Chapter 28

Zhao Min thought that on the second day of the opening, with the sky just getting bright, the long line in front of the store was enough to indicate the popularity of the ointment.

Little did he know that on the same evening, some people, carrying blankets, rushed to the front of the pharmacy to claim a spot, waiting for the store to open the next day. When the doors opened, they rushed in directly. There were quite a few people claiming spots—at least a dozen.

Zhao Min, shocked but gradually getting used to such scenes, announced on the fourth day, with an unchanged expression, that the grand opening event had ended. The ointment returned to its normal price of two hundred credit points per box. The supply per hour was reduced from one hundred boxes to fifty, and once sold out, the store temporarily closed until the next hour.

As the production quantity increased, the proficiency of the pharmacists in making the ointment also increased. They could barely meet the demand of four hundred boxes a day.

Originally, a hundred boxes sold out quickly, but now that the quantity has been halved, did Zhao Min expect them to spend the entire day dealing with this? Some people immediately expressed dissatisfaction, one of them coldly snorting, “It’s not like your shop is the only one selling healing ointment,” and leaving in anger.

Unfazed, Zhao Min, who had been wary of the increasing number of customers, welcomed a few tough ones, hoping to alleviate the pressure.

More people harbored discontent but hesitated. Who knows when they might need the ointment to save their lives? Would they really risk buying subpar products?

“Boss Zhao, you’re really unkind! This quantity is barely enough for a few people to buy it. I calculated three boxes per person, and it’s sold out for seventeen people!” someone exclaimed loudly.

“Yeah, he’s right,” others echoed.

Zhao Min had long prepared a countermeasure. With a sorrowful expression, he complained to everyone, “I didn’t want it to be like this either. When opening the store for business, why would I actively push away customers? Unfortunately, circumstances force one’s hand. The ointment contains an ingredient called blue grass, and I just found out that the blue grass has been bought out by the Qi family. Without the ingredients, how can the ointment be produced in large quantities?”

Even though the warehouse had no shortage of Blue Grass, the lack was in manpower.

But who was Zhao Min? Given the chance to tarnish the reputation of the Qi family, he wouldn’t let it go. He immediately blamed the reduced ointment production on the Qi family.

Zhao Min was well-prepared for the psychological impact this would have.

Forced to use hunger marketing, he knew that the popularity of the store was on the rise, but the criticisms wouldn’t be few.

Although there were valid reasons, behind his back, people couldn’t help but murmur things like “useless,” “worthless,” and “couldn’t even take preventive measures early.”

But the good thing was that he wasn’t the only one facing criticism.

Zhao Min thought about this and couldn’t help but smile.

When everyone was frustrated, they would inevitably also complain about the Qi family, saying they were “shortsighted” and “couldn’t make good healing ointments themselves but didn’t let others do it either.”

Originally, it was only him being scolded, but Qi Xing, thinking he had come up with a clever strategy to hit Zhao Min, not only failed to affect the production of the ointment but also served as a shield, diverting some of the blame.

Qi Xing was truly a good person! Zhao Min secretly praised.

**

Zhao Min’s business was thriving, but Tang Xin was extremely frustrated.

After more than ten days of opening the store, the Qi family’s business had plummeted by at least sixty percent. Surprisingly, the Qi family remained indifferent, shrinking back and letting Zhao Min dominate the entire process.

For over ten days, she could only prepare medicinal meals for Yan Hao and occasionally go out together for a stroll or watch a play, completely unable to find an opportunity to strike against the Qi family.

This feeling of frustration where the “teammate is too strong, directly bringing the opponent to their knees without needing the main force to enter the field” was truly disheartening!

Tang Xin picked up the third dessert and took a bite forcefully. Only sweet treats could alleviate her current melancholy.

After a few bites, Tang Xin turned her head, puzzled. “Why aren’t you comforting me?”

“Why should he take the initiative to comfort her? Is that part of the duties of a bodyguard?” Yan Hao wondered.

“Just say something, anything, to make me feel a bit better,” Tang Xin urged.

Yan Hao thought for a moment. “Should I make some dessert and ice cream again?”

Tang Xin’s face darkened. She had already eaten three servings of dessert. What did this person take her for?

Seeing that the master’s mood wasn’t right, Yan Hao quickly added, “Master, you can take the food with you and go out for a stroll.”

“I’ve been strolling for several days, exploring all the fun places. It’s not interesting anymore. Come up with a more interesting idea.” Tang Xin ruthlessly rejected the suggestion.

Yan Hao frowned. The master had changed her behavior; she couldn’t muster enthusiasm for eating, drinking, or having fun.

No wonder the people who used to instruct them often warned them that female masters would have a few days of irritable moods each month, making it difficult to serve them. If unfortunately chosen, it was best to remain calm and indifferent. Once those days passed, the master would return to normal.

“I heard there’s an auction tonight hosted by several families. There might be some good stuff. Does the master want to go check it out?” Yan Hao suggested.

Tang Xin’s eyes lit up. An auction sounded like a lot of fun.

“But usually, you need an invitation to enter an auction. Do you have an invitation?” she asked.

“Zhao Min should have one.”

Tang Xin hesitated. “Call him right away and ask him to send it by courier. It might not arrive by tonight.”

“I’ll go pick it up,” Yan Hao replied calmly.

Go pick it up? Tang Xin hesitated. She had always tried to avoid having real people appear in front of Zhao Min. Normally, she communicated through contacts.

“Zhao Min mentioned before that Huangsha Star has only one Level 7 and more than ten Level 6s. I’ll go alone. As long as I don’t encounter a Level 7, getting away should be no problem. Once I reach the auction venue and you have the itchy powder, just avoid Level 7s,” Yan Hao explained.

Tang Xin hesitated for a moment and then said, “Be careful then.”

Yan Hao nodded slightly. “Yes, wait for me at home.”

Eh… Tang Xin watched as Yan Hao’s figure left, feeling a bit distracted.

In her impression, it seemed that no one had ever told her to wait at home before. It felt strange.

**

When Yan Hao arrived, there was already someone causing a scene.

“When I bought it, they told me it was high-quality ointment. However, when I got home and opened it, it wasn’t different from the medicine downstairs. The lower-quality ones downstairs only cost 180 credit points, and I ended up spending 600 credit points for a box of 180-credit-point medicine!” It was a middle-aged woman, now standing with hands on hips, angrily demanding an explanation from Zhao Min.

Zhao Min squinted his eyes. The store had just opened, and he was exceptionally cautious, carefully inspecting everything that passed through his hands. Moreover, the ointment made by the divine doctor and his subordinates had different packaging; it was impossible to mix them up. The woman in front of him was clearly looking for trouble.

But he knew it was useless; the key was whether others believed it.

Zhao Min wanted his Level 5 martial artist to escort the middle-aged woman away, but sensing her awareness, she immediately shouted, “You plan to use force to resolve this when you’re in the wrong, forcing customers to submit? Your shop is simply a den of fraud!”

Zhao Min was helpless. This woman was very difficult to deal with. If he touched her a little, she would wail as if she had lost an arm or a leg. What could he do when faced with such a troublemaker? He could only pinch his nose and accept it.

He comforted himself, thinking that when you open a business, you always encounter some difficult customers.

Zhao Min was about to reconcile with the middle-aged woman when suddenly, a man in black walked in, his expression unfriendly, exuding a cold aura. He snatched the bamboo box from the middle-aged woman’s hands and asked coldly, “Is the effect the same as the ointment downstairs?”

The imposing aura of the powerful individual pressed without any restraint…

The suppression was imposed on the middle-aged woman, and she couldn’t help but feel her hair stand on end, as if she were being targeted by a dangerous wild beast.

The middle-aged woman secretly lamented. When the Qi family asked her to go to Zhao’s pharmacy, they didn’t mention encountering such a strong and unreasonable martial artist!

The middle-aged woman was a Level 5 martial artist with average strength, but she was quite skilled in making a scene.

When the Qi family approached her, they only mentioned causing trouble at Zhao’s Pharmacy and handed her a bamboo box.

Relying on her Level 5 strength, she usually acted arrogantly. Since it was a pharmacy and they had to conduct business, she couldn’t just resort to violence against customers. So, she happily agreed.

Now, she regrets it deeply.

Even if the Qi family doubled the money they gave her, she was not willing to be looked down upon like this. The way that gaze looked at her was like looking at a corpse!

To be able to overpower a Level 5, the man in black must be at least Level 6!

The middle-aged woman swallowed hard and tried to straighten her posture. “What? Are you planning to resort to violence if you can’t argue with me?”

“Kill you? I find it dirty.” Yan Hao glanced indifferently at the middle-aged woman, then walked straight to the stunned Zhao Min. He threw a tightly wrapped, opaque cloth bag and the snatched bamboo box at him. “The master is a rare genius. The title of divine doctor is well-deserved. If anyone dares to question the ointment made by the master again, we won’t sell the hemostatic ointment.”

The cloth bag contained dozens of the latest ointment boxes made by the mistress. Since he was making the trip, he decided to bring them all.

Zhao Min was initially puzzled, but when he heard the terms “divine doctor” and “ointment,” he immediately realized who they were talking about.

Zhao Min’s mind worked quickly, and he immediately spoke seriously: “Even if Zhao’s pharmacy doesn’t open, I cannot allow anyone to casually tarnish the reputation of the divine doctor! ”

With that, he turned to the crowd. “In the future, when purchasing medicines from Zhao’s Pharmacy, please inspect them thoroughly on the spot. Once you leave the pharmacy, we are not responsible for any issues.”

The crowd cursed inwardly, even refusing to take responsibility for after-sales service!

However, there was no way around it. The message was clear: they would rather not open the store or sell medicine than be falsely accused and tarnished.

Joking aside, if Zhao’s Pharmacy were to close, where would they go to buy medicine? Having gotten used to the hemostatic ointment, switching back to hemostatic powder didn’t feel quite right.

The people immediately echoed Zhao Min, praising the idea as really good and capable of driving away all the troublemakers.

Although deep down, they were actually bleeding.

Those with insight looked around and couldn’t help sighing lightly. Zhao Min was about to make a fortune—it was a complete seller’s market!

With a stern face, Zhao Min walked up to the middle-aged woman, threw 600 credit points at her, and said, “Take your money back. Zhao’s Pharmacy does not welcome customers like you. Please never enter the store again.”

Did this mean refusing to sell ointment to her? The middle-aged woman panicked.

In the past, when she made a scene, the shopkeepers accommodated and tolerated her, giving her some face.

She had heard people say that the ointment from Zhao’s pharmacy was even more effective than hemostatic powder. The reason she agreed to cause trouble for the Qi family was to let Zhao’s Pharmacy see how capable she was.

After the first disturbance, the next time she visited, the shopkeeper would surely offer her more discounts to appease her, right?

The middle-aged woman never expected Zhao Min to directly put her on a blacklist, refusing her future shopping visits!

She wanted to disclose that she was acting on the Qi family’s instructions but held her tongue. While she may be a bit of a troublemaker, she had self-awareness and knew that she couldn’t afford to offend the Qi family. She could only stomp her foot and walk away.

In her heart, she thought, No big deal—she could always ask others to help with the purchases in the future.

But on second thought, only Level 5 and above can go to the second floor to buy medicine. Each person is limited to three boxes per month. Who would evenly distribute such precious life-related treasures to her?

If she wants someone to buy on her behalf, she can only get the low-quality goods downstairs.

The middle-aged woman felt regret for the first time. Just for the sake of a little money from the Qi family, she might have to risk her life in the future.

**

After the middle-aged woman left, Zhao Min welcomed Yan Hao into the VIP room on the second floor with a smile. He personally poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of Yan Hao. “How should I address you, brother?”

“Yan Hao, the personal bodyguard of the divine doctor,” Yan Hao replied indifferently.

A personal bodyguard. As Zhao Min pondered on these words, he praised, “Brother Yan, having a deep relationship with the divine doctor is admirable.”

A deep relationship? Between him and the master? Yan Hao was slightly bewildered.

From start to finish, all he thought about was enduring the three-year term and gaining his freedom. From then on, he could soar freely like a bird.

The master gave an order, and he didn’t refute or talk too much; he just went and did it. If the master didn’t give an order, he stood quietly behind her, like a shadow.

Could this also be considered a deep relationship?

Thinking of the several times the master deliberately teased and played with him, and he couldn’t resist but had to helplessly endure her antics, Yan Hao felt a bit annoyed. In a gruff tone, he replied, “No such thing.”

“Brother Yan is modest. Your inability to tolerate anyone slandering the divine doctor, claiming she’s even slightly wrong, proves that Brother Yan values the divine doctor a lot, right?” Zhao Min said it awkwardly.

To be honest, Zhao Min was quite puzzled. Why did the person on the other side immediately darken his face when he spoke kindly? Did he say something wrong? After thinking it over, he found no fault. Could he have underestimated Zhao Min, thinking he could outsmart the Qi family, only to discover that he was a fool?

Yan Hao couldn’t be bothered to say more to Zhao Min. “The ointment has been delivered. Remember to transfer the money to the federal card. The master wants to attend the auction tonight; do you have the invitation? Give it to me.”

This kind of attitude, as a matter of fact, was similar to that of someone else. Always saying he’s not close to the divine doctor—what a liar!

Zhao Min stood up, rummaged for a while, and found an invitation. “Here it is. Do you need me to send someone to protect the divine doctor tonight?”

“No need, I’m here.” Yan Hao casually refused, holding the invitation and leaving directly through the second-floor window.

Zhao Min rubbed his chin. “What’s this issue? Instead of using the main entrance, he insists on going through the window.”

No one was in the room, and Zhao Min’s habit of talking to himself acted up again.

“The female pharmacist claims the prescription is ancient, learned from books. How coincidental that it happens to be the same as the Qi family’s main pharmaceutical products? What’s even stranger is that the female pharmacist herself admitted she can only prepare hemostatic ointment, not detoxifying medicine. When asked how to address her, she proudly said she could be called ‘divine doctor’ and boasted that the quality of the ointment she made was better than the old pharmacist’s.”

“Today, it’s even better; he directly said the master is an extraordinary talent, and the title of divine doctor is well-deserved.”

“Damn it, how am I supposed to pretend not to know in the future? Pretend the goddess really learned the formula from ancient books?”

“One is desperately finding excuses but inadvertently reveals the truth at the end; the other can’t stand others speaking ill of the master, eloquently defending her name but accidentally slipping up. It’s true what they say—they may not be of the same family, but they sure act like one. The two of them are fools together.”

“They think denying it will escape my sharp eyes? One man and one woman, there must be an illicit affair.”

Zhao Min rambled on for a while, shaking his head and sighing.

Although they both appear a bit foolish, one is a Level 6 martial artist, and the other is an unparalleled divine healer with extraordinary talents. It’s better to quickly go over and curry favor with them.