With the clogging episode coming to an end, Su Tao finally felt how tough it was to manage a store and the harshness between competitors in the industry. The methods from his opponent were practically hard to guard against, and Bai Fan was a formidable opponent. Although the latter's methods weren't glorious, there was nothing Su Tao could do to him since this competition has exceeded the boundary of law and was extremely lethal.
"Master, what should we do now? Although those people are no longer queuing and Senior Dou is accepting patients now, our popularity is still lacking when compared to the Medicine King Hall." Zhao Jian sighed. He was the scout today, so he understood the situation over at the Medicine King Hall.
"Come here!" Su Tao waved his hand towards Zhao Jian before whispering into the latter's ears.
Hearing Su Tao's words, Zhao Jian's eyes beamed and he immediately said, "I'll go and make arrangements now!"
Standing to the side, Cai Yan was curious and she asked, "What did you tell him?"
"Get him to trash the other party's store!" Su Tao tried to scare Cai Yan.
However, Cai Yan did not fall for it and she rolled her eyes. "If you really did that, you're just digging your own grave. Since you're not willing to share, then I won't ask about it anymore."
"It's just some little tricks, and I'm afraid that it might affect my image in your heart if I shared it with you." Su Tao replied.
"Alright, I'll allow you to keep your mystery, then." Cai Yan did not question anymore, but went to help out at the counter.
When Zhao Jian came to the door, he waved his hand at a local before whispering in the latter's ear. In the end, he even shoved a few hundred yuan bills in his hand.
Asking someone for help required money. Then again, the Three Flavour Hall wasn't as wealthy as the Medicine King Hall. The latter spent tens of thousands, and they only spent a few hundred.
The one that Zhao Jian asked for help from was Wang Tieshu, who had a good relationship with Zhao Jian and even helped out a lot during the establishment of this branch. Nodding his head in satisfaction, Wang Tieshu walked towards the Medicine King Hall and saw a familiar figure, so he greeted, "Aunt Qiao, you're here to see a doctor too?"
"Yeah, the Medicine King Hall invited a TCM grandmaster today, and my old ailment feels so much better after the massage. Here, he even gave me a prescription." Madam Qiao smiled, with her eyes narrowed.
"Really? How much does the medicine cost?" Wang Tieshu asked as his gaze fell on the package.
"Just this medicine alone costs ¥2,800!" Madam Qiao's economic condition was pretty good. Both she and her husband were working. But since the elderly were generally frugal in their spending, she still felt heartache for spending so much money.
Knitting his brows, Wang Tieshu sucked a deep breath and asked, "It's so expensive? Why do I feel that you got cheated, for some reason?"
Madam Qiao was in a pretty good mood, and due to her Cervical Spondylosis getting better, she bought the medicine on impulse. But upon hearing Wang Tieshu's words, she jolted and felt that something was amiss in this matter. She came for the free medical consultation, so how did she spend so much upon leaving the pharmacy?
"It's all for my health, so this much is nothing." Madam Qiao lied against her heart. Since she has already spent the money, it's useless for her to regret it now.
Shaking his head, Wang Tieshu replied, "The herbs in Medicine King Hall have always been expensive, and I'm sure that the medicine isn't meant for a single course. When you're done with it, you will have to make more purchases. This is simply a bottomless pit!"
Madam Qiao was stunned by his words. Duanmu Xiong told her clearly that she would require at least three treatment courses to treat her Cervical Spondylosis, and she only bought a course to see how effective it was. Through Wang Tieshu's reminder, she instantly calculated in her heart. Three courses meant at least ¥8,400! She and her husband have been frugal with their living, and she immediately felt heartache at this huge expense.
"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. I still have to get medical attention for my condition!" Madam Qiao weakly sighed as she continued, "If a person isn't sick, then we won't have to spend a single cent."
"Well, you can't put it that way!" Wang Tieshu persuaded, "As the saying goes, you have to make a comparison before spending. The Three Flavour Hall here is also having a free medical consultation, why don't you give it a try?"
"Give it a try?" Madam Qiao was perplexed as she looked at Wang Tieshu.
"Yeah, truthfully speaking, I went to the Medicine King Hall earlier before the Three Flavour Hall. After making a comparison, the difference in cost is nearly ten times for a similar illness!" After beating around the bush, Wang Tieshu got to the main topic that Zhao Jian paid him for.
"Ten times?!" Madam Qiao was tempted upon hearing it and she asked, "How's the effect?"
Letting out a sigh, Wang Tieshu responded, "Aunt Qiao, Dou Fanggang's fame is greater than that Duanmu Xiong. In terms of effect, Dou Fanggang's treatment is naturally much better."
"Alright, I'll take a look at the Three Flavour Hall, since it's free." Madam Qiao made up her mind. Since she has already purchased a medicine course, there's no way that she's going to spend any more money.
After Madam Qiao left, Wang Tieshu stood to the side and waited for his next target.
The task that Zhao Jian gave him was to convince the customers of the Medicine King Hall to take a trip to the Three Flavour Hall, and he only had to use his mouth to earn this easy money.
After Madam Qiao waited for roughly fifteen minutes, she finally got her turn with Dou Fanggang.
When Dou Fanggang glanced at her, she felt her heart tensing up, since she found this old man to be pretty good-looking. As she sat down, she stretched her wrist out.
Shaking his head, Dou Fanggang smiled. "There's actually no need for me to take your pulse. The condition of your body is pretty good, and there isn't any big issue. If there's really an issue, it would be your cervical vertebra."
Hearing those words, Madam Qiao sighed. There was a drastic difference between the evaluation of Dou Fanggang and Duanmu Xiong on her condition.
Duanmu Xiong told her that her condition wasn't easy to treat, with primary symptoms such as dizziness in the morning. If she didn't get it treated soon, it might affect her organs. Hence, treatment cannot be delayed, and it had to be placed under control swiftly.
"Now, I'm a little uneasy with your words. Truth be told, I just visited Physician Duanmu from the Medicine King Hall…" Madam Qiao felt the need to tell Dou Fanggang about the result of her consultation for him to use as a reference.
Waving his hand, Dou Fanggang glanced at the package that Madam Qiao placed on the floor and smiled. "If I'm guessing correctly, he should've prescribed you a Blood Circulation Soup. It should contain 30 grams of Turmeric, 30 grams of Macrocarpium Fruit, 30 grams of Kudzu's tuber, 10 grams of Licorice Root, 30 grams of Milk Vetch Root, 15 grams of Angelica Sinensis, 15 grams of Ligusticum Chuanxiong, 20 grams of Ramulus Mori, and 20 grams of Cinnamon. Take one dose a day that is separated into the morning, afternoon, and night."
"There's something else too!" Although Madam Qiao was getting on her age, her memory was still excellent and corrected, "There's also 15 grams of Ginseng and 15 grams of Reishi."
Hearing those words, Dou Fanggang was briefly stunned before he sighed. He was wondering why Duanmu Xiong would add those two expensive herbs in it, but he wasn't in a position to expose the latter. Thus, he said, "How about this. I'll gift you some ointment patches for you to periodically place on the painful spot. If it goes as I've expected, it should bring a pretty good effect in about fifteen days."
"Gift?" Madam Qiao's eyes lit up as she verified, "It doesn't cost any money?"
Nodding his head, Dou Fanggang replied, "Since I'm hosting a charity consultation, they're naturally free."
No one would say "no" to a freebie when it was presented in their faces. Wearing a bright expression, Madam Qiao thanked, "Thank you, Physician Dou."
For this trip, Dou Fanggang brought some medicine over that was concocted by him personally. "I'll apply one for you, you just have to change them from time to time in the future."
"Then, I'll trouble you." Madam Qiao said with joy.
There was actually a skill in applying the ointment patches. Ordinary people would only paste it on the spot that hurts. Still, an experienced physician would apply a massage around the pain to improve blood circulation before applying the ointment patch.
After Dou Fanggang was done, Madam Qiao could feel a warm current circulating from her cervical vertebra and many sore spots instantly felt better.
This was the sign of "One cleared, all cleared" behind TCM.
As Madam Qiao stretched her body, she noticed that she could easily move her neck upwards, which she had a tough time doing in the past. There was a clear sign of improvement from the treatment.
"What about this prescription I got from the Medicine King Hall?" At this moment, Madam Qiao's heart wavered, since she knew that Duanmu Xiong had cheated her.
"This Blood Circulation Soup truly has a pretty good effect on treating Cervical Spondylosis, but it's time-consuming. I suggest you use it together with the ointment patch. Your condition will then be alleviated in about a week. At that time, you can stop using it." Dou Fanggang patiently explained.
If Dou Fanggang had launched malicious attacks towards Duanmu Xiong, Madam Qiao might be suspicious. However, Dou Fanggang was impartial and made suggestions from the standpoint of the patient.
"Thank you!" Madam Qiao was in a good mood. After all, she just learned from Dou Fanggang that her condition wasn't that serious. As for the ¥2,800 she spent in the Medicine King Hall, she considered it to be a lesson.
But when she came to the hall in the Three Flavour Hall, she started feeling unbalanced after looking around.
There weren't many people that purchased herbs in the Three Flavour Hall, since most of them came for the charity consultation. Dou Fanggang used practical TCM techniques that could bring an immediate effect. As for prescriptions, the patients were only given the simplest prescriptions that wouldn't cost over ¥200.
The more Madam Qiao thought about this, the more furious she became when she realised that Duanmu Xiong had cheated her.
Although she couldn't get a refund for those herbs, she definitely wasn't willing to let it go. Hence, she learned from Wang Tieshu and they camped near the Medicine King Hall to obstruct any customers that wanted to visit the store and shared their experience.
When the customers heard that the Medicine King Hall's charity consultation was actually a scam to trick customers into buying expensive herbs, they immediately turned away and headed for the Three Flavour Hall instead.
Hence, the news started to spread out.
After Duanmu Xiong ate during the two-hour break in the afternoon, he even squeezed in a thirty-minute nap. But when he was back in action, he noticed that the number of patients has decreased. On the other hand, a massive queue has formed outside the Three Flavour Hall once more.
