This William King, though tall and sturdy, wasn’t very sharp, and was called a big fool by others. Henry Carter also recognized him, knowing that this person wasn’t actually stupid—just not as clever as most people. To put it simply, he was just too honest and a bit simple-minded.

Henry Carter’s gaze swept over the pot of grass in his hand, and his pupils instantly contracted.

It was a bonsai.

But slightly different.

The grass was planted in a cauldron covered with rust, the cauldron mottled with corrosion. Yet what truly caught Henry Carter’s eye was that very plant.

This plant was called cold-year grass, known for its refreshing effects. It had seven branches, each with two leaves. As long as the leaves were picked, after seven days, new ones would grow again.

And the real value lay in these leaves.

These leaves could refresh the mind and were useful in pharmacies, but since there were many similar herbs in pharmacies, they weren’t considered precious. However, for incense shops, this cold-year grass was extremely rare, because when the leaves were ground into powder and added to incense sticks, not only did they refresh the mind, but they also eliminated negative effects.

Generally speaking, incense sticks made with cold-year grass leaf powder were all top-grade and much more expensive, affordable only to wealthy households.

“Incense sticks mixed with grass powder are much more expensive, but the powder is hard to bind, and the color isn’t attractive—it’s not easy to remove the green hue. To be honest, a single cold-year grass leaf would only sell for two silver coins, so these fourteen leaves would be twenty-eight silver coins.”

Henry Carter looked at the cold-year grass, thinking, “Selling the leaves would be enough, so why did William King bring the whole plant?”

Cold-year grass grows new leaves every seven days, which means every seven days you could get twenty-eight silver coins out of thin air. While not a huge sum, it was still quite considerable—why would anyone sell the whole plant?

It was practically a money tree.

As the saying goes, a hen that lays eggs is a treasure.

“What? You want to sell this cold-year grass?”

The Shopkeeper’s voice came from inside.

Clatter.

Henry Carter accidentally dropped two bundles of bamboo incense sticks on the ground. He gave a slight wry smile, picked them up, and was about to leave. But he was also very puzzled—this cold-year grass was basically a money tree, so why would William King want to sell it?

He had just taken a step when he heard the Shopkeeper shouting from inside.

“I’ll give you three taels of silver, not a coin more.”

“Cold-year grass is good, but it’s not easy for me to make it into incense sticks—the labor cost… Fine, let’s just talk about the price of the leaves. Look at your plant, you don’t even take care of it, it looks sickly, and who knows if it’ll even grow new leaves in seven days.”

“By my usual price, one leaf is one silver coin, so in seven days that’s fourteen silver coins. My three taels of silver is three hundred silver coins, enough to buy almost a year’s worth of your cold-year grass leaves, not to mention it’s not easy to keep this plant alive.”

The Shopkeeper kept shouting, and Henry Carter could faintly hear a trace of barely detectable joy in his rambling voice.

But William King just stayed silent, probably not understanding the trick, only feeling that the Shopkeeper made a lot of sense.

Henry Carter sighed softly to himself, thinking, “This Shopkeeper is really black-hearted.”

Cold-year grass leaves, generally speaking, could be sold to pharmacies for one and a half silver coins each—about two silver coins for three leaves. For incense shops, two silver coins per leaf was already a low price; if they were fair, each leaf should fetch two and a half silver coins.

Yet this Shopkeeper was only offering one silver coin per leaf—far too low.

Henry Carter was about to leave, but after a moment’s thought, he turned back into the shop.

“Three taels of silver is too low.”

Henry Carter entered the shop, pointed at the cold-year grass, and said, “Each leaf is worth at least two silver coins, fourteen leaves make twenty-eight silver coins, and every seven days you get twenty-eight silver coins. In no time, you’d have three taels of silver. Besides, this cold-year grass is so robust, it grows new leaves every seven days, and the future leaves are a continuous source of money. If you want to buy this money tree, not to mention three taels—even thirty taels would be too little.”

“You…” The Shopkeeper was trembling with anger. William King had almost agreed, so why did this meddler have to show up? He gritted his teeth and snapped, “What do you know? I need it to make incense sticks, the process, the techniques…”

Henry Carter chuckled and said, “That’s your business. I’m just talking about the price of the leaves, the price of the cold-year grass. As for how you make money with it, how you process it, how you sell it at a high price—that’s your concern.”

The Shopkeeper gritted his teeth and said, “It’s not easy to keep this cold-year grass alive. Do you know how much oil it takes to cultivate it every day? Do you know how much effort it takes?”

“This… this…” William King stammered, “Well… this grass… doesn’t need any care, it… it grows on its own.”

“Nonsense! Who doesn’t know cold-year grass needs oil to thrive?” the Shopkeeper snapped angrily. “You fool, you can’t even lie properly. Three taels of silver—take it or leave it.”

Henry Carter raised his eyebrows slightly and said, “Even selling to a pharmacy would fetch more than three taels, wouldn’t it?”

The Shopkeeper flew into a rage, waved his hand, and shouted, “What’s it to you? Mind your own business—get out!”