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"Seven Leaf One Branch Flower"? This herb is introduced in "Medicinal Plants." Zhang Yang remembers it clearly; it is a plant from the lily family, also known as Seven Leaf Lotus, with many aliases such as Grass River Car, Earth Three Seven, Nine-Sectioned Gourd, and so on. "Seven Leaf" is just a name; in fact, the leaves are arranged in a whorled pattern, ranging from 4 to 14 leaves. It is mainly used for reducing swelling and detoxifying, and it is not a rare herb.
Why would Wang Zhongwei specifically search for this herb?
Seeing Zhang Yang's doubtful gaze, Wang Zhongwei explained, "If I were looking for ordinary Seven Leaf One Branch Flower, I certainly wouldn't come to this market. I'm here to find a peculiar variant. There are many variants of Seven Leaf One Branch Flower, and they are not hard to find, but this wild variant is very difficult to locate and has remarkable medicinal properties."
Just as he was speaking, Wang Zhongwei's gaze focused on a display stand. On the stand was indeed the Seven Leaf One Branch Flower, but the arrangement of leaves was very unusual; they appeared to be separated yet connected in a circle around the outside. Beneath the flowers, it seemed as if an entire large leaf had been excavated with multiple neat gaps.
"Lianye Chonglou!" Wang Zhongwei exclaimed.
"Good eye, young brother!" The seller was a lean middle-aged man with thick, slightly curly hair, dressed in a crisp white shirt and speaking with a slight southwestern accent.
"What’s the price?" Wang Zhongwei asked.
"To treat old injuries, you can't do without this rare variant of Seven Leaf One Branch Flower," the Lean Man explained with a smile instead of giving a direct price.
Wang Zhongwei didn't hide anything and said directly, "I do need to prepare medicine now, and I am indeed short of this ingredient. You don't seem like someone who would inflate prices."
"Haha, you're too kind. It's 100,000 per plant. Don't bother haggling; I only have four plants available—purely wild and hard to come by," the Lean Man replied.
"Deal!" Wang Zhongwei said without hesitation. This Herb Market has dedicated trading rooms equipped with computers, POS machines, cash validators, safes, and various facilities; card transactions can be completed in minutes, and the purchased herbs can be temporarily stored in safes for safekeeping.
After completing the transaction, Wang Zhongwei let out a sigh of relief and repeatedly said "It was worth the trip." He then added, "This medicine is for someone at home who is..." Suddenly feeling it inappropriate halfway through his sentence, he paused awkwardly.
Zhang Yang understood immediately; preparing medicine for treating old injuries for someone from Yanjing meant that with the background and strength of Shen Cao Wang Lu, it must be for a central figure who had previously experienced gunfire. Such topics were certainly not suitable for further discussion. He quickly interjected ambiguously, "It's all for the country and the people; that's what we should do."
Wang Zhongwei nodded with a smile and asked, "Why are you particularly interested in herbs?"
"I love food and drink," Zhang Yang replied succinctly.
"Hahaha," Wang Zhongwei laughed and said, "Since you have Tianshan Snow Lotus for tea, why not buy some Wild Ginseng and Cordyceps to make wine?"
"Forget it," Zhang Yang waved his hand and then asked, "By the way, which fresh herbs can be eaten directly?"
"Radish," Wang Zhongwei replied. Zhang Yang was taken aback, thinking what kind of herb that was. Unexpectedly, Wang Zhongwei pointed to a display stand where there were indeed eight small radishes.
The small radishes were about 15 centimeters long and 5 centimeters in diameter. They had a strange shape, somewhat resembling ginseng and also a bit like Fo-ti; in short, they were not the regular round or elongated shape of typical radishes. The skin of the radish was white, but the root hairs were purplish-red.
"This kind of radish is very rare. You see, the skin is white, but the flesh and root hairs are the same color, which is purplish-red. It doesn't have a scientific name; it's commonly known as White Heart Radish. The key is that it has complex requirements for soil and environment, only growing in a few mountain ranges, making it impossible to cultivate artificially. Xu Guangqi's Agricultural Administration Complete Book has some related records, but they are incomplete," Wang Zhongwei explained.
"This kind of radish can be stored for a long time; it can last two to three months in autumn and winter without any problem. It meets your requirements perfectly—it's both a rare herb and can be eaten raw."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang felt delighted and immediately stepped forward. "But—" Wang Zhongwei sighed, "This is meant for people recovering from surgery or serious illness; it’s nutritious and helps with digestion. Treating it like fruit is truly wasteful."
The seller grinned upon hearing this and said, "I was originally selling Fo-ti; since I've sold all the Fo-ti, I'll give you a discount on these White Heart Radishes if you want them all. What this brother mentioned was for soup, but eating them raw is also good."
"How much?"
"I'll charge you 20 yuan!"
Zhang Yang was stunned; after being told by Wang Zhongwei for so long, he thought these radishes would sell for ginseng prices. The "20 yuan" really caught him off guard.
"20 yuan per pound?"
"You must be joking! I meant 20 yuan per gram!"
Oh well, so "20 yuan" meant that. After weighing everything, it totaled over 4000 grams; buying a few radishes cost him more than 80,000 yuan. However, Zhang Yang still bought them. There was a water pool in the market; after packing the radishes, Zhang Yang took one out, washed it clean, cut it open with a knife, and handed half to Wang Zhongwei: "Here, please enjoy this expensive radish."
It was no exaggeration—the flesh was tender and juicy with a crisp texture. Moreover, the taste of the radish skin and flesh was different; the skin had a slightly sweet flavor while the flesh had a faint herbal aroma. In short, there was no trace of typical radish flavor at all.
"To be honest, it's my first time eating this too. The texture is a bit like wax apple, but this fruit doesn't have the medicinal aroma," Wang Zhongwei said with a smile. After that, the two of them wandered around the market again, and Zhang Yang bought some high-quality goji berries and licorice to brew tea.
"Having money means being willful," Wang Zhongwei chuckled as they were leaving.
"Money is worthless; spend it and earn it back," Zhang Yang said after eating half of a White Heart Radish. He immediately felt the flow of energy within him accelerate, and the yellow humanoid figure in his mind began to appear again, seemingly quite refreshing, dancing gracefully. He thought to himself that he didn't expect the medicinal properties of this radish to be on par with Tianshan Snow Lotus.
By the time they walked out of the large iron gate, it was already noon. "I skipped class for the whole morning," Zhang Yang said. "This morning was Mu Rujun's jurisprudence class."
"Didn't you manage to handle her? Wow, youthful face!" Wang Zhongwei chuckled.
"That was Dean Long who smoothed things over. However, Mu Rujun is not a bad person; she just hasn't faced much adversity and can't handle pressure," Zhang Yang replied. "By the way, she's not married, right?"
"She's a female PhD student; she should be single," Wang Zhongwei said with a sly grin. At that moment, his phone rang. "I have to deliver some medicine." After hanging up, Wang Zhongwei told Zhang Yang and left early by taxi.
Zhang Yang took the radish and hailed a taxi back to the dormitory. There was no one in the dormitory; he guessed that Chen Xiangyu and Cai Fengfeng had gone out for lunch. Feeling inspired, he picked up the bag and chose a thinner radish. After washing it and preparing to eat, his phone suddenly beeped with a text message.
He picked it up and saw that it was a message from Mu Rujun, the jurisprudence teacher they had just discussed.
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