Free Web NovelChapter 21: Chapter 12: The Building Collapsed
After Wang Dachui left.
Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family came in. "Brother Rui, what’s wrong? I thought I heard you two arguing?"
"It’s nothing, just a small misunderstanding. It’s all cleared up now."
When Fang Rui said he would keep his mouth shut, he meant it.
’Well, the truth is, it’s best if this matter ends with me. Telling Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family would only bring unnecessary risks.’
Hearing this from Fang Rui, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family nodded and didn’t press the matter.
He played with Fang Ling for a while longer, and seeing that it was getting late, Fang Rui grabbed his medicine pouch and stood up. "Mother, it’s about time. I should be going."
"Alright, go on then. Be careful." Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family saw him out the door. She watched his back until he disappeared from sight, then turned and went back inside. Under the dim light of an oil lamp, she did some needlework while she waited for him.
...
「Black Market.」
Fang Rui rented a stall as usual, selling his two regular items: finished packets of Hemostatic Powder and Nourishing Medicine.
It wasn’t a booming business, but he had a steady stream of customers. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Truth be told, imitations had long since appeared in the Black Market.
The finished medicine business, to put it bluntly, had a barrier to entry, but it wasn’t particularly high.
Ordinary people couldn’t imitate it.
But for the rich and powerful, it was just a matter of having the idea. They could find a decent Physician to develop something similar, or even a superior finished medicine.
Of course, this was also precisely why no major players had targeted him.
If it were something like soap or perfume, he would probably be in trouble no matter how low-key he was. Those wealthy and powerful families weren’t fools; they had a keen eye for opportunity. Such things wouldn’t sell for much in Fang Rui’s hands, but if they were distributed through their channels, the profits would be enormous.
So, he had a clear sense of what businesses he could and couldn’t get into; he was very self-aware.
That said.
While the city’s major families could produce finished medicines, they looked down on the petty dealings of the Black Market. If they really wanted in on the action, they could simply order the pharmacies under their control to add a finished medicine section.
Therefore, the imitations appearing in the Black Market were mostly from Physicians like Fang Rui.
However.
Fang Rui was the first to test the waters by selling finished medicines. The medicine he sold had never caused any reported incidents, so he had a good reputation. Naturally, his business was much better than the others in the Black Market.
He was also an Entry Grade Martial Artist, so the profit he made wasn’t enough to get him targeted. This meant stability, which was another major advantage.
In short, Fang Rui’s current finished medicine business was doing alright.
A moment later.
"You’re here?"
Gao Yao wandered over, greeted him, and plopped down beside him, setting aside the fake secret manuals he was carrying.
Lately, he and Fang Rui had both been regulars at the Black Market. After seeing each other many times, exchanging greetings, and chatting, they had struck up a casual acquaintance.
"How’s business?"
"It’s alright." Fang Rui was a man of few words.
"Hah, shouldn’t have asked. I can tell just by looking. Can’t say the same for me..."
Gao Yao cursed, "Damn it, these people are getting harder and harder to fool..." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
"If your manuals had fewer mistakes and omissions, you might not be in this situation... You should sell less fake stuff. Build up some good karma!"
Fang Rui couldn’t help but retort, recalling the first time he came to the Black Market and this guy tried to sell him a manual.
"Listen to you! I’d love to sell some high-quality manuals, but can I get my hands on them?" Gao Yao cried foul.
Fang Rui was suddenly reminded of a joke.
Q: Why do you make counterfeit money?
A: Because I can’t make real money.
’The logic is surprisingly similar.’
Amused, Fang Rui shook his head and chuckled.
Gao Yao, however, had just gotten started. "And as for you saying I harm people, I won’t stand for that!"
"Those poor bastards are always having flights of fancy, imagining they’re some peerless genius who’ll master martial arts, get revenge on this guy, and knock down that one. They can’t even recognize their own damn place..."
"For a manual that costs a few large coins, do they really not know it’s fake? Of course they know! They just refuse to believe it, lying to themselves... Or maybe they’re holding onto the hope that they’re the main character in a story, looking to hit the jackpot. But the sky doesn’t rain free lunches, it rains hailstones!"
"And that’s my fault?"
Fang Rui was silent.
There was some truth to his words.
"Anyway,"
Gao Yao continued, "Even if you have a real manual, you still need to supplement your training with medicinal foods and baths. The poor simply can’t afford it; they don’t have the means."
"The fake manuals people buy from me can’t be trained with anyway, so no harm done. If I sold them real ones and they tried to practice, *that* would be truly harmful! Without nourishing medicinal foods, premature aging and a shortened life would be getting off easy!"
"So you see, I’m actually doing good deeds, right?" Gao Yao said shamelessly.
"Well..."
The skin of Fang Rui’s face twitched slightly under his Ge Cloth hood.
It wasn’t because of the man’s thick skin.
It was because...
He had assumed Gao Yao’s "fake manuals" were a mix of truth and lies. He never expected the man to admit outright that they were impossible to train from. They were likely ninety percent fabrication and ten percent truth—if not entirely made up.
It was outrageous.
Still, what Gao Yao said wasn’t entirely without merit.
In this world, the more desperate the people at the bottom are, the more they crave power. But how could defying fate and changing one’s destiny be easy?
The old saying, "Poverty for scholars, wealth for warriors," was no joke.
Even with a manual, martial arts training indeed required medicinal baths and foods to supplement one’s nutrition... Not to mention, the appetite of a martial arts practitioner alone was more than an ordinary family could support.
Fang Rui only made it because he had his panel and could level up directly using Tribulation Points. Otherwise, given the Fang Family’s previous financial state, they could have never supported him long enough to reach Entry Grade.
