CHAPTER 705: Hustle And Bustle

Han Shuo was startled to see such a large crowd gathered outside his shop. It took him no time to realise what these people were there for. He came down from the gymnasium cheerfully and opened the front door of his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, which had been closed for some time.

Han Shuo could recognise many of the people gathered in front of the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, namely Carmelita whose skin had become whiter, Andre who was wearing a wide smile, Jiya who had bought a bottle of Pill of Tranquility earlier, Donna, and a few youngsters from the Lavers family.

However, Han Shuo did not recognise the majority of the people there. Every single one of them was wearing the most beautiful clothes. There were young, old, and all ages in between. They chatted with each other as they blocked the front door of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. There were also a few gods who were obviously of low status surrounding these people. Many of them were shouting, "Open up! Open the door!"

"Damn it, why have so many people gathered here all of a sudden?" Jiya, standing in the middle of the crowd, grumbled in a low voice.

"We did not want the news to spread, but Carmelita has attracted too much attention. Everyone in the City of Shadows knows what she used to look like. The sudden change in her skin was simply the best advertisement for Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. Besides, she raved about the place to everyone she saw. You can't expect this place not to be packed with people. Beth, the upper-class woman standing next to Jiya, was also quite disappointed when she realised that her plans to monopolise Celestial Pearl Pharmacy probably wouldn't work.

After opening the front doors, Han Shuo swept his eyes over the crowd and asked a question he already knew the answer to. "Hello, folks. How can I help you?"

Carmelita jumped up, stepping on the heads of a few others and landing right in front of Han Shuo before saying excitedly, "Rascal, look at me! Do you notice anything different?" The people who had been stepped on groaned, but tactfully shut their mouths immediately after seeing that it was Carmelita.

"What is there to see? I knew the medicine would work for a long time," Han Shuo replied smiling.

"Bryan, make a few more bottles of this medicine for me. Hurry up!" Carmelita smiled mischievously and immediately demanded of Han Shuo without any reservations.

"Here are five bottles. I prepared them for you a long time ago," Han Shuo carefully pulled out five small bottles and handed them to Carmelita in front of the crowd. He could not be more pleased that Carmelita was publicly endorsing and promoting his pharmacy.

Carmelita reached out and grabbed the bottles, tucking them away like treasures. She lightly patted Han Shuo's shoulder and said, "Thank you, Bryan. You really are an unimaginably amazing guy!"

"Bryan, name a price for these medicines. I will pay you later," Andre called softly from the crowd. His voice wasn't too loud, but it was enough to cut through the din and be heard by everyone.

Andre stood alone, not too far away. The people standing around him kept their distance. After hearing Andre speak, the originally noisy crowd suddenly fell silent.

Andre was the person in charge of the finances of the House of Sainte, and he indirectly controlled the economy of the City of Shadows. Because most businesses needed Andre's approval to prosper, and because his strength was extraordinary, Andre held an extremely high status in the City of Shadows.

Given his identity, it was natural for the crowd to be silent, for fear that their voices would block Andre's and make him unhappy. To most of the businessmen in the City of Shadows, Andre was a figure even more important than Wallace, the City Lord.

"These medicines are to be distributed. They are not for sale and cannot be bought. They are a gift from me to my friend, so don't pay for them!" Han Shuo smiled brightly and refused to be reimbursed.

Andre was stunned for a moment, but he did not force Han Shuo to accept his money. He nodded, smiled and said, "Well then, um, I will buy any medicine that is for sale in your shop at any price you offer. Will that be enough?"

"How will that do? We have been waiting here for so long, how can you buy everything just like that!"

"You can't just buy everything! That's not fair to us!!!"

"Have you ever heard of 'first come, first served'? We've been standing here for ages, you can't just cut through the queue and buy everything!"

The crowd became noisy again, and almost everyone in the crowd was protesting. It seemed that Han Shuo's medicine was indeed the subject of much temptation, so much so that it gave these people the courage to loudly object to the powerful Andre's proposal.

Andre had not anticipated that his proposal would evoke the unanimous opposition of all those gathered. He stared blankly for a moment before he forced a smile and said, "Bryan, you decide."

Han Shuo nodded. While forcibly suppressing the ecstasy in his heart, he announced, "Since everyone has been so supportive and has waited so patiently, of course I cannot let any of you go empty-handed. Alright, how about this, everyone is limited to three bottles, regardless of identity or status. This will ensure that everyone can enjoy the benefits of my medicine!"

"Yay! Hurray!" cheered those in the crowd who knew their status was not prestigious enough. Beth of the Kinson family, who was about to make her proposal, sighed helplessly. She said to the angry Jiya beside her, "There's nothing we can do now. He doesn't seem to want to divide the medicine among the families.

We are so unlucky. We were the first to arrive here, but that scoundrel happened to have his doors closed. Otherwise, all these medicines would now belong to the House of Kinson," Jiya said unhappily, before regretfully adding, "If I had known earlier, I would have at least brought a group of our divine guards. Then we could take advantage of the per capita quota."

"Alright, alright, stop grumbling. What's important now is that this talent stays here. As long as he stays in the city, there will be an endless supply of his medicine. What we should do now is pay more attention to him."

"You're right," Jiya nodded at her mother's words. As she looked closely at Han Shuo standing in the crowd, she suddenly and somehow felt that Han Shuo had become much more pleasing to the eye. Before, she had found Han Shuo to be arrogant and vain. But after learning about the wonders of Han Shuo's medicine, she convinced herself that it was only natural for a person with such extraordinary talent to be a little eccentric in temperament and personality.

"Form a line and enter one by one. Each person can buy a maximum of three bottles. Please read carefully the function and price on the medicine bottles. Make sure you choose the most suitable medicine for you!" Han Shuo's warm voice rang out repeatedly at the front door of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy.

The crowd that had gathered in front of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy suddenly started pushing and shoving, pushing others aside to get to the front of the line. They wanted to be the first to enter the pharmacy and get the most suitable medicine before it ran out.

ThumpThumpThump...

Some of the weaker members of the crowd were thrown from the queue. Several oligarchs from influential family clans came to stand in front of Han Shuo in a most rude manner. They all stared at Han Shuo as if they wanted Han Shuo to start the sale.

"Ermm...." Han Shuo's face went blank for a moment. Originally, he wanted to scold them, but he couldn't after seeing the kind smiles on the faces of these experts from the great family clans. He leaned aside for the first few to enter and then casually called out, "Miss Carmelita, please help me keep the crowd in order!"

"No problem!"

"Just a little pharmacy. What is so great about it? Look at the smug face of that bastard! Pfft," sneered Cage, standing behind the crowd.

Donna, on the other hand, was stunned and her mind was suddenly in chaos. Originally planning to condemn Han Shuo for his actions, Donna suddenly had no idea what to do.

The first few people to enter the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy were not the patriarchs of those great family clans, but they were still respected figures in the City of Shadows. Just like Andre, these people were powerful and highly respected in their respective families. From the way they had behaved so far, Donna believed that these people would not hesitate to side against her House of Lavers in order to establish a good relationship with Han Shuo.

As if that wasn't enough, the infamous Carmelita was present in the crowd. Han Shuo was able to improve and possibly even cure the illness that had plagued Carmelita for many years. After observing her behaviour for a while, Donna even began to suspect that if she were to condemn Han Shuo right now, Carmelita might side with Han Shuo instead of her!

On top of that, after hearing the comments of those around her, as well as Carmelita's promotional words, Donna also thought that the medicines in Han Shuo's shop could be beneficial to the House of Lavers. If she became hostile towards Han Shuo, the House of Lavers would probably miss out.

Donna felt terribly sick thinking about all this. She glanced at her cousins standing beside her and inwardly resented them for their immaturity - all they knew was to cause trouble for her family. With that thought in her mind, Eve's face, still swollen from the abuse, not only ceased to inspire her pity, it became even uglier in her eyes.

"Elder sister, are you going to blame him or?" Eve asked hastily as she saw Donna's eyes flicker with lights of indecision.

Feeling somewhat disgusted in her heart, Donna glared at Eve and said with a cold face, "Look at the situation now. Is the condition suitable for us to do this?"

"Why not?" Eve could not read the situation. The only thing on her mind was revenge.

Donna was very disappointed. She ignored the worried Eve and instead asked her brother Cage, "Cage, tell me, do you think we should get Bryan into trouble today?"

Cage wasn't as stupid as his sister. He sighed helplessly and replied, "Let's forget about it for today. If we really go ahead with condemning him now, we might offend everyone here who has come to buy his medicine. That seems... that seems rather inappropriate indeed..."

"Then what are you all standing around for? Go home," Donna instructed angrily and turned to leave. But in her heart she felt regret and bitterness, "Bryan, oh Bryan, you really are a capable person. In the short span of half a year, you have not only managed to ally yourself with the most intimidating family clan in the City of Shadows, but you have even produced such miraculous medicines... Sigh...

"Teng Fei, aren't you leaving?" Cage asked Teng Fei in a puzzled manner when he saw Teng Fei standing stiffly with both feet on the ground.

Teng Fei smiled faintly and replied gently, "You go without me. I want to buy a few bottles of medicine to see if they really stand up to the gossip!"

Although Teng Fei also had an unfavourable opinion of Han Shuo, as a member of a large family clan, he never neglected his duty and always strived to improve the strength of his own family clan. If he found out that the medicines in Han Shuo's pharmacy were indeed effective, Teng Fei would surely give up, ignore his personal opinions, and do whatever it took to acquire them.

"If you were as reasonable as Teng Fei, this talent wouldn't have slipped away from our House of Laver for nothing. Just think how much good it would do the House of Lavers to have these medicines exclusively for our family!" Donna sighed and walked away disappointed.

"You, you actually believe what that guy is selling?" Eve shouted at Teng Fei. She was angry.

"All these people have gathered here for his medicine. They're not just ordinary people, they're experts from all the big family clans in town. I don't think their judgement can be wrong. I may not like this guy at all, but for the sake of my family, I have to stay behind. I'm sorry!" Teng Fei replied. He looked down at the brainless girl.

"How, how could you say that... you are such a disappointment! Brother, let's go!" Eve angrily left, pulling her brother Cage with her.

"What an idiot! If you had half the intelligence of Donna, he might have become a pharmacist for the Laver family! Stupid woman, don't make the mistake of thinking I can't lose you!" Teng Fei sneered and said quietly to himself after Eve left.

Immediately after that, Teng Fei excitedly squeezed himself into the queue. He wondered if he should spare no effort to establish a good relationship with Han Shuo and draw a line with Cage and Eve to avoid Han Shuo's hatred.

The screaming continued. But thanks to Carmelita, the people stopped cutting in line.

Everyone who entered the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy would leave with both happiness and regret; happiness for getting the medicine and regret for leaving with no more than three bottles of medicine. Before they left, they would ask Han Shuo to reserve some for them when he produced a new batch of medicine.

Han Shuo laughed and smiled politely, but made no guarantees. He watched excitedly as the medicine bottles on his shelves dwindled while the crystal coins in his hand grew larger and larger.

"Miss Jiya, I'm really glad you're not here to cause trouble!" Han Shuo greeted Jiya with a big smile as he saw Jiya enter his pharmacy with another beautiful woman.

""Haha, you really know how to joke," Jiya said with a big smile on her beautiful, glowing face, "Anyway, I'm one of your first supporters. Couldn't you spare me a little favour?"

"Of course. I will give you a twenty percent discount on any three medicines you choose. What do you think?" Han Shuo nodded and replied.

"You rascal!" Jiya scolded with a smile before continuing with her bright eyes looking straight into Han Shuo's, "You know that's not what I mean! I don't need any discounts, I'm even willing to pay a premium. You just need to sell us all the remaining medicine. What do you say?"

Han Shuo knew that the members of these large family clans cared little for this bit of crystal coin. He was deliberately teasing Jiya. But after hearing her proposal, Han Shuo immediately and righteously refused, "How can that be? If I sell everything to you, the people behind you will get nothing. Look, everyone is equal in my eyes, no matter how great their status!"

"Stop pretending to be so righteous before us. If everyone is equal, why didn't you take crystal coins for Carmelita's medicine?" Jiya argued. She was both amused and irritated.

"That is not the same. Carmelita and I are friends. These medicines are gifts!" Han Shuo replied.

"We are friends too. Sell them to me. I am willing to pay a lot of money for them!" Jiya continued to harass Han Shuo.

"Oi, can the person inside please hurry up? We are still waiting!" a few people waiting outside the shop shouted impatiently as Jiya nagged Han Shuo.

"Five bottles, each of you get five bottles. That's the most I can give!" Han Shuo had no choice but to raise the white flag and give preferential treatment to the insistent Jiya as those waiting outside grew more and more impatient.

"Very well then. I will take this for today. When you have produced new medicines, be sure to save some for the House of Kinson. Crystal coins are no problem!" Jiya knew that she might actually irritate Han Shuo if she pushed him any further. She and her mother selected ten bottles of medicine and casually tossed Han Shuo a bag of black crystal coins. She smiled at Han Shuo before quickly leaving, hand in hand with her mother.

"Three thousand black crystal coins and... a tip of two thousand black crystal coins?!" after thinking for a moment, Han Shuo realised that Jiya didn't care about the few thousand extra black crystal coins she handed over, so he smilingly kept his tip away.

"Hello, Bryan! We meet again!" After the dozens of customers had entered and left the shop, Teng Fei entered with a broad smile. He immediately greeted Han Shuo in a friendly manner.

Han Shuo wiped the smile off his face as soon as he saw Teng Fei. With a dispassionate look on his face, Han Shuo said, "Ah, it's Young Master Teng Fei. Are you here to buy medicine?"

""Of course I am. I had no idea you were such a talented apothecary. I really made an error in judgement last time!" Teng Fei did not make a fuss about Han Shuo's attitude towards him. He continued with a broad smile, "You know, I'm just a guest at the Laver Residence. What happened last time was just an argument between you and Cage and Eve. Please don't count me in. You should know that I admire you very much..."

"Choose three bottles. I don't have time for you," Han Shuo didn't want to talk to him and hurried impatiently.

"Don't be so cold, man. Haha, I was indeed wrong the last time, let me now formally apologise to you..." Han Shuo's rude attitude did not cause Teng Fei to lose his temper. Instead, he continued to babble at Han Shuo.

Han Shuo couldn't help but admit that Teng Fei did have a talent for talking. After listening for a while, Han Shuo forced a smile and said, "I did not hear you being so talkative last time. Enough, hurry up and choose your poison. Many are still waiting behind you, don't get in the way of my business."

"That bastard in there, are you not finished yet? If I hear any more of your nonsense, I will throw you out the door!" Carmelita suddenly threatened from outside the shop. She had seen Teng Fei with Eve and had a bad impression of him.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Obviously afraid of Carmelita, Teng Fei gave a hollow laugh, randomly chose three bottles of medicine, left eight hundred black crystal coins and hurriedly left.