The next morning, Pi Qinghua once again came to the exchange venue in Lang Yixing's modified Hummer. After all, it had already happened the first time, so it wouldn't be a big deal to do it the second or third time.
Pi Qinghua glanced at the guy next to him who was trying hard to hide his pride, and couldn't help but roll his eyes secretly in his heart. He seemed to have gotten used to this guy being around him. For someone like him, this was really not a good sign, but he didn't resolutely block him out of the door.
Forget it, just let it go. He was too lazy to think about it anymore.
There was no stall today, so after arriving at the venue, Pi Qinghua, Lang Yixing, and Lang Zhi went directly to the Chinese medicine exchange venue. This morning was the quality appraisal of medicines, and in the afternoon was the rematch of the Chinese medicine exchange competition. There was a lot to see in one day.
There was still half an hour left before the Chinese medicine exchange meeting started. But the venue was already crowded, as if someone was watching people at the door. When Pi Qinghua and the other two entered the venue, someone immediately spoke up.
"Mr. Pi, right? Vice President Xu has been waiting for you for a long time. Please follow me!"
Pi Qinghua didn't say much after hearing that. He nodded and followed the man away. Lang Zhi and Lang Yixing, one big and one small, were like two bodyguards. They looked particularly imposing following behind him.
Pi Qinghua walked to the judges' stand, where there were already about ten judges, both men and women, but without exception, all of them were over 40 years old. Xu Guozheng, who had made a bet with him yesterday, was the younger one.
Xu Guozheng looked at Pi Qinghua, with a bit of apology on his square face: "Xiao Pi, right? Yesterday, the machine suddenly broke down, so I left early with the two researchers. I heard that you came back to ask me for your ginseng skin, right? At that time, I was so anxious that I accidentally took your ginseng skin away. Now the ginseng skin is here, why don't you check it to see if it is still your ginseng skin?"
As Xu Guozheng said this, he spread out his left hand, revealing a palm-sized piece of ginseng skin. It looked like a wrinkled piece of tree bark and was not at all noticeable.
Pi Qinghua narrowed his eyes slightly and took the ginseng skin. What surprised him was that this piece of ginseng skin was really the one he had drawn, and it felt very familiar to the touch.
"It's mine." Pi Qinghua said nothing else except this.
Xu Guozheng smiled: "Nothing is wrong. Then we will get down to business. The bet we made yesterday ends today. It just so happens that there is still half an hour left before the Chinese medicine evaluation and exchange. This half an hour is enough for ten experts and the newly repaired machine to identify the age and authenticity of this ginseng skin. How about it? Do you want to continue?"
Pi Qinghua still had a mask on his face. He saw Uncle An sitting in the judges' seat looking at him calmly and nodded: "Of course, I believe in your medical skills and ethics. Let's get started."
As Pi Qinghua said this, he handed the ginseng skin to a female host who was serving dishes nearby, and deliberately avoided Xu Guozheng. After all, some things are better left alone. If he could directly identify the authenticity and confirm that his ginseng skin was real, he would not hit Xu Guozheng in the face.
However, he still underestimated Xu Guozheng's thickness of face and shamelessness.
The first thing to be appraised was the newly repaired machine. Pi Qinghua watched the two appraisers put the ginseng skin into the machine. Because the machine was half-glass, people could still see the ginseng skin from the outside. Three minutes later, the machine began to display the appraisal results.
Five-year-old Salvia miltiorrhiza bark is of medium quality and can be used in important formulas of ordinary ginseng bark. It has average medicinal value.
This is the summary of the ginseng skin shown above.
When seeing this result, Pi Qinghua's bright eyes suddenly turned cold, and beside him, Lang Yixing narrowed his eyes and looked at the two serious appraisers next to the appraisal machine, and smiled a little evilly. He is really brave, but his skills are also good.
Uncle An and another old man in a wheelchair who were also quite surprised were also quite surprised. Compared to Uncle An's surprise and uncertainty, the old man's expression was much more secretive.
Afterwards, the results of manual identification were not much different from those of the machine. Those present were either the president or vice president of a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, or the head of a respected traditional Chinese medicine family, or the owner of a well-known medicine store or clinic. Although they were not at the level of national experts, they were not far behind.
"Xiao Pi, what's going on? Did you take the wrong herbs?" Uncle An was the first to speak, with a worried look on his face. Whether Pi Qinghua took the wrong herbs or he was tricked, if he couldn't give a convincing answer, it would be difficult for him to survive in the Chinese medicine industry in the future. He wanted to ask Pi Qinghua's opinion at this time.
However, Pi Qinghua did not answer him, but turned to look at Xu Guozheng.
There was not much expression on Xu Guozheng's face at this time, but his sparkling eyes and slightly upturned mouth corners directly showed that he was in a very good mood at the moment.
"Xiao Pi, I also know that you are delivering herbs to Brother An. I heard that the three types of herbs, Magnolia officinalis bark, Ghost-seeing Feathers and Dictamni bark, from Anyun Pharmacy have been quite effective recently. It shows that you are also a serious and discerning child. However, you can't be proud and complacent about this, and you can't mistake an ordinary Salvia miltiorrhiza bark for a thousand-year-old ginseng bark. You should know that the difference between the two is quite large, and an inadvertent mistake will lead to an irreparable mistake." Xu Guozheng spoke with a serious face, and he looked like an elder who was preaching. Hearing this, the other nine judges and the people around him couldn't help but nod their heads.
But the more Xu Guozheng talked, the colder Pi Qinghua's face became. When he finally said, "You are still young and need more experience," Pi Qinghua suddenly interrupted him. His voice was quite indifferent, but extremely clear.
"That piece of ginseng skin is not the ginseng skin I just gave you. What's the point of you saying so much?"
Xu Guozheng's words suddenly stopped. He seemed to be stuck by the neck. For a moment, his face turned red and his eyes were ferocious. But he soon returned to his original gentleness.
"Xiao Pi, this is your fault. A momentary mistake is not terrible. What is terrible is that you are stubborn and keep making mistakes. You must not ruin your promising life for the sake of temporary interests and face." Xu Guozheng said earnestly. "The machine was tested in front of us, and then these nine medical masters authenticated it. The most important thing is that you have personally confirmed the ginseng skin, and all the tests were carried out under your nose. How can you say that the ginseng skin is not yours?"
Pi Qinghua ignored Xu Guozheng, whose tone was already somewhat serious. He glanced at the vice president who looked like a good person, and said with a sneering tone: "I say the same thing to you. A momentary mistake is not terrible. What is terrible is that you are stubborn and keep making the same mistake. You must not ruin your promising life for a momentary face."
"You! You are totally unreasonable! How can there be someone like you with dirty thoughts in the field of traditional Chinese medicine?!"
Pi Qinghua was too lazy to argue with him and took the ginseng skin in his hand. He found that it had indeed been swapped. Thinking back to the previous series of events, the only ones who could have tampered with it were the two appraisers. He suddenly looked over.
At this time, President Langda, who had always been very visible but had never spoken, finally took action.
His movements were like a hurricane. Before anyone could react, he grabbed the two appraisers. When everyone thought he was going to do something violent, he suddenly threw the man on the left, who screamed and something like a piece of bark fell out.
Lang Yixing sneered: "Who can tell me? What is this thing?"
The appraiser obviously didn't expect his actions to be discovered, but he didn't show a panic expression. Instead, he asked with dissatisfaction: "Who are you? How can you come on stage without permission? Please leave!"
Lang Yixing glanced over and the man immediately became weak. "… This ginseng skin is the thousand-year-old ginseng skin that Vice President Xu will ask us to identify later! Don't make a mistake! Look carefully, this piece of ginseng skin is much smaller than the one he took before!"
People had some doubts just now, but after hearing this, their doubts were dispelled. This piece of ginseng skin was indeed much smaller, and no matter how fast it moved, it was impossible for it to shrink into this shape in an instant.
Seeing that he was still not giving up, Lang Yixing shook the appraiser on his right side, and then another thing fell down.
At this time, people looked at the two pieces of black ginseng skin and felt that the development of the matter had suddenly become so unexpected. At this time, the judges on the stage looked at Xu Guozheng with a certain scrutiny and suspicion. They naturally thought of a certain possibility. But it was hard for them to believe that Xu Guozheng in front of them would be such a person.
At this time, Vice President Xu, who had been so complacent and earnest before, was now covered in cold sweat. Looking at the scrutinizing eyes opposite him, he understood very clearly that if he could not give a reasonable and formal explanation, he would never have any possibility of development even if he lost everything.
So Xu Guozheng took a deep breath and continued talking. He first picked up the two pieces of ginseng skin, and was glad for their irregular shape. "Since things have come to this, I won't say anything else. The reason why I suspected that this kid's ginseng skin was fake yesterday was because I happened to get two real thousand-year-old ginseng skins by chance. Although Xiaopi's thousand-year-old ginseng skin looks very similar to my real ginseng skin, I have had these two pieces of ginseng skin for several years, and I look at them carefully every day. How can I not recognize the real from the fake? So, when I saw the fake ginseng skin, I naturally couldn't help it. I am not a nosy person on weekdays, but I absolutely cannot stand seeing people cheating and deceiving."
"And these two pieces of ginseng skin are what I want to compare with the fake ones. I asked those two people to help me hold them for easy identification. Who knew that in the end, they would bite me back." Xu Guozheng's face was not good: "People's hearts nowadays... are really..."
"How can someone your age be so toothless!!"
A clear childish voice interrupted Xu Guozheng's words. Everyone looked over to find that it was the half-grown boy standing behind Pi Qinghua. "Daddy said that the most annoying person is the one who leans against the wall without teeth! I didn't know who that person was before, but now Xiaozhi is sure that you have no teeth!"
Lang Zhi's face was red with anger, and he looked very angry. However, Pi Qinghua and Lang Yixing, who knew him well, knew that this kid was doing something bad. Look at the way he cursed people in a roundabout way. He also looked innocent.
The people sitting there didn't quite understand what the kid meant. Doctor Wen, who was standing next to Uncle An, suddenly had an idea: "Could it mean despicable and shameless?"
Lang Zhi nodded heavily.
The others were speechless, but couldn't help laughing.
Xu Guozheng's eyes turned red with anger. How dare a young boy say that to him! But before he could scold him, Pi Qinghua spoke again.
"Are you sure these two pieces of ginseng peel are yours? You didn't cut my ginseng peel into two pieces?"
Xu Guozheng's heart tightened, but his expression did not change at all. "Of course, who am I to lie to you?!"
"So what are the marks or features of these two pieces of ginseng skin?"
Xu Guozheng didn't understand what Pi Qinghua meant by this. He had carefully examined the ginseng skin from top to bottom yesterday, and there was absolutely no mark on it. So he shook his head and said affirmatively, "No!"
Then, he saw an extremely sinister smile in the eyes of Pi Qinghua opposite him. Xu Guozheng heard Pi Qinghua say: "There is a mark on my ginseng skin. Give the ginseng skin to the masters and let them test it."
"I can be sure that one of the two pieces of ginseng skin in your hand must have my mark on it."
At this moment, everyone present was nervous about this turn of events, and Xu Guozheng felt very clearly that he had fallen into a trap, a trap that had been set long ago. However, his trick was seen through from the very beginning.