As soon as I entered the courtyard, before I could even catch my breath, I ran into the newly arrived manager of the fields.
The man's face was full of displeasure and disgust. "Where have you been slacking off again? I haven't seen a soul all day."
"I had an upset stomach and rushed back to the outhouse."
Upon hearing this, Manager Tian snorted coldly and said sarcastically, "You have to run home just to use the outhouse? What, do you think our outhouse isn't clean enough?"
When Chef Zhou saw his strange and sarcastic appearance, he thought of his second uncle lying at home and felt irritated. However, he knew that he was currently trusted by Zhao Shida, so he could only suppress his anger and say, "The latrine is full, there's nowhere to squat."
Just as Steward Tian was about to speak, a waiter came over to deliver a message, saying that the young master and some classmates wanted to eat our braised meat at the academy, and asked him to send some over quickly.
Faced with a golden opportunity to curry favor with the young master, Steward Tian naturally dared not entrust the task to anyone else. He no longer cared about mocking Chef Zhou, but instead viciously uttered a harsh threat: "Get to work! If you dare to slack off again, I'll skin you alive!"
Seeing Steward Tian's smug face, Chef Zhou was furious. Remembering Meng Zhao's words earlier, he gritted his teeth and decided to do it.
Two or three days passed in a flash. On this day, Chef Zhou rushed to Meng Zhao's place in a hurry and carefully took out a package. "Madam Meng, that old man is very cunning. He counts the ingredients several times every time he collects them, which makes it impossible for me to find an opportunity."
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao subconsciously raised her hand and scratched her nose. To be honest, she was actually quite cunning.
"There was really no other way, so I had to open each of his ingredient packets and take out a little bit, but the proportions were all wrong," Chef Zhou continued.
Meng Zhao nodded quickly, "No problem, Master Zhou. I don't need the proportions. I just need to see the ingredients he uses. Thank you so much, Master Zhou."
Chef Zhou snorted coldly, his face showing resentment and indignation. "Madam Meng, I'm not actually trying to help you. I'm just furious that my second uncle, who worked for the Zhao family for over ten years, was kicked out like this, and they even accused him of falsifying accounts. Bah! If they checked my accounts from when I was in the Zhao family's kitchen, they could probably find a lot of things. But to say that my second uncle falsified accounts is clearly framing him."
After a brief pause, he continued, "After this ordeal, I don't plan to stay in the Zhao family any longer. If you can bring that shop down, Madam Meng, I'll support you."
"You don't need to help with anything else, Chef Zhou. I've already troubled you enough. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about you carrying this spice packet for me. I won't cause you any trouble." Meng Zhao knew that Chef Zhou had taken a lot of risks for this, so he naturally wanted to put his mind at ease.
Hearing this, Chef Zhou felt more at ease. After handing the food to Meng Zhao, he wasn't in a hurry to go back. Instead, he prepared to go and check on his second uncle's health.
Meng Zhao received the packet of spices and examined it carefully. In addition to the ordinary spices, he found two poppy shells.
But now there is another headache: among the books she has read, there is no mention of poppy shells being poisonous. In fact, many of them say that they have medicinal value and can stop coughs, diarrhea, and prevent babies from crying at night.
After thinking for a moment, Meng Zhao decided to ask a professional, so she took the spice bag and went out.
At this moment, Li Shize had just returned from seeing patients outside. He handed the prescription he had just written to the apprentice at the counter, saying, "Following the prescription, carefully prepare five doses of medicine and deliver them to Song Youtian's house in Luoshan Lane."
The young apprentice took the prescription and went to get the medicine. Li Shize went to the backyard to pour himself a glass of water. He had just been able to go out and see patients on his own recently and had been to many places, so he was quite tired.
When they returned to the main hall, Li Shize saw the apprentice had finished getting the medicine and was about to leave. He stopped him, took the medicine bag, and decided to check it. Upon inspection, he indeed discovered a problem.
“My prescription clearly states that only two loquat leaves are needed per packet, but the medicine you prescribed contained four leaves per packet. Loquat leaves are cold in nature, and taking too much could easily cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. This patient is already weak, and if he takes this medicine you prescribed, wouldn't he feel even worse?”
Upon hearing this, the young apprentice panicked, his face filled with anxiety. "Senior Brother Li, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault. I was confused just now and forgot that I had already let the loquat leaves go once."
Li Shize reprimanded coldly, "What's wrong with you lately? You're always so absent-minded. Today you only added two extra loquat leaves. Even if I didn't notice, it wouldn't cause any major disaster. But what if you add other poisonous herbs when you get the medicine tomorrow? Wouldn't that be killing someone?"
The young apprentice, his face full of remorse, lowered his head and mumbled an explanation: "It's all my fault. I don't know what happened. I've been spacing out these past few days. I was out of my mind just now. I was only thinking about delivering the medicine quickly so I could go to Zhao's Braised Pork to buy some braised meat to eat. As a result, this went wrong."
Upon hearing this, Li Shize frowned slightly, pulled him to sit at the examination table, and placed his hand on his wrist. The pulse was calm and steady, without any sign of distress.
Seeing the young apprentice's dejected look, and recalling his own mistakes when he was an apprentice, he didn't scold him too much and told him to deliver the medicine and come back quickly.
Just as I put the pulse pillow away, a woman with an anxious face pulled a man with dark circles under his eyes into the room. She said urgently, "Doctor, doctor, please take a look at my husband. He hasn't been sleeping well at night lately, and he has no energy to work during the day. Is he sick?"
The man, however, looked impatient and yelled at the woman, "You woman, I've already told you I'm not sick. It's all your fault for making such bad food. I can't eat it, and that's why I can't sleep and have no energy."
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