I have a martial arts panel.

In front of a spacious herbal medicine shop, a middle-aged man wrapped in a cotton-padded coat and with a weathered face was being dragged out of the shop by two burly men.

"If you don't leave now, the city guards will arrest you, and you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"

A man dressed in a brocade robe and wearing a fur hat stood behind the two burly men and threatened the middle-aged man.

"Manager, how could you do this!"

The middle-aged man, thrown to the ground, didn't get up, his face filled with anxiety: "We clearly agreed on a different price! How am I supposed to explain this little bit of money back to the villagers?!"

How you explain yourself is your business, it has nothing to do with me.

The man called the head manager flicked his sleeves and turned to go back into the shop.

Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man crawled down and grabbed the manager's leg.

"Damn it..."

The manager gave the two burly men a look.

The two burly men nodded slightly in acknowledgment, each taking out a thick, short stick from their waists, and were about to swing it at the middle-aged man's back.

However, just as the stick was about to fall on the middle-aged man, the head manager suddenly called a halt.

"slow!"

The head manager said sternly.

This wasn't because he suddenly had a change of heart, but because he noticed a young man dressed in black armor among the crowd around him.

The young man looked at me calmly and expressionlessly.

The head steward's heart skipped a beat. He really wanted to kick the middle-aged man away, but with the young black-armored guard watching him, he forced a smile onto his face.

"brother……"

The head manager bent down and took the middle-aged man's arm, saying, "I'm sorry, I suddenly remembered that I made a mistake."

"what?"

The middle-aged man was taken aback by the sudden change in the manager's expression.

He was prepared to be beaten up if he didn't get the agreed price.

But this head manager seemed to have suddenly changed his personality.

"We're still short three hundred taels."

As he spoke, the head manager took out three silver notes and handed them to the middle-aged man.

"Go back and explain to your fellow villagers with peace of mind."

"Thank you so much, Manager! Thank you so much, Manager!"

The middle-aged man was flattered and stood up, bowing repeatedly in gratitude before leaving.

The brief farce ended, and the pedestrians who had been gathered there dispersed.

But Xu Ning didn't leave; he remained standing in the same spot.

Feng Sigua followed behind Xu Ning.

"My lord..."

Seeing this, the head manager approached with a fawning smile: "You're here to buy medicinal herbs?"

Xu Ning glanced at the head manager but didn't reply.

He had seen everything the manager had done.

He also knew very well that if he hadn't been there, even if the man had been beaten to a pulp, he wouldn't have been able to get those three hundred taels of silver.

"grown ups……"

The head manager became somewhat anxious when he saw that Xu Ning ignored him but didn't leave.

He lowered his head and gave a look to a burly man, who then nodded and quickly left.

"Old Feng, let's go in and take a look."

Xu Ning also wanted to see what the businesses under the Dayuan Trading Company were like.

Feng Sigua must be about thirty years old, much older than Xu Ning, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration for Xu Ning to call him Old Feng.

However, Xu Ning's rather intimate way of addressing him made Feng Sigua secretly delighted.

Xu Ning stepped inside, followed closely by the head manager.

"There are quite a few medicinal herbs..."

The shop has a wide variety of medicinal herbs.

Xu Ning looked around and saw that the quality of the products was not bad.

After looking around, Xu Ning went up to the second floor.

On the second floor, Xu Ning saw the elixir.

"Swallowtail flowers, three hundred taels a single bloom?"

Xu Ning stopped in front of a swallowtail flower, glanced at the price, and felt that it was not cheap.

At that time, Guo Ye took care of him, giving him only 180 taels for a single swallowtail flower.

Tao Yungang supplied other medicinal herb shops in the county town, and the price he received was also two hundred taels.

Here, they directly raised it by 50%.

However, Xu Ning could understand this; after all, opening a shop requires money for rent and manpower.

"Does the quality of this swallowtail flower meet your standards? If you'd like to buy it, I'll give you a 50% discount."

When the head manager saw Xu Ning pausing in front of the swallowtail flowers, he quickly spoke up.

Xu Ning hadn't expected the head manager to be so generous.

"Only 150 taels at half price? You're probably going to lose money, aren't you?"

When the head manager saw that Xu Ning had spoken up for him, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief: "No loss, no loss. We have the backing of Dayuan Trading Company, so our purchase price is low."

When talking about Dayuan Trading Company, the head manager emphasized his words slightly.

Xu Ning smiled and shook her head.

This head manager seemed to be deliberately reminding himself of his background.

"I didn't bring enough money, so let's forget about it today."

Xu Ning also doesn't plan to buy it.

Whether it was a discount or a genuine bargain, Xu Ning didn't want to take advantage of the 150 taels of swallowtail flowers.

He hadn't figured out the details of Dayuan Trading Company yet and didn't want to get involved so quickly.

"It's alright, you can put it on your tab first, and we can discuss it whenever it's convenient for you..."

The head manager was initially inclined to force the gift on Xu Ning, but then a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"You're so petty! If Master Xu takes a liking to something, just wrap it up and send it to him. Why are you dawdling around here for so long? You're disgracing my Da Yuan Trading Company!"

A gaunt old man with a mustache walked up to the second floor.

He strode towards Xu Ning, his smile appearing genuine, unlike the obsequious demeanor he displayed as a former manager.

"Deputy Steward Yu."

The head manager quickly bowed.

"Who are you? Do you know me?"

Xu Ning asked.

The old man called out my surname directly, which clearly showed that he knew me.

But I had only just arrived at Maple Willow Lane.

"I am Yu Xinghe, the deputy manager of Dayuan Trading Company."

As Yu Xinghe spoke, he exuded confidence: "We received news of Lord Xu's visit to Fengliu Lane yesterday. Logically, since you've come to Fengliu Lane today, we should be the ones taking the initiative to pay you a visit. It's our fault that you've come in person."

Xu Ning narrowed his eyes and glanced at Yu Xinghe.

Although Yu Xinghe looked thin, he had an aura that clearly indicated he was a martial artist.

He spoke with absolute confidence, showing none of the nervousness others displayed when facing the Black Armor Guards.

"Dayuan Trading Company is very well-informed."

Xu Ning's words were neither here nor there.

"After all, we are the landlords of Fengliu Lane. Of course we need to know in advance if guests come to our territory."

Yu Xinghe chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Xu Ning's expression froze for a moment, then he also smiled.

Yu Xinghe's words were practically out in the open: in Fengliu Lane, he, a black-armored guard, was an outsider, while Yu Xinghe, the deputy manager of Dayuan Trading Company, was the true master.

This Da Yuan Trading Company is incredibly arrogant.

After Yu Xinghe said those words, he kept staring at Xu Ning's expression.

As it turned out, Xu Ning seemed only slightly surprised and then showed no further emotion.

Yu Xinghe felt that this young man was more cunning than he had imagined.

If another new Black Armor Guard had heard his words, they would have either argued back angrily or questioned themselves. Xu Ning's seemingly indifferent demeanor was something he hadn't anticipated at all.

However, Yu Xinghe didn't stop. He clapped his hands and shouted, "Bring it here!"

A young maidservant, carrying a brocade wooden box, stepped forward.

At Xinghe's prompting, she opened the brocade wooden box, revealing three crystal-clear blue pills.

"Please accept these three Green Willow Pills, Lord Xu."

Yu Xinghe said.

"Aoryanagi Dan?"

This was the first time Xu Ning had ever seen a pill.

He had planned to wait until the end of the month when the subsidies were distributed to borrow Tao Qingyuan's Qingliu Dan, but he didn't expect to see it ahead of time.

Xu Ning acted immediately, pinching a Green Willow Pill.

Sure enough, the martial arts panel refreshed.

-

Energy detected: 3 units —

Is it absorbed?

whether

-

"Five hundred taels, only three units?"

Xu Ning hadn't expected that the energy in this pill would be so little.

The jade grass I picked earlier was worth five hundred taels, which is equivalent to six energy units.

"It seems that elixirs aren't really suitable for me..."

Xu Ning understood.

Making it into a pill doesn't add any energy; it only increases the utilization rate. However, when you absorb energy yourself, you don't consider the utilization rate at all.

Seeing Xu Ning directly pinch a Green Willow Pill, a smile flickered across Yu Xinghe's lips.

For martial artists, resources are money, and anyone who loves money can be brought over as a friend.

Just like the black-armored guards in Fengliu Lane, they all love money, and they are also good friends of Dayuan Trading Company.