Chapter 628: Light and Darkness
“You know them?” Everyone simultaneously looked at the girl in surprise.
“No, I don’t,” Su Qingxue drew herself back and shook her head. “I just think their figures are easier to recognize.”
Everyone s.h.i.+fted their gaze back on the photos again.
A storm began brewing in Su Qingxue’s heart!
It was them! It was them!
She never expected that the person she met during the journey was Miracle Doctor Y. If she had known earlier, she would have done her best to foster a good relations.h.i.+p with him.
Su Qingxue’s heart was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. A person like him had appeared in front of her, but she missed the opportunity completely.
Then, her gaze became conflicted yet again. Did that guy not know that being high profile would only bring disaster onto himself? She had already advised him to be cautious in their area because the people there were different.
She immediately thought of Ye Lingchen’s boasting and shook her head without realizing it. He was probably still quite young, hence his conceitedness.
…
In addition to the Mo and Su family, other families also kept a close watch on the developments, staring at Ye Lingchen as if looking at a big fat sheep. He was practically a human-shaped money printing machine!
At night, Ye Lingchen took the time to check his popularity value. As expected, it had skyrocketed from the original two million to more than 13 million!
An increase of 11 million was only the beginning. The news was not that widely known among foreign people yet, and when it finally spread, his popularity would probably double!
Sure enough, achievements that had a direct impact on the world was the easiest shortcut to increase his popularity.
Ding-dong!
His phone lit up slightly along with the WeChat notification tone.
The sender was Su Qingxue.
She hesitated for a long time, but in the end, she decided to remind Ye Lingchen.
[You’re Miracle Doctor Y!]
[Mm.] Ye Lingchen replied casually.
[Run, now! You can’t stay here anymore!] Su Qingxue responded extremely quickly.
[May I remind you that things are a mess here!]
[The people here are very powerful. You can’t handle it even with that big guy at your side!]
[Many people are surely eyeing you already!]
Before Ye Lingchen could reply, a few more messages appeared in an instant. Ye Lingchen was briefly taken aback as her typing speed was enough to make her a keyboard warrior.
[What else can they do other than eye me? Modern society is ruled by law now.] Ye Lingchen replied very naively.
[It’s different!] Su Qingxue was at a loss for words. [It doesn’t matter, just listen to what I say and run away tonight, otherwise it’ll be too late!]
Ye Lingchen c.o.c.ked a brow. In fact, he did sense a rather different vibe to the place. Tourists could be distinguished from the locals at a glance because the former was obviously much more fas.h.i.+onable, while the latter dressed more commonly in coa.r.s.e linen.
He wanted to ask Su Qingxue exactly what was different, but Su Qingxue did not respond. He was unsure whether she was worried or had already fallen asleep.
He smiled, switched his phone to silent, and fell asleep peacefully.
Whatever the difference was, our prodigy was not afraid of it—such was his confidence.
In the early morning, Ye Lingchen and Ali began their exploration. The Sichuan-Tibet region was most renowned for its various medicinal materials, such as saffron, caterpillar fungus, and tubers from orchids of the genus Gymnadenia.
Fundamentally speaking, they were all nouris.h.i.+ng medicines with widespread claims that those herbs could treat this and that. For example, saffron tea was said to promote blood circulation, dispel negative energy, and relieve pain. It was also used to treat depression, chest and diaphragm tightness, blood in vomit, typhoid fever, panic attacks, women’s amenorrhea, blood impurities, irregular menstruation, inexhaustible postpartum lochia, blood stasis and pain, measles, bruises, and many others.
Meanwhile, Gymnadenia tubers were supposed to be good for men. In short, it could be treated as an aphrodisiac.
Many tourist buses stopped in front of the shopping mall. The pa.s.sengers got off one after another and made for a very bustling scene. Everyone looked left and right, and most of them would end up buying some medicines. Those who were reluctant would later be swayed after hearing people explain the effects and benefits of those medicines. Despite the hesitation, they would still buy some to bring home for their parents or children.
Ye Lingchen wandered around and went to three different shopping malls in a row. Still, he frowned slightly because those herbs were what he had thought.
It was much more…inferior!
Though it was inaccurate to say that it was completely fake, the efficacy of the herbs on sale was greatly reduced. To put it bluntly, it was all a scam.
There was no use for him to buy those medications since it could not be grown either.
At that moment, a middle-aged man wearing brown linen clothes walked toward him. His face was as sharp as a knife and his eyes glistened, suggesting that he was a martial artist.
“Are these drugs not agreeable to Mr. Y’s discerning eyes?” The middle-aged man forced a smile and went straight to the subject.
Ye Lingchen nodded without speaking.
It was not uncommon for him to cause such a scene and it was not difficult for anyone to recognize him, especially with his and Ali’s special outfit.
“If Mr. Y wants to find medicinal materials, you might as well come with me.” The middle-aged man looked at Ye Lingchen, then added, “The herbs displayed for the outside world are mere defective products. They’re used just to t.i.tillate tourists from all over the world. The truly effective ones won’t be shown to everyone, of course.”
In fact, herbs were scarce and difficult to grow, especially precious ones like saffron. It therefore did not make sense that so many were sold to the public.
“Sure!” Ye Lingchen responded curtly and began walking with the middle-aged man.
The two of them did not walk out of the mall, but instead went to the back door that was guarded by security. Pus.h.i.+ng the door open, they then walked down the stairs.
During the entire process, the middle-aged man’s eyes landed on Ali—more than once—with a touch of scrutiny.
“In fact, the real trading takes place underground. It’s generally only open to special, wealthy businessmen or people in the medical industry. There are many precious medicinal materials, as well as secret pharmaceutical recipes, and even rare herbs,” the middle-aged man explained as they walked.
“Rare herbs?” Ye Lingchen asked doubtfully.
“Yes! Ginseng half-a-century old has appeared here! Such medicinal materials could be met but not sought out, and they exist only in legend,” the middle-aged man replied.
It was a long way down the staircase, which was equivalent to about the length of an ordinary flight of two-story stairs. Finally, Ye Lingchen saw the so-called underground trading place.
The whole underground was renovated into a huge hall. Inside, people from distant places gathered noisily. The crowd was huge and consisted of people that hailed from all around the world. Blond Europeans and Americans were there, as well as dark-skinned Southeast Asians. Ye Lingchen also saw several people like himself who had partic.i.p.ated in the International Medical a.s.sociation.
Those who were allowed there were either rich or n.o.ble, all of whom were extraordinary individuals that opened up Ye Lingchen’s worldview.
He remembered reading a pa.s.sage before he obtained the system, ‘There are two sides in this world, one bright and the other dark. The bright side shown in front of ordinary people is just the tip of the iceberg.’
As Ye Lingchen matured, the darker side finally began to reveal itself…