Chapter 49-Part 1

Ma Ruian stood in the study, not daring to make a sound.

It had been a while since they returned from Tangmen, yet the family head’s face remained dark and gloomy.

Initially, the family head had said he would take him to Tangmen to make a scene, to show him the proper way to handle troublemakers and the knack of finding faults.

But what happened in the end?

The Ma family did win, but the situation didn’t improve at all; it was no different from before they went. On the contrary, Zhao Min took the opportunity to publicly clear his name, earning quite a reputation among many people.

Ma Ruian couldn’t help but think, teaching him the proper way to make a scene and find faults—wasn’t the family head not much better than him?

Didn’t they still leave Tangmen in disgrace?

Of course, he only dared to grumble inwardly, not daring to voice these thoughts.

Three days later, the family head suddenly called him to the study, making Ma Ruian uneasy, wondering if he was going to get another scolding.

“Ruian, you followed me to Tangmen a few days ago. What are your insights?” Ma Tao suddenly asked.

Ma Ruian cautiously observed the family head’s expression and immediately resorted to flattery: “Family head, your medical skills are superb. Tangmen is just a newly opened pharmacy; how could they dare compete with you? Naturally, they surrendered immediately. You won without a fight—brilliant, truly brilliant.”

Ma Tao’s eyelids twitched, his face cold, and he said in a deep voice, “I’ll give you one more chance. If your analysis is still like this the second time, you can leave. I’ll find someone else to succeed the Ma family.”

Ma Ruian was at a loss, utterly bewildered. Was there really someone who didn’t like flattery?

Seeing the dumbfounded look on his face infuriated Ma Tao.

Since Ruiming refused to take over the family, he had to focus on training Ruian.

Who knew Ruian wouldn’t seriously learn anything, just spout flattering words?

When did the head of the Ma family need to learn the skill of flattery?

Disgraceful! Utterly disgraceful!

Ma Tao was quite skeptical—if this guy became the next head of the Ma family, the ancestors might just visit him in his dreams to have a chat.

Ma Ruian knew his insights were not up to par, but the family head was waiting, showing no sign of changing his mind. So he gritted his teeth and reluctantly said, “Zhao Min is very cunning. I think he was only confident about the three types of medicine in the first competition, so he refused to compete with you on other medicines.”

“After winning the first match, Zhao Min was clearly arrogant and rude. But then he changed his tune in Tangmen, saying he came to Ma’s house to check the quality of the medicine. What nonsense.”

“There might have been stooges in the shop. After Zhao Min pretended to be righteous and humble, someone immediately started praising him, guiding public opinion.”

Pausing, Ma Ruian cautiously glanced at the family head.

“That’s what I think. I don’t know if I’m right.”

Ma Tao exhaled softly. After some proper thinking, the boy’s brain wasn’t hopeless, not beyond saving.

Indeed, it was always Ruiming managing the household and the shop. Ruian had just been living a life of eating, drinking, and having fun, so his habits weren’t great. It could be changed slowly.

“Your analysis is not bad.” Ma Tao first expressed some approval.

Ma Ruian didn’t feel pleased; he expected there was a “but” coming.

Ma Tao continued, “Regardless of whether there were stooges in the shop, Zhao Min cannot be underestimated. Whether he won by coming to us or surrendered when we confronted him, he managed to gain benefits for himself. Such an opponent is very dangerous.”

Then, Ma Tao started from the beginning, explaining Zhao Min’s verbal traps and Ma Ruian’s mistakes one by one, breaking down the entire incident and analyzing it for Ma Ruian.

Ma Ruian felt enlightened, never understanding so clearly before.

After finishing the whole explanation, Ma Tao took a breath and sipped some tea to moisten his throat.

“Do you understand what happened now? Tell me, based on your thoughts, how would you handle it?”

Ma Ruian pondered for a moment, then tentatively said, “I think we can temporarily avoid Tangmen’s edge and vigorously promote other medicines. When the uncles and aunts develop more powerful medicines, we can confront Tangmen directly and then resume our previous operations.”

Ma Tao neither agreed nor disagreed, raising a question instead: “Let’s put aside the other two medicines. Do you know what proportion of sales Golden Wound Medicine accounts for?”

Ma Ruian shook his head in confusion.

“Nearly seventy percent!” Ma Tao calmly stated an astonishing figure: “If you give up the market for Golden Wound Medicine, how will you push other medicines to make up for this sales gap? The Golden Wound Medicine is consumable; the others are not. How will you sell them in large quantities?”

Ma Ruian hurriedly said, “It’s just temporary. Once the uncles and aunts develop better medicines, we can recapture the market.”

“This brings us to the second question.” Ma Tao slowly raised his head, staring at Ma Ruian.

“How do you know the uncles and aunts will definitely develop better medicines? What if they can’t?”

Ma Ruian was utterly stunned.

In his mind, the Ma family’s medical skills were the best in the world. He never considered that someone could be better.

“Can’t, can’t develop it?” Ma Ruian, shocked, began to stutter.

“You’ve seen the efficacy of Tangmen’s medicine. What makes you so sure we can develop something better?”

Ma Tao shifted his tone: “The uncles and aunts gathering for research—whether they succeed or not, no one knows. If you want to be the head of the family, you shouldn’t and cannot place all your hopes on developing medicine.”

“Then what should we do?” Ma Ruian asked, dumbfounded.

They couldn’t give up the market, but they couldn’t compete either. Temporarily avoiding the edge and waiting to win in the future wasn’t feasible. What else could be done?