chapter 33 wild ginseng

Saying goodbye to Gina, Ashburn went back to his home in the Old Town. Regarding the Willow Company's matter, he couldn’t help more. He should think about it for himself and raise the $700,000 he owed the Willow family as soon as possible. In the afternoon, he went to the west hill with Norton. "Ashburn, you are so lucky. Every time I go out with you, I get a lot of precious herbs. In your opinion, what we can harvest this time?" Norton was full of expectations for this. Ashburn smiled and said nothing. The west hill was very big. The few times he went up the mountain with Norton, they had not covered even a tenth of the entire hill. There were still many unknown areas waiting for him to explore. All things are animistic, and each plant had a unique aura. This kind of Qi was elusive and couldn’t be seen by ordinary people's common eyes, but Ashburn could distinguish it through the art of looking at the aura. This was also related to his spiritual cultivation. The deeper his spiritual cultivation, the more Qi could be discerned and the more accurate it was. "Norton, let's go over there and have a look." Ashburn pointed in a direction and headed towards a place with lush vegetation. Norton took a hatchet and chopped off the thorns in front of him to clear the way. The Qi that Ashburn felt became stronger and stronger. He searched around and focused on a green plant. A flower stem shot straight up from among the many green leaves. It was about forty or fifty centimetres long. The top of the pillar circled a bunch of red berries around it. "Norton, look!" "Wild ginseng!" Norton's eyes suddenly widened, and he pounced on it as if he had found a treasure, "This... this is at least a hundred years old, right?" "At least two hundred years or more," Ashburn answered firmly by looking at Qi. Norton hurriedly took out a red thread from his pocket and tied it on the stem of the wild ginseng. According to folklore, plants that resembled human shapes, such as ginseng and fleece-flower root, would become fairy. If you didn't tie the red thread on it, they were afraid that they would run away... "Ashburn, you are truly blessed!" Norton was so excited that wild ginseng was much more precious than artificially grown ginseng. Due to extensive human extraction, wild ginseng that was over a hundred years old was rare. If this wild ginseng was really 200 years old, it could be bought into an apartment in the centre of Narada! "Be careful, Ashburn, we don't need tools, just dig it out with our hands." Ashburn knew what Norton meant. He was afraid that the tools would damage the roots of the ginseng. The appearance of a good ginseng plant was very important. The stems, body, whiskers, and points must all be kept intact so that it could sell at a better price. Especially the node in the shape of a bowl of ginseng only grew once a year. This was the best way to judge the age of the ginseng. It couldn’t be damaged at all, because the older the ginseng was, the higher its economic value was. The two began to dig up the soil with their bare hands. … Two hours later, a complete wild ginseng was dug out. Norton counted the node in the shape of a bowl of ginseng and then looked at the iron wire inscriptions on the ginseng body. It was almost 220 years old. Moreover, this wild ginseng had taken on a human form initially, which was of higher value than those wild ginseng that did not have a human form. "Ashburn, congratulations, you found a treasure!" Norton wiped the sweat from his forehead, very happy for Ashburn. Ashburn smiled and said, "Norton, you can't just congratulate me, you should congratulate both of us." "Hey, how could I do that? It’s you discovered this wild ginseng." "Norton, although I discovered it, if it hadn't been for your guidance, I definitely wouldn't have been able to dig out the wild ginseng completely by myself. If I hurt the appearance of the ginseng, its value would be greatly reduced. So, don’t refuse! Let’s share it fairly." To be honest, Norton was a little moved after seeing the 220-year-old wild ginseng. He took out the cigarette, handed it to Ashburn, and said cheerfully, "You are a moral boy, my eyesight was right. Okay, I will rely on you, we split it equally. But I can’t take advantage of you in vain, so, in return, I will teach you all the techniques in my life!” Ashburn thought to herself, this old man's wishful thinking was really good. Isn't this forcing him to be his student? "What? Kids, Don’t look down upon my little ability!" Norton chuckled, feeling proud, "Thirty years ago, there were five great national experts in our field of Chinese medicine and one of them, Will Jean, was my master.” "Will is your master?" Ashburn remembered that there was a Golden Jade Hall in the Old Town, and it seemed to be Will's sign. "What does Ziv Yunker of Golden Jade Hall have to do with you?" Norton's expression suddenly dimmed and he smoked a cigarette dully. After a long time, he said, "He is my senior brother. How do you know him?" "He is the most famous doctor in our old city." "Are you from the Old Town?" "Yes." "Have you met... my senior sister?" Norton's voice suddenly trembled. "Who is your senior sister?" "She is Ziv's wife and my master's only daughter. Her name is Tamara Jean." Ashburn recalled it and said, "I seemed to have seen him several times when I passed by the medical centre." "She’s all right?" "I don't know a lot." Ashburn looked at Norton's expression and wondered if there was any story between him and Tamara. But it seemed like this was Norton's sad matter. He didn't inquire about other people's situation, so he stopped asking. After finishing his cigarette, Norton stood up and said halfheartedly, "Let's go back!" Ashburn carried the basket of medicine on her back and followed Norton’s footsteps out of the forest. He came to his electromobile parked on the side of the road, put the medicine basket in the car, and said, "Norton, let me drive." Norton did not refuse and sat in the car. Drive down from the west hill to Norton's medicine shop at the urban-rural fringe. Although he dug up wild ginseng, Norton didn't seem happy now. It was probably because the topic of Tamara disturbed his mood. "Ashburn, what are you going to do with this wild ginseng?" "Norton, you sell Chinese medicinal materials and have more selling lines than me. Please take full responsibility for this." "You trust me?" Norton was a little surprised. It was impossible for Ashburn not to know the value of this wild ginseng. Ashburn smiled and said, "If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't have given you half of the wild ginseng." Norton fell silent for a moment, just thinking inside, why didn't anyone believe him like Ashburn back then? Ashburn didn't know what Norton was thinking, but he knew that the old man must have encountered some obstacles that he couldn't overcome when he was young. "Norton, can I get some medicinal materials from here?" Ashburn gave him half of the priceless wild ginseng, and now he wants to get some medicinal materials. Naturally, Norton had no objection, but was just surprised and asked, "Why do you want these medicinal materials? Is anyone in your family feeling unwell?" "No, I just want to study it." Norton showed a happy smile, "Okay, you can take as much as you want. If you have anything confused, ask me." "Thanks!" Ashburn took a few small bags and began to select from the dazzling array of medicinal materials. Since it was a coincidence that he had obtained Taoist medical skills, he couldn't let it get wasted. He took some medicinal materials and prepared to practice medicine in the Old Town. While making money, he could also improve his spiritual cultivation.