"If you want it, then you have to go."

Lu Yinghuai received the small jade pendant, and its warm, smooth texture delighted him. Yunling had just mentioned that she liked this jade pendant quite a bit, and that it resembled him. That meant she liked him, and perhaps this was originally meant for him.

Yunling noticed that this person was not making a sound, but the corners of his mouth kept turning upwards, as if he was secretly laughing at something. She couldn't help but want to stir things up.

"Didn't the young master say that Allergy-Avoid Mother likes to collect these kinds of trinkets? Why not just give this one to her?"

“Lingniang must be mistaken. She prefers jade pendants, this is a jade plaque.”

Yunling smiled awkwardly. Damn it, she originally wanted to use Lu Jiamin to expose this person's petty thoughts and reveal his insatiable greed to her. Who knew that she would make a fool of herself first? Why isn't there a hole here for her to crawl into?

"However, Lingniang will understand her feelings. Didn't you give her a small pendant before? Just one is enough, no need for too many."

These words were like knives stabbing Yunling in the heart. She finally realized that any little trinkets she played with were likely to be tricked into buying by the person in front of her. If she ever took a fancy to something in the future, she should never play with it in front of him.

"Hey, didn't you just say you recently acquired some medical books and stole my little jade pendant? You should at least let me take a look at them."

Lu Yinghuai carefully placed the jade Guanyin back around his neck, then put the small jade pendant in his pocket, stood up with one hand on the ground, pulled Yunling up, and walked to the bookshelf to stop.

Yunling immediately noticed that several books on the bookshelf had relatively new cross-sections, unlike the other books which had creases from being flipped through too frequently.

"Where did you find the medical book?"

When did Lingniang learn medicine?

The two questions were asked at almost the same time. Lu Yinghuai was not flustered, but Yun Ling felt a chill run down her spine.

The rhetoric she learned from the old man in her dream would likely be completely ineffective with Lu Yinghuai, and would only arouse suspicion. However, if she claimed to have learned it from someone, he would certainly be able to find out if he wanted to.

“I don’t know any medical skills, but when I was a child I heard people in the village say that medicinal herbs could be sold for money. And since I liked to run up the mountain, I would pick out any herbs that smelled good and carry them all to Ren’an Hall.”

“The owner of Ren'an Hall said he would take it, so I wrote it down. When he was talking to me, he would also tell me what the herbs were for and show me what they looked like so I could go up the mountain to collect them.”

“After going back and forth like this, I memorized all the herbs, and naturally I could understand the prescriptions written by the doctors. Sometimes when the master was counting the herbs, I would watch them take pulses and make judgments. Those doctors all had apprentices, so I would also listen in.”

Yunling spoke with great sincerity. Although she learned her medical skills in the apocalypse, these were real experiences she had had at Ren'an Hall. Moreover, she had only treated Lu Yinghuai a handful of times, and even then, it wasn't for any serious illness, so it was all plausible.

Lu Yinghuai knew Yunling was intelligent. Even in polo, which was only her first time playing, she had achieved such excellent results; her talent was undeniable.

"Why doesn't Lingniang continue studying medicine? With Lingniang's intelligence, she would surely have a bright future in the medical field."

The various situations she encountered during the apocalypse flashed through Yunling's mind like a revolving lantern. Yunling didn't want to recall them, so she vaguely replied:

"I still prefer running a business. Seeing the money makes me so happy."

Lu Yinghuai sensed her displeasure and didn't bring it up again. He was secretly pleased; if Yunling had chosen to continue studying medicine, she would likely have entered Ren'an Hall like her elder sister and been accepted as a female apprentice by Elder Zhong.

If that's the case, Pei Lin will definitely get closer to her, the Pei family will be satisfied with the marriage, and they will get married, leaving him all alone.

“Your ‘Night-Shining Green’ will definitely get better and better. You’ll earn so much money in the future that you won’t even want to count it.”

“Who says I don’t want to? Who doesn’t like money? Besides, even if my aunt’s hands cramp up from counting, she can still count with her feet.”

The two laughed, and Yunling quickly changed the subject.

"You still haven't told me where this medical book came from?"

"I found it at the market."

"There's a market here too?"

Lu Yinghuai smiled and said softly:

"This marketplace is like the Bagua (Eight Trigrams); wherever there are people, there it is. However, most of the marketplaces in Bianjing deal in human lives, and there are quite a few troublemakers there. I am not willing to go in, so I sent someone inside to search."

"These are all medical books that are not available on the market. Many of them were passed down from the Imperial Palace, so... Lingniang, please don't sell me off."

Yunling was unaware that this person had a fear of treasures, and couldn't help but laugh. However, she immediately dismissed her own idea of ​​going to Liushi to hunt for treasures. Even Lu Yinghuai didn't dare to enter this place, so what ability did she have to dare to go there?

With only a few days left before she had to take a boat back to Pingcheng, she decided to avoid getting into trouble and making a mess of things for herself.

"If you send someone to buy these books, will it cost five hundred strings of copper coins?"

Lu Yinghuai smiled slightly and said nothing.

Yunling hadn't expected that the method she used to test Cai Dongjia wouldn't work on Lu Yinghuai; this fellow was truly a cunning old fox.

"So that's a thousand strings of cash?"

Lu Yinghuai remained silent. Seeing his attitude, Yunling decided to give up entirely. She pulled out a stack of paper money from her bosom and, regardless of its value, stuffed it directly into Lu Yinghuai's arms.

"Here's the money, but I'm taking the book."

"useless."

Lu Yinghuai took out all the paper money and was about to return it when Yun Ling stopped him with a hand.

“What do you mean it’s unacceptable? I know that the cost of polishing those jade ornaments is over a thousand strings of cash, and these medical books must be very expensive. We’re also staying in your house, and I need to have my wool transported back by the Lu family’s trading company. All in all, I really don’t know if this place is enough.”

Lu Yinghuai thought Yunling was good in every way, except for one thing: she liked playing several games with him too much. That was a bad thing, a very bad thing.

"This house was originally empty. It only has some life with you living here. Besides, your little maid often cooks and boils water for Zifu and me. How should we calculate these expenses?"

"On the way to Bianjing, Lingniang took great care of me. I caught a cold and had diarrhea, but it was you who saved me. How should we account for the expenses of these house calls, the care you showed me, and the nights you stayed up with me?"