Chapter 117: Chapter 117

Just thinking about the Old Master’s cane made Simon Hawthorne shudder.

He walked despondently down the street, when a man with a head of instant-noodle curls, carrying a big bag, stopped Simon to sell him something.

Simon was very annoyed, "Go away, go away, don’t bother me."

But the noodle-curl man was persistent, "Bro, if you don’t like DVDs, I’ve got other stuff, like shampoo, body wash, hair tonic, male enhancement, you name it..."

Simon’s eyes lit up when he heard "hair tonic."

However, he quickly thought, how could a hair tonic with such great effects be sold at a place ?

Vendors like these usually sell knock-offs and counterfeit goods.

Seeing Simon stop, the noodle-curl man thought he was interested and immediately pulled out the stuff for Simon to see.

"Look, look, bro, my stuff is all top-notch brand goods, sourced through special channels, cheaper than what’s sold in stores..."

Simon tried to push the man away but noticed the yellow box in his hand.

Simon snatched the box, which had no labels or production date, just like the hair tonic box Sonny Chambers had sold him.

He asked the noodle-curl man, "What’s this?"

The noodle-curl man replied, "This seems to be either a shampoo or a hair tonic, let me see..."

He opened it to take a look and was about to say it was conditioner, but Simon saw the color and didn’t give him a chance to speak, "This is hair tonic!"

The noodle-curl man quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, it’s hair tonic!"

Whatever you say it is!

Simon grabbed the noodle-curl man, "How much of this hair tonic do you have? I’ll take it all!"

Darn it! Turns out Sonny Chambers bought his hair tonic from a street stall!

He’s been fooling me for so long!

Simon thought it must be made by some folk expert, and even though it was an unregistered product, as long as it worked, it didn’t matter.

This could help him appease the Old Master.

The noodle-curl man hesitated, thinking he misheard, "Dude, do you really want all of it? I have like ten or so boxes."

"All of it, all of it, take me to get the goods quickly!" Simon said, fearing they’d run out if he was late.

The noodle-curl man suspected Simon was an undercover cop trying to trace the unregistered product manufacturers, and watched Simon warily.

Simon thought the man was unsatisfied with the price and indicated with his fingers, "I’ll give you this much for one box!"

The noodle-curl man, "Ten bucks?"

Simon thought it was too little, "How about a hundred bucks?"

The noodle-curl man immediately said, "You give me the money first, then I’ll take you to it!"

Once he got the money, he didn’t care if Simon was undercover, he wasn’t the manufacturer anyway.

Simon immediately ran to a nearby bank, withdrew the money, and handed it to the noodle-curl man.

The noodle-curl man counted the money, eyes gleaming with greed, "Come, come, dude, I’ll take you to my place to get the goods."

On the way, Simon said, "Let’s exchange contact info, I’ll continue to source goods from you in the future."

The noodle-curl man was overjoyed, "Didn’t expect you to be in this business too, bro!"

Simon didn’t understand what he meant and just nodded awkwardly.

Buying from the noodle-curl man was only a hundred bucks per box, what a deal.

Thinking of how he’d been conned by a kid out of so much money before, he felt like smashing his foolish past self against a block of tofu.

Simon moved all the dozen or so boxes of hair tonic, and a group of old men stared wide-eyed when they saw it.

"Weren’t they saying it’s hard to find? How come there’s so much now?"

Simon elaborated dramatically on the hardships of acquiring the stock, and finally said, "I befriended a villager over there, he’s in charge of production for me, in the future, I just need to contact him directly. Grandpa, use as much as you like, come find me when you need more."

Look at how smart this young man is!

With these boxes of hair tonic, Simon immediately earned enough for a luxury car, and he went ahead and bought one, taking it out for a spin.

However, Old Master Hawthorne felt something was off.

Although the packaging of this batch of hair tonic was identical to the previous, the paste inside looked similar too, he felt it didn’t apply as well. This update ıs available on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✦𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✦𝓷𝓮𝓽

The previous paste, after application, initially felt cool, and then warmed up, helping with sleep when applied before bed.

However, this new batch felt cool too, but had no other sensation.

He thought the discrepancy might be due to a different production batch, resulting in slight differences, so he didn’t give it much thought.

Simon believed he had resolved a major concern and that he’d continue making money, feeling ecstatic.

He even went to find Sonny Chambers, and acted tough in front of him.

"Sonny Chambers, you’re quite the sly merchant. I’ve seen through you, and I’ll never cooperate with you again, hmph!"

Sonny Chambers looked at Simon with the same sympathetic gaze one would give to a person with a disability.

He had learned this expression from Paige Sterling, and he mimicked it perfectly, making Simon fume.

Indeed, it made sense why Paige was usually so stern with this child.

A kid this unlikeable deserves a stricter hand.

However, Simon hadn’t enjoyed his freedom for long when trouble arose.

When Simon got the goods, he took over a dozen boxes, with every old man getting an average of over ten boxes.

Since there was a lot now, there was no need to use it sparingly, and they could even give it away.

After all, baldness affected not just the elderly but many young people around them as well.

However, as they continued using it, everyone discovered that instead of growing hair, the hair tonic made even the few existing hairs fall out completely.

Moreover, some people experienced severe itching, skin bumps...

It wouldn’t be a big deal if it happened to one person, but almost everyone had different symptoms, and eventually, some people even got hospitalized.

This was no small issue, and a group of people immediately went to find Old Master Hawthorne.

As for that batch of hair tonic, honestly, Old Master Hawthorne hadn’t had a chance to use it yet.

He still had a bit left in the previous box, and being frugal, he had just finished using it and was about to start on the new batch when people came knocking.

Upon learning the situation, Old Master Hawthorne’s face changed.

These people had known each other for decades, they came to him because they trusted him.

Now that this happened, he couldn’t shirk responsibility, it might even ruin his reputation built over decades.

Old Master Hawthorne went personally to see these people and visited those hospitalized, carefully inquiring about the situation.

The conclusion was: the first box they used had no problems, and everyone saw some effects after using it.

But this later batch had major issues.