LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 24 - Xingshan Tang
Chapter 24 — Xingshan Tang
“Even simple potions require professional utensils. A smidgen difference in the heat and dosage, the effect may spoil for worse … It isn’t practical to acquire a set for myself. The money I have would surely not be enough. It is better if I rent it from someone.” Lu Sheng was a bit distressed.
Places where drugs can be formulated, such as pharmaceutical research institutes, larger pharmacies, and pharmaceutical companies, should have them.
But the question is, why would they rent it to you?
A place as important as the dispensing room involves commercial secrets of various pharmaceutical companies. How could they allow just anyone to enter, let alone borrow for personal use.
“Forget it. I’ll buy all the herbs needed for Spiritual Muscle and Blood Strengthening Decoction, and then think about the rest.”
…
“Sir, are you serious? This is impossible.”
Seeing the pharmacist’s face turn black in front of him, Lu Sheng got up and left.
“That’s the seventh establishment … This isn’t realistic …”
Lu Sheng, who had just come out of the pharmacy, sighed sadly, his face displaying emotions of helplessness.
He had already bought all the herbs needed for the Spiritual Muscle and Blood Strengthening Decoction, and had even bought several more than what was needed.
Because the money in the card given to him by Zhong Zhengguo was not 30,000, but a whole 80,000!
Lu Sheng thought that the extra 50,000 was from Zhong Zhengguo, a private sponsorship from him.
The process of renting a dispensing room turned out to be a very complicated affair. Lu Sheng went to seven pharmaceutical companies, and they all turned him down.
“If this does not work out, I can only buy some rudimentary equipment online and try …”
Lu Sheng looked at the eighth pharmacy that appeared in his field of vision, and thought to himself.
This pharmacy had a signboard saying “Xingshan Tang” hanging in front of it.
[TN: Xingshan Tang translates to the “Hall of good deeds/ Doing good.”]
It was quite rare to run into a store with such a name in Baihe City. It was uncommon here.
Lu Sheng straightened his clothes and stepped in.
The pharmacy was not big, there were a few cabinets with medicines on display. There was a young man in a white coat playing on his phone while he sat behind the counter.
When he heard the sounds of Lu Sheng entering, the youth lifted his head to look at him, and then lowered it again.
“You can take a look around and find what you want, come back here to bill it.” At the end, as if he had forgotten to mention it, he added, “Don’t even think of stealing anything and running. The store is monitored, and the pictures are of a good quality.”
After saying that, the youth began to focus on the phone again.
Lu Sheng’s eyes flickered for a moment.
From the state of the store, it did not seem the store was running a profitable business.
Regardless of which pharmacy he entered before, the salesman inside, even if they had a bad attitude, would politely come up to ask him a question and find out what he needed.
The storekeeper at this store, on the other hand, simply ignored him, not wanting to do business at all.
How can a store like this boom?
Of course, it wasn’t his concern.
Lu Sheng approached the counter and reached out to press the phone in the youth’s hand.
“You want to die!”
The youth was about to get angry when he moved his eyes away from the phone. But as soon as he met Lu Sheng’s eyes and felt the compelling aura emanating from him, he softened down again in seconds.
“You … What do you want?”
The youth took two steps back quickly, looking at Lu Sheng with some fear, his eyes glancing at the phone pressed under Lu Sheng’s hand from time to time.
Lu Sheng calmly said: “I ask you one thing. Does your pharmacy have its own blending room? ”
“What about it? So what if we do or not? Aren’t you here to buy medicine?”
The youth said quickly.
Lu Sheng stretched out a finger and lightly tapped the glass counter and said indifferently, “If there is, I would like to propose a business deal.”
Five minutes later.
Lu Sheng followed the youth to the door of a room behind the pharmacy.
The youth’s expression seemed a bit nervous. He repeatedly tried to confirm with Lu Sheng: “You’ve agreed to pay 200 yuan an hour. Even if you use it for less than an hour, it will still be counted as an hour and charged correspondingly. And at most, I can let you use it for three hours, after three hours … Also, you have to pay the 200 yuan upfront.”
“OK.”
Lu Sheng very dryly took out two hundred yuan and handed it to the youth.
The youth lit up at the sight of money. He took the money and quickly stuffed it into his pocket, then pulled out a key, opened the door and instructed Lu Sheng: “Okay, go in. But be careful as to not break anything, or you will have to pay for it.”
“I know.”
Lu Sheng walked straight into the room.
Behind him, the youth acted as if nothing had happened and quickly returned to the store, but his face was glowing with indiscernible joy.
“There is such a good thing in the world? It’s like I got the money for doing nothing. Just so that I can delete the surveillance footage …”
Lu Sheng patrolled the room, his eyes showed a look of satisfaction.
The blending room was not that big, but it was stocked with all the necessary equipments; enough for him to work with.
It could be observed that the pharmacist here at Xingshan Tang cherished all the equipment and used them from time to time from the way each and every equipment was spotlessly cleaned.
Lu Sheng did not waste time.
The young man who had agreed to rent his blending room obviously had little say in the matter and was sneaky.
He had to achieve his purpose as soon as possible to save the people from the Xingshan Tang from coming back and adding to the trouble.
“Spiritual Muscle and Blood Strengthening Decoction…”
Lu Sheng put on the white pharmacist’s uniform, put on the mask, and began to follow the instructions of the Spiritual Muscle and Blood Strengthening Decoction’s prescription to handle the herbs in it piece by piece.
Compared to the final mix, this step was the most difficult and important.
He was glad that the preparation of Spiritual Muscle and Blood Strengthening Decoction was not difficult at all, it is just a little more tedious than an ordinary chemical experiment.
Grumble, grumble, grumble …
Lu Sheng carefully poured the boiling medicinal soup into a flask.
“I didn’t think it would go well the first time …”
Lu Sheng looked at the medicinal decoction inside the flask that gradually cooled down and took on a beautiful light green colour, and a bit of joy rose in his heart.
In the end the soup was considered successful, though he’d still have to taste and feel the effect to be sure.