USWHC -Chapter 303 Bubble of Foolishness (Part 3)

“What?” Old Madam Ji’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at the woman’s astonished face. Could it be that she only just realized it was a wild radish root? Were they not in cahoots with the swindler?

“This ginseng is so thin! Isn’t it obviously malnourished? How could I have ever thought it was worth a thousand taels?” the glamorous woman exclaimed, equally shocked.

Ginseng? She even called it ginseng! Old Madam Ji swallowed hard. She wasn’t afraid the woman would keep cheating—she was afraid she’d start telling the truth. At this point, Old Madam Ji found herself thinking the same as the swindler.

Seeing Old Madam Ji staring at her eagerly, the glamorous woman put on a look of regret, sighed, and said, “Well, I can’t let you suffer a loss. I misjudged it. Alright then—I’ll take it from you for a hundred taels!”

A hundred taels? That gap is huge! Even if you want to haggle, you can’t just slash it to scraps like that!

“Madam, you really do love to joke!” Old Madam Ji said, though not a trace of a smile appeared on her face. “This is ginseng! Over two hundred years old! You want to pay just a hundred taels? Do you take me for a fool?”

“You didn’t take it back for a hundred taels too?” the glamorous woman immediately frowned.

“That was their foolishness. What does it have to do with me?” Old Madam Ji fired back.

Hearing that, the glamorous woman felt an odd frustration. Well, her own accomplice had turned out to be a fool—this swindler act had been too successful!

“True, it’s over two hundred years old, but it is a bit malnourished. Selling it outside would actually be a bit difficult. A hundred taels is already quite generous,” the glamorous woman continued.

“Malnourished? Count them—there are twenty-eight fine roots! Look at its face, isn’t it like a little child?” The roles suddenly reversed. Old Madam Ji was now boasting proudly.

The glamorous woman shook her head repeatedly. “But you don’t see how thin it is!”

“This isn’t thin—that’s robust!” Old Madam Ji said proudly. Look at these adjectives—they were using ‘robust’ for a lousy radish root!

“Ah, I suppose that would hurt your feelings. How about this: I’ll make it up to you. Two hundred taels, and consider it a gesture of friendship!” the glamorous woman said with a forced look of difficulty.

Friendship? Hmph. You’re just going to sell it for a thousand later. Don’t think I don’t know. And you dare say it’s a favor to me? What a joke!

Old Madam Ji immediately put on a good-natured face. “Since we’re friends, I can’t let you lose out. Here’s what we’ll do—I won’t sell it. I’ll keep it for my husband. He has a cough anyway. He can eat it to strengthen his health!”

“No! You can’t just use medicine like that. And a two-hundred-year-old ginseng for just a cough is a waste!” the glamorous woman said hurriedly, showing regret. “Honestly, this ginseng is a real treasure. It’s just that it was harvested at the wrong season. If it had been summer, it would have been plumper!”

Ginseng has seasons? Does she think it’s a duck? Listening to her nonsense, Old Madam Ji even played along: “How about I plant it in the field and wait until summer to dig it up?”

Plant it in the field? A dried wild radish root? By summer, it would probably rot entirely! The glamorous woman looked awkward. Besides, the fool from Qi State and his father would likely be dead by then. Even if this root could somehow survive and grow plump and white, it would at most just be a prettier radish root. Who would want it?

But the glamorous woman couldn’t say that directly. She had to keep bluffing: “You think you can just plant ginseng? A hundred-year-old ginseng becomes a spirit. If planted, it will run away. No, you can’t grow it!”

Ginseng can run? She really thinks it’s a little child! Old Madam Ji sneered in her heart at such nonsense. Could there be an even more ridiculous claim? Still, she couldn’t expose it—especially for someone as blunt and straightforward as Old Madam Ji, it was maddening.