As the time for Kathy to leave City N drew nearer, she practically spent every day with her grandfather.
Kathy just found out that it’ll be grandfather’s birthday in a couple of days.
The Booth family didn’t want to hold an extravagant banquet. They planned to celebrate the Old
master’s birthday at the Booth residence.
Kathy was struggling to think of what present to get for her grandfather and asked Alexia for
suggestions.
“Are you in B country? It’s a pity I’m not back yet. I heard that there is a shop over there which sells
some precious medicinal herbs. Your grandfather’s health is frail. Why don’t you get some rare
medicinal herbs for him? I think it’ll do some good for his health.”
Kathy paused for a moment, this was something she didn’t think of.
Grandfather has a private doctor to manage his nutrition so she never needed to worry about it.
After hanging up the call, she looked for the doctor to inquire. Recently he had been looking for a type
of herb in the hope of sustaining grandfather for a while longer.
“Ms. Kathy, it would be great if you can find this herb.”
Kathy took over the prescription and waited for Joseph to come back before asking him if he could
locate it.
With Joseph’s contacts and being the head of the medical research center, it shouldn’t be too difficult
for him.
“This medicinal herb can only be found in B Country. Wait for my news.”
“Really?” Kathy’s eyes lit up.
Joseph grinned, “I’ve said before, as long as it’s Mrs. Joseph’s requests, I will endeavor to fulfill them.”
The next day, Joseph rescheduled his morning engagements and went out with Kathy.
The both of them had been in B Country for a while but this was the first time they went out together.
Kathy wore an off-white dress and put on light make up.
Joseph held onto her hand, “Do you want to date me?”
Kathy laughed, “Yes, will Mr. Joseph accept?”
“I can’t wait to.” Joseph lifted her face and kissed her affectionately.
B country has numerous specialist shops hidden in the back alleys and out of sight.
Kathy stopped at an elegant and clean shop front.
They had gone to several medicinal shops but they were not what Joseph was looking for.
As they entered the narrow door, they came into a dimly lit room filled with the fragrance of old wooden
cabinets.
They began to smell the faint scent of medicinal herbs and Joseph couldn’t help but take a deep
breath.
They continued along a long corridor and finally reached a slightly bigger shopfront. A series of drawers
and the words on them caught the attention of Joseph.
The shelves also had several old medical books. There were rows of bottles filled with freshly prepared
traditional medicine which he was familiar with.
There was only an old lady in the store who did not greet the customers. She focused on attending to
her herbs.
With a pestle in one hand and a white porcelain bowl in the other, she ground some green herbs into a
paste.
Joseph paused and looked at the row of shelves behind her.
“Excuse me, I would like to take a look at that bottle.”
Kathy looked along where Joseph was pointing. It was a green medicine pot. He took it over and
emptied its contents onto a sheet of paper and picked up the pot to inspect carefully.
Kathy was puzzled. They were here to buy medicine so why was Joseph so interested in this medicine
pot…
“Joseph, is there anything special about this pot?”
“Even if we find the herbs for grandfather, it needs to be kept in a special container with a distinct smell.
Otherwise, they will rot.”
Kathy was stunned to find out this reason.
She didn’t expect Joseph to know so much about traditional herbs.
“This white with green flowers porcelain pot was made during the Qing dynasty. The grey flower
patterns are even and the most important part is it is flawless and free of defects. This medicinal pot is
a priceless antique.”
In his view, the gift to grandfather should include this medicinal pot.
Kathy was stunned.
Grandfather also liked to collect antiques and she didn’t expect Joseph to be so thoughtful.
She took out the prescription and handed it over to the old lady.
“May I ask if you have these herbs here?”
The old lady put on her reading glasses and looked closely at the prescription.
“I only have one of the herbs. As to the rest of the herbs, there is another shop along this street that
may have the rest.”
The two left after buying the herb and the medicinal pot.
There were more than ten medicinal herbs shops along this street and they could only go to each one
to find out.
“Don’t you need to go back to the Joseph group this afternoon? I can look for the herbs by myself.”
Kathy looked at the man beside her.
She knew that it was difficult to find the remaining herbs and it might take the rest of the day to search
for it.
“I’m not comfortable with you searching alone, Mrs. Joseph. When can you learn to be more dependent
on me?” Joseph pinched her chin and said.
Kathy bit on her lips and was worried that she would trouble Joseph.
He was always so busy…
He could tell what Kathy was thinking about and Joseph said, “I’m willing to squander my time with
you.”
Kathy started to blush. What he said is so romantic…
Her hand was held by Joseph and he continued to take her from shop to shop to look for the remaining
herbs.
Five more shops were remaining as the evening approached.
Kathy walked into a shop with a small courtyard. The owner was an elderly man.
“I have all the herbs that you are looking for but I no longer sell it to outsiders. Please leave.” The old
man waved his hand.
“Sir, can you tell me the reason? These few herbs are very important to my grandfather.”
“Reason? These herbs are already extinct and can never be found again. Do you think that I will sell
them to you?” The old man said gloomily.
Kathy was stunned and disappointed.
The old man was steadfast and he would not sell them no matter what she said.
“How?” Kathy asked anxiously.
“What if I use another rarer and more precious herb to exchange? Sir, will you be willing to consider?”
Joseph bowed and asked politely.
“I will not exchange, no matter what herb it is!”
“Rehmannia glutinosa. There are barely a hundred of them remaining in the entire world. It was extinct
twenty years ago. I heard that its value is in the tens of millions. I have one of them. I can use it to
exchange for these herbs.”
Kathy was shocked, tens of millions for a herb?
Although the herbs on her prescription are close to extinction, surely they were not priced at the tens of
millions…
He was…
She quickly grabbed him, “No!”
This was her gift to grandfather and she didn’t want Joseph to spend any more money.
“Really?” The old man’s eyes lit up and stood up in excitement.
Joseph grinned, “If you are willing, I’ll hand it to you tomorrow.”
“Joseph, no, it’s too expensive. I don’t want to buy it anymore…” Kathy stopped him.
But it was obvious that he had made the decision.
“Of course, tomorrow I will bring it to exchange for those herbs.”
“Okay… okay!”
Kathy still hadn’t come to her senses after they left the medicinal store.
The transaction was completed just like that.
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