Chapter 343: Ganging Up on Someone

Upon entering, they discovered it was indeed a large store, with a vast selection of goods and quite a few people inside.

As soon as Li Yang and the others entered, Zhong Lin immediately stepped forward. “We’d like to buy some wild ginseng seeds…”

But the man just glanced at them and said with a smile, “Sorry, we’re all sold out of wild ginseng seeds!”

Zhong Lin was stunned. “Sold out? A store this big is sold out? They weren’t sold out when I asked yesterday. In fact, they said you had plenty in stock.”

“Well, yesterday was yesterday. Today, they’re all gone. Sorry about that.”

Zhong Lin was at a loss.

“The wild ginseng seeds are right over there. How can you say you’re sold out?” Li Yang suddenly asked calmly, pointing to a specific spot.

The manager walked out and said with a smile, “My apologies, but those have already been reserved. Why don’t you all come back another time?”

“In that case, I’d like to buy some Forest Ginseng seeds…” Li Yang said.

“Those are sold out too!”

“And Tianma?”

“Sold out…”

…

At this point, Zhong Lin started to realize what was happening. This wasn’t about being sold out; they were clearly just giving them a hard time.

He was getting furious, but he couldn’t quite figure out why.

“There’s no need to do business like this, is there, Manager?” Li Yang had already considered a certain possibility. ‘Perhaps the people here are very tight-knit, and I’ve probably ended up on their blacklist.’

To put it nicely, they were united. To be blunt, they were in cahoots.

“I’m not sure what you mean, sir,” the manager said, still smiling, but inwardly he was full of contempt.

‘How I conduct myself is none of your business. All I know is that you’re in for a tough time, because no one here is going to sell you a thing.’

“You really don’t have any?” Li Yang asked again, his tone serious.

“I’m sorry, we really don’t. Why don’t you try looking somewhere else?” After saying this, the manager turned and walked away, clearly unwilling to speak another word to Li Yang.

Li Yang nodded.

“Damn it, what kind of way is that to do business?” Zhong Lin was furious.

He had actually been here many times. It was his suggestion that they come here for Li Yang to buy ginseng seeds. He never expected something like this to happen, and he naturally felt quite embarrassed in front of Li Yang.

But Li Yang just smiled nonchalantly, as if it didn’t bother him at all.

Just then, a large truck was being loaded at the entrance. It looked as though someone had purchased a large quantity of goods from the store.

After stepping outside, Li Yang called out to the men loading the truck. “Hold on a second…”

The loaders all paused, startled.

“Sir, is this your shipment?” Li Yang asked, looking at the buyer.

The buyer nodded. “Is something wrong?”

“Let me see your order… Grade-A Tianma, correct?” Li Yang smiled, pointing to the goods being loaded onto the truck. “Have you inspected it yourself?”

“I did inspect it. It’s definitely Grade-A!”

“Is that so?” Li Yang stepped forward and pried open a few boxes.

When the loaders saw this, they moved to stop him, but Li Yang sent one of them sprawling with a kick and opened the boxes.

Once they were open, the buyer stared, dumbfounded. Then he exploded in a string of curses. “What the hell are you people doing? I said I wanted Grade-A goods, and you motherfuckers give me this junk? Trying to pass off inferior goods as the real deal, are you?!”

The manager, a look of horror on his face, rushed out from inside the store.

‘Damn it, someone actually saw through our little trick.’

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Liu! Our workers must have moved the wrong shipment. We’ll swap it out right away, right away…”

Mr. Liu was fuming. “Then hurry up and get it replaced!”

“Mr. Liu, I suggest you re-inspect the entire shipment,” Li Yang said calmly. “Otherwise, you’ll get cheated again with no one to turn to. When the time comes and you sell this to your own clients, just think… whose reputation is it that will be damaged?”

“That’s right! Unpack everything and inspect it again!” Prompted by Li Yang, Mr. Liu immediately roared.

“Get the hell out of here, now!” the manager snarled at Li Yang, his voice filled with hatred.

“Get out?” Li Yang said, his voice turning cold. “I tried to be reasonable, but you insisted on doing this the hard way. In that case, I won’t hold back. You, sir! Hold on a moment!”

Li Yang called out to another man.

The man turned his head to look at Li Yang. “Can I help you?”

“You’re here to buy 50-year-old ginseng, correct?”

“That’s right. They don’t have any 50-year-old specimens, only 30-year-old ones, so I bought one of those.”

“Thirty-year-old?” Li Yang chuckled and held out his hand. “Would you mind if I had a look?”

The man had seen Mr. Liu raging, and a thought struck him. He quickly took out the ginseng box. “Please, be my guest.”

“Mr. Han…” The manager rushed over, intending to stop him.

But Li Yang paid him no mind. He took the box, opened it, and laughed. “Thirty-year-old? Tsk, tsk. This root might not even be fifteen years old, and you have the gall to pass it off as thirty?”

“What?” Mr. Han’s expression changed. “But they told me this was a wild ginseng, at least thirty years old, from deep within the mountains…”

“Wild ginseng?” Li Yang burst out laughing, pointing at the root. “Look at the body—it’s cylindrical. See how the horizontal rings are sparse and broken? Look how rough the skin is, and the pearl-like nodules are barely visible, right? Let me tell you, these are all characteristics of cultivated ginseng. If this were a real wild ginseng, forgetting everything else, you’d be able to see a whole cluster of those pearl nodules…”

After finishing, Li Yang added with contempt, “And they have the nerve to pass off this piece of junk as a thirty-year-old wild ginseng!”