Chapter 8 Leaving Home

  The visitor was a man in his forties, wearing a dark blue changshan with golden clouds and auspicious patterns, with a fair complexion and slightly plump.

  A very clean and tidy person.

  Very familiar, as if I've seen it somewhere before.

  Because Chen Jing and his nephew were young, and their brother was not at home, decent male guests would avoid suspicion and would not easily visit, unless they were brothers from the wife's family; as for those rascals, on the one hand, they feared the Chen family of Yangzhong Lane, and on the other hand, they feared Chen Jing's brother's identity as a holder of a government degree, so they also wouldn't dare to visit.

  So at home, male guests were never seen throughout the year.

  This person...

  "Master and young master, I am Xu Yi, the owner of the Xu's pharmacy on East Main Street." Xu Yi immediately came forward to greet Chen Jing as soon as he returned.

  "He's called Central Young Master," Chen Jing suddenly remembered him. Last time at the Chen family's third house, that doctor who treated his Third Uncle's illness.

  Xu Yichang has a common face, medium build, and extremely ordinary features that could be wiped away with a splash of water. At the time, he seemed quite rude to Chen Jing, but Chen Jing didn't take it to heart.

  He didn't take Chen Jing's words to heart, let alone his unremarkable face that was hard to remember. Moreover, he had deliberately dressed up today, wearing a dark blue changshan with intricate floral patterns, looking more luxurious and dignified than when he came for the consultation.

  In this way, Chen Jiong suddenly couldn't recall him and just felt familiar with his face.

  "Xu Dafu..." Chen Jiong also smiled and exchanged greetings with Xu Yi.

  "The word 'dàifu' is used to refer to doctors, seemingly starting from the Song Dynasty, and specifically refers to doctors with official positions. However, after crossing over into this world, everyone uses this term as a respectful title for Langzhong, so Chen Jing also followed suit."

  Xu Yi sat in the central hall, Chen Jing's sister-in-law did not appear, only the maid Qingyun brought a cup of tea.

  In this era, the social atmosphere is quite open-minded. Women do not need to bind their feet or wear a veil when going out, so they can also receive guests and are not restricted by strict rules like in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The reason why Chen Jiong's sister-in-law did not come out was that she did not like having male guests at home.

  Xu Yi wasn't a bookworm either. Eldest sister-in-law didn't like Chen Jing to associate with people who weren't bookworms, fearing they would corrupt Chen Jing.

  The elder sister-in-law is more worried about Chen Jing than her mother.

  So after Chen Jiong's sister-in-law opened the door, she remained inside and didn't come out.

  Xu Yi probably also felt that the host family was unwelcome and was a bit nervous, unsure of what to say.

  "You came today to ask about the car's front child treating diarrhea, right?" Chen Jiong asked with a smile, wanting to quickly finish the conversation and send Xu Yi away.

  Chen Jie's home is too small and doesn't have separate inner and outer courtyards, plus there isn't a grown male master in the house, it's really inconvenient to receive male guests.

  "Yes, yes." Xu Yi was taken aback and hastily replied.

  He was still thinking about how to bring it up in his heart, but Chen Jiong spoke first. Xu Yi didn't beat around the bush and quickly agreed.

  "I saw a black lacquered brougham at the entrance of the alley, is it yours?" Chen Jing asked again.

  Xu Yi didn't understand and said: "Is it...?"

  Chen Jiong had already stood up, smiling and saying: "Aren't you the master of Xu's pharmacy? I haven't been to a pharmacy before. If it's convenient, I'll follow you to the pharmacy to take a look and broaden my horizons. As for Third Uncle's medical case, we can discuss it slowly on the way."

  Xu Yi also hastily stood up.

  Although he didn't know what Chen Jing meant, he still agreed in one breath: "Please ask the young master to come, it's just that the medicine shop is simple, don't be disgusted."

  His attitude was very respectful.

  Chen Jiong smiled and invited Xu Yi out.

  The gentle rain outside gradually grew heavier, beating down on the flower branches until they trembled violently, and the petals of the wisteria flowers in the corner of the wall fell scattered all over.

  "Qingyun..." Chen Jiong called out Qingyun.

  Qing Yun hurried out from the inner room.

  "Bring me two umbrellas, I'm going out with Dr. Xu for a while and will be back later." said Chen Jing.

  Qing Yun Road quickly took two oil-paper umbrellas from the inner house and handed them over to Chen Jing.

  Chen Jiong and Xu Yi walked out together.

  After Chen Jing and Xu Yi left, Qing Yun hurriedly locked the courtyard door and returned to the inner house to tell Li Shi about what had happened.

  Li was sewing in the inner house, making summer shirts for Chen Xiang and the children. They would be able to change into them after the Dragon Boat Festival. She perked up her ears, paying attention to the movements outside.

  Li's family clearly understood what Qingyun reported back and forth.

  She lightly bit off the thread, and after a while, she sighed and seemed to be muttering to herself: "Yang always fails to make friends with people of the same age, but instead has some dealings with these old gentlemen. He was originally taciturn and mature beyond his years, and now that he's befriended these elderly gentlemen, in the future..."

  In the future, I'm afraid it will be even more depressing.

  Having said that, Li sighed again.

  Ms. Li is just like Chen Jing's mother. Mothers are like that, when the child is obedient, they worry about being stupid, and when the child is mischievous, they worry about becoming bad. It's a dilemma for both themselves and their children.

  Qing Yun didn't understand any of this and didn't continue the conversation, silently helping Li Shi with some trivial tasks.

  *****

  The rain grew heavier. By the time Chen Jinn and Xuyi arrived at the Xu family's medicine shop, it had become a steady downpour, with mist rising from the ground.

  Chen Jiong told Xu Yi everything about Chen San's case without holding back.

  Xu Yi listened and nodded repeatedly.

  He had long wanted to go to Qiwan Lane to visit Chen Jing. Only, he was waiting to see if Old Master Chen San was really fully recovered. When he got the confirmed news yesterday, he couldn't wait any longer.

  When he first arrived at Chen Jie's house, his attitude was humble and respectful. He wanted to know about the case of Old Master Chen San, but also thought that he might have offended Chen Jie, fearing that Chen Jie would not treat him kindly, so Xu Yi put on a low profile.

  Waiting for him to see Chen Jing's mature and steady conversation, he knew that there was no need to speak, and he understood that the other party had not remembered the grudges of the last time.

  Chen Jing didn't even remember Xu Yi, let alone that small grudge. And as for Xu Yi, who knows?

  Xu Yi secretly admired Chen Jing's maturity and thought: "This child is young, but doesn't have the arrogance of youth, instead having a kind of middle-aged openness and stability, in the future he will probably achieve great things!"

  He looked at Chen Jing with new eyes.

  "...my third uncle's case is a special one." Finally, Chen Jing said, "Actually, you don't have to know. Like my third uncle's violent outburst, it's probably very hard to encounter again in the future."

  "The old man has gained a new understanding. Thank you, Master and Young Master." Xu Yi still expressed his gratitude.

  Chen Jiong smiled.

  The horse carriage arrived at Xu's pharmacy, and Chen Jiong got off to take a seat.

  Xu's pharmacy is a three-bay storefront facing the street. Above the doorframe, a Han white jade signboard hangs with silver hook and iron painting of four large characters "Xu's Pharmacy". Upon entering the shop, one sees that the main hall is clean and spacious, with a row of flower pear wood cabinets in the middle, behind which stand the shopkeeper and several pharmacy boys.

  Behind the shopkeeper and the medicine boy, there were rows of tall cabinets filled with medicines, as high as two people, extending all the way to the roof; on the cabinets, there were numerous small drawers, with iron plaques engraved with the names of the medicinal materials.

  The whole house is filled with fragrance of medicine.

  Due to the heavy rain outside, there were not many patients, and the large hall was spacious. The bluestone floor was even more shiny and bright, making it look even more magnificent.

  Smelling the familiar scent of medicine, Chen Jing slowly let out a sigh.

  It would be great if I could travel back in time to a merchant's home!

  Merchants have money and won't consider practicing medicine as a rebellion, Chen Jing can also do what he is good at, opening a pharmacy like this. Now, thinking that people in the world are still suffering from illness and pain, while having this skill himself, but being unable to use it, feels like wasting his talent.

  Chen Jing looked at this pharmacy, and the envy in his eyes was real.

  He's been really bored these days.

  "Xu Daifu, your pharmacy is really good." Chen Jing praised.

  This pharmacy is indeed Xu Yi's pride.

  Xu Yi and Chen Jing weren't familiar with each other, so it wasn't good to show off in front of unfamiliar people. Therefore, Xu Yi just smiled and said: "This is the foundation left by our ancestors, it's almost fifty years now. It's still like this under my old hands, I'm ashamed...

  Chen Jiong smiled and looked at it several times.

  Xu Yi also introduced Zuo Tang Xiansheng to Chen Jing.

  "Is it... the young master who cured Old Master Chen San?" The presiding gentleman was about fifty years old, but he was thin and sallow, with a somewhat precarious air. His tone was full of skepticism.

  Xu Yi nodded repeatedly: "It's this young master. He is the younger brother of Chen Zhang, a jinshi..."

  Compared with Chen Jiong, Elder Brother Chen Chang is much more famous. When it comes to Chen Jiong, nobody knows him, but as for Chen Chang, even vendors and travelers have heard of him.

  This is the status of bookworms.

  Chen Jiong smiled and exchanged greetings with the old gentleman.

  "I'm feeling bored and depressed at home reading books. May I sit here and watch you treat patients, Mr. Xu?" Chen Jiong asked Xu Yi.

  "......Alright." Xu Yi thought, did Chen Jing also want to show off?

  Xu Yi still doesn't know to this day whether Chen Jing's cure for Old Master Chen was just luck or real skill. After all, that one dose of Che Qian Zi was used too cleverly, and it was both simple and clever, clever like a wild guess.

  If Chen Jing's medical skills were superb, Xu Yi thought it would be great to interact with him more often. Although Chen Jing was young, his calmness was quite likable.

  If you're just deceiving the world and stealing fame, then don't disturb Chen Jingyan's studies again.

  Xu Yi agreed, and Chen Xuan lingered in the Xu family's medicine shop for half a morning.

  The rain gradually stopped, and the number of patients increased. In the spring and summer, the temperature difference between day and night was unstable, and there were many patients with colds. Other patients also had common illnesses, without any complicated symptoms, all of which could be handled by Dr. Situ.

  Chen Jiong spent the whole morning without saying a word, quietly sitting aside and watching.

  Xu Yi glanced at Chen Jing several times.

  It was almost noon when the rain stopped. Chen Jing bid farewell: "I have to go back for lunch, and I need to study in the afternoon, or else my sister-in-law will scold me."

  Xu Yilü invited Chen Jiong for a meal, but Chen Jiong declined.

  "I'll send a horse carriage for you." Xu Yi also didn't want to stay any longer.

  "No need, no need," said Chen Jiong. "I'd like to take a stroll on the street. When we came, I calculated the time, from your place to Qiwan Alley, it's only half an hour."

  This is a bit childish.

  Xu Yi didn't insist, and personally escorted Chen Jing to the door.

  Looking at Chen Jing's back, Xu Yi was silent for a while, then shook his head and smiled.

  He returned to the main hall, just in time when there were no more patients, and the doctor was also taking a break, preparing for dinner.

  Xu Yi then mentioned Chen Jing to Zuo Tang: "...... The medicine in front of the car, he is probably deceived, he should not know how to practice medicine. Looking at his appearance, he seems a bit dull, not speaking or sitting for an afternoon, what kind of child is this? If he really has some skills, he should say a few words on the side."

  Mr. Zuo's eyes were deep and profound. He stroked his sparse beard, smiled faintly, and said, "That kid has talent. Sitting silently for an entire morning, how many young people can be so patient? Don't underestimate him. In the future, he might even surpass his older brother..."

  Mr. Zuo was very fond of Chen Jing and had a high opinion of him.

  Xu Yi had a certain respect for this master, thinking that he was quite discerning. However, this time Xu Yi was a bit skeptical: Chen Jing hadn't done anything, so how could he tell that he had potential?

  Is it because he didn't speak for an entire morning?

  Upon hearing Mr. Zuo's words, Xu Yi furrowed his brow and glanced in the direction Chen Jing had gone.

  Chen Jie has gone far away.