The young man let out a sigh. “To be honest with you, I’m just a working man. Where would I get the money to buy so much medicine? Besides, our shop has sales targets to meet. If I don’t sell enough, I’ll be dismissed and sent home — and selling medicine is the only skill I have. If I really had to go home, what would become of me? I have elderly parents to support and young children to feed.”

“Young man, how much is this medicine of yours? The price hasn’t already gone up, has it?” someone asked with genuine interest.

The young man said: “Rest assured — I’m still selling at the original price. I won’t take a single extra coin from any of you. All you need to do is buy my medicine, hold onto it for two months, and I guarantee your money doubles.”

“Then I’ll take ten packets,” the storyteller said. “Besides, this medicine keeps for three or four years. Even if you can’t sell it on, you won’t lose anything.”

Everyone knew the storyteller was a man of broad experience and sound judgment. Hearing him say this, the crowd surged forward.

“I’ll take five packets.”

“I’ll take ten.”

“I’ll take twenty.”

The young man faced the crowd pressing in around him with perfect composure, and said sincerely: “No need to rush, everyone. In business, I value honesty above all — no deception on either side. Please leave your addresses first, and I will make personal deliveries once I return. If anyone changes their mind in the meantime and no longer wishes to buy, that’s perfectly fine. My legs are sturdy and I don’t mind wearing through a few extra pairs of shoes.”

Hearing the young man speak this way, everyone felt even more that he was a genuinely trustworthy person.

“I work at Chengji Medicine Shop at the head of the street. If anyone has questions, feel free to come and find me there anytime.” As he spoke, the young man produced paper and a writing brush. “Would everyone please register their details first?”

The crowd immediately swarmed around the young man, each competing to give their name and address.

“Chengji Medicine Shop?” Shi Ting looked at Yan Qing. “Isn’t that one of my lady’s shops?”

Yan Qing had been watching the young man intently the whole time. When she heard him mention Chengji Medicine Shop, she too was startled.

“I didn’t expect him to actually be one of my lady’s employees,” Shi Ting said, a rare glimmer of admiration crossing his face. “This young man is someone worth cultivating. He knows how to read the room, adapt to the moment, and sway people’s hearts. If I’m not mistaken, the storyteller is likely in league with him.”

“So he even planted a collaborator in the crowd?” Yan Qing said with an amused laugh.

“As long as it earns money and breaks no law, it seems he’ll dare to try anything. And this wasn’t mere fearmongering either — there really was a pest outbreak in Yun Dian, and come winter, medicines with safflower as a primary ingredient will indeed rise in price.”

Hearing Shi Ting confirm this, Yan Qing’s opinion of the young man rose another notch.

“The laws of Shun Cheng prohibit hoarding goods to drive up prices, so medicine shops don’t dare stockpile in bulk. But right now, many shops are unaware of this news. My guess is that his medicine was bought at low cost from other shops and resold.”

“He truly has a natural gift for commerce.”

“Some people are simply born to do business,” Shi Ting said. “Congratulations, my lady — this is a gem, and he’s yours.”

Yan Qing smiled too. “Whether he’s a gem or not, I’ll have to go to the medicine shop to find out.”

If everything he had done was in service of the shop’s profits, then this person was indeed someone worth employing. But if all this had been done for his own private gain, then no matter how clever he was, Yan Qing would not use him.

As the two left, the young man still had his head down, recording addresses, surrounded by a clamor of voices.

Yan Qing and Shi Ting arrived at the Lin family manager’s medicine shop. Business inside was also brisk, with a steady stream of customers.

When he saw her enter, one of the young assistants immediately called for the manager.

“The Young Madam has come,” the Lin manager said, then paused when he noticed Shi Ting. “The Seventh Young Master has come as well.”

He had not expected Shi Ting to accompany her. From his manner, though, he appeared to be simply accompanying his wife rather than someone who intended to take charge of things.

“Yes, please carry on,” Shi Ting said. He had no wish to interfere in Yan Qing’s affairs unless she encountered difficulty, and he had every confidence in his little wife to handle everything perfectly. His faith in her was of an almost inexplicable, unwavering kind.

Shi Ting walked over to a table to one side and sat down, glancing around the shop with curious eyes.

Old Master Yan was a man of business, so the shops under his management had always been run with meticulous care. This shop, though it now belonged to Yan Qing, had continued the Yan family tradition — clean, orderly, and well-arranged.

A young assistant promptly brewed tea and carried it over.

“This…” the Lin manager said, casting an uneasy glance in Shi Ting’s direction, uncertain what to do.

Yan Qing smiled. “Just treat him as a decorative statue. He doesn’t involve himself in these matters.”

The Lin manager had long heard that this couple lived in warm harmony and perfect accord. But seeing it in person today, it was even more genuine than the rumor. The esteemed Seventh Young Master of the Shi family had condescended to accompany his wife on an inspection of her medicine shop — silent, doing nothing — and yet this small gesture alone showed how much weight he gave to her affairs. Even her modest dowry shops were of the utmost importance to him.

And to hear Yan Qing speak of him so casually — calling him a statue — showed just how comfortable and harmonious this couple truly were.

The Lin manager let out a quiet breath of relief. It was not that he was timid by nature; it was simply that Shi Ting had a presence so commanding that even sitting there in silence, he could not be ignored, and the pressure he exuded was immense.

“Manager Lin, please be so kind as to gather the managers from the other shops as well,” Yan Qing said. “The three-month deadline has arrived. It is time to review the results.”

The Lin manager nodded quickly and instructed one of his young assistants to go summon the others.

In truth, the Lin manager had every confidence in the outcome of this contest. Over these three months, he had tried every means at his disposal to increase his sales, and the shop’s revenue compared to the same period last year had nearly tripled.

He could not imagine that anyone’s results could outshine his own.

Before long, the managers of all four medicine shops had arrived. Seeing Yan Qing was no surprise, but finding Shi Ting there as well left them visibly flustered — though Shi Ting had picked up some Chinese medicine text from somewhere, and sat flipping through it without looking up or saying a word the entire time.

“Shi Ting,” Yan Qing said, seeing how tense all the managers were. Unable to help herself, she spoke up to send him elsewhere: “Go sit inside. You’re in the way here.”

The managers could not believe Yan Qing would address Shi Ting with such directness — but what they found even more unbelievable was that upon hearing these words, Shi Ting immediately and obediently went into the inner room, without so much as a moment’s hesitation.

Everyone: “…”

No wonder it was said everywhere that if you wanted to persuade Director Shi, you first had to persuade the Director’s wife.

After Shi Ting left, everyone’s manner did indeed relax considerably. They gathered around a table, and each brought out their account books.

Yan Qing looked through the accounts one by one. What surprised her was that nearly every shop had shown higher sales than the same period last year, which showed that everyone had thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the contest over these three months, each striving to claim the top position.

“Manager Xu,” Yan Qing said, when she turned to the last account book, visibly astonished. “Are these truly your shop’s sales figures for the past three months? You’re certain there are no errors?”

Manager Xu smiled. “The Young Madam has read it correctly. Not a single entry is wrong.”

Manager Xu had been quiet and unassuming throughout, and no one had paid him particular attention. Now, hearing Yan Qing single out his shop by name, everyone turned to look at him in unison.

“How did you manage this?” Yan Qing asked in disbelief. “Your shop’s sales equal the combined total of the other three shops.”

That single sentence left the other three managers speechless.

“That can’t be right,” the Lin manager was first to voice his skepticism.

“Indeed — there must be an error in the accounts.”

Yan Qing passed the account book to the others. “I see no problem with it. Please have another look yourselves.”

The other three managers quickly took it up, heads nearly pressed together as they scrutinized the figures. Yet look as they might, even with a magnifying glass, they could not find a single flaw.

Only then did they look at the plain and unassuming Manager Xu with entirely new eyes.

Manager Xu said: “I dare not claim the credit. The results the shop achieved are thanks entirely to one person, and I would like to ask the Young Madam to meet him.”

“Would this person be of medium height, refined and scholarly in appearance, with a black mole on the left side of his brow?” Yan Qing immediately thought of the young man she had encountered at the teahouse.

“That is exactly him.” Manager Xu was surprised that Yan Qing could describe the man’s appearance. “His name is Lü Shi. He was originally just an assistant in my shop, joining just three months ago. I hadn’t paid him much attention at first. But when he heard of the Young Madam’s arrangement, he came forward on his own initiative and said he had a way to multiply the shop’s sales several times over. I am a man of limited ability, and I had no real confidence going into this contest. Lü Shi said he had a way to make me win, so I decided to let him have a free hand and try. What I never expected was that Lü Shi would turn out to be a prodigy of sales — not only well-informed, but full of the most unconventional ideas. In just one short month, he had already sold nearly half a year’s worth of inventory.”

“He sold half a year’s inventory in one month?” The others could not hide their astonishment.

Yan Qing nodded, now understanding. “Has he been selling chilblain medicine recently?”

“Did the Young Madam happen to run into him?” Manager Xu said. “He received information from somewhere — I don’t know where — that Yun Dian’s safflower harvest had failed this year. With reduced safflower production and winter approaching, chilblain medicines made primarily from safflower would inevitably surge in price. But the shop’s own stock was limited, so he purchased large quantities of chilblain medicine at low prices from other shops — and those shops actually sold to him willingly and eagerly. I was worried at first: if so much medicine ended up sitting unsold, the shop would face a cash flow crisis. But he pledged his own livelihood as guarantee, and I gritted my teeth and chose to trust him.”

The Lin manager said: “The laws of Shun Cheng forbid hoarding goods to drive up prices. What you did is illegal.”

“He didn’t do that,” Yan Qing said with a slight smile. “I want to meet this Lü Shi.”

—