Bai Xiaowen saw the manager of the Super Divine Potion Shop in a spacious office. He was a tall elderly man wearing reading glasses.
"Based on my understanding of Fan Jianwei, if there's really a problem with our potions, he would definitely come over personally instead of sending a newcomer so that I'll owe him one."
The manager of the Super Divine Potion Shop pushed his reading glasses further atop his nose and said in a powerful voice, "Tell me, why are you looking for me?"
Bai Xiaowen said calmly, "There's nothing wrong with the potions. The problem lies with Supervisor Fan."
"Oh?" the elderly male said.
Bai Xiaowen placed the suitcase on the desk and opened it gently. He spun the suitcase in a half circle before pushing it over.
The elderly store manager frowned and picked up the two bottles of potions. He compared them carefully against the sunlight shining through the window.
After seeing the price tag, he frowned. Obviously, he noticed that the labels had been reversed.
"Tell me what happened. Be detailed and leave nothing out." Without wasting any time, he went straight to the point.
"I'm a student from Crimson Fire No.1 Middle School. My classmate, Li Shuyi, introduced me to this job." Bai Xiaowen knew that he could not hide anything from this old store manager.
After explaining his relationship with Li Shuyi, he told the old store manager everything about meeting Fan Jianwei.
The old store manager smiled at the mention of Li Shuyi.
"I received a call from Miss Li half an hour ago. She said that she was going to introduce someone to me. So it's you."
The old store manager nodded and retracted his smile. He said solemnly, "I can trust you, but without evidence, Fan Jianwei won't admit to this. In fact, he might even push the blame on you."
A thought came to Bai Xiaowen. He guessed that Fan Jianwei should have some backer in the Super Divine Potion Shop. Otherwise, as the manager, this elderly male could easily fire a supervisor. There was no need for evidence. All he needed was suspicion.
"I have evidence." Bai Xiaowen took out an old phone from his trouser pocket and turned on the playback function.
Although the phone was very old, the recording was very clear. Fan Jianwei's voice could be heard clearly from the phone, "Don't worry, I was there watching as you labeled it, so there won't be any mistakes."
The old manager was a little surprised. "You're quite smart. With this recording, at least it can prove that it's not your fault that the label is wrong."
"I suggest that you carefully check the accounts of the past few months, especially those scrapped potions. Supervisor Fan is gaining personal profit at public expense. This shouldn't be a one-time thing or something that he had done accidentally. I suspect that this is a premeditated plot schemed by an organization," Bai Xiaowen said.
He was making a last-ditch effort. If he did not nip the problem in the bud, there would be endless trouble in the future. The moment he stepped into the manager's office, it was equivalent to standing on the opposite side of Fan Jianwei. Fan Jianwei had to be taken down once and for all.
The old store manager pondered for a few seconds before he picked up the office phone on the table. "Hecheng, immediately suspend Fan Jianwei and monitor him. Also, notify the assistant store manager, Liu Jiang, to investigate the sales department's recent accounts. The scrapped potions from last month haven't been destroyed yet, right… What? It has already been destroyed? Then, investigate this month's scrapped potions carefully," he instructed.
After ending the call, the old store manager and Bai Xiaowen waited for the news.
It took a long time to check the accounts, but checking the scrapped potions was fast. They would know the results soon enough. Very quickly, the other party found something fishy. In January alone, there were seven bottles of scrapped potions with fake labels. Their preliminary estimation was that they had made a loss of millions of yuan.
The old manager looked at the results reported by his capable subordinate, Sun Hecheng, and frowned.
Fan Jianwei's fraud was not complicated. He deliberately mislabeled the expensive permanent enhancement potions and sold them as inexpensive combat potions. Then, his accomplices would pretend to be customers and quickly buy it before reselling it to the black market and earning a profit from the difference in price.
As for the shortfall in the high-end potions, they would be filled with mislabeled low-grade potions. Then, these potions would quickly be scrapped.
What made the old store manager enraged was that the deputy supervisor—Li Qing—who was in charge of dealing with the scrapped potions, had also been bribed by Fan Jianwei. He had gotten a share in the profit and caused a considerable loss to the Super Divine Potion Shop.
The pharmacist, Sun Hecheng, was a square-faced middle-aged man. He looked like Zhu Shimao, the actor from "Police Catching Thieves". He had thick eyebrows and big eyes. He had a righteous look about him. Even if he wore the clothes of a traitor, he would still look like a spy from the good side. He gritted his teeth and said, "These worms really have the nerve to do this! Master Zhang, we can't let them off easily."
The old manager slowly said, "Liu has gone to check the accounts. We'll soon know how much they've embezzled. When the results are out, Hecheng, I want you to write a report and send Fan Jianwei to the Guild Enforcement Department. Let them deal with him. As for Deputy Supervisor Li Qing, send him to the judiciary for them to reach a verdict on his punishment."
Sun Hecheng made a sound of acknowledgment.
Bai Xiaowen was curious. He could not help but ask, "The Guild Enforcement Department? Do they have law enforcement powers?"
The old store manager explained, "The Super Divine Potion Shop is under the control of the Super God Guild. Fan Jianwei is a member of the logistics department of the Super God Guild. As he committed a crime in the Super Divine Potion Shop, he can be dealt with by the Super God Guild."
Seeing the manager's matter-of-fact expression, Bai Xiaowen was shocked. He knew that there were many large and small guilds in the world. The Super God Guild was one of them in Huaxia, but he did not expect the guild to have so much power.
Seeing the change in Bai Xiaowen's expression, the old manager knew that Bai Xiaowen had misunderstood. He waved his hand and smiled. "Don't misunderstand. The Guild Enforcement Department can only deal with internal crimes of members. If it involves the outside world, especially crimes that seriously endanger public safety, the national authorities will also intervene. The guild can't harbor them."
Bai Xiaowen nodded. Even so, the power of the guild was not small. It was like a clan in an ancient feudal society.
However, when he thought about the current situation of the Spiritual Energy Era, Bai Xiaowen understood that the state was no longer the most powerful in this era. Even the state had to make some concessions to maintain the balance so that they could all join hands and resist the threat of the wilderness.
The store manager then changed his tone and said with a smile, "You're Bai Xiaowen, right? Miss Li's classmate? Hmm, not bad. You actually recognized the difference between the two potions and saw through Fan Jianwei's tricks. You dug out vermin for our shop. The younger generations will surpass us in time!"
"You flatter me, Elder Zhang," Bai Xiaowen replied humbly.
The old manager wrote a note, stamped it, and handed it to Sun Hecheng. "Go to the finance department and collect 100,000 yuan as a bonus for Student Xiao Bai."
This number was beyond Bai Xiaowen's expectations. He hurriedly stood up and said politely, "Elder Zhang, 100,000 yuan is too much."
Bai Xiaowen originally thought that it would be good enough to have a prize of 18,000 yuan. There was no need to compare the millions of yuan that Fan Jianwei had embezzled. The two were different and could not be compared.
In another time and space, the corrupt officials caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau often embezzled hundreds of millions of yuan, but the Anti-Corruption Bureau Chief's reward would definitely be very little compared to those amounts. The ancient sword dug up by his family was a priceless treasure. Even if he handed it over to the country, he would only be given a 500 yuan reward.
The old manager was probably willing to pay 100,000 yuan for Li Shuyi's sake. Otherwise, Bai Xiaowen, a third-year student, would have been easily dismissed with a few thousand yuan.
"Don't stand on ceremony. You've just arrived at the shop and you've already made a great contribution. Of course, you have to be rewarded," the old store manager waved his hand and said.
Bai Xiaowen was overjoyed to receive a bonus of 100,000 yuan for no reason. However, he did not forget what was important and said, "Elder Zhang, I'm here to work part-time. Can you arrange a job for me?"
Sun Hecheng was puzzled. "Bai Xiaowen, you already have a 100,000 yuan bonus. Are you still planning to work part-time? Being in the third year, your studies must be very stressful."
Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said, "The two of you might not know much about my family's situation. My parents aren't around, so there's only my sister and me. Although 100,000 yuan is a lot, it's just a drop in the bucket for us. Although working part-time doesn't earn much, it's still an extra income… More importantly, working part-time here will allow me to learn a lot of things. It'll be useful for the rest of my life."
Upon hearing this, the old manager and Sun Hecheng revealed looks of admiration.
"You're young, but you're very open-minded. How about this? I'll give you two jobs to choose from. The first is to work as a salesperson in the front-end. The work is easy and the environment is comfortable. It's 20 yuan an hour. You'll get a commission if you have outstanding sales results. The second is to do odd jobs in the pharmaceutical department. The work is relatively tough and the environment is poor. It's 15 yuan an hour," the old manager said in a deep voice.
Sun Hecheng was a little surprised. A part-time salesperson was even worse than an intern. He would definitely not get a sales commission. However, when he saw the old manager's serious expression, Sun Hecheng wisely decided not to say anything.
"I choose the second one." Bai Xiaowen did not hesitate to say. Although it was easy to be a salesperson and make a lot of money, he could not learn much. However, it was different in the pharmaceutical department. With his Insight and super brain, he could try to learn how to make potions. This was a lucrative industry.
When he heard that Bai Xiaowen had chosen to go to the pharmaceutical department, the old manager seemed to have expected this. He nodded and said, "All right, follow Master Sun there. From now on, after school, come to the shop to work for four hours every day. The timing has to be fixed. If you have something to deal with, you need to take leave in advance. I'll be frank with you. Although you were recommended by Miss Li, if you don't do well, you'll be driven out of the shop."
Bai Xiaowen nodded solemnly. "Of course."
His first job in the Era of Spiritual Energy was finally confirmed.
Bai Xiaowen recalled everything that had happened that day, and once again, he felt a strong sense of change in himself. Not only had he become more confident, but he had also become much more capable. When faced with a difficult problem, just by thinking about it, he could come up with a decision that served him best.
That night, under Sun Hecheng's lead, Bai Xiaowen worked for four hours at the back end of the pharmaceutical department. Basically, he was doing chores like cleaning and mopping.
There were more than ten pharmacists in the pharmaceutical department. Every pharmacist had their own alchemy lab, highlighting the unique and noble status of pharmacists. The old store manager, Zhang Jing, and his capable subordinate, Sun Hecheng, were among them. The old store manager was considered the top pharmacist in the store, and Sun Hecheng was also the backbone of the upper echelons.
There were more than 100 apprentices who were subordinates, and they were divided into different ranks. The dozen or so who were doing well were promoted from ordinary apprentices to assistants. Basically, every pharmacist had a handy assistant. The salaries of these assistants were the same, but they did not need to do chores. In addition, they could learn a lot by being assistants to the pharmacists. They were on a different level from the apprentices in the main hall of the pharmaceutical department.
Bai Xiaowen, who had just arrived, was undoubtedly the least experienced and had the lowest status. Hence, he could only do odd jobs in the hall.
However, Bai Xiaowen did his job diligently. The experienced apprentices took advantage of the situation and pushed the dirty work to the newcomers. Bai Xiaowen did it without any complaints. As a newcomer, if he did not have any patience and argued with the experienced apprentices easily, he would undoubtedly leave a bad impression on everyone. Everyone would think of him as an impetuous person.