69: Chapter 69: Radish or Ginseng?

An engineering shovel paved the way.

It was just a courtyard, after all. Zhao Jian slashed away at the weeds indiscriminately, making quick work of it.

He soon cleared a path.

But with weeds everywhere, he didn't know where the ginseng was and could only rely on luck.

He started with the four corners.

Nothing.

Then he searched along the edges.

Normally, plants would be planted near the wall so they wouldn't get in the way.

Still nothing.

Zhao Jian thought to himself: "Could I have found the wrong place? Is there another house just as dilapidated?"

He had seen clearly on the way here; of the remaining thirty or so houses, this was the only one that fit the criteria of being ancient.

It was impossible that Hu Shengnong's family had built a two-story Western-style house decades ago!

That wouldn't be scientific!

He wouldn't give up and continued searching in the courtyard.

As he covered more and more ground, finally,

the Hu family's small courtyard was almost completely cleared.

He felt like he wasn't here to find ginseng, but to act as a cleaner!

Acting on the thought that since he was already here and there was only a little bit left, the sunk cost was too high.

He cleared the last, relatively sparse patch.

The grass here grew tall, but it wasn't dense.

It was cleared quickly.

And it was at this moment that Zhao Jian saw his target for this trip.

Ginseng!

The red string was gone, but he couldn't worry about such superstitions now and began digging carefully with his engineering shovel.

He couldn't dig too close to the ginseng's roots.

He started digging from two hands' width away, then gradually moved closer.

This way, he could avoid damaging the roots as much as possible.

He dug it out!

Shaking off the soil, Zhao Jian looked at the ginseng in his hand.

While pleasantly surprised, he couldn't help but doubt:

"Why doesn't this thing look like a radish?"

He had only ever seen ginseng in TV dramas, where it looked just like a radish.

Fortunately, his phone's photo recognition software confirmed that this was indeed ginseng.

He put it into his canvas bag with peace of mind.

Time to head back.

Returning to the canal, he intended to use the old method to jump back across.

But!

His vaulting pole was actually on the other side!

Zhao Jian suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Could there really be such malicious people in this world!

Who was the wicked jerk who took the pole to the other side?

Zhao Jian stood on the bank and observed carefully, but found no one hiding.

It seemed they had run off after their mischief.

He just didn't know if they were a passerby or someone living in Zhangzhuang long-term.

If they lived here long-term, then every move he made while searching for dilapidated houses in the village must have been under their surveillance.

Now that they were preventing him from leaving, could they be contacting accomplices to rob him of his ginseng!

Zhao Jian pulled out his phone, wanting to call the police.

But he held back.

These were all baseless speculations; not only would it waste police resources, but what if the ginseng he dug was classified as a protected plant and confiscated?

It was better to try and solve the problem himself first.

Unlike the area outside the village.

Outside, it was mostly weeds and trees.

But inside the village, there were many building materials.

He found some usable drainage pipes from a dilapidated house.

They were sturdy enough.

He laid them flat across the canal.

Then he found a bed board to use as a bridge deck.

Success!

Although Zhao Jian didn't know if this thing could support his weight.

It was definitely worth a try!

The sky was getting dark; if he dragged it out any longer, he would have to spend the night in the deserted village.

He wasn't afraid of the deserted village, but he was very worried about the person who had sabotaged him.

It was safer to go home.

Back up, run!

He sprinted across the makeshift bridge.

He made it!

While running, the drainage pipes made sounds as if they were about to snap, but in the end, they held Zhao Jian's weight.

After crossing the river, he dismantled the bed board and drainage pipes.

It wasn't about "burning bridges after crossing"; the quality of these things was concerning. If an angler found this place and saw a bridge, they might walk onto it.

It would be very dangerous.

Of course, before that, he first ordered a ride-hailing car.

After dismantling everything, the car arrived.

He began his return journey.

After Zhao Jian left, a few monkeys hopped out of the nearby woods, dragging the dismantled drainage pipes around aimlessly.

One large monkey even used a drainage pipe as a vaulting pole to jump to the other side.

Then, using its mouth and claws, it dragged the drainage pipe to the other side.

Zhao Jian did not go to a traditional Chinese medicine shop to sell the ginseng.

Selling such an item to the TCM market would only fetch about 30,000, but if he wanted to buy it back, he had no idea how many times the price would multiply.

He wasn't short on money now and could keep it for his collection.

He didn't know how to process medicinal herbs.

Fortunately, the AI did.

He searched online and found that drying it was enough to consider it processed.

Back home, he hung the ginseng on the balcony to air dry.

Then he wanted to scroll through videos and play games.

Eating snacks and watching beautiful women.

Just as he pulled out his phone to put his plan into action, his ringtone rang.

It was Su Wanyin.

He answered and asked her irritably:

"What!"

Every time he wanted to watch dancing girls, she would call.

He had worked hard all day, chopping trees and digging dirt. Couldn't he just enjoy himself!

"Oh, you're so fierce." Su Wanyin spoke in a clingy tone, which made Zhao Jian feel uncomfortable.

"Cut the crap! What do you want?"

"Hmm."

Zhao Jian thought to himself: What does "hmm" mean? Did she choose the "and" between answering and not answering?

He wanted to hang up, but after some thought, out of kindness and righteousness, he asked in a low voice: "Do you want to chat with me for some dark chocolate?"

Su Wanyin: "Huh?"

She wanted to say no.

And take the opportunity to denounce Zhao Jian for being obsessed with money!

But the words on the tip of her tongue changed: "Fine!"

Her tone was gritted.

It sounded reluctant.

That wouldn't do!

He wasn't extorting her.

"If you don't want to, don't force yourself."

Hearing this, Su Wanyin nearly ground her teeth to dust. Was she unwilling to be intimate with Zhao Jian?

She was unwilling to spend money!

But she still said sweetly: "I'm willing. Do you want to go out for a drink?"

"How much?"

What money?

Su Wanyin hadn't gone to the bar yet; her first reaction was that he was asking about the price of the wine.

She always took turns treating her Best friend, so how would she know the unit price of drinks?

She was about to say she didn't know.

But suddenly, a thought popped into her head.

Could he be asking for the fee to invite him out?

Su Wanyin tried answering: "Five hundred?"

"Not going!" Zhao Jian hung up the phone.

He earned tens of thousands a day; did she think five hundred yuan could buy his company for drinks?

Did she really think he was a male model!

Su Wanyin was left speechless after being hung up on.

She thought: If you think it's too little, just counter-offer!

She was about to call back; even if she couldn't get him to go out, it would be nice to hear Zhao Jian's voice more.

But her father called at that moment.

After choosing to hang up, Zhao Jian did not continue his unfinished plan of scrolling through short videos.

Interest is an ethereal thing.

After being interrupted by the call, it was as if he had entered a post-clarity state.

He had no desire to watch dancing.

He sent a message to his mom.

It was both to check on the situation at home and to let them know he was safe.

His mom didn't reply.

Judging by the time, the old couple must have been asleep long ago.

He wasn't in a rush anyway.

Lying on the bed, he occasionally looked at his bank card, which had a balance of over 8 million.

And occasionally recalled his experiences over the past month.

Unknowingly, he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, the intelligence light screen appeared.