Huiren Restaurant was considered under the jurisdiction of the Qingyun Sect in Market Street. As the largest restaurant, it was famous for many things as well as for its expensive prices. If a martial artist wasn't wealthy enough, even if they were inner sect disciples, it was impossible to spend money frequently here.
Xun Suying choosing this place to entertain Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo as guests was giving them plenty of face.
Gu Zuo walked in the very back.
He knew his current ident.i.ty was a little servant. Them inviting him was only out of respect to his big brother. As for himself, he also didn't have any interest in contacting those people — The matters of communication would be left to his big brother.
In any case, he was just a pa.s.sing traveler in this world.
Friends were unnecessary. Helpers were also unnecessary.
To him, the only one who was worth depending on was the closely bound Gongyi Tianheng.
As a result, Gu Zuo reduced his presence as much as possible.
After Liu Wuyan brought them to a privately screened room on the restaurant's second floor, Gu Zuo stood obediently between the screens, and persisted on staying "invisible".
However, since they invited him, how could they neglect him so? There was nothing to be done. Ultimately, Tianheng pulled Gu Zuo over and sat him down on his right.
As for this private room, there was actually more than just Xun Suying present.
Among those who were already seated, there were also two young men. One had a figure that was slightly pudgy, but his facial features were very good-natured. The other person seemed cultured and refined, but he also couldn't hide the aristocratic air in his looks.
Xun Suying smiled: "Let me introduce everyone." She first pointed to Tianheng, "This is an extremely remarkable outer sect disciple, junior sect brother Gongyi Tianheng. That one is his highly regarded pharmacist, junior sect brother Gu Zuo."
After that, she smiled at the two she brought: "This friendly fellow is the prosperous senior sect brother Fu Manduo. On the average day, he'll always provide us with lots of conveniences. That incredibly handsome fellow is the inner sect disciplinary hall's senior sect brother Zhao Yuheng. Along with senior sect brother Fu, he also takes good care of us."
After these words were spoken, Tianheng roughly understood the purpose between them.
It seemed that Xun Suying and Liu Wuyan should've taken those medicinal pills that day.
Tianheng was the junior disciple, so it was only natural that he took the initiative to say h.e.l.lo. He raised a gla.s.s to those two people: "This one is Gongyi Tianheng. Greetings, senior sect brothers!"
While speaking, he met Gu Zuo's eyes, "Ah Zuo, greet your senior sect brothers."
Gu Zuo hastily raised a gla.s.s, too: "Greetings, senior sect brothers."
Fu Manduo laughed heartily in response: "h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo. Sure enough, he's a young talent."
That Zhao Yuheng wasn't so courteous, but he also wasn't without an understanding.
Obviously, the two of them had long known about their circ.u.mstances.
Especially Fu Manduo, who'd been unconsciously taking several glances at Gu Zuo… He felt that this one wasn't special, but since he was interested in meeting this Gongyi Tianheng, and since he brought this teenager, he more or less also needed to give some face.
The people who were seated all had this way of thinking.
If it was someone else, most would be excessively grateful, or feel embarra.s.sed; perhaps they'd be somewhat unwilling, or feel fear or trepidation. But Gu Zuo didn't think the same way as others. He only felt…a little baffled.
In his subconscious, Gu Zuo asked in his mind: Big brother, why are they…paying so much attention to me?
Shouldn't he be hiding his presence as much as possible?
Tianheng was already waiting for him to ask, and transmitted some light laughter: What Ah Zuo needs to hide is your true medicine refinement level. It's not to make them think you're only a little servant I don't care about. Someday, even though Ah Zuo won't be exposed, there'll be many people I'll be in contact with. Between these people, it can't be avoided that there'll be a few "crooked teeth" who secretly plot against me.
He continued: If outsiders knew Ah Zuo is very important to me, they wouldn't lay a ruthless hand against you to threaten me. However, if outsiders only think Ah Zuo is an ordinary servant, they would completely lack any qualms about doing things that I would hardly tolerate… Of course, I'll also be extremely careful to prevent anyone from burrowing through any gaps. Yet, all things can't always be perfect. Just in case, I'd rather make preparations in advance to avoid being pa.s.sive when things come to a head in the future.
Gu Zuo suddenly understood, and gratefully said: I got it. Many thanks, big brother!
Tianheng laughed: You're recognized as my surrogate little brother. Naturally, I'll keep you in consideration.
Gu Zuo's face warmed a bit, and he didn't say anything else.
To that end, Tianheng's distraction had several uses, and three rounds of alcohol pa.s.sed between him and those people. After receiving further grat.i.tude from Xun Suying and Liu Wuyan, he started discussing business.
Prior to discussing business, Fu Manduo and Zhao Yuheng's backgrounds were revealed entirely.
Simply put, Fu Manduo was someone who specialized in handling inner sect disciple business in the inner sect. Zhao Yuheng, while he relied on the facilitation of the disciplinary hall, cooperated with Fu Manduo to act as a deterrence against inner sect disciples with harmful intentions.
One needed to know that an inner sect disciple's monthly allowance wasn't low, and their strength was also pretty good. However, they needed to make connections, nurture people, and obtain good things to supply themselves. In reality, the great majority weren't wealthy. So, when they needed something, they wanted lots of it cheaply. In this way, the more they purchased, the more they saved.
Moreover, there were still some inner sect disciples who were considered wealthy. Unfortunately, their backgrounds were inadequate and their underlying influence had yet to develop. So even though they had money, they wouldn't necessarily be able to buy enough stuff. When that time came, it would be very troublesome.
Fu Manduo had many connections in his possession.
Who were the two ends of this connection? One side of the connection was naturally the customer. For example, the previously mentioned two types of inner sect disciples could be his big customers. And the other side was his supply channels.
Fu Manduo's background was that he was one of the smaller managers who handled the inner sect's resources. This was also the case for his clan members with the same surname. The ill-gotten gains of a resource manager's area were many, and the things hidden away were also not few. However, contraband couldn't be handled personally. Even if it was put into one's own store, it was easy for things to go wrong… Giving it to Fu Manduo and getting a cut of the share, however, was no problem.
As for Zhao Yuheng, apart from being a disciplinary hall disciple, he also had another background. Reportedly, he was an apprentice with an extremely high position in the inner sect — Even Zou Qingyue and the other Immortal realms were only ordinary core disciples.
Thus, Fu Manduo a.s.sociating with Zhao Yuheng wasn't a very easy matter. For Xun Suying and Liu Wuyan, these two people, it was because Xun Suying shared an intersection with Fu Manduo and Liu Wuyuan had an elder as a supporter. By unexpectedly connecting with Zhao Yuheng, this allowed them to slowly establish a relationship.
Now, whether if it was grat.i.tude to Tianheng or to look at his abilities, this recommendation to Fu Manduo and Zhao Yuheng was an unconventional investment. In the future, if Tianheng really could make a name for himself, Xun Suying would certainly be reciprocated. If he couldn't, then this was merely repaying a kindness.
After talking for a while, Fu Manduo smiled: "Junior sect brother Gongyi, if this Fu…may be so bold as to ask a favor?"
Tianheng also smiled: "Senior sect brother Fu, these are humble words. If you have a command, then simply put it forward."
Fu Manduo sounded out: "Yesterday, I saw in Xun Suying's possession a number of high grade Qi Linking Pills and Revitalization Pills whose medicinal effects were quite good. They were really tempting. After inquiring, I realized then that they came from junior sect brother's subordinates. I didn't know whether this matter was true or not."
Tianheng said straightforwardly: "This matter isn't fake. Due to a fortuitous encounter, I obtained several pill seals. Because of this, I recruited several pharmacists. Now, to some small success, although they can't refine some extremely precious medicinal pills, ordinary Qi Generating Pills, Rejuvenation Pills, Qi Linking Pills, and Revitalization Pills all have considerable effects."
Fu ManDuo heard this, and his smiling expression became even more genuine: "What are the rates for successful pills…" After saying this, he regretfully said, "If it's inconvenient, then this Fu never mentioned it."
Tianheng shook his head: "It's not inconvenient. If those pharmacists work their hardest, they can produce over a thousand pills every month. However, I can't order them to refine nonstop. Therefore, it'll take a period of time, or there'll be some discounts."
Fu Manduo immediately became disappointed, but still asked: "What would the product grades of those thousand pills be?"
Tianheng stared blankly: "Just like the ones presented to senior sect sister Xun, they're all naturally high grade. A cauldron produces nine pills, but it can't be like this every time. Within a single day, a couple of cauldrons will inevitably be achieved. These cauldrons could bear one or two high grade pills. It was calculated to be this amount per month. If they could only produce one thousand pills in a month and the product grades were all different, then why would I bother recruiting them and bestowing a pill seal?"
In a split second, Fu Manduo's previous disappointment became joy. At first, what he thought was, "A mosquito is small, but it's still meat," and gave Xun Suying face. Now, he felt that this could seriously be the right supply channel.
At once, he became even more fervent to Tianheng: "Junior sect brother Gongyi, this Fu has a business proposition and wants to discuss it with his junior sect brother…"
On the side, Gu Zuo watched Fu Manduo and his dear big brother talk business, and couldn't help giving a like to his big brother's ability as a conman.
What were the recruited pharmacists refining? Right now, those three recruits could only refine the Qi Generating Pill and Rejuvenation Pill. The Qi Linking Pill and Revitalization Pill all basically relied on him.
Yet, a little more than one thousand pills a month simply wouldn't use up much of his time. He could casually spend a day refining twenty to thirty cauldrons to make three to four hundred pills. Basically, he could finish refining everything in three or four days.
It wasn't any trouble at all.
But Gu Zuo also believed that if these thousand pills were Qi Linking Pills, then it wouldn't be too profitable.
The market price of high grade Qi Linking Pills was sixty gold per pill. One thousand pills was sixty thousand gold. Deducting the manufacturing costs, one could earn about fifty five thousand gold. If it was the past Gu Zuo, he'd feel that this was a huge sum of money and would be very happy. But just thinking about how his dear big brother consumed twenty thousand gold each month, he immediately felt that there still wasn't enough money to spend.
— Indeed, he kept reminiscing about there not being enough money every day.
Gu Zuo also felt that while the Qi Linking Pill wasn't profitable, the Revitalization Pill was actually very profitable.
The manufacturing costs were a little more expensive than the Qi Linking Pill's, but even if the finished product was a low grade pill, it was worth one hundred gold per pill. If it was a high grade pill, it was worth one thousand gold.
Producing lots of Revitalization Pills was still feasible… This was after consulting with his big brother.
And what Gu Zuo didn't expect was that the reason Fu Manduo was willing to meet Gongyi Tianheng was that, besides wanting to capture even the tiniest business opportunity, his main objective was to look at that high grade Revitalization Pill.
At that time, Gu Zuo had given Xun Suying and Liu Wuyan a bottle that had three high grade Revitalization Pills. The market price was three thousand gold!
Wouldn't spending so extravagantly attract profiteers?
If it really was only about giving face, Fu Manduo wouldn't have even brought Zhao Yuheng over.
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