USWHC -Chapter 300 The Counter-Scam (Part 10)

“Big sister, are you busy?” The old man pushed the door open and walked in, greeting warmly as he came, “Big Sister, do you remember us?”

The moment Old Madam Ji saw him, her eyes almost shot fire! Unrecognizable? These weren’t just strangers—they were those two damn scammers! Even if they turned to ashes, she’d recognize them. And now, these two fools hadn’t even changed their clothes before daring to come here. Truly reckless!

But after a brief moment, she recalled Zhu Jie’s warning: for the sake of money, she had to hold back her urge to tear these scammers apart.

“Hmm, you look kind of familiar!” Old Madam Ji didn’t immediately recognize them either; she spoke vaguely.

The old man moved closer with even more enthusiasm, smiling: “Big Sister, you forgot? Just yesterday you bought a ginseng root from me.”

Old Madam Ji’s expression instantly shifted to one of realization: “Oh! You’re the elder brother who ran into the Ginseng Doll! Hey, why are you here in our village? What? Do we have ginseng here too?”

“Hehe!” The old man felt a little embarrassed at her strange tone but forced a smile: “I came here specially to find you, Big Sister!”

“To see me? Why?” Old Madam Ji pretended to look puzzled.

The old man probed carefully: “Did you go to the pharmacy yesterday?”

Yes, nearly drove me mad! Old Madam Ji ground her teeth in thought, but on her face she forced a busy expression: “No, my husband was sick! I had to stay home to care for him, so I didn’t go. I was planning to buy medicine for him tomorrow and go together.”

Hearing this, the old man relaxed a little: “It’s good that you didn’t go!”

Good for what? To be tricked again? Old Madam Ji muttered in her mind but spoke foolishly: “Oh? What’s the matter?”

The old man looked a bit embarrassed, rubbing his hands with a silly expression: “Don’t laugh at us, Big Sister. We’re here to take back that ginseng root!”

Old Madam Ji shivered a little inside. Oh heavens—they really came, and just as Zhu Jie said, they were here to reclaim the ginseng! Scammers actually going after what they once sold? This was thrilling! Yet despite her heartbeat drumming like war drums, she feigned shock: “Take it back? Why?”

“It’s just our misfortune! As soon as we returned, we heard our son was sick. The ginseng doll didn’t give us the root to make us rich, but to save our son’s life!” The old man even began to cry as he spoke.

Seeing him play the pitiful role so convincingly, Old Madam Ji knew that if Zhu Jie hadn’t anticipated this, she might have been fooled again. This act was way too realistic!

Then the old woman, sniffling and tearful, added: “We only have this one treasure of a child! Without him, we really don’t know how we’d survive! Big Sister, you have children too, right? Please pity us, and return that ginseng root!”

“Return it to you? Now that you’re rich, can’t you just buy a ginseng root? Why bother coming back for it? Buy a smaller one at the pharmacy. It won’t even cost a hundred taels, and you can still make a profit!” Old Madam Ji said, pretending to be considerate—but the underlying meaning was clear: she had no intention of giving it up.

“Big Sister, we’ll return your money, or treat it as if we bought it from you. Would that be okay?” The old man cried, “After all, it’s our ginseng! It’s destined for us. We don’t want anything else, just this one root! Big Sister, please pity us!” As he spoke, he bent his legs as if to kneel.

Old Madam Ji looked at him and thought, Ah, this scam is really full-on! Could he actually kneel for me?

The old man, kneeling and staring at her with desperate eyes, seemed to be silently shouting: “Hurry, help me! Hurry! I’m really about to kneel!” Yet he bent his legs waiting, and Old Madam Ji didn’t move—he wasn’t even helped.

Old Madam Ji didn’t want to help at all. In fact, she was secretly waiting for him to kneel! Hmph, you scammed me so badly before, so you better kneel for me this time.

Unfortunately, just as the old man bent down to kneel, the old woman suddenly said: “Husband, what’s wrong? You can’t faint!” and pulled him upright.