Chapter 24: The Underground Market

As they approached a heavily guarded entrance, a security guard at the door suddenly called out, highlighting the strict security measures in place. Yet, the wealthy young men and women showed no displeasure at the guard’s abruptness.

Zhang Tianyou immediately strode forward with a cheerful smile. “We’re from Taiqing Pharmaceuticals. This is the young heir of our company. We visited once not long ago.” As he spoke, he took a golden card from Zhu Shaohui and handed it over.

The guard glanced at the card, confirmed it was a VIP pass, and knew that VIP cardholders could indeed bring guests inside. He couldn't help but study the group more closely, and finally his gaze fixed on Chen Yuyi. Every member of the party was dressed in finery—except for Chen Yuyi, who was clearly being kept at a distance by the others.

“He’s with you?” the guard asked, suspicion in his eyes.

“Of course,” Zhang Tianyou replied, still smiling. “May we go in now?”

“You may enter. He cannot,” the guard said suddenly, his expression turning stern.

“Why?” Zhang Tianyou was puzzled.

“You’ve been here before, so you should know the rules. This young man’s attire is inappropriate. He’d make the guests inside uncomfortable.”

“There’s a rule like that?” Zhang Tianyou was speechless.

Chen Yuyi raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze sweeping coolly over the guard.

The guard instantly shivered, nearly dropping to his knees right then and there, overcome by a sudden, inexplicable unease.

“Tch, Zhang Tianyou, I told you already—someone like him shouldn’t come to a place like this, just wasting our time,” Zhu Shaoqi scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Exactly. Some poor kid wants to come here? Tianyou, you really should consider the occasion before bringing someone along,” the other young men and women had never liked having Chen Yuyi tagging along, though they hadn’t said anything until now.

Zhu Shaohui frowned as well. “Tianyou, tell your friend to go home. This isn’t a place for him.”

“Master Hui, I finally ran into this friend after years apart. He really wants to see the place. Could you say a word on his behalf?” Zhang Tianyou looked at Zhu Shaohui with a pleading expression, knowing that only his intervention might work.

Zhu Shaohui shook his head helplessly. “Fine, fine, since you’ve always handled matters diligently, I’ll help you this once. But remember, don’t bring friends here again.” Even so, he never spared Chen Yuyi a glance, treating him as if he were invisible—the favor was only to appease his subordinate.

He then pulled out a thick wad of cash—several thousand yuan at least—and handed it over to the guard with an easy air. “Take this, have some tea, and be flexible.”

The guard’s expression finally softened, though he still felt inexplicably uneasy and wished this group would hurry up and leave. He took the money without protest, slipping it into his pocket.

He added, “Remember, don’t bring anyone along next time. I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything today.” With that, he let them through, only to break out in a cold sweat afterward.

“So generous, Young Master Hui!” As soon as they passed the entrance, one of the young men praised him.

“Tianyou, you’d better work hard for Master Hui. Look how well he takes care of you. Following a boss like him is your good fortune!” another added with a smile.

Two of the young ladies chimed in, “So dashing!”

Zhu Shaoqi lifted his chin with a smirk. “My brother is always this suave!”

Zhang Tianyou, needless to say, was overwhelmed with gratitude toward Zhu Shaohui.

The group walked on, chatting, leaving Chen Yuyi trailing behind at the end.

“Don’t take it to heart. This is just how the world of the wealthy works. But Master Hui is really quite decent—being with him really is my good fortune!” Zhang Tianyou, worried Chen Yuyi might be upset, tried to comfort him, and also expressed his own feelings.

“It’s nothing. Let’s go,” Chen Yuyi replied with a faint smile. Such things were beneath his notice. Even without their help, he could have entered effortlessly. As for Zhu Shaohui’s so-called kindness, he saw it for what it was—a show for his own benefit.

After passing through a corridor, they encountered a second layer of security.

“Gentlemen, you know the rules,” said the security staff, all dressed in black suits, looking robust and formidable, wearing sunglasses and holding scanners.

“What rules?” Chen Yuyi whispered to Zhang Tianyou.

Zhang Tianyou smiled. “It’s nothing much. You just can’t bring phones or cameras or any digital devices inside—and, of course, no dangerous items. I guess they don’t want anyone secretly taking photos of what’s inside.”

By now, Zhu Shaohui and the others had handed over their phones to a staff member, even opening their briefcase for inspection, revealing a box full of cash. The black-suited guards had clearly seen it all before and showed no reaction.

Once Zhu Shaohui and his group had handed over their belongings, they entered a large hall. In such a setting, their status mattered, so they paid no further attention to Chen Yuyi; bringing him inside was already more than enough. The earlier ridicule from Zhu Shaoqi and the others was already a concession.

“Yuyi, hand over your phone so we can go in,” Zhang Tianyou called out, having already surrendered his own.

Chen Yuyi wasn’t dawdling on purpose, but these black-suited guards looked oddly familiar. Then again, bodyguards all tended to dress this way, so he didn’t dwell on it.

He pulled out a cheap phone worth two or three hundred yuan from his pocket, but as he did, a black, glossy card accidentally fell out as well.

The staff member in front of him was actually quite curious how someone dressed so casually had gotten this far, but years of experience in such an environment kept his composure.

However, when Chen Yuyi produced that battered phone, the staff member couldn’t help but snicker. The cheapest phone he’d seen here still cost thousands, often gold- or diamond-studded. He’d never seen one so cheap—and with peeling paint, no less.

Then his eyes fell on the card that had slipped from Chen Yuyi’s pocket, and he was instantly shocked.

To most people, the card was unremarkable—not quite a business card, just a black silhouette of a mountain, with a string of numbers beneath it, presumably a phone number, and nothing else.

But the staff member picked it up as if it were precious, and respectfully presented it to Chen Yuyi with both hands. “Sir, is this your card?”

Chen Yuyi remembered then. It was the business card Left Hongshan had given him that day, which Left Qianhui had pressed into his hand. He’d barely thought about it since, leaving it forgotten in his pocket. He hadn’t expected it to fall out at this moment.

“Yes, it’s mine. Is there a problem?”

“No problem, sir. Please keep it safe. You don’t need to hand over your phone,” the staff member replied respectfully.

“Oh.” That suited Chen Yuyi just fine—he’d need his phone to contact Bai Lang if any good medicinal herbs caught his eye.

Zhang Tianyou was dumbfounded. He knew full well that no matter how rich you were, the rules here never changed. The last time he and Zhu Shaohui had come, a wealthy out-of-town businessman had refused to hand over his phone, regarding it as an insult. Without a word, the black-suited guards had simply thrown him out.

No matter how arrogant or rich you were outside, here you had to behave or face the consequences. That’s why every one of these young heirs and heiresses, so haughty on the outside, barely dared to speak a word inside.

Yet now, Chen Yuyi didn’t have to surrender his shabby phone. Could it be that it was just so worthless they didn’t care? But that didn’t seem right—the staff seemed quite respectful. It didn’t make sense.

Zhang Tianyou glanced curiously at Chen Yuyi.

Unbothered, Chen Yuyi stuffed his phone and the business card back into his pocket.

“Sir!” The staff member suddenly produced another black card. “If you wish to participate in the auction, please take this card and be seated.”

Zhang Tianyou was startled again. It must be a VIP card, though the color was odd—Zhu Shaohui’s was gold, while this one was black. Maybe it was just a lower-tier card. He didn’t think much of it.

Chen Yuyi accepted it without a glance and entered the hall with Zhang Tianyou.

Inside was a vast chamber, lavishly decorated, with long exhibition galleries on both sides, through which numerous wealthy patrons moved.

Chen Yuyi glanced over the displays. All manner of rare treasures were on show—items seldom seen on the market, including some fine medicinal herbs. While they were all aged, he saw none over five hundred years old.

After seeing a five-hundred-year-old ginseng root the previous day, he’d learned how to judge such herbs by age. Medicinal plants that had absorbed the essence of sun and moon held a trace of spiritual energy; the stronger the energy, the older the herb. Of course, ordinary people couldn’t sense this aura.

“Yuyi, what just happened? Why didn’t you have to hand over your phone?” Zhang Tianyou finally couldn’t hold in his curiosity.

“I’m not sure. Maybe they thought my phone was too shabby to bother with. Hmm, I don’t see any high-aged herbs here,” Chen Yuyi replied, knowing full well it was Left Hongshan’s card that had made the difference, but there was no easy way to explain, so he changed the subject.

Zhang Tianyou was curious but didn’t forget his purpose. “There are two sections here: one for open purchase, and one for auction bidding. The rarest herbs will be auctioned inside. That’s actually why our young boss is here. We’ll check it out later. By the way, I spotted a hundred-year-old ginseng root—it’s not the oldest, but it should be perfect for your father’s health.”

With that, Zhang Tianyou dragged Chen Yuyi to a display case, pointing at a ginseng root priced at two hundred thousand yuan.

“Don’t be polite with me. We haven’t seen each other in years, and I can more or less guess your situation now. Just consider this a token of brotherhood,” Zhang Tianyou said with a reassuring slap on Chen Yuyi’s shoulder, as if afraid he might refuse.

“All right,” Chen Yuyi answered simply, without false modesty.

In the past, he wouldn’t have accepted such a gift—he’d have had no way to repay it. But now, things were different. If he accepted this token of brotherhood, he would treat Zhang Tianyou as a true brother from now on.

“By the way, why is your young boss buying such old herbs?” Chen Yuyi suddenly asked, curious.