So, after Emily Thompson and David Brooks agreed to meet at nine o'clock the next morning, Emily Thompson went home. Once home, Emily Thompson enjoyed a nice shower and then began his daily practice, delving into the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment chapter.

Chapter Five: First Encounter with Nuan Yu

The next day, under the familiar guidance of David Brooks, Emily Thompson brought the “Ginseng King” to the Drug Administration Bureau. It seemed that David Brooks was quite well-connected there; before long, three professional appraisers had busied themselves with the “Ginseng King” and produced an appraisal result.

It was an authentic wild ginseng from Changbai Mountain, over 1,600 years old, with a net weight of 116.5 grams and a main root length of 1.78 meters. Its quality was so exceptional that it could only be described as a peerless treasure.

After the appraisal, at the repeated request of the staff at the appraisal center, Emily Thompson finally agreed to leave the “Ginseng King” there for three days for further detailed examination. Of course, to thank Emily Thompson for his generosity, the director of the Drug Administration Bureau’s appraisal center also promised that Emily Thompson could collect the appraisal certificate directly after three days.

After leaving the Drug Administration Bureau with David Brooks, Emily Thompson, at his friend’s “enthusiastic invitation,” found a high-end Western restaurant and had a feast. Of course, David Brooks was only responsible for the invitation; the bill was naturally paid by Emily Thompson. Walking out of “Palando Italian Restaurant,” Emily Thompson counted the little more than two thousand yuan left in his hand and said, “Sui Feng, if the ‘Ginseng King’ doesn’t sell within a month, your brother here will be left with nothing but the northwest wind to drink.”

While eating, David Brooks had already learned from Emily Thompson that he had resigned. Now, full and satisfied, he said nonchalantly, “With my dad helping you out, don’t worry about half a month—just wait three days until you get the appraisal certificate and you’ll be fine. Right now, you’re holding a rare treasure. What’s there to worry about?”

“By the way, now that you’ve quit your job, what are your plans after the ‘Ginseng King’ is sold?”

This casual question from David Brooks gave Emily Thompson a headache. Indeed! What did he really want to do? Before getting the Shenghan Ring, he had wanted to work hard at Hongda for a few years and get promoted to sales manager in the real estate department—that was his biggest wish at the time. After getting the Shenghan Ring, his goal was to finish cultivating the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment chapter as soon as possible, so he could take out the gold sand, gems, and other valuables from the ring and sell them for money. But now, just the ginseng in the ring could bring him four million yuan, not to mention the nearly half a room full of unidentified medicinal materials at home. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became, so Emily Thompson simply dodged the question: “I haven’t figured it out myself. No need to overthink it—as long as there’s money to be made, just spend it freely.”

David Brooks laughed, “True enough. Money is just a bastard—spend it all and earn more. Don’t think too much. Once your ‘Ginseng King’ is sold, I’m definitely going to hit you up for a treat, haha.”

Three days later, Emily Thompson retrieved the “Ginseng King” from the Drug Administration Bureau, along with a gold-embossed appraisal certificate. At the same time, David Brooks brought good news: Edward Brooks had already found a buyer for him and told him to go to Tongqing Shoutang at 2 p.m. to meet the buyer.

When Emily Thompson arrived at Tongqing Shoutang, David Brooks was anxiously waiting at the door. Seeing him, he hurried over and said, “Come on, let’s go upstairs. The buyer has already been waiting for almost half an hour.”

“But it’s not even two o’clock yet,” Emily Thompson said, puzzled.

“Never mind that, they’re already getting impatient. Just follow me upstairs and we’ll talk.” David Brooks grabbed Emily Thompson and pulled him through the door. Halfway up, Emily Thompson asked, “Who is this buyer, anyway?”

At this, David Brooks put on a mysterious face and said, “A beauty—and the top-tier kind. You’ll understand when you see her.”

Emily Thompson had wanted to ask David Brooks about the buyer’s identity, but his friend misunderstood his intent. He shot him an exasperated look and thought to himself, Why is this guy always thinking about these things all day long?

When Emily Thompson and David Brooks reached the second floor, they found a spacious conference room. Besides Edward Brooks, there was an elderly man over fifty seated to Edward Brooks’s left, and a long-haired woman standing with her back to the door, gazing out the floor-to-ceiling window.

“Yueling, you’re here. Come, let me introduce you. This is Dr. Li from Tonghanchun Hall, and this is the second young lady of Jinyu Group, also the vice president of Jinyu Group, Miss Olivia Foster.” Edward Brooks stood up to introduce them as Emily Thompson arrived.

Hearing Edward Brooks’s introduction, the woman who had her back to Emily Thompson suddenly turned around and smiled.

Upon seeing Olivia Foster’s beautiful face, two words immediately popped into Emily Thompson’s mind: “stunning beauty.” Her exquisitely defined features, paired with fair and radiant skin, a tall and graceful figure, and a standard professional outfit that perfectly accentuated her feminine curves—all of it was just right. What was most captivating was the noble aura that Olivia Foster exuded. Just this noble temperament alone, Emily Thompson believed, would be enough to attract the attention of most men, even if her looks were only average—let alone the fact that Olivia Foster’s beauty was absolutely on par with that of a celebrity.