The aloof military doctor arrives at the unit, and the tough guy can't sit still.

Han Yu chuckled and said to Xia Qiuran, "Sister Xia, could you please stop calling me Comrade Han? We're comrades-in-arms and sell medicine together. That's such a deep revolutionary friendship. Calling me 'comrade' is too formal."

"From now on, you can call me Xiao Han, or Xiao Yu, it's fine either way."

Xia Qiuran blinked her big eyes twice. Han Yu was already older than her, so it was fine for him to call her "sister," but it would be too impolite for her to call him "little Han" in return.

"That's not a good idea, so I'll just call you by your name, Han Yu," Xia Qiuran said after thinking for a moment.

"Okay, sure." Han Yu immediately agreed with a smile. "By the way, Sister Xia, have you thought of any good ideas?"

Xia Qiuran: "I want to first increase the brand awareness of our plaster so that as many people as possible can use our product. Once everyone has experienced the medicinal properties of our plaster and understands that it can really cure diseases, will we still have to worry about sales after building up a good reputation?"

"That's very true, but how can we increase our visibility?" Han Yu continued to ask.

"Free trial!" Xia Qiuran said with a firm look in her eyes.

"Free? Giving away plasters for free? How much does that cost?!" Aunt Lü's eyes widened immediately upon hearing this, and she asked again in disbelief.

"Yes, the plaster will be effective in about three days. We will distribute them for free for a maximum of one week, and users will definitely come back to us on their own initiative."

"But this medicine costs a lot of money," Aunt Lü said, still somewhat hesitant.

I've heard of selling medicine at high prices, but I've never heard of giving medicine for free. No amount of money could cover giving it away for free.

"Sister Lü, so we're taking a gamble." Xia Qiuran patted Sister Lü on the shoulder and gave her a confident look.

Although I had never been in business in my previous life, I had seen many marketing tactics used by merchants. As long as you build a good reputation, you don't have to worry about not selling your products well.

...

Without further ado, the group borrowed a table, and Han Yu wrote a simple sign for a free trial, thus setting up their stall.

A short while later, the first person to arrive was unexpectedly the old man who had just bought eight cents worth of plaster.

"Young lady, the most important thing about selling medicine is its efficacy. If you sell inferior products as superior ones, even if you give them away for free, you're just wasting your time and money. It's a thankless task," the old man said, shaking his head as he approached the stall with the plaster he had just bought.

Han Yu was about to step forward to refute, but Xia Qiuran stopped him. "Grandpa, you're right. Only by selling high-quality medicine with genuine ingredients can you build a reputation. I know you won't believe me no matter what I say now. Here, take two of these plasters home and apply them to the affected area along with the plaster you just bought. See what the final effect is."

As Xia Qiuran spoke, she handed the old man two plasters. The old man took them and smelled them. He didn't want them at first, but then thought that since they were free, he might as well give them a try.

"Okay, I'll go back and give it a try."

"Okay, sir. If you feel the medicine is effective and want to continue using it, you can come to the 45th Regiment's family compound to find us."

Since they didn't have a shop, Xia Qiuran could only give them the address of Aunt Lü's house.

A little while later, an elderly woman with a cane arrived.

"Young man, are you giving away free plasters?" he asked Han Yu.

Han Yu: "It's all free for the old lady."

"Then install them all for me," the old woman said without any politeness.

Han Yu's eyes suddenly widened.

"All of them? Auntie, what are you doing? These plasters will only need four or five applications to heal you."

"I won't stick it on myself. I'm out of firewood. I think the paper on your plaster looks nice; it's good for starting a fire," the old woman said, waving her hand.

Although the old lady didn't know why the plaster was free, she figured she couldn't resist taking advantage of a good deal.

Han Yu smiled speechlessly. "Auntie, this is plaster, not firewood. If you're out of firewood, you'd better go and buy some."

"You said it would be free, but you didn't give it to me. You're a bunch of liars." The old woman finished speaking and slammed her cane on the ground.

"Yes, it's also our fault for not clearly stating the conditions for receiving the medicine, ma'am. But this plaster is definitely not for burning. Please leave now." Han Yu didn't want to argue with her anymore, so he gave her a few perfunctory words and sent her away.

"Auntie, wait a minute. Does your wrist hurt terribly on cloudy or rainy days, and you can't lift heavy things?" Xia Qiuran noticed that the bones in the old lady's wrist were clearly protruding, which was a typical case of rheumatoid arthritis.

"Yes, yes, how did you know?" The old woman raised her wrist.

Although I've had this problem for a long time, I've always put it off and never gone to the hospital because I thought about how much money it would cost.

"I'll give you two plasters. Wear them for two days in a row. If you feel they are effective, come back to me. I live in the 45th Regiment's family compound." Xia Qiuran handed two plasters to the old woman.

The old woman asked with some skepticism, "Really? This thing can stop my hand from hurting?"

"You'll see when you go back and try it."

"Okay, if it doesn't work, I'll start a fire."

After saying that, he left, leaning on his cane.

The group stood on the street for two or three hours. Aunt Lü looked at the nearly empty plasters. Although she didn't have to pay for them herself, she still felt extremely distressed. Usually, when she was sick, she would carefully calculate the cost of medicine. Now, she was giving away genuine plasters like water. This was like cutting flesh with a dull knife for her. It hurt too much.

"Xia, I think most of the people picking up the medicine are just trying to take advantage of us. We've already given out nearly 100 doses in such a short time, it's really too expensive. Why don't we go back?" Aunt Lü said.

"Okay, let's go home after we send all these out," Xia Qiuran replied.

"Sister Lü, since we've started this, we should see it through to the end. Even if we lose money, we can always make it back," Han Yu comforted Sister Lü. Actually, he himself was quite uncertain, but he just felt that Xia Qiuran had a kind of drive that he could trust.

Inside the state-run pharmacy, Director Liu and Xiao Li could see Xia Qiuran's free medicine distribution booth through the glass.

"Does Xiao Li know what this is called?" Director Liu sneered, a hint of smugness flashing in his eyes.

Xiao Li chuckled, "I think he seems to be mentally unstable."

"Not only are they mentally unstable, but they're like calves fighting tigers. They're a bunch of reckless fools. Without the support of our state-owned pharmacy, they wouldn't be able to make a splash even if they worked themselves to death." Director Liu glanced sideways, exuding an arrogant and condescending air.

...

After distributing the plasters, Xia Qiuran collapsed onto her bed upon returning to her dormitory.

At this rate, I don't know how long my savings can last. I'll probably need to buy medicine tomorrow. Let's see how much money I have left.

Xia Qiuran quickly sat up, ready to check her secret stash of money.

After picking up the suitcase, her heart sank.

She quickly opened the lock and found that the inside was worse than she had imagined.

The suitcase was full of ink; the two new clothes that had just been put in the box that day were completely soaked in blue ink.

The box showed no signs of damage, indicating that someone had deliberately poured the contents in through the seams.

Xia Qiuran glanced back at her three roommates. They were all from the publicity department and didn't usually interact with Xia Qiuran. They were just exchanging greetings when they met. There was no resentment or grudge between them, so there was no need for Xia Qiuran to take the risk of doing something like this.