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墨書 Inktalez
Pingchuan County is a small county located in the Yellow River basin, situated in a remote area with inconvenient transportation. The only connection to the outside world is a single road, making the bus station in the county town the busiest and most chaotic place—an area of less than five hundred square meters that is constantly bustling with people and vehicles, with an air that seems to be filled with the smell of sweat.
The entrance and exit of the station are the most crowded. Besides passengers waiting for rides, there are many vendors: a small cart carrying coal balls for a stove, with pots on display cooking corn, peanuts, or sweet potatoes.
In addition to this, there are "hitchers." Wherever there is a bus station, there are so-called "black cars," which are simply those that do not enter the station or pay related fees. Of course, the fares are cheaper than those from the buses inside the station. Since "black cars" do not enter the station, people are hired to stand at the entrance and approach anyone looking to catch a ride, leading them to other places to board—this is what is known as "hitching." Hitchers earn money through commissions.
Gu An is one of them, spending long hours under the sun, his skin a dark red color. He wears a somewhat worn-out shirt, and his hair is messy, resembling a bird's nest. At this moment, he leans against the iron railing at the entrance of the station.
"Five Brother, how's business?"
Bao Fang holds a red plastic bag in his left hand and pulls out a cigarette from his pocket with his right hand, tossing one to Gu An. Gu An is called Five Brother because he is the fifth child in his family.
With a snap, he lights the cigarette and takes a deep drag, exhaling large clouds of smoke. Gu An lazily leans against the railing and shakes his head, saying, "Damn it, I haven't caught a single passenger."
Gu An got up early hoping to catch a few passengers for Ma Zhuang's "black car" to earn some money to buy his girlfriend a gold necklace. However, as he watched the sun climb higher without catching any passengers at all, how could he not feel frustrated?
Pointing at the loudspeaker on top of the station, Bao Fang says, "That thing keeps shouting 'Attention passengers: do not take illegal black cars,' repeating it non-stop. Where do we have any chance to make a living?"
"Yeah, it's impossible to get by like this. My girlfriend keeps saying Christmas is coming and she wants a gold necklace as a gift. I just don't understand what that old man has to do with us Chinese; he doesn't even look as good as Tai Bai Jin Xing. Not to mention that Tai Bai Old Man's few long whiskers are way more impressive than that old guy's messy beard."
Thinking about how his girlfriend was relentless last night about not getting her gold necklace made Gu An feel even more irritated.
"Five Brother, I have a way to make some money; don't say I’m not looking out for you as your brother."
"Huh?"
Turning to look at Bao Fang, Gu An shook his head and said, "I won't do anything illegal; that's just asking for trouble."
"Those who engage in such activities will only be locked up for a few days before being released. But those involved in serious crimes like gambling and drugs could lose their heads."
"Five Brother, do you think I’m the kind of person who does that?"
Gu An thought for a moment and chuckled. The two of them had grown up together, and he remembered Bao Fang being even more timid than himself. There was no way Bao Fang would dare to get involved in something that could cost him his life.
"What’s the way to make money? Tell me."
Bao Fang handed the bag he was holding to Gu An, saying, "Five Brother, take a look at this first."
"What is it? So mysterious?"
As Gu An spoke, he pulled out the contents of the bag. Upon seeing it, he wrinkled his nose and said, "Oh? Is this what it is? Child Ginseng? We have plenty of this stuff back in Luoshan Town. It doesn’t sell for much."
Luoshan Town is a mountain town under Pingchuan County. The geographical environment is suitable for growing ginseng, which looks like a doll, hence the name Child Ginseng. Because Child Ginseng grows abundantly, it’s not considered valuable locally—there are dozens of farms cultivating it, and they harvest it by the truckload. No one in the area thinks this stuff is worth anything.
"Hey, you don’t understand. The Child Ginseng you’re holding weighs six taels; it takes over 500 years to grow this big!"
He almost dropped the ginseng from his hand as he spoke, and Gu An’s voice became unsteady as he said, "Then… doesn’t that mean it’s worth a lot?"
"It’s worth at least several million."
"Ah!!!"
Gu An exclaimed loudly and then stared blankly at the Child Ginseng in his hand, his mind going blank.
Seeing Gu An like this, Bao Fang was startled and asked, "Five Brother, what’s wrong with you?"
It was as if Bao Fang had not heard Gu An's words at all. After a moment, Gu An chuckled foolishly and said:
"Hehehe... this... I've struck it rich..."
Seeing this, Bao Fang realized he had made a big mistake and quickly said, "Five Brother, this Child Ginseng... was grown in the garden."
"Grown in the garden? Grown for 500 years?"
Gu An felt something was off, but couldn't quite grasp it at the moment.
"Ah... this..."
Looking at Bao Fang, who was at a loss for words, Gu An finally came to his senses, grabbed Bao Fang by the collar, and said, "Didn't you just say this Child Ginseng weighs six taels and takes 500 years to grow like this? How could something like that be grown in the garden?"
"But this is indeed from the garden. My cousin has a small Child Ginseng, you know? He dug this ginseng out of the ground. It looked pretty big, so he brought it back to show me."
"Smack!"
Gu An slapped Bao Fang hard on the head and shouted, "Damn it! You bring this thing to fool me, making me think I've struck it rich! Are you looking for trouble?"
Bao Fang's cousin is named Guan Fei. Last year, he opened a small Child Ginseng farm of less than 10 acres, and it was in a bad location, very remote. What good stuff could come from there?
Bao Fang shrank his neck; he knew he was in the wrong and had nothing to say.
"However, there is something strange about this. Two years ago, I also worked with Child Ginseng for a while, and I really haven't seen such a large Child Ginseng before."
Now calm, Gu An looked at the Child Ginseng, which was as thick as a radish, and found it hard to believe.
With a pout, Bao Fang said, "What's so strange about this? Look at those eels fed with contraceptives; they grow so fast. Could anything grow like that in the wild?"
The real Wild Ginseng has basically been dug up, and to meet the demand, people naturally start cultivating it. It's perfectly normal to add some fertilizer during this process to grow astonishing sizes.
"Hey, you're not wrong. It's not surprising to see such large Child Ginseng."
With a "thud," Gu An tossed the Child Ginseng back into the bag and said, "What a pity. If it really had grown for 500 years, we would have struck it rich."
"Come on, Five Brother. Even if it's not 500-year-old Child Ginseng, it can still fetch a decent price."
Shaking his head, Gu An replied, "But it's only a hundred or so. It still takes a lot of effort, so I might as well focus on attracting customers."
He threw the bag back to Bao Fang and leaned against the iron railing, his eyes fixed on the people walking by from the station, looking for potential targets.
"Five Brother, we can't expect millions for this Child Ginseng, but selling it for a few thousand should be possible... like those outsiders; if we play our cards right, we might be able to sell it."
Gu An paused for a moment, stroking his chin as he thought it over. Finally, he nodded and said, "You know what? This might actually work."
The Child Ginseng in Bao Fang's hand was big enough that someone might believe it was a century-old ginseng or something similar. If they could sell it to outsiders, there wouldn't be any repercussions.
"Hehehe~ Five Brother, you're good with words, so you should take the lead on this. I'll support you from the side. Once we sell it, we'll split the profits evenly. How does that sound?"
Seeing Gu An agree, Bao Fang was quite pleased. This kind of thing required two people working together; he couldn't do it alone.
The Ancient Sorcerer held a dozen train tickets he had just bought. Three days ago, Jiang Tiesheng suffered a sudden heart attack and ultimately decided to stop all work and return to Guanghai City.
There was only one way to leave: just like when he arrived, he would first take a bus from Pingchuan County City to Zhanhua City, then switch to a train before heading to the Provincial Capital—Jiangle Province Airport—to fly back to Guanghai City.
As he exited the station's entrance, the Ancient Sorcerer walked toward Fang Ru and others who were gathered nearby.
"Have you bought the tickets?"
Fang Ru saw the Ancient Sorcerer walking over and immediately went to greet him.
Nodding, the Ancient Sorcerer said, "Yes, Professor Jiang, how are you feeling? If you're not feeling well, we can go another day."
In fact, after taking the Eight Poison Red Pill for three days, the Ancient Sorcerer could no longer see the dark energy in Jiang Tiesheng's heart area. His inquiry was just a precaution.
"Ah, Mr. Luo, I feel completely fine now; I seem to be in better spirits than before."
Jiang Tiesheng found this hard to believe himself. Logically speaking, having a heart attack at his age and being able to survive was already fortunate; afterward, his body would surely become extremely weak. However, he felt more energetic than before!
A heart attack that is not treated properly can cause significant damage to the body, especially for older individuals. But after the Ancient Sorcerer used sorcery for treatment and combined it with the heart-protecting effects of the Eight Poison Red Pill, it was not surprising that Jiang Tiesheng felt this way.
"Alright, then let's head to the station; the train will depart in half an hour."
As the Ancient Sorcerer spoke, he began to lift the luggage placed on the ground.
"Um... do you want some ginseng?"
The Ancient Sorcerer paused, straightened up, and turned around to see that a person had appeared beside Fang Ru without him noticing. The person was not tall, a bit thin, with messy hair resembling a bird's nest, wearing somewhat new ordinary clothes and holding a plastic bag in hand.
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