Chapter 99: Utter Nonsense

"Heh heh." The man chuckled dismissively, clearly scornful of Zhang Xiaofan’s words. "Young brother, you really know how to joke. How could Huichun Hall be without ginseng?"

Zhang Xiaofan regarded him calmly and replied, "What I want is a hundred-year-old wild ginseng. Remember, it must be wild. Naturally, the older, the better."

"If you have it, bring it out quickly. Money is no object," Lin Siyu said, glancing at the man.

The man with the mole’s eyes lit up at Lin Siyu’s words—this was a golden opportunity to make money! Most people couldn’t tell wild ginseng from cultivated ones, let alone determine the age unless they were experts.

He had sold cultivated ginseng as wild more than once.

"Wild ginseng, naturally we have it. Please wait a moment, both of you."

With that, he hurried to the back, carefully opened a sandalwood cabinet, then triggered a secret door, finally pulling out a white jade box.

The jade box gleamed beautifully and seemed somewhat spiritual, intended to preserve the ginseng’s essence and medicinal properties as best as possible.

He then cradled the box as if it were a beloved child, placing it gently on the counter before looking at Lin Siyu.

"Miss, just this jade box alone is exquisitely crafted from pure natural Nanyang jade! Inside is an even rarer treasure—a one hundred and fifty-year-old wild ginseng. The box and the ginseng are sold together..."

The man with the mole smiled obsequiously. "Because of this, the price is a bit high. I wonder if the lady can accept it?"

"Money is no problem. Tell me, how much?" Lin Siyu said.

Hearing Lin Siyu’s words, the man’s smile grew broader. "Miss, you’re so straightforward. I’ll give you a fair price—five million. How does that sound?"

At this moment, Zhang Xiaofan ignored the man entirely and opened the jade box. Just one glance was enough to see that the man was trying to fool them.

"The root is indeed large, but it lacks any sign of being wild. This ginseng of yours was cultivated artificially, wasn’t it?" Zhang Xiaofan said.

"Lacking wild essence?" The man’s jaw nearly dropped. This was the first time he’d heard of “wild essence.” Could ginseng even have an aura? Even if it did, could this kid actually sense it?

Still, the man was uneasy. The ginseng wasn’t purely wild—it had been dug up from the wild only a few years ago and then cultivated artificially. Technically, it was semi-wild.

"Young brother, don’t speak nonsense if you don’t understand. This is genuine wild ginseng. If you can’t afford it, just forget it," the man’s face darkened.

"Heh, just five million? I don’t know if it’s me who doesn’t understand or you. There’s not a trace of spirit in it," Zhang Xiaofan said seriously.

"Spirit? What nonsense are you spouting? Plants from the mountains don’t have spirits," the man said angrily.

Zhang Xiaofan sneered. "Everything has a spirit, especially ginseng that grows naturally in the deep mountains. Any practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine should understand this. I think it’s just that you don’t know. But I don’t know if you truly don’t understand, or if you’re pretending not to."

His meaning was clear: if you really don’t understand, that’s excusable. But if you do, then this is deliberate fraud.

"I don’t understand?" The man said indignantly. "You say I don’t understand? I’ve studied under Master Gao, the Divine Doctor, for twenty years. What herbs haven’t I seen? How could I not understand?"

Though the ginseng wasn’t completely natural, it at least grew in the mountains. Even his master said it was semi-wild. Yet to this man, it was simply artificially cultivated.

To him, wild and semi-wild were practically the same. In this world, pure wild ginseng was extinct.

"Heh, so you claim to have some medical skill? If you can’t even sense the spirit of ginseng, your medical skill must be mediocre," Zhang Xiaofan sneered. The ginseng looked no different from any other, but any practitioner with some skill could feel the natural spirit emanating from wild ginseng grown deep in the mountains.

"Ridiculous. How can a kid like you criticize me? You’re just making a fuss!" The man was furious, openly challenging Zhang Xiaofan’s skill.

In truth, Zhang Xiaofan didn’t want to argue, but since this man neither cursed nor attacked, he had reason to respond.

Their quarrel drew a crowd. Many looked at Zhang Xiaofan with ridicule and scorn.

Many were curious whether this was truly wild ginseng, especially some wealthy customers who often bought precious herbs from here and trusted Huichun Hall’s reputation.

Many recognized the man with the mole as well—he was the top disciple of Master Gao, the Divine Doctor of Huichun Hall. He rarely treated patients himself, only selling herbs here.

If there were difficult ailments, he was called upon.

So when Zhang Xiaofan disparaged his medical skill, the man lost his temper.

Though not as brilliant as his master, aside from Master Gao himself, he was the best at Huichun Hall.

"You know who this is? This is Wang Yixian, Master Gao’s prized disciple!" A man in his fifties, standing nearby, said. The patient queue wasn’t far, and the commotion drew them over.

"This gentleman, can’t you tell? That guy’s probably a kept playboy. Hearing that price, he’s likely stunned and trying to show off in front of his woman. I’ve seen plenty like him. Wang Yixian, don’t bother arguing with this little white-faced boy. Buy it or don’t," a middle-aged woman in a fine silk dress mocked.

...

To these patients, the man with the mole was even called the Divine Doctor Wang Yixian. Zhang Xiaofan found this amusing. Even with his skill, he wouldn’t dare call himself a Divine Doctor.

He sneered but said nothing.

"Kid, did you hear that? They called me Wang Yixian! You still doubt my skill? I see right through you—you just want to show off and slander me. I’m done here. There are plenty of buyers for this ginseng."

The man waved dismissively. "You can leave."

Zhang Xiaofan smiled silently. Then Lin Siyu spoke.

"This doctor’s mistaken. I’m the one who’s keeping him," Lin Siyu said, nestling coyly in Zhang Xiaofan’s arms. "Darling, don’t be angry."

At this, the man with the mole and the others were stunned, their eyes almost popping out. This young man was so young—could he really be a wealthy tycoon?

"Oh, isn’t this President Lin of Lin Group..." A wealthy patient said. As the president of Lin Group, she was well-known in affluent circles.

Especially since Lin Siyu was so beautiful, the goddess in the hearts of countless men in Jinghai.

Upon hearing this, others took a closer look. Wasn’t this the Lin President often on TV?

Heavens, the Lin President was being kept...

What a world...

Could this young man really be that formidable?

Those who had mocked Zhang Xiaofan just moments ago felt a burning shame, as if slapped.

As for the man with the mole, his expression darkened further but quickly recovered. Even if this man was a billionaire, he had seen many rich men and knew to stay polite.

But Lin Siyu’s next words infuriated him again.

"My man says your medical skill is poor, so it must be poor. Oh, I forgot to mention, all the Divine Doctors at Huichun Hall admire my man’s skill greatly."

"Hahaha!" The man couldn’t help but laugh, thinking these two must be trying to make him lose face, but they were exaggerating wildly.

His master, Master Gao, was truly a miraculous doctor in Jinghai. Would he really admire this kid who was barely twenty? Admire his skill?

"That guy? My master admires his skill? Are you kidding me?" The man looked disdainfully at Zhang Xiaofan.

Zhang Xiaofan smiled faintly, as if just recalling that the so-called Divine Doctor was Gao Zhipeng...

He had met Gao Zhipeng at the Ye family and at the Treasure Pavilion ball, though he had somewhat forgotten.

Zhang Xiaofan sneered, "With your pathetic skill, I never took you seriously. Siyu, let’s go. Let’s look elsewhere."