Moreover, because Xiaoyao's replicated versions could almost match the originals exactly—if you didn't consider age, they were completely indistinguishable with extremely high originality—this gave people the idea to have Xiaoyao replicate almost all the important books, including the Mo family's most important manuals.
This was also because the Mo family's Library Tower didn't contain extremely important manuals, so they didn't mind Xiaoyao reading through everything. It was also possible that the most critical materials weren't kept in this Library Tower.
At least, Xiaoyao hadn't seen the Mo family's most important weapon-forging manuals.
"Xiaoyao, do you think there's any way I could have a chance to qualify and participate in the Dragon Gate Tournament?" At that time, the Third Young Master asked Xiaoyao this question on a whim. After asking, he found himself ridiculous—how could he ask Xiaoyao, a little servant, such a thing?
Perhaps because of the previous incident, which was somewhat related to Xiaoyao, deep in his heart he had a feeling that Xiaoyao might have a way to solve his difficult problem.
At that time, Xiaoyao replied without thinking: "Yes, but you'd have to suffer!"
"You really have a way? Then let's do it—I'm not afraid of suffering!"
"..."
I blame you for talking too much, talking too much!!
Xiaoyao wanted to bang his head against the bookshelf at that moment. Not only did he gain this trouble, but he'd definitely be blamed by the Second Master and Second Madam again.
The facts were exactly as he imagined. The Third Young Master was indeed very hardworking and willing to suffer, following arrangements, but the Second Madam beside him was too nervous, constantly blaming herself while making various demands.
"Now maintain the heat. The Third Young Master should circulate his energy to absorb the medicinal power. Continue this for two hours and it'll be fine! The medicine is almost used up—I'll go buy some for tomorrow. Second Madam, please give me some silver." Xiaoyao spoke while asking the Second Madam for money.
Actually, he wasn't in a hurry to leave, but with the Second Madam supervising beside him, he felt it was better to find an excuse to retreat. Anyway, the situation was what it was—he didn't need to be there.
"Didn't I just give you one hundred taels a few days ago? Why do you need more?" The Second Madam frowned. From start to finish, she had already spent five hundred taels—no small sum, at least not small for servants.
"A few days ago we bought medicinal materials. I already gave you the list. Do you want me to recite it again? Premium Poria, ten pounds, three taels and two qian..." Xiaoyao recited the bill, and if checked carefully, it would be word-for-word accurate.
Even if this bill was forged by him, this memory was extremely strong, let alone that this bill was given by the pharmacy—it was indeed a real and reliable bill.
The Second Madam had checked this and verified the goods, which completely matched the bill in both quantity and quality. The prices were also market prices, even slightly below market value.
Even if the Second Madam went to buy things herself, she might not do better than Xiaoyao or get better prices.
Xiaoyao had always been like this when purchasing things. He had often bought this and that before, never making mistakes, and was quite outstanding. At the same time, there seemed to be no possibility of embezzlement.
This made many people comfortable letting Xiaoyao purchase things, and the Second Madam was the same now. She asked just now only because the money was being spent too quickly—one hundred taels of silver gone in just a few days.
One hundred taels of silver equaled one hundred thousand copper coins, while an ordinary three-person family needed only five or six hundred copper coins per month for basic sustenance—though that was just basic sustenance.
"Alright, no need to continue. How much more do you need now?" The Second Madam stopped Xiaoyao's accounting and said.
"I need another hundred taels. Second Madam, don't think it's too much—this can greatly increase the Third Young Master's strength. If you went to buy those pills, they'd cost several hundred taels each." Xiaoyao said. He thought the Second Madam found it excessive, so he explained the pros and cons.
As Xiaoyao said, if one wanted to buy strength-enhancing pills, the lowest price would be several hundred taels, and they'd be the worst quality. Moreover, the quantity wouldn't be just one pill.
"Alright, alright, I understand. Just tell me a number. As long as Mo'er's strength can catch up, I'd be willing to go bankrupt!!" The Second Madam said, handing Xiaoyao a hundred-tael banknote.
"Great! I'll go buy medicinal materials right away. There's one more thing—the Third Young Master is about to enter the final stage. Those medicinal materials must be completely fresh and are all very precious and rare. Our alchemy room happens to have them all, but this requires you, Second Madam, to speak with the Great Master. Otherwise, we can't take them out for use—we'd have to buy them." Xiaoyao said. Regarding knowledge of the alchemy room, probably no one in the entire Mo family understood better than him.
"Give me a list for this, and I'll ask about it later!" The Second Madam nodded. She didn't want to pay out of her own pocket—if she could use the family's resources, she would. After all, her son was the Mo family's Third Young Master; using some medicinal materials was nothing.
She had paid for the earlier purchases herself only because she felt they were small amounts and didn't want to trouble the Great Master. Now this wasn't a small amount.
"Here's the list!" Xiaoyao handed the Second Madam a paper densely covered with medicinal material names, making it clear he had prepared this long ago, just waiting for the Second Madam's word.
"..." The Second Madam took the list, glanced at it a few times, then went to find the Great Master.
Xiaoyao also set off at the same time, going out to buy medicine. This medicinal bath was really wasteful—requiring dozens of pounds of medicine and only used once.
However, the effects were also very obvious. The Third Young Master's cultivation was rapidly increasing. It was because they saw these effects that the Third Young Master and Second Madam let Xiaoyao continue. Otherwise, they would have abandoned Xiaoyao long ago.
This medicinal bath wasn't Xiaoyao's original creation either—there were many precedents, so no one paid attention to why Xiaoyao knew this method. Perhaps it was another folk remedy he'd heard or seen somewhere.
Some people, seeing the Third Young Master's success, tried using his medicinal bath method, even using the same prescriptions, but strangely, no one could achieve the Third Young Master's success.
Because although the Third Young Master's medicinal bath didn't use very rare materials, the quantities were unprecedented. Few people could bear such amounts, but strangely, the Third Young Master could not only bear it but also absorbed the maximum medicinal effects.
If there wasn't something else involved, then the Third Young Master's body must be different from ordinary people.
However, which one it was, no one could say clearly, only that the Third Young Master's body was indeed different from others at that time—he had just been struck by lightning and his body was somewhat special.
But how did Xiaoyao see this?
Therefore, whether it was the Third Young Master's abnormal constitution or the use of other medicines, Xiaoyao was a suspicious subject. However, this suspicion only arose much later, and by the time of this suspicion, it seemed meaningless.
In Qingyun City, if you wanted to buy medicinal materials, the first choice was the Huang family's pharmacy. This was a family similar to the Mo family, a clan famous for medicine, with not only medicinal material business but also excellent medical skills.
However, in terms of rank alone, this Huang family was inferior to the Mo family. Among medical families, they could only be considered second-tier, but in Qingyun City, they were the only and highest-level option.
This situation left no choice, but though the Huang family was a second-tier medical family, their medical skills were sufficient for the people of Qingyun City. Their medicinal material business was genuine and honest, fair to all, with very complete varieties, almost comparable to first-tier medical families.
Because of this, basically no one bargained with the prices the Huang family pharmacy set—everyone accepted them. But at this moment, in the Huang family pharmacy, someone was haggling!
"Eighty percent!"
"...Eighty percent is too difficult. Ninety percent!!"
"Eighty percent!"
"Give a little—eighty-five percent!!"
"Eighty percent!"
"Xiaoyao, don't go too far! If I tell your family about this, you'll be in deep trouble!!" The person saying this seemed about to explode.
"Eighty percent!!" Xiaoyao lightly glanced at the other party and still said those two words calmly.
"Damn, you're ruthless! Eighty percent it is. Any lower and we won't make any profit!!" In the end, he didn't explode, gritting his teeth with a frustrated expression.
"Don't worry, at eighty percent you can still make at least ten to twenty percent profit. Don't think I don't know—the medicinal material business has at least thirty to forty percent profit margin. Though your medicinal materials are the lowest priced in the industry, it's still a huge profit!" Xiaoyao waved his hand dismissively.
"But our family has big expenses. If we don't make money, how do we survive?" The Huang family shop's manager said irritably.
"So I didn't ask you to reduce much before. Now with such a large quantity, I just want a wholesale price." Xiaoyao said.
"You already made us reduce half a percent before, which was already very little. I really don't know how we agreed to give you that price initially. You kid have pocketed quite a bit in between." The Huang family pharmacy's manager said, This wasn't Xiaoyao's first time purchasing here. Before the Third Young Master's treatments, he had come many times, though the previous price was only a five percent discount.
"Not much—I reported it as ninety-seven percent." Xiaoyao said.
"That's indeed not much. Why don't you just pocket that half percent directly?" the manager said. According to his transaction records, Xiaoyao's two percent profit was just a tiny amount.
"If I pocketed the half percent, then it wouldn't be me doing the buying." Xiaoyao smiled and said, "Besides, this amount can be taken with a clear conscience. Even if discovered, the masters wouldn't say anything."
"..."
Indeed, if he pocketed the entire half percent, he'd be like everyone else—then why would anyone ask him to purchase?
Two percent wasn't much, but it was still income. Small amounts add up, sand can form a tower, and Xiaoyao would prove this point in the future.
"Oh, you little rascal! So this is why you won't come follow me!!"
At this moment, an unexpected voice rang out, and a beautiful figure appeared before Xiaoyao and the others.
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