Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

As a businessman, Tie Shengcai immediately understood: "Brother, wait a minute, shall I get you a better deal on some goods?"

"Don't rush, let me think." Liu Xingmo picked up a piece of medicinal herb, smelled it, and said, "If it's this good quality herb, how about selling a bottle of blood-activating potion made from it for 2.5 yuan?"

"Oh no, no way!" Tie Shengcai quickly waved his hand. "There are many ways to do business, and convenient transactions are one of them. Our village doesn't have any coins, so we can only buy two bottles at a time. But with an amount like 5 yuan, we can buy cheap elixirs, so there's no reason to choose potion."

Liu Xingmo nodded: "That's true. Although in terms of cost-effectiveness alone, two bottles of blood-activating potion are definitely better than five yuan's worth of spiritual medicine, the name of spiritual medicine is there, and it's just more attractive than a miraculous medicine without spiritual energy."

Tie Shengcai's mind raced, and he asked, "Can it be diluted with water? If we dilute it into several bottles, the problem will be solved, right?"

Liu Xingmo shook his head: "No. The dosage for one bottle now is the result of repeated experiments. Diluting it with water will significantly reduce its effectiveness."

Tie Shengcai's mind raced again: "Then why not just mix in a little bit of spiritual medicine! Not much, just enough to feel the spiritual energy. That way, a bottle will definitely sell for 3 yuan."

"This... is a great idea!" Liu Xingmo slammed his fist into his palm. "Let's do it! The reputation of a spiritual herb, the reputation of a second-tier alchemist, plus the reputation of being a GG spokesperson... this has potential!"

Tie Shengcai rubbed his hands together with a smile.

Although the civet cat interfered with the deal, causing the purchase price of the medicine to rise and profits to fall, the acquisition of the raw material procurement rights resulted in a significant additional profit.

They sell medicinal herbs to Mushroom Castle and potions to individual customers, making money from both ends. If they continue operating, they can hope to reach Tier 2.

Liu Xingmo paid the money, accepted the goods, and agreed that he would receive 50 bottles of medicine the next day, and that this would continue indefinitely.

After finishing all the routine work.

The factory started operating at noon, with black smoke billowing from the chimneys.

After three hours of work, 10 jars of medicine were produced, which can be packaged into 250 bottles.

In the studio, Liu Xingmo and Su Mali sat at the table, continuing with the next step.

"Mary, is this alright?" Liu Xingmo handed over a bowl of freshly ground medicine powder.

"Okay. Give me some more fish eggs." Sumali placed the powder on the scale and measured out the required amount.

Once the table was covered with a large pile of medicinal herbs in various dishes and jars, she brought over the witch's cauldron, placed it on a stone mat, and poured in half a pot of water.

Her slender fingers traced the magic array patterns on the surface of the large pot, channeling scorching energy into it. With her other hand, she picked up a basket of grass leaves and poured them into the pot.

As flames rose above the water, the grass withered and crumbled, leaving only an unknown substance that dissolved in the liquid.

Next, various medicinal herbs were added one by one and mixed in the large pot, filling the air with a rich aroma of herbs.

Finally, a handful of blood-filled fish roe was poured into the pot, where it burst open under the high temperature, mixing with the thick, sticky broth until it finally settled.

"Is it done? This is the Blood Qi Nourishing Pill that has been transformed into an alchemical potion?" Liu Xingmo looked curiously at the bottom of the pot.

"That's right. It's an upgraded version of the first-tier Blood Qi Pill, a second-tier yellow-grade Blood Qi Nourishing Pill. Because Blood Qi Potion is transformed from Blood Qi Pill, these related medicines can be fused together."

Liu Xingmo immediately began the experiment.

He took out a bottle of blood-activating potion, dipped a bamboo skewer into the ointment in the pot, and dissolved it in the potion.

He put the stopper on, shook it vigorously, then opened it and tasted it.

"No, it's too bland, I can't taste it."

He applied a little more ointment.

"Hmm, there seems to be a little blood in him, but it's not obvious."

He continued to repeat the experiment...

"Great! If it's this kind of medicine, it's truly amazing!"

He looked at all the medicinal herbs and estimated their value in his mind.

"In that case, we'll need at least ten pots of Blood and Qi Nourishing Elixir. Adding that to the Blood and Qi Elixir itself, the material costs alone will be over a thousand yuan a day. If we can make seven hundred bottles of mixed elixir, at three yuan per bottle, that means we can earn a thousand yuan a day!"

Liu Xingmo put down the medicine bottle and happily picked up his wife, "Mary! You're amazing!"

Su Mali hugged her husband's head. Although she was happy, she still spoke the truth: "Xingmo, don't be too happy yet. I've tried many products in the past eight years, and the blood and qi potion that costs two yuan a bottle is the best-selling. If the price goes up to three yuan a bottle, it won't be cost-effective at all."

"Don't worry, just leave the sales to me! When it comes to winning, who in this world can compare to me?" Liu Xingmo said confidently.

……

As the sun sets in the west, the entire mountain forest is bathed in a deep blue hue.

On the other side of Mushroom Castle, a large fire was lit as usual on the ranch.

Liu San Niang moved a stack of account books, sat in front of the fire, and remained silent in a daze.

She opened the ledger to the top, to the arithmetic textbook given to her by the young neighbor. Common calculation methods were concisely written on the yellow paper. It contained actual addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

As she looked at the numbers, a sense of unreality filled her heart.

"It's really easy knowledge to learn; you can figure it out at a glance. Why was it that I could never understand it before?"

She opened another ledger, a record of years of running the restaurant.

She stared at the jumbled scribbles, a profound sense of absurdity washing over her.

"Is this really the ledger I wrote? What is all this stuff? I can't even understand it myself now. How could I possibly think this is legitimate accounting?"

She threw the account book into the stove in front of her; the paper burned and turned into black ash.

Her face was flushed red, and the flickering flames were reflected in her empty eyes.

"Where exactly did things go wrong?"

"I thought I couldn't learn it, and I really couldn't. But when I held onto that sliver of hope and tried to learn it, I actually did."

"Why should I remain a restaurant owner forever? Even after becoming a third-tier expert, I still can't let go of that identity? Because I feel that I am only Liu San Niang, the restaurant owner, and nothing more."

"No, no. The problem isn't me. The people around me think I should be that way, so I've just become that way."

"Speaking of which, my advancement to the third rank was quite strange. Others have to constantly train their divine sense and strengthen their soul at the second rank in order to have a chance to advance. But I didn't train at all, and I reached the second rank perfection without even realizing it, and then I advanced directly."

"Am I strange? But I am not some kind of innate bloodline body, absolutely not."

The woman in red continued to gaze at the red flames.

"When exactly did I become all alone?"

"Oh right, I used to have a family, but my family members left one by one. What did they look like? I seem to have forgotten them all."

"When did you forget?"

"Many years ago, I went out in heavy snow and died in the mountains. When I was rescued, my head was so cold that I couldn't see clearly and I forgot a lot of things."

"What exactly happened...?"