Chapter 10: Authentic Chinese Medicinal Herbs

Jiang Yan quickly found the rice noodle shop.

At first glance, the place looked a bit shabby. Since it wasn’t mealtime, the shop was empty except for a plump, busy woman behind the counter.

She walked in, glanced at the menu, and ordered a bowl of Huaxi beef rice noodles, with extra beef, pickled vegetables, and beef tendon.

She had just sat down when her phone rang. The caller ID showed it was her private client manager from XX Bank.

They had already called earlier that morning, saying they’d noticed some unusual transactions on Jiang Yan’s bank card.

Unusual? Well, Jiang Yan had spent millions in a single day before.

But back then, her spending was mostly on cars, houses, jewelry, and designer bags.

Today, though, most of her transactions were at wholesale markets—a far cry from her usual spending patterns.

Unusual behavior always raises red flags, so of course the bank needed to do a risk check.

She answered the call.

After confirming that she was indeed the cardholder making the purchases, the manager politely gave her the usual reminders and quickly hung up.

Only then did Jiang Yan realize what was going on.

Luckily, today she’d only paid a portion as a deposit. Altogether, it was just over one “small target,” but the deposit itself was less than 30 million.

Her black card had a limit of 30 million.

If she’d tried to pay the full amount, she did have enough money in her account, but the bank probably wouldn’t have let the transaction go through.

She put her phone away just as her beef rice noodles were ready.

Jiang Yan walked over, picked up the bowl, and was immediately hit by a rich, mouthwatering aroma.

“Wow, that smells amazing!” she couldn’t help but exclaim, swallowing instinctively.

The plump woman heard her praise but didn’t even look up, her tone a bit curt:

“Cilantro, scallions, chili are over there. Add them yourself.”

Jiang Yan spotted the condiment station and headed straight for it, bowl in hand.

A spoonful each of cilantro, chili, and Sichuan peppercorns.

She pulled down her mask, mixed everything with her chopsticks, and dug in.

The cilantro was bright green, the chili a vibrant red. The rice noodles were smooth and springy, the beef tender yet chewy, and the broth was so fragrant and rich it lingered on the palate.

Jiang Yan finished in no time, not even leaving a drop of soup.

Truly, the best cooks are among the people.

This shop’s food was incredible.

Normally, she’d have pulled out her phone and started a Douyin livestream.

But now, she had more important things to do. Besides, her Douyin account had already been suspended for a week, and she didn’t plan on streaming again.

“Boss, I’d like to order 1,000 bowls of these beef rice noodles, with extra beef and assorted beef offal. How much would that cost?” Jiang Yan put her mask back on and stood up.

The plump woman paused, rag in hand, and replied in the same tone, “Can’t do it. I can’t make that many.”

Jiang Yan was stunned for a second, then said, “Boss, I don’t need them today. Tomorrow or the day after is fine. I can pay in advance.”

The woman glanced at her, noticing her good manners and refined air, and her tone softened a bit: “Girl, even tomorrow or the day after, I can’t do it. I have to keep the shop running in the mornings—lots of regulars from the market. I can’t just close for two days.”

Jiang Yan: “What about the afternoon?”

“Gotta go play mahjong.”

“Can’t you work overtime just this once?”

“No way, girl. Life’s too short—there’s no end to making money. In ten minutes, I’m closing up and heading out.” With that, the woman leisurely went back to wiping her pots and pans.

Jiang Yan knew it wasn’t her place to comment on other people’s lifestyles.

In the end, though, she managed to persuade the woman to take her order, but only on the condition that her husband would help make and deliver it in a few days.

*

Leaving the noodle shop, Jiang Yan drove her small truck straight to the neighboring Chinese herbal medicine market.

When she found a spot without people or surveillance cameras, she quickly stashed all the spices and hotpot bases from the truck’s cargo hold into her storage space.

By the time she left the herbal market, it was nearly six o’clock, and most of the shops inside had already closed.

She’d made quite a haul, but had also maxed out all her bank cards.

Yes, aside from that black card, the daily spending limit on her other debit cards was only 500,000 each, and she’d hit the cap on all of them.

Her phone was also blowing up with calls from various bank managers.

Fortunately, she’d bought just about everything she needed from the market.

As she browsed, she realized that the same herb could vary wildly in quality and price.

Naturally, she bought only the best grades and qualities, since the efficacy differed just as much.

Gastrodia, notoginseng, notoginseng flowers, baical skullcap, snow lotus, lingzhi, snow frog, dendrobium, American ginseng, and other authentic medicinal herbs—she bought 200 to 300 kilograms of each, spending over five million in total.

Cordyceps was the most expensive—just ten kilos cost her nearly two million.

You only need to toss a few into chicken soup or whatever. Who knows if it actually works, but it’s enough to last her several lifetimes.

She also bought high-quality ginseng and deer antler—ten kilos each, costing nearly three million.

These two were “strategic reserves.” Jiang Yan figured she probably wouldn’t need them much.

She spent 20,000 yuan on a symbolic kilo of dried bird’s nest, just to have something to pick the fuzz out of when she was bored.

Jokes aside, she also bought 3,000 packs of ready-to-eat rock sugar bird’s nest, which cost another two million in the blink of an eye.

As for more common herbs like minor bupleurum, codonopsis, white atractylodes, isatis root, angelica, and so on, she bought 100 kilos of each.

Except for the dried bird’s nest, cordyceps, and notoginseng flowers, the rest of the herbs were processed according to standard TCM methods—sliced or ground into powder, then packaged in 500g bags.

The market also offered standard TCM decoction processing, so she ordered 4,000 doses each for treating common flu, fever, abdominal pain, menstrual irregularities, cough and asthma, blood circulation, and blood tonics.

Of course, it’s safest to get these formulas from a TCM hospital, but that wasn’t practical for her.

She also needed to stock up on Western medicine and medical equipment, but that would have to wait a couple of days.

Given the quantities she needed, she’d probably have to use some special channels.

After paying the deposits, leaving her warehouse address, and getting the vendors’ business account info, Jiang Yan left the herbal market and drove her little truck straight home.

One, she was out of usable funds. Two, she was exhausted.

Even though her body had been enhanced by her storage space, it had only been a day or two. After a whole day of shopping, buying, talking—there was no way she wasn’t tired.

After a hot shower and drying her hair, she went straight into her storage space.

All the supplies she’d tossed in earlier were neatly arranged in the gray [Warehouse Area].

Thankfully, she could move things around with just a thought, placing them wherever she wanted—like magic.

Jiang Yan spent a while pulling out the shelves and setting them up.

She planned to wait until she’d finished buying everything, then, while hiding out at home, she’d organize all the commonly used supplies on these shelves.

That way, she could grab whatever she needed at any time—so much more convenient.

After all, sometimes your brain just can’t keep up."