Chapter 19: Brewing Troubles (Part 2)

Wang Jiao saw Qi Huan’s face wrinkling up and hurriedly explained, “On the way here, it accidentally fell into the garbage heap. The box is just a bit dirty, but the medicine inside is clean.”

Qi Huan was actually quite disgusted, but there was no choice; blood was flowing from the wound. “You, open it.”

Wang Jiao obediently complied.

As soon as he opened it, he realized something was wrong. He had used good things before; whether it was the color or fragrance of the ointment, it indicated that it was not an ordinary product.

Qi Huan’s eyes lit up as well. He couldn’t wait to dig out some and apply it to the wound. The wound instantly healed.

He was surprised; this stuff worked better than the hemostatic powder at home.

“Alright, I’ll take the ointment.” Qi Huan seemed reluctant as he accepted the bamboo box, casually waving his hand. “Come to the shop another day to get two bottles of hemostatic powder; just mention my name to the staff.”

Saying that, he cut off a corner of his robe with a knife, carefully wrapped the bamboo box, and left.

Left behind, Wang Jiao pounded his chest and stomped his feet. If he had known the efficacy was so good, he would never have given away the ointment as a favor.

After all, life is priceless! Trading the ointment for two bottles of hemostatic powder, he suffered a big loss.

—

Qi Huan sneakily opened the door and entered the house, looking around cautiously. Although it was his own home, it did not make him feel secure in the least.

After scanning his surroundings and finding no one, he felt a bit relieved. He tiptoed to his own room.

“Did you win the one-on-one?” Suddenly, a questioning voice came from behind.

Qi Huan instantly stiffened, slowly turning around, smiling more awkwardly than crying, and calling out, “Dad.”

Qi Xing, Qi Huan’s father, is the genius of the Qi family. Not only was he highly skilled in medicine and recognized as the top pharmacist in the Huangsha Star, but he also possessed extraordinary martial talent.

Although he focused most of his attention on medicine, he had the strength of a fifth-level martial artist. Combined with his long-term management of the Qi family’s pharmacy, he was mentally sharp and often referred to as an old fox behind his back.

Why did his dad know that he went out to have a one-on-one with someone? There was an impulse to die.

With a hint of crying in his voice, Qi Huan lowered his head and said, “I won.”

“Why did you get into a fight with someone?” Qi Xing walked slowly towards him, asking in a deep voice.

Qi Huan drooped his head. “I liked a girl, and he was bothering her. I was angry, so I made an agreement with him. We had a one-on-one, and if I won, he couldn’t bother the girl again.”

Qi Xing looked mockingly at his son, lightly uttering a few words: “Fool, you don’t even know when you’re being used.”

“Used?” Qi Huan was puzzled. “I actively challenged him. Who used me?”

“Instructed the servants not to tell me? Do you think you can hide it from anyone?” Qi Xing glanced at his son, making the latter’s hair stand on end, not daring to take a breath.

“You liked that girl, but she was already entangled by that person. The woman deliberately approached you, gained your favor, and then informed you of her troubles, using you to deal with that person.”

“No, she wouldn’t do that to me.” Qi Huan desperately shook his head, unwilling to believe what he heard. “She wouldn’t treat me like that.”

Qi Xing coldly snorted, “That woman had been on the spaceship several days ago, following the spaceship to other planets. She won’t be coming back.”

“Do you know why you’re a third level and that person is a second level, yet he dared to challenge you one-on-one? Because he believed you would be concerned about his background, afraid to take action against him, and would let him beat you.”

“Making decisions without knowing anything is simply foolish and incomprehensible. You don’t resemble my son, Qi Xing, at all.”

Qi Huan remained silent. He knew his dad never lied. Moreover, whether someone left the Huangsha Star or not, such information could be easily checked, and his dad had no reason to deceive him.

Learning that he had been deceived, Qi Huan felt uneasy. He genuinely liked that girl, so without waiting for her to speak up, he took the initiative to help her deal with the person causing trouble.

“I’ve already beaten that person; what should I do?”

A trace of resentment flashed in Qi Xing’s eyes. “As my son, Qi Xing’s son, you don’t need others to teach you a lesson. You beat him, and I will handle this matter. Tonight, go kneel in front of the ancestral tablet and reflect on your actions; think about what good deeds you have done.”

“I understand.” Qi Huan dared not refute it and obediently agreed.

Just as he was about to go to the ancestral hall, he remembered something. He took out the neatly wrapped ointment from his pocket and handed it to his dad. “This is an ointment I accidentally obtained. It’s exceptionally effective; applying it to wounds heals them instantly. Use it for your research.”

Qi Xing opened it, brought it close to his nose, sniffed lightly, and his expression became serious. “Where did you get this?”

“It was given to me by a ruffian named Wang Jiao. I asked him to come to the pharmacy another day to get two bottles of our family’s hemostatic powder as compensation.” Qi Huan answered honestly.

Qi Xing was too angry to speak. If he couldn’t even do the most basic task of getting someone on his side, what else could he accomplish? Anyone would know this was an unequal transaction. If you want to find out where something came from, how can you not offer something in return first? What’s going on in his mind?

“Bring him to see me tomorrow.”

—

After playing for a few days, Tang Xin announced that she was going into seclusion to make medicine and couldn’t keep her online store customers waiting.

On the surface, her actions seemed very much like those of a conscientious shop owner.

Yan Hao laughed. Wasn’t it because she had run out of money and needed to earn it again?

Seeing the master enter the house, he got up and walked straight to the courtyard. If the master worked hard to make money, he should also diligently cultivate his martial skills…

“Strengthening martial skills is the right path.”

Currently, he is not strong enough, and it’s difficult to protect the master when facing formidable enemies.

Tang Xin locked herself in the room, spent more than four hours working on it, and when she came out, she looked refreshed and said, “I’ve finished making 80 boxes of ointment.”

Tang Xin planned to sell ten boxes at a street stall and the remaining seventy boxes in her online store.

She added the quantity in the online store backend, confirmed the operation was correct, and clicked on “confirm.”

After a while, she clicked refresh to check the page, but it still showed the status of “sold out, off the shelves.” She thought the system was delayed and refreshed again, but the page remained unchanged.

She began to suspect that the screen was malfunctioning.

“I’ll take a look.” Yan Hao took a step forward and checked in the purchase information. As expected, he saw two additional orders, totaling seventy in quantity.

Just as Yan Hao was about to point it out to the master, a notification message came from the contact list.

“There was no problem with the operation, but it was bought out as soon as it was listed. So, after refreshing, it still shows as sold out, off the shelves.” Yan Hao explained to her, “After confirmation, the refresh is a bit slow. Customers bought it first, and there’s a time difference, so it looks like the page hasn’t changed.”

Tang Xin seemed to understand. Whatever, as long as it’s sold and earns money.

That being said, Yan Hao thought to himself, Why did two customers buy it out so quickly? They couldn’t be sitting by the screen all the time, could they?

—

Yan Hao’s guess was correct. The brothers from the Lan family, Lan Yin and Lan Yuan, were on duty to ensure someone was always watching the screen.

At the moment, it happened to be Lan Yin’s shift. When he saw the ointment being restocked, he was thrilled. He wanted to cheer, but realizing that others might compete with him, he quickly sat back down and immediately placed an order.

The result showed “insufficient stock.”

How could that be? Lan Yin quickly refreshed and found that the inventory had instantly decreased by forty boxes.

It was that persistent account, “Yellow Sand Star 0619,” again.

Don’t let him know whose account it is! Lan Yin hated it to the point of itching. He quickly bought the remaining thirty boxes.

After the operation, his contact list rang.

Lan Yin picked up his phone and frowned. Why was it him?

As soon as he answered, a lazy voice came from the other end of the contact list: “Pretty quick, huh? Snagged the remaining thirty boxes of ointment.”

Lan Yin’s heart skipped a beat, indifferently saying, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Tsk, I only bought forty boxes, leaving thirty for you. Saying this truly hurts my heart. Yellow Sand Star 0619, do you understand what I mean?”

So, it was this beast who did this!

Lan Yin instantly became angry, his tone becoming more indifferent. “You bought more, so you called me to show off?”

On the other end, Zhao Min chuckled and said, “I’m not that bored. If I really wanted to show off, I would buy all seventy boxes before calling you. I want to cooperate with you, leaving you thirty boxes of ointment to express my sincerity.”

Lan Yin thought about it and realized Zhao’s family foundation was not worse than his own. If Zhao Min wanted to buy, he could easily take out 12,000 credits.

Softening his tone, Lan Yin asked, “How do we cooperate? Tell me.”

“Seeing your reviews, I understand. You want to conceal the contents of the online store. Instead of fighting each other, why don’t we join forces?” Zhao Min intentionally paused for a moment. “You give all five-star ratings; I calculate the scores. We mix the reviews and keep the store rating around 3.0. As long as we don’t attract attention, we split the quantity of goods the owner puts up each time. How about it?”

Indeed, he’s a beast, playing such a cunning trick.

Curious, Lan Yin asked, “Aren’t you afraid the owner will blacklist you?”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Opening a store is a way to make money. Even if we buy out his goods every time, whether the rating is high or low doesn’t matter. Speaking of which, I actually hope he puts up more goods. I’ve been waiting for days, and he only added seventy boxes, not even enough for one family. Besides, last time, I gave him three negative reviews and still bought twenty-five boxes; he still delivered. What tricks are we playing? The owner knows very well.”

Lan Yin agreed deeply; these words struck a chord with him. Two people competing, each with their victories and defeats, in the long run, it was almost the same as evenly splitting. However, the energy expended was different.

In these past few days, he and his foolish brother took turns watching the screen, each sitting in front of it for twelve hours, not daring to be distracted, afraid that if one wasn’t paying attention, the owner would put up new goods and the other customer would snatch them all.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t let others know, so only the two of them could do this, resulting in him rarely practicing martial arts and being unable to accomplish anything else.

If he could reach an agreement with Zhao Min, he could divert his attention elsewhere.

What was there to be afraid of? The one giving negative reviews was Zhao Min; even if the goods were out of stock, it was Zhao Min’s loss.

Thinking of this, Lan Yin simply agreed, “Fine, I agree.”

—

With one worry off his mind, Lan Yin suddenly felt relieved, unaware that Zhao Min felt the same.

Unlike Lan Yin, Zhao Min had several half-siblings in his family, constantly calculating against each other and vying for family assets. Lan Yin could switch shifts with Lan Yuan, but he couldn’t; he was alone.

This time, it was purely good luck. He happened to be in front of the screen when the owner restocked, giving him a slight advantage and creating a false impression for Lan Yin—that his speed was faster. Proposing cooperation was just to avoid the two of them spending all their time on this matter.

If Lan Yin found out that not cooperating would allow him to grab even more, who knows what expression he would have?

Zhao Min imagined it and couldn’t help but laugh.