"You've run out? Your shop looks pretty big, yet you don't even have any of these medicines in stock. Are you trying to trick me?"
Jiang Bai knew that the medicines he had mentioned were not rare and could be bought in ordinary pharmacies, so why didn't he have them?
The shop assistant looked troubled: "Sir, you may not know this, but a few days ago someone said they needed these medicines and came to buy them in large quantities. If you don't believe me, you can go and check other pharmacies around here. All these kinds of medicines have been bought up."
If someone else was buying it, then it's not surprising.
The fact that these drugs were acquired so conveniently suggests that they were likely acquired by the same people who registered the drugs for Taozi, all for the purpose of making easy money and establishing a monopoly.
"Do you know who bought these drugs?"
"I don't know, but if you want to find these medicines again, you can check the newly opened pharmacies in the city. Maybe they haven't been bought by that person yet."
"A newly opened pharmacy?"
"Yeah, it's pretty big. These days, business is getting harder and harder."
The man shook his head, his face full of bitterness.
Jiang Bai had no interest in discussing the difficulty of doing business with him. After finding out the location of the shop, he went directly to the new shop.
The shop was indeed very large, and there were quite a few people inside.
Jiang Bai entered the shop and went straight to the counter.
The shopkeeper, seeing her distinguished attire, greeted her with exceptional warmth, assuming she was perhaps from a wealthy family picking up medicine, and that it would be the finest and most precious medicine.
Jiang Bai didn't beat around the bush and recited the names of the medicinal herbs he wanted again.
The shopkeeper's expression was the same as the waiter's; the corners of his mouth turned down further and further, becoming increasingly eerie.
Unlike the shop assistant, the shopkeeper's smile only lingered for a moment before brightening again: "Yes, we have all the medicines you need. However, the demand for these medicines in the city is high these days, so you'll have to wait a while. I'll arrange it for you."
"How much does this medicine cost? I can pay a deposit first."
The shopkeeper immediately quoted all the prices, and Jiang Bai's pupils widened slightly. The prices were more than three times higher than usual!
If the number of sick people increases and the supply of medicinal herbs in the city becomes increasingly scarce, these merchants will likely raise prices even more arbitrarily, and people will have to go bankrupt just to get medical treatment.
Jiang Bai paid the deposit with a forced smile and then returned to the village.
She had to send someone to tell Zhao Yi about the situation, that there was a powerful force behind this illness.
She hurriedly returned to the village, only to find Zhao Yi and Ping An Xi Le at her doorstep.
"Mommy~" The two children ran over to her as soon as they saw her.
Ping An stopped in front of her, her gaze resentful, as if blaming her for lying to her.
Xile immediately reached out for a hug: "Mommy, hug me."
Jiang Bai bent down and picked her up, then took the opportunity to hold onto her skirt, and the three of them walked into the house.
Zhao Yi reached out and took Xile into his arms: "Mother has been working hard these past few days, so it's fine for Father to hold her."
Xile didn't make a fuss, and the family of four went inside.
Jiang Bai had something to say to Zhao Yi, so he didn't spend much time with the children before urging them to leave.
After the room quieted down, she recounted the events at the pharmacy in the city in detail.
“I suspect that someone deliberately poisoned the people so that they would fall ill and then go to buy medicine. After they bought up all the medicine in the area, they created the illusion of scarcity and then drove up the price of medicine to make money.”
"When people are sick and need medicine, they have to buy it even if the price is high, because their lives are at stake."
Jiang Bai frowned. He had to admit that this method of profiting from human lives was truly vicious.
Zhao Yi gently patted the back of her hand: "No need to rush, I've already found some clues, we just need to wait for them to slip up."
The two decided to keep a close eye on that herbal medicine shop. Regardless of who was behind it, the shop was definitely his way of making money.
Zhao Yi immediately sent people to stake out the area around the herbal medicine shop, keeping a close watch on everything that was happening there.
Several days passed, and no one came out of the herbal medicine shop.
“They didn’t have any contact with anyone, they just received guests, and nothing else was found to be abnormal.”
Zhao Yi's brows furrowed with frost; he hadn't expected those people to be so cautious.
Jiang Bai examined the patients and concluded that they could no longer delay; their conditions were too severe, and if they were not treated soon, some might die.
"If we still can't find any evidence, we'll have to go back to that shop again to see if there are any clues."
Those people can afford to wait, but the patients can't.
As the two continued to discuss strategies for investigating the shop, someone came looking for them.
The person who came was the shop assistant from that pharmacy, because Jiang Bai had left an address when he paid the deposit.
The shop assistant entered the room, paused for a moment when he saw Zhao Yi beside her, and then said, "Sir, I'm here today to inform you to pick up your goods. The batch of medicinal herbs you ordered is ready. Please go and check them so we can deliver them to you."
Jiang Bai didn't hesitate much; he had been planning to go again anyway, so this was perfect.
Zhao Yi glanced at the waiter and said to Jiang Bai, "I'll go with you."
He was worried about her going alone.
Jiang Bai shook his head: "You should stay home and take care of the kids. I can go by myself."
The shop assistant had already become wary of Zhao Yi. If Zhao Yi went with her, it might alert the people in the pharmacy, making it even harder for her to find their secrets.
With that in mind, Jiang Bai packed up and followed the shop assistant to the county town.
As Zhao Yi watched the two leave, his brows furrowed. For some reason, he felt uneasy.
"Ping An, remember to take good care of your younger sister. Father is going out for a while."
He instructed Ping An and Xi Le to be obedient, then took a straw hat and followed Jiang Bai ahead.
Jiang Bai followed the shop assistant to the shop. By then, dusk was approaching and there were fewer people in the shop. When the shopkeeper saw Jiang Bai come in, his eyes lit up and he came up to greet him personally.
"Honorable guest, the medicinal herbs you requested have been prepared. Would you like to go to the backyard to check them? If everything is correct, we will bring them to your home right away."
Jiang Bai nodded and followed him to the back of the shop's courtyard. There was a large space there, where a carriage was parked, piled high with medicine.
Once she entered this secluded and deserted place, she became extremely vigilant, constantly watching her surroundings without letting her guard down.
The shopkeeper lifted a corner of the medicine cart, immediately revealing a box inside.
He glanced back at Jiang Bai and said with a smile, "The medicinal herbs are inside. Let me open them for you."
After he finished speaking, he lifted the lid of the box, and inside was a large amount of herbs.
Jiang Bai frowned and looked at the herbs in the box. As she got closer, she realized that this was not the medicine she wanted.
Immediately, alarm bells rang in her mind—something was amiss!
"This isn't the medicine I wanted..."
Before she could finish speaking, she felt dizzy.
Then he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
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