Chapter 119: Another One

“Why 300 taels?”

Li Mo sneered.

Lately, it seemed he had become entangled with the number 300 taels of silver.

“With 300 taels, we can buy Yu Tong Ointment from Shun Medical Hall to treat our faces!” one of the women explained.

So that was the real reason.

Hearing her, someone in the crowd immediately shouted, “Yu Tong Ointment from Shun Medical Hall is indeed effective, it works much better than Snow Cream!”

“I heard that Shun Medical Hall makes Yuji Gao (Jade Skin Ointment)? They only produce five bottles a year, each costing 100 taels of gold, and ordinary people can’t even buy it! What is this Yu Tong Ointment then?” someone asked in confusion.

“You don’t know? Yu Tong Ointment is their new product. Its effects are almost as good as Yuji Gao, but it’s much cheaper, only 300 taels per jar, anyone can buy it!”

“300 taels? That’s so expensive!”

“Snow Cream costs 100 taels, too! Although Yu Tong Ointment is 200 taels more expensive, it’s from Shun Medical Hall, so it’s more reliable to use!”

“That’s true. Anyone who can afford Snow Cream is probably from a wealthy family, so spending an extra 200 taels for reassurance is worth it.”

“I’ve been watching Peach Blossom’s face improve day by day, and I was thinking of saving up to buy a jar of Snow Cream. But who would’ve thought something like this would happen! Looks like I’ll have to save more and go directly to Shun Medical Hall for the Yu Tong Ointment. At least I’ll feel more confident about it.”

“Exactly, in situations like this, it’s better to trust it than not. What if it really ruins your face? You’ll regret it too late.”

“True. If only Yu Tong Ointment was a little cheaper.”

…

Listening to the crowd’s discussion, Li Mo had already figured out who was behind this scheme today.

He had thought they would wait a little longer before striking, but they were too impatient.

These people really know how to put others down and lift themselves up.

For such a large establishment like Shun Medical Hall to resort to such underhanded tactics against their small Yong Le Hall was a real shame for their reputation.

Li Mo tried his best to calm down.

He watched as the two women smiled with satisfaction after hearing the crowd’s comments and couldn’t help but show a hint of a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth.

He ignored the crowd’s chatter and turned to the two women, asking, “Ladies, your clothes look quite beautiful. I wonder which tailor in town made them?”

The women were stunned by his question.

They thought, what’s wrong with this person?

We’re talking about our faces, and he’s talking about clothes.

However, they didn’t know which tailor had made them.

“We can buy whatever we like, what does it have to do with you?” one of the women retorted.

“The collar has a little butterfly design. These outfits, they must have been made at Hu’s Fabric Shop, right?” Li Mo continued.

“I’ve told you, what we wear has nothing to do with you!” one of the women snapped.

“It really has nothing to do with me, but the fact that you two can’t answer makes me think it’s not that you don’t want to, but that you don’t know, right?”

The two women’s faces showed a brief moment of embarrassment after their secret was exposed.

“We were talking about our faces, stop talking about other things!” one woman tried to change the subject.

But Li Mo didn’t let her have her way. He continued, “I see that your clothes and shoes are quite expensive, but your demeanor doesn’t match them at all. Could it be that these clothes were borrowed from someone else?”

The two women were momentarily stunned as Li Mo continued.

He said, “I’ve just observed carefully, both of you have thick calluses on your hands, this is the mark left by years of hard labor. So I must ask, since you’ve been working so hard, where did you get the money to buy our Snow Cream?”

Although Li Mo’s words were harsh, they were also the truth.

The daughters and wives of wealthy families never had to do manual labor. They had money and leisure, spending their time on embroidery or poetry.

The ones who worked the hardest were the poorest.

They worked year-round without rest, and the money they earned was barely enough to get by.

How could such people afford to spend 100 taels of silver on Snow Cream?

As soon as Li Mo finished speaking, the crowd immediately shifted their attention to the women’s hands.

The two women’s hearts tightened, and they quickly hid their hands inside their sleeves.

However, Li Mo’s words had made everyone more observant, and now they were examining the two women’s faces closely.

Earlier, they had been focused on the red marks on their faces, but now it was obvious, these women didn’t look well-groomed at all.

Though their hair was neatly styled and their faces had a layer of pink rouge, none of that could hide the wrinkles and scars left by years of hard labor.

The areas where the rouge had failed to cover, like their necks and ears, were rough and calloused. All of this pointed to their true identity, and they didn’t seem like the type of people who could afford such expensive clothes or Snow Cream.

“Could it be that you two are really here to slander Yong Le Hall?”

“Yeah! Did Snow Cream really ruin your faces?”

Seeing the crowd’s doubts, the two women became flustered. They looked around the crowd as if receiving some sort of signal, then suddenly became resolute and said, “Of course, it’s Snow Cream that ruined our faces! One hundred taels is not expensive. How could we not afford it?”

“Exactly! Shopkeeper, stop saying useless things! Quickly give us the 300 taels, or we won’t leave today, and your business will be ruined!”

Now that their true identities were exposed, the two women stopped pretending and sat down, acting like unreasonable, loud women.

As long as Yong Le Hall’s business was shut down, their task would be complete.

The master had said that they would get to keep the 300 taels for themselves.

Once the job was done, the master would even treat their faces for free, restoring them to their original state.

In that case, they would earn 300 taels without doing anything.

300 taels, this was money they could never make in their lifetime!

Today, they were determined to get that money.

As the two women sat down, someone from the crowd said, “Shopkeeper, don’t waste your time arguing with them. Anyway, you’ve made a lot of money from selling Snow Cream. Just give them the money, and it’ll save you the trouble. Otherwise, you’ll only delay business.”

“Right, with all these people gathered around, anyone who wants to buy medicine won’t be able to come in.”

“Exactly, we all know this is a medical hall, but if someone who doesn’t know comes by, they might think it’s a tea house with all these people gathered.”

“Tell me about it!”

The scene inside the medical hall was in chaos, and Li Mo couldn’t help but feel both frustrated and amused by the people’s comments.

Just then, someone outside shouted:

“Yong Le Hall is harming people! This ointment is definitely faulty!”

Great!

Not another one!