Chapter 2174 - 2025: Prodigal Son_6

Chapter 2174: Chapter 2025: Prodigal Son_6

Mr Fang turned to look at Miss Zhang, and Zhang Yanran nodded slightly to express her agreement.

"Alright, let’s invite the famous Beijing physician, Li Guofu, to test the medicinal properties of this ginseng!"

Mr Fang pointed to an old man in the crowd wearing a Tang suit and said.

"Even Li Guofu is here, it seems this auction really has a lot of good stuff!"

"Yes, Miss Zhang invited Li Guofu, now these two young fellows are going to be outshone!"

"Li Guofu is a master physician, his understanding of medicinal ingredients is even deeper than the medical canon. At a glance, he can tell if this ginseng is real or not!"

"Miss Zhang, since you have decided to have me verify whether this ginseng is wild mountain ginseng, I won’t decline, but I must say in advance, this verification has no personal interest for me, it’s only because Mr Fang asked, so I will ensure impartiality. True is true, false is false, I hope everyone doesn’t mind."

Li Guofu scanned Miss Zhang and Song Xiaodong with his eyes.

Everyone’s faces showed no unusual expressions, so Song Xiaodong said: "Sir, please feel free to proceed, no worries."

"Wait!" Zhang Yanran suddenly waved her hand at Li Guofu.

Then she turned, smiled at Song Xiaodong, and said: "Since we’re verifying the medicine, why don’t we make a bet?"

Hearing about a bet, Song Xiaodong immediately became interested and replied: "Sure, what does Miss want to bet on?"

"Bet on the medicinal ingredients here today." Miss Zhang gestured, sweeping over all the rare medicinal materials in the auction hall encased in glass cabinets.

"How do we bet?" asked Song Xiaodong.

"Simple, if I win, you cannot buy anything here today." Miss Zhang said.

Song Xiaodong thought, this Miss Zhang is smart, afraid of me snatching up the items she liked.

"Alright, then if I win, likewise, you can’t buy anything here today." Song Xiaodong said.

"Alright, it’s a deal."

"Hey hey, there’s a good show coming up! A good show!"

"The two are betting!"

"Not interesting, bet money, much more exciting."

"What do you know, if you could drive someone away like this, who knows how much might be left to spend during the auction later!"

"Can you tell if this ginseng is real or fake?"

"I can’t tell."

"Doesn’t look fake to me, can a farmed one grow to look so much like a wild one?"

"Don’t know, let’s keep watching."

Li Guofu had someone open the glass cabinet, carefully plucked a root, tore off a small section, licked it with his tongue, and closed his eyes to savor it.

"Hmm..." Li Guofu nodded, glanced at Miss Zhang, Song Xiaodong, and Mr Fang, and said: "Wild mountain ginseng tastes sweet and slightly bitter, raw is sweet and bitter, cooked is sweet and warm, this one has potent medicinal effects, indeed it is quite old, it should be a wild mountain ginseng."

"Kid, what do you say?" Mr Fang asked Song Xiaodong proudly.

With a slight smile on his face, Song Xiaodong quickly glanced between Li Guofu, Mr Fang, and Miss Zhang, then suddenly turned his head to Li Guofu and said: "Sir, to be honest, I am also a traditional Chinese medicine physician."

"Ha, turns out he’s just a physician, thought he had some great skill, daring to challenge Miss Zhang, not interested!"

"Exactly, just a physician without knowing the height of the sky, seems like his first time in Beijing, his first time attending medicine auctions, otherwise who would be so blind as to offend Miss Zhang."

"Miss Zhang is too courteous, didn’t directly ask him to leave."

"Courteous? Did you see that bodyguard of his? So good at fighting! Miss Zhang couldn’t beat him in a fight!"

"Why would a physician hire a bodyguard so good at fighting?"

After listening to Song Xiaodong’s words, everyone couldn’t help but whisper around.

Song Xiaodong heard everything clearly but couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Li Guofu nodded, with a tone of admiration, said to Song Xiaodong: "The younger generation is formidable, being a traditional Chinese medicine physician, knowing and understanding medicinal properties is very important, I see potential in you, and maybe you’ll become a famous doctor one day."

Song Xiaodong nodded, respectfully said to Li Guofu: "Sir, this time I really misjudged, to be honest, I’ve never seen such old ginseng, nor do I know the medicinal properties of years-old wild mountain ginseng."

"Still, that Divine Doctor Li is amazing, he can tell at a taste whether this ginseng is wild or cultivated."

"Yes, this kid should come again tomorrow, looks like he won’t be participating in today’s auction."

"But the kid’s eyes are quite sharp, got only one out of three wrong, even Mr Fang got two wrong!"

"Indeed, the younger generation is formidable!"

Li Guofu listened to Song Xiaodong’s words, nodded, and said: "Actually, it’s nothing much, just that the taste of wild mountain ginseng is more intense."

As he spoke, Li Guofu handed the half remaining ginseng root to Song Xiaodong.

This was exactly what Song Xiaodong was hoping for.

Song Xiaodong took the half ginseng root, licked it once in his mouth, looked at the ginseng in the glass cabinet, nodded, then straightened his attire, and solemnly bowed to Mr Fang, saying: "Mr Fang, I really misjudged this time, this is indeed a years-old wild mountain ginseng."

"Youthful arrogance is a good thing, recognizing and correcting mistakes is even more commendable." Mr Fang nodded at Song Xiaodong.

Song Xiaodong straightened up again, said to Miss Zhang: "Miss Zhang, you win, I will leave."

Song Xiaodong then signaled to Dragon Three to leave.

"Sir, please wait." Zhang Yanran suddenly turned back and called to Song Xiaodong.

"Hmm?"

Song Xiaodong paused, turned back.

"You see, so many rare medicinal ingredients here, hard to come by in years, is there not one that catches your eye?" Zhang Yanran asked with a smile at Song Xiaodong.

Song Xiaodong scanned the surroundings of the glass cabinets, his eyes pausing on one of the glass cabinets.

Zhang Yanran followed Song Xiaodong’s gaze and saw a box inside the glass cabinet. The box was lined with red silk, on which lay a small ball-sized, withered white flower.

This is a Snow Lotus.

The Snow Lotus is a plant of the Asteraceae genus Saussurea, with a top resembling a lotus flower, named Snow Lotus because it grows on snowy mountains, mainly distributed in the Chinese Plateau, with few found in Russia and Kazakhstan, among which the Tianshan Snow Lotus is the most precious.