Chapter 91: Hemostatic Pill (Poor)

Chen Shao stopped speaking and took An Yinan back to the Xinhua Bookstore.

"Does that old man have a story?" An Yinan rarely saw people like him; it seemed as if nothing could stir his emotions.

Either he was extremely disappointed in the world, or he had lost the motivation to live.

Chen Shao nodded and poured a cup of hot water for An Yinan.

"That old man was originally a wealthy merchant. He donated half of his family property at the beginning, but he didn't expect that he still couldn't hold onto the other half. During the war, his children were all lost, leaving only the old couple to guard that small house."

"The neighborhood office saw they had no income, so they arranged for them to sweep the streets. They only received a few yuan a month; let alone eating their fill, just staying alive was not easy."

"I don't know what happened this year, but suddenly that courtyard was returned to them. However, the old man is disheartened and only wants to live his days in peace, fearing those things might happen all over again. That is why he wants to rent out the house, so he can maintain his food for a few more days."

Chen Shao also felt some pity for them, but there was not much he could do.

"So that's how it is." Every bit of indifference—was there really no reason for it?

"Uncle Chen, just have the canning jars I bought sent directly to the courtyard. By the way, where can these small bottles be made?" An Yinan took two bottles out of her pocket.

One bottle was very small, only the size of a thumb, and it had a specific lid.

The other bottle was slightly larger, cylindrical, with a diameter of four centimeters at the top and bottom, and a height of four centimeters as well.

The small bottle would only hold two Hemostatic Pills; for external application and internal use, two were enough.

She planned to make some Anti-freeze Ointment and Anti-crack Ointment for the larger bottle. She had seen the cracks on Chen Xun's hands and wanted to send some over. Those cracks might only be slightly painful and they didn't care, but if they were on a mission, even the slightest flaw could affect the mission's outcome.

Especially for undercover missions, she didn't want Chen Xun to expose his identity and be in danger because of these things.

"These bottles are too exquisite; I need to go and ask." Chen Shao didn't know the result either, but he took the two samples.

An Yinan nodded, "Don't worry about the price. The more of these bottles, the better, and the same goes for the canning jars."

Chen Shao understood the importance, nodded, and replied, "I understand."

After An Yinan left, Chen Shao rode his bicycle to the glass factory. The glass factory mostly made glass jars for canning now, but they also made some dark-colored glass. Those who could afford to use it were some factories; as for individuals, let alone the price, they couldn't even get the authorization slips approved.

"Brother Chen, why did you come over?" A man about the same age as Chen Shao walked to the entrance and saw Chen Shao.

Chen Shao smiled and took out a cigarette, "I'm looking for your help."

The man took the cigarette but didn't smoke it, tucking it behind his ear instead.

"What is it, brother? Just say the word."

"I want canning jars, the more the better." Chen Shao got straight to the point.

Upon hearing this, the man said, "Hi, I thought it was some big deal. Are five hundred enough?"

Chen Shao patted the man on the shoulder, "Thanks, brother. There is one more thing—can you make these two types of bottles here?"

The man took the two bottles; the craftsmanship was very exquisite, and the sealing effect was very good.

"If you want to achieve this kind of sealing effect, it will cost at least five cents each. And it has to be done in batches; one batch needs one thousand bottles to start the machine." The man was also honest and stated the price directly, holding up a large palm to represent the price.

Chen Shao thought of An Yinan's seriousness and her saying not to worry about the price, and that the more the better.

Five cents each; one thousand would be fifty yuan.

Two types of bottles would be one hundred yuan.

"Do it!" Chen Shao made up his mind.

"Let's do one batch of each. Brother, I won't stand on ceremony with you; I'll treat you to a meal next time." Chen Shao laughed.

The man was also a bit surprised. This was not a small amount of money, and this bottle belonged to a special mold. Although it used less material, it was labor-intensive and time-consuming; much of the cost was in the labor. You have to know that one thousand canning jars only cost twenty yuan.

But for this small bottle, one thousand of them cost more than double that.

"If the seal isn't this good, it will be much cheaper. Won't that kind work?" The man asked anyway.

Chen Shao shook his head, "I want the ones with the good seal."

The man had given his advice, so he stopped talking, "Alright then. We have canning jars in stock; should I just send you one thousand of those too?"

"Then make it one thousand." Canning jars were cheap; he knew the price.

Since he had already ordered one thousand of the others, the cheap ones would be the same.

An Yinan had also specifically instructed him to get as many as possible, so he steeled his heart.

Although he didn't know what Nan Nan needed them for, it was clear she really needed them; otherwise, she wouldn't have asked both times she came.

"Brother, just send them directly to this address. I won't pay in advance; I'll give it all to you when they arrive. I'll definitely treat you to the State-run Restaurant next time," he said.

"Brother, why are you being so polite with me? I'll go inside and place the order now, so I won't keep you."

An Yinan, who had returned to the village, did not know that the bottles she was worried about had already been taken care of. At this moment, she was in the space, decocting the medicinal herbs for the Hemostatic Pill. The pill formula was very complex, requiring specific herbs to be added at every node and demanding strict control over the heat. To meet these standards, An Yinan spent an entire half-day doing nothing but guarding the Medicine Furnace.

The first time, looking at the pitch-black medicinal dregs, let alone Honey Pills, there was nothing left but a furnace of medicinal ash.

"Ding: Successfully refined Hemostatic Pill. Reward: one Medicine Furnace. Failure will result in the space being disabled for fifteen days."

An Yinan's eyes lit up; this was the second task.

The first task was to save Aunt Yun Dan. Was this task actually a follow-up? Refining the Hemostatic Pill.

If she had cleared her schedule earlier, would the task have been triggered sooner?

An Yinan was not discouraged. Since the first attempt failed, she continued with the second, but having learned from the first experience, she was more attentive in controlling the fire.

The second time, it had a slight fishy, foul odor, but it couldn't be molded into Honey Pills.

"Failed?" An Yinan was puzzled. She had followed the steps exactly, and those steps were already memorized in her mind.

She didn't believe it. She made a cut on her arm and dripped the slightly fishy medicinal liquid onto it. The blood could be seen with the naked eye slowly coagulating, though the speed was very, very slow.

"It seems the medicinal effect is there, but the efficacy is just not good."

An Yinan was not in a hurry. Instead, she kept writing and drawing in her notebook, summarizing the experience of the few attempts bit by bit, slowly organizing her thoughts and eliminating some uncertainties.

The third time, there was no fishy smell of Chinese herbs; instead, it carried a faint, refreshing fragrance.

An Yinan proceeded to the next step: boiling the honey, adding the concentrated liquid of the decocted herbs, and then adding the medicinal powder.

She watched as the Hemostatic Pill took shape in her hands bit by bit.

"Ding: Hemostatic Pill (Poor) production complete. Reward: one Medicine Furnace."

Putting aside the Medicine Furnace for a moment, what is the meaning of this errand?