“And…” The chairman smiled. It looked like he was holding something back.
Jiang Chen saw through him directly and said to him, “There will be more holy Gathering Qi Pills. I can consider supplying them to you exclusively.”
“Really?” The chairman was pleasantly surprised.
As long as they could have the exclusive supply of holy Gathering Qi Pills, they would be able to enhance the position of the Pegasus Chamber of Commerce.
“But I won’t make any promises to you. If the collaboration is pleasant, I’ll keep working with you. If not, then I’ll be sorry.”
The chairman nodded. Suddenly he was a little uneasy and asked with hesitation, “Young Master Chen, when Master Cao was checking the panaceas just now…”
“Any problem?” Jiang Chen hated to hear things like Alchemist Master. He thought that was staining the word Master.
“Of course not. Master Cao had a high opinion of your work. He asked to see you, as a junior alchemist.”
Jiang Chen frowned and said, “That is quite unpleasant.”
“No, no, no.” The chairman hastened to shake his head. He said, “Don’t misunderstand, Young Master Chen. I certainly understand that we should respect the client’s privacy. However, one of the medicinal materials that Young Master Chen asked me to collect is only available in Master Cao’s herbal medicine shop.”
“Really?”
Jiang Chen wrote down the ingredients of Hua Yuan Pill a moment ago. He didn’t want to expose his intention, so he wrote down more than the necessary ones.
“What’s that?” Jiang Chen asked.
“The snake heart flower.”
“Gosh.”Jiang Chen helplessly shook his head. That was one of the necessary ingredients for a Hua Yuan Pill. What a coincidence.
“Then I’ll meet him.” Jiang Chen met Cao Chenghua in another room Cao Chenghua looked totally different when he was with his apprentice. He was walking here and there in the room, like a child intrigued by something.
He sat down dramatically when Jiang Chen came in.
“You want to see me?” Jiang Chen asked. Cao Chenghua was shocked when he heard Jiang Chen’s young voice. He looked quite confused.
“Those Gathering Qi Pills were refined by my master,” Jiang Chen said plainly.
That made sense to Cao Chenghua. He smiled embarrassedly and said, “My young friend, I have a lot of respect for your master. He has refined holy panaceas with the same medicinal materials others use. Only a class seven alchemist could do that.”
Jiang Chen smiled silently. He picked up the tea cup and had a small sip. Cao Chenghua wasn’t angry at all at his reaction, but respected him more.
He said uneasily, “I would like to ask my young friend a favor. Could you introduce me to your master?”
“Impossible. Master said that he wouldn’t meet any strangers. No one in the Hundred Thousand Mountains is in his eye. However, if you have any doubt, you can tell me and I will pass it on to my master. I’ll tell you the answer when I return to the chamber of commerce.”
Cao Chenghua was very disappointed. But it made sense to him. Of course it would be difficult to meet a master. “Here is my doubt. I am striving to be a class three alchemist recently and I am working on class three panaceas. But I always fail.” Cao Chenghua almost felt heartbroken when he was saying this, since the medicinal materials he had used were very expensive.
“If I can get any instructions from the master, I’ll be very grateful,” Cao Chenghua said.
“Tell me,” Jiang Chen answered him simply.
“Pardon me?”
“Tell me how you worked on the class three panaceas with every detail and I’ll tell my master. If there is anything missed, I won’t be able to help you.”
“Ok, ok, ok.”
Cao Chenghua tried to calm down and told him every detail of the process. He was afraid that there was something left behind, so he just repeated everything one more time.
“I’ll tell my master.” Jiang Chen already knew what was wrong when he finished speaking. “And I want a medicinal material…” Jiang Chen made his request after he agreed to Cao Chenghua’s demand.
“Sure thing.”
Cao Chenghua was afraid that Jiang Chen wouldn’t ask him any favors, since verbal promises didn’t count, but a favor gave him the right to make requests.
He didn’t hesitate bit when he heard what Jiang Chen needed was snake heart flower. He gifted it to Jiang Chen, without charging a penny. Jiang Chen thought he could instruct him a little next time.
“I’ll come back here after the spring festival. And I’ll ask the chairman here to inform you.” Jiang Chen said.
“All right. All right.”
After Jiang Chen left, it came to Cao Chenghua’s mind that he hadn’t even asked for Jiang Chen’s name. But from his style of talking and behaving, Cao Chenghua could imagine that he must have an eminent background. By then the three hundred holy Gathering Qi Pills had already been sold. The east courtyard got 60% of the income.
“Young Lord, this is enough to cover our loss in these months.” Fan Tu’s admiration for his young lord was almost more than for his master. The Fiery Dragon Horses had been ready out of the chamber of commerce. The low morale when they came had been cheered up. When they saw Jiang Chen and Fan Tu coming out, the servants raised their heads high to show their respect for Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen got up onto the horse. A person came from the Tianhang Chamber of Commerce across the street when he was about to leave.
It was that arrogant Xu Rong. She smiled flatteringly, “Young Master Chen, I was in a bad mood just now and was speaking in a terrible tone. I am really sorry for that. Could Young Master give me another chance to make it up?” She knew perfectly how to use her advantage and had lost all of her arrogance in that moment.
“The panaceas have been sold,” Jiang Chen said coldly.
“But there is a next time, right?” Xu Rong blinked, with eagerness in her eyes.
“Just as I said, regret is no use.” Jiang Chen wasn’t touched at all. He didn’t show any mercy to this woman.
“Young Master Chen, as long as you come to me next time, I will definitely make up for my mistakes.” Xu Rong was already ready to risk anything. Being reserved wouldn’t help her at all.
Fan Tu’s eyes opened wide with surprise. The daughter of the chairman was talking in a way that a prostitute would use to talk with her clients. This was quite something for him.
Jiang Chen shook his head and showed a wry smile. He urged his horse on.
“Young Master Chen, come to me next time.”
Xu Rong was still smiling apologetically and kept greeting others in the group, which was a funny scene.
…
That night, in the Su’s in the Whitewater City, Su Qian was trying her new outfit for the spring festival in her room. She was moving around in front of the mirror, with two maids behind her. At this moment someone reported from out of the door, “Young Lady, Meng Fei is here.”
Su Qian was stunned. She threw the clothes to the maid. Her joyful face turned sorrowful instantly. She was very preoccupied and distracted when she walked out of the room. Meng Fei was a graceful young man. He had his black hair combed back. His skin was fair and clear and he was quite good looking. When he saw Su Qian’s weary face, he asked attentively, “Su Qian, what happened to you?”
“That Jiang Chen wrote me a certificate of divorce.” Su Qian was sobbing.
“Certificate of divorce? He is so arrogant. But it’s also what you want, isn’t it?” Meng Fei said.
Su Qian was weeping. She said, “Do you want the whole world to think that we are together only because no one else wants me?”
“Certainly not!” Meng Fei said.
“But others would think like that, because he divorced me.”
Meng Fei made his mind and guaranteed her, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure out a way. I’ll absolutely make him sign the disengagement agreement, even write down why he doesn’t deserve you.”
“You promise?” Su Qian was pleasantly surprised.
“Of course.” On seeing her smile, Meng Fei felt she was the only lovely creature and outshone all the other things and people in the world.
He took out a jade bottle in haste and said, “It’s for you.” Su Qian opened it and was amazed by what was inside. Even jewelry wouldn’t be so attractive to her. “These are Gathering Qi Pills. But they look different…”
“Because these are holy Gathering Qi Pills. The Pegasus Chamber of Commerce restricted everyone’s quota to five pills. I had to ask around to get these ten. ”
The demand was way more than supply. Three hundred Gathering Qi Pills sounded like a lot, but it was far less than enough for the whole Whitewater City. “Holy Gathering Qi Pills? What kind of master could have refined that?!”
Su Qian shouted in surprise and then said excitedly, “Fantastic. With these panaceas, I can further improve.”