Chapter 270 Spreading Rumors
Zhu Ju said worriedly, "Sister Kong, we have no problem spreading the news, but we're afraid that people won't believe it."
Kong Wange smiled slyly: "Ordinary people may be afraid of Zhao Xiaohe and her group, but other aristocratic scions are not. With the treasure appearing in the world, whether they believe it or not, everyone will go to Zhao Xiaohe to ask. Only by getting a third party involved, the more chaotic the situation, the more opportunities we will have."
The three of them felt a chill run down their spines after hearing this. They paused for a moment, then silently gave a thumbs up and exclaimed in unison, "Brilliant!"
...
Zhao Xiaohe felt that today was absolutely the worst day ever.
Not only did they nearly fall off a cliff as soon as they entered the mountains, but they were also terrified by a venomous snake.
After finally forming an alliance with Wen Xiaoxiao to start scrambling for ginseng, they ended up getting very few because they joined too late.
She had secretly checked beforehand. Wen Xiaoxiao had dug and snatched a total of ten ginseng roots under ten years old, five roots around ten years old, and she even got lucky and snatched a root over thirty years old. That means she now had a total of fifty-five points.
This result puts him in the top three of the entire grade without a problem.
Although Wen Xiaoxiao calls her Sister Xiaohe, and the two are very good best friends, the principle they've always followed in their friendship is—
I genuinely want you to be well, but you'd better not be better off than me.
Including those who picked up the scraps following Kong Wange and those who snatched them from behind, she only had twenty-eight points in total...
This achievement is worlds apart from Wen Xiaoxiao's.
Therefore, the best way to turn the tide right now is to get the century-old wild ginseng that Kong Wange threw away.
In this way, she could not only surpass Wen Xiaoxiao, but might even become number one!
She slowly exhaled and continued her tense and meticulous carpet search.
"Hey, I see her! Zhao Xiaohe is over there!"
"That's her, let's go, let's hurry..."
Zhao Xiaohe gradually drifted away from the group. She was holding a stick and brushing fallen leaves off the ground when she turned around and saw three or four people walking towards her hurriedly while muttering to themselves.
She recognized the person in the lead; it was Li Xue, the daughter of the Li family in Kyoto.
These people must not know that there are century-old ginseng plants here, otherwise they will have another group of competitors.
Her heart skipped a beat, but she feigned enthusiasm and asked, "Li Xue, have you dug up enough ginseng and are you leaving the mountain ahead of schedule?"
Li Xue's family background was no worse than Zhao Xiaohe's, and she said bluntly, "No matter how much we dig up, it can't compare to one of yours, Zhao Xiaohe. If you know what's good for you, just hand over the century-old ginseng!"
Zhao Xiaohe was stunned, then said incredulously, "Li Xue, where did you hear this rumor? What century-old ginseng? I haven't even seen a shadow of it!"
Behind Li Xue, Zhao Peng, her protector, sneered: "Zhao Xiaohe, stop pretending. The fact that you snatched a century-old ginseng and secretly hid it has already spread among the examinees."
Zhao Xiaohe's eyes widened: "What? This is absolutely a rumor!"
"Whether it's a rumor or not, just search it up and you'll know. Zhao Peng, stop wasting your breath on her and get to work!"
Zhao Xiaohe was stunned. She looked around but there were no members of her team nearby. Staring at the four menacing people in front of her, she felt a surge of fear.
She backed away, her voice trembling, "Don't...don't come any closer! I really don't have any century-old ginseng on me!"
"Still pretending, I can't stand it. How come I never noticed you were such a hypocrite before?" Li Xue said impatiently, "Zhao Peng, stop wasting time with her, the others will be coming soon!"
Zhao Peng nodded and took a step forward.
Zhao Xiaohe tried to run away, but the difference in strength between the boy and the girl was too great. Zhao Peng grabbed her arm and pinned her to the ground.
The other three girls immediately stepped forward and searched Zhao Xiaohe thoroughly from head to toe, inside and out.
Three minutes later, Li Xue, having failed to find the century-old ginseng, threw Zhao Xiaohe's handbag on the ground and coldly demanded, "Tell me, where did you hide the century-old ginseng?"
Zhao Xiaohe trembled: "How can a hundred-year-old ginseng be so easy to dig up? You must have made a mistake. Waaah, I really don't have any. You've searched, why don't you believe me?"
Zhao Peng frowned: "Xiaoxue, could the information be wrong? Do you remember who first spread this news?"
"How would I know who spread the word first? Anyway, everyone's saying it now." Li Xue shook her head and said impatiently, "Alright, since we didn't find it, let's just leave it at that. Take the rest of the ginseng from her bag and let's go."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaohe immediately became furious and struggled to say, "Shameless! If you dare to do this, I will definitely tell the teacher when we get out and have your test scores canceled!"
Li Xue sneered: "Ha, threatening me? Don't think we don't know where you got these ginseng. What, you're allowed to steal from others, but others can't steal from you? What a joke."
Without saying a word, she picked up the handbag on the ground and ransacked it clean: "Zhao Xiaohe, if you want to tell the teacher, go ahead and do it. At worst, we'll all be punished together and leave Yudao Academy together!"
Afterwards, Zhao Peng let go of Zhao Xiaohe, and the four of them left together.
Zhao Xiaohe had never suffered such a great injustice in her life. She collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face, and it took her a long time to recover.
She forced herself to get up and prepared to find Wen Xiaoxiao and her group to ask them to help her retrieve the ginseng she had lost.
Unexpectedly, after walking only a few steps, they saw several unfamiliar figures approaching from the dense forest in the distance.
She's now completely paranoid, constantly fearing that some group of people will come looking for trouble.
She looked around and saw a pit in front of her, which was at least a meter deep. She didn't care about anything else and jumped in with gritted teeth.
The moment she jumped, she smelled a foul odor and felt something soft beneath her feet.
Looking down, she nearly threw up.
She realized she had stepped in a huge pile of dog poop, not only on the soles of her feet but also on the hem of her skirt.
She couldn't help but want to groan, but as the footsteps drew closer, she forced herself to hold it back.
There were some weeds by the pit. She reached out and covered the pit with the weeds so that they wouldn't be visible at first glance. Then she squatted down and crouched down.
Not long after, the sound of conversation came from the pit.
A burly young man said, "We've been searching for so long, but we haven't seen Zhao Xiaohe. Is the century-old ginseng really on her?"
Sure enough, it was someone else coming to see her. Damn it, who spread these rumors?
Hearing her name mentioned by the people outside, Zhao Xiaohe didn't dare to move and listened to their conversation with bated breath.
“It’s definitely there. Wen Xiaoxiao told me this herself on the walkie-talkie. She and Zhao Xiaohe are such good friends. She said she saw Zhao Xiaohe pick up a century-old ginseng with her own eyes. How could this be false?” another deep female voice said.
"Alright, stop talking. Whether it's true or false, we'll find out by searching Zhao Xiaohe. Let's hurry up and go. Everyone's looking for her right now, and we need to get there before anyone else," a high-pitched female voice urged.
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