Qin Zhao had stopped taking the medicine for more than two months, and the poison of Shen Huan in his body had long been resolved. In the past few months, he drank the conditioning medicine while working in the fields with Jing Li, and he was no longer the sickly person who could only rely on Jing Li to support himself in bed.
With his current physical strength, when he gets excited, it is common for him to pull Jing Li to do it several times.
It seems as if he wants to make up for the losses of the past few years of austerity.
But he was still restrained today.
Considering that Jing Li's body had not fully recovered yet, Qin Zhao only did it once that night. His movements were gentle and slow, which made Jing Li a little anxious.
…It’s still pretty comfortable though.
The next day, Jing Li woke up early, which was rare for him. He was full of energy, as if he was a little monster who had just absorbed enough energy.
"I am a little demon, so you are the scholar whose energy I have sucked away?"
When Jing Li heard Qin Zhao say this, he was kneeling on the bed and letting Qin Zhao help him tie his belt. He hooked his arm around Qin Zhao's neck, smiled evilly and leaned forward, "Then you better be careful, I will suck all your energy out."
Qin Zhao hugged his waist and kissed him on the brow bone: "I'm afraid that some little demon has not succeeded yet and is crying and begging for mercy first."
Jing Li's ears turned red: "... Shut up."
Qin Zhao smiled, continued to help him tie his belt, and tilted his head to kiss him again. Jing Li didn't let him succeed, and slid out of his arms like a fish and jumped off the bed.
"Ayi and I are going out to eat and go shopping. You stay at home and look after the store!"
After saying that, he picked up Qin Zhao's plush robe, wrapped it around himself, pushed the door open and ran out.
There was no sign at all that he looked so sickly the day before.
Qin Zhao looked at his back, thoughtfully.
He didn't expect that the temperature change would have such a big impact on his fish. It seems that he really can't continue to live in the village in winter. What should he do in the future? He can't stay in someone else's house every year.
But... houses in the city are much more expensive than those in the village.
Qin Zhao sighed and once again felt helpless about being short of money.
The two young men left early in the morning, leaving only Qin Zhao and Xue Ren in the pharmacy.
Mr. Xue would of course not help, but fortunately Ayi had told Qin Zhao the location and price of the medicinal materials in the shop the day before. In addition, the business in the pharmacy was very bad, which gave Qin Zhao time to get started.
However, Qin Zhao was surprised that the business of the drug store was so bad that only two customers came to the store to buy medicine in the whole morning.
Qin Zhao recorded the price and weight of the medicinal materials sold today in the account book. After finishing, he put down the pen and was distracted for a rare moment.
I don't know how the little fish is doing now.
How could there be a husband like him who leaves his husband alone to go out and play
Xue Ren tapped his pipe beside him. Qin Zhao came back to his senses and tilted his head to look. Xue Ren smiled and said, "This thing has been used for too many years. It's clogged inside again."
He simply stopped smoking, put his pipe on his waist, and asked, "Do you miss your husband?"
Qin Zhao did not hide it: "Yes."
"Young man..." Xue Ren sneered, and then said, "I have my reasons for letting you stay. I have already read the medical books you gave me last time, and I have already prepared the prescriptions. Would you like to take a look?"
Qin Zhao shook his head: "This prescription was made by Mr. Xue, I can't read it."
Exclusive prescriptions are extremely precious and their price is inestimable, so doctors usually do not show the complete prescription to others to prevent someone from stealing it.
Qin Zhao is not the kind of person who would do such a thing, but he still has to avoid it.
Xue Ren didn't care: "Aren't you going to help me promote it? Why don't you take a look first?"
Qin Zhao: "That will have to wait until I pass the imperial examination and have the ability to promote it, then I can ask Mr. Xue to take out the prescription."
"Okay." Xue Ren didn't insist and said half-jokingly, "Anyway, I haven't found anyone to test the medicine on yet, so I wanted to use you. But you can detoxify faster than I can make the medicine. What a pity..."
Qin Zhao was silent.
As the two were talking, a cough was heard from outside the door.
The visitor was a poorly dressed scholar, with unsteady steps and a very thin body. He coughed several times when he spoke a word: "I'm here to get some medicine."
He took out a crumpled prescription and spread it on the table, saying, "Ahem... Sorry to bother you, doctor, ahem..."
Qin Zhao glanced at the prescription, then looked at his expression and asked, "Who prescribed this medicine for you?"
The scholar coughed for a long time before he said, "It's the doctor from Qingfeng Hall in the west of the city. The medicine is too expensive, so I cough, cough, cough..."
Due to its remote location, Ayi's shop has poor business, and the price of medicinal materials is much cheaper than those of other clinics outside, so poor people come here to buy medicine from time to time.
The scholar saw Qin Zhao's expression was strange and asked, "This medicine... Is there anything wrong with this medicine?"
Qin Zhao: "This medicine was prescribed several days ago, right?"
The scholar nodded: "It has been more than half a month."
"There is nothing wrong with this prescription, but the medicine is too mild. If you continue to take this medicine, I'm afraid it will have little effect. And I guess your condition was not so serious half a month ago."
Qin Zhao paused for a moment, then asked, "Logically, if your condition doesn't improve after you drink the medicine, the doctor should change the medicine for you... Didn't you go for a follow-up visit?"
The scholar was struck by what he said, and said ashamedly, "Ahem, the doctor is right, but Qingfengtang charges 200 coins for each consultation, not including the medicine. How dare I come for a follow-up visit? If I hadn't been coughing so hard today... I really couldn't stand it anymore, I wouldn't have dared to come get the medicine."
"… Is my prescription no longer usable?"
Qin Zhao hesitated a little and turned his head to look at Xue Ren who was standing beside him.
Mr. Xue waved his hand and said, "Look at what I am doing. I asked you to look after the shop. You can do whatever you want. I won't help you anyway."
Qin Zhao nodded and looked at the scholar again: "If you trust me, I can help you diagnose your pulse and change the medicine for you. I will only charge you for the medicine."
The scholar was stunned: "How can this be done?"
Qin Zhao did not hide anything: "I am only here to help look after the shop, not to see patients, so I don't need to charge any consultation fee. It depends on whether you are willing to believe me or not."
Scholar: “This…”
Xue Ren whispered beside him: "He used to treat many people in the village and even cured strokes. His medical skills are impeccable, no doubt about it."
"Of course I'm not doubting it." The scholar said nothing more, took a half step back and bowed solemnly to Qin Zhao, "Thank you very much, doctor."
Qin Zhao checked his pulse, wrote a new prescription, and handed it to him: "Take it once a day for three days. Come back to see me for a follow-up visit after three days."
The scholar took the medicine bag and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, ahem... I understand."
Qin Zhao added: "Also, you need to stay in bed to recuperate from your illness. Don't overwork yourself or you will get hurt."
"This..." The scholar smiled bitterly, "The county exam is coming soon, how dare I relax at this time? Thank you for the reminder, doctor. I will pay more attention."
The scholar said goodbye and left. Xue Ren came over to look at Qin Zhao's account book and said, "Why don't you give him another herb, Astragalus? Wouldn't that be more effective?"
Qin Zhao said: "Good quality Astragalus is expensive, and ordinary medicine is not so effective. I changed a few herbs for him."
He saw that the scholar came from a poor family, so he avoided prescribing medicine with overly expensive ingredients. The price of this new prescription was almost the same as the one the scholar originally wanted to prescribe.
Considering both the efficacy and the price is indeed Qin Zhao's style.
Xue Ren smiled: "Fortunately you don't run a clinic. If everyone is like you, how can we make money?"
Qin Zhao: "You can't make money without a clear conscience."
Xue Ren seemed quite happy to hear this answer, and he sighed, "You and my good grandson are of the same kind. Ah Yi is the same, he keeps the price of medicinal materials in his shop the lowest in the city, and he always says that he is happy as long as he can help people, not for the sake of making money."
"Fortunately, his parents left him a lot of inheritance, otherwise, how could he survive?"
Qin Zhao recalled the time when Jing Li followed Ayi to the town to sell vegetables, and said, "Ayi has the ability to make a living. Good people will be rewarded."
"That makes sense." Xue Ren added, "If you didn't want to take the imperial examination, I would have kept you as my disciple. With your talent and character, it would be a pity if you didn't become a doctor."
He paused, then asked with a smile, "Why don't you think about it again? If you open a clinic in this county, will you still worry about not being able to support your husband?"
Qin Zhao paused.
If Xue Ren had said this to him half a year ago, he would have agreed, but now...
Qin Zhao shook his head: "We have already decided on something, how can we give up halfway?"
"How can you give up halfway? I really like you." Xue Renlang laughed, "Then I wish you to pass the imperial examination as soon as possible and become an important official in the future. Don't forget my contribution!"
Qin Zhao's eyes flickered slightly, and he whispered, "I dare not forget."
Xue Ren said, "Okay, just leave the shop to me and go find your husband."
"this… "
"Go now, stop talking nonsense." Xue Ren waved his hand and started to drive them away. "You've been absent-minded this morning, so there's no point in keeping you. Besides, they've probably bought a lot of things by now, so just think of it as helping them move some things."
Qin Zhao didn't refuse anymore. He thanked Xue Ren and left the pharmacy.
“… Jingli, I can’t walk anymore.” Ayi pulled Jingli’s sleeve and whispered.
Jing Li was in great spirits this morning, dragging Ayi around the market for a few rounds and buying a lot of New Year goods. Ayi's physical strength was not as good as that of an ordinary man, and after walking for almost two hours, he finally couldn't hold on any longer.
Jing Li then remembered that Shuang'er had a weak constitution, and hurriedly said, "I'm tired too, let's go eat something."
There happened to be a snack stand on the side of the road, so the two walked over and put the New Year's goods they bought on the table.
"The wontons here are delicious. Grandpa Xue and I come here often." Ayi said.
"It's Ayi who's here." The stall owner poked his head out and saw Jing Li, and teased, "Oh, you brought your lover with you today?"
"No, no!" Ayi's cheeks instantly turned red, "We are just ordinary friends, and he has a husband..."
"Sorry, sorry, it was a misunderstanding."
The stall owner said nothing more, apologized promptly, and said, "What do you want to eat today? Wontons? A small bowl is eight cents, a large bowl is fifteen cents, and hot soup is free."
Jing Li and A Yi looked at each other and said in unison: "We want a big bowl."
Ayi is a regular customer here. The stall owner gave the two of them two full bowls of wontons, served them in hot soup, and sprinkled some chopped green onions on top, which whetted their appetite.
The wonton skin is thin and the filling is rich, soft, glutinous and fragrant. The rich soup bursts in your mouth when you take a bite, warming up every part of your body.
In the end, the two of them drank up even the soup.
After Jing Li had eaten his fill, he regained a lot of energy and asked, "Ayi, are you still tired now?"
Ayi, who started to feel sleepy after eating: "..."
He looked at Jing Li's energetic appearance and couldn't help asking, "Jing Li, what's wrong with you today? You seem... a little weird."
Jing Li blinked: "What's wrong with me?"
“That’s it…” Ayi hesitated for a moment, raised his hand and touched Jingli’s forehead. The temperature was slightly cool, but not feverish.
Ah Yi took his hand back and said carefully, "It seems a bit... too energetic?"
His words were quite obscure enough. Jing Li was no longer too energetic, he was simply too excited.
Who would spend the whole morning walking around the market two or three times
Where on earth does this guy get the energy from
After hearing what he said, Jing Li also felt that he was a little abnormal today: "I was like this when I woke up this morning. I felt very energetic and wanted to vent."
Ayi asked worriedly, "Should we go back and let Grandpa Xue check our pulse?"
"He's in good spirits, not sick. What's the problem?" Jing Li didn't care. He stood up and pulled Ayi's arm. "Okay, Ayi, I still want to go shopping in the west of the city. Haven't we bought the tobacco that Grandpa Xue wanted?"
Ayi said weakly: "I'll rest for a while, just a while..."
Jing Li massaged his shoulders, bent down and pleaded softly: "Okay, Ayi, I'll treat you to some pastries later, okay? Let's go, it's not even noon yet—"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt someone grabbing the back of his collar and picking him up like a kitten.
Jing Li raised his head and saw Qin Zhao standing behind him, his right hand still holding his collar. The sun was out today, a rare day, and Qin Zhao looked down at him from above. His handsome features were not clearly visible due to the backlight, and his eyes were calm.
Jingli swallowed.
Ayi also stood up with a guilty conscience, but heard Qin Zhao say, "You go back, I'll just accompany him."
So, under Jing Li's pleading gaze, Ayi ran away eagerly but with a sense of relief, carrying the bags of New Year's goods they had bought in the morning.
Jing Li: “…”
The wonton stall was silent for a while. Jing Li touched his nose and whispered, "I was just joking with Ayi. Don't be angry."
"I know, I'm not angry."
Qin Zhao helped him straighten his clothes and lowered his eyes: "The fish scales are exposed, don't you feel it?"