Lin Jin was startled.
The way the Shi family stared at him was like how a hun
The Shi family stared at him like how a pack of starving wolves would stare at a juicy piece of meat. The ice queen Shi Wenjun was no exception.
Before Lin Jin could understand what on earth was happening, the group ‘pounced’ at him.
“What an accomplished young man you are, Appraiser Lin! It was an honor for us to be given the chance to watch your pelletization process.”
“Appraiser Lin is truly a master in pelletization! There were some aspects of the art that even I did not understand. I do hope that I’ll be able to receive your guidance.”
“Appraiser Lin…”
Lin Jin was instantly overwhelmed by the group.
Fortunately, the Fourth Uncle cleared his throat, reminding the group how intrusive they were currently, and urging them to calm down.
“Appraiser Lin, I’ve learned a lot today. As expected, beyond an able man are always more able men. If it isn’t too big a fuss, Appraiser Lin, please stay for a meal with us! We’d be glad to be able to learn more about pelletization from you,” said Fourth Uncle respectfully.
Realization dawned on Lin Jin that perhaps it was the unconventional pelletization method provided by the museum that elicited such an unexpected reaction from the Shi family.
However, it was best they forget about receiving guidance or tips from him.
It was less of Lin Jin being a petty person and more of him not knowing much about pelletization. If he did proceed to give them a lecture, he’d eventually reveal how half-baked his understanding of the topic was.
And so, Lin Jin had no choice but to reject their request.
He was busy, he told them.
The Shi family wasn’t exactly shocked to hear his reply. After all, pelletization knowledge from the magnificent Spiritual Mantra of Pills shouldn’t be offered that easily. Had they been in Lin Jin’s position, they would have turned the request down as well.
Now that he had the pill he wanted, and as Lin Jin had other matters to attend to, he bid them farewell.
Shi Wenjun saw him to the door. By the time she came back to the room, she saw her fourth uncle and the others standing in a circle, engaged in serious discussion.
Now that no outsider was around, they could finally speak openly.
Fourth Uncle could be heard saying, “Appraiser Lin is young and capable. Not only is he a Rank 2 beast appraiser, but I was also thoroughly surprised by how knowledgeable he is in pelletization! Do any of you know if he’s engaged to a woman or if he has a wife?”
As intelligent individuals, the group immediately understood what Fourth Uncle was planning.
However, they truly didn’t know much about Lin Jin. At the sight of Shi Wenjun, they asked her about it.
Shi Wenjin did look into Lin Jin’s background previously so obviously, she knew much more about him than them.
“Appraiser Lin isn’t married but he used to have a fiancé!” Before Shi Wenjun could continue speaking, Fourth Uncle asked hastily, “he’s engaged? To which family?”
“The Chen family,” Shi Wenjun answered.
“What?!”
The group was shocked. In recent years, the Chen family who also dealt in the medicine trade managed to catch up to them. In fact, they were now dominating the market within Maple City, surpassing them. Being their rivals, the Shi family gasped upon hearing about Lin Jin’s relationship with the Chen family.
Fourth Uncle, in particular, looked especially troubled. “This is bad. That Chen family has already surpassed us in the medicine hall industry. If they get Appraiser Lin as well, given his caliber in pelletization, our Shi family will be doomed.”
Looks of despair appeared on everyone else’s face.
Shi Wenjun snorted. “Fourth Uncle, didn’t I say that Appraiser Lin used to be engaged to the Chen family. But a little while after that, the Chen family went back on their word and called off the engagement.”
Fourth Uncle and the others were momentarily dumbfounded.
Their expressions reflected what was going through their mind. ‘Is the Chen family dumb or something? Did Chen Wenlin have his head kicked in by a donkey? Why would they do such a foolish thing?’
Shi Wenjun supplied, “I’ve investigated the matter. Appraiser Lin tends to keep a low profile and doesn’t get involved in power struggles so he has never flaunted his prowess. Meanwhile, that Chen Wenlin is a hypocrite. Despite his righteous facade, there’s no doubt that he’s a greedy man. He had his eyes on Appraiser Lin purely because of his identity as an official beast appraiser. When Appraiser Lin was oppressed by the Beast Appraisal Association’s chief, when he was at his lowest point, his daughter was adamant about breaking off the engagement. Surprise surprise, Chen Wenlin agreed to it without hesitation. Later on, when Appraiser Lin made his comeback, he proactively tried to mend his relationship with Appraiser Lin out of regret. So far, there are no signs that he succeeded.”
“Haha, he deserves it!” Fourth Uncle jumped up in joy. “Even the heavens are helping our family! Thank heavens!”
Shi Wenjun now understood her Fourth Uncle’s plan. She intended to say something but held herself back in the end.
After all, Fourth Uncle was only being considerate for the family.
“Wenbing, your daughter Huilin is twenty-eight this year. She’s clever and gentle so she definitely qualifies as a candidate; Old Five, your granddaughter Ruotong is of a similar age. She’s just a year younger than Huilin so count her in as well!”
Fourth Uncle began making the necessary arrangements, all while rubbing his hands together in glee. Shi Wenbing and their Fifth Uncle did not object to his suggestion.
If they managed to marry one of their female descendants to Lin Jin, the expert on the Spiritual Mantra of Pills would be theirs! This trade was in their favor no matter from which perspective one viewed it!
Suddenly, someone chipped in, “It’d be great if he could marry into our family.”
Fourth Uncle frowned and snapped, “We’re the ones requesting for Appraiser Lin, not the other way around. Marry into our family? Don’t lump him together with that wretched fool Wu Chenwe-”
Halfway through his sentence, upon realizing he had said something extremely inappropriate, Fourth Uncle shut his mouth immediately.
Their faces stiffened as the atmosphere turned awkward. Shi Wenjun was still here after all and it was just this morning that she had announced her divorce from Wu Chenwei.
Although Wu Chenwei was obviously the one humiliated in this situation, the Shi family wasn’t that better off as well.
To their surprise, Shi Wenjun was unfazed by the remark. She got up and said, “I understand Fourth Uncle’s intention. Solidifying relationships through marriage has always been a reliable strategy, proven since ancient times. As the head of the Shi family, I agree with getting along with Appraiser Lin. However, we mustn’t be too hasty or we’d risk things going against our favor.”
The Shi family members nodded in agreement.
Before they decided on the marriage, they had to first hear the other party’s opinion. Otherwise, this happy event might potentially end up in flames.
No one brought up Wu Chenwei anymore. After all, Shi Wenjun was the current head of the household. No one else had the right to make comments about her divorce. Moreover, they had long since been annoyed by Wu Chenwei, with their Fourth Uncle commenting more than once that the man wasn’t worthy of Shi Wenjun.
Indeed, he wasn’t worthy of her.
Hence, they let the divorce happen through silent acquiescence. Given Shi Wenjun’s age and appearance, her background and capabilities, it wasn’t hard for them to get another live-in son-in-law.
However, a piece of earth-shattering news soon arrived at the Shi family.
Since noon, the Chen family medicine hall had begun selling ready-made pills, and their pills were similar to what the Shi family were selling but at a considerably lower price.
This got the Shi family agitated.
The Chen family had already surpassed them in the medicine hall business, making pill production the Shi family’s sole lifeline and main area of expertise.
Now, the Chen family was expanding into this field and were selling pills that were similar to the Shi family’s to boot. What they did was basically hitting the final nail in the coffin for the Shi family.
Needless to say, if the Chen family seized even their pill business, the Shi family was bound to crumble, never to rise again.
This got even Shi Wenjun panicking.
By nightfall, the Shi family’s subordinates who were sent out to investigate came back with more news.
There were two things they could confirm.
One was the alliance between Wu Chenwei and Chen Wenlin. Two was that Wu Chenwei was definitely behind the Chen family’s recent expansion into the pill market.
Although they didn’t concrete evidence, it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.
If the Chen family wanted to venture into selling pills, they could have done it by hiring alchemists. Their only problem was not having the relevant pill prescriptions.
A pill prescription was the key to this trade.
The fact that the Chen family was selling pills similar to the Shi family’s only proved that Wu Chenwei had somehow stolen their family’s prescription for the Chen family.
Gathering inside Shi manor’s main hall were the shopkeepers from their medicine hall branches. Everyone wore the same worried expression.
“Sir, let’s report the Chen family to the authorities for intellectual property theft,” one of the shopkeepers proposed.