Dr. Song thought she hadn't heard him clearly, so he emphasized and repeated, "Dr. He, this patient is a wealthy merchant in the city, and he has venereal disease."

"I know."

He Jiuniang blinked. "Is there a problem?"

"Ah, no, no... Hehehe, I was just worried that Dr. He didn't hear me clearly."

Doctor Song was somewhat embarrassed, and Madam Hou quickly came to his rescue: "Oh, sir, are you worried that Doctor He is afraid that the other party is a man?"

Doctor Song glanced gratefully at his wife, feeling that she understood him best.

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Doctor He is, after all, a woman, which makes things inconvenient for her."

He Jiuniang then realized what they were worried about and explained, "Don't worry, Doctor Song. Doctors don't distinguish between men and women. There's nothing inconvenient about it. I can treat both men and women."

"Okay, okay, that puts my mind at ease!"

Everyone noticed that she only talked about the difference between men and women, but didn't mention whether the disease was curable or not.

Anyone who has interacted with her knows that this usually means she's okay.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Doctor Song, who was so excited he could barely hold his chopsticks.

"Dr. Song, I will stay in the prefectural city for a while longer, so I can see more patients in the next few days."

He Jiuniang had said this to Manager Ren before, but worried that Manager Ren might have forgotten to say it, so she repeated it again.

"Very good, very good. Ever since Miss Gao's condition improved significantly last time, people have been coming to the clinic every day to ask when Doctor He will be able to make house calls. I thought that Doctor He was far away, so I refused them all. Now that Doctor He has spoken, I can arrange it tomorrow."

Doctor Song replied with a smile, knowing that He Jiuniang treated difficult and complicated diseases that other clinics couldn't cure, which meant her consultation fees were high. The more patients she treated, the wealthier her family would become.

After a satisfying meal, Song Chi personally escorted He Jiuniang back to the inn to rest. The environment was indeed much better this time, making people feel more comfortable.

"Thank you for your trouble."

He Jiuniang nodded to Song Chi and then tried to go inside.

"Dr. He!"

Song Chi hurriedly called out to her, his whole body tensing up.

"Is there anything else, Dr. Song?"

"Um!"

Song Chi nodded heavily. He did have something to do and had wanted to spend more time with her, but he didn't expect her to be in such a hurry to go back to her room.

He Jiuniang then said, "Doctor Song, please speak freely."

Song Chi was slow and deliberate, which made He Jiu Niang a little impatient, but she didn't show it. She just looked at him and waited for him to speak.

Seeing her look at him like that, Song Chi became even more nervous and stammered, "It's about the matter you asked Manager Ren about before!"

He also felt embarrassed by his stuttering, so he simply stopped talking and instead took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her.

He Jiuniang didn't remember what she had asked Manager Ren before, so she opened the envelope and saw that Liu Yancai's name was written on it.

After quickly glancing at the contents, I knew that the Song family had helped investigate the background of Liu Yancai, the owner of Shili Piaoxiang.

Manager Ren had previously said he would write to the prefectural city to investigate, but she remembered refusing, mainly because she didn't want to trouble the Song family too much. Unexpectedly, the Song family still managed to find out for her.

"Thank you very much, Dr. Song. If needed, I can give you Dr. Song's prescription for treating male diseases as a token of my gratitude."

Song Chi: ...Why not some other prescription, but one for treating male diseases?

Was Dr. He implying that he was incapable?

Or perhaps there was a misunderstanding?

No, why give him a prescription?

He doesn't want a prescription!

"Forehead……"

He looked at He Jiuniang with an embarrassed expression, but met He Jiuniang's clear, bright eyes.

He became even more nervous and stammered, "Dr. He, there's a lantern festival in the city tomorrow night. Shall I...shall I take you out to join in the fun?"

He Jiu Niang smacked her lips twice. How could such a simple sentence have stumped him so much?

Does this young doctor Song have some unspeakable secret?

"sure!"

She readily agreed, then sized up Song Chi, thinking that if he asked her to help treat his illness, she could waive the fee out of respect for him being the young master.

Song Chi was completely immersed in the joy of He Jiu Niang's agreement, and was very excited. He had no idea that in He Jiu Niang's eyes, he was sick...

This cannot be blamed on He Jiuniang. After all, He Jiuniang is very clear about her own position. She is a young widow. Now that her family is doing business and making money, and life is good, she dares not easily find someone to marry her off.

In this day and age, it's hard to find enlightened parents-in-law like Old Man Lu and Mrs. Sun, as well as sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law who are so easy to get along with. If you marry into a mediocre family, wouldn't you have to face a whole bunch of terrible relatives?

That's why, even though Ms. Sun told her she could remarry, she had no intention of doing so. She was a modern woman who could live a wonderful life without a man.

On the other hand, her relationship with Yuyuantang is based on mutual benefit, and so far they seem to get along quite well. She has also helped the Song family make a lot of money, so Song Chi's enthusiasm towards her is simply a way of currying favor with a money god.

So even when Song Chi wanted to invite her out to see the lanterns, she simply thought that Song Chi, the young master, was not bad at all. He was willing to be a tour guide, which was much better than those arrogant rich kids.

Upon receiving a response and being told that the driver would pick her up early the next morning, Song Chi happily went home, even thinking that she must go home early the next day to take a shower and change into decent clothes, so as not to be as filthy as she was at the clinic.

He Jiuniang didn't think too much about it. Tired from the journey, she lay down on the bed to rest and took out the envelope that Song Chi had given her to study.

As luck would have it, Liu Yancai's family had been merchants for three generations, all of them running restaurants. Some time ago, he pulled a lot of strings and managed to get on the good side of the Gao family.

It was the same Gao family that He Jiuniang had visited in the prefectural city for medical treatment last time.

Liu Yancai needed to pull many strings to get close to the Gao family, which shows that the Liu family was not actually a high-ranking or wealthy family, and at least they didn't have any relatives who were officials.

As long as the involvement isn't too deep, He Jiuniang isn't worried about implicating her family.

I fell asleep while thinking about it, and when I woke up it was already dusk.

Hmm, I'm hungry again.

He Jiuniang didn't eat at the inn, but instead went out and wandered all over the street looking for the "Ten Miles of Fragrance" sign.

As the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained, she was determined to see what kind of den of dragons and tigers lay in this "Ten Miles of Fragrance" in the prefectural city.

"Madam, please, have some food!"

Just as she was lost in thought, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the alley entrance. A woman dressed in tattered clothes rushed out and grabbed He Jiu Niang's leg, refusing to let go.