Su Qiubai did not care about the reactions of the people next to him. After unpacking the kraft paper, he felt a little embarra.s.sed.
That was because he spotted the beautiful box in Li Muhao's hands but his own kraft paper even had a small hole in the wrapping.
He regretted simply wrapping the ginseng earlier, but now he could not do anything about it.
Xia Rongrong initially didn't want him to open it. She just met Su Qiubai anyway, so his kind intentions were already good enough for her. As for the five hundred year old wild ginseng he mentioned, he must have been conned.
If he opened the package in front of the Li father and son, he would surely be laughed at.
But it was too late as she had already seen the wild ginseng. Why do they seem to be… much bigger than Li Muhao's?
Su Qiubai did not know what Xia Rongrong was thinking. He would definitely spit out blood if he knew.
Much bigger than Li Muhao's? That's inevitable! They're not merely just big. They're so big that they can make you fly!
Cough… That's a bit too much exaggeration..
Su Qiubai felt that something was wrong after noticing Xia Rongrong being hesitant. The ginseng are probably not old enough!
He remained quiet while wondering where else he could go to find some older ginseng. Maybe… I can go to Liang Shan with Song Jiang tonight?
For Song Jiang's sake, Chao Gai probably won't reject helping me…
No one knew that Su Qiubai was already thinking ahead. Noticing that Su Qiubai was a bit sluggish, Li Muhao snorted and prepared to taunt him.
Unexpectedly, Li Muhao's dad actually spoke to Su Qiubai, and his att.i.tude was… somewhat strange.
"Young brother, can you show me the ginseng?"
In fact, Grandpa Xia too wanted to ask that very same question, but he kept quiet and merely continued to stare at the ginseng in Su Qiubai's hands; as if it might accidentally drop to the floor.
Su Qiubai turned to face Li Dingtian. He didn't expect that person, who obviously had a relationship with Li Xiangyun, would take the initiative to talk to him. He guessed that Li Dingtian most likely just wanted to make fun of him.
However, he still handed the ginseng over after moments of hesitation, since he had already brought it out and there was nothing to hide.
Out of anyone's expectation, Li Dingtian actually took the ginseng from Su Qiubai with both hands. Li Muhao stunned when he saw the scene, and the look on Li Xiangyun's face was also ugly.
Li Dingtian didn't notice their reaction. Ever since he held the ginseng, his eyeb.a.l.l.s were falling out and he was getting more and more excited.
"No, this is not five hundred years old. A five-hundred-year-old ginseng won't look like this."
Exactly as I guessed! Su Qiubai wanted to roll his eyes when he heard that. He just wanted to laugh at me.
But before he could speak, what Li Dingtian said next made everyone in the room gasp.
"Only a six hundred years old ginseng can be this big. This is a national treasure! A national treasure!"
Li Dingtian's slightly chubby face was full of excitement as he exclaimed.
Su Qiubai thought in his heart. This situation is wrong. Shouldn't he be saying that it's fake? And then proceed to insult me with a bunch of colorful words?
Li Muhao and Li Xiangyun's minds screamed instantly. If it wasn't their dad who was crazy, then it must be the taxi driver who was crazy. How can there exist wild ginseng that's six hundred years old in this world?
Yet, Xia Rongrong was also stunned, she stared at Su Qiubai in disbelief with her small mouth slightly agape. She had already started planning various ways to help Su Qiubai escape from embarra.s.sment so how could reality turn out like this?
Of all the people in the room, besides Li Dingtian, the most excited person was most definitely Grandpa Xia!
"Are you sure?" He asked Li Dingtian in a shaky voice.
"Yes, it should be. But it'll be better to request Dean Liang to have a look."
Taking a deep breath, Li Dingtian looked at Grandpa Xia and responded.
Xia Haiqing quickly went to request for Dean Liang. The room was silent. Li Dingtian and Grandpa Xia shifted their gaze from the wild ginseng to Su Qiubai, which embarra.s.sed the old driver a little.
It would be a pleasure if it was Xia Rongrong gazing at him, but it felt wrong when those two people did it instead.
"How do we address you, little brother? What is your job? Are you friends with Rong Rong?"
Grandpa Xia edged closer to Su Qiubai and spoke as gently as possible.
"Su Qiubai. Taxi driver. I…"
The first two questions were answered swiftly by Su Qiubai, but the third one was a bit awkward.
Am I even considered as Xia Rongrong's friend? She probably only learnt my name right now. I couldn't even be considered as a pa.s.serby if it wasn't for the little white dog.
Fortunately, Xia Rongrong immediately answered on behalf of Su Qiubai. "He's my friend… This is my grandfather."
Xia Rongrong smiled as she pointed to Grandpa Xia and said to Su Qiubai.
It was undeniable that gorgeous women could always make people feel happy. Listening to Xia Rongrong, Su Qiubai was instantly swept into the clouds. After hearing that the old man was her grandfather, he greeted him with respect.
"Your ginseng…" It was obvious that Grandpa Xia's attention was still on the wild ginseng. After asking for his name, he immediately returned to the topic. Standing next to him, Li Dingtian became alert right away.
Su Qiubai originally wanted to say that he got it from his friends, but when he noticed the two people's expressions, he could guess that it was more precious than he thought, so he lied.
"This is our family's ancestral ginseng. I only have these five. If it wasn't to cure Xia Rongrong's illness, I would definitely not bring them here."
Su Qiubai said those words with righteousness. Then, he noticed Xia Rongrong's gaze change again, and standing at the opposite, Grandpa Xia and Li Dingtian's expressions were completely distorted.
In fact, to them it was already incredibly lucky to have one such ginseng, let alone five.
They wouldn't believe it even if Su Qiubai told them that there were still twenty more!
However, if anyone had paid attention to the expression of the little white dog in Xia Rongrong's arms, one would definitely feel that something was wrong.
The puppy definitely had a despicable look towards Su Qiubai. He even dared to say that they are ancestral ginseng… and that he only had five of them… There are some more at home and another half a bag in the trunk… Liar!
The atmosphere in the room stilled. Everyone's opinion on Su Qiubai changed because of the five wild ginseng.
At that moment, Xia Haiqing returned to the room with Dean Liang.
The old dean was very anxious when he entered the room. His hands shook as he held the wild ginseng. Finally, he put on his gla.s.ses and began to inspect them carefully.
Nearly twenty minutes later and Su Qiubai had almost fallen asleep, he finished examining all five wild ginseng..
All of them were certainly more than five hundred years old. The best one may even be nearly seven hundred years old. It was not an exaggeration to call all of them national treasures!
Dean Liang immediately felt anxious when he realised that they were all brought by Su Qiubai to cure Xia Rongrong. He sputtered out a lot of nonsense that roughly meant that it was too wasteful to use on Xia Rongrong.
That made Grandpa Xia unhappy. Dean Liang also realized his mistake and immediately covered up his blunder by saying that a single ginseng was more than enough for Xia Rongrong; the remaining four should be used somewhere else.
As soon as Dean Liang's finished speaking, not only Grandpa Xia, but even Li Dingtian became anxious. Those are national-grade medical treasures. Who knows it could become be a lifesaver in the future? How could one let it go after seeing it?
Su Qiubai stood helplessly as he stared at the three people who were about to quarrel.
He had never seen such people before. It seemed that they had already decided on how to distribute the five wild ginseng. Li Dingtian was funnier. He had actually decided on the auction plan and even invited some people to vote.
Brothers… Can you all discuss with me first? After all, these ginseng belong to me, right?
He managed to interrupt after much effort, stunning all three people and causing their faces to redden.
Darn it… After quarreling for half a day, how could they forget to whom the ginseng belonged to!
They hurriedly surrounded Su Qiubai.
"Hold it, I've heard everything you've said. I repeat, I brought these wild ginseng to treat Xia Rongrong. Even if there are some left… I will not use them on other things."
Su Qiubai was really upset with the three of them, so he immediately dispelled their thoughts.
That made them somewhat embarra.s.sed. Grandpa Xia did not say a word anymore. After all, although the ginseng was precious, it was being used to treat his granddaughter, so he had nothing to lose.
However, the other two didn't think so. Dean Liang stood at the side worriedly, and Li Dingtian too remained speechless for a long time.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d, give me one of the ginseng, then you don't have to pay for the car you damaged."
Li Xiangyun suddenly said to Su Qiubai. All of a sudden, a few people focused on Su Qiubai. Only then did Li Dingtian remember the car debt as his eyes instantly ignited with hope.
Su Qiubai did not expect Li Xiangyun to mention that matter, so he became stunned. Then, he had an idea. Just one wild ginseng and I'm free from that mountain of debt…That's a great deal. After all, I still have a lot more ginseng left!
With that final thought, he intended to accept Li Xiangyun's offer.
However, he was interrupted by Xia Rongrong. "What car?"
Xia Rongrong had been quiet for a long time. Her eyes flashed when she heard Li Xiangyun's words, so she asked Su Qiubai softly.
"I smashed her brother's Mercedes-Benz sports car."
Although embarra.s.sed, Su Qiubai still replied honestly. Li Xiangyun finally saw his guilty face. He didn't even show that face when he smashed the car yesterday!
"I'll pay the debt for him."
After listening to Su Qiubai, Xia Rongrong directly looked at Li Xiangyun and said in a very calm tone without any hesitation.
Li Xiangyun became anxious upon hearing that, but with a glare from Xia Rongrong, she dared not speak anymore. She knew the status the woman, who seemed so weak lying on the bed, in their circle.
"No, I can do it myself. How could I let you pay for my debt?"
Su Qiubai immediately wanted to refuse after hearing what Xia Rongrong said. To him, hundreds of thousands of dollars was a large sum of money. He really didn't want Xia Rongrong to pay for him.
"If you refuse, then I won't accept the wild ginseng either."
Unexpectedly, Xia Rongrong immediately looked at him and retaliated softly. There was also a slight silver of affection in her big eyes.