Along the deep and winding alley, Long Xiao, seated in a recliner, saw An Ye and stopped.
"You're here?" Long Xiao gently wiped blood from his long sword.
"Are you Long Xiao?"
"That's right. Do you want to live?"
"Of course, who doesn't want to live."
"I can give you a chance to live, as long as you tell me who hired you to kill me."
An Ye shook his head, sighed, and said, "That's too high a price, I can't do it."
"What's so difficult about it? It's just a sentence."
"Yes, I know, a single sentence can save my life, but I don't know that sentence."
"You assassins from Hanshan Temple don't even know who hired you, I don't believe it."
"It's true," An Ye smiled and said, "In this area, only my master has the right to accept missions."
"Is your master a mendicant monk?" Long Xiao asked again.
An Ye nodded without hesitation, "Yes, my master is a mendicant monk, and he is in charge of the eastern coastal region."
"So, if I want to know who hired you to kill me, I have to find your master?"
An Ye nodded again, "That's right, only my master knows."
"Alright, convey a message to your master for me. I want to know who wants to kill me."
"I will, but I don't know if my master will tell you."
"If he doesn't tell me, I'll kill his disciples one by one."
Long Xiao threw away the cloth in his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, his long sword hummed.
An Ye signaled to his three subordinates, and the three quickly dispersed, surrounding Long Xiao.
Xiao Ming and Luo Tianshui waited at the alley entrance for a while. When no one else came, they walked along the winding alley to the front of the flower wreath and burial clothing store.
The four assassins had already fallen to the ground. An Ye's bleeding had stopped, and Long Xiao was putting a medicinal pill for internal injuries into An Ye's mouth.
The desire to survive made An Ye not refuse Long Xiao's medicine. Long Xiao's speed was too fast, and the sword techniques he used were also something An Ye had never seen before.
"I might come to kill you again next time," An Ye said in a low voice after swallowing the medicine.
"You can. Perhaps next time, I won't show any mercy."
Long Xiao stood up and said to Xiao Ming and Luo Tianshui, "Let's go, there are a few more to clear out."
An Ye looked at Long Xiao powerlessly. He knew he was no longer in a position to resist. Of all the assassins brought this time, and the assassins from Hanshan Temple in the East Sea, only he himself could live. This was a privilege Long Xiao had granted him.
Assassins' task was to end others' lives. They were cold-blooded and ruthless, but they cherished their own lives more than ordinary people.
After clearing out the assassins from the other two strongholds, Long Xiao didn't need to make a move. Luo Tianshui only killed two, and the other assassins were snatched up by Xiao Ming.
"A total of thirty. Boss, thirty roast ducks. When do we collect?" Xiao Ming counted on his fingers in the car back to Xinglin Herb Hall.
"We can redeem it anytime. Whenever you want to eat, we'll go buy it."
"Xiao Ming, can't you have some ambition? Just eating roast duck will make you fat."
Xiao Ming rubbed his stomach, tilted his head, and thought, "Brother Luo, you have a point. How about we switch roast duck to roast chicken? I'll try a different flavor."
Luo Tianshui sighed, "I can't communicate with you. You're a complete foodie. Don't you want a better phone or some decent clothes?"
Xiao Ming shook his head, "Besides food, I don't need anything else."
The ten trucks of Chinese medicinal materials from Jingkou Pharmaceutical saved Xuan Xiao Group a lot of money. 'Taihe Weishu', 'Meiyan Dan', and 'Baohen Ling' were in short supply. Lin Xuan decided to have all production lines produce these three medicines.
Since joining Xuan Xiao Group, Lin Hao had stopped wandering around and started to learn sales diligently. Seeing Lin Hao's performance, Lin Xuan was finally relieved.
'Taihe Weishu' became a bestseller, gradually occupying the market share of Jingkou Pharmaceutical's stomach medicine in Donghai. 'Taihe Weishu' was the best-selling drug in every major pharmacy.
With the threat of Hanshan Temple assassins gone, and with Lin Xuan and Xue Yanmei at Xuan Xiao Group, Long Xiao had nothing to worry about and was completely relaxed.
In the morning, after his morning exercise, he returned to Xinglin Herb Hall, made himself a cup of tea, and sat under a tree, preparing to rest.
The early winter sun was warm and comfortable, casting a pleasant warmth on his face.
Long Xiao had been sitting for less than ten minutes when Xiao Ming ambled over, carrying a backpack.
"Boss, where are we going today? Who are we going to 'click'?"
Long Xiao glared at Xiao Ming and said, "What do you think I am? Killing people randomly is illegal."
"Not killing randomly is also illegal," Xiao Ming whispered.
"Alright, today is a rest day. Go wherever you want to play," Long Xiao said.
Xiao Ming, dissatisfied, ambled out of Xinglin Herb Hall.
A moment later, Mi Tianfu opened the door of Xinglin Herb Hall, and people who had made appointments for consultations began to come in one after another.
Three consultation rooms were simultaneously attending to patients: Li Yizhen in one, Tong Hui and Ming Yue in another, and Li Xinran in the third.
Mi Tianfu no longer made house calls. He became the general manager of Xinglin Herb Hall, managing everything except for treating patients.
Xue Meiqin and Chen Meijia maintained order, while Luo Yan helped out with miscellaneous tasks.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion, peaceful and serene.
As the sun rose higher, Brother Hu from Xicheng, along with Hei Gou and Bai Gou, walked in with smiles on their faces.
The three of them sat by the stone table. Luo Yan saw them, made tea, and brought it over.
"Brother Long, this is the profit from the black market sales of 'Meiyan Dan' this month." Brother Hu from Xicheng handed a bank card to Long Xiao.
Long Xiao glanced at the bank card, didn't ask how much money was in it, pushed it back to Brother Hu from Xicheng, and said, "Keep one-third for your brothers, and give the rest to my wife."
Brother Hu from Xicheng took the bank card and nodded, "Okay, Brother Long."
The four chatted for a while, drank some tea, and Hei Gou said, "Long Xiao, the price of 'Taihe Weiyao' has skyrocketed on the black market. Should we also get a batch into the black market?"
Long Xiao shook his head, "No need. The consumers of 'Taihe Weiyao' are ordinary people. This stomach medicine doesn't have high profit margins, but its efficacy is good. I plan to expand production and then sell it at a lower price."
"Brother Long, actually, for this kind of special medicine, you can find more cooperative manufacturers, which will allow for rapid expansion of production."
Long Xiao nodded, "That's a good idea. Find a pharmaceutical factory in each city to cooperate. I'll only take ten percent of the profit, but I must retain the pricing power."
"Brother Long, electric vehicles can also be done this way. Find a few domestic electric vehicle manufacturers to cooperate. We'll just provide the batteries."
Long Xiao thought for a moment and shook his head, "That won't work. This battery cannot be mass-produced yet. The technology cannot be transferred abroad in a short period of time, otherwise, it would be detrimental to the country."
They drank tea and chatted all morning. At noon, Brother Hu from Xicheng and the other two stayed at Xinglin Herb Hall for lunch.
As they were drinking, there was a knock on the door.
"Keep drinking, everyone. I'll go see," Mi Tianfu stood up and said.