Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fellow Traveler

  In the luxurious office, Xu Xiang held a cigar and lay on the leather chair, staring at a map of South China through the smoke.

  Xu Xiang was fifty years old, born with a fat head and big ears, his belly bulged out, but what was inside this bulging belly wasn't a fool, but rather the shrewdness of a businessman.

  At the age of fifty, Xu Xiang no longer liked women, not even young girls in their teens. He was also no longer infatuated with luxury cars and fine wine. What moved him were power and money.

  "In less than five years, this place will all be mine," Xu Xiang exhaled a mouthful of smoke, deeply intoxicated, a ring of smoke enveloping the entire southern six provinces of Huaxia. "Xu Haitian, you've really gotten old. As a businessman, of course you're only out for profit, but unfortunately, you're getting more and more muddled."

  "Knock knock knock..."

  The office door rang up.

  Xu Xiang didn't change his posture, he simply ordered: "Come in."

  The door opened and a middle-aged man in his mid-30s walked in, with a few rays of calm light shining from behind his yellow glasses.

  His name is Duan Buwen, although his name means "unstable", but Duan Buwen handles things in a very stable manner.

  "They've all been investigated, and the entourage includes a full-time driver, a pharmacy warehouse manager, and two truck drivers. These four people are ordinary people, oh, that full-time driver has some special relationship with Miss Xu." Duan Wen stood in front of the office desk, reporting in a low voice.

  Duan is unreliable in handling matters, but Xu Xiang has always been very reassured.

  "What's the relationship?" Xǔ Xiáng exhaled a ring of smoke.

  "That driver's name is Song Jian, also the man who has a marriage agreement with Miss Xu." Duan explained.

  He nodded, Xu Xiang sat up, extinguished his cigar in the ashtray and put it on the table. He patted his forehead and said, "This move is very risky, I'm afraid it will bring trouble. That old thing, Xu Haitian, I understand him best, his feelings for Xu Si are greater than the interests of the Xu Group."

  Duan stood still in front of the office desk, speechless.

  "How much confidence do you have in success?" Xuxiang asked, "I mean quietly, so that no one can see."

  Duan unstable pushed his glasses and said: "President Xu, I have a 95% guarantee. If I make another move, how about it?"

  When Duan Buwen said that, Xu Xiang's face revealed a smile. "Alright, remember, your hands and feet must be clean, don't leave any tails or doubts. Oh, also beware of the bodyguards secretly sent by that old thing, Xu Haitian."

  "Yes, Director Xu." Duan turned around and left the office.

  Xu Xiang lay on the leather chair, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

  Song Jian drove his small Ford towards Zhejiang Province, Suzhou City is not far from Zhejiang Province, and Xu Si's destination this time was Xilong Mountain outside Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

  Cuscuta is a physiologically peculiar parasitic plant, whose cells lack chloroplasts. It uses its climbing stem to attach itself to other plants and sends out sharp thorns that penetrate the host all the way to the phloem, absorbing nutrients to sustain life, and further storing them as starch grains in its tissues.

  So the host is different, and the composition of Tribulus terrestris will also be very different.

  Near Xilong Mountain, the wild June snow is everywhere, and the Cuscuta that parasitizes on the June snow has a particularly high content of Cuscutin. In addition, the June snow is also a commonly used Chinese medicine, which has the effect of relieving liver and activating blood circulation, so the Cuscuta that parasitizes on the June snow is much better than the one that parasitizes on soybeans.

  It was precisely because of the good quality of Cuscuta in Xilong Mountain that Xu Sicai decided to bring people to Xilong Mountain to collect these wild Cuscuta.

  At the end of a small highway ahead, a black BMW X6 SUV was parked across the road.

  Song Jian pressed the horn.

  Xu Si also looked at this magnificent car with a puzzled expression, unable to understand what the driver was going to do.

  Song Jian's car stopped, and the door of the BMW SUV on the other side also opened. A man in his thirties, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, got out. It was actually Wang Yang.

  Wang Yang tidied up his clothes and walked straight towards Song Jian's car, arriving at the passenger seat, where he knocked on the window.

  Xu Si looked at Wang Yang with some impatience and then rolled down half of the car window.

  "Think about it, I heard you're going to Zhejiang Province on a business trip. That's great, I also plan to go there to take care of some things. Why don't we go together?" Wang Yang said with a smile.

  Xu Si nodded.

  Wang Yang, however, took a step and strode to the rear door, pulled it open, and directly got into Song Jian's Ford car.

  After Wang Yang got on the car, the BMW X6 also turned around and cleared a path.

  Song Jian glanced at Wang Yang through the rearview mirror and didn't think much of it, then stepped on the gas pedal and headed towards Hangzhou.

  Xu Si was somewhat impatient, she didn't expect that Wang Yang's suggestion of going together meant taking her own car.

  "Your company is really thrifty," Wang Yang said with a smile after getting in the car and taking a look at the small Ford.

  Xu Si murmured "uh-huh", while Song Jian completely ignored him.

  The journey from Suzhou to Hangzhou takes about two hours, during which Wang Yang chatted tirelessly with Xu Si, who simply responded perfunctorily, while Song Jian remained silent.

  Wang Yang didn't think much of it either. He had no idea about the relationship between Song Jian and Xu Si, and still thought that Song Jian was just an ordinary full-time driver.

  Arrived in Hangzhou, just in time for lunch.

  Wang Yang naturally took the opportunity to express himself and immediately brought everyone to Xizi Building, the most famous building in Hangzhou, for a meal.

  In the private room, Song Jian, Xu Si and two truck drivers, a warehouse manager, Wang Yang and his two bodyguards, eight people sat around the table, enjoying the beautiful scenery of West Lake outside the building while savoring the unique Hangzhou cuisine.

  Those two truck drivers were temporarily hired by Xu, and they didn't expect that coming to Hangzhou to transport goods would also come with such benefits. The two drivers ate and drank heartily while secretly thinking that if there were some accompanying ladies, it would be even better.

  After dinner, Song Jian drove his car and arrived at Huqingyutang on Hefang Street.

  In the north, there is Tongrentang, and in the south, there is Huqingyutang. Although the brand of Huqingyutang has declined somewhat, its headquarters, where Hu Xueyan originally founded Huqingyutang, He Fang Jie's Huqingyutang, still has great appeal.

  They arrived at Huqingyutang and Song Jian and Xu Si went straight to the Chinese medicine store.

  Huqingyutang's scale is very large, the front is a place for registration and diagnosis, more like a small hospital, while the back is a row of wooden buildings, these wooden buildings are all left by Hu Xueyan, a famous red-top businessman in late Qing Dynasty.

  Wang Yang followed beside Xu Si, very dissatisfied with Song Jian's attitude. A driver, how can he walk shoulder to shoulder with his own boss? The difference in status is too great.

  Song Jian was not concerned about Wang Yang's attitude, he wanted to see if there were any good medicinal materials in Huqingyutang, as a well-known old-brand pharmacy comparable to Tongrentang, it must have some good medicinal materials hidden inside.

  A salesgirl led Song Jian, Xu Si and Wang Yang to the second floor of the wooden building, where hundreds of medicinal materials were placed inside, and indeed they were all of high quality.

  Song Jian swept his eyes and quickly locked in several rare Chinese medicines, such as 30-year-old authentic Sanqi, Snow Lotus with very little impurities, and now rarely seen high-altitude wild Cordyceps sinensis. In addition, there were also many stocks of Safflower, natural Cow Bezoar, and Musk in this store.

  Pulling Xu Si to one side, Song Jian said in a low voice, "Let's discuss this, those medicinal materials are very rare, let's buy them first and use them when we need them later."

  Xu Si looked at Song Jian with a puzzled expression, "How did you know?"

  Song Jian patted his own chest and said, "The next step of the plan is already clear in my mind, of course I know."

  Xu Si nodded.

  Song Jian's 400 million have already been used to buy shares, so in order to buy these things, he had no choice but to ask Xu Si for instructions.

  Xu Si followed Song Jian's instructions and found the salesgirl, pointing at over a dozen medicines, saying: "How much for these?"

  The salesgirl looked at Xu Si for a moment, then hastily said: "I'll go call the manager."

  These medicines are not cheap, and the prices that Xu Si mentioned are all mid-to-high-end, so the total amount is still a lot.

  Soon, a man in his thirties wearing a suit walked over and bowed to Xu Si, saying: "Miss, are you sure you want to buy these medicines?"

  Xu Si nodded.

  The manager quickly calculated the price and said: "Miss, since these medicines are relatively rare, the price is a bit more expensive."

  Wang Yang, who was standing aside, lost his patience. He looked down on these messy traditional Chinese medicines and shouted at the manager: "How much is it? Just say the price directly! Are you afraid we can't afford to pay the bill?"

  The manager looked at Wang Yang and said: "A total of 13.6 million."

  Wang Yang was startled, although over a million wasn't much to him, but seeing these traditional Chinese medicines were worth such a high price, he couldn't help but curse: "You're cheating us, aren't you? Taking us for fools."

  The manager looked at Wang Yang with some disdain.

  Xu Si didn't expect it to cost so much, she looked at Song Jian and saw that he didn't have any expression, so she could only say: "That, can you make it cheaper? We really need these medicines sincerely."

  The manager shook his head bluntly and said, "Sorry, at this price, we won't lower it, nor will we force anyone to buy, lest someone say we're cheating people."

  Wang Yang's face turned pale.

  "Okay, then at this price, help me pack it up, where do I pay?"

  Wang Yang saw that Xu Si was really going to buy it, thinking that Xu Si needed these medicines very much. At this time, it was the time to show off, and Wang Yang couldn't back down. Moreover, he couldn't bear the contemptuous gaze of the manager, as he was also a proud heir of the Hongyuan Group, and this amount of money was nothing in his eyes.

  "Let me, let me," Wang Yang stretched out a hand and stopped Xu Si.

  "Please this way, sir," said the salesgirl, pointing the direction with her hand.

  Wang Yang blocked Xu Si and insisted on going to pay the bill, following the salesgirl.

  Song Jian touched his head and walked to Xu Si's side, asking: "Is he pursuing you?"

  Xu Si gave Song Jian a glance.

  "Will you follow him once he pays this one million?"

  Xu Si raised her hand and gently patted Song Jian's shoulder.

  Song Jian smiled and said: "Actually I was thinking of asking him for the fare, since he voluntarily paid for the medicine, I won't charge him the fare."

  Xu thought for a moment and said, "I'll just say these medicines are health products sent to Grandfather, so even if we owe him a favor, it's Grandfather who owes it, nothing to do with us."

  After finishing speaking, both of them laughed softly at the same time.

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  Haha, Chinese New Year is coming soon! I wish everyone a good mood here. This update makes up for yesterday's, and there will be more tonight.