Cui Shitou, following his master’s instructions, was to take Ning Yuchan and the others to the side room.
It would also allow them to keep company with a few other guests in the side room.
But Ning Yuchan did not want to leave.
She still wanted to see how Doctor Cui prescribed medicine for patients.
However, since it was their first meeting and she was asking a favor, it would not be appropriate for her to get too close and stare at his prescriptions.
“Brother Shitou,” Ning Yuchan walked to the doorway of the side room and called out to Cui Shitou, “Do all these patients need to decoct their medicine here?”
Cui Shitou answered honestly, “Some do, some don’t.”
Ning Yuchan spoke very diligently, “I ate quite a lot of your snacks just now, so I feel a bit embarrassed. For tasks like decocting medicine, Brother Shitou can leave it to me. I’ll help you prepare it.”
What a hardworking Little Junior Sister.
Cui Shitou was extremely pleased. “Wait a bit. Once Senior Brother finishes preparing the medicine, I’ll call you.”
Doctor Cui conducted consultations in a side room in the courtyard, while the medicinal herbs sold to patients were all placed in the front shop.
This made it convenient for customers who did not need consultation and only came to buy medicine.
Doctor Cui’s large medical hall was a two-courtyard residence.
The front courtyard was spacious. Apart from leaving part of the space for customers to line up, another part was used for drying various medicinal herbs.
Passing through the ornamental hanging flower gate led to the inner residence.
As far as Ning Yuchan’s sight could reach, she could only see the front courtyard and the partition door of the inner residence.
However, there was a two-story small building in the inner residence, and she could see part of its roof.
In the past, she often accompanied Old Man Ning to set up stalls. When it was convenient, she bought and read quite a few storybooks.
In those books, wealthy households were described as resplendent and magnificent. Every time she read such descriptions, she felt full of envy.
Now, standing in Doctor Cui’s large medical hall, everything within her sight was something she had never seen before, rich and splendid. This must be what the books call resplendent and magnificent.
The house of Father Huo’s family was very old, with the eastern and western corners already collapsed.
During the rainy season, it was hard not to suspect that while it rained heavily outside, it would rain lightly inside as well.
If she could restore the Huo family’s medicinal plaster and earn a great deal of silver, then she too could enjoy living in a small building in the city.
Ning Yuchan was fairly restrained. She kept all her thoughts in her heart and did not show them.
Tian Fengying and Taohua were different.
The two stood at the doorway of the side room. Tian Fengying smacked her lips as she sighed, “Doctor Cui sees so many patients in a day. How much silver must he earn? Just this residence alone, with land so valuable, it must be worth at least a thousand taels.”
Taohua had no concept of gold or silver. “How long would it take to earn that? If Elder Brother were at home, we could have him learn too. In the future, he could open a big medical hall, and we could also live in a big house.”
Tian Fengying snorted. “Your elder brother isn’t cut out for that. It’s already good enough if he can write his own name. Two years ago, when he sent a letter, it was your Third Uncle who read it. He frowned and stared at it for a long time but could not recognize many of the characters.
At that time, I even suspected whether your Third Uncle hadn’t studied well and couldn’t read…”
Taohua had received several copper coins from Third Uncle Huo these past few days, so she instinctively spoke up for him. “Third Uncle is very knowledgeable.”
Tian Fengying could not help but laugh. “Of course he is. But at the time, I had my doubts. He hadn’t even passed the county-level examination, so who knew whether the eldest branch was exaggerating.”
Ning Yuchan found it amusing. “What happened after that?”
Tian Fengying continued, “After that, your father and I took the letter to Scholar Liang. Scholar Liang also looked at it for quite a while. But he was, after all, someone who had passed the county-level examination. By guessing and piecing things together, he actually managed to read out Changsheng’s letter.”
Ning Yuchan asked, “Then were you sure it was what Elder Brother Huo meant?”
Tian Fengying could not help but scold, “He came from my own flesh. How could I not know what he was thinking? Scholar Liang must not have guessed wrong. You tell me, he can barely recognize a few characters. Wouldn’t it have been better to spend a few copper coins to have someone write it for him? Yet he insisted on writing it himself, making the whole village laugh at him.”
Ning Yuchan thought of Huo Changsheng’s simple and honest appearance and guessed, “Perhaps Brother Huo wanted you to see a letter written by his own hand. If he had someone else write it, it would feel insincere. Although his writing was hard to recognize, it was written by him personally.
Even from thousands of li away, it was his filial heart, missing his parents.”
These words made Tian Fengying feel sad.
“Yuchan is truly a clever child. You immediately understood Changsheng’s thoughts.
Sigh, how could your father and I not understand? It’s just that we are angry at him…
Those who went to the army together all returned safe and sound. Only he…”
Tian Fengying scolded for a while, praised for a while, then praised again before scolding again.
Ning Yuchan had last seen Huo Changsheng five years ago. At that time, she had only been thirteen, and her impression of him still lingered on that of a young boy.
At this moment, his image gradually became fuller and more vivid in her mind.
…
The three of them stood at the doorway talking, and none of them noticed that there were two people inside the room.
It was also a middle-aged woman with a child.
However, it was a boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old.
The middle-aged woman was dressed better than Tian Fengying. She sat upright, and at a glance, she seemed more knowledgeable than Tian Fengying.
However, the expression on her face was not friendly at all.
Ever since Tian Fengying and the others came in, she had been staring at them with a guarded and disdainful gaze.
The boy beside her had the same expression.
Even worse than hers.
After chatting for a while, Tian Fengying and the others turned to enter the room. The moment they turned around and saw the two people inside, they were all startled.
Tian Fengying spoke in her loud voice, “Why are there people in the room? You didn’t even make a sound. You nearly scared me to death.”
The woman in the room did not speak.
But the boy beside her, with a pair of bulging goldfish eyes, could not hold back. He first snorted in full mockery, then spoke, “Doctor Cui’s residence here costs more than ten thousand taels of silver. You think a thousand taels is a lot?
Doctor Cui earns at least several hundred taels a day just from seeing patients.
Ignorant country bumpkins.”
The brat uttered such harsh words, yet the middle-aged woman behind him said nothing.
There was even a trace of a smile in her eyes, as if she was praising him for scolding well.
Tian Fengying ground her teeth. Before she could speak, Taohua could not tolerate it anymore.
“Who are you calling a bumpkin? Dead fish eyes!”
The brat stepped forward, putting on an imposing stance. “Whoever heard it is who I’m scolding.” His harsh gaze swept over Taohua from top to bottom.
Seeing that she was wearing old clothes, he snorted. “Where did you pick up those rags? Your family can’t even afford to eat anymore, right?”
The Huo family truly was about to run out of food.
Taohua felt guilty inside but still glared fiercely at the brat.
Tian Fengying could not bear it. She put her hands on her hips and scolded, “Whether we can afford to eat or not has nothing to do with you. What kind of child are you, with no manners at all? Didn’t your mother teach you properly?”
Tian Fengying’s anger shifted onto the boy’s mother. The woman behind him could not hold back anymore and spoke, still with a lofty and disdainful attitude.
“My son Taijian will be taking Doctor Cui as his master today. From now on, Doctor Cui will naturally educate him. There is no need for a country bumpkin like you to worry.”
Tian Fengying rolled up her sleeves, really wanting to rush forward and start a fight.
This was the first time she had met someone even more annoying than Eldest Aunt Huo.
However, her mind worked quickly. Even though she was angry, she did not forget the purpose of this trip.
“You said… your son is going to take Doctor Cui as his master?”
The woman glanced sideways, looking Ning Yuchan and Taohua up and down. “Don’t tell me you also want to take Doctor Cui as your master?”
Tian Fengying paused.
Originally, the three of them had only planned to learn the process of making the medicinal plaster.
But such things could not be learned in a day or two, especially since they could not let outsiders know the Huo family’s prescription.
So she had wanted Ning Yuchan and Taohua to stay in the medical hall.
It did not matter whether they did odd jobs or became apprentices.
But hearing the woman’s words, if even that dead fish-eyed boy could become a disciple, then what was her Yuchan and Taohua lacking?
As for doing odd jobs, she no longer even considered it. They would directly become Doctor Cui’s disciples.
“Yes, I’m also here to take a master. What about it?”
The woman and the brat suddenly burst into laughter.
Pointing at the three of them, they said, “Don’t you even look at yourselves? Doctor Cui does not take disciples lightly. Everyone in Qinzhou City knows this. Even the county magistrate’s son came to seek an apprenticeship and was refused by Doctor Cui.
And you two country bumpkins still want to take Doctor Cui as your master? Keep dreaming.”
Even the county magistrate’s son could not become his disciple.
Tian Fengying only picked out the key point from that long speech.
She glanced at Ning Yuchan, then at Taohua.
Both were girls…
Then she noticed the brat’s dead fish eyes and could not help but laugh. “If my children can’t be accepted, yours can?”
The brat said proudly, “We were recommended here.”
Taohua immediately replied, “We were also recommended.”
The brat did not believe it. “Who recommended you?”
Taohua refused to say, “Who recommended you?”
The brat said, “We were recommended by the Prefect.”
Taohua: “…”
They had been recommended by an old doctor from Dayang Village whose medical skills were not particularly good.
“So what if it’s the Prefect? You said it yourself, even the county magistrate’s son wasn’t accepted.”
The brat looked at her as if she were ignorant. “The Prefect outranks the county magistrate. Do you even understand that?”
Taohua did not understand.
She was just a village girl. Aside from the village head, the county magistrate, and constables, the officials she had heard of, how would she know the ranks of other officials?
“Hmph, what’s so great about a Prefect!”
Taohua ignored him and stood beside Tian Fengying.
Tian Fengying also felt a knot of anger in her chest and did not want to speak anymore.
Ning Yuchan walked over to comfort her. “Mother, let’s not argue with them. Doctor Cui has his own judgment. Let’s wait for him.”
Ning Yuchan spoke gently. She was calm and composed, not making a fuss, and seemed very steady.
The woman felt some wariness toward such a girl.
But in her heart, she still looked down on them.
“No matter what ideas he has, he’ll still know who it benefits him to take as a disciple.”
…
Doctor Cui conducted consultations for more than an hour.
After that, he put up a sign indicating he would not see patients in the afternoon. Only after finishing lunch did he go to meet Tian Fengying and the others.
There was an air about him that seemed detached from worldly concerns. His conduct was upright, gentle, and measured.
In Ning Yuchan’s eyes, he did not seem like someone who belonged to this world.
“These two elder sisters have come to find Cui, not for treatment. What matters brings you here?”
Even when facing villagers who might seem coarse, he still clasped his hands in greeting, his manner like a gentle spring breeze.
Tian Fengying had never seen such a person before.
She had a loud voice, a straightforward personality, and lived a rough life. When she shouted in her own courtyard, her voice could be heard two li away.
Faced with Doctor Cui’s refined and courteous demeanor, she was completely stunned.
She imitated his manner, clasping her hands in greeting. “Doctor… Doctor… Doctor Cui, we… we…”
Before Tian Fengying could finish speaking, the woman in the room pulled the brat and rushed forward, squeezing in front of Doctor Cui in a few quick steps.
“Doctor Cui, my son is here to take you as his master. This child is clever. If you accept him, your life will be complete…”
She pressed the brat down, trying to make him kneel. “Kowtow to Master.”
If not for the brat’s unwillingness, dragging his feet for quite a while before bending down, Doctor Cui would have already had him kneeling.
Doctor Cui moved quickly. Before the brat’s knees could touch the ground, he blocked him with his foot.
“Cui does not take disciples. Please stand.”
The woman’s expression visibly darkened. She took out a letter from her sleeve and held it out to Doctor Cui.
“Whether you take disciples or not is not up to you. Take a look at this letter.”
Doctor Cui accepted the letter but did not read it immediately. Instead, he turned to Tian Fengying. “And this elder sister?”
Tian Fengying nodded repeatedly. “We are also here to take a master.”
Doctor Cui’s expression grew somewhat cold. “Whose letter have you brought?”
Tian Fengying quickly signaled to Ning Yuchan with her eyes.
Ning Yuchan carefully took out the note written by Doctor Yang and presented it with both hands to Doctor Cui.
“I am the great-granddaughter of Doctor Yang from Dayang Village. I ask Doctor Cui to take care of me.”
The woman laughed out loud. “Ours is a personal letter from the Prefect. And you country bumpkins think that with just some random note, you can make Doctor Cui take disciples?
Doctor Cui, hurry and drive them away. They’re wasting time.
Taijian, kowtow to your master.”