In the south of Jiangning City, a small drug store was newly opened.

As one of the most prosperous cities in the world today, it is not unusual for a newly opened store to open. Moreover, this drug store is not eye-catching at all. Not only is it not located in a prosperous area, but it does not even have a few employees.

Occasionally, you can see a few old men with white beards coming over to chat and whisper together. The figure in the green shirt who looks more like a scholar than the shopkeeper will show up. It’s not like there are no patients coming to the door these days. The occasional old doctor can also be called

I did my job, just checked the pulse a little, and then wrote a prescription and grabbed some medicine. After the patient went back, the medicine was ready to be dispensed.

But that's about it. The drug store looks poor, and the new owner doesn't have any plans to open it. The only merchants that can be noticed are lamenting that this store will be closed in a few days.

"Where can you do business like this? It's really conceivable to open a drug store in a remote alley."

"You can't say that...it's much more convenient to have a pharmacy nearby, and the consultation fees are much lower than those at big pharmacies."

"It's definitely not good if it's cheap. Who knows if it's a shady shop? Only then will you have fun eating it to death."

"Are you doing something harmful under the guise of the drug store? When I was working the night before, I saw some Qiu Ba armed with knives and spears escorting people into the drug store. At that time, I thought there was a thief. The next day

I haven’t seen anything reported.”

"Who is being held hostage?"

"Looking at it by candlelight, it looks like those refugees outside the city... Maybe I saw it wrong."

"You must have misunderstood. If you let the refugees into the city, what will happen? Those who have been stabbed a thousand times should not spread the disease to the city."

"Sigh... I don't know how long the closure will last. Once the city gate wharf is closed, I don't know how many people can't eat, just rice. It's almost impossible to buy cucumbers recently. I don't know when it will be better...

.”

There were a lot of similar discussions in the market, so in the past few days, not only were there not many customers going to the drug store, but the number of customers became even more empty.

It was May and the heat was already rising in the city. Gu Huai wiped the sweat from the back of his neck and sat in the medicine shop, looking at the account books and getting distracted.

It is said to be an account book, but in fact it is more like a purchase list. The people in the Li Mansion are really straightforward in doing business. Since they agreed with Qingming, they rented a shop to collect fruits and vegetables and recruited people. Originally, Gu Huai just planned to borrow some money to open a medicine shop, but he did not expect that the Li Mansion

Even the capital has been advanced.

As a result, the time required is much shorter than expected. If nothing unexpected happens, today should be the day when the first batch of home-made penicillin is produced.

But the problem also arises. The Li family's motivation these days is actually beyond his expectation... It feels like he has been saving his energy for many years and doesn't know where to direct it, and then suddenly explodes.

There were some hurried footsteps. Gu Huai looked away from the account book and saw Li Di crossing the threshold:

"The situation is not good. Even under the banner of master, some people in the government are not confident about handing over so much money to a drug store."

They have become familiar with each other a lot these days, so Gu Huai skipped the pleasantries: "Who wants to reach out this time?"

Li Di paused and sat down on the chair: "I can't hide it from you."

"With the rich old doctor as the guarantor, and the Li family coming forward to open a medicine shop, the government should be very happy to have an evildoer step forward to take over this mess. How can they hold on to that small amount of money," Gu Huai smiled.

, "It can only be that someone's appetite is too big and they feel that they were given too little before."

"It's still the Medical Department. After all, these should be their business. Handling the plague and providing relief to the victims is not the business of the Criminal Division. It's already a bit too much for me to come forward like this." Li Di poured himself a cup of tea.

"I haven't said it clearly, but if you want to get through it, it's no less difficult than Fu Yin's."

Gu Huai stood up and looked at the street scene outside, slightly raising his eyebrows: "I asked someone to check, and found out that the plague has been going on for several months, and the government's allocation came two months ago, with more than 200,000 taels of silver, and several more.

One hundred thousand taels of food, but they just watched the refugees outside the city die. Now even if we are sure that we can cure the plague, we only give them 50,000 taels. Now we have spent more than 10,000 taels to silence them. Isn’t it enough?

"

"That's not all," Li Di shook his head gently, "If something goes wrong by then, I will have to put the blame on you and me."

"They swallowed more than 100,000 taels of silver without saying a word. If the plague is cured, the credit will naturally be theirs; if it cannot be cured, we will take the blame." Gu Huai laughed, "It is indeed a sure profit.

It’s no wonder we were able to negotiate a deal.”

"This is probably the first time we have done business with the government in the decades since the founding of the country." Li Di licked the tea leaves on his teeth. "If my master hadn't come forward, it would have been impossible to conclude the negotiation."

Running around for many days made him a little tired: "What should I do now?"

"When discussing business, the status of the two parties is not equal. This can only be the result. It is impossible to fall out even now, so what else can we do?" Gu Huai shook his head, "I will give them another ten thousand to silence them."

"There are tens of thousands of refugees outside the city. All the money has been given to them. How can you treat the refugees?"

"That's enough. You haven't talked about disaster relief anyway."

Li Di was a little sluggish. After seeing with his own eyes that Gu Huai had the ability to cure the plague, he had been running around among the officials, relying on Mr. Qian's connections and relationships to pave the way for this business. He didn't know how to ask his grandfather to sue his grandmother and those officials.

After many pulls, the matter was finally settled, but Gu Huai's attitude at this moment made him feel that the green-shirted scholar in front of him might only have the intention of making a fortune.

He walked to the table and looked down at Gu Huai: "Do you know how much the prices of medicinal materials in the city have been raised? Do you want to use 30,000 taels of silver to treat tens of thousands of refugees?"

"It's almost the same," Gu Huai lowered his head, pulled out a piece of paper, and started writing, "You can even make some money."

Li Di looked at Gu Huai with his bloodshot eyes. After a long silence, he spoke softly: "As long as the refugees outside the city can be cured, no matter what my colleagues say, I'm flattering and doing whatever it takes these days, it doesn't matter to me, but if

If you messed up this thing because you wanted to make money, I will definitely not let you go."

Gu Huai met his gaze: "You are basically responsible for the government affairs, so I know you are under a lot of pressure, but your sense of justice should not be vented on me. What's wrong with wanting to make some money? With the government

Compared with those people here, I should be considered a saint."

The tense atmosphere quickly relaxed. Li Di turned around and walked out in frustration. Gu Huai shrugged: "Wait a minute."

"how?"

"Since we haven't reached an agreement on disaster relief, let's just treat the sick and show them this." Gu Huai picked up a piece of rice paper and told them by the way, open the city gate and it's time to save those who are in hell on earth.
Chapter completed!