Chapter 16: Twists and turns

After Zhu Pingan and his brother entered the medicine shop, an apprentice came to greet them immediately. He did not look down on them because of their simple clothes. The apprentice asked with a smile, "Are you going to see a doctor or get medicine? If you are going to see a doctor, please wait for a moment."

Zhu Pingchuan blushed, shook his head repeatedly, and stuttered a little, "No, no, we don't see a doctor... nor get medicine... we sell..." When he said this, his voice became much smaller, like a mosquito's buzz, which was really embarrassing.

"We sell medicine."

In contrast to Zhu Pingchuan's uneasiness, Zhu Pingan looked around freely and was not shy at all. Seeing that his brother was embarrassed to say it out loud, he took over the conversation.

"Selling medicine, we usually don't accept..." The apprentice glanced at the backpack Zhu Pingchuan was carrying. For safety reasons, medicine shops usually have special suppliers for collecting herbs. Ordinary people do not know the skills of picking herbs, which often causes the Chinese herbal medicine to lose its efficacy. It was obvious that the two brothers were not herbal farmers, and what good things could two children have? For the sake of the medicine shop, they politely refused.

Behind the counter, another apprentice was dispensing medicine for the women and children who were seeing a doctor according to the prescription. He paused for a moment and then whispered to the apprentice who was receiving Zhu Pingchuan.

Seeing his senior brother calling him, the apprentice who was receiving Zhu Pingan and his friends said to Zhu Pingan and his brother apologetically, "Sorry, why don't you go somewhere else."

After saying that, he went over.

Zhu Pingchuan was already uneasy, and when he saw the apprentice refuse, his face became even redder, so he wanted to take Zhu Pingan away.

Is this a bad start?

But Liu Bei could visit Zhu Pingan three times, so why not go to a few more places? Zhu Pingan was ready to leave.

The two apprentices murmured for a while, and one of them said to the old Chinese doctor very embarrassedly, "Master, all the medicines in this prescription have been prepared, but one is missing, honeysuckle."

"Missing honeysuckle?" The old Chinese doctor who was stroking his beard paused and turned back to ask, "Why is there a shortage of honeysuckle? Didn't we just get a batch a few days ago?"

"The shop assistant didn't keep it well, and the water stains soaked the honeysuckle in stock." The apprentice explained truthfully.

At this time, Zhu Ping'an had already walked to the door, and his ears were keen to catch the conversation between the apprentice and the old Chinese doctor.

"Brother, where are you going?"

Zhu Pingchuan's voice sounded at the door.

Zhu Ping'an broke free, snatched the backpack from Zhu Pingchuan, and ran to the old Chinese doctor with both hands in a hurry.

The old Chinese doctor was explaining to the woman with a little apology, and the woman wanted to boil medicine for her son as soon as possible, with a worried look on her face.

"Old doctor, I have medicine to sell." Zhu Ping'an held the basket in front of the old Chinese doctor like offering a treasure.

"Hey." The young apprentice stepped forward to stop him, fearing that Zhu Ping'an would offend the nobleman and disturb the master's diagnosis.

Old doctor, a title that simply touched the heart of the old Chinese doctor. Who doesn't like a good name, especially a doctor, just because of Zhu Ping'an's words, the old Chinese doctor decided to see what kind of herbs the child had in his hand and give him a chance.

"Do you have herbs?" The old Chinese doctor just glanced at it casually, but he didn't expect that his eyes would light up at once, and even broke two of his beards.

"You are... well, not bad, not bad, picked properly, and dried just right, it can be a top-grade product." The old Chinese doctor pushed the apprentice away, walked forward, picked up a honeysuckle from the basket held by Zhu Ping'an, looked at it carefully, and sniffed it at the tip of his nose, and a smile appeared on his old face.

When the apprentice saw the honeysuckle that the old Chinese doctor picked up, he was silent. He felt a little ashamed and almost pushed away the charcoal sent in the snow.

"My friend, your honeysuckle is accepted by our pharmacy. Erbao will weigh it. First, give Madam Liu the medicine, and then settle it with this friend according to the top grade." The old Chinese doctor nodded with satisfaction and spoke to Zhu Ping'an in a friendly manner. Even the address brought them closer. He asked the apprentice to weigh the honeysuckle and turned back to chat with the lady beside him, "Madam, this is wild honeysuckle. The medicinal effect is more than twice that of the honeysuckle grown by farmers. Your son will recover faster by one day."

Zhu Pingchuan, who was at the gate, opened his mouth wide when he heard the old Chinese doctor's words. He felt like he was falling into the clouds. The wild flowers that his younger brother picked randomly in the mountains were actually Chinese medicines, and there were actually people who bought wild flowers.

"Thank you, old doctor." Zhu Ping'an bowed his hands in a naive manner to thank him.

Chinese herbal medicines are divided into three grades: high, medium and low. The price difference is also quite large. If it is purchased according to the high-grade, the price is probably more than double.

A young apprentice weighed it, and another young apprentice packed the medicine for Madam Liu, handed it to the maid standing by, and whispered the precautions.

Madam Liu was overjoyed to hear that because of the honeysuckle this time, her son's illness would recover one day earlier. Before leaving, she asked the maid to reward Zhu Ping'an with a silver nude.

Zhu Pingchuan on the side was already in a mess. Not only can the wild flowers in the mountains be sold for money, but someone even gave silver as a reward.

Zhu Ping'an took the silver nude, his chubby face was so smiling that he could hardly find his eyes, and he arched his fat paws to thank people.

"Thank you, Madam, my little brother will definitely recover soon."

Madam Liu, who walked to the door, looked back, a little surprised, and turned her head to whisper a few words to the maid beside her.

Then, the maid ran over with her skirt in her hand and stuffed another silver nugget into Zhu Ping'an's hand.

"Little brother, you are so sweet. Madam asked me to give it to you. Go back and buy some delicious food." After the maid finished speaking, she touched Zhu Ping'an's chubby face and chased Madam with her skirt in her hand.

Zhu Ping'an's chubby hands held two silver nuggets, and his chubby face smiled like a bulldog.

Zhu Pingchuan blushed so much that he really didn't want to recognize his brother.

"The total amount of honeysuckle is two catties, three taels and four coins. The top-grade honeysuckle is 50 coins per catty, the middle-grade is 38 coins, and the low-grade is 25 coins. According to the top-grade, the total amount is 117 coins." After the apprentice weighed it, he cleared his throat and loudly reported the price.

Zhu Pingan was quite satisfied with the price. This pharmacy was quite fair. There was no shortage of weight. The honeysuckle was only weighed at 2.30 jin at home. Even though he carried a basket of honeysuckle home, it was not heavy, not to mention after drying.

It seemed that this was a trustworthy pharmacy.

Zhu Pingchuan was really shocked when he heard the price given by the apprentice. He was even more shocked than when he saw the noble lady reward Zhu Pingan with two silver coins.

Zhu Pingchuan was like Zhu Shouyi. He was dull but not pedantic. He knew that rewarding was just an occasional thing. This wild flower called honeysuckle was a long-term income. You know, there are still many wild flowers like this in the mountains.

Thinking about it, I felt a little short of breath.

The old Chinese doctor asked the apprentice to get a bunch of copper coins from the counter. In front of Zhu Ping'an and Zhu Pingchuan, he counted out 120 coins and put them in the backpack under Zhu Ping'an's feet, and smiled kindly, "This is a total of 120 big coins. The extra 3 coins are the reward for your rescue just now."

"Thank you, old doctor, then we'll leave." Zhu Ping'an waved his fat paws and bowed to thank him and said goodbye.

I'm afraid that Zhu's father will worry if he waits for a long time.

Zhu Pingchuan held the backpack and took Zhu Ping'an's hand to the door.

Just a few steps away, I heard the voice of the old Chinese doctor from behind, "Wait."

Hearing this, Zhu Pingchuan had cold sweat on his forehead, thinking that maybe the other party regretted it. That's right, who would buy wild flowers and give such a high price, almost catching up with working for half a month. I couldn't help but feel nervous.

Zhu Pingan turned his head and asked, "Doctor, is there anything else?"

"If there are more of these herbs in the future, you can send them directly after drying them. But the price will fluctuate, so you should be mentally prepared." The old doctor twisted his beard and said, on the one hand, he admired Zhu Pingan's aura, and on the other hand, the quality of honeysuckle is really good. The pharmacy has a great demand for honeysuckle, and prescriptions and medicinal diets containing honeysuckle are particularly common, so he decided to call them to make a good relationship.

After hearing this, Zhu Pingchuan was relieved and agreed repeatedly.