Although it wasn’t yet time for the official grand opening and ribbon-cutting, quite a few people had already come to offer their congratulations. In the spacious first-floor lobby of over 300 square meters, there were at least forty or fifty people. Among them, several faces looked familiar to Emily Thompson. After thinking carefully, weren’t those familiar middle-aged men all leaders who often appeared in newspapers and on the news? No wonder they looked familiar.

Curious, Emily Thompson asked David Brooks about it, and it turned out these leaders had all been patients of his father. Thanks to his father’s miraculous medical skills, they naturally came to return the favor. Normally, it’s not easy to invite such leaders, but in this world, who doesn’t get sick from time to time? You can refuse anyone else’s invitation, but you can’t refuse a famous doctor’s.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the crowd gradually dispersed, but Emily Thompson was forcibly kept behind by David Brooks, who said they should have a good chat in the evening.

Once the shop officially opened, even though it was almost 5 p.m., business was surprisingly good. It seemed everyone was drawn by the reputation of the elder of the Xiao family. After all, there had been plenty of publicity early on: for the first three days after opening, the renowned Shanghai doctor Edward Brooks would provide free pulse diagnosis for customers at Tongqing Shoutang. With a famous doctor offering free consultations, it was only natural that customers would come in droves.

They were busy all the way until 7 p.m. before finally closing up shop and seeing off the last guests. Emily Thompson wasn’t the shy type, and since he was already quite familiar with David Brooks’s family, he went with them to their home for dinner.

“Dad, once we officially open tomorrow morning, shouldn’t we bring out the store’s prized treasure for display? That would help attract customers and build up our reputation!” David Brooks asked after taking a sip of red wine.

“Let’s wait a bit, there’s no rush,” replied Edward Brooks, who wore a pair of wide-rimmed glasses, in an unhurried tone.

“You can’t be serious.” David Brooks looked at Edward Brooks in disbelief, completely puzzled.

“You don’t understand. If we show off our thousand-year-old wild ginseng now, it won’t have the best effect. Wait another half month, and when the Old City God Temple’s Tong Han Chun Tang holds the Ginseng Festival, we’ll take our treasure out for exhibition. Think about it—which would have a better impact?”

“Brilliant, truly brilliant! I never thought you had such a knack for business, Dad.” David Brooks’s flattery was perfectly timed, while Emily Thompson, sitting nearby, couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Uncle Xiao, in this day and age, does thousand-year-old wild ginseng really still exist?”

In Edward Brooks’s eyes, Emily Thompson was just like family, so he replied kindly with a smile, “Indeed, nowadays it’s nearly impossible to dig up thousand-year-old wild ginseng. Even in Jilin’s Changbai Mountain, the largest wild ginseng producing area in our country, it’s extremely difficult to find even a hundred-year-old one. But over a hundred years ago, it was still possible.”

“You mean—?”

“The thousand-year-old wild ginseng our family has was left by our ancestors over a hundred years ago and passed down to my generation. Back in the day…”

As soon as Edward Brooks said the words “back in the day,” David Brooks immediately interrupted, “Dad, since Emily is interested, why don’t you bring out the ginseng and let us have a look?”

After giving David Brooks a glare, Edward Brooks stood up and said, “Alright, I’ll go get it now.” With that, he turned and walked toward the study.

At this moment, David Brooks’s mother spoke up, “Sui Feng, you child, your dad rarely gets to reminisce about the old days. Can’t you just let him talk a bit more?”

David Brooks pulled a long face and said, “Mom, you know as well as I do—once Dad starts reminiscing, it’ll be at least two or three hours before he’s done. Are we going to eat or not?”

“You and your big mouth.” David Brooks’s mother scolded him with a smile, but she tacitly agreed with what he said. At this moment, Edward Brooks came out holding a brocade box over a meter long.

When the box was opened and Emily Thompson saw the so-called thousand-year-old wild ginseng that Edward Brooks had mentioned, he was dumbfounded. This thing—he had at least a dozen of them among the medicinal herbs he’d taken from the Shenghan Ring, and each one was even bigger and sturdier than the one before him. Could it be that all those unknown herbs piled up at home were top-grade treasures?

Thinking of this, Emily Thompson couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement and asked, “Uncle, if this were put on the market, how much would it be worth?”

Edward Brooks replied noncommittally, “A few years ago, a thousand-year-old wild ginseng was auctioned in Shanghai for 2.22 million yuan. I went to see it myself. Although that ginseng was indeed a thousand years old, its quality was far inferior to the one our family has. And it’s been several years since then—if I had to estimate its value now, I really couldn’t say. Haha, what’s this, Emily, are you starting to get interested in medicinal herbs?”

After hearing Edward Brooks’s words, Emily Thompson almost jumped up. He started thinking to himself: if the dozen or so at home really were thousand-year-old wild ginseng, wouldn’t he be set for life? But right now, he still wasn’t completely sure.

David Brooks also noticed that Emily Thompson’s expression was a bit odd, so he leaned over and said, “Emily, what’s wrong? Don’t tell me the scent of thousand-year-old ginseng is too much for you and you’re about to get a nosebleed!”

Should he say something or not? Emily Thompson thought for a moment and finally decided to speak up. At worst, he’d just get his hopes up for nothing and make a fool of himself. After all, after years in real estate sales, Emily Thompson had developed a pretty thick skin.