When Chairman Kang returned with the Ginseng King, Xu Qian was startled by its sheer size. Wang Jian was equally surprised. "How did this end up with you?"
"I don’t know..." Chairman Kang set the Ginseng King aside. Seeing Xu Qian pick it up to examine it, he continued, "After I finished cleaning the clinic, I found it in a desk drawer. Li Long must have secretly left it there."
"Li Long?"
Wang Jian racked his brain but couldn’t recall when Li Long might have placed it there, nor had he noticed any unusual behavior from the man.
This was strange. Li Long said he was only looking for the Ginseng King because soone had entrusted him with the task. He nearly died bringing it back, only to give it away to after all that trouble?
"Why would he leave this for ?" Wang Jian wondered aloud.
"Maybe he wanted to thank you?" Chairman Kang suggested.
Xu Qian nodded in agreent. "That could be it. Xiao Jian, this Li Long... isn’t he the one who kidnapped Ren Yu?"
Wang Jian nodded and recounted the day’s events to Xu Qian. "If he wanted to thank , he already did. Giving this is a bit much, especially since his dical fees were all paid."
"That’s true, but it’s not impossible for soone to be that grateful," Xu Qian said with a smile, her eyes fixed on the Ginseng King in her hand. A satisfied look filled her eyes. Even the nation’s wealthiest tycoons wouldn’t stay calm upon seeing a Ginseng King of this caliber.
Since ancient tis, herbs like this had been used to save lives, and in an ergency, they could even prolong a life on the brink. When sothing involved matters of life and death, it beca priceless; its exorbitant cost was understandable. Xu Qian’s reasoning was simple and had nothing to do with money. For Wang Jian, this Ginseng King was practically an Immortal Pill. It’s much better off in his hands than with anyone else...
Wang Jian didn’t have Li Long’s contact information and had no way of asking him about it. "In that case, keep it safe and leave it be for now," he said. "I’ll ask Village Chief Li. Maybe he knows how to contact Li Long. I’ll check with him first. Until we’re sure, let’s not do anything with it. This thing is too valuable, and I don’t want any trouble."
He rembered that Li Long was searching for the herb on soone else’s behalf, and he didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble over a plant that was already spoken for.
After they finished eating and returned to their rooms, Angel sent him a ssage outlining the plan she had co up with in the ambulance, including the content they would broadcast.
"I’ve thought it over. The part we film about you will inevitably be different from other village doctors. Since we can’t focus on common problems, we might as well make you appear as impressive as possible. The more impressive, the better, so you can be held up as a model," Angel explained via the ssaging app. Her original proposal to the TV station had been to genuinely docunt the dical conditions in mountain villages and the various problems the locals faced. The goal was to draw social attention, much like a poverty alleviation docuntary.
But after they started filming, they realized Wang Jian was an anomaly. His skills seed to surpass even those in first-tier cities, which threw their docuntary off-topic. If his skills were rely average, their docuntary could have focused on the progress of rural healthcare, but that was clearly no longer appropriate.
So, Angel decided to take an unconventional approach and change their strategy. They would continue to film the stark, real conditions in other mountain villages while highlighting just how exceptional Wang Jian was. The resulting contrast between the two extres would only throw the underlying issues into sharper relief. This approach would create a compelling narrative and also fulfill their political objectives—a perfect solution.
When Angel relayed this idea to the station, it was approved. Since the TV station was on board, Wang Jian had no objections and agreed to the new plan.
「...」
After leaving Paigou Village, Li Long went straight to the City Hospital. Zhao Hu had been placed in a general surgery ward, where examinations confird he was in stable condition.
"Doctor Wang is truly skilled, Brother Long," Zhao Hu said with a smile the mont he saw Li Long. "I had a check-up here, and the doctors all said the sa thing. Other than so significant blood loss, there’s nothing wrong with . They just gave so antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. I’ll be under observation for a night, and if everything looks good, I can be discharged tomorrow. I honestly feel like I didn’t even need to co to the hospital."
"Isn’t that a good thing?" Li Long wasn’t surprised. He had long admired Wang Jian’s dical skills, and this only served as further confirmation. "Xiao Hu, I have sothing to tell you. Don’t take it the wrong way."
"What is it?" Seeing the serious expression on Li Long’s face, Zhao Hu was startled. If not for the sharp pain from his wound, he would have sat straight up.
For n like them, a debt for saving a life was more important than anything, which was why Li Long had given the Ginseng King to Wang Jian. Seeing Zhao Hu looking so energetic, Li Long didn’t hesitate to tell him what he had done with it.
He had expected Zhao Hu to be a little upset, considering he had nearly died for that plant. To Li Long’s relief, however, Zhao Hu didn’t even think twice. "Is that all?"
Zhao Hu breathed a sigh of relief and said nonchalantly, "I was still wondering how to thank Doctor Wang properly. He didn’t hold a grudge against us and even saved our lives before. Now, he’s dragged back from the gates of hell. I’d willingly give my life for him, let alone the Ginseng King."
Li Long laughed. "We brothers think alike. The problem now is that the person who hired us will probably cause trouble."
Zhao Hu grinned. "Don’t worry. We’ll just say we didn’t find it. I almost died, so that should be a good enough excuse. Anyway, they don’t know if we found it or not. They’ll have to take our word for it."
Li Long smiled but said nothing. Zhao Hu is being too naive. What if those people get accurate information from sowhere else? Or what if they send another group and find out it’s gone? When we were digging for it, we confird there wasn’t a second Ginseng King, not even any ordinary ginseng nearby. Maybe it’s true that a mountain can’t harbor two tigers, or perhaps the Ginseng King monopolized all the nutrients.
Li Long couldn’t say for sure, but he recalled that the person who hired him had been certain there was only one Ginseng King there. It’s almost as if that person has been to these mountains before...
His main worry stemd from one mistake: he had taken out the Ginseng King in front of the clinic because of the woman from the TV station. I wasn’t thinking about giving it away back then. In hindsight, I should have been much more careful.
What he didn’t tell Zhao Hu was that since he had dared to give the ginseng away, he was already prepared to face the consequences. He would deal with that person when they ca looking.
He took out his phone and, right there in the hospital room, made a call.
"Hello, Uncle Jiu. My brother and I are down from the mountain."
"But we encountered a huge beast. Zhao Hu almost lost his life. We failed."
There was a mont of silence on the other end before a deep, resonant voice ca through, accompanied by a few soft coughs.
"Alright, I understand. How’s Xiao Hu? Should I send soone to check on him?"
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