"You son of a bitch, you dare to lay a finger on me? You're asking for trouble!" Don't let Li Ningguang's harmless appearance fool you; he's ruthless when he strikes. Holding a bag filled with unopened banknotes, he viciously stomped on Zhang Wen, who had been knocked down by the bodyguard. If Zhang Wen hadn't been shielded by his arm, he'd probably be unrecognizable.
Seeing that there was nothing wrong, Zhang Guodong simply returned the way he came, got in his car, and waited.
The beating and the money collection took no more than twenty minutes, and Li Ningguang returned with his bodyguards, cursing and swearing.
"Brother Zhang, please accept your 210,000. I apologize for the embarrassment this time!" Li Ningguang counted out the 210,000 after getting into the car and gave the untouched portion to Zhang Guodong.
Zhang Guodong had witnessed everything, but he didn't find anything wrong with it. Those who harbor ill intentions should be prepared for retaliation. Being betrayed is a bitter experience.
"Brother Li, you brought it all back?" Zhang Guodong asked in surprise as he took it.
"Hey!" Li Ningguang chuckled. "Let's go first, I'll explain everything on the way!"
The car started moving and soon left Qingmu Township, reaching the road to Qingyang County. This stretch of road was finally less bumpy.
Zhang Guodong was still a bit naive, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother Li, how are they doing?"
Li Ning thought to himself, "I thought you could hold out for a long time, but you finally couldn't hold back anymore, right?" So he said, "Brother Zhang, don't worry, this isn't a deadly feud. Let's keep things peaceful and make money together. At most, I'll teach those bastards a lesson so they'll remember their mistake and not forget the rules!"
Once Li Ningguang said that, Zhang Guodong felt "reassured".
In fact, Li Ningguang was no simple character. He beat Zhang Wen and Liu Dewang so badly that they were unable to recover for half a month, but they only suffered superficial injuries and did not suffer any serious injuries.
After beating you up, Li Ningguang spat on the ground and threw down two stacks of money: "This time it's a small matter. Considering you didn't kill me for money, I'll give you a small punishment. Consider this 20,000 yuan as money for buying the tree and medical expenses. Hehe, don't say I didn't give you a chance. Peace brings wealth, right? But if there's a next time, don't blame me, Li, for being ruthless!"
This was done flawlessly.
He paid them 20,000 yuan to shut them up, leaving them to suffer in silence, which Zhang Guodong greatly admired. He was a seasoned veteran, his experience and methods in this area were incredibly sophisticated.
Zhang Guodong was greatly enlightened after listening to Li Ningguang's casual recounting of the events.
“How can we let Brother Li pay 20,000 by himself? How about this, since we’re doing business together, I’ll pay 10,000 too!” Zhang Guodong said.
Li Ningguang was displeased and said with a stern face, "Brother Zhang, 20,000 is nothing to you and me. Besides, I brought you here this time, and you almost lost hundreds of thousands. I feel ashamed for doing this. If you really pay up, it will be a slap in my face!"
In the end, Li Ningguang didn't accept Zhang Guodong's money. After all, there would be opportunities for cooperation in the future. What's ten thousand? It's all small change.
Then Li Ningguang brought up the tree again and said, "Brother Zhang, you played a brilliant move. You barely had time to enjoy those two chicken eggs for hundreds of thousands of yuan before they flew away. Haha, interesting! Damn it, it was a wasted trip!"
Li Ningguang thought Zhang Guodong's quick payment was a ploy to trick the two guys. This made him less attentive to the saplings he'd bought. He was very resentful of being fooled.
Zhang Guodong chuckled and mumbled, "Brother Li, this isn't playing around, it's gambling. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what kind of tree it is, but intuitively, I think it's worth the gamble. Of course, now that I've spent 20,000 yuan to get it, I won't feel bad even if I lose it!"
That's true.
Li Ningguang felt the same way.
Zhang Guodong, however, was filled with doubt and surprise. Among them were three small trees, green-skinned trees that resembled mutated apple trees, emitting faint fluctuations of spiritual energy. But they were definitely not apple trees!
This is a very rare occurrence.
It didn't have the strong spiritual energy fluctuations of some older trees, but it wasn't like ordinary trees where the spiritual energy fluctuations were almost non-existent either. Zhang Guodong guessed that this might be due to the nature of the tree itself; it was probably quite precious, and the trees of this species were likely not very old, as the branches looked very fresh.
This is why he decided to take the gamble.
Of course, this cannot be said outright.
“Brother Zhang is right, let’s just treat this as a vacation, haha!” Li Ningguang regained his harmless expression and appeared very carefree.
The seven saplings only cost 20,000 yuan.
"Brother Li, there might actually be some good quality among the seven batches. When you get back, you should have someone examine it further. Maybe that will confirm it!" Zhang Guodong reminded him.
There were three abnormal plants in total. Li Ningguang was allowed to choose first, but he only managed to pick one. Zhang Guodong bought two. It was luck!
One shouldn't be too greedy, otherwise business will be difficult to continue. Therefore, Zhang Guodong ensured that Li Ningguang also received benefits, but Li Ningguang's benefits were even greater.
By pointing this out, Zhang Guodong has done more than enough; to go any further would be to expose his secret.
If Li Ning really manages to snag a bargain, Zhang Guodong's prospects will be much brighter. The first collaboration was a trial, but future collaborations are where the real profits will come from.
Li Ningguang's smile vanished, and he glanced at Zhang Guodong with surprise before saying, "Alright, if we really find some good stuff, then it'll be thanks to you, Brother Li!"
"Brother Li, you're too kind. Just let me know when you have the results!" Zhang Guodong said with a smile.
Back in the city, Li Ningguang immediately started arranging the appraisal, while Zhang Guodong rushed back to Green Treasure Pavilion. They had expected it to take a whole day, but it was resolved in just half a day.
After unloading the trees from the truck, the driver helped move them into the shop. Li Yun hadn't returned yet; she was probably still with Xiang Chunyan. Zhang Guodong paid the driver the fare, pulled down the roller shutter, and then moved the two trees with "abnormal spiritual energy" into Peach Blossom Spring. As for the apple tree, it was just an ordinary sapling. The Peach Blossom Spring space wasn't large at the moment, and Zhang Guodong didn't want to waste space planting such a thing.
This made Taoyuanli even more crowded, and Zhang Guodong had no choice but to pull up more than a dozen tomato and green pepper plants, which resulted in a further reduction in vegetable production.
Planting trees in Peach Blossom Spring wasn't difficult; most transplanted trees would survive. Zhang Guodong dug two pits, each a little over a meter deep, though the openings weren't very large. He placed one tree in, watered it with a few scoops of water from his spatial dimension, filled it with soil, and tamped it down. He did the same for the second tree, and now there were two new trees, each about 1.5 meters tall, in Peach Blossom Spring.
The dozen or so tomato and bell pepper plants still had a lot of green and red fruits hanging on them. Zhang Guodong picked a basket and a half of them before he finished. The yield was exceptionally high.
The remaining empty branches needed to be dealt with. The empty branches from last time were piled up first, then dried out before being thrown away. Zhang Guodong was very cautious; after all, the things growing in Peach Blossom Spring weren't ordinary goods—that was beyond question. Taking them out might cause trouble!
But at 3 a.m. on the third day, a phone call woke Zhang Guodong up.
"I don't know which bastard chose to call at this time," Zhang Guodong thought angrily. "But I won't answer, and the phone just keeps ringing."
"Who is it? Can't a man get some sleep in the middle of the night?" Zhang Guodong answered irritably. He was still half asleep, and being disturbed ruined his mood.
"Brother Zhang, excuse me, I'm Li Ningguang, and I have something very important to tell you!" Li Ningguang wasn't sleepy at this moment, but he was excited.
Upon hearing "very important matter," Zhang Guodong rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "If there's nothing to it, why are you disturbing my sleep in the middle of the night?"
"Brother Li, can't we talk about this before dawn?" Zhang Guodong said, half-laughing and half-crying. "What could be so important?"
"Hehe, no way!" Li Ningguang became serious. "A couple of days ago we went to Qingmu Township to buy flowers and trees. You took six, and I chose seven. As soon as we got back, I had an expert appraise them—"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Guodong's heart skipped a beat. It was true! He had advised Li Ningguang to go back and have it appraised, wanting to know what kind of tree it was. Otherwise, how could such a young tree have such strong spiritual energy fluctuations? It was practically comparable to a precious medicinal herb!
Zhang Guodong didn't know that trees and medicinal herbs are different.
Medicinal herbs seem to be able to obtain and absorb spiritual energy more easily, but trees have to go through much more difficult times. However, the current fluctuations in spiritual energy are comparable to those of precious medicinal herbs, which means that this tree is extremely valuable.
"What was the result?" Zhang Guodong, wide awake, immediately asked.
Li Ningguang suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Zhang, we've struck gold! It's a treasure!"
Li Ningguang then described the results of the identification: an expert, through scientific research equipment and comparison of a large amount of data, determined that one of the trees was actually a long-extinct fruit tree!
It has never been found on Earth to this day! And the only records of it are in petrified trees!
Scientists have concluded, based on fossil identification, that this is a fruit tree that existed two million years ago. However, due to the planetary explosion two million years ago, which led to another mass extinction, this precious ancient tree species could not survive the catastrophe, which is quite unbelievable.
Animal mass extinctions are easy to accept, but plant extinctions are a very big deal.
Zhang Guodong's heart pounded. Over 20 million?! Although he knew this tree species was precious, he never imagined it would be a two-million-year-old species! So expensive!
Two million years ago, Earth was threatened by a planetary explosion, resulting in a mass extinction of plants and animals, as documented by scientific research.
But how did they come across a tree that's two million years old? It doesn't look that old.
To be honest, that old rascal Liu Dewang really did go into the mountains for half a month, with that old wolfhound, determined to find the treasure. But how easy is it to find such a rare tree?
Liu Dewang had been trekking through the mountains for over ten days, and his provisions were almost gone. But then, good luck struck. In a remote, rugged mountain hollow, he found a cave. The cave was dark and deep, and damp, probably from water seeping through the rock. And it was inside that he found the three trees.
At the time, the leaves of this tree were not green, but dark red. Liu Dewang had never seen this tree before, so he immediately regarded it as a treasure and dug it up. When he returned, he picked off all the leaves, intending to sell it for a good price.
Who told you a tree can grow without sunlight? This is a treasure!
But after returning, Zhang Wen came to the door and, upon seeing the tree by chance, immediately got the idea to pull off a heist, which led to what happened later.
After Li Ningguang finished speaking, he said with great interest, "Brother Zhang, we found this living tree. Hehe, we can name it. What do you think of 'Green Fruit Tree'?"
"Also, I think you should close your vegetable shop, Brother Zhang. My expert friend said that even if some precious tree species that are millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of years old still exist, they will probably become extinct soon. If you're interested, how about we travel around together for a year?"
Upon hearing that the identified tree species was worth at least 20 million yuan, and that it was priceless and unique in the world, Li Ningguang was immediately overwhelmed with emotion. In all his years in the jade and flower business, he had never encountered such shocking news.
After a night of contemplation, Li Ningguang made up his mind to travel across the mountains and rivers of China, partly to fulfill his dream, and partly to see if he could find this type of tree. He figured that if he made two deals a year with such ancient trees, it would be enough to earn him a year's income.
Li Ningguang wasn't without thoughts about Zhang Guodong, with whom he had previously collaborated. One of his seven trees was a green fruit tree; what about Zhang Guodong's? How many trees did he have?
But then he thought, without Zhang Guodong, the tree wouldn't appear! He forcefully suppressed that greed. Looking back, Li Ningguang realized that to achieve this goal, he could do without anyone else, but not without Zhang Guodong!
Zhang Guodong was taken aback by Li Ningguang's suggestion, but also very interested.
A year-long investigation? This way, they can discover more rare and extinct tree species, and find some wild medicinal herbs in various places. At the same time, Zhang Guodong does not intend to be bound to Green Treasure Pavilion forever.
Green Treasure Pavilion was merely a temporary place to amass wealth; Zhang Guodong secretly yearned to create a dreamlike paradise! Yes, a paradise, a fairyland, a dreamlike existence. There, he would own his own land, own everything within it. This yearning was intense, because he possessed a unique paradise space of his own!
However, this requires a lot of money and resources!
"Brother Li, let me think about it. I'll give you an answer after the flower and tree market next week, okay?" Despite the temptation, Zhang Guodong suppressed his racing heart and said.
Next week's flower and tree business will be an opportunity for him to continue accumulating funds, which he cannot miss.
P.S.: This is the first update of nearly 4,000 words!
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