MLMD -Chapter 196 The Price Agreed

When Yue Yang first arrived in the Ming Dynasty timeline, he noticed a very interesting phenomenon: people in this era had enormous appetites. He once personally saw a strong laborer finish an entire meal of 1.2 jin of rice (about 600 grams), which almost left Yue Yang in awe. Later, he realized that this was a common occurrence—forget 1.2 jin, there were plenty of people who could easily eat 2 jin of rice in a single meal.

This made Yue Yang feel a wave of reflection. Compared to them, people in the modern era were far too delicate. They ate just a little at each meal and were picky about everything; many girls even suffered from anorexia and had to rely on digestive tablets just to get food down. Thinking of this, Yue Yang felt a sudden urge to transport those girls to the Ming era. “Damn it, anorexia? Come over to me, and I guarantee in less than three months, you’ll turn into a girl who can fight people for rice!”

Later, after checking some records, Yue Yang understood that ancient people weren’t just naturally big eaters—they simply lacked sufficient supplementary foods, so many couldn’t get proper nutrition, which made them develop enormous appetites.

Since Yue Yang had to train soldiers, their daily high-intensity training required even more nutrition. Although Wulizhai had set up some small farms, their scale was limited and mostly self-sufficient. Supplying enough for Hunyuan Prefecture was still difficult. Naturally, Yue Yang started thinking about the modern world.

Returning to the present matter, after his initial excitement, Zhao Santong eagerly urged Yue Yang to show the ginseng. Yue Yang didn’t hold back; he opened a suitcase beside him and took out a large wooden box. Upon opening it, three ginseng roots, each complete with their fine roots, were revealed, lying quietly inside.

“What a treasure!” Zhao Santong’s eyes nearly sparkled as he saw the wild ginseng. He practically leapt forward and lunged at the table, staring at the three roots as a drop of clear liquid glimmered at the corner of his mouth.

Watching Zhao Santong’s mesmerized expression, Yue Yang couldn’t help but feel a stir. The demand for wild medicinal herbs in the modern world was skyrocketing, while their supply dwindled, which pushed prices higher and higher. He realized he could acquire wild herbs from the Ming era and sell them in the future. Ginseng, saffron, or cordyceps—these were far more abundant in the Ming era.

Half an hour later, Zhao Santong finally recovered from his excitement. He glanced at Yue Yang sheepishly and said, “Brother Yue, I’m really sorry. I’ve probably embarrassed myself. I haven’t seen ginseng of this quality in a long time, so I got a little carried away.”

“No problem!” Yue Yang laughed and waved his hand. “I was planning to sell these ginseng roots anyway. Since you like them, I’ll transfer them to you.”

“Alright… thank you so much!” Zhao Santong’s eyes glimmered with gratitude.

He didn’t beat around the bush. “One of these roots is about sixty years old; I’ll give you 1.3 million. The other two are around ninety and a hundred years old, each weighing roughly 300 grams. I’ll give you 2.7 million and 5 million for them, respectively. How does that sound?”

“Alright… let’s do it!” Yue Yang didn’t haggle. He guessed that Zhao Santong wouldn’t try to take advantage of him, so he agreed happily.

Soon, Yue Yang’s phone received a message confirming that 9 million yuan had been deposited into his account.

With the money received, Yue Yang prepared to take his leave. Zhao Santong escorted him to the company entrance and sincerely said, “Brother Yue, I owe you a favor this time. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. If it’s within my power, I’ll never refuse.”

Zhao Santong meant it. He knew he genuinely owed Yue Yang a big favor. After all, with just a few rare ginseng roots in Yue Yang’s hands, he could have attracted buyers lining up from Jubaozhai to Mingzhu Plaza. In a city like Mingzhu, the wealthiest city in the country, there were countless rich people. Yue Yang had sold to him only because of the friendship between them over the past two years. People like Zhao Santong didn’t forget such things: owing money was nothing; owing a personal favor was far more important.

“Ha… no problem. I’ll let you know if I need help!” Yue Yang laughed, unaware of what Zhao Santong was thinking. Right now, his only thought was how to acquire more ginseng from the Ming era.

Leaving Jubaozhai, Yue Yang strolled along the street, looking at the surging crowds in down jackets, wool sweaters, and colorful clothing under the sunset. He suddenly felt an indescribable separation from this world. Since arriving in the Ming timeline, he had spent most of the past few years in that world without running water, computers, or television. Every day was consumed by various tasks—training troops, fighting wars, or resettling refugees.

Sometimes he asked himself: Was all this hard work really worth it? In modern society, he had already earned enough to spend half his life extravagantly. He could drive luxury cars, maintain a few mistresses comfortably, and live out the rest of his life in ease. Why suffer in the past? Bandits and northern invasions didn’t concern him; in that timeline, he was just a lowly commoner. But every time, Yue Yang reminded himself that there were people and things he couldn’t abandon in that world. Without his protection, his family and efforts there would soon be destroyed by the barbarian invaders who could only destroy, not create.

“Forget it, better go back to the company and see how those two silly girls handled things.” After standing on the street for a while, Yue Yang finally decided to return and check on the two new employees he had hired today.

“Hello… are you Siyuan Food Company? This is Guangyuan Trading Company. We want to place an order—yes, primarily for pork and lard, one thousand tons and five hundred tons, respectively. When can you ship? Two days? Okay, thank you…”

“Hello… are you Quanyou Renovation Company? We’re Guangyuan Trading. We need to renovate our office. When can you send someone to inspect? Could you send a price list?”

“Hello, we are Guangyuan Trading Company…”

As Yue Yang reached the door, he heard phone calls coming from the lobby. A few steps further, he saw Zhang Xiaoxiao and Liu Shengnan sitting at a table—apparently brought from somewhere—with stacks of scrap paper, a calculator, several pens, and two half-drunk bottles of mineral water. They were buried in phone calls, completely unaware of Yue Yang’s arrival.

“Phew…” Liu Shengnan exhaled and placed the now-heated phone on the table, leaning back in her chair with a stretch. Just as she reached for the water, she suddenly noticed a figure beside her and jumped in fright.

“Ah…”

“Crash—”

A flurry of chairs and tables toppled to the ground.

“Bo… boss… when did you get here?”

Seeing the flustered girls and the night sky outside, Yue Yang sighed and walked over, softly asking, “What are you two doing? It’s already after work. Why are you still working?”

Gathering courage, Zhang Xiaoxiao said in a small voice, “Boss, this is our first time doing this. We were afraid we wouldn’t finish by tomorrow, so… so we stayed. And this has nothing to do with Shengnan—it’s all my idea, so don’t blame her!”

“You two…”

Yue Yang shook his head helplessly, pointing at Zhang Xiaoxiao with a teasing smile. “You don’t need to cover for Liu Shengnan. Working overtime for the company isn’t shameful, so I’m not going to blame you. But don’t get too excited—I won’t pay you overtime.”

Just as the girls’ faces fell, he continued: “Since you’ve worked so hard as employees, I must maintain fairness as a boss. I can’t pay you overtime, but I can treat you to a meal. Let’s go to Milai Restaurant for dinner as a reward.”

“Milai Restaurant?”

The girls’ tired eyes lit up instantly. But Liu Shengnan quickly added, cautiously, “Boss, we’re just fresh graduates, but we’re not the kind to be casual. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Heh… you have quite the imagination!” Yue Yang glared at her, then said seriously, “Don’t worry, I’m already married—and I even have a few mistresses. I’m not interested in little girls like you! Go if you want, don’t go, fine by me.” Saying this, he walked straight toward the door without looking back.

“Hey… how dare you call us little girls… Xiaoxiao, let’s go! I refuse to believe we won’t eat him out of house and home today!”

Soon, hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.