Chapter 145 - Bicycle
In the evening, when Ren Xiaosu led Yan Liuyuan and Wang Dalong back to the shop, he realized that something was off. Why were there so many people at the shop?
After they took over the running of the shop, they had informed a lot of those who came to see the doctor that the shop would not be doing any more consultations in the future. As such, the popularity of the shop died down very quickly. For the past few days, he and Old Wang still hadn’t decided about what to do with the shop.
As Ren Xiaosu walked in, he noticed people crowding around Wang Fugui. Wang Fugui was explaining something to them.
“Boss, you’re finally back!” Wang Fugui’s eyes gleamed when he saw Ren Xiaosu.
“Um, why are there so many people here?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
Wang Fugui pulled Ren Xiaosu aside and whispered, “Didn’t we sell off one dosage of the black medicine the day before yesterday? As a result, people have already started finding their way here.”
“That can happen?” Ren Xiaosu was a little confused.
“Men always openly share such things over a meal.” Wang Fugui smiled and said, “All you young men have such high libidos, you don’t understand the pain of the middle-aged and older men. They’re all in the same boat! Besides, our black medicine does not have any side effects after taking it. That makes it so much better than the other medicines out there.”
“But we still can’t sell too much of it.” Ren Xiaosu rejected the idea and said, “Tell them that only one dosage will be sold per week. We can’t sell any more than that.”
Seeing that a great business opportunity couldn’t be completed, Wang Fugui was upset. If Ren Xiaosu could give him more of the black medicine, he would guarantee their shop would become the largest healthcare product store in the stronghold.
What sort of a concept was it to monopolize the healthcare products industry in a stronghold?
But since Ren Xiaosu said no, there was nothing that he could do about it. Wang Fugui explained to the customers that if they wanted to buy the black medicine, they would have to wait until next week.
Suddenly, a customer said, “I’ll pay 800 yuan to reserve next week’s medicine. Keep it for me until you have it ready!”
Wang Fugui’s eyes lit up. They could even do that?
Even as a shrewd businessman, Wang Fugui did not realize there would be such a strong demand for the black medicine from these middle-aged men in the stronghold!
When the others heard someone offer 200 additional yuan to make a reservation, their interest immediately subsided. Although they wanted to buy it, they didn’t want to be a sucker just to get it. So after the person who made the reservation paid the deposit, the others quickly dispersed.
Then from nearby Yan Liuyuan said, “We can’t use that kind of simple porcelain vial anymore. We’ve got to hold the black medicine in the best container so that it’ll create hype! The more mysterious-looking this black medicine is, the better!”
“Liuyuan is so smart!” Wang Fugui said excitedly, “We probably won’t need to sell anything else in the future. One dosage of the black medicine per person will be enough to make us rich!” Wang Fugui seemed to have sensed a great business opportunity.
“OK.” Ren Xiaosu nodded. “Do as you deem fit. I don’t know anything about doing business anyway. By the way, where’s Chen Wudi?”
“He headed out as soon as y’all went to school.” Wang Fugui said, “I don’t know where he went, but I couldn’t locate him. Don’t worry, though, he’ll definitely be back when it’s mealtime. He’s extremely punctual….”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “He only remembers when it’s time to eat?”
Wang Fugui hesitated for a moment before saying, “It’s not that. He doesn’t come back because he wants to eat.”
Ren Xiaosu was confused. “Didn’t you just say that he’ll definitely be back when it’s time to eat? If it isn’t to eat, why else would he be coming back?”
A next moment later, Chen Wudi walked in from the outside with his arms full. Wang Fugui looked at the figure of Chen Wudi in a daze and said, “To bring us food…”
He heard Chen Wudi shout at the top of his voice, “Master, I’m back from alms begging.”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless. Ren Xiaosu saw a big bundle of food in his arms that included buns, Chinese burritos, and even a small bag of pickles. There was quite a large variety of food.
But what Ren Xiaosu could not figure out was just how deeply immersed Chen Wudi was into his character.
When Chen Wudi shoved all the food into Ren Xiaosu’s arms, Ren Xiaosu was dumbfounded. “Where did you get so much food from?”
Ren Xiaosu had been worried that Chen Wudi would consume too much of their food. But taking a glance, he realized just how self-sufficient Chen Wudi was!
“I got it when I went begging for alms.” Chen Wudi chuckled.
“People just give food to you when you ask for it? Are they that generous?” Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.
“They didn’t give it to me for nothing. I said that I would help them subdue evil,” Chen Wudi said.
Ren Xiaosu was shocked. “Did you display your powers?”
“No. Master, didn’t you instruct me not to do so?” Chen Wudi explained.
Finally, Ren Xiaosu heaved a sigh of relief. He was really worried Chen Wudi would get targeted by the other organizations. “Then how did you manage to get the food from them?”
Chen Wudi thought for a while. “I took it by force.”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless. Wait a minute! It seemed like this idea of begging for alms was also taught to Chen Wudi by him. At that time, Ren Xiaosu got Chen Wudi to seek out those refugees to beg alms from while they were escaping here.
So Chen Wudi’s definition of begging for alms was what Ren Xiaosu had taught to him back then?
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu was a little worried the police officers from the stronghold’s Public Order Division would rush in and take Chen Wudi away. As he wasn’t entirely sure of how Chen Wudi had begged for alms, he didn’t know whether his attempts would constitute robbery or not.
“Um…” Ren Xiaosu said earnestly, “You better not go out for the time being.”
“Why?” Chen Wudi asked.
“First, we are not running out of food yet.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Second, it’s better that you keep a low profile for now.”
“Master, I can’t. It’s too boring at home. Pigsy and the others all have things to keep them busy with, but only I have nothing to do,” Chen Wudi said aggrievedly.
Ren Xiaosu was caught in a dilemma. “Then if you go out, you mustn’t go around to beg for alms anymore, do you understand?”
“OK,” Chen Wudi promised. He could ignore other people’s words but not that of his master’s.
After Yang Xiaojin’s reminder, Ren Xiaosu became even more worried the other organizations would target Chen Wudi, especially by that mysterious Pyro Company.
It wouldn’t be too bad if it were just the other organizations, but the Pyro Company seemed to be specifically targeting supernatural beings.
But fortunately, this place was not the Pyro Company’s territory.
At this moment, Xiaoyu walked in from outside. She waved at Ren Xiaosu to come over, saying, “Xiaosu, come look at the present that Big Sis bought for you.”
When Ren Xiaosu saw it, he was stunned. No one knew where Xiaoyu had bought the bicycle from. But since she didn’t know how to ride it, she had to push it back here with all her effort.
“Big Sister Xiaoyu, why did you buy this thing? It can’t be cheap, right?” Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.
“It’s fine, Big Sis still has some savings of her own. With this, it’ll be easier for you to get to school in the future,” Xiaoyu said happily. It was as though she had received a gift herself.
The moment she pushed the bicycle out into the backyard, Yan Liuyuan went up to her. “How do you ride this thing? Wouldn’t it be difficult to balance on with only two wheels?”
Ren Xiaosu asked, “Does anyone know how to ride this?”
As the group of people gathered around the bicycle, Wang Fugui and Xiaoyu both shook their heads.
Ren Xiaosu tried riding on it several times but found that he could not grasp the concept. He thought that maybe he should ask Jiang Wu or Yang Xiaojin for some advice tomorrow.