Su Qing said to Old Mr. Gong with a beaming smile, "It’s all thanks to that herb manual you gave . Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to recognize these herbs even if they were right in front of ."
"Haha, that’s because you’re a clever girl." Old Mr. Gong chuckled and nodded. He stepped forward to examine the herbs Su Qing had gathered and couldn’t help but nod again. ’She may be a novice, but she dug these up without causing any damage at all. That’s quite impressive.’
When he saw the ginseng, his gaze sharpened. He quickly took it in his hand, examining it closely, and a look of delight spread across his face. "Young lady, this is an excellent ginseng."
"Is it?" Su Qing already knew the age of the ginseng, but she had to play the part of a novice. She quickly said, "I just found it by following the manual. The flower on this plant was particularly eye-catching; otherwise, I never would have spotted it."
"Excellent, excellent." Old Mr. Gong said with a smiling nod. "You certainly have good luck. Co, let’s go to the back and talk things over."
"Okay." Su Qing nodded eagerly.
Mr. Gong then instructed the young man who was weighing the herbs, "The quality of these is quite good. Price them at the Level 1 rate."
"Yes, sir!" the young man replied, nodding quickly.
"Co, young lady, have a seat." Once they were in the back room, Mr. Gong said to Su Qing with a smile, "By the way, young lady, I don’t believe I’ve gotten your na yet."
Su Qing replied with a smile, "Mr. Gong, my surna is Su. I’m Su Qing."
"A fine na." Mr. Gong nodded. "Su, I just took a look at that ginseng you picked. It’s at least eighty or ninety years old, nearly a century-old specin. That’s incredibly rare. Let ask you, are you sure you want to sell it? You must understand, ginseng of this quality is very hard to co by on the market. It would fetch a high price, but more importantly, a root like this can be life-saving in a critical mont."
"Mr. Gong, I’ve made up my mind. I intend to sell it," Su Qing said with a calm smile.
"Are you sure?" Mr. Gong pressed. "You have to understand, you don’t just stumble upon ginseng of this age. You might never find another wild ginseng this old again."
Su Qing smiled. "To be honest, Mr. Gong, I think I have a bit of luck on my side. You said it yourself last ti—high-quality, aged herbs are hard to find. And look, it didn’t take long to find this one."
"Haha, that’s true enough," Mr. Gong laughed. "Now that you ntion it, you really do seem to have a bit of a lucky streak."
"Alright, since you’re set on selling, I’ll make you an offer." Mr. Gong nodded, then continued, "As you’ve probably gathered, I’m a doctor. I’d like to buy this ginseng from you for my personal collection. This root is exceptionally rare, so I won’t haggle with you. Eight thousand yuan. How does that sound?"
After he spoke, Mr. Gong chuckled again. "That’s the highest price I can offer. But I won’t hide the truth from you—if word of this ginseng got out in Beijing, a bidding war would drive the price much higher. As it is, I suppose I’m getting a bargain by not having to compete with anyone, haha."
Hearing this, Su Qing laughed as well. "Let’s go with the price you offered."
’Eight thousand yuan might not be a lot in later generations, but in an era when a typical worker’s monthly salary was only thirty or forty yuan, this was truly a huge sum of money.’
Su Qing ntally tallied her private stash. ’She’d made more than five hundred yuan from selling the foraged goods last ti. Now, after selling the ginseng and the other herbs, she would have over eight thousand yuan in her hands. It was an enormous fortune.’
Seeing Su Qing agree, Mr. Gong’s delight was written all over his face. "Excellent! It’s settled then. Wait here a mont while I go get you the money."
"Alright."
Before long, Mr. Gong returned and handed the money to Su Qing. He also settled the paynt for the other herbs. In total, Su Qing received 8,168 yuan.
The transaction was complete, and both parties were very satisfied.
Looking at the scar on Su Qing’s left cheek, Mr. Gong privately felt it was a sha. ’Century-old Purple Danshen and Chicken Blood Vine are incredibly hard to find, and what’s more...’
"Su," Mr. Gong said after a mont of thought. "There’s sothing else I need to tell you."
"Please, go on."
"It’s about the Purple Danshen and Chicken Blood Vine," Mr. Gong said. "Both are extrely difficult to find. With your luck, you might be able to find Purple Danshen in our local mountains. But the Chicken Blood Vine... this isn’t where it grows. I’m afraid..."
"So I can’t find it here?" Su Qing asked quickly. "Mr. Gong, where does Chicken Blood Vine originally co from?"
Mr. Gong replied, "In the great mountains of Yun Province and Gu Province. That’s where Chicken Blood Vine is plentiful."
"Yun Province and Gu Province?" Su Qing murmured, raising an eyebrow.
"That’s right." Mr. Gong sighed. "So, you see, it’s not easy to obtain. A young girl like you can’t possibly travel that far. You’d be in an unfamiliar place where you don’t know anyone, and besides, the mountains there are nothing like the ones here. You don’t know them, and it would be extrely dangerous to venture in unprepared."
Su Qing nodded. "I understand, Mr. Gong. I won’t take any foolish risks. As for whether I can find the herbs to heal my scar, I’ll just let nature take its course. I won’t try to force it."
"Good, it’s best that you think that way," Mr. Gong said. "Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye out as well. If I happen to co across the right ingredients, I’ll be sure to save them for you."
"Alright. Thank you so much, Mr. Gong," Su Qing said with a grateful smile.
Su Qing was truly grateful. After all, they had only t twice, yet he was willing to keep her in mind. Such kindness certainly deserved her thanks.
"Haha, I just feel like we’re kindred spirits," Mr. Gong laughed heartily. "Besides, I have my own selfish reasons. If you happen to find any more excellent herbs in the future, you have to think of first, you hear?"
Su Qing laughed. "Alright, no problem."
Su Qing stayed at Hongji Hall for another half an hour, during which Mr. Gong gave her more pointers on how to identify various herbs. Afterward, she finally said her goodbyes.
After leaving Hongji Hall, Su Qing hadn’t walked far when a man called out from behind her, "Miss, could I have a word with you?"
Su Qing turned at the sound of his voice and saw that it was the sa middle-aged man Mr. Gong had shooed away from Hongji Hall earlier. She seed to recall him saying sothing about the "An Family."
"You were calling ?" Su Qing asked, puzzled. She didn’t know the man.
"Yes." The middle-aged man stepped forward with a smile and introduced himself, "Hello. My surna is Fang, and my na is Fang Lutian."
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