There was just one problem with this.
For all three days he had worked here, there had only been two customers!
How the hell had a place like this stayed open so long?!
Those customers hadn't been noble clients, which was to be expected. Wouldn't it be too easy--a blessing from the game system--if a noble demon walked in the door so soon, asking to be treated? Of course it had to be more difficult! Nothing could ever be easy with a god as fickle as the game menu.
Those two customers had come in for regular Three-Herb remedies. Since they had only had colds, there wasn't much else for Qiu Yunru to do.
Of course, those customers had been interested in Qiu Yunru's sudden appearance. Of course, his name had to be kept a secret, and his face had to be concealed under his mask. Otherwise, any common demon might try to strangle him on the spot!
"Old Chang!" One of the customers had barked, slapping Shao Chang on the back like an old friend. "Who's this you have? Finally hired someone to help, eh?"
"Oh ho ho," Shao Chang had chuckled. "Not just help--an apprentice!"
"An apprentice? Oh ho! Couldn't get your daughter to take after you in the end?"
"No..." Shao Chang had grumbled bitterly. "She only hangs onto the coattails of that Madame Red. It's impossible to separate them..."
Besides smiling and nodding at the sparse customer, Qiu Yunru spent his days with a routine. At the beginning of each day, he went out to scavenge for ingredients in the city and the surrounding land. At noon, he returned and organized these ingredients while listening to Shao Chang muse about his dreams of growing his apothecary. After lunch, he spent hours brewing potions.
Shao Chang also peered over his shoulder at this point. Whether Qiu Yunru was crushing herbs, mixing ingredients, or boiling water, that old demon was like a shadow clinging to him with wide eyes and a giddy expression.
"Tell me--where did you learn this?" A thousand questions would bombard Qiu Yunru. "Astounding! Human medicine is truly unique...What does this one do? How long does it last? Is it poisonous to humans?"
Qiu Yunru, for his part, didn't mind too much at first. Since his favorite aspect of Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits had always been the alchemy, he didn't mind explaining a bit.
"This one is called Heart-Stopping poison in the Mortal Realm. It's rare to encounter there, but the main ingredient is quite common here. Though it's incredibly poisonous to humans and will lead to death for them within minutes, it has extraordinary healing properties for demons. You can think about it like this: the more poisonous it is to humans, the more healing it is to demons. The more healing it is to demons, the more poisonous it is to humans..."
Of course, after fifty times of explaining different concoctions, it became a little tiring. However, Qiu Yunru had always had politeness drilled into him--particularly in relation to his elders. So he kept on explaining and smiling, mixing and crushing.
As for what Liao Li was doing all this time...
Well, he was doing the marketing, of course!