C18 Suspicion

After Lee Rong had left, Bao Fan promptly approached with the middle-aged man in traditional attire.

"Xiaochuan, meet my friend, Du Hao, who's in the antique business. His family practically runs the entire Drison Antique Market."

"Are you Wang Xiaochuan? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Du Hao, and I've long admired you, Wang." Du Hao enthusiastically grabbed Wang Xiaochuan's hand and gave it a firm shake.

Then Bao Fan inquired, "Xiaochuan, what was that all about earlier? Why were you arguing with Lee Rong?"

Before Wang Xiaochuan could respond, Lin Qianyi stepped in to clarify the matter.

As it turned out, Lee Rong was one of the individuals responsible for Lin Qianyi's intoxication that day. Today, as the businessmen gathered for a meal, Lee Rong stepped out to make a call and spotted Lin Qianyi, attempting to pull her into the private room for drinks.

Wang Xiaochuan, just learning that Lee Rong was partly to blame for Lin Qianyi's previous distress, was indignant. "It was him? Sister Qianyi, had you mentioned this earlier, I would have given him a few more kicks."

"There's no need for you to get involved, Xiaochuan," Du Hao interjected. "Lee Rong is merely an out-of-town antique dealer trying to break into the Drison market. I'll have someone mess up a few of his deals as a lesson. What do you think about that?"

Wang Xiaochuan glanced at Lin Qianyi, who nodded in agreement, and replied, "I'd appreciate that, Mr. Du, thank you."

Bao Fan wrapped an arm around each of them warmly, saying, "We're all family here, no need for formalities."

"Xiaochuan, everyone else is getting impatient. Let's join them quickly."

The four of them entered the private room to find it already filled with people.

Dressed to the nines, they were clearly wealthy entrepreneurs.

Upon their arrival, the crowd rose to their feet.

"Oh? Lin Qianyi, you're here too?"

They expressed surprise at Lin Qianyi's presence before turning their curious gazes toward Wang Xiaochuan, the newcomer among them.

"Bao Fan, is this the guy?"

"Absolutely, it's him!"

Bao Fan stepped aside and gestured towards Wang Xiaochuan, addressing the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Wang Xiaochuan, our brother Wang."

Contrary to Wang Xiaochuan's expectations, after Bao Fan's introduction, the attendees didn't immediately extend a warm welcome. Instead, they seemed momentarily taken aback before gradually approaching to shake hands with him.

"Hello, Mr. Wang. My name is Tang Fei, and I work in real estate," a middle-aged man said as he was the first to extend his hand.

Following his lead, the rest came forward to greet Wang Xiaochuan.

Through the introductions, Wang Xiaochuan realized that these individuals were indeed the affluent figures from various sectors in Drison, just as Bao Fan had described. They were the high-quality clients he was seeking.

Yet, he found it odd that despite their outward politeness, they didn't share the same warmth that Bao Fan and Du Hao had shown him.

Nonetheless, out of respect for Bao Fan, he maintained a friendly demeanor, smiling and shaking hands with everyone.

"Xiaochuan, let's sit over here."

Once the introductions were over, Lin Qianyi tugged at Wang Xiaochuan's sleeve and led him to the side.

This gesture elicited laughter from the group. "My goodness! Lin Qianyi, have you taken a liking to Brother Wang?"

"Indeed, Ms. Lin. I've been coming to Crimson Palace for quite some time, and this is the first time I've seen you so eager to sit with someone," another person chimed in.

With an unchanging expression, Lin Qianyi replied, "Yes, is there a problem with that?"

"Far from it, the two of you, Xiaochuan and Ms. Lin, make a golden pair," a business owner said with a chuckle.

The playful banter that followed helped to thaw the previously chilly atmosphere, making the room buzz with conviviality.

Bao Fan, seizing the moment, signaled for the waiter to begin serving the meal.

The head chef at Celestial Delights, whom Lin Qianyi had spared no expense to recruit from Aklicpool, was exceptionally talented. The ingredients, carefully curated by Lin Qianyi herself, were the finest from around the region.

As a result, each dish that arrived at the table was so delectable that Wang Xiaochuan found himself too engrossed in the flavors to make conversation.

After everyone had their fill, they shifted focus to the main agenda of the gathering.

Du Hao was the first to speak up, "Xiaochuan, your medicines are truly miraculous. I've lived a long life and I've never encountered anything as effective as these."

Liu Qianyuan chimed in, "Absolutely. If you can scale up production, they'll sell like hotcakes. Xiaochuan, you might just become the wealthiest person in Drison with just your kidney-reinforcing drugs alone!"

As they spoke, the others around the table nodded in agreement.

"The wealthiest in Drison? You all are underestimating Xiaochuan," Bao Fan interjected, setting down his chopsticks. "You should know that Xiaochuan has told me about his other formulas. Once he brings those to market, forget just Drison—he could become the wealthiest man in the whole province, or even the entire country!"

"New formulas?" The crowd was visibly surprised, all eyes turning to Wang Xiaochuan.

He smiled modestly and stood up. "Actually, the new formulas Bao Fan mentioned are already complete. This time, I've developed three new medicines: a diet pill, a calleidic, and an antialcoholic drug. As it happens, I brought some with me today to show you all."

With that, Wang Xiaochuan pulled out the three new medicines he had concocted.

As the new drugs were displayed on the table, the assembled business leaders looked on in awe, particularly Bao Fan's wife, Dong Yan, who was immediately intrigued by the calleidic. She was eager to try it and wanted to get a bottle for herself.

Lin Qianyi, seated next to Wang Xiaochuan, felt a surge of warmth. The mention of the antialcoholic drug brought back Wang Xiaochuan's words from the other day.

"Sister Qianyi, if you can't avoid your social commitments, let me prepare an antialcoholic drug for you. That way, you won't have to face the same issues as yesterday..."

She realized he had indeed remembered their conversation. Could it be that he had created the antialcoholic drug just for her?

As excitement buzzed around Wang Xiaochuan's unveiling of new medicines, a discordant voice suddenly cut through the room.

"Excuse me, Mr. Wang, could you please share where these three new medicines came from?"

The crowd turned to see a portly man with glasses and a face even rounder than Bao Fan's, gasping for breath as he sat and posed his questions.

Wang Xiaochuan recognized him; it was Ma Shoucheng, the owner of the largest pharmaceutical company in Drison.

Before Wang could respond, Bao Fan rose to his feet and challenged, "What are you implying, Ma Shoucheng? Are you suggesting Xiaochuan didn't create these medicines himself? Do you think they just fell from the sky?"

Ma Shoucheng replied calmly, "You've misunderstood, Bao Fan. I'm well aware that Mr. Wang made the medicines. I'm simply curious about the origins of his prescriptions."

"What kind of question is that? The prescriptions..."

Wang Xiaochuan raised his hand, signaling to Bao Fan that he would handle the response.

"Boss Ma, I've previously discussed this with Bao Fan. These prescriptions have been handed down through my family for generations."

Ma Shoucheng nodded and pressed on, "I see, ancestral recipes. But Mr. Wang, your medicines appear to be purely herbal. Does that mean your ancestors practiced traditional medicine?"

Wang Xiaochuan hesitated. His family had been farmers for generations; they were not practitioners of traditional medicine. If he conceded now and Ma Shoucheng were to investigate in Teuwell, his cover would be blown.

Moreover, he needed a plausible explanation for his prescriptions. Claiming they were ancestral was a spur-of-the-moment excuse, one that might have sufficed in the past but would become problematic as he introduced more prescriptions in the future.

Deciding to address the issue once and for all, Wang Xiaochuan shook his head and explained, "Actually, that's not quite right. We've always been farmers, but my ancestors once stumbled upon several ancient medical texts in the mountains. These texts eventually came into my possession, and after extensive research, I was able to develop these prescriptions."

"Ancient medical texts?" Ma Shoucheng mused. "Forgive my directness, Mr. Wang, but I sense there's an issue here."

"What's the issue?" Wang Xiaochuan asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Mr. Wang," Ma Shoucheng began, struggling to his feet. "As I mentioned earlier, I work in the pharmaceutical industry, and I happen to have done some research on traditional Chinese medicine. To be frank, I doubt the efficacy of the three new medicines you presented is as promising as you claim."

"Why would you say that?"

"It's quite straightforward. We can set aside the kidney-reinforcing drugs for the moment, but the formulas for the antialcoholic drug, the calleidic, and the diet pill—these simply wouldn't exist in traditional medical texts."

Upon hearing this, Bao Fan became furious. "Ma Shoucheng! What do you mean by that? What's this about being impossible to find in medical books? Explain yourself clearly."

Ma Shoucheng, clutching his stomach, paced the room. "The explanation is simple: the ancients had no need for these three types of medicine. Take the diet pill, for instance. To the ancients, gaining weight was a luxury. In times when most people struggled to put on weight, which physician would have the leisure to develop a diet pill? As for the calleidic, the pursuit of beauty was not as intense in ancient times as it is today, so no one would have researched such a thing."

"So, where exactly did Mr. Wang's formulas come from? If they are indeed his own research, as he claims, that's even more implausible. After all... Mr. Wang is not even twenty years old, correct? A person not yet twenty, formulating Chinese medicine—I must ask, who among us would be willing to try it?"

After Ma Shoucheng finished speaking, those who had been warmly receptive to Wang Xiaochuan now hung their heads in silence.

In truth, Ma Shoucheng had previously shared these concerns with the other business owners.

Their lack of enthusiasm upon initially meeting Wang Xiaochuan was a direct result of the doubts Ma Shoucheng had instilled regarding the origins of Wang Xiaochuan's medicinal formulas.

Wang Xiaochuan's kidney-reinforcing drugs have proven to be remarkably effective, and they're exclusive to his store—there are no other branches. However, since this medicine must be ingested, it's crucial to ascertain its true origins. Without that knowledge, even if it were a magic medicine, the entrepreneurs wouldn't dare to take it indiscriminately.