were small, they were sharp. Li Baoyu dared not meet his gaze and turned to look out the window.
Seeing that Li Baoyu did not respond, Zhao Youcai looked at Wang Qiang. The moment their eyes met, Wang Qiang felt a sudden jolt in his heart.
Wang Qiang coughed lightly, turned to look out the window, and tightened his grip on Zhao Youcai's arm.
Zhao Youcai's face tightened, and he said coldly, "You two are sandwiched between me, how am I supposed to fly out?"
Upon hearing Zhao Youcai's words, Wang Qiang and Li Baoyu gave an awkward smile and then released Zhao Youcai.
"You two are just showing off to me!" Zhao Youcai pointed at Wang Qiang, then at Li Baoyu. The two of them didn't say anything and just looked out the window.
Crackling... Crackling...
As the jeep reached the foot of the mountain, thunder rumbled in the sky.
Jie Chen stepped on the gas and headed straight for the third work section.
At this moment, before the rain or thunder, a strong wind arose.
The branches swayed all over the mountain, rustling softly!
It was only noon, but the sky in the mountains had already darkened. Jie Chen turned on the car lights to illuminate the road ahead.
Just then, a bolt of lightning struck diagonally across the sky, followed by a deafening roar of thunder.
"Pat! Pat! Pat!" A strong wind blew and rain poured down, and large raindrops were slapped against the car window with a pattering sound.
The windshield wipers swung, wiping away the raindrops from the windshield. None of the five people in the car spoke, with Jie Chen completely focused on driving at breakneck speed.
As the jeep approached the third work section, a torrential downpour began.
The jeep drove into the third workshop and stopped in front of the workshop's log cabin.
The five people got out of the car and ran into the house. Just as they entered, a thunderclap boomed in the sky, shaking the windows and doors violently.
No one can work outside on this day, so the house is packed with people, and it's almost impossible to step out.
But in such a large room, only a single kerosene lamp emitted a faint light.
Just then, light shone through the window, but it was fleeting.
Everyone turned to look outside and saw a bolt of lightning like a giant python streaking across the sky, with distant mountain ranges faintly visible.
In the mountains and forests, in a shack.
Xing San and his three companions were still drinking; their shack had no windows, so no one could see outside. All they could hear was the howling of the wind and the rumble of thunder.
With Leigongjian Peak nearby, the group felt more at ease. Zhao Jun yawned while holding the little black bear, whose eyes were fixed on the canned fish in the tin box.
In the Zhao family compound in Yong'an Village, Wang Meilan looked out the window with a worried expression.
Outside the window, torrential rain fell on the path, creating wisps of mist that gathered together, looking like a white haze.
This is what the locals mean when they say it rains so hard it's like smoke!
In the distance, in the vegetable garden, bean and cucumber leaves swayed in the wind, and the furrows were filled with water.
"Sister-in-law!" Jin Xiaomei said to Wang Meilan with equal concern, "With all this thunder, they can't be in danger in the mountains, can they?"
"Sigh!" Wang Meilan sighed softly. Jin Xiaomei's question was exactly what she was worried about. Her husband, younger brother, and only son had all gone into the mountains. If anything happened to any of the three of them, there would be no point in Wang Meilan living.
Suddenly, the telephone rang out in the small east hut. The ringing sounded out of nowhere amidst the thunder and rain outside, startling Wang Meilan.
"Mom, the phone." Ma Ling gently reminded Wang Meilan, as Ma Ling was also quite worried about Zhao Jun at this moment.
Wang Meilan stepped into the east hut, picked up the receiver, and said "Hello." A man's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Is this Wang Meilan from Xishantun? This is Zou Yunchuan!"
The caller was Zou Yunchuan, the deputy head of Yushu Township.
Wang Meilan was already upset when she heard it was Zou Yunchuan. She subconsciously frowned and only responded with an "Ah".
At this moment, Zou Yunchuan on the other end of the phone continued, "What? I heard you're leading the charge in a war? That's outrageous..."
"Alright," Wang Meilan interrupted Zou Yunchuan, annoyed. "I don't have time right now. Let's talk about it another day."
"What..." Zou Yunchuan hadn't finished speaking when Wang Meilan hung up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Wang Meilan looked up at the window and sighed softly.
With this fierce wind, heavy rain, thunder, and lightning, how could her son withstand being trapped in that shack?
Just then, the phone rang again.
Wang Meilan frowned, grabbed the microphone abruptly, and held it to her ear, saying irritably, "Didn't I tell you I don't have time? Can't you understand?"
After Wang Meilan yelled those two times, there was a second of silence on the other end of the phone, and then someone asked, "Is this Zhao Jun's house?"
"Huh?" Wang Meilan was taken aback, but her attitude immediately softened. She said, "Yes, this is Zhao Jun's house. Who are you?"
"I am Huang Chongshan from Anguo Huichuntang." The person on the other end of the phone introduced himself, and Wang Meilan immediately realized that this must be Manager Huang, whom her son had mentioned.
Thinking of this, Wang Meilan quickly greeted him, "Hello, Manager Huang, Zhao Jun isn't home."
"Not home?" Manager Huang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "When will he be back?"
“It will take him a few days to come back,” Wang Meilan said. Manager Huang pressed further, “Then how can I find him?”
Manager Huang assumed that Zhao Jun had gone out, since Zhao Jun could be contacted when he went to Qiaotou Village or Shulan City before.
But then Wang Meilan said, "You can't find him; he went into the mountains."
"Ah..." After hearing what Wang Meilan said, Manager Huang fell silent.
Seeing this, Wang Meilan said, "Manager Huang, if you have something urgent, just tell me first. I'm his mother. After you tell me, I'll send someone up the mountain to deliver the message to him."
"You can pass on a message?" Manager Huang's voice was filled with surprise. "Then tell him to prepare a few good wild ginseng seedlings. Someone here is waiting to buy them!"
If he had said this to Wang Meilan at another time, she would have been quite happy. But right now, with her son in the mountains, who knows what he's doing? Wang Meilan had no mood to talk to him about these things.
"Okay, okay, Manager Huang, thank you." Wang Meilan thanked Manager Huang and said, "I understand. I'll send someone to deliver the message to him as soon as I'm done."
Wang Meilan had already ended the conversation with those words, but Manager Huang immediately added, "It must be good ginseng. The customers here are all wealthy, so the older the ginseng, the better."
"Okay, sure." Wang Meilan replied casually. Manager Huang continued, "Just before, Zhao Jun sold that little white dragon. My old customer took his father out for surgery. And it was all thanks to that ginseng, otherwise his father wouldn't have made it off the operating table."
"Hmm, hmm," Wang Meilan replied perfunctorily, "As long as it works."
"It's very effective!" Manager Huang continued Wang Meilan's words, saying, "Another of my regular customers bought two of our Shilong seedlings. He initially wanted to keep them for his wife to use during her postpartum period."
Two days ago, his wife accidentally bumped into something and started bleeding. Before going to the hospital, he remembered the stone dragon, so he quickly washed it with water and had his wife bite into it.
After his wife took that bite, she was carried into a car and taken to the hospital. Once at the hospital, she was still bleeding and in pain, but she was very energetic. She said her mind was particularly clear, and she didn't feel dizzy or uncomfortable at all.
Then the maternal and child health hospital delivered the baby for his wife, saying the delivery went smoothly and his wife was energetic and in good spirits. At the time, the doctors and nurses at the maternal and child health hospital were all surprised, saying they had never seen a premature birth like this before.
Yesterday, my regular customer was chatting with his wife, and they both insisted that it was the effect of our wild ginseng.
Today, this regular customer called me to thank me, and also to thank Zhao Jun.
"Oh, okay, no need to be polite." If it weren't for saving Zhao Jun's face, Wang Meilan would have gotten angry. But she had no choice but to continue to say perfunctorily, "As long as it works, it proves that the money wasn't wasted."
“It’s not a waste of money, not a waste of money.” Manager Huang said, “He said he wanted two more ginseng seedlings, the quality of which couldn’t be worse than the previous stone dragon ones, and then the money was negotiable.”
"Ah, okay, okay, okay, I'll tell Zhao Jun later." Wang Meilan's three "okays" in a row proved that she had reached her limit of impatience.
But Manager Huang added, "There's also my father's old customer who had surgery; he asked Zhao Jun to find him the best wild ginseng."
After saying this, Manager Huang paused for a moment and asked, "Ask Zhao Jun if he can find the Ginseng King."
Upon hearing the name "Ginseng King," Wang Meilan became even more distressed. If it weren't for Ginseng King, her son wouldn't have to suffer like this.
"I can't tell you exactly what my regular customer does," Manager Huang continued, "but he's definitely not short of money, and he also said that as long as it meets the standards of the King of Ginseng, he can definitely give you a satisfactory price."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Wang Meilan nodded repeatedly and said, "Manager Huang, I understand. I'll find someone to send him the message right away!"
Hearing Wang Meilan say this, Manager Huang thought that Wang Meilan had been persuaded by him, and immediately hung up the phone without hesitation.
"This is so tedious." Wang Meilan hung up the phone, looked out the window at the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, and sighed heavily.
The heavy rain lasted for half an hour before it subsided, and the light rain continued for two hours before stopping.
After the rain, the air in the Zhao family compound was very fresh, and little toads were hopping and jumping on the path.
In the third work section, Zhao Youcai and four others came out of the house and hurriedly got into the car to return home.
The door of the hut in the mountains opened, and Zhao Jun walked out.
After the rain, the mountain breeze brought a refreshing coolness and a sense of dampness, while the earthy and grassy scents of the mountains filled the air.
The black humus soil in the forest was soaked by rainwater. When Zhao Jun stepped on it, both sides of his shoe sank in.
"Brother!" At this moment, Zhang Yuanmin walked up behind Zhao Jun and asked, "Are we working today?"
"I'm not doing this anymore, bro," Zhao Jun said. "We can't do it for long anyway, let's just do it tomorrow."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun turned around and pointed to the shack, saying, "Let's connect the stove and light a fire to warm the house."
After the rain, the shack was very damp, and the blankets felt wet, making it very uncomfortable to stay inside.
Xing San had been patrolling the mountains these past few days and had collected quite a bit of firewood. Before the rain, Zhao Jun and the others stuffed all the firewood under the wooden kang (a heated brick bed).
After lighting a fire, the group sat inside, holding teacups and large bowls, drinking hot water until they were sweating and felt warm all over.
After they had drunk enough, the group started chatting. When the topic turned to the rain, Xing San said, "Just you wait, now that this rain is over, the corn will be growing taller and taller."
“The rain is really heavy,” Ma Yang chimed in, “and then there was wind and thunder.”
"Xiao Yang, you don't understand," Zhang Yuanmin laughed, "This is a good omen!"
“A good omen?” Ma Yang was taken aback, then heard Zhao Jinhui say, “The ginseng king in the Great Hall of the People was exposed to strong winds and heavy rains before it was unearthed.”
As he spoke, Zhao Jinhui held the bowl in his chubby hand, pointed outside the shack with a smile, and said, "This place not only gets strong winds and heavy rains, but also thunder and lightning. If you ask me, it's even better than the ginseng king at the Great Hall of the People."
"Really?" Ma Yang asked skeptically. "Anyone who can get into the Great Hall of the People must be a leader, right?"
“You don’t understand. The reason why ginseng can be sold in the Great Hall of the People is mainly because it’s cheap…” Zhao Jinhui had learned a lot during his trip to Fusong and began to teach Ma Yang a lesson.
After listening to Zhao Jinhui's long-winded explanation, Ma Yang felt even more strongly that he had made the right decision to come with Zhao Jun.
"Brother-in-law," Ma Yang asked Zhao Jun, "with our ginseng king, what..."
As Ma Yang spoke, he rubbed his index and ring fingers together with his thumb, making a counting motion, meaning he was asking Zhao Jun how much the ginseng king could sell for.
Seeing his action, Zhang Yuanmin answered for Zhao Jun, "Xiao Yang, this ginseng king..."
Zhang Yuanmin shook his head at the end of his sentence. The reason they were like this was because they couldn't talk carelessly while reaping the ginseng, especially since the ginseng king was right outside.
Ma Yang was taken aback. Even if he was slow-witted, he understood that Zhang Yuanmin meant that the ginseng king was not for sale.
Ma Yang was somewhat puzzled; he couldn't understand why the ginseng king wasn't being sold for money.
But just then, Zhao Jun said, "We'll see about this later."
After saying this, Zhao Jun smiled and said, "May the Mountain God and the Old Foreman bless us, and may we bring back a few more ginseng kings this year, then we'll give them to him..."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun made a gesture as if counting money, which made Xing San, Zhang Yuanmin, Zhao Jinhui, and Ma Yang's eyes light up!