"Big brother, have you set your sights on those herbs? Feel free to choose, I may not have a big salary, but I can help you pay for part of it," Wang Hai said, wiping the blood from his face, with all seriousness.
He was really quite comical like this.
However, Ye Ling didn't have any sympathy to offer. If he were just an ordinary person, it would probably be his own face covered in blood at this moment.
"This one, this one, and this one..."
"Yes, including this one, bring me some of each. How much, well, that's up to what you feel like giving."
Ye Ling looked at Wang Hai with a smile.
Wang Hai felt like crying on the spot.
Based on what I feel like, my ass! This is the second floor we're talking about!!
To put it bluntly, Wang Hai was just a shop attendant, not the real owner here.
The price of these medicinal herbs on the second floor wasn't lower than 1,000 yuan per qian, a random selection of a few would decimate a year's worth of his salary.
But Wang Hai didn't dare to say much more. He had already boasted boldly before, and if he went back on his word now, he would probably have to crawl home today.
In the end, Ye Ling chose about 20 kinds of Chinese herbs, all from the second floor.
As for those 'century-old ingredients' Wang Hai had mentioned, Ye Ling didn't need them at the moment.
These 20 kinds of herbs cost him nearly 100,000 Mexican Dollars.
Qiao Feng paid for half, and Wang Hai took care of the other half.
A few tens of thousands of yuan was something Qiao Feng could still afford, but it was different for Wang Hai.
He had taken out all the money he had saved up; now his pockets were even cleaner than his face.
After Ye Ling left the herbal medicine shop with great swagger, Qiao Feng's expression immediately darkened.
"Are you fucking brain-dead? Motherfucker, there are people you just don't offend, are you blind? Are you stupid?" Qiao Feng swore as he kicked Wang Hai in the chest.
Wang Hai fell to the ground with a thud, not daring to even fart.
"You're covering the medical expenses for my brothers, and remember this massage session," Qiao Feng said.
Wang Hai foolishly asked, "Why should I remember?"
"I said you're blind, didn't you see all my brothers here are injured?" Qiao Feng cursed.
Wang Hai's eyes bulged as if struck by lightning on a clear day.
He had originally thought it would be enough just to treat Qiao Feng to a massage, but now it turns out he has to treat everyone!
With not a penny to his name to begin with, and now with the medical and massage expenses for a dozen or so people, as well as the damage to the facilities and the medicinal herbs here, it would almost amount to another 100,000. Even if Wang Hai went out to sell his body for a year, he wouldn't earn enough to cover the costs.
...
After leaving the herb shop, Ye Ling took a taxi to an antique shop.
To refine pills, one needs a Pill Furnace.
Ye Ling was here to find a Pill Furnace.
The antique shop was bustling, with cars parked all over the entrance, and they were mostly luxury cars, with even the most modest being a BMW 5 series.
"Good day, sir. May I know if you are here to purchase something or to have items appraised?"
Liu Qiao'er, today's newly arrived receptionist at the entrance, was strikingly beautiful. Her slim yet shapely figure, particularly the impressive twin peaks at her chest, seemed ready to burst through her cheongsam.
Through the opened slits of the cheongsam, one could catch glimpses of two enticingly pale legs, causing many patrons to linger their gaze upon Liu Qiao'er as they entered and exited.
Ye Ling was no exception.
Blushing at the wolfish look in Ye Ling's eyes, Liu Qiao'er said in a soft, mosquito-like voice, "Sir..."
Liu Qiao'er was not very bold by nature and spoke very gently, undoubtedly the softest voice Ye Ling had ever heard, in this life or the last.
Her voice was so soft at that moment, akin to coquetry, that it immediately gave Ye Ling an itchy feeling inside.
"Do you believe me if I say I've come to buy you?" Ye Ling teased.
"I... I'm not for sale." Liu Qiao'er said, looking down.
"Haha, just kidding."
Ye Ling laughed and said, "I want to buy a pill furnace, do you know which floor it's on?"
"Pill furnace..."
Liu Qiao'er thought for a moment. She had just started working there today and really didn't know which floor the pill furnaces were on.
"I'll go find it myself," Ye Ling said.
"Sir, you can find a place to sit for a moment, and I'll go look for you," Liu Qiao'er offered.
"Hmm, okay," Ye Ling nodded.
Liu Qiao'er signalled to another receptionist before running inside the store.
Her bustling urgency really did seem imbued with a sense of public service.
Wandering around the lobby on the first floor for a while, Ye Ling quickly distinguished the genuine antiques from the fake ones with his keen eye.
"They're all fake."
Ye Ling shook his head internally, musing that the shopkeepers on Earth were too dishonest.
In that herbal medicine store, they inflate the age of the medicinal herbs. Here in the antique shop, there's a plethora of counterfeit goods.
As Ye Ling held no interest in antiques and didn't want to cause any trouble, he casually found a chair to sit down on.
Sometime later, Liu Qiao'er came trotting down from upstairs, her pair of white jade rabbits bouncing with her run, leaving the beasts on the first floor gawking in astonishment.
"Sir, I've found it," she said.
Liu Qiao'er wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled, "I just asked the boss, there's a pill furnace on the second floor."
Finding the girl somewhat endearing, Ye Ling inquired, "What's your name?"
"I... my name is Liu Qiao'er," Liu Qiao'er responded shyly.
Suddenly, Ye Ling stepped forward, causing Liu Qiao'er to start and hastily attempt to move back.
But Ye Ling unexpectedly reached out, grabbing Liu Qiao'er's fair arm, and leaned in close to her flushed face, his lips gently meeting her ear.
"I suggest you switch to a D-cup bra. Continuing like this could cause mastitis."
After speaking, Ye Ling gently squeezed Liu Qiao'er's jade arm, thinking to himself about the pleasant feeling, and then he headed upstairs.
Liu Qiao'er's cheeks, in that instant, turned as red as a ripe apple.
"Pervert..."
Liu Qiao'er whispered inwardly, but she dared not speak out loud.
Because what Ye Ling said was correct, she indeed was a D-cup.
However, with her shy nature and often feeling vexed by people staring, she chose to wear a C-cup bra, thinking it would make her appear smaller. Unexpectedly, it was still noticeable to others.
Once she came to her senses, Liu Qiao'er suddenly remembered Ye Ling squeezing her arm as he went upstairs.
She couldn't help but look; her arm was still somewhat red.
Liu Qiao'er felt both embarrassed and angry, but Ye Ling had already gone upstairs, and since it was her first day on the job, she ended up suppressing her feelings.
After struggling to find such a job, the last thing she wanted was to be fired by the boss.
...
Meanwhile, Ye Ling had reached the second floor.
There was a good number of people on the second floor. Ye Ling casually strolled around; the price of the antiques here was several times higher than those on the first floor.
The cheapest ones were over a hundred thousand.
"Only these rich kids can afford to play with such things," Ye Ling thought to himself.