The potion exposed, Su Yuntao gains his third ring

"Grandpa Niu, from the look of you, you must have plowed all the neighbors' fields too!"

Duan Qingya sat outside the door cracking pumpkin seeds. Seeing Grandpa Niu return with a hoe over his shoulder, he teased him with a grin.

Grandpa Niu was not the least bit annoyed by his teasing. He smiled, set down his hoe, and took a handful of pumpkin seeds from Duan Qingya to eat.

"Even if I wanted to, they probably wouldn't let me. They're all afraid this old man will keel over in their fields!"

"That was before. Give it another couple of days, and the whole village will know our champion farmworker is back."

With that, Duan Qingya shifted over to make room for Grandpa Niu beside him.

"Hahaha, just an empty title! But Niu Er came looking for you this morning, didn't he?"

At that moment, Grandpa Niu abruptly changed tack, steering the conversation toward what had happened that morning.

"Uncle Niu Er asked why I let you work in the fields. I told him you'd taken medicine for your back injury, and once your back healed, you wanted to get back to work."

"But what you gave me wasn't medicine for a back injury, was it, Qingya?"

"Or, more precisely, treating a back injury wasn't its main purpose."

Hearing Grandpa Niu say that, Duan Qingya kept cracking pumpkin seeds and turned toward him in puzzlement. Grandpa Niu was gazing into the distance.

"Of course it was medicine for your back! I even made a point of asking someone about it. Did it not work?"

"If that's the case, Grandpa Niu, come with me tomorrow and we'll make that person give us a refund!"

But no matter how hard Duan Qingya put on his act, Grandpa Niu simply looked at him kindly.

"Qingya, it's all right! I'm not asking to test you. I just hope you won't spend any more effort on this old man."

"I'm already old. Anything you spend on me will only go to waste, and might even bring you trouble."

"But other than this, I don't know how to repay you."

Duan Qingya dropped his earlier show of "anger" and lowered his head, looking at the pumpkin seed shells scattered around his feet.

"When I first found you, I never thought you had to repay me someday. All I thought about was how to raise you."

"Now you're a Soul Master. With strength of your own, you'll always unconsciously reveal what makes you different."

While Duan Qingya pondered his words, Grandpa Niu held out the pumpkin seeds remaining in his hand.

"But a pumpkin that ripens too early will always be spotted and picked, becoming a dish on the table and a handful of seeds after the meal."

"So until the time is ripe, use the pumpkin leaves to keep yourself hidden a little longer."

"Grandpa Niu, did you study before?"

Duan Qingya took the seeds from Grandpa Niu's hand, and the two of them looked up into the distance.

"When I went to work in Nuoding City as a young man, I learned a little from a teacher."

"Definitely only a little, or you wouldn't have used pumpkins as your example."

"Oh, get away with you! You don't know the first thing about respecting your elders! Anyway, have you cooked? I'm getting hungry."

"No. You never told me when you'd be back. But there's some porridge left from my breakfast on the stove."

"That'll do. Something to tide me over!"

After their conversation that afternoon, Duan Qingya realized he had been drawing a little too much attention lately.

Especially in the matter of Su Yuntao.

Sometimes, if people wanted something, they didn't need to establish whether Duan Qingya actually had it.

A mere suspicion would be enough to land him in more trouble than he could handle.

Fortunately, before returning home, he had given Boss Ling the Stimulant Potion formula and asked him to sell it to the public.

If Su Yuntao failed to return to the Spirit Hall in Nuoding City, or remained impossible to find after returning, that would be a warning.

He would have to assess the situation and consider whether to flee.

But things did not seem to be as bad as Duan Qingya had imagined.

"Brother Duan, it's been over a month! I've really missed you!"

Dressed in a Spirit Hall deacon's uniform, Su Yuntao greeted Duan Qingya with buoyant confidence as he arrived to collect his stipend.

"Senior Su Yuntao, you really have soared straight into the clouds! A little over a month ago, you were still a junior staff member, and now you're a deacon."

Seeing Su Yuntao return safe and sound, Duan Qingya could finally set half his worries to rest.

"Of course! The head deacon even went out of his way to find me a Blazing Wolf over fourteen hundred years old. I'm a Soul Elder now!"

"But don't worry, Brother Duan. I certainly haven't forgotten my promise to help you hunt for your second soul ring."

"Then thank you for your help, Senior!"

Since Su Yuntao had brought up his earlier promise again, Duan Qingya could tell he was someone worth befriending.

"By the way, Brother Duan, I heard that Stimulant Potion you gave me is on sale now. Interested in working together?"

"I've only just taken office, so I don't have much on my hands yet. I could help you expand your sales channels."

"And, of course, put aside a little money for my future life with Sisi!"

At that, Su Yuntao, who had been radiating confidence a moment earlier, suddenly looked a little bashful.

"Oh! I didn't expect you to win Senior Sisi's heart so quickly, Senior Su Yuntao! Congratulations!"

At first, Duan Qingya was a little surprised that Sisi had accepted Su Yuntao's advances so quickly.

But on second thought, she had always been looking for a partner with money and influence.

Now Su Yuntao stood before her, newly promoted to deacon and wholeheartedly in love with her. Even a fool would know to seize that chance.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect it either."

"When I'd just returned, before I even had time to take up my post, Sisi came running over to tell me she'd liked me for a long time too!"

"When we get married, you absolutely have to come, Brother Duan!"

"After all, you helped me quite a bit while I was pursuing Sisi."

"As long as you haven't forgotten me, Senior Su Yuntao, I'll certainly be there on time."

Duan Qingya and Su Yuntao chatted a little longer before turning to how they could expand the Stimulant Potion's sales channels.

Now that he was a deacon, Su Yuntao's words would carry weight even at the Spirit Hall branches in several nearby cities.

"I can hire some transport crews cheaply and have them deliver your Stimulant Potions to the nearby cities."

"The Spirit Hall in each city has a number of shops under it. We can put the potions on their shelves under my name."

Listening to Su Yuntao's explanation, Duan Qingya clearly felt for the first time just how frightening the Spirit Hall's influence was in a small city like Nuoding City.

"Since all these potions will be sold under your name, Senior, you can take fifty percent of the profits, I'll take thirty percent, and we'll leave the remaining twenty percent for the others."

Duan Qingya knew he had no energy to handle these matters. Giving Su Yuntao the largest share was the best choice.

"Since you're being so generous, Brother Duan, I certainly can't let down your trust!"

"Once I've set up the sales channels, you can just sit back and count your money!"

Naturally, Su Yuntao did not refuse Duan Qingya's arrangement to give him the largest share.

Duan Qingya was still a student. Apart from providing the formula, there was very little he could do. If he took too much of the profits, someone would surely set their sights on him.

"Then I'll await your good news, Senior!"

With this source of income, Duan Qingya would no longer have to worry too much about the cost of gathering medicinal ingredients or paying his tuition.

As for whether the Stimulant Potion might sell poorly in other cities, that never even entered his calculations.

Boss Ling had already complained to him that ever since he started selling Stimulant Potions, people appeared outside his door at daybreak every day, waiting to buy them.

Even when Boss Ling brewed the potion in a huge iron pot, he could sell the whole batch within a day.

Only Boss Ling's devotion to treating patients kept him at it. Anyone else would have closed the pharmacy long ago and focused entirely on selling Stimulant Potions.

To the people of Nuoding City, Stimulant Potions were now like coffee to office workers in his previous life—they simply couldn't do without them!