Shu Xiaohan was excitedly talking to Manager Wen about the opening activities: "We must decide on the opening activities in advance so that the people will know that our Wen's Pharmacy is open for business."

"The promotion is very simple: anyone who makes a purchase on opening day will receive ten eggs for every certain amount spent. The amount will increase in stages, with no upper limit, guaranteeing that the pharmacy's business will be booming!"

As she spoke, she raised her eyebrows smugly, completely unaware that Manager Wen was looking at her as if she were mentally challenged.

These are all tricks that modern pharmacies have been using for their grand openings for ages. They give away a carton of eggs with every purchase, and the elderly folks are so eager to grab them that they forget all about dizziness and blurred vision...

Just as Shu Xiaohan was about to speak, Manager Wen said, "Teacher Shu, do you know what kind of shop we are about to open?"

Shu Xiaohan nodded: "Of course I know, it's a pharmacy, let me tell you..."

She suddenly stopped talking and looked up to see Manager Wen's mocking smile: "Why didn't you continue, Teacher Shu? Asking people to spend a certain amount at the pharmacy? What, are all the people in the city sick? If you say that, I'm afraid no one will come to collect eggs, but there will be plenty of people throwing eggs at you."

Life is already so hard, people can't even afford to go to the pharmacy for a simple fever, so who would curse themselves to get sick just for an egg?

Shu Xiaohan stammered, "Don't pharmacies sell health supplements? Only medicinal herbs? Or toothpaste, toilet paper, and stuff like that..."

Manager Wen...

"Teacher Shu, is that modern pharmacy of yours legitimate? It sounds more like a general store. What else would a pharmacy sell if not medicine? You, of course?"

Shu Xiaohan's eyes widened as she pointed at Manager Wen: "Let me tell you, it's unpleasant to talk like that."

She then remembered that ancient pharmacies sold only Chinese medicine, and that medicine needed to be dispensed according to a prescription. They rarely even had pills, let alone the health supplements she was talking about...

Shu Xiaohan felt her face flush red and unconsciously touched her neck.

Shopkeeper Wen, who rarely managed to outmaneuver him, felt refreshed and invigorated: "Teacher Shu is in the agricultural system, so you can manage your agriculture. Let me handle the business matters; after all, different industries are like different worlds."

He swung open his folding fan: "However, Teacher Shu did remind me of something: our pharmacy cannot open quietly."

Teacher Shu's eyes lit up, and she regained some of her spirits.

Having watched the entire argument without saying a word, Gu Yuzhi couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Master Xie said he had prepared firecrackers, even more than he had for the opening of the escort agency. How could he have done it so quietly?"

Manager Wen explained with a smile, "Your Highness, what I meant by speaking so quietly was that we need to let the people know in advance that the Wen family business, which has done a great deal of work in disaster relief, is going to open an affordable pharmacy."

Gu Yuzhi blinked, clearly not quite understanding: "How do we let them know in advance?" He tilted his head and thought for a moment, "Should we send someone to notify them first?"

Just like when the Emperor came to visit the Mother, he would have Zhao Xi notify the Mother in advance so that she could arrange for the Emperor to have a meal and so on.

Shopkeeper Wen said, "Your Highness is absolutely right. We can arrange for people to infiltrate the crowd in advance and tell others, posing as insiders, that the Wen family will be opening a pharmacy on a certain day and street, and that the Wen family's medicine will be cheaper than Li's."

It's best for women to do this kind of thing, especially women from the streets, who are best at gossiping about this and that. That way, it won't take much effort at all, and the news of Wen's Pharmacy opening will spread throughout the entire Changzhou.

Shu Xiaohan muttered to herself, "Isn't this just creating friends or relatives out of thin air?"

Gu Yuzhi looked at her with an innocent expression: "Does Teacher Shu mean to fabricate something out of nothing?"

...

Shu Xiaohan quickly explained, "No, no. What I meant by 'making a friend out of thin air' is that I clearly wanted to do this, but in order to avoid being discovered, I deliberately said I had a friend..."

Gu Yuzhi nodded as if he suddenly understood, indicating that he knew. Not long after, he put his knowledge to good use and told Xie Changshi about it: "Xie Changshi, Xie Changshi, a friend of mine wants to go and watch the opening of the pharmacy!"

Xie Changshi, huh?

How come he didn't know when His Highness made friends?

Chief Secretary Xie straightened his expression and asked, "May I ask if Your Highness's friend is from Changzhou? What is his name, where is he from, and how old is he? How did you meet? How long have you known each other? Have Guard Qi and the others seen this person?"

Gu Yuzhi was bewildered by Xie Changshi's barrage of questions. He stared at him blankly for a while before scratching his head and chuckling, "Xie Changshi, there's a saying, 'creating a friend out of thin air.' The friend I'm talking about is myself!"

Xie Changshi breathed a sigh of relief, but a second later he realized, half a beat too late, that it wasn't His Highness, and that fabrication wasn't his friend!

He hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the 'you' in 'creating something out of nothing' is not the same as the 'friend' in 'friendship.' It means to fabricate something out of thin air. Your Highness, please don't use it incorrectly next time."

Gu Yuzhi puffed out his cheeks. Why did Xie Changshi and Teacher Shu teach differently? Whose teaching is correct?

He shook his head, deciding to put aside things he couldn't understand for now, since he would understand when he grew up anyway. He immediately changed the subject and started discussing with Chief Secretary Xie how to let the people know in advance that the Wen family's pharmacy was going to open.

That very night, the news spread throughout the city. One woman said, "Hey, have you heard? The Wen family business is opening a pharmacy, and it's right here on our West Street."

Another person asked skeptically, "Really? How did you know that?"

“How could this be fake?” the woman said indignantly. “A while ago, when the Wen family was buying servants, my second brother’s neighbor’s uncle’s child was chosen. That’s what he said.”

After going through all the relatives, the man was quickly confused, but then he felt that this matter was reliable: "But pharmacies and such have little to do with us."

"How can it not be big!" The woman glared at her fiercely. "Think about it yourself. When we were young, how much did it cost to get medicine for a headache or fever from the pharmacy? How much does it cost now?"

The person next to him had no idea about any of that, and listened in a daze: "My second brother's neighbor's uncle's friend's child said that their landlord is kind-hearted and has decided to open a cheap pharmacy, so we won't have to spend so much money to get medicine in the future."

"Think about it, the medicine for fever and colds that Wen family received during the disaster relief was all given away for free. Anyway, if they open a pharmacy, I'll buy whatever medicine I need from them from now on..."

Who can guarantee they'll never get sick in their entire life?

In just one night, everyone on West Street knew that Wen's Pharmacy was about to open...