Chapter 92: Reminder
An Zhihan took a few sips of water, his throat already feeling much better. He looked at Su Qing and asked, "Are you here to see Uncle Tian for something?"
"Oh, Uncle Fang mentioned to me before that he wanted to buy some old ginseng. I happened to find one in the mountains, so I thought I’d come and ask if he still wanted it," Su Qing said with a faint smile.
"I see." An Zhihan nodded. He knew they were almost out of ginseng at home. For the past few days, Uncle Tian and A Cheng had been searching everywhere for old ginseng, even sending people into the mountains, but they had come up empty. "Uncle Tian should be back soon. You can discuss the details with him then."
"Okay." Su Qing nodded.
They had only exchanged a few words when An Zhihan couldn’t help but start coughing again. He quickly took a sip of water to try and suppress it, only to choke and cough violently.
Seeing this, Su Qing hurried forward and gently patted his back, secretly sending a wisp of green mist into him. "Why are you coughing so badly? Do you have a cold?"
"It’s nothing, just an old ailment." An Zhihan wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he had just felt a trace of warmth circle in his chest, and the tightness there had actually eased a little.
After a few more coughs, An Zhihan finally managed to stop. He thanked Su Qing, "Thank you."
"It’s nothing."
Just then, A Feng hurried over from the side rooms. To avoid disturbing An Zhihan’s rest, the house phone wasn’t in the living room but in one of the side rooms. After finishing his call, A Feng had heard An Zhihan’s coughing and rushed over anxiously. "Young Master, are you alright?"
He paused for a moment when he saw Su Qing in An Zhihan’s bedroom. Su Qing, for her part, was secretly surprised. ’Young Master? In this day and age, anyone still being called "Young Master" probably isn’t from an ordinary family.’
An Zhihan said, "This young lady just helped me."
A Feng quickly thanked Su Qing. "Thank you, thank you so much."
An Zhihan then asked Su Qing, "By the way, I didn’t catch your name?"
"Oh, my name is Su Qing."
"An Zhihan."
Once they had exchanged names, A Feng said to Su Qing, "Miss Su, I just called Uncle Tian. He said he’s on his way back and should be here in a little while."
Su Qing gave a faint smile. "Okay."
Just as she spoke, a knock came from the courtyard gate.
A Feng grinned. "Speak of the devil. That must be Uncle Tian."
With that, A Feng happily ran to open the gate. Meanwhile, Fang Lutian, learning that Su Qing had come, was both surprised and delighted. He was surprised that Su Qing had found this courtyard instead of going to the one where he lived, and delighted, of course, because of the ginseng she had. He had been thinking that if he couldn’t find any more ginseng soon, he would have to go ask Su Qing if she had any—even half a stalk would have been a blessing.
"Miss Su, I’m so glad you could come. This is wonderful." Fang Lutian was especially happy to see Su Qing.
Su Qing smiled and said, "Uncle Fang, I went into the mountains a few days ago and happened to find a nice old ginseng, probably around seventy or eighty years old. I remembered you saying you were in great need of old ginseng, so I came over today."
Hearing Su Qing say the ginseng was nearly seventy or eighty years old, Fang Lutian was even more ecstatic. He said hurriedly, "Good, good, good. That’s wonderful."
With that, he turned to An Zhihan and said, "Zhi Han, I’m taking Miss Su to the living room. You get some rest."
An Zhihan coughed softly a few times and nodded. "Okay. It’s not easy for Miss Su to gather ginseng, so please make sure you give her a fair price."
"Of course."
Su Qing nodded to An Zhihan, then followed Fang Lutian to the living room. After they both sat down, Su Qing took out the ginseng and placed it on the table.
Fang Lutian rubbed his hands together excitedly. He unwrapped the straw paper around the ginseng and examined it closely. It was indeed about seventy or eighty years old. Even more thrilled, he said to Su Qing, "Miss Su, thank you so much. My young master is in desperate need of ginseng right now, so this is a real lifesaver. Look, it’s not easy for you to gather ginseng in the mountains, and I can’t let you get a bad deal. I’ll give you twelve thousand for it. What do you think of that price? If you’re not satisfied, we can discuss it further."
Fang Lutian actually knew that if this ginseng were sold to Mr. Gong, it would probably fetch around seven or eight thousand. The extra four thousand he offered was partly because of what An Zhihan had said, and partly to thank Su Qing for this godsend.
Su Qing never expected Fang Lutian to offer such a high price. Although she liked money, she didn’t want to take advantage of people. "Uncle Fang, isn’t this price a little too high? The market rate is fine."
Hearing Su Qing’s question, Fang Lutian’s impression of her improved even more. He chuckled, "Miss Fang, to be honest with you, this ginseng came at the perfect time. My young master is about to run out, and we’ve been tearing our hair out these past few days looking for more. You could say this ginseng is a lifesaver. Besides, if this were in Xiangcheng, it could go to auction. Once it’s at auction, you might not even get it for fifteen thousand. So, at this price, we’re the ones getting a bargain. Just take it. Let’s consider this the start of a friendship. Next time you have old ginseng of this quality, I hope you’ll consider us first."
Su Qing instantly understood what Fang Lutian meant and smiled. "Alright, then I’ll be shameless and accept. Thank you."
"Haha, we can call it mutually beneficial," Fang Lutian said with a laugh.
The transaction was completed on the spot, and Su Qing prepared to get up and leave.
Fang Lutian thought for a moment, then said to Su Qing tactfully, "Miss Su, if you don’t have to, I would try to avoid going into Baihua Mountain for a while. It’s not very safe inside."
Hearing this, Su Qing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow slightly.
"In any case, Baihua Mountain isn’t safe right now. If you have to go into the mountains, wait a while before you do. Otherwise, you could easily run into danger."
Su Qing understood. ’He must be referring to the accomplices of those two men I ran into last time.’ Recalling the conversation she had overheard between Fang Lutian and A Cheng, Su Qing smiled and replied, "Okay. It’s about time for us to hole up for the winter anyway. The snow will seal the mountain paths, so I won’t be going in for a while."
"Good, good." Fang Lutian breathed a sigh of relief when Su Qing agreed. He had only recently learned that the men sent by the First and Second Masters were actually carrying guns. If Su Qing ran into them in the mountains, she probably wouldn’t be able to escape. Those people truly had no scruples; they had brought the ways of Xiangcheng with them, lock, stock, and barrel.
What’s more, they were in the mountains. Even if the police wanted to catch them, they wouldn’t be able to find them easily, which only made them more brazen.