Chapter 14: Foolish and Wealthy

Lu Feng deduced from the red blotches on Fang Huijuan’s face that she had taken weight-loss pills, and he also noticed her eyes were dry and bloodshot. Every detail he mentioned was logical and well-founded; even those unfamiliar with medicine found his words convincing.

Fang Huijuan was now entirely convinced by Lu Feng. She patted his arm with an air of familiarity. “Brother, I believe you. Let’s not dwell on the unpleasantness just now. Can you think of a way to get rid of the redness on my face?”

“It’s not hard. Just stop taking those weight-loss pills, and in a few days the redness will fade on its own,” Lu Feng replied.

“That won’t do. I’ve got a tea appointment with friends the day after tomorrow. I can’t show my face with these blotches. You have to help me clear them up fast—I’ll pay for your consultation,” Fang Huijuan insisted.

“Very well. I’ll write you a prescription to clear your liver and brighten your eyes. Take it home, make the decoction, and drink three doses each day. In two days, the redness will have faded enough that a little foundation will cover what’s left,” Lu Feng responded.

“Great! Let’s do it, write it up for me.” Fang Huijuan seized Lu Feng’s hand and pulled him toward her private room.

Su Dao’an quickly stepped forward to block her, smiling as he said, “Ms. Fang, our formulas at Yun’an are not to be shared. So, Lu Feng can write the prescription, but I’ll prepare the herbs and decoct them for you. You can come here to drink it, or I’ll have someone deliver it.”

China’s patent laws were still lacking, so Su Dao’an guarded the clinic’s formulas—especially the secret ones—most carefully. Now that Lu Feng was about to write a prescription, and more so, hand it over to someone else, Su Dao’an could not allow this. These were Yunshan’s closely guarded secrets; if they leaked today, by tomorrow someone else would be manufacturing and selling them in pharmacies.

“I understand, it’s a business secret. Fine, you two go prepare the prescription and decoct it; I’ll just wait here,” Fang Huijuan said magnanimously, not pressing the issue.

“Please wait a moment,” Su Dao’an said, preparing to lead Lu Feng away.

But Fang Huijuan held onto Lu Feng, her expression sly, as if she wanted to spirit him away. “Brother, while you’re at it, can you write me a weight-loss prescription, too? You know these blotches came from those pills…”

Su Dao’an interjected, “We have weight-loss treatments at our wellness center, Ms. Fang. You can simply order one.”

“I’ve tried your herbal weight-loss treatments—they’re too mild,” Fang Huijuan waved her hand dismissively.

“Gentle methods work slowly. If you want quick results, you have to use strong medicine—but see what happened when you went overboard?” Su Dao’an joked.

Fang Huijuan gave him a playful smack. “I wasn’t talking to you! I’m asking our brother here—can you help me just this once? Strong medicine is fine, as long as it doesn’t cause blotches.”

“There is a way. Losing thirty pounds in a month shouldn’t be a problem. But I’ll have to charge a consultation fee,” Lu Feng said.

“Name your price—whatever it is, I’ll pay!” The promise of losing thirty pounds in a month made Fang Huijuan agree without hesitation.

“Three…” Lu Feng held up three fingers, intending to say three thousand yuan—a city fee, ten times the village rate.

But Su Dao’an hastily pressed his fingers into a fist and interjected, “Thirty thousand yuan per course. Each course lasts seven days and you can lose seven to ten pounds. It’s our wellness center’s latest weight-loss program.”

Lu Feng stared wide-eyed at Su Dao’an. He had meant to charge three thousand, but in a flash Su Dao’an raised it to thirty thousand—for just a week’s treatment. Judging by Fang Huijuan’s figure, she’d need at least seven or eight courses, amounting to over two hundred thousand yuan.

Who would spend that much money on medicine just to lose weight? Only a fool, Lu Feng thought. Clearly, his mindset was nothing like the wealthy’s. Yet, the world was full of such “fools.”

Fang Huijuan slapped the armrest. “Good! I’ll try three courses. Don’t let me down.”

Lu Feng’s eyes widened further. His master’s “life savings” amounted to just eighty-three yuan and seventy cents—how could there be such a gap?

“I’ll arrange for the herbs. Ms. Fang, please rest here,” Su Dao’an said, pulling the dazed Lu Feng from the room.

“Three thousand for a simple digestive detox? Did I hear that right?” Lu Feng asked, incredulous. After all, his master’s entire savings were only eighty-three yuan and seventy cents—a lifetime’s accumulation!

“You heard right. If you asked for three thousand, she’d suspect your prescription was fake. Thirty thousand is what she pays for peace of mind,” Su Dao’an explained.

“So this is what my master meant when he told me, ‘There are fools with too much money out there’?” Lu Feng marveled at his prescription’s value.

“When I left the mountain, your master told me the same thing. The reality was harsher than I imagined!” Su Dao’an’s face clouded with memories, but then he led Lu Feng to his office. “Come, write the prescriptions while I arrange for the herbs.”

Lu Feng, unused to Su Dao’an’s mysterious ways, asked, “But I don’t understand—why don’t we give patients their prescriptions? They just drink whatever we brew, without knowing the ingredients? My master and I always wrote prescriptions for patients to fill themselves.”

“Xiaofeng, your medical skills surpass mine, but I have more business experience. We can’t let Yunshan’s formulas leak out, or others will profit from them,” Su Dao’an explained.

“Alright.” Lu Feng nodded, picking up a pen and jotting down the ingredients. Suddenly, he asked, “By the way, how much will I earn from this?”

Since leaving the mountain, Lu Feng had realized how hard life was without money—he couldn’t even get a proper meal. Once, he’d offered to treat a sick child on the street, only to be called a swindler and driven off with a broom. After that, he became obsessed with money—at least enough to eat his fill.

Su Dao’an immediately produced the card he’d meant to give Lu Feng earlier and handed it to him. “Here! It’s all yours.”

This time, Lu Feng felt he’d earned it, so he put the card away with a grin and asked, “How much is on it?”

“You have a credit limit of two hundred thousand yuan a month.”

“I meant, how much money is actually on it?” Lu Feng pressed.

“It’s a credit card—there’s no money on it.”

“No money? Are you kidding me?” Lu Feng was indignant.

“Alright, alright, keep the card. I’ll transfer two hundred thousand into it. Happy?” Su Dao’an had no energy to explain what a credit card was.

“Now that’s more like it.” Satisfied, Lu Feng went back to writing the prescriptions.

With two new prescriptions in hand, Su Dao’an cheerfully went out to have the herbs prepared.

In fact, Su Dao’an didn’t quite believe Lu Feng’s claim that his weight-loss formula could help someone lose thirty pounds in a month. He wasn’t ignorant of traditional medicine—most weight-loss formulas simply cleansed the digestive system, and losing ten pounds was already impressive. Advertising tended to exaggerate, and even then, a three to five times overstatement was considered modest; nowadays, some ads were downright outrageous.

Su Dao’an figured that if Fang Huijuan managed to lose seven or eight pounds in a month, she’d be satisfied.

But that was because he didn’t yet know Lu Feng’s character well. Lu Feng never exaggerated; if he said thirty pounds, it would be thirty—if not more.