Chapter Ch172 - Huge Sales
— For the business at hand, it was better to talk about that first Inner Sect disciple who was concerned for his dear Junior Sect Sister and followed her into Medicine of Life.
Pang Zhifei came from a small town on the Qingyun Continent. From a young age, he had no close relatives, and was considered to have been raised by the village. Later on, because two passing martial artists had gotten into a big fight within the town, he was able to see the power of martial artists. From that point onward began his unrelenting path of martial arts. After going through all sorts of things, he finally became an Outer Sect disciple while he was still young. Under a crazy amount of effort, he became a member of the Inner Sect. What supported his motivation was the scene of those martial artists clearly tearing up the town, yet they were treated like guests by the village leader.
However, if an ordinary Inner Sect disciple didn’t have a backer, it would be hard to mingle and develop. Pang Zhifei worked hard to earn money and established all kinds of relationships for an Inner Sect Immortal Realm Elder to receive him as an apprentice. At the same time, in order to stand up on his own in the Sect, he began romantically pursuing that crafty and unruly Junior Sect Sister — Jing Xiaowan, the unmarried and doted-upon daughter of his Master.
Jing Xiaowan’s aptitudes weren’t bad. She was a Xiantian stage one martial artist and was five or six years younger than Pang Zhifei. He himself was Xiantian stage two. In addition, she looked delicate and pretty, and was also very popular. In order to gain his Junior Sect Sister’s favor, Pang Zhifei did all of his time cultivating at night, and during the day, he did his best to be there for Jing Xiaowan for her every beck and call. Such matters like window-shopping basically occurred every two to three days. Now, it was that time around again!
Fortunately, Pang Zhifei was a very self-adjusted individual. Since the matter of window-shopping was unavoidable, he took advantage of this opportunity to check the prices and used the best cost-effective ways to buy the things he needed the most. Over the course of time, the more Jing Xiaowan strolled around, the more that Pang Zhifei became aware of. He also developed a bit of interest in finding new things.
This time around was the same. Just as the two visited this street, they found an unremarkable store with quite a few female martial artists inside. In a moment, Jing Xiaowan realized that this place definitely had things that were attractive to women. Pang Zhifei took one look at the name of that medicine store and knew that it was newly opened. When Jing Xiaowan wanted to make her way inside, Pang Zhifei was docile and obedient. He took the first step and helped her push aside many people without complaining.
Because that place had crowds of women, Pang Zhifei showed determination: “Men and women shouldn’t touch hands when they give or receive things. Apart from the person I love, I’ll avoid all the other women.”
After he finished speaking, he returned a meaningful glance full of tender sentiments to Jing Xiaowan.
Having been fawned over, Jing Xiaowan naturally went into the crowd to make discreet inquiries by herself.
Meanwhile, Pang Zhifei retreated to the back and reached the first counter on the left side, which was practically empty by comparison. In this way, he thought: Maybe a newly-opened medicine store will slash its prices?
But when he lowered his head and got a clear look at the things in the counter, he rubbed his eyes several times in disbelief!
High grade Qi Linking Pills?
Also, high grade Qi Accumulating Pills?!
In such a small store, was this medicine real or fake?
If it was just high grade Qi Generating Pills, then it wouldn’t have made him react like that. After all, that was classified as a Houtian medicinal pill. It was useless to him. Moreover, it wasn’t that challenging for a certified pharmacist to refine.
However, Qi Linking Pills and Qi Accumulating Pills were different! The high grade pills were very rare, especially Qi Accumulating Pills! Although he couldn’t use them now, what was stopping him from buying them? By storing up a few early on, he’d use them sooner or later once he broke through!
There was only one question. Were these medicinal pills real or fake?
Generally speaking, although no one dared to counterfeit these things, they were very expensive. No matter what it was, so long as something was expensive and could make a profit, someone would inevitably take a risk out of desperation…
For a moment, Pang Zhifei was truly at a loss. He hesitated, but his heart was moved even more!
If by any chance — If by any chance the pills were real, then he would’ve missed an opportunity that would turn his intestines black with regret!
Sucking in a deep breath, Pang Zhifei went straight to the shifty-eyed shopkeeper, and spoke ingratiatingly: “May I ask for this shopkeeper’s surname?”
That shopkeeper smiled happily and said: “This one’s surname is Bao.”
“May I venture to ask Shopkeeper Bao how much those high grade Qi Accumulating Pills cost?”
“The low grade Qi Accumulating Pills are fifty gold. The mid grade pills are two hundred gold. The high grade pills are five hundred gold.”
“It’s slightly expensive. Is it possible for Shopkeeper Bao to make it a little cheaper?”
“It’s already extremely cheap. It’s a set price with no room for counter bargains. I, Old Bao, am also just making ends meet. The medicine store is backed by the owner, and if there’s a mistake in the sales, then Old Bao will have to make up for it.”
“Shopkeeper Bao…”
“Sorry, my hands are tied.”
After wasting some time trying to sweet-talk his way through, Pang Zhifei discovered that there was probably no way to negotiate. He thought that a counterfeit business wouldn’t be so resolute and decisive. And if those goods were real, then it truly wasn’t expensive! It was much cheaper than some private distributors in the Inner Sect!
Pang Zhifei braced himself, and immediately fished out five hundred gold and slapped the banknotes onto the table: “Shopkeeper Bao, one pill!”
Bao You chuckled, and smoothly took out a small bottle from underneath. After that, he also took out a jade bowl from the side and poured a milky-white medicinal pill into the bowl — It made a crisp chime.
That sound was silvery and euphonious. That color and luster was full and mellow. That pill fragrance was rich and fresh… No matter how one looked at it, it was the real deal!
Pang Zhifei held that medicinal pill and placed it under his nose to sniff it. He only felt relaxed and alert. In the wake of this odor, a gout of strong energy squeezed into his body, nearly causing his internal true qi to boil up!
There was no mistake! This was absolutely the real thing!
Subconsciously, Pang Zhifei’s brain flashed with a line of huge words.
Take advantage of this!
Take a huge advantage of this!
Buy, buy, buy!
Therefore, Pang Zhifei didn’t speak another word of nonsense. He hurriedly counted the amount of golden banknotes inside his bag. Oh, he had saved up fifty thousand gold. It would be out of the question to take it all out for Qi Accumulating Pills. He needed to leave a bit to buy the medicinal pills that were applicable to him at this stage. For example, high grade Qi Linking Pills would be pretty good… High grade pills could be encountered, but not sought. Perhaps, this grand opening was letting him take advantage? After he asked about the Qi Linking Pill’s price, he tolerated the ache in his hands as he spent six thousand gold, which was enough to purchase a hundred high grade Qi Linking Pills! At the present stage, he could consume one pill every month. This would last him for a while.
A little more than forty thousand gold remained. He decided to take another look at the other medicinal pills.
Although reason told Pang Zhifei that it was beyond expectations for a small medicine store to have just a few types of pills, instinct told him it wouldn’t hurt to look around more! As such, he walked forward a few steps and immediately discovered even more medicinal pills!
His eyes instantly turned green.
Bone Replenishing Pills! Buy!
Meridian Replenishing Pills! Buy!
Snowy Ginseng Pills — A good thing for enriching the blood! Buy!
He also needed to buy Revitalization Pills! Ah, buy it!
The more he bought, the more he felt that he didn’t have enough money. Which martial artists didn’t receive injuries? When encountering top-notch injury medicine, one needed to stock up. None of this could be ignored!
Within a brief fifteen minutes, Pang Zhifei only had five thousand gold left out of all his savings.
He still needed to exercise restraint over this five thousand gold. He used inhuman willpower to prevent himself from continuously spending it all. If it wasn’t for the sake of keeping a little for rainy days, he was afraid that he wouldn’t have stopped until he spent the last bits of gold on his person!
Finally, Pang Zhifei put away a large pile of bottles and jars into his own voluminous Fangcun Cloth, which he upgraded in the Inner Sect. At last, he revealed a contented expression.
Very good, he’d taken the lead! After that, he felt that it was a bit unfortunate. If he had just a few more golden banknotes…
At this moment, Pang Zhifei had forgotten about his little Junior Sect Sister, whom he was intent on marrying. All his thoughts were centered around the medicinal pills within the Fangcun Cloth. With these pills, his small life would have a very big safeguard! In the future, his cultivation resources could persist for quite a long time! For a moment, he got caught up in a type of dream-like illusion.
…Until a somewhat shrill woman’s voice woke him up.
Pang Zhifei suddenly trembled!
Wasn’t this the voice of his little Junior Sect Sister? While she was normally a bit headstrong, her voice had never been so sharp! Did something happen?
People who interacted closely with one another would always develop feelings. Even though Pang Zhifei was a bit utilitarian, his affections for his Junior Sect Sister were still rather deep.
Hence, Pang Zhifei disregarded his clean-living and honest impression in front of his Junior Sect Sister. He promptly stormed into that crowd of rouge and face powder, and hastily asked: “Junior Sect Sister, what happened? Are you alright?”
Of course, his Junior Sect Sister was fine. It was just that her face was flushed and her eyes were shining: “Senior Sect Brother! Buy me this!”
After she finished speaking, her slender jade-like finger pointed to a counter —
Pang Zhifei’s line of sight shifted.
Anti-Aging Pill?
Off to the side, the sound of many women giggling and chattering spread to his ears. At last, he understood what happened.
Soon after, he wiped away his sweat with some trepidation.
Fortunately, he saved some money…
Pang Zhifei forthrightly handed over several hundred gold: “Shopkeeper, give my little Junior Sect Sister one of each pill!”
One of Jing Xiaowan’s hands took the offered medicinal pill bottle, and the other coiled around Pang Zhifei. After that, she went to leave, high and mighty, like her dreams had come true: “I just knew that Senior Sect Brother is the best!”
Pang Zhifei and Jing Xiaowan departed, and bumped into an entering male martial artist who was accompanying a woman he wanted to please. Pang Zhifei’s eyes followed that male martial artist as he went in. Looking at the contemptuous appearance on that male martial artist’s face, Pang Zhifei couldn’t help sneering in his heart.
This guy looked wealthier than Pang Zhifei.
But…
It was an act! Wait until the guy got a clear view of the medicinal pills in the sales counter. How long could he keep it up?!
Ultimately, Pang Zhifei didn’t walk too far away before he turned his head. Sure enough, that male martial artist was leaning over the counter even more brashly than he did. The guy’s voice spread to the outside of the medicine store: “Shopkeeper, take out the medicinal pill so I can get a good look! If it’s fake, I’m going to smash your store!”
Of course, while that shopkeeper still smiled welcomingly, this dolt’s words attracted the attention of the many beautiful women around the counter. In the blink of an eye, the beautiful women all gave him supercilious looks: “Shut up!”
That male martial artist could only shrink his neck. He didn’t dare provoke those beautiful women who were in the middle of snapping up the Anti-Aging Pills.
Pang Zhifei’s peripheral vision swept through all this, and the smile on his face became somewhat proud.
— He really felt that he was a clever person.
In the valley, on a bare rock.
Gongyi Tianheng always practiced here. Today, when he opened his eyes, his gaze met a deferential face…and a pair of gleaming eyes.
The deferential face naturally came from Dragon One, and those gleaming eyes came from Gu Zuo.
Tianheng took a book being offered by Dragon One, and couldn’t help laughing: “Ah Zuo, what’s going on?”
Gu Zuo’s gaze fell upon that book.
Tianheng raised the book in his hand: “Ah Zuo wants to see this?”
Gu Zuo shook his head fiercely: “I can’t make sense of what’s in the book…”
Tianheng raised an eyebrow: “Then?”
Gu Zuo said with a bit of excitement: “I want to know…how much money our Medicine of Life has made in the past two days!”
The question of the amount of money was a very complicated one.
Because the variety of medicinal pills had reached as many as nine types, each type’s set price was different, and different product grades had different prices, the work of calculating was quite mired in the details.
What Dragon One gave Gongyi Tianheng was the ledger for these two days, which had been accounted once through by every Tianlong Guard who was relatively adept in this field of work. Although it was only the account of the business for the past two days, because of the crowds of buyers, the records were also densely-packed.
Tianheng ruffled Gu Zuo’s hair, opened up the ledger, and swiftly looked it over. All the writings inside were easily remembered by him, and he rapidly calculated. After that, he had a number in mind.
Immediately following which, he raised his head and saw that Gu Zuo was still anxiously looking at him. He couldn’t help laughing. However, he quickly satisfied Gu Zuo’s curiosity, and said: “There were less on the day before yesterday, but much more yesterday. The estimated total… Each day had about a million gold.”
Gu Zuo’s eyes widened.
A million gold!
One couldn’t look at their current inclinations for turning the tables and snatching countless amounts of gold. When earning money honorably, victory lied in the thin streams that flowed forever! A million gold per day simply meant that they were selling like crazy!
If it was always like this, then they could make ten million gold in ten days… It was indeed an incredible wealth!
Looking at his appearance, Tianheng shook his head: “It was novel a few days ago. The Anti-Aging Pill has limited usages. After the female disciples within the Sect purchase a round, it naturally won’t be as popular as it is now. The other medicinal pills suit all martial artists, so those will last for a while. Only, because the store has just opened, many people are quite interested in it, and there’s a peak in sales. By the time things smooth out, the daily profits won’t reach more than a million gold.”
Gu Zuo’s mood gradually calmed down: “Even if it’s not a million gold, it’ll still be around several hundred thousand, right? Aside from the Anti-Aging Pills, the other ones are all consumable products, and can be taken repeatedly!”
Gongyi Tianheng had a smile on his face and nodded: “Be that as it may…”
Gu Zuo raised his head: “What?”
Tianheng said: “With the number of pharmacists now, when the previous stockpile of medicinal pills runs out, I’m afraid the follow-up may be insufficient.”
Gu Zuo: “…Oh, that’s right.”
At the present time, Gu Zuo was mainly refining high grade pills. Because only he could guarantee this success rate, the mid grade and low grade pills were all handed over to Zhang Mingyuan and the other pharmacists. They had cultivation methods and medicinal herbs. They all had big improvements, and their pill refining speed was also getting faster and faster.
Tianheng saw that Gu Zuo wasn’t that cheerful, and said placatingly: “Of the medicinal pills sold, many are certainly Ah Zuo’s. I’ll have them converted to golden banknotes for Ah Zuo to have fun with.”
Gu Zuo thought about it: “Then, how much do I have now?”
Tianheng smiled and replied: “A little more than four hundred thousand.”
Gu stared blankly: “This amount doesn’t seem right? Ten percent isn’t this much…”
Tianheng felt he was cute, and softly pinched his cheek: “There’s no mistake. Zhang Mingyue and the other’s income is ten percent of the profits. And Ah Zuo’s income is fixed at twenty percent.”
Gu Zuo thought it over again: “I remember. I’m also…getting twenty percent of the profits.”
Tianheng said: “Naturally, it’s because of an appreciation in value.”
Gu Zuo: “Eh?”
Tianheng sighed and said: “Ah Zuo can substitute for more than ten of those pharmacists. You’ll naturally have a different salary. Ah Zuo, don’t think that it’s strange. This is what you deserve.”
Now that Gu Zuo didn’t have his old and miserly thoughts of saving money, his mood had suddenly become very good.
After that, his spirits went up: “Big brother, let’s go to the medicine store and take a look!”
After Medicine of Life opened for business, he still hadn’t gone there yet…
Tianheng didn’t refuse this matter. He saw that Gu Zuo was happy, and his gaze softened: “Okay.”
The Inner Sect’s Business District wasn’t that close, but the two spent only a little bit of time walking over. After arriving, the way was easy to find.
On the eastern main street, Medicine of Life’s geographical location was pretty good. Its position was right in the middle. Across from it was a restaurant, and there were many other stores on both sides.
Gu Zuo pulled Gongyi Tianheng along, and when they got close, he couldn’t help rubbing his eyes.
What was he looking at?!
Medicine of Life’s huge door — At least, he felt it was already very huge — Was unexpectedly packed full of people coming and going! In the back, there still many people crowding to get in, and the people inside wanted to squeeze out. It was very difficult!
The tall and strong Qian Hu and Liu Bao, who originally acted as gate guardians, had no other choice but to stand in the middle of the entrance and split the flow of traffic on the left and right-hand sides.
If nothing else, it was because there were more men on the left and more women on the right.
The store seemed small with so many people. The female martial artists mostly came over to purchase Anti-Aging Pills. The male martial artists, aside from a very small portion of narcissists, all wanted to purchase medicinal pills for cultivating and healing. If they were all crowded together, it was unavoidable for the female martial artists to voice their complaints — A moment of carelessness would give a nasty brute an opportunity to take advantage of!
But they were unwilling to give up on going to buy the Anti-Aging Pills…
Later on, those blue-dressed girls understood the female martial artists’ intentions, and promptly put forth an plan. They used their own delicate bodies to bravely stand in a row within the venue, forming a human wall to separate the left and right sides. This would create a safe environment for the female martial artists. In any case, their good looks were limited and they had passed through training. They had plenty of ways to spoil the appetites of those misbehaving fellows. Female customers were the most respected and honorable!
However, while they had settled the inside of the medicine store, there was nothing they could do about the outside. There was no alternative but to hand this matter over to those two formidable and mighty men, and let them maintain order.
The Tianlong Guards inside also helped to keep a grip on things. The expression on He Wu’s malicious face was trained fixedly upon the customers coming in, leaving them no way to fish in troubled waters!
Bao You, who was the farthest inside, sold medicinal pills with a flushed face. In his entire life, he’d never been surrounded by so many Xiantian martial artists, especially beautiful female martial artists. It felt especially perfect and emotionally moving.
The medicinal pills were selling hotly. So long as he could deal with all matters without making any mistakes, he’d definitely obtain many rewards from his boss!
Exciting! Too exciting!
The person’s entire existence felt totally different from before!
Outside, Gu Zuo looked on in bafflement.
He’d known earlier that the pills were selling like crazy here, but he didn’t expect it’d be this wild. He couldn’t help but worry about his own inventory… He obviously worked so hard, but why did he feel that there still wasn’t enough medicinal pills to sell?
Tianheng patted his shoulder: “Ah Zuo, we can’t go in right now. If you still want to take a look around here, why don’t we go to the restaurant and sit down?”
Gu Zuo swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and took another glance at that violently surging tide of people… He nodded his head: “I’ll always listen to big brother.”
Hence, the two turned around and went into the restaurant.
This restaurant also wasn’t particularly big, but because the business of the medicine store across the street was good, the number of customers for these past two days were a bit higher.
Gongyi Tianheng led Gu Zuo straight to the second floor, and the first ones he wanted were the seats by the window.
Fortunately, their luck was pretty good. At this time, there weren’t many who were ordering meals. There also weren’t too many who had stopped by for a drink. That window had three tables, and there just so happened to be one that was still vacant.
Tianheng and Gu Zuo sat at the table, ordered a few dishes, and turned their heads to look outside the window.
Their lines of sight were tilted downwards right at Medicine of Life.
From above, they could observe more directly. One would only feel that the people in the store would have a difficult time even standing. The people coming from behind simply couldn’t go in, and when a person inside arduously squeezed their way out, someone would immediately fill that spot.
Business was good enough to make a person envious.
Gu Zuo quietly said to Tianheng: “Big brother, if there aren’t enough pills, our store won’t be smashed, right?”
Tianheng laughed and said: “The pills in a medicine store aren’t limitless. Those who arrive afterwards can only sigh for coming too late. On the contrary, what justification is there to tear apart the store and leave us with no place to arrange the pills?”
Gu Zuo gave a hollow laugh: “It seems to be like this.” After he finished speaking, he continued to watch that medicine store. After looking at it for a while, he couldn’t help opening his mouth again, “Big brother, what if I work a bit of overtime and refine some more medicinal pills?”
Tianheng pressed his hand on Gu Zuo’s shoulder: “Right now, cultivating is more important.”
Gu Zuo: “But I can cultivate while refining medicine.”
Tianheng couldn’t restrain his smile: “You possess so many pill prescriptions. You can’t be limited to these few, insignificant pills. Researching some other prescriptions would be much more beneficial to you.”
Gu Zuo’s heart quivered, and he nodded his head: “What big brother says is reasonable.”
Indeed. He couldn’t be satisfied by only refining these few medicinal pills…
Yet, after Gu Zuo took another glance, he couldn’t help turning head back: “Or…I can use half the time researching and the other half refining these pills?”
Gongyi Tianheng really couldn’t resist, and bent his finger to flick Gu Zuo’s forehead: “Wait until more than half of these medicinal pills have been sold. Then, we can release the Detoxification Pill, which will last for some time. Ah Zuo, just study on your own. If we really need to, I’ll certainly mention it to you… Ah Zuo doesn’t need to be so worried at this time.”
Gu Zuo covered his forehead.
He also eventually reacted to his own foolishness.
That’s right. Their business still had a huge batch of Detoxification Pills, which hadn’t been released yet. At the Human-Level, it was considered a commonly used and relatively expensive medicinal pill!
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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