The Rise of David
Copyright© 2025 by RichXpower
Chapter 62: A Bet
Due to how loud the man was speaking, he caught David’s attention by accident.
“Mr. Drake, I’m sure there’s still room for negotiation. This ginseng is indeed a quality specimen, but twenty million is too expensive for me. Why don’t you lower your asking price, and I’ll pay you right away,” Zeke proposed with a smile.
“Twenty million. Take it or leave it.”
Just as the middle-aged man spoke, he stood up with the box and prepared to leave.
“Mr. Drake, calm down, calm down. I’ll take it. Goldenbirch Herbs will take it just because we value your friendship.”
After stopping the middle-aged man, Zeke took out his phone. “I’ll transfer the money to you right away. If you still have any other excellent specimens, please bring them to Goldenbirch Herbs. I’ll definitely pay you a good price for it!”
“Hahaha, well said, well said.”
The middle-aged man laughed ecstatically. “Zeke, wait.”
Just when Zeke was about to pay, David walked up to him suddenly and stopped him. “David, what’s wrong?” Zeke asked curiously.
“Mister, can you let me take a look at that ginseng?” David requested. Instead of replying, the middle-aged man gave Zeke an inquisitive look. “Oh, he’s a good friend of mine,” Zeke explained at once.
Looking at David, the middle-aged man asked warily, “Mr. Griffin has already examined my ginseng. Is there a problem?”
“I suspect it’s a fake!” David replied with a smirk.
As if David had struck a nerve, the middle-aged man exploded, “What did you say? How dare you accuse my ginseng of being a fake? How can you say so without even looking at it? Mr. Griffin himself has examined the product, so how can it not be genuine? If you’re looking for trouble, let me tell you that I’m not someone to be trifled with.”
Zeke tried to calm the situation with a smile. “Mr. Drake, please calm down. My friend here just likes to joke.”
After reassuring the middle-aged man, Zeke furrowed his brows slightly at David. “David, I have examined it and found no problems. Besides, how do you know it’s a fake without even looking at it?”
“This ginseng is definitely a fake. If you don’t believe it, we can get it tested. If he doesn’t dare to open the box, it only serves to prove me right!”
David stared at the middle-aged man coldly, sending a chill down his spine. “Fine, I’ll open it. What will you do if it’s real?”
The middle-aged man picked up the courage to accept David’s challenge. Nevertheless, he didn’t dare to look David in the eye.
“If it’s real, I’ll compensate you ten million!” David declared confidently.
At that moment, Josephine and Frida came over. Both of them didn’t expect David to end up betting against someone.
Meanwhile, Tommy remained in his seat, drinking coffee with a smirk on his face. He knew that the middle-aged man had gotten himself into trouble.
When he saw how confident David was, the middle-aged man began to panic and looked at Zeke.
“Mr. Drake, since David wants to take a look, why don’t you just let him satisfy his curiosity? If you do so, I’ll increase the price I’m willing to pay you.”
Having examined it himself, Zeke didn’t suspect that the ginseng wasn’t authentic. But since David had insisted, he decided to give in to David’s request.
“Fine. Since you’ve said so, I’ll let him see it and shut him up!” the middle-aged man said through clenched teeth.
When the box was opened, they saw a piece of long and thick ginseng lying in it.
“Look how excellent the ginseng is. Even in Yeringham, this is considered extremely rare.”
The middle-aged man sneered at David, “Now that you have lost, where’s my ten million? In fact, you don’t even look like someone who has that kind of money.”
Ignoring the man’s comments, David reached out to grab the ginseng. “Hey, what are you doing?”
With a drastic change of expression, the middle-aged man tried to stop David, but it was too late. David was already holding the ginseng in his hand.
Picking it up, he attempted to break it by force. “David, what are you doing?”
Zeke’s expression darkened, for he knew that a ginseng’s value lay in its perfect condition. Any damage to it would significantly reduce its value. Hence, breaking it would render it worthless.
Crack!
The moment Zeke spoke, David had broken the ginseng in two.
Zeke closed his eyes. He could feel the rage welling up within him, for he lost twenty million in the blink of an eye.
Josephine and Frida stared at David in shock, not knowing what he was up to.
The middle-aged man, however, paled. Turning around, he tried to flee and didn’t even want his money anymore.
“Are you trying to escape? Do you think you actually can?” David grinned slightly.
Just when the middle-aged man tried to dash out, Tommy sprang to his feet and kicked the man back into place.
“W-What’s going on?”
Zeke was confused when he saw that the middle-aged man had tried to run. “Zeke, why don’t you check if the ginseng is real?”
David handed it to Zeke.
After receiving it, Zeke was briefly taken aback when he saw the part that was broken. Suddenly, he was filled with rage. “Damn it! How dare you try to swindle me? You must certainly have a death wish!”
Zeke approached the man and kicked his abdomen. He bellowed, “Men! Take him out and teach him a painful lesson!”
Soon, the man was led away, and cries of agony followed.
“David, I appreciate what you did today. If not for you, we would have suffered a terrible loss. The financial loss isn’t the issue. It’s the reputational loss that would be humiliating for me,” Zeke lamented.
“It’s normal to make mistakes. It happens to the best of us,” David replied with a smile. “David, how did you know that it was a fake without even seeing it?”
Zeke was intrigued.
“It’s simple. I have a very sensitive nose. I can tell just by smelling it.”
David told a random lie, as he obviously couldn’t reveal that he relied on sensing spiritual energy to do so. If the ginseng was more than a century old, he could easily pick up its energy.
Therefore, when he didn’t sense any spiritual energy from the box, he concluded that the ginseng was either entirely fake or just not a hundred years old.
Staring at David, Zeke remarked in disbelief, “I have never heard of anyone being able to authenticate herbs with their nose my entire life. Today has indeed been an eye-opener for me.”
“Josephine, what other hidden talents does your boyfriend have? He has a sense of smell that’s sharper than a dog!” Frida asked in surprise.
Right after she spoke, she realized her words had come out wrong. She then stuck her tongue out at David before smiling at him apologetically.
David returned the smile and didn’t mind at all, for he knew that Frida didn’t do it on purpose.
“David, since you have been a big help to me today, I’ll bring you around the city. If you see any herbs that interest you, I’ll negotiate on your behalf. Every herb trader in the city knows me. They will definitely show us some respect,” Zeke offered as he patted David on the shoulder.
With that, the five of them went to Yeringham’s largest herb market. After walking one round, David felt disappointed, as all the herbs sold there were of the ordinary kind. Even if there were any which were more than a century old, they had been crushed into powder and had lost their spiritual energy.
“David, is there nothing in this market that interests you?” Zeke asked when he saw the dismay on David’s face.
David nodded. “I’m looking for quality herbs that are more than a century old, but the herbs sold here are run-of-the-mill stuff which I don’t need.”
Having heard David’s answer, Zeke pondered briefly before suggesting, “I’ll take you to the many herb traders. All of them will definitely have some sort of treasure.
However, whether they’re willing to sell is a different matter.”
Due to the fact that they were hostile business competitors, Zeke seldom patronized other herb traders. After all, they would naturally be wary of his motives and hesitant to show them their prized treasures.
However, as David had done him a huge favor, he had no choice but to lower himself and approach his business rivals.
“Thank you, Zeke!” David expressed his gratitude.
“Don’t be a stranger. We’re family anyway. Come, let’s go.”
With that, Zeke brought David to Yeringham’s largest herb trader, Trinity Herbs. Trinity Herbs’ store was sprawled across thousands of square meters. It looked to be busier than that of Goldenbirch Herbs, given the crowd at the entrance.
“David, Trinity Herbs is stocked with many herbs that are more than a century old. In fact, I even heard that they have a thousand-year-old reishi mushroom among their prized collection. Their reputation is solidified by the fact that they’re the only ones in the entire city to carry millennia-old herbs,” Zeke explained as they entered the store.
The moment David stepped in, he could feel waves of spiritual energy flowing from inside. At that moment, he narrowed his focus on a few items that had sparked his curiosity.
“Zeke, does Trinity Herbs display their century-old herbs in the main lobby?” David inquired.
“Yes, they are the only ones to do so in the entire city. They control eighty percent of the century-old herbs in the city itself.”
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