"All right then," the husband said. "Hello there, young lad, young missy," he said, waving over towards Fang Yuan, who looked up from what he was doing for barely a second.
"How may I help you?" Fang Yuan asked in a very cheerful and friendly voice.
"Well, I'm sorry to bother you, lad," the hairy man said. "However, I was looking for a certain vegetable market around here. I swear I've been there before, but I happened to get lost. Do you know where it is?"
"I think I saw something akin to a vegetable market over there," Fang Yuan said, giving them the directions. "And even if you don't find it there, I think you'll be able to find more people around. This area is rather desolate, but there are more houses there. I'm sure you'll find someone who could help you."
"Well, thank you so much for your help," the hairy man said. "Why don't you take this as a token of our appreciation?" He handed over to Fang Yuan a small bushel of apples.
Fang Yuan glanced at the fruit for a moment before saying, "There's no need for such, but thank you regardless."
"Well then, have a nice day," the hairy man said, as both he and his wife left.
Fang Yuan offered her an apple.
"You seem to be relatively calm throughout this," Bai Ning Bing said. "Most Gu Masters and Immortals would find it extremely hard to work in these circumstances." They were not even allowed to take out food from their apertures to feed themselves; they had to rely upon systems they found either through scavenging or hunting.
For a Gu Immortal whose wealth rivaled that of nations to be sitting around weaving grass baskets for a fraction of a primeval stone would annoy many people to no end.
However, Fang Yuan did not seem to be the slightest bit moved by this ordeal.
"It is nothing," Fang Yuan said. "Look how good the grass baskets are coming along!"
Bai Ning Bing glanced at them. She had to admit that Fang Yuan's weaving skills were quite good. These grass baskets looked durable enough, and based on how they had been made, it didn't look like this was his first attempt at weaving these kinds of baskets. He had clearly done so before. But when?
"How is the medicine going?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Well enough," Bai Ning Bing said, taking a bite out of an apple.
They continued working into the evening, after which Fang Yuan had a set of baskets done. He was able to sell most of them and ended up getting four-tenths of a primeval stone with some supplies left over, just as he had expected.
As for the medication, Bai Ning Bing only had half the ingredients, but he was sure that he would either be able to borrow or purchase the other requirements for making a full set of herbs later on.
The two of them went to a rather run-down hotel for the night. To save money, they decided to get a single room.
"Uh, sir, young miss... the room only has one bed," the hotel manager said, glancing between the two of them. They looked like they were working together, but these two people didn't look like they were married.
"It's not a problem," both of them said at once.
The hotel manager could do nothing but simply nod along and say, "All right then." He inwardly thought to himself, 'Youngsters these days, so shameless! Sharing a bedroom and bed together when they're not even married. Scandalous! Oh... I hope they don't make any strange sounds throughout the night and wake up the other guests! The walls of the rooms here are rather thin! Maybe I can blame it on an animal like a raccoon getting in? No wait, that would be even worse for business. Darn it!'
***
Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan both woke up early the next day. They still had money left over for a few days of food as well as lodging, and so Fang Yuan decided to prioritize looking for new opportunities that day.
While wandering around the city, they saw one of the other contesting teams. They were working in a restaurant as waiters.
"I suppose that would take care of both food and lodging," Fang Yuan noted, "but there are no long-term prospects for that."
"What long-term prospects?" Bai Ning Bing asked. "Are you forgetting that we're only supposed to be here for three months? Have you gone mad and have dreams of establishing a business empire right here within this aperture?"
"I haven't forgotten the fact of why we're here in the first place, but there's only a limit to how much money we can make by working for other people. Eventually, our goal is to establish a business empire for ourselves. But for that, first of all, we need capital and things to sell," Fang Yuan explained.
The wilderness outside the confines of the city was certainly a good source of plants, but Fang Yuan first needed to understand what kind of medicines sold in the city. Also, wandering gave him the chance to sell more of the grass baskets that he had woven.
Fang Yuan paused as he noticed a familiar face poking out of a shop.
"So, you're the old man from yesterday," Fang Yuan said, approaching the person.
The hairy man smiled. "Oh, it's you," he said, surprised. "Well, thank you for your help yesterday. We did end up finding the food stall in question. I'm sorry, my memory has failed me, and neither has my eyesight."
"So tell me, you own this apothecary shop?" Fang Yuan asked, a small gleam appearing in his eyes.
"Why, indeed I do," the man answered. "Are you or the young miss here in need of medication?"
"No. If nothing else, I was wondering whether or not we could actually help you," Fang Yuan said. "I too am an apothecary, and I'm pretty handy with making medicines myself. There's a problem, though - I come from the other side of the continent, and so I'm unfamiliar with some of the plants around here. I already have half a balm of fever medication made here."
Fang Yuan listed out a few recipes for medicine, including things for a cough, the common cold, as well as fever. The old man nodded along; although some of Fang Yuan's recipes were a bit different from those he was used to using, it was clear from the conversation that Fang Yuan had, at the very least, a moderate knowledge of how pills and other medications were made.
"Well," the hairy man said, scratching his beard, "I have been looking for an assistant to help me within the shop when it gets busier. I don't know how much work there is for you, though, but I'll take you on."
So, for the next week, both he and Bai Ning Bing worked under this hairy man within the apothecary shop. This week provided Fang Yuan with multiple things. For one, he was able to get the old man's guidance on what kind of plants there were, as well as some pointers when it came to selling medication. In addition to their daily wage, they also got more information regarding what was going on within the city and the going rate for many goods and services.
Bai Ning Bing was also able to learn the trade to some extent, which Fang Yuan needed for his longer-term plans.
Fang Yuan quickly had an idea regarding a business proposition, which he laid out to the old hairy man about a week after working there.
"Hmm, you're proposing a traveling medicine service?" the man asked.
"Indeed," Fang Yuan said. He had initially been thinking of setting up a business within the city; however, it became clear that most niches were already very well satisfied by the residents of the city. If a good portion of the city's residents had difficulty finding employment as it was, it would be very difficult for the two of them, who were complete strangers and did not have the guidance of a teacher or a say within any of the merchant guilds, to try and carve out any space for themselves.
As such, they could only go to where their services were needed.
Fang Yuan's idea was simple: they could create a traveling medicine cart in order to deliver medicine towards the villages outside the city, where it was difficult for physicians to go. There, they would find an eager market. Many of those people could not end up paying with primeval stones, but could still pay with farm goods and the like, which Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing could either consume for themselves or sell to others.
Of course, there was the upfront cost of a horse, a cart, as well as certain medication ingredients. Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing had managed to save about half of a primeval stone on top of their initial savings, but this was not much to go on. That was why Fang Yuan needed this man in order to finance their operation.
"I'm not entirely sure about this," the hairy man said, scratching his chin. "Back in my old days, young lad, I did dream of going out into the rural areas and serving them. However, it's not as easy as it seems. The people out there do need medicines and apothecaries but... it's one thing to say that you would like to go out into the community in order to help them, but living there is an entirely different prospect, especially since you have a woman with you. It would be hard for you to get through a lot."
Although there were more protests like this, Fang Yuan had spent his time building a proper relationship with the man in question, and he eventually agreed four days later. His wife also had an opinion and said, "Let the two young'ns go out and make a name for themselves. You have too much stock as is. Just 'cuz you've grown too old to live out your dreams doesn't mean that these two are as well!"
With that, the deal was sealed.