USWHC -Chapter 287 Old Madam Ji Gets Tricked (Part 7)

Hearing her say that, Old Madam Ji felt a little jealous. Such a good thing—why hadn’t she run into it herself? If she had met that ginseng spirit, she wouldn’t just take this small root—she would have caught the whole thing!

But at that moment, the elegantly dressed woman’s voice became even more excited.

“Even a piece this small should still be worth at least eight hundred to a thousand taels of silver!”

Old Madam Ji had been about to leave, but when she heard that, she immediately leaned back in. Such a tiny little root branch was actually worth that much money?

“It’s this small, yet it’s already that old? You’re not mistaken, are you?” Old Madam Ji said, still somewhat doubtful.

“Of course not! Maybe you don’t know how to judge it. A ginseng only grows into a human shape after a hundred years, and on average it grows one root every ten years. Look at this ginseng—doesn’t it look just like a little child? And look at the roots on it. There are at least more than twenty. That means it must be two or three hundred years old!”

The elegantly dressed woman pointed at the roots as she spoke, explaining fluently as if she truly knew what she was talking about.

Old Madam Ji immediately let out a long “Oh!” of realization. She even shamelessly counted the roots herself.

“Oh my, just counting roughly there are already twenty-eight! This really is a treasure!” Old Madam Ji said with a face full of astonishment.

The old man was obviously very happy as well. He quickly helped the old woman up with trembling hands. The two of them were so excited that tears almost fell.

“Old woman, our good days have finally arrived! A thousand taels—we won’t be able to spend it all in this lifetime!”

“Eating meat every day! Wearing good clothes every day!” the old woman said shakily.

Eating meat every day, wearing good clothes every day?

Old Madam Ji’s eyes widened as well. Good heavens, what kind of life would that be? Even the emperor probably didn’t live better than that!

“Oh my, what luck to meet such a benefactor!” The old man tearfully grabbed the elegant woman’s hand. “Little sister, do you know where we could sell this treasure?”

The elegant woman replied very straightforwardly, “As it happens, I can buy it.”

“Really?” The old man and old woman became even more excited.

But Old Madam Ji felt a little disappointed instead. Sigh… she had just watched someone else about to get rich, and she wouldn’t get a share. How could she not feel disappointed?

At this moment, the elegant woman began taking out money. She slipped her hand into her sleeve and searched around. Just as the old man looked at her eagerly, she suddenly paused, then showed an expression of sudden realization.

“Oh dear, look at my memory. The money I brought today is all being carried by my maid!”

The old man had been happily watching her, but when he heard that, his face instantly fell. After all that, she hadn’t even brought any money! Wasn’t she just teasing him?

However, the elegant woman remained unusually enthusiastic. Instead, she held the old man’s hand and said, “Big brother, please don’t be upset. How about this—you come to my house with me, and I’ll have someone bring the money out for you. How does that sound?”

The old man seemed somewhat tempted by the suggestion. But the old woman revealed a pair of wary little eyes and tugged on the old man’s sleeve.

“Old man, we can’t go! We’re carrying a treasure right now! What if we go there and they lock us inside the mansion and kill us for the treasure?”

Hearing this, the old man immediately became cautious as well. He shook his head repeatedly.

“No, no, we can’t go with you!” As he spoke, he even pulled the old woman along as if preparing to leave.

Seeing that they were about to go, the elegant woman suddenly looked anxious. She quickly switched to pulling the old woman.

“Big sister, please don’t leave. We can discuss it. If you’re unwilling to come with me, I can leave something here as collateral!”

As she spoke, the elegant woman removed a bracelet from her wrist.

“This bracelet of mine is made of chicken-blood jade. It may not be as valuable as your ginseng, but it’s still worth about five hundred taels of silver. How about this—you keep my bracelet first. I’ll go back to get the money and bring it to you.”

When Old Madam Ji saw this, she thought, Goodness! This really was a rich person. A single bracelet was worth five hundred taels! She instantly looked at the elegant woman with newfound respect. No wonder she recognized the treasure—she was clearly someone who had seen the world!

The old woman seemed somewhat tempted by the bracelet. The elegant woman immediately stuffed it into her hand and then turned to take the old man’s bundle.

But the old man grew nervous right away.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Big brother, I’ve given you the bracelet. Shouldn’t you give the item to me?” the elegant woman said with a smile.

But the old man shook his head again and again.

“No, no! If I give it to you and you run away and never come back, what then? Ours is too valuable!”

“My bracelet is also quite valuable!” The elegant woman seemed slightly annoyed. “What if you take my bracelet and run away?”

“Who knows how much your bracelet is really worth! You understand these things, but we don’t. Maybe you’re just trying to fool us with a cheap trinket!”

As he spoke, the old man directly snatched the bracelet from the old woman’s hand and stuffed it back into the elegant woman’s hand.