"Damn it!" Zhang Guodong dodged, furious, and kicked out with nine-tenths of his strength.
Boom! Liu Haojun never dreamed that Zhang Guodong would dare to attack him, and that he would be so skilled. Although his good physical condition allowed him to absorb most of the force, his waist was still hit. He felt a sharp pain and stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance.
unlucky!
Seeing that his kick hadn't brought Liu Haojun down, Zhang Guodong was annoyed. This gang leader was indeed physically strong and had a wealth of experience in handling unexpected situations. Unable to knock him down with a single blow, Zhang Guodong gave Liu Haojun no time to recover, and unleashed a powerful punch with all his might.
If you can defeat your enemy in one move, the consequences will be endless. Although Zhang Guodong was new to boxing and lacked experience, he understood this principle and was very decisive!
Liu Haojun's henchmen didn't react for a moment.
"You little punk, you dare kick me?" After regaining his balance, a fierce glint flashed in Liu Haojun's eyes, but just then, Zhang Guodong's fist arrived. "Old man—"
Thud! The sound of a fist hitting the hard bone of his face was dull and muffled. Liu Haojun's vision went black, and he felt like his head was spinning with stars.
Zhang Guodong is stubborn and has a ruthless streak. When Haitong Catering smashed his shop and threatened his life, he sent all those people to prison to spend the rest of their lives. He personally broke the hands and feet of some people. He usually looks amiable, but he is ruthless when it comes to taking action.
Now that he has practiced the Five Elements Internal Martial Arts, his physical fitness has greatly improved, giving him more confidence in his fight. Liu Haojun was caught off guard.
"Stop!" A shout rang out, and Ah Biao and the others rushed over.
"No fighting here, or you'll face the consequences!" At the critical moment, Ah Biao suddenly attacked Zhang Guodong, kicking Liu Haojun's subordinate away while shouting a warning.
Zhang Guodong sensed the wind behind him and was instantly enraged. He dodged, narrowly avoiding A Biao's fist. This surprised A Biao; Zhang Guodong's evasion was incredibly agile, as if he could sense things in advance.
Zhang Guodong was furious, but Ah Biao stopped when he saw that Zhang Guodong and Liu Haojun had separated. At this moment, Lao Hao and Lao Cao also arrived.
"**" Liu Haojun's mind cleared up, and he instinctively opened his mouth to curse, but when he saw A Biao's cold and fierce eyes, he immediately swallowed the rest of his words.
He then remembered that this was the black market, and if he made a move here, he would be beaten and thrown out. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"If you want to settle your personal grudges, leave Tongguan! If there's a next time, don't blame me for not informing you all!" Ah Biao's cold gaze swept over the two men, his words as precious as gold.
"We can't make a move here!" Old Cao grabbed Zhang Guodong, who immediately realized that this was someone else's territory and cursed his bad luck.
He was originally prepared to take action; since they'd already torn off all pretense of civility, he figured a clean break was fine. But this was the black market, and it had its own rules; personal grudges weren't allowed here.
"Kid, we'll see. You run a vegetable shop, huh? Get the hell out of here!" Liu Haojun revealed a ferocious expression. This man had a strong bandit aura and admired violence. His warning to Zhang Guodong was blatant.
Zhang Guodong's expression changed, but he turned and walked away decisively. Without any hesitation! And from beginning to end, he resolved everything with his fists, without any unnecessary words.
Zhang Guodong's current thought: This scoundrel will be a big problem in the future!
Seeing that the argument between the two had subsided, Ah Biao left without making a sound.
Many people noticed the conflict between Zhang Guodong and Liu Haojun, and Lao Cao and Lao Hao asked Zhang Guodong, "What happened?"
Old Hao didn't know Liu Haojun, but Old Cao did. Basically, very few people in the market respected that guy. Despite his wealth, he was a vulgar and uncouth nouveau riche.
People like this are usually hoodlums, with dirty hands, and getting involved with them is a real hassle.
Zhang Guodong smiled and said, "I got bitten by a dog, but it's nothing!"
Seeing that Zhang Guodong was unwilling to say more, Old Cao said, "No one will dare to touch you in Tongguan, but you'd better be careful when you get back to the city—"
After a slight pause, Lao Cao added, "If anything happens, you can call Lao Hao or me!"
Old Hao nodded.
This was a gesture of consideration for Zhang Guodong, which prompted Zhang Guodong to nod in gratitude.
In reality, these low-class nouveau riche were not taken seriously by Lao Cao and Lao Hao. However, Lao Cao was meticulous and knew that it was easy to dodge open attacks but difficult to guard against hidden ones. Although he had taught Liu Haojun a lesson last time, he could not guarantee that Zhang Guodong would not dare to make a move.
This was a minor incident.
Zhang Guodong and Liu Haojun had completely broken off relations, and Zhang Guodong actually felt a sense of relief. Although he hadn't skimped on the money from his collaboration with Da Mingtang, the latter's condescending attitude had made him very uncomfortable. This thorn was finally ignited by Mei Li!
Startled, Zhang Guodong's mind flashed with the image of Mei Li's graceful figure.
He had a thought in his mind, but then immediately laughed at himself, perhaps he was being too sensitive. How could this woman be so cunning, managing to play both men?
That can't be right, can it?
The transaction continued, and the prices for large tree species were indeed very high. Before long, someone took a fancy to a 30-centimeter-thick wild Yunnan yew tree with a straight and beautiful trunk. Old Cao also participated and offered four million, which made Zhang Guodong secretly speechless. In the end, the bidding was driven up to five million eight hundred thousand before it was sold to a boss surnamed Luo.
This market is crazy!
"This is mainly for decorating the home. The main stem is beautiful, and most importantly, it's wild, so its value is naturally higher!" Old Cao said with some regret that he didn't get it.
Zhang Guodong was stunned. A pretty tree could fetch millions? There are so many rich people these days. But a wild yew tree that's 30 centimeters thick must be over a hundred years old.
Yew trees are an ancient tree species that are on the verge of extinction worldwide. They grow extremely slowly, generally taking 100 to 250 years to mature. Wild yew trees are even rarer. They are protected as rare and endangered species in various countries, and logging and trading are prohibited worldwide. So, it is really hard to buy one.
Moreover, wild yew trees can be used to extract a rare and natural anti-cancer substance called paclitaxel. Wealthy people tend to be a bit superstitious and seek psychological peace of mind from it, making it even more precious.
"Rich people!" Zhang Guodong was also envious, but he only had 200,000 yuan in his pocket, so bidding over 200,000 yuan was out of his reach.
Zhang Guodong could roughly determine the age of a tree through speculation, but there are always people with sharp eyes who would try to find a bargain here, and the difficulty is self-evident.
Upon hearing this, Lao Cao patted Zhang Guodong on the shoulder and laughed, "You also have a chance to become rich. Keep it up!"
After saying that, Lao Cao went back to his investigation. Time is money, and finding promising stocks in just one hour is extremely difficult. Many people would be unwilling to leave empty-handed.
The greenhouse began to fill with smoke, and the constant bidding drove the prices up, putting immense pressure on everyone. Even Zhang Guodong felt the urge to smoke.
Through his contact with Lao Cao, Zhang Guodong learned that in addition to dividing the gambling on flowers and trees into small species (such as bonsai) and large species (for landscaping and collection), the black market also has specific grades for them.
Wild tree species are graded into four levels, from first to third grade, with the highest being top grade. Only wild trees that meet these grades can enter the market for bidding. Top grade tree species, such as sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus), including Philippine 'Nara', Andaman Islands 'Bardak', African 'Bloodwood', Latin American 'Dragon Blood Tree', and Indochina rosewood; as well as mango trees, diamond pines, etc., are all top grade tree species and are extremely rare.
The green mango tree and the diamond pine are legendary tree species, but they are also classified as top-grade tree species and are generally not seen. Decades ago, these two types of trees appeared on the market and were sold for hundreds of millions of yuan. In the end, the trees changed hands several times and their whereabouts became unknown.
Wild sandalwood can still be found on the market today, but mature pieces are rare, making it one of the mainstream top-grade products.
Following that, another wild Taiwan cypress and a wild Chinese pine were sold, priced at 4.8 million and 3.6 million respectively. There were also more than 20 transactions of similar tree species priced around one million.
Zhang Guodong watched with envy, but as the bidding fluctuated, he became somewhat numb. Rather than watching with longing, he decided it was better to ignore it.
There were quite a few large tree species, and Zhang Guodong pretended to touch them one by one.
However, old trees were hard to find. Zhang Guodong touched more than 400 trees in a row, carefully sensing the fluctuations of spiritual energy, but without exception, he found nothing.
Once there's no spiritual energy fluctuation, Zhang Guodong becomes blind, unable to recognize even the finest tree species. It was then that he realized the importance of this knowledge. However, accumulating knowledge and experience is not something that can be done overnight. Some people spend their entire lives studying plants and still lament their own shallowness; Zhang Guodong is even more so.
After touching more than a thousand plants, Zhang Guodong was overjoyed when he finally found one with a bluish-white stem about the thickness of an arm that emitted a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.
This tree is at least eighty years old, but we don't know what kind of tree it is. If it's an ordinary tree species, then spending 100,000 yuan would be a loss.
Left with no other choice, Zhang Guodong sought out Lao Cao and Lao Hao as advisors.
Old Cao and Old Hao observed it carefully. After a long while, Old Cao hesitated and said, "This should be a Red Beauty Tree, right? This tree grows in the extremely cold Machu Picchu Andes, on the Sakantai snow mountain. In the Indian language, it's called Mandur. However, it's hard to confirm its age. If it's ten years old, it should be worth 120,000 or 130,000."
"Xiao Zhang, the Red Beauty Tree is one of the hardest tree species to gamble on, and it's usually only a second-grade specimen. The risk is quite high, but the potential is not high. Why don't you try a different tree?"
Old Cao's words are true. The Red Beauty Tree is a collectible tree species. Its roots are translucent red, and its leaves are fiery red, round, and relatively dense. The whole tree looks like a beautiful red bouquet. The fruit is also red after it bears fruit, and it remains green all year round, making it extremely valuable for collection.
However, the age of the tree is the only difficult thing to determine.
A mature red peony tree typically reaches a diameter of 60 centimeters after ten years of growth, and even after a hundred years, the trunk will not change much. Moreover, trees exceeding 60 centimeters in diameter are rare, making it difficult to observe with the naked eye.
But Zhang Guodong was confident. After hearing Lao Cao's introduction, he immediately made up his mind to buy this tree. A tree that takes ten years to grow is worth twelve or thirteen, and a tree that takes a hundred years is worth at least a million! This was incredibly attractive to Zhang Guodong.
That's the feeling this place gives it.
Suppressing his excitement, Zhang Guodong pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, "Although it's a bit expensive, it's good for collecting! This one is too, right?"
Old Hao nodded. The organizers were indeed very resourceful. If it were for collection, tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan wouldn't matter. However, he knew that Zhang Guodong's business wasn't very big. Collection? He was slightly surprised, but didn't say anything.
"I'll offer 150,000 for this one!" Discordant voices are always present.
Liu Haojun was beaten up and was seething with anger. He had nowhere to meet Zhang Guodong, who wanted to buy a red beauty tree, so he immediately started to harass him.
Old Cao and Old Hao frowned; the flippant voice was clearly aimed at Xiao Zhang. However, the market for gambling on flowers and trees allowed free bidding, and anyone could participate.
They couldn't help but look at Zhang Guodong.
Zhang Guodong was naturally in a bad mood. This nouveau riche was really persistent, coming to cause trouble again and going to war with him to the death! However, he couldn't let anyone else take advantage of this opportunity.
Zhang Guodong glanced at the plant Liu Haojun was pointing to, and an idea came to him. He smiled faintly and said, "This one is worth 160,000. If no one competes with me, it's mine!"
Pointing to the tree next to the Red Beauty Tree, it has similar characteristics to the Red Beauty Tree, only slightly smaller.
Old Cao and Old Hao were taken aback. Then Old Cao leaned closer to examine it, nodding as he said, "That's right, this is also a Red Beauty Tree, but Xiao Zhang, this one seems to be a bit inferior to the other one."
To everyone's surprise, Zhang Guodong remained unmoved: "A pepper tree that costs 5,000 yuan can be sold for 180,000 yuan. I've made enough money from Boss Hu. I trust my judgment. If I lose money, I'll just consider it a lesson learned. Old Cao, don't try to persuade me anymore!"
Hearing this, everyone became interested and moved closer to observe. However, neither of these two trees was a good gamble. It would be worth investing more money in good trees, but if they were only second-grade, the price would be much lower.
"The potential is limited; a few hundred thousand is the maximum!" someone said.
The person who said this had no intention of bidding, and some people nearby nodded in agreement.
Liu Haojun was somewhat embarrassed and angry, and sneered: "You little punk, you think you can take it for 160,000? Two hundred thousand!"
Liu Haojun didn't look at it much, but listened to everyone's comments and got a general idea of what was going on.
If you were to give this tree away as a gift, it would be worth hundreds of thousands.
Zhang Guodong then said to A Biao on the other side, "If someone spews filth, can I knock their mouth out?"
Ah Biao was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Okay, but it's best if no one dies!"
Zhang Guodong turned to Liu Haojun and said coldly, "If you don't want your mouth to be sealed shut, you can continue spewing filth. I don't mind giving you another meal!"
"Three hundred thousand, go ahead and raise the price if you dare!"
Two hundred thousand is Zhang Guodong's limit.
But he was now facing off against Liu Haojun, which put him in a difficult position. He immediately offered an extra 100,000!
P.S.: This is a 4,000-word post for everyone. It's late today, so I'll upload another chapter later. I won't be online tonight!
Thank you so much, 'A Cigarette,' for the generous donation!
Finally, I'm asking for votes! Please throw them all at me. Heaven is kind; I was originally supposed to write 6,000 words a day, but I'm actually updating 7,000 to 8,000 every day. Please give me some encouragement!
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