Chapter 46: The Medicine Material Conference

  Golden sunlight spills across the land, the scent of medicinal herbs seems to blend into this sunlight, permeating every corner of the small square in the medicinal market.

  Overnight.

  The entire small square has undergone earth-shaking changes.

  At the northernmost end, a temporary wooden platform was set up, and in front of it, dozens of rows of chairs were arranged, with each row having as many as fifty chairs, proving that this place can accommodate one or two thousand people.

  "Every seat is taken? It seems that the number of people who rushed to attend the medicinal material auction is more than what Hong Zhang said!" Zhang Yi, who had rushed to the scene, scanned the crowd with his eyes and finally stood at the edge of a chair, quietly waiting for the start of the medicinal material auction.

  "Zhang Yi, over here."

  A hoarse voice came from the front row of seats.

  Zhang Yi looked around and saw Hong Zhanggui standing up, waving at him, while a young man beside him stood up and left.

  Zhang Yi walked over and sat down in the empty seat, then smiled and said: "Boss Hong, you're already here! What happened to that person who just left?"

  Hong Zhanggui smiled and said: "That's a partner in my store, I let him follow over, just to occupy a position for you. How about it? Old man, I have foresight, right?"

  With gratitude, he glanced at Hong Zhanggui and nodded with a smile.

  His gaze swept across the wooden platform in front of him, looking at the busy workers on it, and a middle-aged man wearing a black suit standing in front of the podium adjusting the audio.

  "Hong boss, when does the auction start?"

  "Easy does it," said Hong Zhanggui with a smile. "The medicine auction has always started at 8:30 in the past, and now it's only 8 o'clock. There should still be half an hour left."

  Zhang Yi smiled and said: "Boss Hong, are you planning to buy some precious medicinal materials at this auction?"

  Hong Zhangguo smiled and said, "I do have a few kinds of precious medicinal materials that I urgently need, but I don't know if they're available! The list of medicinal materials for auction has mostly been released, and I have a copy here, but the names of the top ten most precious medicinal materials haven't been made public yet."

  Zhang Yi exclaimed in surprise: "The list of medicinal herbs for auction has already been released? Can I take a look?"

  Hong Zhang took out three lists of medicinal materials from his pocket and handed them to Zhang Yi, smiling: "Take a look first! If you need any, I can sell them to you."

  Zhang Yi nodded and his eyes scanned over the names of the medicines on the list.

  "What?"

  When he saw the second page, a name of medicine appeared in front of his eyes.

  Calabaza?

  Good heavens!

  Am I seeing things?

  Refine the gourd fruit that can improve the cultivation realm, one of the main medicines? If I buy this gourd fruit and add the purple gold leaf, then I will have two main medicines!

  With excitement in his heart, Zhang Yi quietly read through the list once.

  "How's it going? Do you have the medicine I need?"

  Hong Zhanggui smiled and asked.

  Zhang Yi nodded heavily and said: "There is a possibility. If the auction price isn't high, I'll buy it."

  "Which one?"

  Hong Zhanggui's eyes showed a curious expression as he took over the receipt handed back by Zhang Yi and asked.

  Zhang Yi hesitated for a moment before pointing at the name on the second sheet and saying:

  Calabaza fruit

  Hong Zhangguan looked at Zhang Yi with a strange expression, and sighed: "Do you need it? This calabaza is indeed a precious medicinal material, but its usage is very limited. In traditional Chinese medicine books, it's recorded that it can only be used to nourish the body, replenish blood and energy, and it's not effective in treating any specific diseases. It's really a useless thing among medicinal materials. The kind of people who would be willing to buy this calabaza are probably those who have too much money and nowhere to spend it, and their vital energy is severely depleted."

  Zhang Yi smiled and did not explain the real use of buying this calabaza.

  Half an hour, in the blink of an eye.

  At 8:30, the middle-aged man who was adjusting the audio beside the podium held a microphone and said "Hello" a few times. After finding that the sound was normal, he smiled and scanned the quiet crowd, saying with a smile:

  "I would like to extend my gratitude to all of you for attending this session of the medicinal material auction. I am Wei Feng, the host and also a member of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association. Today, we have many old friends from the traditional Chinese medicine community, as well as many business owners in the medicinal material industry, and also distinguished guests from various fields."

  "I believe everyone's time is precious, so I won't waste any more of your time. It's now 8:30, and I declare the auction for medicinal materials officially open."

  As Wei Feng's voice fell, fireworks exploded around and ribbons fluttered.

  "Now, let's bring out the first medicinal herb for auction, also the main highlight of this auction house... Qilin Grass."

  A young woman wearing a cheongsam, tall and slender, carried a tray covered with yellow silk cloth, walked up to the stage with gentle steps, and placed the tray in front of Wei Feng.

  "Whoa..."

  Almost everyone who came to attend the medicinal material auction stood up, amidst a burst of noise, their eyes fixed on that tray. Even Hong Zhanggui, who was calm by nature and standing next to Zhang Yi, got up with a look of shock on his face.

  Although Zhang Yi did not stand up, his heart was surging with shockwaves, because the Qilin grass was even praised as the "divine grass" in the Chinese medical community, possessing the magical therapeutic effect of reviving the dead and whitening bones.

  In the past, Qilin grass was just a legend, but unexpectedly, this time it's actually going to be auctioned off, and it's even the main event of the Chinese Medicine Conference.

  Turning his head, Zhang Yi's expression froze because he found that Hong Zhanggui's eyes had already turned red and his fists were tightly clenched.

  Zhang Yi reached out and pulled Hong's hand, saying in a low voice: "Hong, are you okay?"

  Hong Zhangguan turned around, took a deep look at Zhang Yi, and sat down, gritting his teeth as he spoke:

  "I'll buy it, I must buy it, even if it means bankrupting myself. No matter the cost."

  Zhang Yi's heart skipped a beat, and a strange color flashed in the bottom of his eyes. He asked in a low voice: "Does your old man need this Qilin grass?"

  Boss Hong's voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth: "Eighteen years ago, my old brother, who grew up with me since childhood, fell off a cliff to save me when we went deep into the mountains and forests to find medicinal herbs. Fortunately, he had a big life and wasn't killed by the fall, but he was disabled for life and has been bedridden all these years, unable to even use a wheelchair. I must buy this qilin grass to cure his paralysis."

  Zhang Yi's heart thumped a few times, and his eyes showed a few more points of respect. The old man did not forget the life-saving kindness, for the sake of his old brother, he was willing to risk everything, this strong friendship and kindness moved him.

  "Hong Guan, I still have 240 million here. If you don't have enough money, I can lend it to you." Zhang Yi said in a low voice.

  Boss Hong's expression was stunned for a moment, then he turned his head and looked at Zhang Yi deeply, nodding silently and muttering: "Good kid..."

  Wei Feng, on the stage, briefly introduced the Qilin Grass and then said loudly with some excitement: "I announce that the base price of this Qilin Grass is 300 million. Each bid must not be less than 10 million. The auction begins now."

  "Forty million..."

  A loud voice came from the crowd.

  However, except for a few people who turned their heads to glance at him, others simply ignored him, and the successive quotations that followed pushed the atmosphere directly to its climax.

  "Forty-two million!"

  "Forty-five million!"

  "Five hundred million!"

  "Sixty million..."

  "Eight hundred million..."

  “……”

  When the bidding figure soared to 880 million, the number of bidders was reduced by more than half.

  "One hundred million!"

  Hong Zhang said loudly.

  His quotation attracted almost everyone's attention.

  "One billion one hundred million!"

  Another middle-aged man turned his head and glanced at Hong Zhanggui before opening his mouth to shout.

  "Two hundred million!"

  Hong Zhanggui didn't give anyone else a chance to speak up and directly quoted loudly.

  "Hiss..."

  Everyone present, whether the auctioneer or the Chinese medicine practitioners, merchants, tycoons and celebrities from all walks of life, couldn't help but take a cold breath.

  Two hundred million to buy Kylin grass, in their hearts it's not a lot, Kylin grass is absolutely worth this price. What shocked them was the number of price increases by Boss Hong.

  The middle-aged man's eyes also showed a hint of hesitation, and he looked at Boss Hong again. His lips moved for a moment before shouting out: "Two billion one hundred million!"

  "Three hundred million!"

  As his voice fell, Boss Hong shouted loudly without hesitation.

  "Whoa..."

  The crowd was in an uproar, and everyone at this moment couldn't describe their emotions. It's too unbelievable, even if the Kirin grass is expensive, it shouldn't be to this extent, right? After all, it's just a medicinal herb, and before this, it had only been passed down through legend, without anyone actually using it, its effects were only recorded in traditional Chinese medicine books, but nobody has ever seen its actual therapeutic effect.

  What if what's recorded in medical books is wrong? Wouldn't that be a fatal mistake?

  No one bid again, and even the middle-aged man who had just raised the price by one million yuan shook his head and gave up quietly.

  As the host of the auction, Wei Feng did not expect that the first auction would be so popular, and the price of the Qilin grass would reach 300 million.

  The highest bidder gets the auctioned item.

  Because no one was willing to bid again, that stalk of Kylin grass was finally taken in by Hong Zhuangui at a sky-high price of 300 million.

  "I'll go and take care of the backroom transaction. Keep an eye on things here for me." Boss Hong, his face flushed with excitement, stood up and said to Zhang Yi.

  "Don't worry!" Zhang Yi said with a smile.

  Next, several other medicinal materials were auctioned off in a row, but the prices compared to Kirin grass were simply worlds apart. The highest price for one of the best medicinal materials was only over 10 million, and the cheapest one was only sold for a few hundred thousand.

  As the crowd gathered around grew larger, one of the young men spotted the empty space next to Zhang Yi and strode over.

  "Sorry, someone's already here. He's gone to the back office for a transaction and will be right back." Zhang Yi stood up and blocked the way.

  The young man glanced at Zhang Yi with a slanted gaze, took off the black sunglasses on his face, let out a cold hum, and sat down on Hong's chair with a plop.

  Zhang Yi frowned: "Get up, leave me alone."

  "Shut up and get out of here if you don't want to die, scram!"

  Zhang Yi's eyes turned cold, and he reached out to grab the other person's shoulder. With a huge force, he lifted him up and walked towards the outside.

  "Bang......"

  He walked out of the chair and threw him on the ground like trash, then turned around and returned to his seat.