Chapter 518 — Strength Restored
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Wei Zhao had known Fatty Lai only a short time, so he could not yet trust him completely. Some things could be told to him now, but others could not.
Guan Xuewen, however, understood what Wei Zhao meant. He had known before of the connection between Wei Zhao and Yang Huaijun, and now, recalling how Wu Gonggao had addressed Feng Tianlong, he immediately put two and two together about Feng Tianlong's identity!
Feng Tianlong was most likely an agent as well—though exactly which department he belonged to, there was no way of knowing.
Lai the Fatso said no more, and instead fell to discussing the auction with Wei Zhao. "Boss, take a look—here's tomorrow's auction catalogue. See if there's anything on it you fancy!"
Lai the Fatso's invitation was a red one, and red invitations did not entitle the holder to the catalogue until the very day of the auction. Guan Xuewen was different: his was a gold invitation, which let him obtain the list of lots well in advance.
Guan Xuewen had never paid such things much mind, but reflecting that Wei Zhao might have a use for it, he had asked for a copy.
"I've already been through the lots," Guan Xuewen said. "The only thing of any medical interest is a single thousand-year snow lotus. I don't know whether it would be of any use to you."
"A thousand-year snow lotus?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback; the thing was exceedingly rare. "A thousand-year snow lotus serves as a guiding ingredient in many ancient prescriptions, and it has an unexpectedly potent effect on repairing scars on the human body..."
"Oh? So it's useful to us as well, then?" Lai the Fatso asked, somewhat excited. "Shall we nab it tomorrow?"
"No need for that." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "The cost is far too high. There's no way it could ever be produced on any scale."
"True enough—one snow lotus really isn't good for much at all!" Lai the Fatso deflated at once.
"Ha, for instance, the premium wound medicine we mean to auction, the one that repairs scars—the original formula called for a thousand-year snow lotus, but I substituted something else for it," Wei Zhao said. "In fact, many of the ingredients in ancient formulas are very hard to find nowadays, but substitutes can always be found."
"Good heavens! Boss, you're really something!" Hearing this, Lai the Fatso was overcome with admiration. "You can substitute even that? Does it affect the efficacy at all?"
"Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn't—but I haven't noticed any," Wei Zhao said with a smile. "It should be negligible."
"Boss, you truly are a miracle doctor!" Lai the Fatso might not have understood medicine, but he knew well enough that doctors who could diagnose illness and write prescriptions were many, while doctors who could freely alter a formula and find substitutes were very few indeed.
Guan Xuewen, too, wore a look of shock at that moment; Wei Zhao had brought him far too many pleasant surprises, so many that he could scarcely take them all in. It was just as the saying went: live and learn, and there is always a taller mountain and a higher sky. He had once been hailed as a miracle doctor, yet beside Wei Zhao he felt like a frog at the bottom of a well.
"It's nothing, really—very simple stuff." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "Let me have a look at the catalogue first."