Christopher ignored the shop assistant; instead, he made his way directly to the front desk. “Excuse me; do you purchase ginseng here?” he asked after glancing at the young man who was dozing off at the front desk. The man was in a stupor but Christopher’s question shocked him. He rubbed his eyes while glancing at the latter in annoyance. After that, he spat, “We do not take artificially cultivated ginseng, nor do we accept anything less than 20 years old. We only purchase old wild ginseng.” Christopher was not deterred by the young man’s horrible attitude and he proceeded to open the wooden box before placing it on the counter. After that, he stated calmly, “I am selling old wild ginseng.” The sudden fragrance woke the sleepy young man immediately. He looked surprised as he gave Christopher a once-over and he seemed shocked that a shabby-looking man, who looked as though he was from the streets, managed to present an old wild ginseng. With that thought, the young man looked into the box that was in Christopher’s hands. However, after giving it a glance, his expression turned contemptuous.“You call this old? Did you say that this is wild ginseng?” The young man mocked Christopher while staring at him incredulously. “What is it? Is there a problem?” Christopher asked. “Of course there is!” The young man muttered, “Well, I think you must have lost your mind from wanting to get rich. Who do you think we are? This is the Myriad Pharmacy! How dare you try cheating us by using this useless artificially cultivated junk? I can’t believe you claimed that this is an old ginseng! I think you must be insane! You had better get lost. Don’t disrupt our business here.” Antiques are not the only field with fake items. Similarly, there are such incidents in the medicine field too. In any case, his fake ginseng has been crudely made. Did he assume that he has a good ginseng just because of its fragrance and convincing appearance? Tsk! Young man, you are too naïve. Upon hearing that, Christopher was stunned into silence for a while. “Are you calling this useless junk without even checking it?” “Do I even need to look at it?” The young man chuckled. “Your ginseng has a perfect appearance and the fragrance is too intense. Besides, it’s not even broken in the least. Are you pulling my leg by saying that it's wild ginseng? Do you know how much a gram costs for this type of wild ginseng with such an appearance? You’d be able to purchase our entire pharmacy with it. You know what? You should leave right now; otherwise, I will get someone to throw you out onto the streets.” Christopher did not expect that the wild ginseng he had could be judged as artificially cultivated due to reasons such as having an intense fragrance and looking too good to be true. Feeling rather helpless, he turned around to leave and prepared to try his luck at another shop. However, just then, an old man walked down the stairs. He had white hair and a beard, and he was clad in a long robe “What is all the ruckus about?” the old man asked in a grave tone. “Mr. Llyod!” The young man was very respectful to the elderly man despite being scornful toward Christopher. Mr. Llyod grunted and he nodded his head upon arriving. “What happened?” he asked again. The young man smiled while answering him, “Nothing; he’s just a swindler. He has an artificially cultivated ginseng but he’s claiming that it's wild. I was just throwing him out.” Upon hearing that, Mr. Llyod merely chuckled without commenting further. Recently, the medicinal market has been doing well, so there is a natural increase in the number of swindlers. We come across this type of people trying their luck almost on a daily basis. Some masters in other pharmacies may be mistaken and they may purchase fake goods, but this will never happen at Myriad Pharmacy—not on Declan Llyod’s watch! Nevertheless, just as Declan was about to head upstairs to wash his hands of this matter, he was astounded all of a sudden. He turned around abruptly to look at Christopher’s wooden box that was still opened on the counter as he stared at its contents in disbelief. … Currently at the VIP room in Myriad Pharmacy’s second floor, Declan, Christopher and the young man, who accused Christopher’s wild ginseng as an artificially cultivated specimen, were not the only ones present. Almost every noteworthy pharmacy owner of the Ancient Medic Street was present. Presently, they were all gathered around the small wooden box. “Mr. Cannes, Mr. Zach and the rest, you have all seen it in person. Have you gauged the age of this ginseng?” Declan asked. “It’s hard to tell.” The old man, whom Declan addressed as Mr. Cannes, took off his reading glasses while he commented, “I have been in the medicine business for my whole life, but I honestly can’t gauge the age of this ginseng.” “Mr. Zach, you are a professional. What is your opinion?” Declan spoke to the old man named Mr. Zach, since Mr. Cannes was stumped regarding the ginseng’s age. Mr. Zach, on the other hand, seemed to be conflicted when he heard Declan’s question. He scowled deeply in silence for the longest time before finally answering him, “I can’t be sure about the exact age, but I can confirm that this is an authentic wild ginseng and it is definitely more than 200 years old!” In regards to judging a ginseng’s age, there was a saying which went along the lines of ‘a stalk in a year’. However, once the ginseng grew out of its rounded stalk and it became more than 15 years old, it would be very difficult to judge its age based on its stalk. One would have to analyze a ginseng’s general features and gauge its age based on one’s experience. The old man named Mr. Zach was voicing his opinion based on the latter. Besides, he was one of the best professionals in the field, so the ginseng must be at least 200 years old if he claimed that that was the case. “200 years old?” The crowd appeared shocked upon hearing that announcement. Forget about a 200-year-old wild ginseng, because even a 100-year-old or even a 50-year-old ginseng were rare treasures. “Great! This is wonderful!” Declan clapped his hands upon hearing Mr. Zach’s appraisal. I know that this ginseng is the real deal, which is why I summoned the experts from the Ancient Medic Street to have a look at it. However, it has exceeded my expectations of how precious this is. It is a wild ginseng that is more than 200 years old and it looks good. Furthermore, it is large and it is absolutely entitled to be the shop’s representative piece. And so, Declan made up his mind to purchase it, regardless of the cost. “Young man, are you planning on selling this ginseng since you’re here at Myriad Pharmacy?” Declan asked Christopher while suppressing his excitement. “Well, I was planning on doing that earlier but I have changed my mind now,” Christopher answered while grinning at Declan. “You don’t plan on selling it now? Why?” Declan started panicking when he heard that Christopher wasn’t planning on selling the ginseng. “Is it because of the way Jack neglected you earlier? Don’t worry about that. I will get him to apologize to you immediately.”“Jack!” With that, Declan turned around to summon the young man named Jack as he glared at the latter seriously. Jack, on the other hand, was astounded at this point. How could I have known that something I assumed as being worthless is actually a wild ginseng that is more than 200 years old? Furthermore, the appearance is superb, no less. There is a saying that goes ‘Gold has a price but great ginseng is priceless.’ It seems like my casual comment claiming that he would be able to purchase our entire pharmacy with his ginseng is about to come true now. Naturally, Jack did not dare go against Declan’s command. Hence, he apologized to Christopher sincerely and respectfully. “I’m sorry.”