The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

"How can you be so unreasonable!"

Faced with the old shopkeeper's unreasonable attitude, Guo Cuihong was both angry and afraid.

"We haven't paid yet, can't we just not buy the medicine?"

"Reason?" The old shopkeeper sneered, his eyes gleaming as he crossed his arms. "In my shop, what I say is the truth."

"Besides, you gave me the prescription, and you told me to get the medicine. Now that it's all done, you want to back out? No way!"

"You have to pay these eighteen yuan today, whether you like it or not."

"Otherwise, let's see who dares to step out of the door of my Jishetang."

His words were a blatant threat.

Guo Cuihong subconsciously moved closer to Yang Shuisheng.

"Such arrogance."

Looking at the old shopkeeper's tyrannical face, Yang Shuisheng didn't get angry but laughed instead, though his smile was devoid of any warmth: "What era are we living in? Still trying to run a shady business in town, forcing people to buy and sell, extorting money from them?"

"What black shop? Don't spout nonsense." The old shopkeeper's voice suddenly became sharp, with a hint of aggrieved pride in his old age. "I'm an old man who runs a business, and I value my reputation above all else."

"You brought me the prescription, and I painstakingly prepared and packaged the medicine for you, spending a lot of time and effort, and you think you can just dismiss me with a simple 'I'm not buying it'?"

"What is this if not a joke?"

"I'm so old, and you two young people are bullying me like this. Don't you have any sense of public morality?"

He got more and more excited as he spoke, as if he had become the victim, pointing at Yang Shuisheng and Guo Cuihong and spitting as he spoke.

"Brother Shuisheng, how about we forget about it..."

Guo Cuihong was both angry and anxious at his twisted and false accusations, but she didn't know how to refute them. She could only look at Yang Shuisheng and whisper, "Let's just buy it. It's better to avoid trouble."

"No need," Yang Shuisheng shook his head, his tone calm.

He stepped forward, blocking Guo Cuihong's path, and with a gentle flick of his wrist, he disarmed the old shopkeeper from grabbing Guo Cuihong's arm.

"Speak up if you want to. At your age, you still want to take advantage of people?" Yang Shuisheng's eyes turned cold as he glanced at the old shopkeeper.

The old shopkeeper felt a chill run down his spine under that gaze, and sheepishly withdrew his hand, but his words were still sharp: "Who benefited? I was just afraid she would run away, don't talk nonsense!"

Yang Shuisheng ignored him and went straight to the counter. He picked up the two packets of medicine wrapped in yellow straw paper, quickly untied the hemp rope binding them, and spread the paper packets out.

Inside were several small piles of medicinal herbs.

He stretched out two fingers, picked up a small pinch of Polygala tenuifolia, smelled it, then pinched a little with his fingernail, rubbed it, and examined its color.

Then they checked several other herbs, including Acorus tatarinowii and Angelica sinensis.

"Heh~~"

As he watched, Yang Shuisheng suddenly laughed, a laugh filled with sarcasm.

"You dare to sell medicinal herbs of this quality and appearance for nine yuan a dose?"

He looked up at the old shopkeeper, whose expression had become somewhat unnatural.

"The color of the Polygala tenuifolia is dark, and its aroma is faint. It's probably been stored for more than a year or two, right?"

"The sweet flag is dry and thin, with many impurities."

"The angelica slices are as thin as paper; how much of their medicinal properties are left?"

"Boss, if this isn't a rip-off, then what is?"

"Trying to fool people who don't know anything about this stuff with these substandard, outdated goods? Have you lost your conscience?"

With each word he spoke, the old shopkeeper's face paled a little more.

He never expected that this young man, who looked so young, would actually know about medicinal herbs!

Moreover, with such a sharp eye, he could expose his trick of passing off inferior goods as superior ones and using old, worn-out items as bait with just a touch and a glance.

"Stop spouting nonsense and slandering people!"

The old shopkeeper, forcing himself to remain calm, retorted with a stiff neck, "What do you, a mere youth, know about the quality of medicinal herbs?"

But his voice had lost its previous confidence, and his eyes were somewhat vacant.

"If you dare to talk nonsense and slander my reputation again, I'll call the police and have you arrested!"

"Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, you know best in your heart." Yang Shuisheng threw the inferior medicinal herbs in his hand back onto the paper package, clapped his hands, and said, "If you're not convinced and think I've wronged you, we can go and invite the managers of Huichuntang and Baoantang over right now and have them examine them on the spot."

"Take a look at the medicinal herbs from your Jishetang pharmacy. Are they really worth nine yuan a dose?"

"So? Do you dare?"

Please have someone from our industry come and inspect it?

The old shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

Colleagues are inherently rivals. His little tricks of passing off inferior goods as superior ones might fool laymen, but they'll be exposed in the face of truly knowledgeable colleagues.

Moreover, his competitors are eager to see Jishetang make a fool of itself. If they really come looking for him, not only will this extortion attempt be exposed, but his shop's reputation will also be ruined.

"What are you investigating! I know exactly what my medicinal herbs are like; I don't need anyone telling me what to do." The old shopkeeper snapped, trying to mask his guilt with a louder voice. "I'll ask you one last time: are you buying this medicine or not?"

"Eighteen yuan, not a penny less!"

"If you don't buy... hmph, don't blame me for being impolite."

He glared fiercely at Yang Shuisheng, but his slightly trembling fingers and the fine sweat on his forehead betrayed his inner panic.

"Oh? You're welcome?"

Yang Shuisheng met his fierce yet outwardly strong but inwardly weak gaze, a cold smile curving his lips. He took a step forward, exuding an undeniable sense of oppression.

"How exactly do you intend to be impolite? I'd love to see."

The old shopkeeper's face turned pale and then red as Yang Shuisheng pressured him.

"Fine! You've got guts, kid!"

His face twitched a few times, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"So, you're going to refuse a polite toast only to suffer the consequences?"

"Fine! I'll show you who's in charge on this street today."

With that, he whirled around and yelled at the top of his lungs at the curtained door to the inner room of the pharmacy, "Shuanzi! Where the hell have you been? Get out here!"

The curtain was lifted, and a young waiter, dressed in a gray cotton jacket and looking to be in his early twenties, peeked out, his face showing timidity: "Manager...Manager, did you call me?"

"Go! Go to the Limin Barber Shop across the street and find Brother Hu. Tell him that someone is causing trouble here at my place, that some ignorant fool is trying to smash the Jishetang signboard."

"Let Tiger bring a few of his men over and have a word with them!"

The old shopkeeper practically roared his orders, his voice so loud that the whole street could hear him. He was clearly doing this on purpose for Yang Shuisheng and any onlookers outside, to show off his power.

Upon hearing the name Tiger, the waiter named Shuanzi trembled with fear and quickly replied, "Yes, boss, I'll go right away."

After saying that, he hurriedly crawled out from behind the counter, lowered his head, and rushed out of the pharmacy, running towards the other side of the street.

The old shopkeeper then turned around to face Yang Shuisheng again, his cold smile returning to his face.

"Kid, it's only eighteen yuan. Take the medicine and leave, nothing will happen."

"But if you insist on acting like a big shot here and ruining my reputation, then don't blame me for not giving you any face."

"When Tiger comes later, if you're still this tough, I'll change my surname to yours."

"Whether you lose an arm or a leg or not, it won't be up to you. So don't cry and scream here."

When he said this, he deliberately emphasized the words "broken arm and broken leg," and his eyes were sinister, trying to threaten Yang Shuisheng into kneeling down and begging for mercy.