These northerners had traveled far and wide and knew they had encountered a master. Terrified, they all covered their heads, not daring to flee or mention buying medicine again.
Long Xiao waited for Xiao Ming to put away his cleaver before saying, "I am here to buy medicine. Take out all your medicine for me to see. I won't make things difficult for you."
Soon, a large pile of fake medicine was laid out before Long Xiao. He picked them up one by one, examining them carefully. He quickly found two genuine old mountain ginseng roots.
Holding the ginseng roots, Long Xiao chuckled and said, "You really have some old mountain ginseng. Do you have any more? I want anything over three liang. For three liang, it's fifty thousand; for half a jin, it's five hundred thousand; for eight liang, it's one million."
The burly man who had grabbed Long Xiao earlier asked timidly, "Brother, how much will you give for enough for a jin?"
"Whatever you ask for if it's enough for a jin, I'll give it to you."
"If I ask for ten million, you'll give it too?" the burly man asked.
Long Xiao nodded and said, "Yes, as long as the medicinal ingredients are good and worth the price, I'll double the amount."
The burly man looked at the others. The young man who had been selling the medicine said, "Alright, we trust you. Leave your contact information, and we'll find you if we get good ginseng."
Long Xiao left his phone number. He then looked at the two ginseng roots in his hand and said, "I'll give you ten thousand for these two. Who should I pay?"
The young man who had been selling the medicine said, "No need, brother. We swindled your father-in-law out of ten thousand yesterday. You can have these two for free."
The two ginseng roots combined were less than half a jin. Their medicinal properties were not strong enough for alchemy, but they were suitable for making soup.
As Long Xiao prepared to put away the ginseng and leave, Xiao Ming said, "Boss, these small ginseng roots are of no use to you. Give them to me."
Long Xiao casually tossed the two ginseng roots to Xiao Ming. Xiao Ming threw them directly into his mouth and chewed them with a crunch, like eating a radish.
"Kid, ginseng isn't eaten like that. It'll be too much for you to handle," a burly man warned Xiao Ming.
Xiao Ming chuckled and said, "Don't lie to a kid. I watched a video yesterday where an expert said that ginseng and radishes have the same active ingredients. I can eat two jin of daikon radish without any problems, so eating these two small ginseng roots will surely be fine."
"Brother, why aren't you stopping him? He'll get into trouble eating ginseng like that," the young man who had been selling the medicine said.
Long Xiao smiled and said, "Let him eat if he wants to. I don't pay him a salary, and if I don't even let him eat a couple of ginseng roots, I'd seem too stingy."
In the eyes of these northerners, Long Xiao and Xiao Ming were two oddballs. They watched the two leave nonchalantly, unsure of what to say.
Long Xiao and Xiao Ming arrived at a private room they had booked at the Donghai Grand Hotel. Da Cang Tian San was already there, accompanied by two young Japanese men.
Seeing Long Xiao and the others enter, Da Cang Tian San warmly rose to greet them.
Long Xiao sat down and glanced at the boxes on the table. "Are these the things you brought for me?"
Da Cang Tian San nodded. "Yes, these are all precious medicinal herbs. See how much they are worth."
Long Xiao opened the boxes one by one and was astonished by the herbs inside. A thousand-year-old He Shou Wu that had taken on a human form, two enormous Lingzhi mushrooms, at least seven to eight hundred years old.
In the last box was a Korean ginseng root weighing over eight liang. Although this type of ginseng was not as high quality as the old mountain ginseng from Changbai Mountain, if it was sufficiently old, it contained a considerable amount of life force.
Xiao Ming’s mouth watered so much he almost drooled. He licked his lips and said, "It smells so good."
Long Xiao appeared indifferent, closed all the boxes, and asked, "How much cash are you prepared to give me?"
Da Cang Tian San took out a bank card from his pocket. "This is three hundred million."
Long Xiao shook his head. "That's a bit too little."
Seeing that Long Xiao was unwilling, Da Cang Tian San hastily said, "Mr. Long, this is all the cash we have left. How about this, after we return to our country, we'll raise some more and send it to you?"
Long Xiao shook his head. "That's not a good idea. Aren't you helping Jingkou Pharmaceutical? Jingkou Pharmaceutical has many medicinal material warehouses in Donghai. You can ask them for some."
"Mr. Long, how much medicinal material do you need?"
"All the traditional Chinese medicinal materials in the warehouses of Jingkou Pharmaceutical's invested factories in Donghai."
"Mr. Long, Jingkou Pharmaceutical has invested in ten pharmaceutical factories in Donghai. Aren't you asking for too much?" Da Cang Tian San said with dissatisfaction.
Long Xiao threw the bank card in his hand back to Da Cang Tian San. "If you take this back, then it's not too much, is it?"
Da Cang Tian San did not expect Long Xiao to return the three hundred million in cash. The backup traditional Chinese medicinal materials in the warehouses of ten pharmaceutical factories were indeed considerable, but they were not worth three hundred million.
"It seems Mr. Long requires top-quality medicinal materials. Alright, I agree to this transaction."
In order to complete the transaction as quickly as possible, Da Cang Tian San immediately called Jingkou Minglang to discuss it.
When Jingkou Minglang heard that Long Xiao wanted to purchase all the traditional Chinese medicinal materials from the ten pharmaceutical factories Jingkou Pharmaceutical had invested in, he readily agreed.
Although Kampo medicine was the main product for the factories invested in by Jingkou Pharmaceutical, due to the limited variety, the stock of traditional Chinese medicinal materials was not very large.
Jingkou Pharmaceutical had its own channels for procuring medicinal materials in China, and the quality of these materials far surpassed those purchased by Chinese pharmaceutical factories.
Therefore, the Kampo medicine produced by Jingkou Pharmaceutical had a significantly different efficacy compared to Chinese patent medicines, even with the same formula.
After Da Cang Tian San and Jingkou Minglang reached an agreement, and to prevent him from going back on his word, Long Xiao immediately called Bao Tie and instructed him to arrange for people to transport all the traditional Chinese medicinal materials from the ten pharmaceutical factories invested in by Jingkou Pharmaceutical to the Xuan Xiao Company's warehouse.
After the phone call, the food had arrived.
Before eating, Long Xiao took out a short sword from his embrace and handed it to Da Cang Tian San. "This short sword is for you. I'm a reasonable person. If you need anything in the future, just give me a call."
Da Cang Tian San felt that Long Xiao was indeed easy to talk to and very easygoing in his actions.
All the traditional Chinese medicinal materials from Jingkou Pharmaceutical were taken by Long Xiao. This posed no significant harm to the pharmaceutical factories invested in by Jingkou Pharmaceutical; at most, they would have to halt production for a day until the required medicinal materials were delivered.
The five of them ate and drank, and the atmosphere was very harmonious, as if they were old friends.
After the meal, Long Xiao had Xiao Ming take the medicinal materials from the box, and they returned directly to the Lin family.
Before sleeping, Long Xiao called Ye Xiao and asked her to send someone to investigate where the ten pharmaceutical factories invested in by Jingkou Pharmaceutical purchased their traditional Chinese medicinal materials and when they were transported to Donghai.
Jingkou Minglang soon learned that the people sent to transport the traditional Chinese medicinal materials from the ten pharmaceutical factories invested in by Jingkou Pharmaceutical were sent by Long Xiao.
This was a heaven-sent opportunity. He immediately led his men to one of the pharmaceutical factories, rushed into the laboratory, and within half an hour, a batch of medicinal liquid was prepared.
"Take these medicinal liquids and find an opportunity to sprinkle them on the packaged Chinese medicinal herbs," Jingkou Minglang commanded as he distributed the bottles in his hands.
These dozen or so people were all masters he had brought from Japan, intended for ambushing Long Xiao.