"Zihao! Your birds have eaten my saffron! I told you this would happen! Fifty thousand gold coins worth of saffron, picked clean!" yelled heavenly doctor Ling.
The veins on his forehead were visibly popping and he was gradually turning red.
It was understandable. Anyone who lost fifty thousand gold coins worth of precious materials would obviously be angry. Especially if presumed that these expensive goods were lost to some random birds.
It never once crossed heavenly doctor Ling's mind that his very friendly and very rich neighbours could have snuck into his property and stolen all his saffron.
Who would ever think that their neighbour who was richer, had more customers and was more qualified than you and the prime minister's daughter would rob you?
That was a faulty assumption in this case though.
In Bai Jingfei's own words, "I would rob you once, and I would rob you again."
Meanwhile in the jade medical hall, Sun Mei followed heavenly doctor Ming into a treatment room quietly. She then decided to make her move.
"I heard you got some of those pills?" she whispered to heavenly doctor Ming.
"What pills?" asked heavenly doctor Ming, feigning innocence with a smile. He was a seasoned businessman, or conman, whichever one you preferred. He was going to scam the heck out of this rich young miss.
Sun Mei scoffed.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. How much are those pills!"
Heavenly doctor Ming wasn't going to let Sun Mei walk all over him no matter how rich she was. He was going to get his unfair share of money and Sun Mei was going to have to pay for it.
"How much are the pills you're talking about worth?" heavenly doctor Ming smiled, pausing briefly to taunt Sun Mei, "Maybe that'll give me an idea of what pills you're talking about?"
Sun Mei let out a frustrated huff.
"The saffron pills. I want those pills." she whispered in a voice brimming with embarrassment.
"Oh! Our young miss here needs the saffron pills?" heavenly doctor Ming was now clearly looking down on her.
If Sun Mei didn't want those pills as badly as she did, she would've stormed out and possibly wrecked the store. She was used to being pampered and waited on hand and foot. This sort of curt and mocking behaviour really ticked her off.
"Yes.", Sun Mei swallowed her pride, "How much are those pills?"
Heavenly doctor Ming thought for a while.
"Each pill will be 140 thousand gold coins."
Sun Mei could not believe her ears. One Hundred and forty thousand gold coins? That was enough to buy several mansions in the most expensive parts of the city. Even as a young miss that amount was far too extravagant for her.
"You're scamming me!" she yelled as loud as she could.
It was very rare that Sun Mei lost her temper. This was probably the second time in her life she had lost her temper. She was usually calm and dignified. She had to represent her family after all. She was probably the future crown princess as well.
Heavenly doctor Ming laughed.
"I've already sold three of these pills." Lie number 1. He had yet to sell a single pill.
"This is barely above the price of the raw materials." Lie number 2. It was 139 thousand nine hundred and ninety nine gold coins above the cost of the raw materials because he stole the only expensive ingredient.
"This will instantly solve your problems." Lie number 3. It would probably take 2 pills of maybe even 3 to solve her problem.
Sun Mei stopped to think for a while after hearing heavenly doctor Ming's barrage of lies. It was true that she had a problem and wanted to solve it as soon as possible. She also considered the fact that all of heavenly doctor Ming's medicines were expensive.
That was only because heavenly doctor Ming marked up the price of everything by at least 300%. Nothing in his store was worth the amount.
"I'll buy two then." she said after calming down.
Heavenly doctor Ming laughed quietly. The day the nobles sucked up their pride and went over to the commoners market would be the end for his business.
Luckily no noble was going to do that. Even if they did, heavenly doctor Ming was the best at making pills and potions and only he had the skills and money to make high level pills.
"Thank you for your purchase young miss! Please let me count the gold before giving you the pills!" he said grinning.
Sun Mei walked over to her carriage and got the servants to carry her chest of gold to the store and next to heavenly doctor Ming.
Heavenly doctor Ming happily plonked himself on to the ground to count the coins out at a terrifying speed before nodding to Sun Mei.
"Young miss hasn't scammed me. Quite nice." he said with a smile.
Sun Mei was grinding her teeth in frustration.
"Just give me the pills, heavenly doctor. Just give me the pills." she would explode for the third time in her life if she stayed in the store any longer.
Not explode in the Bai Jingfei sense of course.
Heavenly doctor Ming slowly pulled out 2 pills from a corner and handed them over to Sun Mei in a pouch.
"Please feel free to count the pills!"
Sun Mei opened the pouch to see the two marble like pills sitting there and felt embarrassment beyond words. There was nothing to count there. It was just two pills after all. She had spent almost 300 thousand gold coins on two pills.
She quietly bowed and stormed out of the jade medical hall as quickly as humanly possible.
Heavenly doctor Ming quietly walked out behind her but stopped where Bai Jingfei was casually sitting after the patients had left.
"One sucker down. Five more to go."
Bai Jingfei grinned and looked back at heavenly doctor Ming.