Chapter 49: Chen Long the Village Tyrant's Accomplice

Kuang Quan picked up a piece of dark, steamed and dried Rehmannia root, laid it in his palm, and sniffed it. A look of astonishment flashed across his face. “Dr. Chen?”

“Mr. Kuang, what’s wrong? Did I not steam and dry the Rehmannia enough times?”

“It’s perfect, absolutely perfect! Name your price. I’ll take it all—however much you have, I’ll buy it!”

“…?”

“Mr. Kuang, you’re a friend of Director Duan from our hospital. Why don’t you name your own price, just don’t set it too low,” Chen Anquan said. He didn’t have much Rehmannia to offer, barely thirty jin; even if he sold it all, he wouldn’t make much. What he really wanted was a stable sales channel so he wouldn’t have to hawk his wares at a street stall like the uncle next door, sweet-talking one customer at a time.

“Dr. Chen, to be honest, your Rehmannia is of a very high grade—good enough for export. It’s a pity, though, that it’s not the premium nine-steamed, nine-dried kind. Otherwise, it would fetch an even higher price!”

“Is it true that the Rehmannia exported to Fusang and Korea really undergoes nine rounds of steaming and drying?”

Chen Anquan had considered this possibility, but given how domestic medicinal herbs were always cut for cost, he wasn’t sure export quality would be so high.

Kuang Quan gritted his teeth and held up five fingers. “It’s true. Fifty yuan per jin—do you want to sell?”

“I’ll sell! I’ll sell the lot!” Chen Anquan hadn’t expected it at all—ordinary Rehmannia fetched about fifteen yuan a jin in the market, but now it was going for fifty!

A satisfied smile spread across Kuang Quan’s face. Chen Anquan, seeing his delighted expression, instantly understood that Mr. Kuang was sure to make a good profit—otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to hide his grin.

But that was understandable. Both sides should profit; that’s the foundation for future cooperation.

Kuang Quan set down the Rehmannia, shaking his head as the smile faded, a look of regret taking its place. “What a shame. I’ll still need to do further processing once I take it back—the procedures are just a bit more complicated.”

Of course Chen Anquan understood; Kuang Quan meant to turn it into the most authentic nine-steamed, nine-dried Rehmannia.

Afterward, Kuang Quan examined the rest of Chen Anquan’s medicinal herbs. Most were ordinary, but there were a few aged, high-quality ones among them.

In the end, Kuang Quan bought all of Chen Anquan’s stock. Thirty jin of Rehmannia brought in fifteen hundred yuan, the rest of the herbs another thousand—a total of twenty-five hundred yuan.

“Take care, Mr. Kuang,” Chen Anquan said, standing up and giving Kuang Quan his sack as a parting gift, watching as Kuang left with a broad, cheerful smile.

Once he was gone, the uncle who’d been watching in stunned silence could hardly contain himself.

Just now, with Kuang Quan present, his demeanor and words made it clear he was an expert. The uncle hadn’t dared trouble Chen Anquan. But now that Kuang was gone, his bottled-up jealousy boiled over.

“Kid, you’ve got real luck—having connections is the best way to make money! But don’t think you’ll be so lucky next time.”

“That was the owner of the county’s pharmaceutical factory—he’s a true expert!”

“Damn, you’re just lucky!”

“Heh. I’ll head home now,” Chen Anquan replied, not bothering to explain further. He stood and walked into the market.

He planned to buy some meat and vegetables, a fishing rod, and a few daily necessities.

An hour later—

Chen Anquan was on his way back to the village, carrying two big fish, ten jin of beef, a basketful of eggs and noodles, and a fishing rod slung over his shoulder.

Today was market day, so there was a bus heading to Aobei Village.

He made his way toward the bus stop, but just then, he spotted an old acquaintance.

The uncle who’d been selling herbs beside him was heading his way from afar, flanked by two strong young men.

The uncle pointed at Chen Anquan from a distance.

The two young men immediately looked over, grinning.

“So you can’t beat me yourself, so you brought reinforcements—not surprising, coming from Donghe Village!”

The people of Donghe Village were infamous throughout the township. Decades ago, their villagers often got into brawls with those from other villages. These days, with the rule of law, fighting was rare, but their domineering tendencies hadn’t changed.

“You’re Chen Anquan, right?” The three approached, surrounding him. One of the young men grinned.

“That’s right,” Chen Anquan replied, glancing at the uncle. “Uncle, don’t even think about starting something. It’s a law-abiding society now—try hitting me, I dare you.”

He wasn’t afraid of a fight. Even if it came to blows, these three rookies wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Listen, Chen Anquan, we from Donghe Village aren’t to be trifled with. Next time, don’t set up your stall here. Otherwise, every time we see it, we’ll smash it.”

“Ridiculous,” Chen Anquan said, not bothering to explain.

He’d seen plenty of bullies—Chen Long from his own village was one.

Seeing him about to leave, the two brothers quickly blocked his way. One bared his teeth in a grin. “Hear that? Next time you dare set up your stall here, we’ll show you how we deal with you!”

Chen Anquan brushed past them, heading for the bus that had already arrived.

“Bro, should we teach him a lesson?”

“No need. We’ve already warned him. If he sets up on Dad’s turf again, then we’ll smash his stall!”

“Alright!”

And so, the two brothers watched him leave, ultimately deciding not to make a move.

On the bus, Chen Anquan watched the three walk away in the distance. “Cowards—if you’ve got guts, try laying a finger on me. I’d like to see how my fighting skills measure up!”

These were peaceful times; even finding a proper fight was next to impossible…

Sitting in the back row, he began to check his stats panel.

After holding horse stance all morning, his constitution had actually improved?

He’d gained 0.02 points—now his constitution was 2.72.

The rural bus rumbled to life, filled with students and villagers headed home from market day.

Chen Anquan gazed out the window, watching as the township slowly receded into the distance.

After the bus left Fengmu Village, only he and the driver remained.

“Young man, we’ve arrived—you can get off now,” the driver called.

Chen Anquan gathered his things and stepped off, heading toward the village.

Just then, he noticed a Toyota sedan parked on the village basketball court.

Usually, there were a few cars on the court, and as someone who’d lived here for some time, he’d memorized all the vehicles in the village. But this one was new. Especially since Chen Long had warned him yesterday, he couldn’t help but wonder if Chen Long had called in reinforcements.