Li Yao was in the incubation room when she heard people shouting outside, so she walked out.
"Who's looking for me?"
"Are you Mrs. Li?" the servant asked.
"Yes, I am."
"Is that herbal ointment made by you?"
"Yes."
"Our master is from Yizhou Prefecture," the arrogant servant said loudly, "We'll buy however much herbal ointment you have, hurry up and take it out!"
"There's none right now."
"Then hurry up and make some!" The servant was impatient, "Our master came all the way from Yizhou Prefecture to this shabby countryside, you don't expect him to leave empty handed, do you?"
Li Yao frowned.
No one invited you here, this man must be out of his mind.
But she wondered, how did the reputation of the herbal ointment reach Yizhou Prefecture?
This was good news for her, but these two men were really annoying.
"There's none, so there's none," she said, "You two should leave."
Ignoring them, she turned around and went back into the incubation room.
Seeing her lack of sophistication, Hong Shan was so angry his face turned pale.
"Ungrateful thing!"
"Master, what should we do now?" The servant was also indignant, "If this was Yizhou Prefecture, I would definitely teach her a lesson!"
Hong Shan wanted that too, but this wasn't Yizhou Prefecture, this was He Wan village.
Villains come from poor remote mountains, and Li Yao was a local tyrant here, he didn't dare make trouble here.
"Go ask her again, offer her more money! I don't believe I still can't buy anything with money!"
"Hey, Mrs. Li, did you hear that?" The servant immediately shouted, "Our master is generous, he'll add 1 tael of silver per box of ointment."
Hearing this in the incubation room, Li Yao was too lazy to respond.
"2 taels of silver!"
"3 taels!"
"Half a tael!" the servant said, "Don't be greedy, this is already the highest price! You can look all over the world and won't get a better price!"
In the incubation room, Xiao He's heart was pounding.
After just a few sentences, the price per box of ointment had gone up by half a tael!
There were at least 300 boxes of ointment this time, half a tael each meant 150 taels of silver!
But Mother seemed completely unmoved, she didn't know what she was thinking.
"Are you wondering why I'm ignoring them?" Li Yao suddenly said.
"Mother, they offered such a high price, I think..."
"Business is built on integrity, we already promised this batch to Zhuo the shopkeeper, of course we can't change our minds and sell to others," Li Yao said, "Besides, those two are very annoying, I wouldn't sell to them no matter how much they offer."
Hearing this, Xiao He quickly nodded: "Oh, I see, those two are very annoying indeed, shall I send them away?"
"I'll go."
Outside, Hong Shan and his servant were so angry they could burn down the house.
They offered half a tael more, but this ungrateful woman didn't even look at them.
"Hey, did you die in there? At least say something!"
When Li Yao came out of the incubation room again, she was holding a broom and went straight to the servant.
"Did you just curse at me?"
"You asked for it!" The servant said, "So what if I cursed you?"
"Oh, is that so? Then let me show you what I'll do!"
Saying so, Li Yao whipped the servant in the face with her broom, stunning him completely.
He never imagined a woman from a small village would dare attack him!
"You're asking for a beating..."
Slap!
Li Yao whipped him again, leaving him dizzy.
Her body looked soft, her waist so slender it seemed it could break with a pinch, yet she wielded the broom so nimbly he simply couldn't dodge.
One strike after another, fast and fierce, each landing squarely on his face.
"Barking like a dog at my door, you're the one asking for a beating!"
"You..."
Slap!
"Get lost right now, or I'll use more than just a broom on you."
The servant had never met such a fierce woman before, he was so frightened he scrambled back to Hong Shan.
"Master, she..."
"Fool!" Hong Shan berated coldly, "Can't even handle a simple task, what use are you?"
He had clearly underestimated this Mrs. Li, thinking she would happily agree to a small raise, but instead he had made things worse.
But it wasn't a big problem.
If half a tael didn't work, he would offer 1 tael, if that didn't work then 2 taels!
He didn't believe anyone would turn down more money.
So he put on a smile and walked over: "My servant was out of line, please don't be angry, Mrs. Li..."
"The ointment will not be sold to you, leave now or I'll sweep you out."
Hong Shan: ...
Seeing Li Yao turn and go back inside, Hong Shan was so angry his lungs would explode.
As expected, a fallen tiger bullied by a dog.
He, an esteemed man from Yizhou Prefecture, was being snubbed in this poor backwater.
"Let's go!"
"Yes master," the servant asked, "Master, what about the ointment..."
"Humph, the world is so big, is she the only one who can make it?" Hong Shan said coldly, "Let's not go back yet, walk around the village, maybe someone knows how the ointment is made. Then I'll make sure she can't sell a single box!"
"Brilliant, master!"
The two walked around the village, stopping people and having the servant strike up conversations. But no one knew how the ointment was made, they had only heard of it recently.
Just when they thought it was a wasted effort, a voice suddenly called out.
"Dear lord, I can get the method for making the ointment."
Hong Shan turned to see a man in his thirties, dressed in rags, clearly a lazy good-for-nothing.
But he knew that sometimes, scoundrels were useful for getting things done.
"Young man, you speak truly?"
"Absolutely true," Zhu Yougui said, "That Li Yao had the villagers gather herbs for the ointment days ago. I remember everything clearly. As for the method, I can definitely get it for you."
Hearing this, Hong Shan was delighted, "I'll thank you handsomely if you can."
"Empty words don't mean much," Zhu Yougui said, "My lord surely has money to spare, shouldn't you show your sincerity first?"
With a look from Hong Shan, the servant immediately took out a small piece of scrap silver, about half a tael, and tossed it to Zhu Yougui.
Receiving the silver, Zhu Yougui could hardly conceal his joy.
"How much will you give me if it's done, my lord?"
"How much do you want?" the servant asked.
"For such a valuable recipe, it's got to be at least 100...no, 500 taels should do it," Zhu Yougui asked exorbitantly, "I heard a box of ointment sells for 3 taels at Baichuan Market."
"500 taels?" The servant was almost laughing now, "You're daydreaming!"
"Deal," to his surprise, Hong Shan agreed at once, "Get me the real method for the ointment and I'll give you 500 taels after, plus a house at Baichuan Market."
Zhu Yougui was stunned.
Not only money, but a house too?
"Don't worry my lord, it will be done within three days!"
"You better hurry," the servant said, "We're staying at Laifu Inn in Baichuan Market, go find Master Hong when it's done."
Watching them leave, Zhu Yougui kept fondling the silver in his hand.
He had never held such a large piece of silver in his life.
Bah, this was nothing.
Once he got the recipe for the ointment, he would hit the big time!
The more he thought about it the happier he got, Zhu Yougui hummed a tune as he walked home.
After he left, a slender figure silently emerged from behind a corner wall, it was Pang Shi who had gone to cut grass with a basket on her back.
Hong Shan had encountered her earlier, asking about the ointment, but she ignored him then. However, she felt something was off and secretly followed them.
She never expected to overhear such an explosive matter.
The recipe for sister-in-law's ointment was so valuable!
This was serious business.
In an instant, she came up with a brilliant idea.
This time, she would make it big!
After the excited Shen Shi left, the petite figure of Du Xiao Hui quietly slipped away from the other side of the wall.
Aunt Li was right, those two were up to no good, wanting Zhu Yougui to get the recipe for the ointment, even eavesdropped on by Shen Shi.
I must hurry back and tell her about these things.