In Hua Xia country, a high-speed train from Baisan city to Bin Hai city, bolts forth like an arrow released from a bow on the steel tracks.
"Hello, beautiful." Su Qin, grinning cheekily, pointed at the chest area of a beautiful stranger opposite him, "My name is Su Qin, Su as in Su Zhou, Qin as in Qin Dynasty. What you have inside your attire seems pretty intriguing, may I take a look?"
The stranger was a stunning lady about twenty or so, with fair, porcelain-like skin and jet-black hair coiffed neatly. A pair of sunglasses rested casually on her head. She was clad in a purple professional suit.
Her slim, long legs were closely aligned, leaning under the seat. A limited edition bag slung across her shoulder and black, high-heeled leather shoes adorned her feet. Her face, icy as frost, glared indignantly at Su Qin.
Loony!
The purple-clad lady muttered softly, stood up from her seat and moved to the seats two rows behind, completely ignoring Su Qin.
Though high-speed trains have been in operation for years in Hua Xia, the high price, comparable to air travel, and the slower speed deterred most from using the service resulting in many empty seats.
As soon as the lady in purple settled down, Su Qin followed suit, once again sat opposite her.
Upon seeing Su Qin tail her, she said angrily, "You pervert, leave now, or I will cry for help and accuse you of indecent conduct!"
Despite her stern warning, Su Qin didn’t care at all. Instead, he moved closer to sniff her a couple of times. Then, with a surprised look, he seated himself.
"Although you are incredibly beautiful and possess an enviable 34D figure, I am an honest man not particularly interested in you," Su Qin said seriously, looking sincere, "What piques my interest is what’s hidden beneath your chest, could you show it to me?"
Upon hearing Su Qin’s words, the lady in purple showed a surprised expression. She indeed secreted something under her bosom. She had assumed her concealment airtight, but didn't expect this young man to uncloak it.
She scrutinized Su Qin carefully. This fellow looked about twenty years old, wearing a cyan Tang suit that seemed a bit out of age, with casual black pants and cloth shoes on the lower body. A green jade bracelet on his wrist, he wore a benign look watching her.
The lady in purple feigned obliviousness: "I have no idea what you're referring to, leave immediately, or I'd really call the policeman."
Upon hearing the purple-clad lady’s words, Su Qin only responded with a soft chuckle. Then he once again leaned in to take a whiff, his eyes closed as if indulging in the aroma.
"Hehe, if I'm not wrong, the thing you're hiding in your chest should be a thousand-year-old ginseng, right. To think of such a way to hide it, you really are determined. The only one in the whole Huaxia who has a thousand-year-old ginseng is the Medicine King, Lu Simiao, who regards it as a treasure. Many people have offered sky-high prices for it, but he has never sold it. Did you steal it? Unexpectedly, you turned out to be a beauty thief!" Su Qin said with a serious face.
Nowadays, ginseng around three to five hundred years old is very rare, while a thousand-year-old ginseng can be classified as a heavenly gem. Just twenty years ago, a thousand-year-old ginseng was worth thirty million Huaxia currency, and in the twenty years since, the price has surged up to nearly one hundred million Huaxia currency. If the thousand-year-old ginseng is in a perfect condition, the price will be even higher.
The purple-clothed beautiful woman, after hearing Su Chen's words, was flabbergasted. Not only did the young man correctly guess that she was hiding a thousand-year-old ginseng in her chest, but he even correctly guessed that it came from Medicine King Lu Simiao. This young man was really not ordinary, just who was he?
Although all sorts of questions lingered about this young man, the purple-clothed beauty quickly calmed down and took a deep breath, "Stop pretending, I know you were sent by the Song family! To think that after shaking off two of you guys at the airport, you actually followed me onto the high-speed train. This thousand-year-old ginseng is extremely crucial to the Ye family, how about I give you double the amount the Song family gave you?"
Upon hearing her words, Su Qin's brow furrowed. It seemed like this young lady had a surname Ye. From her words, Su Qin deduced that this Miss Ye seemed to have confused him for someone from the Song family.
"I'm not affiliated with the Song family. I am a traditional Chinese medicine doctor who is very sensitive to the smell of herbs. I smelled ginseng on you and judging by the smell and its size, I guessed that what you're hiding could be a thousand-year-old ginseng. I didn't expect to have guessed it right." Su Qin explained sincerely.
A traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor?
When Miss Ye heard Su Qin's words, she was stunned. No matter what, she found it hard to believe that the young man, who looked no more than twenty, in front of her was a doctor, moreover, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. In her impression, Chinese doctors were old, with seven or eight decades of life experience. How could this young man, who looked even younger than herself, be a Chinese doctor at all?
Just as Miss Ye was about to utter something, she saw two burly men in black suits walk into the carriage. Upon seeing them, Miss Ye hurriedly pulled her sunglasses down and wore them, before she got up, lowered her head and walked in the direction of another carriage.
Seeing Miss Ye's actions, Su Qin was puzzled. Looking around, he saw two men in black suits searching for someone seat by seat. They were both in their thirties, tall and strong. They had a threatening look, indicating they were not ones to be trampled upon.
The two burly men in black quickly chased after Miss Ye when they caught sight of her. Su Qin, left with no choice, shook his head reluctantly, "Sigh, for that beauty, no, for that thousand-year-old ginseng, I'll play the hero just this once."
Then, Su Qin was seen chasing after them quickly. Just as he reached the rest area connecting the two carriages, he saw a purple-clothed woman surrounded by four men who were wearing black clothes. Her face was filled with tension as she tightly gripped her bag.
"Miss Ye Ting, why don't you hand over that thousand-year-old ginseng yourself? If we do it by ourselves, we will strip you in the toilet to find it. Whether you hand it over yourself or we do the job, the choice is yours. Hehe." The lead man, who was tall and skinny, chuckled, his face smeared with a lewd expression.
The purple-clothed woman known as Ye Ting remained silent, glaring angrily at the tall, skinny man. It was at this moment that Su Qin learned that the purple-clothed woman's name was Ye Ting - a name that sounded quite nice. Su Qin, without any hesitation, stepped forward, pushed one of the men in black away and stood beside Ye Ting.
Upon seeing Su Qin approach, Ye Ting's heart sank. She thought, 'It's over, they really are in it together. How can a single woman escape when she is up against five men?'
Just then, Su Qin looked at several people dressed in black suits and said, "You four big men, bullying a woman and trying to steal her belongings, a real disgrace to men. The thousand-year-old ginseng she has, I've taken a fancy to it, it's mine now, all of you can scram."
The four men in black, upon hearing Su Qin's words, were taken aback. They exchanged glances, laughing heartily. It was amusing to them that a youngster, who popped out from nowhere, dared to claim Ye Ting’s thousand-year-old ginseng. Meanwhile, Ye Ting, standing next to Su Qin, was utterly confused by his words, for it seemed that he wasn't on the same side with these men. She didn’t understand what was going on.
"Kid, you try to play the hero? We will teach you today that wanting to be a hero comes with a price. Number three, get him, let him get a taste of blood," said one of the middle-aged men in black.
A burly man dressed in black, standing by the middle-aged man's side, took a couple of steps forward and charged at Su Qin.
The middle-aged man didn't expect the young lad to fight back so fiercely and swiftly knocked down his henchman. The rest of them rushed towards Su Qin, while the middle-aged man tried to snatch Ye Ting's bag. Su Qin quickly stepped in and grabbed Ye Ting, pulling her towards him.
He swiftly moved to the side of the middle-aged man and delivered a chop to the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground. Despite the blow, Su Qin moved fluidly, sweeping a leg out and kicking the knees of two men in black. They doubled over in pain, allowing Su Qin to easily deal the finishing blow.
Realizing the four men in black were all on the ground, Ye Ting finally came to her senses, quickly breaking free from Su Qin’s hold. She saw a red cloth in Su Qin's hand.
Panicked at the sight of the cloth, Ye Ting reached inside her clothing and found the red cloth that she usually hid under her bra, which was now in Su Qin’s hand. She was shocked that he not only managed to knock down four men but also manage to steal the thousand-year-old ginseng she had hidden on her body.
"You thief, return my thousand-year-old ginseng, or I'll call the police!" Ye Ting said timidly.
Unconcerned by Ye Ting's threat, Su Qin opened the red cloth. Inside was a dried ginseng. He was extremely thrilled to see it, taking a sniff and savoring the fragrance enlightening his expression.
Completely disregarding Ye Ting, Su Qin muttered to himself, "This is the thousand-year-old ginseng, the fragrance is simply too good.”
Feeling a peculiar power emanating from the ginseng, Su Qin felt it being absorbed by the string of beads on his wrist. Even though it was not visible, he could feel it distinctly. Su Qin had been wearing these beads since childhood, and his senses were sharper than most. It was his sharp sense of smell that tipped him off about the ginseng concealed on Ye Ting.
Hearing Su Qin’s comments, Ye Ting’s face flushed beet red. The precious ginseng was concealed on her bosom and him sniffing it was a bit embarrassing.
Ding Ling!
Just then, a clear ringtone echoed. The sound was coming from one of the fallen middle-aged men in black.
Su Qin bent down, took out a cell phone from the man’s pocket. He unlocked the phone and saw a text message. Upon reading it, his face turned incredibly serious.
