Li Long and Liu Shanmin sat in a milk tea shop near the railway station, each with a bowl of milk tea and a nang, along with a plate of honey, a plate of jam, and a plate of cream, eating and chatting.
"I really never expected to run into you here. Honestly, once things settled down for me, I went into the mountains to look for you. The wooden cabin was still there, but the door was locked and nobody was around," Liu Shanmin said. "Was that... over a year ago?"
"I haven't spent much time in the cabin these past two years," Li Long explained. "I used to stay there buying medicinal herbs like fritillaria, along with pelts and wild mushrooms. Later, I opened a purchasing station and stopped going into the mountains so often."
"You buy medicinal herbs besides fritillaria?" Liu Shanmin sounded a little surprised. "Do you buy licorice and astragalus?"
"Sure." Li Long smiled. "But I can't offer high prices. I'm just a middleman making a margin."
Liu Shanmin nodded, thinking about something.
Li Long broke off a piece of nang, spread some cream on it, and began eating. Plenty of people couldn't get used to cream and ghee, but he wasn't among them. Spending time with Harimu and the others, he had not only grown used to eating these things but found them quite tasty.
Fortunately, he didn't eat them often, so he didn't smell of mutton.
"Do you know where I went after leaving your cabin?" Liu Shanmin broke his silence.
"No. But looking at you, I'd say you've come into some money." Li Long's gaze swept over the gold watch on Liu Shanmin's wrist and the gold ring on his finger as he spoke with a smile.
"Yes, I went to the