Recently, things haven’t been going well for Lan Yin.

His foolish younger brother had finally found a treasure on the Star Network, but unfortunately, he didn’t have enough money. Helplessly, he watched as a person appeared out of nowhere and snatched up sixty percent of the inventory.

To make matters worse, that person was an idiot who didn’t understand the rules of the Star Network.

Lan Yin was distressed! Unable to focus on anything else, he checked the Star Network whenever he had a moment, fearing to see the store closed for good. Fortunately, the idiot seemed to have seen his brother’s comments. After completing all the orders and ratings, the store maintained a score of 3.2.

In people’s minds, online stores with a score below 4 were considered low-quality, and few people would browse them. Most people’s habit was to choose a planet first and then arrange the options by score from high to low.

Lan Yin breathed a sigh of relief. Even though the two of them had snatched a smaller quantity, it was still enough to handle daily consumption. Moreover, the pharmacist at home was already researching, and soon they might be able to produce the item themselves.

Then he realized he had relaxed too early.

The pharmacist had a troubled expression all day, muttering to himself, “These two drug properties clash; how can they be perfectly integrated? How did the person making the ointment manage it?” He seemed to be trapped in his own world, almost obsessed.

After selling out of the ointment, it was automatically delisted. It had been days, and there was no sign of it being relisted. Lan Yin didn’t know if it was because the ointment took a long time to make or if the shopkeeper just wasn’t paying attention. In any case, his brother left more than ten messages, and not a single one received a reply.

As for the ointment distributed to the family members, it was used up in a matter of days, and some came asking him for more with a happy face.

“Why are you using it so quickly? Didn’t I tell you to use it sparingly?” Lan Yin asked with a dark expression. It was supposed to last for a month, but it had only been a few days.

The ointments bought for the family were kept in his room. First, to prevent leaks, and second, because the quantity was small, non-family members had no chance of seeing them.

The person didn’t take it seriously, smiling and saying, “You use the family’s hemostatic powder for ordinary times after using the good stuff. But after using this, the effect of the family’s hemostatic powder doesn’t feel the same. Normally, when dealing with knives and guns, accidents happen easily. How can a warrior do without good wound medicine? How about I pay for it? Any price, just name it; I’m not short of money.”

“You’re not short of money, but I’m out of stock.” Lan Yin said it expressionlessly, really wanting to punch someone.

“Don’t be petty. When something good comes along, everyone should share it. Are we still good brothers or not?” The person approached, “Not even one box left? That’s impossible.”

Lan Yin rubbed his forehead and realized this person wasn’t the first to come looking for him, and he probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Because it’s you, I’ll make an exception and give you one more box. Honestly, I’ve sent everyone else away. The product is good, but the source is still unstable. Using up one box means using up one less box. If you casually use this one, then for ordinary injuries, use the ointment, and for life-threatening situations, use the hemostatic powder from the family.” Lan Yin said coldly, tossing a bamboo box over.

The person caught it, looking surprised. “So ruthless? Isn’t the family’s pharmacist, Jiang, highly skilled? Why can’t he decipher the prescription?”

Lan Yin sneered, “Pharmacist Jiang has been researching day and night, losing seven or eight pounds recently, and achieved nothing. If he can’t hold on and falls ill in a couple of days, he’ll have to find another physician to treat himself.”

The person wasn’t naive, and his expression gradually became serious. “Where did this ointment come from? What’s the background of the maker? Are they that formidable?”

Lan Yin was annoyed, unable to find the shopkeeper. Everyone who came around wanted to inquire about some gossip. Angrily, he said, “It’s a top secret. Stop asking. Find something productive to do instead of gathering and causing fights. The ointment is usually wasted. If you really need it in a critical situation, I won’t be able to help you.”

“Fine, fine.” He saw that he couldn’t get any information, and Lan Yin kept his mouth shut tightly. The other person, fortunately, got a box of ointment, so his trip wasn’t entirely in vain.

Before leaving, the person couldn’t help but be reminded, “Be careful. I’m counting on you to use the hemostatic ointment in the future. It’s all up to you.”

“Hurry up and leave.” Lan Yin waved his hand, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

Did he not know the importance of the ointment? Knowing was useless when he couldn’t contact the shopkeeper, and the address was Ah Li Group. Perhaps the shopkeeper was preemptively guarding against people looking for them.

To maintain secrecy, he instructed his foolish brother to keep quiet. He only told the other members of the Lan family that the item was called hemostatic ointment, avoiding any mention of the Tang family. What if someone accidentally spilled the beans?

But no matter how well the secrecy was maintained, it couldn’t magically produce a few more boxes of ointment! He didn’t dare rush the family’s pharmacist at home; if the guy collapsed at any moment, others might think he was the cause.

Lan Yin gritted his teeth. Could the shopkeeper have sold over fifty boxes and thought they had earned enough to close shop and take a half-year break? He really wanted to know the shopkeeper’s address and have a heart-to-heart talk!

At the same time, not only Lan Yin was bothered.

Zhao Min left the holoscreen on the ointment page, and he had refreshed it countless times.

“Tsk, I calculated it well. Since Lan Yuan gives a full five points every time, I can control my rating between 3 and 3.1 each time. Yet, the shopkeeper still doesn’t restock. Do they even want to do business? Do they want to make money?”

After mumbling for a while, Zhao Min’s face showed a helpless expression. He doesn’t know who the shopkeeper is, even if the shopkeeper never makes a living again by selling that item.

Not doing business, he had no way to deal with them. Even the packages sent to him had the sender’s name written as “Divine Doctor,” showing great caution.

He was quite worried that Lan Yin might leave a message to the shopkeeper privately, asking for a monopoly. So, he took the initiative to leave a message for the shopkeeper, expressing his willingness to purchase as much as they had, maintaining the retail price, and conducting all transactions through the Star Network.

However, there was no response.

“The conditions Lan Yin can offer can’t be better than mine; his family patriarch has a wide influence,” Zhao Min analyzed. “If the shopkeeper isn’t cooperating with the Lan family, could it be that they’re out of stock due to a long pharmaceutical production cycle? Two buyers cleared out the inventory; anyone would be motivated to restock and make more profit.”

After analyzing for a while, Zhao Min suddenly burst into laughter. What did it matter, even if he figured out the reason? It didn’t help the current situation. He decided to change his approach.

“The shopkeeper recently opened the store; perhaps the staff at Ah Li Group still have an impression. Unfortunately, Ah Li Group requires employees to keep customer information confidential. Why did the shopkeeper choose to open the store recently instead of earlier or later?”

Zhao Min fell into contemplation.

—

For the thirteenth time, Wang Jiao threw the bamboo box into the trash bin. After a few minutes, he silently retrieved the bamboo box from the trash bin once again.

Walking by the river often, how could his shoes not get wet?

He bullied those weaker than him, relying on his superior martial strength. When he encountered someone with even higher martial strength, he had no choice but to submit. Isn’t the essence of this world big fish eating small fish and small fish eating shrimp?

However, knowing all that, he still felt heartbroken. Three hundred credit points! It was enough for him to comfortably get through half a month. Now, he had traded it for another bamboo box. It couldn’t be eaten, couldn’t be used, and was just sitting on the table as a decoration every day.

“What’s this about hemostatic ointment? Clearly, it’s a three-nothing product, deliberately messing with me, right?”

Wang Jiao didn’t believe it was any kind of ointment. He was convinced that it was a woman trying to extort him, giving it to him casually for the sake of appearance. He even thought that, given the situation at that time, if the person had been a bit more shameless, they might have picked up a stone from the ground and handed it to him.

As soon as he saw the bamboo box, he thought of the three hundred credit points that had pained him for a long time, to the point where he didn’t even want to open it and see what was inside.

Several times, he strongly considered throwing it away, but not long after, he retrieved it from the trash bin.

Even if it was garbage, it was three hundred credit points’ worth of garbage! It was a fighter jet in the realm of trash!!

“Wang-Ge, there’s a job.” One of his subordinates entered and greeted him.

Wang Jiao responded and casually pocketed the bamboo box before following them out.

Wang Jiao’s group not only went out for hunting but occasionally took on missions. For example, if some wealthy young master had a grudge against someone, they would pay, and Wang Jiao and his group would assist in beating up the target.

Wang Jiao knew this money wasn’t earned through legitimate means, but he didn’t care. In this world, only money matters. Who cared if the money was clean or not? When spending money, did anyone ever ask where it came from?

As they walked, one of his subordinates whispered, “Wang-Ge, this time it’s a big client, Young Master Qi from the Qi family.”

Wang Jiao paused and instinctively asked, “Which Qi family?”

His subordinate rolled his eyes and asked, “Which Qi family could it be? The one that produces and sells medicine.”

Then, the subordinate teased him, “If you establish a good relationship, maybe you can get an insider price for buying hemostatic powder. How much money could you save in the future?”

Hemostatic powder… Wang Jiao sighed. Recently, every time he heard the name of a medicine, he felt a bit absent-minded. “What’s the matter? Is it difficult to handle?”

“A small matter. Young Master Qi Huan has a personal conflict with someone and has arranged a one-on-one fight. Because it’s not suitable to involve their families, he specifically sought us out,” the subordinate explained the situation. “Young Master Qi is a third-level martial artist, and the other guy is only second-level. The odds are in his favor. However, Young Master Qi is afraid the other guy might play dirty if he loses, so he asked us to be there just in case, without us necessarily having to get involved.”

Wang Jiao sighed in relief; this was an easy task, and he might gain some goodwill.

The task went smoothly. The other guy was no match for Qi Huan, and in the end, he stubbornly endured a stab from Qi Huan. For the rest of the time, he took a beating.

“Crazy.” Qi Huan, with a gloomy face and no victory joy, walked up to Wang Jiao after winning the match, covering his wound. “Do you have hemostatic powder?”

No one answered.

Qi Huan’s face became even worse. “What’s the matter? Afraid I won’t pay? I, Qi Huan, am the only son of the Qi family, and my father, Qi Xing, is the number one pharmacist on Huangsha Star, and I’m lacking hemostatic powder? Just that I didn’t expect that bastard would fight so desperately and didn’t bring any hemostatic powder with me. Give me a bottle, and I’ll return you two bottles.”

Wang Jiao knew his brothers were reluctant to spend that money. He had prepared some himself, but as his brothers had mentioned, they were only there as a backup, not to fight, so they didn’t bring any with them.

“Young Master Qi, there seems to be a misunderstanding. We come from humble backgrounds and can’t afford the hemostatic powder from your family,” Wang Jiao made up an excuse. “I have other ointments with me. If you don’t mind, I can give them to you.”

Wang Jiao had his own calculations. Since it was a free gift, even if the effect was not good, Qi Huan wouldn’t easily blame him. If it worked a bit, he could establish goodwill with Young Master Qi, and the deal would be worth it.

Qi Huan’s expression eased a bit. “Bring it.”

Wang Jiao quickly handed over the bamboo box from his pocket.

Qi Huan looked at the bamboo box, and his brow furrowed so tightly that it could crush a fly. A foul smell—was this picked up from the trash can?