Chapter 133: 133, Where has the senior apprentice brother gone?

The Qing family's shop given to Ren Xiaosu was called Zhongcaotang. That day, Wang Fugui said he wanted to reorder a signboard, but Ren Xiaosu refused. After all, reordering a signboard would cost money; they needed to discuss what to do next.

The back hall of the shop had five rooms: one kitchen, three bedrooms, and one toilet.

After arriving at Bili, Ren Xiaosu no longer knew how to use the toilet. The toilets in the township were all dry latrines, but here they could flush directly, with sewers.

It took them a long time to figure out how to use the toilet.

There was a faucet in the room. At first, no one knew what it was for, but when they turned it on, clear water flowed out.

This scene filled Ren Xiaosu and the others with wonder—they had never seen such a magical thing before!

It seemed the original shop owner used this water. Ren Xiaosu said, "No wonder people in Bili are so clean. The water here has no limit."

In the township, the amount of water a person could use each day was fixed, and no one could change that.

There had been some wells in the township before, but they were filled in by Bili under the pretext of preventing theft and waste of water resources.

The three bedrooms were assigned: Xiaoyu jie had one alone, Wang Dalong and Wang Fugui shared one, and Chen Wudi, Yan Liuyuan, and Ren Xiaosu shared one. It was packed to the brim.

Though six people living here would seem crowded, it was already comfortable enough for Ren Xiaosu and the others—what kind of place had they lived in before? It couldn't even compare!

The six of them moved small stools into the backyard, and the first shareholders' meeting began in this humble setting.

Wang Fugui spoke first: "While we were cleaning the house earlier, several patients came to the shop for treatment. They didn't even know the shop had changed hands. It seems the original business was thriving, and the reputation was good. Why don't we keep this shop open?"

"But who among us knows medicine?" Ren Xiaosu said irritably, "I certainly don't. All I have is black medicine."

The refugees in the 113 township truly lived hard lives. In the past few years, there had been only two doctors in the township, and neither of them knew real medicine...

However, Ren Xiaosu believed he was better than that Jianghu charlatan, Yu Tong. At least his black medicine could actually treat external injuries!

In fact, he could learn medicine. After all, with the existence of the palace, there must be a proper hospital in Bili, and certainly proper doctors.

So Ren Xiaosu found a suitable doctor and used the skill learning chart. There would definitely be no such situation as before.

But Ren Xiaosu was also pondering a question—was it really necessary for him to waste precious skill learning charts on medicine now? After encountering Yang Xiaojin and the others, he deeply felt that his skill learning charts were insufficient!

He wished he could save over a dozen skill learning charts, and when he met Yang Xiaojin again, learn all the useful skills from him at once.

Moreover, he had initially wanted to learn medicine to repay gratitude coins, but later found that the current doctor-patient relationship was too tense, and treating people wouldn't earn much gratitude coins!

Too slow!

So now, if he had skill learning charts, he wouldn't prioritize learning medicine, but instead save them, waiting until he encountered someone like Yang Xiaojin, a "skill repository," and then use them all at once.

By then, he might possess a set of solid skills, such as jumping rope, singing nursery rhymes, or playing with glass beads...

Even now, whenever he thought of the jumping rope skill, he still harbored resentment.

Ren Xiaosu said, "Let's sell the antibiotics you have on hand to convert them into cash. That stuff will expire if kept too long, right?"

"Hmm," Wang Fugui nodded, "Probably enough to sell for a while. It's already late today. Tomorrow I'll go exchange the Qing family's money for Li's. We don't lack funds in the near future."

"Hmm, if it really doesn't work, just go back to your old grocery business," Ren Xiaosu said.

"But we need a product that can be provided long-term and is solid. Look, there's so much herbal medicine here. Can we prepare black medicine?" Wang Fugui's eyes sparkled with light. How popular black medicine could be in Bili, he could almost foresee.

Ren Xiaosu hesitated and said, "We can, but black medicine can't be sold in bulk. Maybe once a week's worth."

"That's fine," Wang Fugui smiled broadly, "A shop needs something unique. With this, customers will come without us worrying!"

Ren Xiaosu didn't plan to use black medicine for money now. After all, he still had so much gold. Compared to money, he wanted to unlock the intermediate form of weapons.

However, a black medicine made from one gratitude coin could be divided into three small bottles, and each small bottle could be sold five or six times. So Ren Xiaosu could use one gratitude coin to last several months—this cost wasn't high.

Ren Xiaosu decided to visit Bili the next day to see if he could sell the gold little by little.

Just then, Yan Liuyuan suddenly asked curiously, "Where is Chen Wudi? Have you seen Chen Wudi?"

Wang Fugui was stunned for a moment: "That's right, Master... cough, where did Chen Wudi go?"

...

At this time, Chen Wudi was curiously surveying the streets of Bili. He had been locked up in a mental hospital since childhood. The dark, oppressive environment made him long for the outside world. He had once lived in this prosperous world, but that was a very distant memory.

Everything here felt both familiar and strange. The dazzling array of shops and goods even made him temporarily forget about going to the West to fetch scriptures.

Gradually, Chen Wudi walked to the park they had passed during the day. He heard singing drifting from the park.

Chen Wudi approached the park and saw a wide square where the middle-aged women formed neat formations, dancing with hands and feet. This scene was so familiar yet strange that he felt as if he were dreaming of the past, and Chen Wudi became entranced.

The women watched as Chen Wudi, tall and imposing, walked to the front of their formation. Before they could react, the young man stared at them with shining eyes and shouted, "Children, let's drill!"

That evening, when Chen Wudi returned to the shop, he was bruised and swollen. Ren Xiaosu was startled when he saw him. This Chen Wudi had once been shot and remained unharmed—how could he have been beaten into this state by some deity?!

Could there be some hidden masters in Bili?

But no matter how Ren Xiaosu asked Chen Wudi, he wouldn't say what had actually happened...