Chapter Thirty-Four: The So-Called "Ginseng" (Seeking Collection and Recommendation)

  The electric car drove into a quiet alleyway.

  On both sides, green trees are like clouds, with a few flowers planted in between. The flowers are in full bloom, and from time to time, they emit a faint fragrance.

  Suddenly from the noisy crowd, to the quiet place, Song Wen felt as if he had fallen from heaven to hell, his heart feeling empty.

  The electric car drove over the quiet path and stopped in front of a house made of steel and glass.

  The house is like a bird with its wings spread, ready to fly, looking simple and elegant, very beautiful.

  As I stepped inside, I saw some flower and wood potted landscapes arranged in the corners of the walls, giving off a sense of elegance. However, the golden-colored floor paired with the lavishly decorated hall seemed to exude an air of luxury and grandeur. Looking up, I spotted an antique-style European bronze chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The various decorations in different styles not only didn't give me a jarring feeling but instead blended together seamlessly, providing a unique visual experience that was simply indescribable.

  In the hall, there were rows of soft chairs, in front of which was an auction platform. Many people had already taken their seats on the soft chairs. Huang Xiaojun led Song Wen along the red carpet laid on the ground to take a seat and handed him a richly illustrated catalog, which was the directory of items to be auctioned this time.

  Then, some people came in one after another. After a while, when the time was up, the attendant closed the door.

  At this time, a young man walked out from behind the auction table, apparently the auctioneer for this auction.

  "Thank you all for coming to the auction scene of this flower expo. We won't say much, let's start today's theme. I believe everyone has a catalog of today's auction items in their hands, but the catalog is not as real as the actual item. Now, let's introduce the first item of today's auction, Guo Lan's 'Yu Mei Ren'."

  As soon as the words fell, a small cart was pushed out from behind, with a pot of bright red orchids on it. The orchid is delicate and eye-catching, although it's just quietly placed there, but it gives people a feeling of gathering all the honors and privileges in one body.

  Most people entering the hall had a catalog of this auction in their hands, but things on paper can't be compared with real objects. When the items to be auctioned off came out, they all craned their necks to take a look.

  The auctioneer looked and said: "If you are interested in bidding on this peony, please come forward to take a look, but please do not touch it with your hands."

  Hearing him say that, several potential buyers who were interested in purchasing came forward to take a look. After watching for a while, they slowly left.

  Seeing that no one else was coming forward, the auctioneer stepped up to the podium. "Alright, everyone has had a look, now let's start with today's first item, Guo Lan's 'Yu Mei Ren', starting price 30,000."

  As soon as the words fell, someone below started shouting 350,000, then someone added 360,000 and 400,000, and in no time it reached 1 million.

  Song Wenyuan took a distant look at the potted peony and felt that it was too showy, seemingly not as good as the pot of orchids Huang Xiaojun had given him.

  "One hundred thousand, seventy-eight numbers one hundred thousand, is there anyone more? Eighty-nine numbers one hundred and ten thousand, ninety-six numbers one hundred and fifteen thousand, one hundred and fifteen thousand, is there anyone... Two hundred and three numbers one hundred and twenty thousand, one hundred and twenty thousand, one hundred and twenty-three thousand one hundred and twenty-five thousand, this one hundred and twenty thousand... One hundred and thirty thousand, sixty-five numbers one hundred and thirty thousand, one hundred and thirty thousand, one hundred and thirty thousand, is there anyone more? That one hundred and fifty-six numbers..."

  The auction continued, and in no time, Yu Mei Ren soared to 200,000.

  Song Wen was stunned by the price of a pot of broken orchids, wondering why it cost so much. He simply didn't want to plant them, otherwise there were plenty on the mountain.

  There are many wild orchids in the mountain forest behind his bamboo forest, and occasionally someone digs them up to sell, but they are all ordinary varieties, ranging from a few yuan to tens of yuan, with very few over one hundred. He had also dug up a few orchids to raise before, but unfortunately, orchids are delicate and need to be pampered like children, which is not his style as he usually coarsely raises flowers and plants. As a result, the orchids either withered and died or rotted from excessive watering.

  "Two million, two million, two million, is there anyone higher? Alright, Mr. 57, twenty-one million, twenty-one million, twenty-one million, is there anyone higher? Twenty-one million for the first time, twenty-one million for the second time, twenty-one million for the third time, sold! Congratulations to Mr. 57, this Yu Mei Ren orchid is yours. Next, let's bring out the second item, 'Nu Po Cang Tian'..."

  One after another, more than a dozen items were auctioned off, not just flowers, but also some root carvings and jade stones. The most frightening moment was when a forklift was used to lift out a three-meter-high and two-meter-wide potted landscape of a fig tree, leaving Song Wen in admiration of the organizers' efforts.

  "Next, let's bring out a potted plant from Taiwan, 'Ginseng'. According to the Taiwanese friend who brought it, this potted plant was dug up by him on Yushan, the highest mountain in Taiwan. At first, he thought it was some kind of miscellaneous tree, but seeing its root shape resembling ginseng and being very beautiful, he dug it up and planted it. Unexpectedly, after planting, it survived but didn't grow any leaves. He raised it for several years, and seeing that this potted thing still looked the same as when he first dug it up, he became curious and wanted to know what he was growing, so he took a sample for testing. Who knew the test result would be - ginseng."

  Everyone who came to the auction heard this and burst out laughing. Even Taiwan had participants, which is just as ridiculous as if the World Trade Center in the US was not destroyed by a terrorist plane crash but instead demolished by Chinese city management.

  "Although the scientific instrument identified it as ginseng, even Taiwanese friends themselves did not dare to believe it, so they sent this pot of ginseng for auction, as a witness to cross-strait friendship. Friends who are interested may come and take a look."

  The so-called "ginseng" was pushed out, the root of the "ginseng" is thick and cylindrical in shape, with branches, very similar to a person's head, hands, feet and limbs. It looks no different from real ginseng. If there is any difference, it is that it is too big, the root of this "ginseng" is as thick as a small leg. Who has seen such a thick large ginseng before? Moreover, the surface skin of the ginseng is wrinkled and close to woodiness, looking more like tree roots.

  As for the ginseng, the bidders present also just laughed it off. Is there anyone in this world with thick legs like that of ginseng? Anyway, no one has ever seen such a thing on the mainland. The mainland doesn't have any, let alone Taiwan, are people all fools?

  Actually, it's not impossible that ginseng exists in Taiwan. Maybe the ancestors who migrated to Taiwan brought ginseng seeds with them and planted them on Yushan Mountain, and maybe they grew and grew until they became this big.

  This is also possible.

  Of course, Song Wen didn't believe in such uncertain things. He glanced at the "ginseng" and felt it was strange, not like a tree root, but since it was said to be ginseng, he couldn't find a reason to convince himself otherwise. However, he thought it might be possible to take it back and plant it to see what would grow out of this tree root, and besides, the tree root was quite beautiful, maybe it could even be used for potted plants.

  Thinking of this, he turned his head and said to Huang Xiaojun: "Help me take a picture of this 'ginseng', I don't want it for more than 5,000 yuan."

  He has only a little over 10,000 on his card and doesn't want to waste too much money on this.

  "You don't really think that thing is a 'carrot', do you?"

  "What's wrong? I just thought that tree root looked nice and wanted to take it back home to see what would grow out of it."

  "Okay, wait a moment, I'll help you take it." Huang Xiaojun nodded.

  After talking for half a day and seeing no one coming up to bid, the auctioneer simply started the auction.

  "Now, let's start the auction for the 20th item, with a starting price of 1,000 RMB. Is there anyone who wants to bid? Anyone?"

  The auctioneer shouted for half a day and saw that no one was bidding, so he decided to drop the hammer and confirm that the item had failed to sell.

  At this time, Huang Xiaojun raised his sign and said: "One thousand."

  The auctioneer looked relieved, after all, it didn't end in a flow sale, otherwise, this would be a very embarrassing thing for an auctioneer.

  "Alright, the lady bids one thousand, one thousand, one thousand. Is there anyone else who wants to bid? Alright, that gentleman bids two thousand, two thousand. Is there anyone else who wants to bid? Three thousand, this lady continues to bid three thousand, three thousand, three thousand. Anyone else want to bid? Three thousand for the first time, three thousand for the second time, three thousand for the third time. Congratulations to this lady on winning the item 'Ginseng' presented by our Taiwanese friends as a symbol of friendship between the two sides. Next, let's proceed with the next item..."

  He bought ginseng for only 3,000 yuan, which surprised Song Wen a bit. However, the root of the tree is still the root of the tree after all. Although it looks good on the outside, who knows what kind of thing this root is? Whether it can be planted or not, whether it will bloom or not. What if you plant a stinky tree and not only waste your money but also ruin your mood? That would be a bit of a loss. Moreover, with 3,000 yuan, you can find a high-end beauty to enjoy yourself, or if you use it for food, you can save some and use it for a while.

  He clapped for the ginseng again, and after watching a few more auctions, he felt a bit bored. Song Wen turned his head to look around, just as several people in front of him also turned their heads back.

  Song Wen looked up and saw that it wasn't the woman he had met at the door, so he quickly lowered his head and shrank away.

  Huang Xiaojun saw him acting suspiciously and asked: "What's wrong with you?"

  "I don't know why, but I feel a bit dizzy. Maybe it's the air here that doesn't suit me. I think I'll just go out first?"

  Song Wen was afraid that those women would see him and come over to settle accounts with him, so he made an excuse and planned to slip away.

  Huang Xiaojun nodded without hesitation: "Alright, you go out and take a stroll first. My booth is at the flower district 103. You can go with Song Hu and the others to that side first, and I'll come over to find you later."

  "Alright, I'll go first then."

  After finishing speaking, Song Wen lowered his body and walked out without looking back.

  Huang Xiaojun looked at him and felt that he was strange.

  Ding Tai Minglan sat in the front, looked back and seemed to have seen that boring and despicable rascal at the door earlier. She vowed that if she found him, she would definitely flay him, crush his bones and scatter his ashes.

  "Lanlan, what's wrong?"

  The friend sitting next to her saw her constantly looking back and asked strangely.

  "It seems I've seen a suspicious guy." replied Lin Daiyu casually.

  "What's going on?"

  "Haha, nothing."

  Dantai Minglan realized she had misspoken and hastily laughed it off, glossing over the mistake.

  However, her friend next to her clearly didn't believe it.

  Song Wen came outside and thought it was better to leave first, lest he ran into that woman again, and even if he had a good reason, he wouldn't be able to explain clearly.

  He then called Song Hu and told him that he was going to the city, asking him to inform Huang Xiaojun, before hailing a taxi and heading into town.

  ....................

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