When Bai Jiu saw Brother Ming—whom she had met earlier today—she stepped out from the side.
"You’re quite punctual." Her sudden appearance instantly put Brother Ming’s men on high alert.
When the beams of their flashlights hit her, Brother Ming immediately raised his hand, signaling his men to lower their weapons.
"I wouldn’t dare miss our appointment," Brother Ming said with a smile as he stepped forward.
Bai Jiu nodded to herself. She thought that he was indeed a seasoned businessman; despite his youth, he perfectly embodied the most important principle of business: integrity.
"Go check the goods," she said. Since the items were numerous and diverse, it was a good thing he had brought plenty of men. Otherwise, who knew how long the inspection would take.
Brother Ming waved his hand, immediately dispatching his men to inspect the goods. Naturally, he couldn’t help but quicken his own pace as well. There was so much merchandise. Even though his boss could procure these items from elsewhere, the middleman markups would be significantly higher than this deal’s direct price.
The men Brother Ming had brought were all experts, inspecting and recording everything simultaneously. Whenever they spotted something excellent, they would let out a gasp of surprise. Fortunately, they knew this was an illicit trade, so they kept their voices low.
About an hour later, all the men reported back to Brother Ming.
Bai Jiu stood quietly to the side, watching them. She was munching on an apple. Compared to the busy men, she was noticeably much more relaxed. However, it was a bit cold, so she stomped her feet to stay warm.
Seeing this, Brother Ming let out a genuine smile and walked over to her.
"Ma’am, we’ve finished inspecting the goods. While the total value hasn’t quite reached a million, it’s not too far off. Shall we proceed with the transaction now?" Brother Ming could hardly wait. There were so many excellent items in the stash; it was incredibly tempting.
"Sure. What’s the total price you’ve calculated?" Bai Jiu asked, tossing away her apple core.
"Because the goods are of such high quality..." Brother Ming began, extending an olive branch. He couldn’t afford to offend such a capable person, as he was already looking forward to their next trade. "I’ll raise the price on our end a bit as a gesture of goodwill for future cooperation. Let’s call it a total of eight hundred and fifty thousand." He visibly winced in pain after quoting the number, then asked nervously, "But I wonder, Ma’am, if you’d be willing to accept some items in exchange, in addition to cash?"
His boss had mentioned this possibility before he came. They had money, but definitely not enough—nobody had expected there to be this much merchandise. Given their daily intake of goods, they simply didn’t have enough cash on hand.
Bai Jiu hadn’t expected Brother Ming to bring this up.
"Tell me more," she said without objecting. She hadn’t expected that liquidating her entire inventory would only recoup a third of its original value. She sighed inwardly, lamenting the massive price disparity between eras. Fortunately, money in this era held great purchasing power.
"We have a batch of premium gold and some precious medicinal herbs. Could we use them to offset a portion of the payment?" Brother Ming asked apprehensively.
Upon hearing this, Bai Jiu frowned. She hadn’t expected the opportunity to come so quickly. She had previously planned to collect some medicinal herbs and hoard them in her spatial dimension. Items stored in her space wouldn’t lose their medicinal properties, and they would be considered absolute treasures in future generations. She just hadn’t expected the chance to present itself before she even took action.
Seeing her remain silent with a conflicted expression, Brother Ming grew even more anxious.
"I wonder if that would be acceptable," he pressed after a long pause. "Of course, if it’s inconvenient, we can still do a cash transaction. It’s just... we don’t have enough cash," he admitted sheepishly.
Bai Jiu looked up at the young man standing before her. "It’s not inconvenient, but did you bring them with you?" she asked softly, though she didn’t hide the displeasure on her face.
"Yes, we did! They are all top-tier goods. Whether it’s the gold or the herbs, I brought the absolute best." Brother Ming had originally thought he wouldn’t be able to barter these items away; this was a pleasant surprise.
The truth was, apart from premium ginseng, medicinal herbs really weren’t worth much these days. But since their big boss had given the order, they had no choice but to collect them. Even though the buying price was low, the sheer volume was overwhelming. As a result, a significant amount of their money and grain had been tied up in stockpiles of herbs, antiques, and gold.
This time, his boss had instructed him to see if he could trade these items away. If not, they would just drop the matter. Brother Ming was determined not to let his boss down.
"Let’s look at the goods first," she said. No matter what, inspecting the items was the priority.
"Alright," Brother Ming replied happily, ordering his subordinates to bring the items over.
When they arrived, they pushed forward five handcarts loaded with woven bags. The bags contained not only the cash but also the items he had brought for the exchange.
Seeing this commotion, Bai Jiu immediately understood—they had come fully prepared.
"Heh, you came quite well-prepared," she remarked. No matter how thrilled she was on the inside, she kept her face completely impassive.
Brother Ming looked momentarily embarrassed. "Please inspect the goods," he said, quickly regaining his composure.
Bai Jiu personally inspected the medicinal herbs. They were indeed of good quality and formed quite a complete assortment, though none of them were particularly precious. The more she looked, the deeper her frown became.
"Just this? That’s a bit unreasonable," Bai Jiu said, stopping after checking a few bags.
Brother Ming knew exactly what caliber of goods he had initially presented. He just hadn’t expected this lady to actually know her herbs.
"Of course, we have better stuff." This time, he personally went to fetch a few specific bags. The moment he opened them, a strong, rich medicinal fragrance wafted through the air.
Upon seeing the contents, Bai Jiu finally put away her displeased expression.
"Not bad. Although they aren’t that old, the quantity is impressive. It seems your business network is quite extensive," she noted. An entire bag was filled exclusively with ginseng. The youngest roots were only around ten years old, while the oldest reached a hundred years. This was undeniably attractive to Bai Jiu.
"There’s more." Seeing her smile, Brother Ming breathed a sigh of relief and brought out another bag.
Inside was a loose assortment of Lingzhi. Although not as voluminous as the ginseng, the variety of the Lingzhi was incredibly complete. They had nearly all types of Five Elements Ganoderma.
"It seems you have an expert in your ranks. This is a very comprehensive collection," she praised.
Brother Ming was now thoroughly impressed by her discerning eye. After all, these herbs had been specially prepared by Elder Zheng, who had been very reluctant to part with them for this trade.
"You flatter us," he replied humbly.
"Alright, these herbs pass muster. However, as for the gold, you and I both know it’s not worth much these days." Bai Jiu clapped her hands together, seemingly indifferent to the gold she hadn’t even looked at yet.
Brother Ming didn’t waste words and presented the goods.
They were all small gold bars. Admittedly, the sight of them was quite visually striking. Several bags were filled to the brim.
"Are these all gold too?" Bai Jiu asked, looking at the unopened bags—which outnumbered those containing the herbs. She grew a bit dissatisfied. She had an actual use for the medicinal herbs, but no matter how much gold there was, it wasn’t as valuable to her. She still remembered her long-term goal. Having worked in surgery for so long in her past life, she planned to pivot toward traditional Chinese medicine research this time around. Thus, medicinal herbs were her true foundation.
As she spoke, Bai Jiu opened the remaining bags.
When she saw what was inside, she was left speechless.
In this era, the most worthless items were antiques. Since arriving in this world, she had thought about finding a few to keep as family heirlooms, but she had never found the time, the connections, or the luck to do so. She never expected them to simply be delivered right to her doorstep.
Seeing the contents of the bags, Brother Ming felt somewhat embarrassed. Having navigated the market for so long, he knew full well how worthless these items currently were.