The train arrived at the station, and Chen Xiao and the others walked out of the arrival hall.
Sun Buzhou personally came to greet Chen Xiao and his group, accompanied by a round-faced胖子.
The 胖子 was dressed in luxury brands. Although he appeared low-key and restrained, it was obvious that it was all an act.
When he saw Chen Xiao and the others, a strange look flashed in his eyes.
Were these the distinguished guests that Old Sun had mentioned? They looked so ordinary and unremarkable!
He had imagined that Old Sun's distinguished guests would be from noble families, either rich or powerful.
After a round of introductions, when the round-faced 胖子 learned that Chen Xiao was just an ordinary doctor, a trace of disdain flickered in his eyes.
And when he found out that Li Mu was just a hotel waiter, and the other two were even unemployed, his contempt was no longer concealed.
Although Li Qin had some beauty, in his eyes, she was too rustic.
Then, Sun Buzhou introduced the 胖子 to everyone.
"This is Huang Wenlei, the grandson of my old friend. He drove here specifically to pick you all up. It's late today, so you'll rest at my old friend's house for a day and then we'll set off tomorrow."
Sun Buzhou did not specifically introduce Huang Wenlei's family background, but those who could befriend a national medical master like Sun Buzhou were hardly ordinary people.
In fact, this was true. The Huang family was a top family in Jiaonan, and Huang Wenlei was a true scion of a prominent family.
Although he acted with a degree of discretion, his air of superiority was inadvertently revealed, which made Chen Xiao very displeased.
"There's no need, Old Sun. We have too many people, so we won't trouble your residence. Besides, we've already booked hotels."
Upon hearing Chen Xiao's words, Huang Wenlei said nothing, but a hint of disdain appeared on his face.
If they didn't want to come, then so be it. These commoners of ordinary status, if not for Sun Buzhou, would not have been qualified to be guests of the Huang family.
Seeing Huang Wenlei's attitude, Sun Buzhou felt a bit embarrassed.
He said, "Alright then, I'll stay at the hotel with you all. Huang Wenlei, you're no longer needed here. You can go back."
Because he secretly blamed Huang Wenlei for mistreating his guests, Sun Buzhou's tone was rather stiff.
Huang Wenlei dared to look down on Chen Xiao and the others, but he absolutely did not dare to offend Sun Buzhou.
Upon hearing Sun Buzhou's words, he immediately realized that Old Sun was angry and quickly tried to mend the situation.
"Grandpa Sun, this is not appropriate. Your distinguished guests are our Huang family's distinguished guests. How can distinguished guests stay in a hotel? If my grandfather hears about this, he'll scold me to death."
Huang Wenlei said with a bitter expression.
Sun Buzhou snorted. This kid was prejudiced and needed to be taught a lesson.
Chen Xiao, on the other hand, did not want to waste time on such matters. He interrupted, "Old Sun, it's just for one night, it doesn't matter where we stay. We have a more important matter to attend to now. I need some medicinal ingredients. Do you know where they are sold in the city?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Buzhou immediately smiled, "Chen Xiao, just tell me what medicinal ingredients you need. My old friend's family is in the medicinal ingredient business. As long as you can name it, they will have it!"
Hearing that they were going to buy medicinal ingredients, Huang Wenlei couldn't help but feel proud. He boasted, "I'll take you to our family's pharmacy right now. You can pick whatever you want when we get there!"
Chen Xiao nodded, "That would be excellent."
The group got into the business car driven by Huang Wenlei and sped towards the pharmacy.
Tong Ren Xuan was the most famous chain of traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies in Jiaonan and even the entire Jiaozhou Island. The pharmacy had hundreds or thousands of branches, all of which were Huang family properties.
Not to mention the value of the pharmacies, the value of their real estate alone added up to hundreds of millions.
And this branch in the center of Jiaonan City was the flagship store of Tong Ren Xuan.
The building was in an antique style, with blue tiles and flying eaves, covering an area of over ten thousand square meters, with three floors in total.
From a distance, it looked like a colossus.
As soon as they got out of the car, everyone smelled a rich aroma of traditional Chinese medicine.
"Mr. Chen, what medicinal ingredients would you like to buy? I'll send someone to get them right away!"
Huang Wenlei's words were polite, but his tone carried undisguised arrogance.
"I want Coptis chinensis, Talcum, Licorice, Realgar, Mint, and Rhinoceros horn. The more, the better. The older the year, the better."
Yang Zhen said indifferently.
He wasn't looking for medicinal properties, but the spiritual energy contained in medicinal ingredients of long years.
Hearing this, Huang Wenlei showed a look of disdain.
He thought to himself, "He's still a doctor, yet so shallow."
Traditional Chinese medicine was not like what was depicted in movies and novels, with "century-old ginseng," "thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum," or "ten-thousand-year-old snow lotus"...
Traditional Chinese medicine emphasized the combination of ingredients, and on a deeper level, there were chemical reactions between them. It wasn't that the older the year, the better the medicinal properties.
However, he was too lazy to lecture Chen Xiao. After all, slapping Chen Xiao in the face was like slapping Elder Zhou in the face, and he still had to give Elder Zhou face.
Besides, if a national medical master like Elder Zhou hadn't said anything, what right did he have to speak?
Huang Wenlei noted down the names of the medicinal ingredients and ordered the store assistants to fetch them.
However, after a few minutes, the store assistant returned with an embarrassed expression and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Huang. The pharmacy has sold out of all the medicinal ingredients you requested!"
"What? How could it be such a coincidence? They're all sold out. Are you playing a trick on me?"
Huang Wenlei asked with a gloomy expression.
The store assistant's face turned pale with fear. "Mr. Huang, how would I dare to play a trick on you? They're really all sold out, even in the warehouse. Shall I go to other branches to check for you?"
Huang Wenlei, who had just boasted and promised anything, was immediately put in an awkward position and was very displeased.
He waved his hand and reprimanded, "Call the store manager here. I want to know what's going on!"
"Yes, Mr. Huang, I'll go get the store manager right away."
The store assistant ran upstairs to find the store manager.
Huang Wenlei said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I don't know why this happened. These medicinal ingredients are not rare, and the inventory has always been sufficient. They shouldn't have been sold out."
He wasn't speaking to Chen Xiao, but to Sun Buzhou, as he was worried that Sun Buzhou would misunderstand that he was deliberately causing trouble.
After a while, the store manager rushed over. Upon hearing that Huang Wenlei had arrived, he quickly put down all his work.
"Mr. Huang, why didn't you inform me in advance that you were coming? I should have gone out to greet you!"
The store manager said obsequiously.
Huang Wenlei, looking displeased, asked, "Alright, enough with the pleasantries. I'm asking you, the store assistant said that all the medicinal ingredients I requested just now are sold out. What's going on?"
The store manager looked at the store assistant, asked for details, and then suddenly understood. He explained, "Mr. Huang, the store assistant didn't lie to you. These medicinal ingredients are indeed all sold out. Just two hours ago, a few customers came and bought all of these medicinal ingredients!"