12dz Chapter 506 Let's talk about it next time he comes.
Chapter 506 Let's talk about it next time he comes.
Upon hearing Boss Zhao's words, Li Xiangyang's heart stirred, and he remembered the giant snake.
"I did encounter one," Li Xiangyang said truthfully. "When I was digging for ginseng, a snake, as thick as a bowl, darted out from a crevice in the rocks and almost bit me."
Boss Zhao's eyes lit up instantly: "What about the snake? Did you bring it back?"
Li Xiangyang shook his head and smiled wryly: "The situation was critical at the time. I grabbed the snake by its vital spot and killed it, then casually tossed it off the cliff. I never expected there to be such a saying."
"Oh dear, what a pity!" Boss Zhao shook his head repeatedly, his expression regretful. "Boss Li, you may not know this, but in our medicinal herb business, there's a saying—'Ginseng has a spirit, and it will be guarded.' The older the wild ginseng, the more likely it is to be guarded by wild animals."
He paused, then continued, "These wild beasts, absorbing the essence of ginseng over countless years, have themselves become a precious medicinal ingredient. Especially the snakes; if they are truly the spirit snakes that guard the century-old ginseng king, then their value..."
"How much is it worth?" Wang Ergou couldn't help but ask.
"It'll cost at least a thousand yuan," Mr. Zhao sighed, "and its effects are remarkable for certain intractable diseases, comparable to ginseng."
Li Xiangyang was secretly astonished; he never imagined a snake could be so valuable.
He carefully recalled the location: "Boss Zhao, I remember that place, but I don't know if the snake is still there. After all, the terrain below the cliff is complicated, and so much time has passed..."
“I understand, I understand,” said Boss Zhao, though regretful, knowing such things couldn’t be forced. “Things from the mountains are all about fate. Boss Li, since you’re not selling this ginseng king, I won’t force you. But regarding the supply of medicinal herbs…”
"Don't worry about that," Li Xiangyang said seriously, "Since we promised, we will definitely complete it with high quality and quantity."
Mr. Zhao nodded in satisfaction and took out a pre-prepared contract from his briefcase: "Then let's sign the agreement. The price will be 10% higher than the market price, as we just agreed. Settlement will be monthly, with payment upon delivery."
Li Xiangyang carefully reviewed the contract terms, found no problems, and readily signed it.
After signing the contract, Boss Zhao glanced at the ginseng one last time, his reluctance evident in his eyes: "Boss Li, if you ever change your mind and want to sell this ginseng, you must consider me first. The price will definitely satisfy you."
"Definitely, definitely," Li Xiangyang replied politely.
After seeing Boss Zhao and his group off, Wang Ergou rubbed his hands excitedly: "Xiangyang, now we have a stable big client! At this price, we can earn a lot more each month."
“Yes,” Li Xiangyang was also pleased, but quickly calmed down, “but with such a large quantity, our village alone definitely won’t be enough. Tomorrow we need to go to a few surrounding villages to talk and see if we can establish long-term purchasing relationships.”
“Of course,” Wang Ergou nodded. “By the way, about that snake, aren’t you really not planning to look for it? It’s worth over a thousand yuan!”
Li Xiangyang thought for a moment: "It's not that we don't want to look, it's just that the place is too dangerous. There are jagged rocks below the cliff, and it's getting late. How about we take a rope and go check it out tomorrow?"
"Okay!" Wang Ergou readily agreed, "I'll go first thing tomorrow morning."
When Li Xiangyang got home that evening, he told Li Xiaoyun about what had happened that day.
"A hundred-year-old ginseng king?" Li Xiaoyun's eyes widened. "Wouldn't that be a family heirloom?"
“That’s right,” Li Xiangyang laughed, “I didn’t sell it even when Boss Zhao offered five thousand. This kind of thing can be a lifesaver in a critical moment.”
“You did the right thing,” Li Xiaoyun agreed. “Money can be earned slowly, but this kind of treasure is rare and hard to come by. By the way, is that Boss Zhao reliable?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem. He owns several traditional Chinese medicine shops in the provincial capital,” Li Xiangyang said. “And his prices are fair, about 10% higher than the market price.”
……
The next morning, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou prepared ropes, sickles, and other tools, and went to the back mountain again.
On the way, Wang Ergou kept muttering, "If we really find that snake, we'll be rich. Over a thousand yuan, that's enough to buy so many things."
"Don't get your hopes up too high," Li Xiangyang said, pouring cold water on the idea. "They threw it quite far yesterday, and the situation below the cliff is complicated; it might have already been eaten by other wild animals."
As they talked, they soon arrived at the place where they had gathered ginseng the day before.
Li Xiangyang stood on the edge of the cliff and looked down. The ground below was shrouded in mist, and he couldn't see the bottom.
“It’s right here,” he pointed in a direction, “I remember throwing it that way.”
Wang Ergou lay prone on the edge of the cliff, carefully observing: "This is too deep. We have to be careful going down."
Li Xiangyang tied one end of the rope to a thick tree trunk and the other end to his waist: "You stay up here and keep watch, I'll go down and look."
"Be careful!" Wang Ergou nervously reminded him.
Li Xiangyang nodded and carefully climbed down, gripping the rope.
The cliff face was covered with moss and extremely slippery, so he took each step with extra caution.
After descending about ten meters, we finally reached a relatively flat stone platform.
Li Xiangyang looked around, searching for any trace of the snake.
There were many pebbles and withered branches scattered on the stone platform, but no snake was seen.
"Did you see that?" came Wang Ergou's shout from above.
"Not yet, let me look again!" Li Xiangyang replied.
He continued searching on the stone platform, and suddenly discovered something unusual behind a large rock.
The fallen leaves there had clearly been pressed down by something, leaving a mark.
Li Xiangyang was overjoyed and quickly brushed aside the fallen leaves to check.
Unfortunately, apart from some dried bloodstains, no snake carcass was found.
"It was probably carried away by some animal," Li Xiangyang sighed to himself.
Just as he was about to go up, he inadvertently noticed something reflecting light in the crevice of the rock.
Li Xiangyang took a closer look and found several snake scales stuck in the crack in the rock, shimmering in the sunlight.
These scales are much larger than those of ordinary snakes, and they have a peculiar dark green color with faint golden patterns along the edges.
Although the snake's body was not found, these scales may still have some value.
"Xiangyang, how is it?" Wang Ergou called out anxiously from above.
"We didn't find the snake, but we did find some snake scales!" Li Xiangyang replied as he began to climb up.
Once he was safely on his way up, he immediately showed the snake scales to Wang Ergou.
"Goodness gracious, such huge scales?" Wang Ergou's eyes widened. "How big must this snake be?!"
“That’s right,” Li Xiangyang wiped the sweat from his brow, “otherwise I wouldn’t have just thrown it away and left it there.”
After carefully collecting the scales, on the way back to the village, Wang Ergou was still lamenting, "If only I could have found that snake! It would have been worth over a thousand yuan!"
"Alright, stop thinking about it," Li Xiangyang laughed. "Just keeping this ginseng king is already a huge success. Besides, these snake scales might be worth some money too."
“That’s true,” Wang Ergou nodded, “How about we have Boss Zhao take a look later?”
"Let's talk about it next time he comes."