Chapter 149: 149 Sell matsutake to brother-in-law!_1 Chapter 149: 149 Sell matsutake to brother-in-law!_1 Upon reaching the pavilion, Ji Chu took a box of Panda cigarettes out of his pocket, pulled out two, and handed one to Gu Chen.

Gu Chen nodded his head, said thanks, and then put the cigarette in his mouth.

Seeing the worried look on his face, Ji Chu’s brows moved slightly. He took out a lighter, lit his own cigarette, and then passed the flame to Gu Chen.

Gu Chen took it gratefully, lit his cigarette, and a stream of blue smoke poured from his mouth.

Truth be told, his mood wasn’t good at the moment.

Truth is always cruel. Upon learning the cause of Ji Pianran’s death in his previous life, the guilt that already had no place to settle in his heart grew even deeper.

How inhuman he had been.

Ji Chu exhaled a puff of smoke and walked over, patting Gu Chen on the shoulder.

“It will all pass.”

Given the number of times he had seen Gu Chen at the hospital, Ji Chu felt that the man must either be seriously ill himself or have a close relative who was.

Because if it was just a friend or a relative, it was highly unlikely they’d visit twice in such a short period of time.

Nor would their expression be so grave.

The person causing him such worry was likely to be a close kin.

Gu Chen looked up at him. From his appearance, Ji Chu seemed to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, yet his attire and demeanor felt too mature for his age.

“The director of clinic earlier, that older man was your…” Gu Chen began but left the rest for the young man opposite him to complete.

Truth be told, that older man looked old enough to be his grandfather.

But Gu Chen felt it impolite to say so directly.

After all, it wasn’t uncommon for men to have children later in life.

And if they really were father and son, such a comment would be impolite.

Hearing this, Ji Chu smiled.

“That’s my dad. My surname is Ji, my name is Ji Chu. How about you?”

He knew there was a large age gap between him and his father, sparking curiosity, but it didn’t affect their father-son relationship.

Gu Chen flicked the hand holding the cigarette lightly, then exhaled a breath of smoke.

“My name is Gu Chen. It looks like I’m quite a bit older than you, so you should call me ‘brother’.”

Truth be told, it was the first time someone had used this tone to ask Ji Chu to call them ‘brother’, which intrigued him even more about this man named Gu Chen.

His brows twitched, and he couldn’t help but smile.

Gu Chen, looking at the smile on his face, felt he had seen it somewhere before, sensing a strange familiarity.

But after carefully thinking it through, he was sure he didn’t know the young man before him.

Gu Chen chuckled, “Gu Chen, I live in the countryside, just a simple vegetable seller. If you don’t mind, we could be friends.”

His easygoing manner conveyed a confident air.

Truth be told, Ji Chu had just graduated from high school and was still a child at heart.

He loved a carefree life, reading books, discussing life with like-minded classmates, focusing on university, and aiming for graduate studies.

Yet he was forced into the family business, despite his young age confronted with constant deceit and scheming.

This life was nothing like the simple one he yearned for; it caused him pain and forced him to feign maturity.

Being young with no experience in business, he had suffered quite a bit in the market.

His spirit was greatly dampened, and his smidgen of self-confidence vanished without a trace.

Even with his status, he sometimes lacked confidence.

And here was Gu Chen, a mere vegetable seller, who spoke with such self-assurance. This feeling made Ji Chu a bit envious and sparked a desire to lend a hand.

He suddenly beamed, “Then tell me, what vegetables do you sell?”

The Ji Family had just opened a pharmaceutical factory nearby, and with the canteen set up, although there weren’t many employees—just over a hundred—they needed to eat.

If he could arrange for Gu Chen to deliver vegetables for his family, that would indeed be giving him a helping hand.

This question actually stumped Gu Chen.

He was indeed a vegetable seller, but the truth was he sold a bit of everything, so it wasn’t very professional to say the least.

After some thought, he said, “I sell matsutake.”

Although matsutake are a high-end food ingredient, they are still considered a type of ingredient, right?

So that still counts as selling vegetables!

Ji Chu’s eyelids twitched instantly.

His pupils contracted imperceptibly.

My goodness, he sells vegetables and it turns out to be matsutake?

This guy is really interesting!

So he deals in high-end food ingredients.

How could that be compared to an ordinary vegetable seller?

He had kindly thought of letting him supply vegetables to his own family’s pharmaceutical factory’s cafeteria!

This is really…

He looked at Gu Chen with a wry smile. “You’re not joking, are you?”

Honestly, Gu Chen’s outfit made Ji Chu somewhat doubtful of the truthfulness of his words.

After all, matsutake isn’t cheap, and a person in the matsutake business should have some money. Although they might not be rich, they shouldn’t be dressed so shabbily either.

A shirt with a work jacket on top, ordinary jeans below, and a pair of cloth shoes.

That didn’t quite match the status.

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen was not pleased. There was no reason for him to lie.

He extinguished his cigarette butt, threw it into the trash can, and faced Ji Chu who was wearing a mocking smile.

“At such a young age, why are you so suspicious? What do I get from lying to you?”

Ji Chu blinked. “It’s not that, but my father has been eating matsutake for the past few years. They fight cancer, and my father has cancer. If yours are good, I might consider buying from you.”

Ji Guangsheng underwent gastric cancer removal surgery, and had been using matsutake as a dietary treatment for years, serving as a complementary therapy.

Though it was an ingredient, its effects were not inferior to medicine.

The only drawback was the high price, and the varying quality of the products on the market—it was hard to find good ones.

Furthermore, having only recently arrived in Haicheng, he was really not familiar with the place; finding top-grade matsutake was difficult.

The Ji family was not short of money, what they lacked were really good items!

So, when Ji Chu heard that Gu Chen actually sold matsutake, his heart leapt with surprise.

“Then, can you bring some for me to see? If they’re suitable, how about selling them to me?”

When Gu Chen heard Ji Chu wanted to buy his matsutake, he blinked in surprise.

To be honest, the young fellow looked quite the wealthy heir, but his matsutake stock was at least close to twenty pounds. Assuming six hundred per pound, that’s twelve grand.

How could this kid talk so big?

Could he really make a decision on twelve grand?

But he didn’t voice this outright, as after all, it was an opportunity. Besides, Dajing Jiezhi wasn’t reliable either. Since both options were uncertain, why not let the little brat take a look? If it didn’t work out, it wouldn’t be too late to go to Dajing Jiezhi.

Moreover, he was anxious to get home.

He hesitated for a moment, “No problem, but you’ll have to wait for me. The matsutake are in the car. I’ll come back with them after I finish buying medicine for the kid. Is that okay?”

Ji Chu wasn’t pressed for time himself. Uncle Guang was looking after things upstairs, along with the nursing staff, and there wasn’t much he could help with.

The only thing he could possibly help with was securing some good matsutake.

He nodded, “Then hurry back, I’ll wait right here for you!”

Gu Chen gave a polite smile, “Alright!”

With that, he turned and walked out of the hospital.