partnership
The person, who had one foot still outside the door, was so startled by Xu Ruoyan's shout that they froze on the spot. After squinting and recognizing Xu Ruoyan's face, they also yelled:
"It's you!"
Xu Ruoyan's gaze swept over him from head to toe, then she raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong with you again?"
The fat man chuckled and sat down opposite Xu Ruoyan, saying, "I was passing by your door and saw a lot of people queuing up. When I asked, I heard it was a newly opened pharmacy offering free medical consultations, so I was curious and wanted to come and take a look."
The stool was a bit small, and he wasn't very comfortable sitting on it, so he awkwardly twisted his body, trying to find a comfortable position.
Xu Ruoyan looked at the fat man wriggling in front of her and her lips twitched.
She was really afraid that her stool would be damaged.
"Honeysuckle, serve tea," she called out towards the backyard.
Then, she stood up and bowed deeply to the person in front of her: "I was so sorry for bumping into you the other day."
The fat man hurriedly stood up and bowed, saying, "Don't mention it. I was blocking the way myself. Besides, you saved me, so you're my benefactor."
When Ren Dong came out, this was the scene of the couple bowing. In his excitement, he got hot tea splattered on his face, which almost made him cry out.
Now it was Xu Ruoyan's turn to help him up: "You're hardly my benefactor. You're just making amends for my mistakes. Please sit down."
So the fat man sat down again with a thud.
Xu Ruoyan closed her eyes in despair.
"By the way, did you know that the prescription I gave you was originally given to one of your servants?"
Speaking of this, the fat man beamed again: "Of course, I changed the prescription that day, and I don't know if it's just psychological, but I do feel much lighter these past few days."
Xu Ruoyan thought to herself, "That's definitely just psychological. After all, you only changed the prescription two days ago."
However, she still didn't quite understand why this person would accept her prescription so readily. Logically speaking, it would be normal for a person not to trust someone in such a situation.
“Well, let me tell you something,” the fat man leaned closer mysteriously, his eyes darting around as if he were plotting something wicked, “my elder brother is always afraid that I’ll take the family business from him, so he’s always targeting me. That’s why I felt something was off when he recommended this old Chinese medicine doctor to me. Now that I think about it, I’ve been drinking this prescription for so long and it hasn’t worked; in fact, it’s gotten worse. I guess it was his idea.”
Xu Ruoyan wasn't too surprised to hear this. After all, she had heard about it from her servant before, and considering the size and influence of their family, she wasn't surprised by the kind of story of fighting over inheritance.
"Besides, after you saved me that day, my intuition told me that your medical skills are superb, and I trust you without a doubt."
Seeing his proud expression, Xu Ruoyan laughed along.
Your intuition is indeed quite accurate.
After recounting his past, the fat man suddenly gasped.
"What's wrong with you?" Xu Ruoyan asked hurriedly, afraid that he would collapse in front of her again.
The fat man slapped his forehead, looking extremely regretful: "I've been chatting for so long and I just realized I haven't introduced myself yet. My surname is Sun, Sun Yulin. May I ask your name, young lady?"
Xu Ruoyan smiled helplessly and lowered her head slightly: "Xu Ruoyan."
Sun Yulin gave a thumbs up: "The girl's name is really beautiful. Just hearing it makes one feel like a gentle breeze is refreshing and relaxing."
Xu Ruoyan's lips twitched uncontrollably twice more.
After exchanging pleasantries, Sun Yulin looked around Xu Ruoyan's small shop, which was only a few square meters in size.
After looking around, he clicked his tongue and said, "Miss Xu, this place is truly small but complete, almost on par with Qingrentang!"
Xu Ruoyan sighed and quickly interrupted him.
“From now on, you can come to me for your medicine. I can also check on your condition anytime.” She paused for a moment, then added, “Come every two days, and I’ll give you acupuncture. That way you’ll recover faster.”
Upon hearing this, Sun Yulin slammed his hand on the table and burst into laughter.
Xu Ruoyan: ...
She really needs to consider whether or not to get her brain treated.
"Brother Yulin, what has come to mind again?" she asked patiently.
Sun Yulin mysteriously raised his index finger and waved it in front of her: "Hey, let me tell you, we're really thinking the same thing!"
As Xu Ruoyan was wondering, she heard him say, "I've decided to partner with you!"
After he finished speaking, he waited two seconds and noticed that Xu Ruoyan was still looking at him with a completely confused expression. So he excitedly added, "That means from now on, all the medicines in your family's pharmacy will come from me, and you won't have to spend a single penny!"
Xu Ruoyan was truly stunned when a sugar daddy suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
She heard herself struggling to make a sound:
When did you make this decision?
"Just now, I just thought of it." Sun Yulin smiled so broadly that the flesh on his face piled up.
Xu Ruoyan slowly swallowed.
"Then we... split it 30/70?"
"Ugh, what's the point of distinguishing between them!" Sun Yulin's heavy hand landed heavily on her back, and for a moment she felt like her internal organs were about to fly out.
"You don't need to share your profits with me. Just consider it payment for your treatment."
“But the consultation fee shouldn’t be this much. It’s only twenty coins per consultation. You’re… giving too much.”
Sun Yulin frowned in disdain: "I'm not that poor. Besides, your consultation fee of twenty coins is too little. Places like Qingrentang and Heniantang charge two hundred coins a time."
"Two hundred coins?!" Xu Ruoyan's eyes widened.
Sun Yulin shrugged: "Otherwise, where do you think they earned all that money? Even small clinics, like yours," he gestured with his hand, "would cost at least seventy or eighty coins."
No wonder people would rather brave the cold wind and queue up in front of her little, shabby clinic all day than go to other pharmacies for treatment.
Xu Ruoyan sighed deeply, not understanding why things had turned out this way.
Sun Yulin noticed her dissatisfaction and casually comforted her, "It's Kyoto. No matter what you do, you'll inevitably spend more money than necessary. But even so, there are still crowds of people who are desperate to come here."
She rubbed her face, stood up, and solemnly said to Sun Yulin, "No matter what, I still want to thank you."
“Oh, you’re being too polite,” Sun Yulin waved his hand dismissively. “I believe that with your medical skills, you will definitely be able to make this small pharmacy bigger and stronger.”
Xu Ruoyan escorted Sun Yulin to his carriage, watching him struggle to climb in, and finally couldn't help but say, "You should... pay attention to controlling your diet in the future."
Sun Yulin lifted the curtain, peeked out, and smiled at her: "I know, see you in two days!"
Xu Ruoyan smiled and waved to him, watching his car drive away.
Just then, someone tugged at her hem. She turned around in surprise and saw it was Honeysuckle.
The child, his head flushed red, was staring at her.
"Madam, do you...do you still want the master?"
Xu Ruoyan blinked slowly, and after realizing what the child was saying, she burst out laughing.
"What are you saying?" She laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up, and her words became incoherent.
Banxia saw Rendong's bright red ears from afar and knew he had gotten into trouble, so she hurriedly came over and pulled Rendong back.
Xu Ruoyan probably knew why he asked that question, and couldn't help but shake her head helplessly.
Pei Jue is quite popular; even the children help him look after himself.
Thinking of Pei Jue, she suddenly realized that she hadn't sent a message home all day. Afraid that Pei Jue would worry, she hurriedly returned home after instructing the two young apprentices.
She arrived home just in time; when she got back, Sanqi and the others had just put dinner on the table.
She went over and patted each of them on the head, praising them as she went, before asking, "Where is your head of household?"
Sanqi answered quickly: "Feeding the horses in the backyard!"
Mai Dong then stepped between Xu Ruoyan and Sanqi, saying, "I said I would feed them, but the head of the family wouldn't allow it."
Xu Ruoyan nodded in understanding and walked towards the backyard.
"My lord?"
Pei Jue had just finished spreading the fodder when he heard this and straightened up: "Madam is back."
"Why did you decide to feed the horses today? They're the ones who usually do that," she beckoned to Pei Jue, "Go wash your hands and have your meal."
At the dinner table, Xu Ruoyan picked up her chopsticks and then put them down again.
She found the atmosphere at the dinner table today quite strange. Pei Jue's attitude was unusually cold; he hadn't uttered a single word since sitting down. In the past, Pei Jue would have definitely asked her what she had been doing that day.
Besides, today is the first day of her pharmacy's opening, how come Pei Jue doesn't even care about that?
Xu Ruoyan thought and thought, but still couldn't figure out what she had done to offend Pei Jue, so she cleared her throat and cautiously asked, "Um... are you not in a good mood today?"
Pei Jue simply gave a faint "hmm," offering no further explanation.
Xu Ruoyan silently closed her eyes.
Is today my death day?
With a pained expression, she asked, "Can you tell me why? I don't want to be a wronged ghost."
Pei Jue put down his chopsticks, and a crisp clinking sound reached Xu Ruoyan's ears, not too loud, not too soft, just enough to send a shiver down her spine.
"My wife went out today without informing me, and did not send a message back at noon, nor did she come back for lunch."
Xu Ruoyan's heart skipped a beat.
Oh no! The joy of suddenly finding a sugar daddy has clouded my judgment, and I've forgotten that I decided this morning to avoid Pei Jue.
“Well, well,” she tried to explain, “it was my first day of free medical consultations at the pharmacy. I was so busy that I didn’t have time to come home for lunch or send a message home.”
Pei Jue looked up at her seriously: "Then why didn't you take me with you to the pharmacy this morning? I could have helped you."
At this moment, Xu Ruoyan wished she could slap herself.
Get your brain working!
"Ah, I was just thinking you must have a lot of things to do, so I didn't call you."
She herself didn't believe that.
But to everyone's surprise, Pei Jue actually believed it.
“Alright then,” Pei Jue nodded, “but I’m worried that you’ll have to let me know before you go out each day, or send me a message when you have time.”
"Ha, haha, okay, I got it."
Xu Ruoyan wiped the sweat from her forehead without making a sound.
Why are you being so clingy?!
"Don't talk about me, what have you been doing all day?"
Pei Jue said, "I didn't go out today, but I asked Zhu Ying to do something for me."
"Oh? Guard Zhu is back?" Xu Ruoyan then remembered that Zhu Ying hadn't shown up for several days. "What did you send him to do?"
Pei Jue picked up a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, then calmly spoke:
"Sneak into the palace and find someone for me."
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