Hedonist Prodigy

Chapter 102: Thousand-Year Ginseng

Jiang Feng stayed in this villa for three days. With the aid of the medicinal bath, his cultivation indeed became twice as effective. He only stopped cultivating when he felt he had touched the barrier of the fourth level of Body Refinement.

Of course, if Jiang Feng wanted, he could forcefully break through to the fourth level of Body Refinement through the medicinal bath, but he was unwilling to do so. That would be no different from forcing growth and would be of no benefit to him.

Body Refinement has nine levels. The first three levels are a small threshold, while the fourth level is a major one. Reaching the later stage of Body Refinement is another watershed.

At this point, he was on the verge of breaking through, and as long as his mindset was right, it would naturally fall into place. Jiang Feng was no longer in a hurry.

During these three days, Brother Xiong came once a day, but never entered the room. He remained quiet and did not disturb him. Jiang Feng had come to understand Brother Xiong’s character to some extent.

This man wasn’t inherently bad; he just possessed the cunning of a petty bourgeois. Of course, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Survival was difficult in this harsh environment; without a bit of brains, one would likely have been devoured long ago, leaving not even ashes.

That day, Jiang Feng was eating breakfast when Brother Xiong arrived. Entering the living room and seeing Jiang Feng eating, Brother Xiong was about to leave when Jiang Feng gestured, saying, “Since you’re here, eat with me.”

Brother Xiong never stayed long when he came over, usually just delivering medicinal herbs and leaving. He rarely spoke to Jiang Feng, so he was quite flattered that Jiang Feng would invite him to breakfast. He quickly sat down opposite Jiang Feng, saying gratefully, “Thank you, Brother Jiang, thank you, Brother Jiang.”

“Eat,” Jiang Feng said.

“Yes, yes!” Brother Xiong hurriedly picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a bowl of porridge, and drank it down in large gulps. After finishing the porridge, Brother Xiong stood up again, bowing and standing to the side.

Jiang Feng knew that Brother Xiong was afraid of him, but this fear had nothing to do with awe; it was purely from being suppressed by his strength. Of course, Jiang Feng wouldn’t take it too seriously.

After breakfast, the middle-aged woman brought over two cups of hot tea. Brother Xiong held the teacup, hesitant to drink, and after a moment’s hesitation, said, “Brother Jiang, there’s something I’m not sure whether I should say it or not.”

“Hmm, just say it,” Jiang Feng said calmly.

Brother Xiong’s lips twitched slightly. He said, “It’s like this, I’ve discussed it with my men these past two days, and they all admire you immensely, Brother Jiang. They’ve expressed their willingness to follow you. I believe that under your leadership, our Xiong Gang will definitely reach new heights, and even dominating the Northeast won’t be difficult.”

Brother Xiong’s words also had his own selfish motives. After all, Jiang Feng couldn’t be driven away or driven off; his only option was surrender, unless he wanted to die.

Moreover, Jiang Feng had stayed there for three days, and aside from asking him to run errands like buying medicine, he hadn’t given him any other instructions. This had left Brother Xiong constantly on edge, unsure if his performance had satisfied Jiang Feng.

But he dared not ask, fearing Jiang Feng might crush him at any moment. Therefore, to save his life, he could only try to become Jiang Feng’s man, even though this meant he would definitely lose his position as the Xiong Gang leader, at most becoming a deputy leader with no real power.

But Brother Xiong was a man who could take things easy. Jiang Feng was clearly no ordinary person; even if he couldn’t become the leader, working for Jiang Feng wouldn’t be a disservice to him.

It was with this in mind that Brother Xiong spoke those words.

Jiang Feng hadn’t expected Brother Xiong to bring this up, and couldn’t help but smile, saying, “You think I’d look down on your little gang?”

“Uh…” Brother Xiong swallowed hard.

“I have no interest in gangs, and you guys are too weak. You’re utterly useless to me,” Jiang Feng said directly.

To outsiders, gangs are a group of ruthless monsters, but to Jiang Feng, they were no different from a rabble. If he wanted, he could wipe out a small gang of hundreds of people single-handedly at any time. Not to mention the Xiong Gang; apart from Brother Xiong, the rest were practically useless.

He had his own pursuits, pursuits destined to be lonely, but he didn’t care.

“But…” Brother Xiong was about to speak.

Jiang Feng waved his hand and said, “No need to say more. I’ll leave in a while. You do your thing, I’ll do mine. We have nothing to do with each other.”

“This…”

Brother Xiong didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had thought for three days to come up with a way to save his life, only to find that Jiang Feng didn’t even care. Hearing that Jiang Feng would be leaving soon, Brother Xiong breathed a small sigh of relief, meaning his life was safe. His efforts over the past few days hadn’t been in vain.

Jiang Feng didn’t care what Brother Xiong was thinking and was about to let him leave when hurried footsteps sounded outside. 

A thin, middle-aged man rushed in.

The man carried a bag, his face beaming with excitement. Seeing Jiang Feng and Brother Xiong, he quickly approached, bowing and scraping, saying, “Brother Jiang, Brother Xiong, you’re both here! That’s wonderful!”

“Shan Ji, what’s up?” Brother Xiong asked.

“Hehe, Brother Xiong, you’ll see for yourself. It’s a treasure, absolutely a treasure!” As he spoke, Shan Ji opened the bag, revealing a box inside. Inside the box was none other than an old ginseng root.

Jiang Feng glanced at it. The ginseng root was at least a thousand years old. Even though he usually didn’t care much for material possessions, his eyes lit up.

You see, he had searched the entire snow-capped mountains and only found a two-hundred-year-old wild ginseng. He gave that ginseng to the father and son who were harvesting it, considering it a good deed.

Brother Xiong was even more astonished, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. He panted heavily and said, “Good lad, where did you get this stuff?”

Seeing the two bosses’ reactions, Shan Ji knew he had done a good job and quickly said, “Well, I went out to buy some medicinal herbs for Brother Jiang today. I happened to see a young man setting up a stall by the roadside, advertising something about thousand-year-old ginseng. I was curious and went to take a look, and it really was something good, so I bought it on a whim.”

“Are you sure you bought it, or didn’t steal it?” Brother Xiong asked.

Jiang Feng knew he was talking to him and smiled faintly. Shan Ji panicked and said as if swearing, “Brother Jiang, Brother Xiong, I really bought it.”

“Buy my ass! Where would you get the money to buy this?” Brother Xiong cursed angrily. A hundred-year-old ginseng is practically priceless on the market, let alone a thousand-year-old ginseng, which is essentially a family heirloom, used to prolong the lives of elders.

Ordinary people simply wouldn’t sell it, and even if they did, most couldn’t afford it.

The pheasant, his face flushed and almost in tears, said, “Brother Xiong, I really will buy it. The price isn’t high, just twenty thousand yuan.”

Then, the pheasant recounted the whole story.

It turned out that the young man selling the ginseng had his father beaten up and urgently needed medical expenses. Desperate, he had no choice but to pawn his family’s prized possession.

However, the young man couldn’t find anyone to help him. He went to several large pharmacies, but they couldn’t assess its quality and wouldn’t accept it, or offered only a very low price. Left with no other option, he had to set up a street stall.

No one had ever seen what a thousand-year-old ginseng looked like. Although many people gathered around, no one dared to buy it. After all, counterfeiting techniques were too sophisticated these days; anything could be fake. Twenty thousand yuan was no small sum, and not everyone could afford it. Only Shan Ji was bold. After seeing it, he didn’t care about authenticity and bought it directly, then rushed back to present it as a treasure.

Hearing Shan Ji’s explanation, Brother Xiong breathed a sigh of relief. He had been genuinely worried that Shan Ji had obtained it through illegitimate means, which would be a huge problem. Giving away a treasure would be tantamount to throwing away one’s life, and he himself might incur Jiang Feng’s wrath.

“Brother Jiang, considering Shan Ji’s good intentions, please accept it,” Brother Xiong said to Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng didn’t stand on ceremony and took it directly, saying, “This is useful to me, so I’ll take it. But I won’t let you suffer any loss in return.”

Brother Xiong said, “Brother Jiang, you’re too kind. What’s all this about? This kid is usually so quiet, it’s rare for him to do something like this.”

Jiang Feng smiled, naturally not wanting to take advantage of them. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Brother Xiong, saying, “Take this. Get the medicine according to the prescription, boil three bowls of water down to one bowl, and drink it for three consecutive days.”

Brother Xiong knew it was a prescription. Although he didn’t understand why Jiang Feng was giving him a prescription and telling him to take it for three days, he understood that since Jiang Feng was exchanging this prescription for a thousand-year-old ginseng, it must be something special and very beneficial to him. He carefully folded it and put it in his pocket, planning to find out more about it when he got back.

Seeing that he had done a good job, Shan Ji grinned from ear to ear and said, “Brother Jiang, Brother Xiong, there’s something else I didn’t have time to mention. I’ve already made arrangements with that ginseng-selling kid. He said he has some things at home that he plans to sell to raise money for his father’s medical treatment. I was worried before that I might not be able to tell the difference and something went wrong, and that I might be fooled by that kid. Now that it’s true, what do you think about going and exchanging them for some more treasures?”

Jiang Feng thought for a moment and said, “Bring that young man here tomorrow. I want to take a look myself.”

Jiang Feng was also curious about who would be so generous. After all, thousand-year-old wild ginseng was a rare find, and not everyone had such an opportunity. Perhaps this would lead to some discovery.