The people at the back were even more puzzled, stretching their heads out to look forward.
They saw Pei Xingyuan wave his hand again, and the person standing behind the accountant imdiately opened the box he was holding, taking out one tael and five coins of silver from inside, while another person holding a dicine pot poured a bowl of dicine.
Chen Jiang was imdiately dumbfounded: "This, this is—"
Pei Xingyuan said with a smile: "Everyone, starting today, the decoction is free of charge, and I, Mr. Pei, will refund all the fees previously collected for the decoction!"
"...!"
Upon hearing this, the entire Changle Square fell silent!
The crowd could hardly believe their ears, with so even pinching their arms. Only after feeling the sharp pain did they realize this was real, and they were imdiately filled with a mix of surprise and delight.
Chen Jiang, who was first in line, had completely lost the ability to react, staring blankly as a person walked up to him and returned the silver taels he had previously paid. As the weight transferred to his palm, his shoulders also felt the weight, and he suddenly snapped back to reality. When he looked up, he t Pei Xingyuan’s smiling eyes: "The decoction is getting cold, aren’t you going to drink it quickly?"
"..."
Chen Jiang trembled as he tucked the silver into his coat and then picked up the bowl of dicine, drinking it all in one go.
After finishing the bowl of decoction, Chen Jiang turned to leave, his face so numb it seed devoid of any expression. But after only two steps, he stopped suddenly.
As he stopped, it seed like the breathing and heartbeats of everyone around him stopped too.
The crowd watched him turn his head, his eyes fixated on the still-smiling Pei Xingyuan, suddenly shouting: "Mr. Pei, why did you sell the dicine at such a high price before, and now refund us the money?"
His words seed to open a floodgate.
At first, everyone couldn’t believe Pei Xingyuan would really return all the money he had earned, but seeing that Chen Jiang had already received his money, the crowd felt like they were dreaming. Even if they didn’t understand, even if they were puzzled, they didn’t dare to ask easily. They were worried that asking would resurrect mories of the conflicts they had with Pei Xingyuan recently. What if Mr. Pei had a change of heart and didn’t refund, what then?
But with Chen Jiang speaking up, he indeed voiced the question on everyone’s mind, and soon everyone couldn’t hold back, starting to question—
"Yes, Mr. Pei, what exactly is the reason for this?"
"Is this money really going to be returned to us?"
"Since you’re refunding now, why was it sold at such a high price before?"
...
Listening to these noisy questions, the smile on Pei Xingyuan’s face beca even brighter. He slowly raised his hands and waved towards the crowd, who imdiately quieted down. Those at the front of the line kept motioning towards the back, signaling everyone to be quiet.
Pei Xingyuan increasingly enjoyed this feeling of getting a response to his calls.
Tilting his chin slightly, he smiled and said: "Everyone, it is true that I, Mr. Pei, sold dicine at high prices before, but actually, this was requested by Second Young Master Yu Wen."
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.
And while everyone was still processing and hadn’t reacted with an uproar, Pei Xingyuan loudly said: "Ladies and gentlen, those of you gathered here, so of you probably contracted the epidemic long ago. You ca into the city seeking treatnt, only to find that neither the dical clinics nor pharmacies had the right dicine, which delayed your condition until today, am I right?"
Imdiately, soone nodded: "That’s right, we all know this."
Pei Xingyuan said: "But there is one thing I haven’t told you. That is, the dicine we have— is not much."
"..."
The crowd was initially stunned, but after pondering over the words "not much," they imdiately understood sothing.
Soone exclaid: "Mr. Pei, do you an—"
Pei Xingyuan looked at their wide, surprised eyes, and also withdrew his smile, speaking seriously and precisely: "What I an is, the dicine I have is not enough to save all of you!"
"...!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd instantly showed expressions of fear.
Pei Xingyuan imdiately smiled again and said: "But don’t worry, everyone. Since I am telling you the truth now, it is because the dicinal herbs have finally been gathered."
The crowd finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Chen Jiang imdiately said: "But Mr. Pei, what does the lack of herbs have to do with you and Second Young Master Yu Wen taking money?"
Pei Xingyuan smiled and said: "Everyone, I believe you understand the principle of rare goods being valuable. Life-saving items, not to ntion a coin of silver, even if I sold them to you at one tael of silver, you would have obediently paid up for the sake of your lives! Now that there is no dicine throughout the entire Central Pass, if soone could co up with the dicine, and wanted to sell it at a high price, in order to save your lives, Second Young Master Yu Wen and I had no choice but to pay."
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