As Jiang Hua walked into Mingdetang with her medicine box, Manager Shen rushed up to ask how things were going with the Meng family.
“Miss Meng is alright now,” Jiang Hua said, then took out the consultation fee given to her by Madam Meng and handed it to him.
"Miss Jiang, would you like to come and practice medicine at our Mingdetang?" Manager Shen suggested.
Mingdetang Hospital has only male doctors; there isn't a single female doctor. Sometimes, it's quite inconvenient for women to come for treatment.
If Jiang Hua were to come and practice medicine, she would understand women better than men.
"Dr. Shen, I don't have much free time to see patients, but if there's anything I can help with, I can come and take a look," Jiang Hua politely declined.
"I see." Manager Shen was a little disappointed, but after hearing Jiang Hua's words, he accepted it with a happy expression.
"Are there any skilled doctors?"
At this moment, a fair-skinned man walked in. From the moment he stepped into Mingde Hall and sat down, his behavior seemed frivolous.
The dark circles under his eyes and the undisguised fatigue between his brows and eyes clearly indicated that he had overindulged in excessive sexual activity.
"Who is this?" Jiang Hua watched as a doctor skillfully led him into the back hall. Could he be a regular customer of Mingde Hall?
"This man is called Liu Yan. He's notorious in Qingshi County for his womanizing and cruelty; he's squandered his family's fortune," Manager Shen explained.
"His father was angered to death by him, and his mother is now paralyzed in bed because of him. They moved to Qingshi Town three months ago because they gambled away the house deed."
"So what illness does he have now?" Jiang Hua asked.
Manager Shen whispered in Jiang Hua's ear, and Jiang Hua nodded in understanding.
It's no wonder that people who frequent brothels and casinos all day get sick.
It's like searching high and low without finding it; just when I was looking for him, he delivered himself right to my door.
"I heard he's been doing business lately?" Jiang Hua asked tentatively.
"What kind of business is this? It's all a scam, a trap set for him by others," Manager Shen said, shaking his head.
"I heard from others that he recently hooked up with a rich girl and is now using her money to go to casinos and brothels. I really don't know which girl is blind?"
"The lady you mentioned, you just met her a few days ago," Jiang Hua thought to herself.
"Is his illness incurable now?"
“It could have been cured, but he couldn’t control himself, and there was nothing we could do.”
Shopkeeper Shen was somewhat speechless. Fortunately, Doctor Jiang was married, otherwise he would have been embarrassed to say these things.
“Then there’s nothing we can do,” Jiang Hua agreed.
Jiang Hua handed the Yunnan Baiyao she had brought from the medicine box to Manager Shen and then prepared to leave.
"Manager Shen, I'm going back now. If you need anything, just come find me at the shop. I'll be staying there for the next few days," Jiang Hua said.
"Yes, Dr. Jiang." Manager Shen saw Jiang Hua out of Mingde Hall before going to the back room to check on Liu Yan's condition.
Isn't this just a waste of money? As soon as Manager Shen entered, he saw Liu Yan haggling with the doctor, and he looked down on Liu Yan even more.
...
It was past noon at the snail rice noodle shop. Jiang Hua took the ledger that Wen Yu had prepared and went into the backyard to do the accounting. The people working in the front yard kept glancing into the backyard, afraid that there might be some problems with the ledger.
They remained trembling with fear until the shop closed, when they finally heard Jiang Hua tell them to go into the backyard.
"Miss, is there a problem with the ledger?" Wen Yu asked directly.
"No, what's wrong?" Jiang Hua looked up at Wen Yu, who was questioning her: "The accounts and the money match up."
Hearing Jiang Hua's answer, the group secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"This is your wages for this month. Since you haven't worked a full month, we'll treat it as if it were a full month. It's one tael of silver per person. Here you go," Jiang Hua said, pointing to the loose silver on the table.
"Do we get paid?" Wen Yu asked, puzzled.
Honghua gets paid because, unlike them, they are servants whose lives are bought out by Jiang Hua.
“Why not? You’ve all worked hard for a month,” Jiang Hua retorted.
"Thank you, young lady," the group said in unison, exchanging glances.
"Alright, keep up the good work next month. The shop's business depends on you guys. Whoever does the best will be promoted to manager, and I'll give her a raise," Jiang Hua said.
"Really?" Wenqing asked in surprise.
"Mm." Jiang Hua nodded.
After having dinner at the shop and discussing the business with a few others, it was already dark when we came out of the courtyard.
“Miss, it’s getting late. Why don’t you stay here for the night?” Fangru said, looking at the dark sky outside.
"No need, you should get some rest. I'll come back tomorrow." Jiang Hua declined their suggestion and left the shop.
At this time, there were still quite a few people in the town. Jiang Hua had just stepped out of the shop when she ran into Ye Shaoling, who slowly walked towards her from inside the shop.
"Miss Jiang, what a coincidence," Ye Shaoling said with a light laugh, fanning himself.
“Young Master Ye, what coincidence could there be? Your shop has opened right in front of my house. What could be more coincidental than this? Don’t you think so?” Jiang Hua replied.
"Miss Jiang, it's so late, are you still going back to the village? It's really dangerous for a young lady to walk alone at night. Why don't you stay at my Guangfu Restaurant for the night?"
Ye Shaoling seemed not to have heard Jiang Hua's words. He looked up at the darkening sky and asked with concern.
"Thank you very much, Young Master Ye. I'll go to Mingyue Tower in a bit," Jiang Hua politely declined.
"I would like to invite Miss Jiang to Guangfu Restaurant. Would Miss Jiang do me the honor?"
Ye Shaoling put away his folding fan, his beautiful peach blossom eyes looking at Jiang Hua, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes.
"What if I say I won't do you the honor?" Jiang Hua met Ye Shaoling's eyes and then saw two more thugs coming out of the shop behind him.
"Then don't blame me for using unsavory methods," Ye Shaoling said softly. "Mingyue Tower is right across from Guangfu Tower, Miss Jiang is going that way anyway, isn't she?"
Hearing Ye Shaoling's words, and glancing at the thugs behind him who were ready to serve at any moment, he said, "Since Young Master Ye has extended such a warm invitation, then I will not stand on ceremony."
"What's going on, shopkeeper? I just saw Miss Jiang go into Guangfu Restaurant across the street!" Sun Nian, who had been guarding Jiang Hua at the door, only had a moment of distraction before he saw Miss Jiang enter Guangfu Restaurant.
"Are you telling the truth?"
Upon hearing Sun Nian's words, Manager Bai, who was still calculating accounts at the counter, immediately came out, only to find the Guangfulou restaurant's doors tightly closed.
"Are you sure you didn't see wrong?" Manager Bai asked again.
"No, it's absolutely true!" Sun Nian practically swore an oath with three fingers.
"This is terrible." Manager Bai looked at the tightly closed door, his heart pounding with anxiety, fearing that the people from Guangfu Restaurant might harm Jiang Hua.
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