Chapter 51-Part 1

The auction hall fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone’s face was flushed, mouths half-open as they stared at the letters on the tester, unable to hide their excitement.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Weren’t there supposed to be two vials of the potion? Sell the one the original seller wanted to test!”

The others snapped back to reality and chimed in, “Yeah, bring out the other vial for auction!”

The auction manager thought it made sense: As Zhou Liya was paying for the test potion, why not just sell the other vial?

But when he reached the private room, he was stunned.

“Where is everyone? Where did they go?”

When he asked the nearby staff, one of them replied in confusion, “Mr. Zhao just left with a briefcase and his men.”

The manager looked up in speechlessness and informed the host through his earpiece, “The seller ran away.”

The cheongsam-clad hostess realized how tough it was to earn a living. The mishaps she encountered tonight were more than she usually faced in a month.

Determined, she put on a smile and said, “Unfortunately, the seller had an urgent matter and left. However, he has agreed that all future gene purification agents will be sold at our auction house. Please stay tuned for updates.”

To her surprise, instead of being berated, she saw many people close their windows without saying a word.

She didn’t understand at first until she heard someone say, “Isn’t it foolish to wait here? If the auction house can’t find the seller, go directly to Tangmen! The people can run, but the establishment can’t.”

Watching as most of the private rooms emptied out, the hostess half-sighed, half-relieved, “Tangmen is going to be famous.”

**

As Zhao Min walked, he asked the cameraman, “Is there a technique to alter the footage?”

The cameraman replied respectfully, “You can modify the video on the light screen.”

Zhao Min continued, “Can the modifications be extensive? Will it be noticeable? Can we make a whole new video ourselves?”

The cameraman hesitated. “It should be fine… it can fool ordinary people.”

Zhao Min felt like crying inside; the problem was he didn’t want to fool ordinary people!

Even though everyone saw the potion’s effect, judging by the auction price, the auction was a failure.

Zhao Min felt that this tarnished his image of competence and didn’t want the miracle doctor to know. He was pondering if he could find a way to cover it up.

He considered reallocating a portion of the regular sales revenue to the auction price, then having someone recreate a successful auction video that didn’t match reality at all.

At one point, Zhao Min thought about auctioning off his vial of the potion.

But after much deliberation, he gave up on the idea.

While he was tempted by the potion, he didn’t actually care about improving his gene level; he cared more about the influence this product could bring.

But the problem was that just because he didn’t care, that didn’t mean others would.

Firstly, as the manager of the Tangman shop, the stronger his strength, the more secure his employees would feel and the more others would trust Tangmen.

Although he always found it strange how the quality of a pharmacy had anything to do with the manager’s strength, since most people thought so, he, as the seller, had to follow the crowd’s thinking.

Secondly, if he increased his own strength, his utility would grow, allowing him to do more for the divine doctor, solidifying his position.

Based on these considerations, he concluded the potion should be kept for himself.

But using it himself meant the auction incident would be hard to cover up.

As he walked and struggled with his decision, he even considered telling the miracle doctor the truth. After all, everyone makes mistakes.

Furthermore, the auction amount fell short by a significant margin. If he diverted the regular sales to cover the auction difference, the regular sales would look terrible, and even if he put all the money into it, it still wouldn’t cover the gap.

Zhao Min felt like tearing his hair out in frustration, unable to make a decision.

This was the downside of being too competent!

If he were a bit more ordinary, people would notice the inconsistency more easily.

**

Zhao Min returned to Tangmen and had just sat down on the sofa to rest when a large crowd burst into the shop.

They weren’t there to buy medicine; they grabbed the employees to ask questions.

When they found out the person on the sofa was the owner of Tangmen, they surrounded him, speaking all at once.

“The head of the Sima family wants to meet you tomorrow morning at xx restaurant and looks forward to your presence.”

“The Lin family invites you to dinner tonight and hopes you can attend.”

“The Li family wants to buy a vial of the gene purification agent. Please sell me the remaining vial.”

Zhao Min felt like he was surrounded by hundreds of ducks, their voices intertwining in his ears, making him dizzy. He immediately raised his hand to stop them, “Stop—”

Everyone fell silent, waiting for Zhao Min to speak.

Zhao Min collected the invitation letters from each family and said solemnly, “I will attend as scheduled. Unfortunately, the remaining vial of the gene purification agent is for personal use and is not for sale. But don’t be discouraged. Our chief pharmacist at Tangmen will continue to produce gene purification agents in the future.”

“However, there’s an ingredient in the potion—Starry Grass, which is hard to find, so production is limited.”

“If anyone can find a stalk of Starry Grass and bring it to me, they can exchange it for a bottle of purification potion.”

“All future gene purification agents produced by Tangmen will be auctioned off. Please stay tuned to the auction house for updates and participate on time.”

Starry Grass in exchange for the gene purification agent!

Everyone’s breathing became heavy.

Although most people didn’t know what Starry Grass was, just knowing it could be exchanged for the potion was enough motivation to find it!

“One stalk of Starry Grass for a bottle of purification potion? Is that true?” Someone confirmed with Zhao Min.

“Absolutely.” Zhao Min replied seriously, then added, “However, I currently have no potion left. If someone brings Starry Grass, the chief pharmacist needs time to process it into a potion, which will take about five days.”

Five days? Isn’t it supposed to be an immediate exchange? Some frowned.

Zhao Min quickly added, “In the future, when more potions are made, it will be a direct exchange of ingredients for potions.”

“Right now, I truly don’t have any potions, so I can’t exchange immediately.”

That person’s expression relaxed slightly, seeming more assured.

Persuaded by Zhao Min, the crowd decided to go home and inform their families, determined to find Starry Grass and exchange it for the potion.

Zhao Min watched the crowd leave, feeling very relieved. The ducks were driven away, and he could finally have some peace.

He was also relieved that this was Jupiter, where most people didn’t want to provoke the military, so they wouldn’t resort to violence.

If it were a Huangsha star, forceful transactions might have already occurred.

However… he soon realized he was celebrating too early.