Chapter 1 Wild ginseng was harvested in the deep mountains, and the black-hearted medicine merchant took it for himself
Qingxi Town, somewhere deep in the mountains.
"Haha, it's saved. Dad's illness can be saved this time."
"This wild ginseng is so big, it's at least a hundred years old, and it's worth more than 200,000 yuan. I spent a whole day and night in the mountains looking for it..."
Hong Yu squatted in the dense jungle, looking at the huge wild ginseng just dug out of the soil, crying and laughing.
Hong Yu's father suddenly fell seriously ill last month. He went to the county hospital for a check-up. The doctor said it was a heart disease and that surgery was necessary, otherwise he would not survive more than three months.
However, the surgery fee was 200,000 yuan.
Two hundred thousand may not be a lot to other people, but to Hong Yu's family, it is an astronomical figure.
His mother passed away when he was very young, and it was his father who endured hardships alone, pulling him and his sister up.
The family's daily income basically comes from my father's farming and going to the mountains to pick yams in his free time.
But in order to support him in college and his sister in high school, the family had depleted their savings. Where could they find 200,000 yuan?
In order to raise the 200,000 yuan for medical expenses, Hong Yu put down his face and went to many relatives and friends to borrow money, and even knelt down to some people.
Unfortunately, no one is willing to lend a penny.
As the saying goes, if you are rich in the mountains, you have distant relatives, but if you are poor in the city, you have no one to care about you.
Not only did most relatives and friends refuse to lend a penny, some even deliberately alienated their own family.
Seeing that his father's illness was getting worse, Hong Yu had no choice but to go into the mountains alone.
Because he heard from the old people in the village that there are wild ginseng that is more than a century old deep in the mountains and is worth at least two to three hundred thousand.
As long as you are lucky enough, you can pick it.
Of course, if you are unlucky, you may be eaten by jackals, tigers and leopards in the mountains.
Obviously, Hong Yu was very lucky this time.
"With this wild ginseng, my father's surgery expenses will be covered."
Hong Yu excitedly put the century-old wild ginseng he had just picked into the basket on his back.
At this moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something glowing white in the soil he had just dug.
"What is this?"
Out of curiosity, he peeled away the soil with his hands and saw a white jade pendant tied with a red rope.
I picked up the white jade pendant and took a look. I found that this jade pendant was different. It was soft and cold, like a woman's skin.
Moreover, it was obviously buried in the soil, but there was no trace of mud at all.
There wasn't even a speck of soil on the red rope.
It's as new as just bought from the store.
"Isn't this a treasure?"
Hong Yu murmured.
I think I should find an opportunity to take it to the antique street in the county and ask professionals.
However, he didn't think much about it.
The top priority now is to go down the mountain quickly, go to the Chinese medicine shop in the town, and exchange the century-old wild ginseng into money.
In this case, I can take my dad to the urban hospital for surgery tomorrow.
Hong Yu casually put the jade on his neck and ran down the mountain quickly.
...
Two hours later, Hong Yu arrived at the market town.
Qingxi Town is located in the remote mountainous area of southwest China.
It governs a radius of hundreds of miles, with dozens of natural villages of various sizes nearby, with a population of more than 100,000. In addition, it is a transportation fortress from other market towns to the county seat, making it quite prosperous.
Xu's Pharmacy.
The only Chinese herbal medicine shop in Qingxi Town.
It is said that the store owner has a very extraordinary background.
This is also the reason why he is the only Chinese herbal medicine shop in the town, because no one dares to compete with Xu's Pharmacy for business.
Otherwise, the consequences will be serious.
When Hong Yu walked into the store with a backpack on his back, a fat clerk immediately came over and asked: "Little brother, are you here to sell medicinal materials?"
Hong Yu nodded: "Yes, I want to see your boss."
He felt that the price of the century-old wild ginseng was not something that the store clerk could decide.
The fat clerk said with some disdain: "Little brother, actually I can make the decision when collecting the medicinal materials. I don't need my boss to come forward. The boss usually only receives big customers."
Hong Yu said: "Can you take charge of the century-old wild ginseng?"
The sound was not loud, almost everyone in the store heard it.
They all looked at Hong Yu in shock.
Hundred-year-old wild ginseng is a top-grade medicinal material. No matter how bad the quality is, it is worth more than 200,000 yuan, which is very rare.
"Little brother, are you telling the truth?" The fat clerk was also shocked and a little unbelievable.
Hong Yu opened the cover of the backpack on his back and let the fat clerk take a look.
When the fat clerk saw the specifications of the wild ginseng in the basket, his eyes widened. It was definitely a hundred-year-old wild ginseng, and the age could only be higher.
Knowing that he could not make the decision, he immediately went upstairs to ask his boss to come down.
The owner of Xu's Pharmacy is named Xu Yong. After hearing the clerk's report, he came down immediately.
The centuries-old wild ginseng is the king of medicines and is worth a lot of money. If you package it and sell it to rich people who are in urgent need of wild ginseng to cure their diseases, you can make millions of profits at least.
"Little brother, are you the one who wants to sell century-old wild ginseng?" Xu Yong looked at Hong Yu and asked with a smile.
Hong Yu nodded, took off the backpack on his back, placed it on the ground, lifted the cover, and said, "Boss Xu, show me how much this wild ginseng is worth."
The huge wild ginseng was suddenly exposed to the sight of everyone in the store, and everyone was stunned.
"Damn, this is the first time I've seen such a thick wild ginseng. It's been at least a hundred years, right?"
"I've seen more than that. I've seen wild ginseng that's a hundred years old, but it's definitely not this big, and it doesn't have so many roots. I think it's at least two hundred years old."
"Really or not, a two-hundred-year-old wild ginseng? It's worth at least one million, right? This guy has made a fortune."
In the store, many customers commented and looked at Hong Yu with envy.
Hong Yu also became excited as he listened to everyone's discussion.
He didn't know much about medicinal materials. He just did a little search on the Internet. He thought that what he dug up this time was only wild ginseng that was more than a hundred years old. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be more than two hundred years old.
"It seems that not only has Dad's surgery fee been paid this time, but there will also be a lot of surplus. Dad won't have to worry so much about money in the future." Hong Yu was very excited.
Store owner Xu Yong was also stunned.
He has been working in the field of Chinese medicinal materials for decades, and this is the first time he has seen such a large wild ginseng.
If this was auctioned at an auction house in the provincial capital, it might fetch tens of millions of dollars.
In my heart, I can't help but covet it and want to have it for myself.
"What's the century-old wild ginseng? I think it's obviously the artificially grown bamboo ginseng."
Store owner Xu Yong suddenly said.
As soon as these words came out, everyone at the scene was stunned for a moment.
Hong Yu also frowned. This wild ginseng was picked from the mountains by himself. How could it be artificially grown?
"Boss Xu, you are not mistaken, are you? This is indeed wild ginseng. Bamboo ginseng does not have whorls. Look at this ginseng, the whorls are clearly visible." A knowledgeable customer said.
Xu Yong said coldly: "Nowadays, there are endless tricks for scammers. If they want to imitate anything with swirling patterns or non-turning patterns, can't they easily imitate it?"
"Mr. Qi, the field of Chinese medicinal materials is too deep. You are still young and cannot grasp it. I advise you to think about some things before speaking."
The latter sentence carries a strong sense of threat.
In an instant, everyone understood.
Boss Xu did this on purpose!
I just want to buy two hundred years old wild ginseng at a low price.
For a time, no one dared to speak anymore.
Xu Yong has great influence in the town and has deep connections in the county. He is not someone they can offend.
Hong Yu is not stupid either, and of course he knows what Xu Yong is thinking.
Want to trick me? No way.
"Sorry, I won't sell it anymore."
As he said this, Hong Yu picked up the basket containing wild ginseng and planned to take it to a traditional Chinese medicine shop in the county town to sell it tomorrow.
"Boy, you cheated me with fake goods in my store, and you just want to walk away without giving me an explanation?"
Xu Yong waved his hand, and several employees immediately blocked Hong Yu's way.
Hong Yu's face darkened, he looked at Xu Yong and said, "Then what do you want?"
Xu Yong sneered and said: "I am a kind-hearted person, so I can let you forget about the deception in my store."
"However, the imitation wild ginseng in your hand must be kept so that you don't take it out to continue to deceive people."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the store was startled.
This boss Xu is so cruel.
Before, they thought that Boss Xu just wanted to buy it at a low price, but unexpectedly, he actually wanted to take possession of the two-hundred-year-old wild ginseng for himself without paying a penny.
The eyes of everyone looking at Hong Yu changed from envy at first to sympathy.
This young man does not have such luck in his life!
Hong Yu's face was extremely gloomy, he glared at Xu Yong and said, "Boss Xu, don't bully me too much?"
"Boy, you are cheating in my store and you dare to be so arrogant. I think you are looking for a beating."
Xu Yong commanded his employees, "Come on, all of you, and give this liar some color."
In an instant, seven or eight employees swarmed towards Hong Yu.
Hong Yu tried his best to resist, but his fists were no match for his four hands, and he was knocked down within two blows.
Xu Yong directed his employees to steal the century-old wild ginseng in Hong Yu's backpack.
Hong Yu fought for it with all his strength, holding the basket firmly under his arms.
This century-old wild ginseng is his only hope to save his father, and he will not let anyone take it away.
But the more he defended himself, the worse he was beaten.
Soon, his head was bleeding.
Blood flowed down his cheeks, neck, and onto his chest.
Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and gradually lost consciousness and fell into a coma.
At this moment, the white jade pendant he picked up from the mountains today emits an imperceptible white light after coming into contact with the blood, and flies into his head.