Longevity Reward Redemption: The Immortal Clan Starts with Farmers

51: Temple Street outpost, Black Jade Broken-Healing Ointment!Chen Changsheng returned to Longkou County with seventeen tattered orphans, along with Zhao Song, who was supporting Steamed Bun.

The guards at the city gate almost mistook Chen Changsheng for a beggar leader and tried to chase them away; it was only after Chen Changsheng slipped them a few taels of silver that they managed to barely squeeze in.

Before coming to Longkou County, Chen Changsheng had already had Chuanwen conduct research; this county was divided into the South City and the North City!

The South City was mostly for commoners and merchants, while the North City was for high-ranking officials and noblemen. If Chen Changsheng’s group wanted to avoid attracting suspicion, they naturally had to go to the South City!

Of the seven streets in the city, the most prosperous and chaotic one was undoubtedly Temple Street, known as a den of debauchery. Brothels, gambling dens, and opium dens were visible everywhere on this street. In a place where illicit money flowed, Gangs naturally abounded.

Two of the four major Gangs in Longkou County had planted their flags on Temple Street, and all sorts of obscure small factions and petty thugs trying to make a living were scattered all over Temple Street.

It could be said that Temple Street was similar to the ”Golden Triangle” of his past life; money could be made everywhere here, but every banknote was stained with blood.

There was a saying in Longkou County: ”If you have money, live in the Country Garden; if you are in trouble, you must brave the gates of Temple Street!”

The Country Garden was the gathering place for high-ranking officials and noblemen in the North City, while Temple Street was a chaotic killing field where those with nowhere left to turn staked their lives to make a comeback!

Chen Changsheng needed to establish an intelligence stronghold, and he had to keep it hidden. This chaotic Temple Street was precisely the right place for him to gain a foothold!

Chen Changsheng’s group wandered around and eventually arrived at Temple Street.

The customs here were different from elsewhere; there were many Martial Artists, and many thugs with Dragons and tigers tattooed on their bodies. Furthermore, there were quite a few scantily clad brothel women standing on the street greeting guests in broad daylight.

Looking at their attire, it was clear that Chen Changsheng’s group had no wealth, so they didn’t attract any attention and walked freely through Temple Street.

”Adoptive father, there seems to be a Medical Hall over there that is transferring ownership!”

Zhao Song still remembered what Chen Changsheng said about buying a Medical Hall to settle down. At this moment on Temple Street, there happened to be a Medical Hall with a transfer notice posted, so he hurriedly reminded Chen Changsheng.

”Let’s go, let’s go take a look!”

Chen Changsheng was old and shrewd. He knew that a Medical Hall on this Temple Street, where fights never ceased, would definitely be a gold mine. The fact that this person wanted to transfer it meant there must be some trick to it.

However, Chen Changsheng did not say much more; he would wait until he had seen it before making a decision.

The facade of this Medical Hall was old, but the area inside was not small. From the outside, one could see an inner courtyard of at least five hundred square meters.

Chen Changsheng was quite satisfied with the size of the Medical Hall; at the very least, it could accommodate the nineteen people he had brought with him.

”Shopkeeper, how much are you selling this Medical Hall for?”

Chen Changsheng walked into the Medical Hall and asked with a smile.

The Medical Hall was empty, with only a fat Shopkeeper who looked bitter. Hearing that Chen Changsheng wanted to buy the Medical Hall, he sized Chen Changsheng up. Seeing that he was a new face and not a regular of Temple Street, he felt a surge of joy and hurriedly smiled, poured tea, and greeted him:

”Valued guest, don’t look at the fact that my Medical Hall has been around for a long time; the medicinal herbs are complete, the location is in the center of Temple Street, and there are many patients every day. Furthermore, the backyard is quite large, and it has two warehouses and seven side rooms. You can even take in patients for inpatient care!”

”I am asking for three thousand taels of silver for this Medical Hall; that’s not unreasonable, right!”

Chen Changsheng didn’t care about the three thousand taels of silver; he intended to probe for trouble regarding the Medical Hall, otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to have peace after taking it over.

”In this Temple Street of Longkou County, where every inch of land is worth gold, your Medical Hall is indeed worth three thousand taels. However... why are there no patients in your Medical Hall? Such a profitable business, yet you insist on transferring it. I don’t know the reason. You aren’t taking advantage of me being new to Temple Street to bully me, are you?”

Chen Changsheng said with a chuckle. With every sentence he spoke, the Shopkeeper’s face turned a shade paler. By the time Chen Changsheng pointed out the many suspicious points, the expression on the Shopkeeper’s face shifted constantly. Gritting his teeth, he finally revealed the truth:

”Valued guest, you must know about the four major Gangs of Longkou County. Our Medical Hall offended the Black Dog Gang of Temple Street. Last month, the son of a Black Dog Gang hall master broke his leg and came to our Medical Hall for treatment, but it wasn’t cured...”

”He vented his anger on the physician and hacked him to death, and then came to my Medical Hall to pick fights every day. I can’t afford to offend them, so I can only sell the Medical Hall and seek a living elsewhere!”

Upon hearing the Shopkeeper reveal the truth, Chen Changsheng felt at ease. The Shopkeeper wouldn’t lie; after all, such matters would definitely be known to everyone on Temple Street, and one only needed to ask around to verify the truth!

Chen Changsheng also understood the Shopkeeper’s predicament. Having offended the biggest local bully, it was likely that no local dared to take over his Medical Hall, which was why it hadn’t sold for so long.

”Fine, Shopkeeper, I will take over this Medical Hall. You cannot take away any of the medicinal herbs or furniture, but I will only pay two thousand taels of silver. Are you willing?”

Chen Changsheng said while driving down the price. It wasn’t that he cared about the silver, but mainly because he was posing as a traveling physician, and not bargaining at this moment would not fit his persona!

As for the Shopkeeper’s trouble, Chen Changsheng was not worried at all. What was a broken bone? His Black Jade Bone-Mending Ointment specialized in treating all kinds of bone problems; even if the bones were shattered into pieces, he could stick them back together into a skeleton frame.

”Thank you for taking over, valued guest. Two thousand taels it is, we have a deal!”

The Shopkeeper’s face lit up with joy. Although the price had been slashed by one thousand taels, it was still better than holding onto it and not being able to sell it. If he didn’t run away soon, he might even be chopped into dog food by the Black Dog Gang!

Before long, the Shopkeeper took out the property deed from the counter. Chen Changsheng was not short of silver, so after signing and affixing his seal, he gave it to the Shopkeeper!

After taking the silver, the Shopkeeper packed his luggage like a refugee and ran away!

”Alright, children, go to the backyard and pick your rooms. There are only seven side rooms, so squeeze in together and make do for now!”

Chen Changsheng waved his hand with a smile, and the group of children happily went to pick their rooms. The warm beds were much better than that dilapidated, drafty ancestral hall; the children were all very satisfied!

”Zhao Song, I’ll give you one hundred taels of silver. Go to the street and buy some new clothes, quilts, coal, and order two tables of food to bring back!”

Zhao Song was reliable in handling matters, so Chen Changsheng entrusted him with the trivial tasks of taking care of the children. Having been used to being a big brother, he took the silver and went to buy the things.

Chen Changsheng walked to the hundred-compartment cabinet, his gaze sweeping over the various medicinal herbs. He was about to start concocting—the Black Jade Bone-Mending Ointment!

It was not only to treat Steamed Bun, but also to deal with the future trouble from the Black Dog Gang. Most importantly, he planned to bring out the Black Jade Bone-Mending Ointment as his Medical Hall’s signature product to help make a name for himself!

Once a doctor had a reputation, they would be a hot commodity in the eyes of various forces. Those in the Jianghu respected doctors; after all, who could guarantee that they wouldn’t get injured?

Chen Changsheng planned to start from these Gangs of all sorts of people and gradually develop his own intelligence network!

”Fortunately, the medicinal herbs for the Black Jade Bone-Mending Ointment are not hard to find. The herbs in stock at this Medical Hall are enough to gather them all!”

Chen Changsheng took various medicinal herbs from the hundred-compartment cabinet, then went to the backyard, took a furnace for refining medicine, and began to concoct it.

Refining medicine was truly a skilled craft. Even though Chen Changsheng had many years of experience in concocting five elements soup, what awaited him was failure after failure!

”Fortunately, I have money; otherwise, with this success rate, selling the Black Jade Bone-Mending Ointment for profit would cost me even my underwear!”

Looking at the medicinal herbs that had failed to refine again due to a temperature error, Chen Changsheng’s soot-covered, disheveled face revealed an expression of utter despair!

Sigh! Nothing to say, just grind it out!

If I can’t even handle concocting a dose of medicine, it’s really a disgrace to my postgraduate degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from my past life!