Urban Super Medical Saint

"Hiss!" Hearing this, the pharmacists all took in a sharp breath, envy shining in their eyes.

Two years ago, Yongchun Hall sold a batch of eight-hundred-year-old Polygonum multiflorum for a million. And now, two years had passed, with prices having soared in general, plus the age of this Polygonum multiflorum being even greater, naturally, the price would be higher.

Most of their salaries were just over a thousand, which was considered quite decent in Linzhou City.

"It's just a pity, such a young person selling such precious herbs, I'm afraid they are going to be undercut to the price of cabbage by Chief Liu," lamented Teacher Zhang, shaking his head.

"Indeed, it's such a waste. If this youngster hadn't brought it to Yongchun Hall, we wouldn't have the opportunity to intercept the sale. Otherwise, I would really want to buy it and make a fortune—enough to last a lifetime!" a pharmacist sighed.

"Alas, that's fate for you! The young man could have become a millionaire overnight, but now, I guess he'll be fobbed off by Chief Liu with just a few thousand at most," someone said, shaking their head.

"I say, young brother, why did you come alone? Where are your elders?" whispered the young man who was showing the way.

"I'm already sixteen, is there a problem?" Ge Dongxu asked.

"There's no problem, per se, but it's better to have an adult handle the sale of such items. Moreover, this Polygonum multiflorum seems to be quite old and should be worth some…" the young man whispered back.

"Cough, cough, Xiao He, this has nothing to do with you; off you go," just then, a middle-aged man came out from an office and said to the young guide.

The young man shrank his head and then hurried away.

This middle-aged man was naturally Chief Liu from the procurement department, his office was close to the pharmacy, and he had noticed the commotion there. He had already had some suspicions, so when he saw Xiao He whispering, he made a point of coming out to dismiss him.

"Young man, do you have some wild herbs you want to sell to us? If it's not a wild herb of significant age, we do not purchase them separately," said Chief Liu, patting his round belly and speaking officiously to Ge Dongxu.

The procurement department was quite a lucrative section, and with Chief Liu in a pivotal position, he naturally received quite a few benefits from herb suppliers. Hence, he was plump and chubby, with a fat face and large ears.

"Yes, Section Chief Liu, I have a thousand-year-old wild Polygonum multiflorum that I want to sell. Take a look and tell me how much I can get for it," Ge Dongxu said.

"If it really is a thousand-year-old wild Polygonum multiflorum, it could be worth a couple hundred thousand. Come in, let me have a look and see if it really is a thousand-year-old wild Polygonum multiflorum," Section Chief Liu said, his eyes lighting up slightly as he spoke, leading Ge Dongxu through the door.

"A couple hundred thousand?" Ge Dongxu's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, but when he saw the cunning and disdain inadvertently revealed by Section Chief Liu, he immediately thought of the taxi driver who had previously taken advantage of him being a country boy, unfamiliar with the city, leading him in circles.

It seems that city folks are not as simple and honest as us mountain people; even those in this medical hall are the same. I need to be careful, Ge Dongxu warned himself inwardly, then calmly took out the Polygonum multiflorum.

As the head of the procurement section, Section Chief Liu was very familiar with all kinds of medicinal herbs. As soon as he saw the wild Polygonum multiflorum Ge Dongxu had brought out, his eyes brightened fiercely, but he quickly returned to normal. He picked up the Polygonum multiflorum casually and weighed it in his hand, saying leisurely, "It's wild, indeed, not cultivated, but the age is off, at most forty or fifty years. Polygonum multiflorum is unlike ginseng; it's not considered a precious medicinal material. It is valuable only when it has aged. Look, it's not easy for you to come all this way, I'll give you two thousand yuan for this Polygonum multiflorum, and we at Yongchun Hall will take it off your hands, saving you the trouble of carrying it back."

Having said that, Section Chief Liu looked at Ge Dongxu with a certain gaze. In his eyes, Ge Dongxu was just a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy, and judging by his rural attire, two thousand yuan would surely seem an astronomical sum to him. He expected Ge Dongxu to be overjoyed at the offer.

But to Section Chief Liu's surprise, the young man in front of him was not at all pleased with the offered price. Instead, he took back the thousand-year Polygonum multiflorum from Section Chief Liu, placed it carefully back into its bag, and then packed it into his backpack.

At first, when the boy started to put it back into the bag, Section Chief Liu retained some confidence that the young man was preparing to hand it over to him; it was not until he saw him packing it into the backpack that he realized something was amiss and hurriedly said, "Young man, what does this mean? Forty or fifty years of wild Polygonum multiflorum, and I'm already giving you a good price of two thousand yuan. If you go anywhere else, people won't give you a thousand yuan tops."

"Section Chief Liu, don't take others for fools," Ge Dongxu retorted and then shouldered his backpack and left.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Hey, hey, young man, we can still talk about the price. Don't walk away!" Seeing Ge Dongxu about to leave, Section Chief Liu became anxious. His portly figure quickly blocked the doorway as he spoke.

"What's there to talk about? This is a thousand-year-old wild Polygonum multiflorum, and you're saying it's only forty or fifty years old. You're plainly taking advantage of my youth, aren't you? Besides, do you think I'm not aware that your Yongchun Hall sold a wild eight-hundred-year-old Polygonum multiflorum for a million yuan two years ago?" Ge Dongxu said, staring at Section Chief Liu coldly.

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Liu's chubby face turned purple almost instantly. He never dreamed that this plainly dressed boy would have detailed information about the wild Polygonum multiflorum Yongchun Hall sold for a million yuan two years ago.

However, as the head of the procurement section, Section Chief Liu was very shrewd. Seeing that Ge Dongxu was well-informed, he knew he couldn't fool him about the price of wild Polygonum multiflorum; he could only try to deceive him about its age. After all, determining the age of medicinal materials is challenging, and even Section Chief Liu couldn't precisely judge the age of the Polygonum multiflorum in front of him. He only knew that its size and skin color suggested it should not be inferior to the one sold two years ago. But whether it was a thousand years old, Section Chief Liu really couldn't say. In fact, even some experienced traditional Chinese medicine practitioners couldn't accurately judge. So, Section Chief Liu was convinced that Ge Dongxu simply wanted to sell at a high price, which is why he claimed it was a thousand years old, when in reality, he surely didn't know the true age of the Polygonum multiflorum. After all, he was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy; how much could he possibly know about medicinal herbs? Recognizing Polygonum multiflorum was already commendable.

Having had this realization, the purplish hue on Section Chief Liu's face faded, and he regained his cunning composure. He pulled Ge Dongxu back to the coffee table and forcibly seated him on the sofa, saying with a smile, "Young man, bargaining is a part of doing business. But since you've done your research, I won't try to hide it from you. Indeed, Yongchun Hall sold a wild eight-hundred-year-old Polygonum multiflorum for a million yuan two years ago. But as you know, not everyone can afford such precious medicinal material. It was by chance that we found such a wealthy buyer, which is why it fetched a high price. But in reality, it's not worth that much. And of course, we need to make a profit, right? So, in truth, buying an eight-hundred-year-old wild Polygonum multiflorum would cost at most three to four hundred thousand yuan."