The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 203 Grudges

The waiter agreed and went to get the medicine for Shang Wan.

Shang Wan took the opportunity to chat with the young man and gleaned a lot of information from him.

The young man's surname was Mei. This pharmacy was originally opened by Dr. Mei's father, and he inherited the business from his father.

Shang Wan asked him about the other two clinics.

Dr. Mei was mild-mannered and treated Shang Wan as if she were a newcomer, talking to her quite a bit.

Shangwan found that Dr. Mei used fairly objective language when talking about those two clinics, at least she didn't put them down.

However, according to him, Shang Wan probably wouldn't have much business if she wanted to open a pharmacy nearby.

Doctors become more sought after with age, and the same goes for clinics and pharmacies. Once a clinic or pharmacy has a "century-old clinic" or "century-old pharmacy" sign up, it attracts a huge influx of customers, and they never have to worry about business.

Reputation is built through hard work. In this industry, new pharmacies are destined to be no match for established ones, especially when the established pharmacy has a patient, capable, and good-looking doctor.

Shang Wan could almost picture the scene of a pharmacy opening but then becoming deserted.

·
After leaving the pharmacy, Shang Wan carried her things to meet up with Shi Tou.

Things went smoothly with Shi Tou and Chu Xu. The two divided the work: Chu Xu was responsible for pretending to have a stomachache, while Shi Tou was responsible for gathering information.

The two worked together seamlessly, using their acting skills to expose a quack doctor.

Shang Wan listened to the two men talk as he drove the oxcart toward the north of the city.

"Sister, I'm afraid we can't open a pharmacy here."

Shi Tou watched Shang Wan's retreating figure. "I inquired and found out that someone rented that shop and opened a pharmacy. Apart from a few customers on the opening day, no one went there at all. The pharmacy only lasted for half a month before closing down."

The shopkeeper hastily changed business, turning the pharmacy into a general store. However, even the general store struggled to attract customers, and when the lease expired, he didn't renew it. The shop has been empty for almost half a year now.

These are similar to what Shang Wan found out.

She turned to look at Shi Tou, "Don't you think there's something wrong with that shopkeeper's management style?"

If you can complain about too much competition when you run a pharmacy, what about a grocery store? There are no other grocery stores on this street.

Stone scratched his head. "Is it because the shop has bad feng shui?"

"Feng shui is something you either believe in or you don't," Shang Wan said. "If you're going to believe in it, believe in what's beneficial to you. Have you ever heard of the Law of Attraction?"

Stone:?
What the hell? ?
·
The group met at the restaurant, and it was almost lunchtime. Xiao Huan ordered dishes according to everyone's tastes.

The food in restaurants is two or three times more expensive than the same dishes sold in eateries.

Xiao Huan felt a pang of heartache while ordering food. She mentally calculated the cost of each dish as it was served, and then felt even more distressed.

She can make these dishes too!
"Alright, stop looking so glum while you eat." Shang Wan patted her amusedly. "When we have the means, we'll open a restaurant, and you can make the money."

"Sis, are you serious?"

Shang Wan nodded, "Yes, would I lie to you?"

Xiao Huan immediately said, "When the restaurant opens, I want to be the head chef."

“Of course,” Shang Wan said. “Who else but you is the perfect head chef?”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Huan immediately felt delighted and wasn't so distressed when she saw the newly served dishes.

You'll earn it back someday!

While eating, everyone shared information, recounting what they had learned.

There was nothing wrong with the shop in the north of the city. The small clinic was indeed going to close down, but not because it couldn't keep operating. It was because the doctor at the clinic had died, and they couldn't find a good doctor to practice with for a while.

What kind of clinic is it if there is no doctor?
There was fighting at the border, and the owner of the clinic somehow got wind of the situation, saying that things were going badly. Dongning County was close to the border, and the owner was worried about being caught in the crossfire, so he planned to take his family north to seek refuge with relatives and wanted to sell the clinic. Lu Chengjing had sounded out the shopkeeper, and it was said that the shop belonged to the owner, and he would sell it along with the furniture for about six hundred taels of silver.

Shang Wan understood Lu Chengjing's meaning: to directly take over the clinic. Although it was more expensive than renting a shop, it was a one-time deal, and there would be no need to pay rent in the future, making it more cost-effective.

Furthermore, the clinic comes with its own medicine cabinets, tables, counters, and other furniture, which saves a lot of trouble in terms of decoration.

But the shop is too small. It not only has no yard, but it also doesn't have a warehouse to store medicinal herbs. You can't just pile all the medicinal herbs in the shop, can you?

After some discussion, it was decided that taking over the clinic was not an option.

Shang Wan looked at Lu Chengjing, "Is there a problem with the shop Chen Cai introduced?"

If there are no problems, Lu Chengjing wouldn't have brought it up knowing the clinic was too small.

Lu Chengjing looked around. It was lunchtime, and more and more customers were coming to the restaurant. Half of the tables in the lobby were full.

The staff were busy welcoming and seeing off guests, so they had no time to pay attention to what was happening here.

He lowered his voice and said, "The restaurant owner and the shop owner across the street don't get along. There used to be a restaurant across the street that did good business. The restaurant owners used some underhanded tricks to deliberately drive people away, which is why the shop became empty."

Shang Wan: "..."

If the two owners don't get along, they should just fight it out. Why let innocent bystanders suffer the consequences?
"Then we can't rent this shop. Who knows if the feud between the two families will affect us?" Stone said worriedly, feeling that even the food in his mouth didn't taste good.

Xiao Huan agreed with his words.

If my own pharmacy opens, and the people at the restaurant secretly sabotage it, it'll be incredibly troublesome.

"We can't boost others' morale while diminishing our own," Chu Xu interjected, swallowing the food in his mouth.

The battle hasn't even started yet, and our own people are already demoralized—that's a cardinal sin in warfare.

"That's right." Shang Wan put a chicken leg in Chu Xu's bowl as encouragement, so as not to make Yuan Yuan jealous, and then fed the baby a spoonful of egg custard.

It's not just restaurants that resort to underhanded tactics; who's afraid of playing dirty tricks?
Lu Chengjing: "Then let's settle on it?"

Shang Wan nodded, her gaze sweeping over Shi Tou and Xiao Huan. "What do you two say?"

The two exchanged a glance, and Stone said, "I'll listen to you."

Xiao Huan nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's go find Chen Cai after we finish eating." Shang Wan smiled. The owners of the two shops don't get along, so maybe she can use this opportunity to cut the rent down a bit more.

It's worth saving a little bit.

·
Chen Cai cried out, "Not enough? Do you even want to rent it or not?"

"Calm down, keep your voice down." Shang Wan rubbed her ears. "I'm just discussing this with you. It's not like I'm shortchanging you. Can you ask the shop owner for me if he's willing?"

Chen Cai sneered, "You'd be happy to lose a hundred taels for nothing?"

"Of course I'd love to," Shang Wan blinked. "The shop's just sitting empty anyway, and I could make four hundred taels just renting it to you."

Chen Cai: "..."

"If you anger them, I won't refund the ten taels deposit."

"Consider it a treat for you to have a drink." Shang Wan waved her hand at him. "Go and discuss this with them, focusing on the feud between our two families. I have high hopes for you."

Chen Cai: "..."

Do you want this high expectation from me?

He remained seated, picked up his teacup, took two sips, and said, "He's not in Dongning County. I'll ask him for you when he gets back."