USWHC -Chapter 296 The Counter-Scam (Part 6)

“Sir, Shanglu is just an ordinary herb. You don’t need to buy it by the root. Let me see your prescription—it should say how many liang are needed!” a well-meaning shop assistant kindly reminded him.

But upon hearing this, the man actually started crying. He covered his face, sobbing, “My father has a strange illness—his whole body is swollen like a steamed bun. The doctor back home said we must use whole roots of Shanglu, and they must have plenty of rootlets—at least twenty-five rootlets per root, the more the better!”

“Is your doctor from Mongolia? Shanglu needs to be sliced and sun-dried before use. You can’t just use a whole root directly—it’ll just kill it, won’t it?” The shop assistant widened his eyes at this. “From what you say, your father has edema, so Shanglu is indeed the right herb—it’s diuretic and removes water—but using the whole root at once is a bit over the top!”

“That’s our miraculous doctor back home. You don’t understand, so don’t talk nonsense!” The man shouted angrily, straining his neck.

His outburst immediately silenced the shop assistant. A Mongolian miracle doctor, huh? So the medical standards in Qi must not be that great either. He shook his head and gave up trying to reason.

“Sir, this pharmacy doesn’t have it either. What should we do?” The woman spoke pitifully, tears brimming in her eyes, clearly on the verge of crying. You could see they were genuinely worried.

“I refuse to believe that money can’t buy it!” The man loudly addressed the assistant: “I’ll pay a thousand liang! Can you get me one root with at least twenty-five rootlets?”

Everyone widened their eyes—well, here’s a true rich guy!

The assistant sneered. “Our Shanglu comes from the south, and it’s already sliced when it arrives. You really can’t get whole roots here. If you want whole roots, you’ll have to dig them straight from the mountains yourself!”

The assistant meant it as a joke—but to his surprise, the couple took it seriously. The man slapped his thigh and shouted, “Right! Organize people to go dig in the mountains!”

Standing at the door, he called out, “Who’s willing to go up the mountain and dig herbs? One liang per day for each person, and anyone who finds one will get a thousand liang!”

They had already drawn some attention, but now, at his call, who wouldn’t volunteer? Someone immediately jumped up and shouted, “I’ll go!”

“I’ll go too!” a woman added eagerly.

The townspeople saw that it was the eldest Ji sibling and his wife. They were very proactive. No one wanted to let them take all the credit, so more people shouted, “I’ll go too! Me too!”

One or two liang a day—even if you don’t find anything, it’s worth it. And if you do, it’s a fortune! Who wouldn’t want such a good job? A crowd quickly gathered.

Not only that, but the two visitors from Qi actually handed out money on the spot—one liang per person—without worrying that someone would take the money and run!

The onlookers couldn’t help but sigh, “Money makes people so willful!” This was exactly the “rich but foolish” type.

Soon, even more people swarmed in. The news in town today was: two fools from Qi are paying a thousand liang for a Shanglu root and handing out money to anyone they meet!

“Wait, wait! Shanglu is a southern plant—we don’t have it on our mountains!” The assistant hurriedly reminded them.

But the man bellowed again, “How can you not have it? Isn’t this the south?”

“The south?” The assistant was shocked, eyes wide. Are all Qi geography teachers part-time?

“Liang is just south of Qi! If you’re not the south, then who is?” the man called out loudly.

Well, apparently their geography teachers really are part-time. That’s their “south”! The assistant could only groan inwardly. Before he could explain further, the two fools from Qi were already leading the crowd up the mountain. “Goodness, money doesn’t make one that willful!”

The assistant worried that perhaps the Mongolian doctor really couldn’t cure the illness and was deliberately tricking these fools. It seemed his father was beyond help. The assistant even felt a pang of pity.