Denghuaxiao

Chapter 8 Herbal Tea

 It always rains at night in Shengjing.

 One night passed, and the river under the Luoyue Bridge was filled with floating poplar flowers.

The swallows are busy and the orioles are lazy and fragrant, and the willow flowers are falling on the main embankment. It is always the most beautiful scene in spring.

Yin Zheng went downstairs to get hot water and met the shopkeeper. She was pretty and had a sweet mouth. The people in the inn were also willing to take care of her. The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Miss Yinzheng, are you awake so early?"

Yin Zheng smiled: "Yes."

The shopkeeper looked upstairs and said, "Your girl was busy in the kitchen until midnight last night. You should give her some advice. It's not good for her to be exhausted."

A few days ago, Lu Zhen asked Yin Zheng to take money to buy some herbs nearby, and also borrowed the inn's kitchen to prepare the herbs. He was busy late at night. The shopkeeper didn't say anything, but he didn't think so in his heart. Preparing medicinal materials is a craft, and the doctors in the city's medical clinics sometimes make mistakes. How can a young girl like Lu Tong do it? It's too much.

Pretending not to see the contempt in the shopkeeper's eyes, Yinzheng smiled and exchanged a few words with him before going upstairs and entering the house.

 In the room, Lu Yan sat at the table, wrapped the cloth bag containing the medicinal tea in white paper, carefully tied it with thick red thread, and put it into the box.

 “Girl?”

 Lu Zhen stood up and said, "Let's go."

 After leaving the inn, the weather outside was excellent. The sun was not too hot in the early morning, and a layer of velvet covered my body, causing a slight itchiness.

 There are tea stalls everywhere. People in Shengjing love to drink tea. Tea houses can be seen everywhere on the streets, and tea drinkers can be seen everywhere. The sound of opera music floated in the distance, making Shengjing lively.

“Shengjing is great.” Yin Zheng whispered, “It’s just that the things are too expensive.”

 Lu Yan was silent.

Before Yun Niang died, she asked her to burn all the medical books in the box with her body, and left the remaining money to her. But over the years, Yun Niang spent her money lavishly, and the money she earned was used to buy new medicinal materials. After Lu Zhu finished taking care of Yun Niang's funeral, there was not much money left in his hand.

It costs a lot to go all the way back to Changwu County and to Beijing. Yin Zheng had made some calculations a few days ago to buy herbs. The remaining money would allow them to stay in Shengjing for another half month.

 At most, after half a month, they really have nothing.

While thinking about it, the two walked through a few more alleys and walked along a busy street. When they turned a corner, a medical clinic appeared in front of them.

This medical clinic looks particularly out of place among the neatly repaired shops. The shop is small, and the plaque is very old. On it are written four characters "Renxin Medical Center" with dragons and phoenixes flying in the air. It is obviously in an excellent location, but because the furnishings are so inconspicuous, it is difficult for passers-by to notice it.

Lu Zong walked towards the medical clinic.

As I got closer, I realized that the medical center was even more deserted. There was a table directly in front. The table was so long that it almost blocked the entrance of the store. Sitting in front of the table was a young man wearing a yellow gauze straight skirt, dozing off with one leg crossed. Behind him, there is a whole wall of mahogany cabinets with some wooden signs on them. They are medicine cabinets.

The windows in this hospital are very small and the shop floor is not large, so the light seems very dim. There were no lights on, it was gray, and it looked a bit gloomy.

Yin Zheng cleared her throat and was about to speak when another boy in a short shirt walked out of the room. He was about eleven or twelve years old and had some pockmarks on the bridge of his nose. Seeing the two of them, Lu Zhen, the young man was also stunned for a moment. Then he walked up to the dozing young man and shouted loudly: "Master, a guest is coming!"

The young man was suddenly frightened by this and almost fell down. He hurriedly stood up from the chair and gave Lu and the others a false smile: "Hey, what do you want to buy?"

Yin Zheng gave him a strange look. What he said didn't sound like someone running a medical clinic, but like someone doing business.

Lu Zhen said: "I wonder if your medical clinic can accept prepared medicinal materials?"

Seeing that she was not here to get medicine, the young man immediately returned to his muddy appearance. He only looked at her and asked without interest: "What medicine do you have?"

Yin Zheng hurriedly opened the bundle and took out a large paper bag.

The other party opened the paper package, skillfully picked up a little and put it under the tip of his nose, smelled it, and rubbed it again. He looked at Lu Zhuo with a look of surprise and said, "Puhuang charcoal. It's fried pretty well."

Puhuang charcoal is frequently used in the medical clinic, and raw puhuang is not expensive. Lu Zhuo borrowed the inn's kitchen to fry these.

Yin Zheng was previously worried that the medical clinic would not accept the medicinal materials concocted by Lu Zhuo. Hearing this, he felt relieved and said with a smile: "My girl's fried puhuang charcoal is always good. The shopkeeper is watching..."

This time her smile was not as flawless as before. The young man stretched out three fingers and shook them: "Three coins of silver."

Lu Zhen frowned slightly.

Just buying these raw bulrushes cost her three coins, not to mention the days she spent working in the inn kitchen. This price is much lower than what is on the market.

"What?" Yin Zheng jumped up, "That's all? The price of raw Puhuang is not only this!"

The owner closed the paper package, but he still looked listless. He pointed to the door and said in an unceremonious tone: "That's it. It's too little. Turn left when you go out. There is Xinglin Hall. The family has a big business. Go try it, maybe you can give me more."

The look of him with a broken jar was irritating. Just when Yin Zheng was about to argue with him, Lu Zhu had already pushed the paper bag in front of him: "Three coins is three coins." The young man saw this. , the smile on his face became more sincere, and he told the boy behind him: "Acheng, go get the silver!"

The boy named Acheng quickly took out a dime of silver. Lu Zhuo took the money and took out two other items wrapped in oil paper from the bag.

 The boss frowned: "What is this?"

 Lu Tong: "Medicinal tea."

The boss pushed the medicinal tea back and said with an insincere smile: "Sorry, girl, the medical clinic does not accept medicinal tea."

"It doesn't cost anything. It's just a match." Lu Zhu put the herbal tea on the table. "Decoction can reduce nasal congestion and nasal congestion. I will send two pieces to my boss first. If you are satisfied, you can give another one." She said: "I live in Luoyue. Qiaoxiayi Inn."

The boss looked at Lu Chen, who looked at him calmly. After a while, the young man curled his lips, put away the two bags of herbal tea, waved his hand and said, "Thank you, girl."

Lu Zhen said nothing more and left with Yin Zheng.

After the two left, the boy came up and wondered: "My boss, we usually charge five taels of silver for puhuang charcoal. Why did the price suddenly change today? And three taels of silver is the price of raw puhuang charcoal. There is no profit." Why are they still willing to sell it?”

The boss cut open Acheng's head and walked into the house with Puhuang Tan: "How do you know I didn't make any money? Didn't you give me two packs of medicinal tea?"

The boy lowered his head to look at the herbal tea on the table. The paper package of the herbal tea was only the size of a palm and was tightly tied with red thread. At first glance, it looked very delicate.

Acheng suddenly realized: "Do they want to sell herbal tea on consignment?"

"What else?" The boss scolded: "There is no such thing as a free lunch. You must be really stupid. Otherwise, you would not go to the Xinglin Hall in front of you and come to our place to sell medicine. Do you think you are interested in my face, young master?" ?”

The boy looked at the medicinal tea on the table and said, "So boss, can you still sell this medicinal tea?"

"What a bullshit!" The owner opened the curtain angrily and walked into the inner room, "Who knows if the things of unknown origin are poisonous or not? Who will you blame if you eat them to death! I still have to try this puhuang charcoal, Beijing There are a lot of liars, and there are also a lot of female liars. If they are a little clever, they will help count the money after being sold."

He walked into the inner room and said: "Take it back and throw it away. Don't mix it with other medicines."

Acheng responded, looked at the medicinal tea in front of him, and shook his head.

What a pity.

 …

 Outside, Lu Zhuo and Yin Zheng were walking forward.

Yin Zheng was still thinking about what happened just now, and said unwillingly: "We have been walking all the way these days, and Puhuangtan has been worth five cents of silver, but this one only gives three cents of silver. What kind of 'Renxin Medical Clinic' is there? I don't think so." It's more like the 'Black Heart Medical Clinic'! Girl," she looked at Lu Yun puzzledly, "I only made a few bags of herbal tea in total, why didn't you send a few more bags to Xinglintang instead of giving them to this store for consignment? "

She didn’t understand that the shopkeeper of Xinglintang gave money readily when collecting medicinal materials, and was much more upright than the “owner” just now. That medical clinic looks big, well-maintained, and full of people coming and going. No matter how you look at it, it's better than Renxin Medical Clinic.

Lu Zhen shook his head and said softly: "There is no doctor in Renxin Medical Center."

Along the way, they saw many medical clinics, and the doctors in them were mostly elderly doctors. In this Renxin Medical Clinic, except for the "owner" and the boy named Acheng, there was no one else.

Renxin Medical Center is short of staff.

Yin Zheng was surprised: "Young lady wants to be a doctor."

Lu Zhen was silent for a moment and nodded.

 She had nothing in the capital except a silver kite and a medical kit. But the Ke family's business is booming.

Renxin Medical Center is short of staff and is located on West Street. It is not too far from Ke's house, whether it is close or far.

 She needs an identity.

 A person who can get close to the Ke family without revealing anything, but with an aboveboard identity.

 The doctor at the hospital is the best.

"But..." Yin Zheng hesitated. In this world, there are very few women practicing medicine, let alone being doctors.

 “Let’s keep going.” Lu Zhuo recovered his thoughts and said, “Sell out the remaining puhuang charcoal.”

 (End of this chapter)