Li Dafa tossed his wallet to Liu Ergou, who gave it a quick glance. There were about two or three thousand yuan inside.
Only then did Liu Ergou nod in satisfaction.
"Alright, you're done here. Scram!"
As soon as he heard Liu Ergou's words, Li Dafa felt a wave of relief. He didn't even bother with any parting threats, simply turning around with his gang and leaving.
The mont Li Dafa was gone, Xiaorou rushed into Liu Ergou's arms.
"That's wonderful, Brother Ergou!"
Feeling the soft press against his chest, Liu Ergou couldn't resist reaching out and cupping her small bottom. A blush imdiately crept up Xiaorou's cheeks. Their eyes t, a haze of infatuation passing between them.
Luckily, at the last second, Liu Ergou ca to his senses. They were on the street; he absolutely couldn't get carried away.
So he gave her bottom a light slap.
"Alright, stop ssing around. Get down. Let's go sell the herbs, then I'll take you ho."
Xiaorou obediently agreed and hopped onto the back seat of the bicycle. Liu Ergou then began pushing the bike toward Baozhi Hall.
「20 minutes later.」
Liu Ergou arrived at the entrance of Baozhi Hall.
Looking at the imposing building, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration. It was truly spectacular. The awe was fleeting, however, and Liu Ergou quickly composed himself.
He then turned to Xiaorou and said, "Wait here for , Xiaorou. I'll go find soone to buy the herbs."
With that, Liu Ergou turned and entered Baozhi Hall.
He briefly explained his situation to the clerk at the counter, who nodded and made a phone call. After a wait of about five or six minutes, a short man with a rat-like mustache finally entered Baozhi Hall.
He exchanged a few hushed words with the clerk before approaching Liu Ergou. After sizing Liu Ergou up and down with his beady little eyes, he put on an official air and said, "You're the one selling dicinal herbs, right? I'm the manager here. My surna is Huang. Let see the quality of your goods!"
Without waiting for Liu Ergou's consent, he snatched the back-basket from his hands and began rummaging through it wantonly.
Seeing Manager Huang's impoliteness, Liu Ergou just frowned slightly but said nothing. All he wanted was to sell these herbs quickly and go ho.
Manager Huang finished his inspection swiftly. He naturally spotted the wild ginseng in the basket.
His eyes lit up the mont he saw it.
What a find! This is a rare sight even in Baozhi Hall! I have to figure out a way...
With a glint in his eye, Manager Huang said, "I've checked it. The goods are excellent, top quality!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Ergou let out a long sigh of relief. The herbs could finally be sold.
However, Manager Huang's tone shifted as he added, "But… you need to give a reason. Why should I accept your goods?"
Caught off guard by Manager Huang's words, Liu Ergou was stunned, unsure what to say.
Manager Huang chuckled slyly and continued, "Young man, let be frank. This is Baozhi Hall, the biggest traditional Chinese dicine clinic in the entire town! We never lack for herb suppliers; there's a line of people waiting to sell to us. Plenty of them have better goods than you, too. So, you need to give a reason—a reason for to take *your* stuff!"
At this, Manager Huang held out his hand and suggestively rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. In that instant, Liu Ergou knew exactly what he ant.
"What do you an, Manager Huang? You might as well speak plainly. I, Liu Ergou, am a villager; I don't understand all these complicated rules."
Since Liu Ergou was being so direct, Manager Huang dropped the pretense. "I've appraised this batch. It's worth around 30,000 yuan," he said bluntly. "I'll take it at full price, but you'll need to give 20,000 of it as a show of respect. Furthermore, from now on, you can only sell your herbs to Baozhi Hall, and I get a thirty-percent cut of the profits from every batch. Do I make myself clear?"
Hearing this, Liu Ergou's expression turned grim.
"Is this a Baozhi Hall rule?" he asked.
Manager Huang replied, "This is *my* rule! And let be clear, if you don't play along, you can take your basket of herbs and get lost!"
Standing outside, Xiaorou had heard the entire conversation. She couldn't take it anymore. She walked into the room and pointed at Manager Huang, saying indignantly, "You've gone too far! Your president personally arranged to purchase these. What right do you have to demand a kickback!"
Hearing this, the smile on Manager Huang's face vanished, replaced by a cold sneer. "What right?" he scoffed. "The right of being the manager of Baozhi Hall! In here, I am the law. What I say, goes! I *am* the rules! Do you understand now?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fire
Hearing this, Liu Ergou heaved a long sigh. He finally understood what his grandfather had always told him: "The King of Hell is easy to face, but his minions are the real trouble." Wasn't this man the perfect example?
At this point, Liu Ergou's patience had worn thin. He didn't want to waste any more ti arguing with Manager Huang. He pulled Lu Shuangyue's business card from his pocket.
"This is your president's business card. She specifically requested this batch of herbs, so you *have* to take them! If you keep giving the runaround, don't think I won't go directly to Lu Shuangyue!"
Manager Huang, who had been looking disdainful, was first taken aback by Liu Ergou's words, then he burst out laughing. His laughter was filled with scorn and contempt.
After a long mont, he finally forced himself to stop, pointing a finger at Liu Ergou. "I must have been too easy on you, you country bumpkin! You dare to look for our president? And you think you can scare with a business card? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the president's card?"
With that, Manager Huang snatched the business card from Liu Ergou's hand and threw it on the floor.
"I'm telling you, drop the little act. I've seen your kind of trick more tis than I can count! And you dare threaten ?"
Manager Huang then turned and stalked toward the back of Baozhi Hall, shouting as he went, "Security! Where's security? Soone get over here and throw these two country bumpkins out! They're disrupting our business! Hurry up!"
Manager Huang was thoroughly annoyed. A re country bumpkin dared to threaten him with the president? Today, he would teach the man a lesson he wouldn't forget.
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