Chapter 47: No Different from Fraud
The three of them chatted for a while and it was already noon. When Chi Yuanshan and Song Yinghe left, they said they would not come back for dinner, so Chi Wan simply asked the grandfather and grandson to stay for a simple meal.
Old Master Zhou didn't hesitate to lie on the rattan chair under the tree and leisurely posted on his Moments, while directing Zhou Huaijin to help in the kitchen.
He put the photos he had taken before into a nine-square grid and captioned: "The master is the teacher. Today I met a friend who is good at growing orchids. He wanted to give me a golden horsetail plant. Although I like it, I don't want to take it away from others, so I will only share it with you friends."
Less than three minutes after it was posted, a bunch of people commented. One person whose profile picture was an orchid even made several comments in one go.
"It would be a waste to give you this golden ponytail."
"Ask him if he can sell me this flower. The price is negotiable."
"How come you are so lucky when you have been raising flowers for decades but still don't understand how to do it?!"
"No, give me this person's contact information! I want to communicate with him!"
Mr. Zhou snorted and didn't want to pay attention to him.
Unexpectedly, just after a while without a reply, his phone rang.
As soon as I picked up the phone, I heard an old man's anxious voice: "Old Zhou, please give me this person's contact information. If he is really good at curing orchids, I will discuss it with him. I happen to have a ghost orchid in my hand."
Mr. Zhou originally wanted to tease him, but when he heard the word "ghost orchid", he couldn't help but sit up and whispered, "Xu Qiaonian, are you kidding me? Where did you get the ghost orchid?"
Xu Qiaonian said, "Why are you so nervous? How can I break the law knowingly? This matter is also a coincidence... Didn't I go to Wuyang City on a business trip some time ago? When I went to the local flower and bird market, I met an old man who was selling chopped wood.
"I was curious so I asked, how much does this wood cost? What do you think he wants for it?"
Mr. Zhou was too lazy to waste time talking to Xu Qiaonian: "If you keep me in suspense, I'll hang up."
"Hey, you." Xu Qiaonian had no choice but to quickly say, "He actually asked me for 100,000 yuan! Because the price was so outrageous, I became more interested, so I asked him what was in the wood that was so precious.
"He pulled me aside and said that a ghost orchid had grown on this piece of wood before! Maybe there were still ghost orchid seeds on it now! He knew about ghost orchids and knew that they were expensive, but he took a piece of rotten wood and said that ghost orchids could grow on it. Only a ghost would believe him!
"…But I am naturally curious. No, don't interrupt me. I wouldn't spend 100,000 yuan to buy this thing. The old man seemed to see my hesitation and grabbed me, telling me to believe him. Ghost orchids have bloomed here before and may bloom again in the future.
"I told him directly that even if there really were ghost orchids, buying and selling them would be illegal! But this man actually knelt down in front of me! He said he was from Danxia Mountain, so he knew about ghost orchids.
"But his wife is sick and needs to be hospitalized. He has no other choice but to try his luck. He swore to heaven that he had really seen flowers blooming here. They were the legendary ghost orchids. If you don't believe me, you can take me to the place where they bloom.
"How could I dare to go? But later he really took me to see his wife. His wife was lying on the hospital bed, so thin that it seemed like her bones could pierce through her skin. She actually took out a photo of the ghost orchid... Well, I just couldn't bear it for a moment, so..."
Grandpa Zhou looked constipated after listening to this story which looked no different from a scam. He was silent for a while: "...So you bought it? What you called having a ghost orchid in your hands means that there is a ghost orchid that seems to have bloomed and may have seeds left, but it seems to be a scam to fool fools, rotten wood?!"
He felt his intelligence was insulted when he said this: "Do you dare to tell your daughter about this?"
Xu Qiaonian immediately retorted: "How could that be possible? No matter how kind I am, I would not spend 100,000 yuan to buy this thing! So, I gave him 60,000 yuan, thinking it was charity. The old man thanked me profusely and insisted on leaving his contact information, saying that he would sell it to me if he found a ghost orchid in the future.
"I told him right away that it's not allowed to be sold. Next time you see a ghost orchid, don't touch it. Report it. Maybe there will be a reward. I just happened to see the photo you sent, so I thought, what if?"
Old Master Zhou was almost laughing at his unreliable old friend: "Just in case, the probability of you winning the lottery is higher than the probability of a ghost orchid growing on your broken wood! According to Huai Jin and the others, you will definitely be cheated out of all your money by health products in the future!"
Xu Qiaonian was not convinced: "I think that old man and his wife are both honest people. I also saw the piece of wood with the ghost orchid, which is exactly the same as the one in my hand! Lao Zhou, just do me a favor and introduce the friend who grows orchids to me.
"Think about it. If you can't cultivate it, you won't suffer any loss, but what if you really do? For so many years, the growth and reproduction methods of ghost orchids have never been understood, let alone artificial cultivation. But if this time... that would be a breakthrough from zero, Old Zhou!"
Xu Qiaonian is worthy of being Mr. Zhou’s good friend for so many years, and he knows what to say to impress him. What's more, Zhou Huaijin had told him before that Chi Wan didn't mind being known.
After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhou said directly, "It's not impossible. But the girl who grows the flowers is a little girl. I'll ask her later. If she's willing, I'll give you her contact information. Don't scare her.
"Also, she helped me raise the Suguan Heding, and I promised to give her a few seedlings to fill the greenhouse. If you want someone to help you, you have to be sincere, right?"
Xu Qiaonian originally thought that the young friend that Mr. Zhou was talking about must be a middle-aged man in his forties at least, but he didn't expect it to be a young girl!
He was silent for a while, and then thought: No matter how old he is, as long as Zhou Dechang praises him so much and he can grow orchids so well, he must be a capable person.
And...little girls are nice. Little girls are usually soft-hearted and easy to talk to.
Xu Qiaonian rolled his eyes and responded readily, "Of course, of course. How about this? Give me the girl's address and I'll ask my eldest grandson to visit her and send over two pots of flowers that can be divided. After the division is done, I'll invite her to come over to take a look. That's sincere enough, right?"
Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhou's heart was filled with alarm bells, and he cursed Xu Qiaonian for being shameless - he was actually planning to send out his handsome grandson to set up a beauty trap!
He said unhappily: "It's your own business, why do you ask your grandson to come here? Let me tell you, this girl has a good relationship with Huai Jin!"
What I mean is don't waste your effort.
But unexpectedly, Xu Qiaonian's eyes lit up. Originally he just mentioned it casually, but if Zhou Dechang said so, his grandson really had to go!
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