Chapter 8: Pharmaceuticals

The old man continued, “Huangsha Star is a small place with only one city. Wild-beast attacks are common on the way back to the city. You’re lucky to find the city and save your life.”

Tang Xin remained expressionless, rereading, “Huangsha Star? What kind of place is that?”

Seeing her puzzled expression, the old man exclaimed, “You probably didn’t know what this place was and just came here, right? Half of this planet is covered in yellow sand, with little arable land, poor soil fertility, and economic underdevelopment. It’s one of the planets at the bottom of the interstellar rankings. Fortunately, the cultivated land is being utilized for self-sufficiency.”

“…” If Tang Ning were in front of her right now, Tang Xin might not be able to control herself and would likely strangle him. That guy conspired with the driver, threw her onto an unknown planet, and left with her luggage. What a rip-off!

“Are there spaceships to other planets here?”

“Yes.”

Just as Tang Xin felt a glimmer of hope, she heard the old man say, “Every half year, a spaceship from the city travels to other planets for trade with the locals. It usually stays for ten days to half a month and just departed two days ago.”

Can’t leave? Tang Xin frowned, pondering.

The old man comforted her: “Since you’re already here, don’t leave. You know, spaceship tickets are expensive, costing ten thousand credits each. Isn’t that a rip-off? I’ve saved money all my life, and I still haven’t saved enough for ten thousand credits.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Xin suddenly felt a pang of worry; she had no money.

The original owner was bent on seeking death, so she spent all her money before dying, leaving nothing behind. When she chose this resource, she thought of the Tang family on the planet, with shops where she could directly sell pharmaceuticals for money without asking if resources could be directly exchanged for credits.

Now, her pockets were cleaner than her face.

Beside her, Yan Hao took a few sips of water and handed her the water bottle.

Tang Xin’s face turned pale. “Do you have any credits?”

“Yes, as a guard, I receive an annual salary, which is promptly credited to my account.” Yan Hao nodded. Then he added, “But the card is in the suitcase.”

At this moment, Tang Xin felt quite sentimental. Indeed, relying on others was unrealistic. In times of adversity, asking around yielded no help, and she had to rely on herself.

“Do you know if there are people from the Tang family around? Those who own shops,” Tang Xin asked the last question.

The old man laughed, “I’ve been in East City for almost thirty years, and anyone with money and influence in the city, I know them all. I’ve never heard of anyone named Tang. Did the kid get the surname wrong, or did she confuse the planets?”

“Thank you,” Tang Xin said thoughtfully, as she expected.

She understands Tang Ning’s plan now. He conspired with the driver, stranding her on a backward planet outside the Tang family’s influence. If she were a bit less skilled than an ordinary person, she might never earn ten thousand credits in her lifetime.

In two years, when Tang Ning comes of age, he plans to visit Huangsha Star and find Yan Hao. He would offer Yan Hao the opportunity to pledge loyalty to him, and if Yan Hao refused, he’d be stuck on Huangsha Star unless he wanted to spend his entire life there.

Unfortunately, Tang Ning is unaware that Tang Xin possesses a spatial ring, carrying most of her belongings with her. Even if she were to sell medicinal herbs and take a spaceship to another planet, it would still be a considerable blow to her vitality. She thinks it’s better to stay on Huangsha Star for development.

Tang Xin thinks to herself, Isn’t this just starting from scratch? At least now she has a level five guard following her, and there’s a bunch of medicinal herbs in the ring. Back in the day, she used to gather herbs alone, learn medicine, and even make some medicinal powder for self-defense. Wasn’t she living well enough?

As she contemplates, she drinks water. After thinking for a while, she greets Yan Hao and asks him to cut some branches.

Hearing this, the old man immediately says, “I’ve got some. Bamboo and good-burning wood; feel free to take as much as you need.”

Tang Xin hesitates, “Isn’t that inappropriate? What if you want to sell it?”

The old man chuckles, dismissing it. “There’s plenty in the woods outside. It’s not worth much; feel free to use it.”

After a moment of thought, Tang Xin takes some without reservation, thinking she could make some medicine and give him a bit in return.

Once the wood is set up, Tang Xin takes out a test tube from the ring and adds a few pieces of medicinal stones. The medicinal stones are milky-white, solid substances that resemble ordinary, small white stones. Then she ignites the wood to heat the test tube.

After watching for a while, Yan Hao can’t help but ask, “Are you making medicine?”

“Yes,” Tang Xin responds without turning around, carefully observing the fire. As the medicinal stones heat up, they gradually dissolve into a slightly viscous, milky-white liquid. When the stones are completely transformed into liquid, the test tube must be removed immediately. If heated further, the liquid will deteriorate.

From liquid to deterioration, it only takes another thirty seconds of heating, and she needs to keep a close eye on it.

Yan Hao says, “…”

Ignoring the fact that he has never heard that Miss Eight studied medicine, outdoor alchemy is something he has never heard of. Shouldn’t the art of medicine-making be considered sacred enough to rent a room specifically to prevent disturbances?

Yan Hao didn’t ask, and if he had, Tang Xin would have solemnly told him, “We don’t have money; we can’t afford to rent a house.”

The medicinal stones gradually softened, and liquid kept sliding down the stones, submerging the bottom of the test tube.

Tang Xin’s expression became increasingly serious as she stared intently at the test tube. Finally, the last small piece of medicinal stone softened and merged with the liquid at the bottom.

Quickly, Tang Xin moved the test tube away from the flame, covered the tube’s opening with a layer of filter paper, and placed an empty beaker beneath it. She turned the test tube upside down, and the liquid, passing through the filter paper, dripped into the beaker.

Drop by drop, after waiting for a while, all the liquid flowed into the beaker, leaving no solids in the test tube. Tang Xin couldn’t help but exhale in relief.

Because it’s challenging to control the heating time of medicinal stones, someone proposed this method. Heat a portion of the medicinal stones and pour the liquid into the beaker at any time. By repeating this process, there’s no need to worry about the medicinal stones deteriorating due to overheating.

However, Tang Xin experimented and found that because of multiple separate operations, the temperature of the liquid in the beaker decreased, and the liquid couldn’t be reheated in its state, ultimately affecting the effectiveness of the medicine.

If the liquid is heated and filtered into the beaker at once, the liquid temperature is very high, resulting in better medicinal efficacy.

Although finding a shortcut facilitates successful pharmaceuticals, the quality of the medicine significantly decreases as a cost.

Some people suggest, for the sake of the medicine’s quality, that you just use more medicinal stones. Heat for a certain period, and before the solid completely melts, the liquid volume is enough for use. This method might result in some wasted medicinal stones, but it doesn’t affect the final medicinal effect.

Of course, in Tang Xin’s hands, this step is perfectly executed without any tricks.

Next, Tang Xin takes out two blue grass plants from the ring, chops them up, and throws them into the beaker to immerse the liquid in the remnants of the blue grass.

Ten minutes later, the milky-white liquid turns light blue, and there are some black residues in the beaker. After filtering out the remnants, a slightly viscous, light blue liquid remains.

Tang Xin takes eight square bamboo boxes from the old man’s stall and evenly divides the light blue liquid into eight portions, filling each bamboo box.

The old man leans over and asks, “What’s the kid making? Smells delicious.” A pleasant fragrance wafts from this side.

Tang Xin tossed two bamboo boxes to the old man, saying, “Hemostatic ointment can stop bleeding and promote tissue regeneration. If you get injured, apply a bit of the ointment to the wound, and at most, by the next day, the wound will disappear.”

The old man took the bamboo boxes and shuddered upon hearing this: “Healing medicine? Are you kidding me?”

Huangsha Star is scarce in resources, with insufficient grain cultivation, and there is rarely extra land for growing medicinal herbs. Moreover, even if there were herbs, simply chewing them and a pharmacist creating medicine are two entirely different things.

With these thoughts, the old man couldn’t help but look at Tang Xin. Is this young girl already a pharmacist?

However, as the old man looked around, he didn’t think she looked like one. Pharmacists with some skills all had beards and white hair. Without looking a bit older, how could one claim to be a pharmacist?

Meanwhile, Tang Xin continued to explain, “If you don’t need it, you can sell it. I don’t recommend selling it for less than three hundred credits.”

“Pfft—” The old man burst into laughter, feeling like he was dealing with an inexperienced kid.

What does three hundred credits mean? For him, living alone, he could eat well and be full with ten credits a day. After spending one hundred and fifty credits, he could rent a decent single-room apartment. If he saved a bit, three hundred credits would be enough to cover one person’s monthly expenses.

Equating one month’s expenses to a bamboo box? The old man laughed until his stomach hurt. How much ointment could fit in a bamboo box about half the size of his palm?

The old man isn’t inexperienced. Once, during an adventure, he bit the bullet and bought a hemostatic powder from the Qi family store in the city.

The Qi family had the most formidable pharmacist on Huangsha Star, with numerous apprentices and disciples. Their hemostatic powder sold for only two hundred credits, and it was a large bottle. Did this young girl think that by giving her product a name similar to the Qi family’s, it would have the same effect? She’s selling it for a higher price than the Qi family!

The old man couldn’t help but laugh at her naivety.

Initially planning to refuse the bamboo boxes, he thought, since she meant well and it’s nothing special, he might as well keep them for himself. As long as it has some regenerative effect, he will be satisfied. So he accepted them with a smile.

Tang Xin chuckled and didn’t argue. In her opinion, three hundred credits were only a wholesale price. In her previous life, the products she made sold for at least five hundred credits per box. With a few people competing, the price could even reach a thousand.

However, now that she has no reputation and is starting over, Tang Xin decides to keep a low profile and set the price at three hundred credits. A lower price makes it easier to sell and realize the investment.

Although to others, this price seems absurd, delusional, and downright wishful thinking, Tang Xin is confident. She sits down confidently next to the old man and lays a white cloth on the ground with bold characters saying, “Hemostatic Ointment, Tissue Regeneration, One box for three hundred credits.” Six bamboo boxes are placed on the cloth. Then she sits down with assurance, waiting for customers to come and buy.