Behind the Kang family, after all, stood an expert! Seeing this cut-rate version of the wound medicine only confirmed that notion for Wei Zhao.

There was little to be gained by making an issue of this wound medicine, so Wei Zhao set it aside.

If Wei Zhao wanted to turn things around, the only way was to create some negative publicity for Kang the Divine Physician's pharmaceutical company. Even Wei Zhao, who knew nothing of business operations, understood this simple truth—otherwise, even if Guandafu Pharmaceuticals launched a similar product, it would be hard to reverse the situation. A pure price war was no longer viable, because Kang the Divine Physician's pharmaceutical company had also gotten its hands on a low-cost formula.

The next target was the deluxe edition of the wound medicine. As for the two-hundred-and-ninety-nine-yuan deluxe wound medicine, Wei Zhao did not need to look to know that the Kang family must have altered the formula. This was not the beauty-and-skin-nourishing wound medicine from the auction, but a new product modeled on Wei Zhao's deluxe trauma medicine—otherwise, the single ingredient of thousand-year snow lotus alone would have bankrupted the Kang family.

Sure enough, it was a very ordinary formula, an upgrade built upon the base wound medicine. Wei Zhao sniffed the scent of the medicine, and what he found left him deeply shocked!

This pharmacist behind the Kang family was highly skilled. The medicines added here were much the same as the several ingredients Wei Zhao had added to his deluxe trauma medicine... but after a moment, a look of puzzlement surfaced on Wei Zhao's face.

There was nothing wrong with these ingredients, but to bring out their medicinal properties, the deluxe wound medicine seemed to be missing one ingredient—one that was present in Wei Zhao's deluxe trauma medicine, yet absent from Kang the Divine Physician's!

But it was not there. So how did this medicine achieve its scar-removing effect?

Wei Zhao squeezed out a little of the deluxe wound medicine and smeared it on his hand. After a while, an expression of understanding appeared on his face, tinged with a touch of delight!

Hormones! Although a small amount of this hormone did no harm to the human body, it ran counter to Kang the Divine Physician's promotional slogan of a pure herbal preparation with no toxins and no side effects. This was a perfect point of attack!

Wei Zhao fetched paper and pen and quickly wrote out the hormone content in the deluxe wound medicine and the method for testing it, intending to hand it to Fat Lai the next day.

Having done all this, Wei Zhao began to study Kang the Divine Physician's Baixiaotong. Although the scent of the ingredients was very strong, Wei Zhao tasted it and still detected something unusual in it—aminopyrine, a chemical substance commonly used in Western medicines such as painkillers and cold remedies. Although it was widely used in many kinds of medicines, the fact that the Kang family had now put it into their so-called pure herbal preparation, Kang the Divine Physician's Baixiaotong, seemed more than a little off. Long-term use could even cause abnormal liver and kidney function!

Yet the package insert made no mention of this. Naturally, Wei Zhao would not let it slide; he continued writing the chemical name and testing method on the paper.

The last thing he took up was Kang the Divine Physician's weight-loss medicine. Faced with this weight-loss medicine, Wei Zhao's brows knitted deeply—this was by far the most complex formula he had found among all of Kang the Divine Physician's products!

By Wei Zhao's preliminary estimate, there were no fewer than twenty ingredients in it, which meant that for the moment he could not work out just what was inside, and naturally understood even less of its pharmacology and properties. But Wei Zhao was in no hurry!

When he was small, Old Man Wei, while teaching Wei Zhao medicine, would often mix together completely unrelated herbs and have Wei Zhao identify what was in them. This had honed Wei Zhao's keen sense of smell—according to Old Man Wei, only in this way could one guard against being poisoned to death.

The sound of a car came from the courtyard. Wei Zhao looked up—the Grand Cherokee had driven back. Wu Chengtian, the young miss, and Xiaoshu had all returned, and out of the car with them came General Weiwu and the Thunder Pig; Grandma Sun, however, had not come along. Wei Zhao set aside what he was doing and stepped out of the room. Gu Mengyao happened to be coming in, so Wei Zhao asked, "Yaoyao, didn't Grandma Sun come with you?"

"No. She said that when we go to Donghai City she'll come with us, but for these few days she'll still stay in the old house. She's lived there for many years and has grown attached to it—she can't bear to leave just like that," Gu Mengyao said.

"That's fine too." Wei Zhao nodded. Taking Grandma Sun away had also been out of fear that living there alone, she might draw retaliation from the Yu Liu and You Shisan families. A lone woman could hardly cope with that, but at least for now, before those families had time to react, Grandma Sun was in no danger.

"Wu Tieshou, come help me carry the boxes!" Xiaoshu had begun unpacking the things brought over from her villa.

"Right!" Wu Chengtian nodded without a word and ran off to help Xiaoshu with the work. A fine expert of peak late Mystic rank, accomplished in both internal and external cultivation, reduced to a porter—only around Wei Zhao would such a thing happen!

Of course, this was in the secular world. In the ancient sects it would be nothing unusual—the outer disciples of the Ice Palace, apart from their cultivation, spent every day doing odd jobs.

Wei Zhao returned to his room and continued studying the formula of that weight-loss medicine, when his phone suddenly rang.

He picked up the phone and, looking at the name on the screen, felt a flicker of surprise.

"Xu Shilan? Why is she suddenly calling?" To be honest, Wei Zhao and Xu Shilan were not exactly close, though not exactly strangers either—after all, everyone around him was crazy about her: Xiaoxiao, Yaoyao, and Xiaoshu, and... who else was it? Wei Zhao paused at the thought, then shook his head helplessly.

"Wei Zhao, I heard Guandafu Pharmaceuticals has run into trouble? I just got back from doing promotions abroad and only just heard the news—is there anything I can help with?" Xu Shilan asked.

As the spokesperson for Guandafu Pharmaceuticals, and a frequent buyer of its painkillers, she naturally paid close attention to the company. She had heard the news the moment she returned, and so had called Wei Zhao at the first opportunity.

"For now... no need. I can handle it." Wei Zhao had not expected Xu Shilan to call, which surprised him somewhat. Given his relationship with Xu Shilan, they were hardly close enough for that, were they? And yet Xu Shilan and Xiaoxiao and the others were indeed on good terms.

"Mmm... that's all right. If you need anything, just say the word..." Xu Shilan said.

"Need anything?" Listening to Xu Shilan's lovely voice, Wei Zhao suddenly found his thoughts wandering... Xu Shilan's soft voice made it hard for any normal man not to let his imagination run wild, especially when the words were so ambiguous.

For the fastest updates and ad-free reading, please visit.