At the last gemstone auction, the video of his wife fooling around with someone else had utterly humiliated him. If not for his father-in-law's influence, he would have divorced that slut long ago.

  Even though they were still technically married, their relationship was already in name only—both of them lived their own lives.

  After learning that Shen Yuxuan was the one who had arranged for the video to be played, Li Junyi had pinned all the blame on Lin Yu. He was determined to return the favor of that green hat to Lin Yu.

  Thus, he had carefully devised this plan to lure Jiang Yan to Ling'an—his territory. Once she was there, she would never escape his grasp.

  "Jiang Yan, I told you—you’ll be mine sooner or later."

  After leaving the hospital, Li Junyi calmly glanced at the photos in his hand before getting into a black car and speeding away.

  ---

  "I have another business trip. Aren’t you happy?"

  Three days later, Jiang Yan admired the new dress she had just bought in front of the floor-length mirror while speaking to Lin Yu.

  "Why another trip all of a sudden?" Lin Yu frowned. Why was this hospital so busy?

  "It can’t be helped. New employees always have to go for training. This was a spot our director fought hard to get for me," Jiang Yan replied.

  "Is it Beijing again?" Lin Yu asked curiously.

  "No, this time it’s Ling'an."

  "Ling'an?" Lin Yu immediately sat up.

  Ling'an was actually quite close to Qinghai—just a 45-minute high-speed train ride away. But the thought of Li Junyi being from Ling'an made Lin Yu inexplicably worried.

  "How about I go with you?" Lin Yu suggested after some thought.

  "What would you do there? I’m going for training."

  "I have nothing to do at home anyway. Might as well go and have fun. Plus, this way, you won’t have to randomly get jealous while I’m away," Lin Yu said with a grin.

  "Jealous? Don’t flatter yourself!" Jiang Yan quickly turned and walked into the room, feeling oddly guilty for some reason.

  ---

  Under Lin Yu’s insistence, Jiang Yan had no choice but to take him along to Ling'an. However, the hospital only covered her expenses—Lin Yu had to pay for himself.

  When they arrived at the hotel, Jiang Yan tacitly allowed Lin Yu to share a room with her, but he proactively booked a separate room next door.

  Since the academic conference would last two days, they would be staying for three nights.

  ---

  "Boss Li, the person you asked me to keep an eye on has arrived."

  In a towering glass skyscraper, Li Junyi sat in his spacious office sipping coffee while a man in a black jacket handed him several photos of Lin Yu and Jiang Yan entering the hotel.

  "He came too?"

  Li Junyi was somewhat surprised to see Lin Yu in the photos. Then, with a cold smile, he recalled all the moments Lin Yu had humiliated him at the auction. His teeth gritted in hatred as he crumpled Lin Yu’s photo and said icily, "Good. Since he’s here, he won’t be leaving."

  "Call the hotel manager and tell him to proceed as planned," Li Junyi ordered.

  Nearly all high-end hotels in Ling'an had business ties with him, so no matter which hotel Jiang Yan checked into, he could control it effortlessly.

  "Boss Li, about this guy—should I get Hua Zi and the others to..."

  Before the man in the black jacket could finish, Li Junyi waved his hand and frowned. "This He Jiarong seems to have learned some combat skills in recent years. Ordinary people can’t handle him. To be safe, hire a few retired special forces soldiers to play with him. I want him begging for death!"

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The thought of Jiang Yan’s perfect body being pinned beneath Lin Yu, moaning in pleasure, drove Li Junyi mad with rage.

  ---

  The next day, while Jiang Yan attended the academic conference, Lin Yu visited some famous local attractions.

  When it came to Ling'an, the most famous scenic spot was Snow Lake. Legend had it that in winter, when the temperature was just right, snow would fall onto the lake without melting.

  Unfortunately, it was early autumn, so Lin Yu didn’t have the fortune to witness this phenomenon.

  "Get out! You stink!"

  A sharp voice suddenly rang out. Curious, Lin Yu turned to see a woman in white at the entrance of a traditional Chinese medicine shop, using a broom to shoo away an old man.

  The expelled old man was disheveled, his gray hair tangled into knots, and his body exuded a faint, unpleasant odor.

  "I’m not a beggar. I’m here to sell herbs," the old man hurriedly explained, taking off the bamboo basket on his back. He pulled out some cicada molts, dried centipedes, and other herbs, saying, "I picked these myself in the mountains. They’re natural."

  Ling'an was surrounded by mountainous terrain, and its deep forests were known for rare medicinal herbs. Many farmers who made a living gathering herbs would bring their finds directly to pharmacies in the city to sell.

  "We’re fully stocked on these. We don’t need them," the shop assistant said disdainfully.

  "What about this ginseng? You must want ginseng, right?" The old man rummaged through his basket and pulled out a piece of torn cloth. Carefully unwrapping it, he revealed a ginseng root as thick as a baby’s arm, covered in mud and grass—looking more like a radish than anything else.

  "We buy ginseng, not radishes. Get lost!" The assistant pinched his nose, clearly fed up.

  "Nonsense! This is genuine wild ginseng. I dug it up myself after great effort," the old man retorted, offended.

  "Then take it somewhere else. We don’t want it here!" The assistant raised his broom threateningly, as if ready to swing if the old man didn’t leave.

  "Old man, may I take a look?"

  Lin Yu’s eyes lit up when he noticed the faint emerald glow emanating from the mud-covered ginseng. He quickly stepped forward.

  The old man hesitated, then handed the ginseng to Lin Yu. "Young man, this really is wild ginseng from the mountains. If you want it, I’ll give you a discount."

  Lin Yu examined the ginseng carefully. It was indeed wild, and its age was considerable—at least several hundred years, possibly even a thousand.

  A ginseng of this age could truly be called a miraculous herb.

  Suppressing his excitement, Lin Yu said calmly, "Old man, how much do you want for this ginseng? No need for a discount—just name your price."

  Before leaving, Jiang Yan had given Lin Yu her bank card, so he spoke with confidence.

  "T-two... twenty thousand?" the old man ventured tentatively.

  "I’ll give you fifty thousand," Lin Yu immediately countered.

  "Fifty thousand?!" The old man’s jaw dropped.

  "Too low? I can add another ten thousand." Lin Yu wasn’t sure how much money was in Jiang Yan’s card, so he didn’t dare bid too recklessly.

  "Fools these days are a dime a dozen. Let me tell you, a ginseng this big can’t possibly be wild!" The shop assistant rolled his eyes, his tone dripping with disdain.

  Last time, he had mistakenly purchased a fake ginseng and was docked a month’s wages. Since then, he had been extra cautious.

  "Alright, alright! Sixty thousand, then. Sixty thousand it is!" The old man grabbed Lin Yu’s arm excitedly, afraid he might vanish if he blinked.

  "I’ll pay eighty thousand!"

  Suddenly, another voice chimed in. An elderly man in a white coat—the resident physician of the pharmacy—had hurried over. Seeing the ginseng in the old man’s hand, he immediately placed a higher bid.

  With decades of experience handling herbs, he could tell at a glance that this ginseng held some value.

  The shop assistant paled when he saw the doctor joining the bidding. Regret washed over him—he should have bought it cheaply himself earlier.

  "One hundred thousand!" Lin Yu raised the stakes without hesitation.

  "One hundred twenty thousand!" The doctor gritted his teeth, convinced there was profit to be made, and matched the offer.

  "Three hundred thousand!" In his urgency, Lin Yu directly tripled the bid. Even if Jiang Yan’s card didn’t cover it, he could always ask her to transfer more money.

  The doctor shook his head and chuckled. "Young man, buying this ginseng for over a hundred thousand might still turn a profit, but three hundred thousand is overpaying."

  "Master, judging by his accent, he’s clearly an out-of-towner. He has no idea how things work in Ling'an," the assistant sneered, looking at Lin Yu as if he were an idiot.

  "What do you mean?" Lin Yu asked, puzzled.

  "Young man, ginseng of this size isn’t rare in Ling'an. It’s a genetically modified hybrid. In recent years, people have been mass-producing them by crossbreeding pure ginseng varieties," the doctor explained patiently.

  "From its appearance, this one does resemble wild ginseng, but no wild ginseng grows this big. It’s most likely another hybrid—just with slightly higher medicinal value than the others."

  "Nonsense! This is pure wild ginseng! I dug it up myself!" The old man grew frantic, turning to Lin Yu. "Young man, you must believe me!"

  "Son, there are many scammers these days. Be careful not to get cheated," the doctor warned Lin Yu calmly.

  "I believe this old man," Lin Yu said with a smile. Then, to the old man, he asked, "Do you want cash or a transfer?"

  "Cash is fine, cash!" The old man sighed in relief. "I’ll give you a discount—just two hundred eighty thousand."

  Lin Yu accompanied him to a nearby bank to withdraw the money. The old man’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of so much cash. He hastily wrapped it in his torn cloth, stuffed it into his shirt, and fled as if running for his life.

  "Young man, you’ve been scammed!"

  "A ginseng this big is obviously a hybrid!"

  "In a pharmacy, it might still sell for something, but its medicinal value is low. In private hands, it’s not even worth tens of thousands!"

  The bidding between Lin Yu and the doctor had drawn a crowd, and several onlookers who knew a thing or two about ginseng couldn’t help but comment.

  "Old sir, in all your years, have you ever seen a thousand-year ginseng king?" Lin Yu asked with a smile. "Fetch me a basin of clean water, and I’ll show you something extraordinary."

  "Young man, I’m afraid you’ll be the one crying soon," the old doctor said, shaking his head. Nonetheless, he instructed the assistant to bring a basin of water.