13. Hire a cat
Gradually, more and more people were walking on the street. Neighbors were greeting each other. Some were pushing wooden wheelbarrows to go out to work, and some were opening their doors to do business. Anxi Street finally had the air of life.
The little black cat hid in the shadows, its eyes alert and indifferent, but it refused to leave.
"This bead must be very important to you," Chen Ji muttered to himself, "Even though I teased you several times, even though the bead bounced away, you were unwilling to give it up."
He waved to the little black cat, indicating that it should follow him into the clinic, but the little black cat remained indifferent and just observed secretly.
At this time, there was movement coming from the restaurant opposite. The strong waiter in the restaurant removed the door panel and carried baskets of steamed buns to the door. The baskets were steaming white steam in the early morning sun.
Chen Ji looked up again, only to see the little black cat staring straight at the cage...
The look in the little black cat's eyes made him feel as if he was seeing himself when he was young, staring at the instant noodles on someone else's table on the green train.
Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, then walked forward and asked, "How much is a bun?"
The waiter at the restaurant smiled and said, "It's Doctor Chen. The buns are still two cents each. It hasn't changed."
Chen Ji took out two cents from his sleeve... This was the money he earned from mopping the floor yesterday, and it was also the only two cents he had on him.
"Give me one," he put two cents into the waiter's hand.
The waiter asked cheerfully, "Just one? Is it enough?"
Chen Ji smiled and replied, "I only have two cents, I can't afford more."
The waiter at the restaurant was surprised. Who these days would be willing to admit that they were so poor that they couldn't bear to eat an extra bun that cost only two cents?
A steamed bun costs two cents, a pound of rice costs ten cents, and a pound of eggs costs twenty cents. Even the poorest family probably can afford more than two cents.
But Chen Ji looked calm, as if he didn't think it was a big deal at all.
"Okay, I'll sell you a bun then," the restaurant waiter said enthusiastically after he realized what was happening.
Chen Ji glanced at the little black cat on the eaves and suddenly asked, "I want to ask you something. Is there any place selling fish nearby?"
"You want to buy fish?"
"Let me ask around first. I don't have the money to buy it now."
The waiter at the restaurant smiled and said, "There's only smoked and salted fish nearby. If you want to buy live fish, you have to go to the East Market. It takes more than an hour to go there and back."
“Is the fish expensive?”
"That depends on the type of fish," the waiter said with a smile. "Crucian and grass carp are cheap, ten cents a pound. Sea bass are more expensive, around thirty cents a pound. It's said that the wealthy merchants and scholars from the north and south who traveled through the East Market could even eat fish from the sea. I hear that when Luo City was prosperous, tons of sea fish were shipped in every day."
Chen Ji asked casually, "Is Luocheng no longer viable now?"
"Things are different now. In the past, this was the capital, a place of extravagance and decadence. Now it's fallen on hard times, and only a few gentlemen still boast about being the capital. But everyone knows that the truly prosperous places today are Shengjing in the north and Jinling in the south." The waiter opened the steamer and, amidst the white mist, he handed over a bun wrapped in hemp paper. "Here, your bun."
Chen Ji took the bun but did not eat it. Instead, he turned around and put it on the threshold of the clinic. Then he bent down, picked up the shoulder pole and bucket, and walked unsteadily into the clinic.
The little black cat jumped down from the eaves and came to the door of the clinic. He sniffed the smell of the buns, and then
He walked away with his head held high, seemingly not intending to accept Chen Ji's kindness.
But after walking a few steps, he turned back and picked up the bun.
It stood at the door of the clinic, watching Chen Ji's back as he carried water to the backyard. It also wanted to follow in to take a look, but finally turned around and left.
…
…
Ever since She Dengke and Liu Quxing started fighting in the backyard, they have never come to the main hall again. Since the master is not at home, both of them are lazy and don't want to come out to work.
Chen Ji was also happy with the quietness. When he was hungry, he would go to the kitchen to get a multi-grain cake. When he was thirsty, he would scoop a ladle of water and boil it to drink. When a patient came with a prescription, he would weigh the medicine for him, but he would politely refuse those who wanted to diagnose him.
He spent almost the entire day studying the general principles of medical skills, but he was only studying trauma.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ji fell asleep on the counter. When he woke up, he saw the black cat from Wanxingyuan squatting on the counter and staring at him quietly.
The black cat's fur was messy and there was a new wound on its neck, bleeding.
Chen Ji laughed and raised his hand to greet the black cat: "Why are you walking so quietly? Did you get beaten again?"
The black cat raised its head slightly stubbornly.
That look was very similar to the look on many men's faces with their necks stiffened after a fight: he didn't gain any advantage!
In fact, these are all the words of losers...
"Please wait a moment," Chen Ji went to the kitchen to get a fire stick to start a flame and lit the oil residue lamp on the counter in the main hall.
The small flame flickered, not enough to illuminate the entire room, just enough for one person and one cat.
Chen Ji blew out the fire on the thin wood and muttered, "You fight with Yun Fei's cat every day. Doesn't Jing Fei help you treat your injuries? Otherwise, you'll be beaten to death."
The black cat raised its head, looking somewhat dissatisfied.
"You don't have to be dissatisfied," Chen Ji gestured. "You're only this young, probably not even a year old, and it's already that big. It's normal that you can't beat it. A gentleman's revenge is never too late. When you are absolutely sure, you can go find it again."
At this point, Chen Ji became serious: "But remember, you must kill it with one strike. Don't give it a chance to turn around."
After hearing this, the black cat had a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Chen Ji was a little puzzled: "Do you really understand what I say?"
The black cat didn't respond.
Chen Ji smiled and said, "Let me apply some medicine on you."
Black Cat saw Chen Ji suddenly flipping through the medical book quickly. The young man was still muttering, "Let me see what medicine can be applied to external injuries. I learned a special lesson today... Yes, Cnidium monnieri. This stuff is large in quantity. If I take a gram, Old Man Yao will definitely not be able to find it."
The black cat's originally tense body relaxed a little.
Chen Ji took some dried snake bed seeds and ground them carefully into powder.
He looked at the black cat and said, "I'll give you some hemostatic medicine. Please don't scratch me."
However, he was surprised to find that when he applied the powder on the black cat's wound, the cat did not dodge or evade, as if it knew that it was for its own good.
The black cat was like a small sculpture, its eyes following Chen Ji's figure back and forth. Finally, its body, which was ready to explode with anger at any moment, gradually relaxed.
The little black cat has thick fur that needs to be carefully peeled off for inspection, which is very time-consuming.
After Chen Ji had treated every wound on the black cat, he smiled and said, "Mission accomplished!"
As he spoke, he realized that the black cat had fallen asleep, and the little one rested its head on his palm.
Chen Ji was silent for a long time, but his hand never moved away.
A man and a cat are in this small ball of light, quiet and gentle.
Chen Ji looked down at the little black cat, and after a long silence, he said absentmindedly, "I can only tell you this."
He leaned against the counter, his eyes fixed on the flickering flame. "When I was in Qingshan Hospital, I thought I wouldn't die. I prepared so thoroughly, even a mental illness diagnosis to use in the murder to get away with it, but in the end, I was still killed. But death is death, as long as my revenge is achieved."
"Li Qingniao told me that someone from Northern Juluzhou was responsible for smuggling me across. I don't know what he meant. Where is Northern Juluzhou? What is the Forty-Ninth Heaven? How did I suddenly end up being reborn as a young apprentice, living all alone in this world..."
"When I learned from my master that I still had a family, I wasn't really looking forward to it... well, I was a little bit excited. But that evening, as the afterglow of the setting sun gradually faded from me, I felt like I had been abandoned by the world."
"Isn't it a bit hypocritical..."
Chen Ji was babble-ing on and on about all sorts of nonsense. After he came into this world, there was no one he could trust, and no one was worthy of being trusted. He could only keep those secrets and confusions in his stomach, and finally told them to a sleeping kitten.
He seemed to find this a bit ridiculous, so he lowered his head and whispered to the black cat, "Thank you, I feel much better after listening to all my talk!"
At this time, the little black cat opened its eyes and gently placed its paw on Chen Ji's wrist, as if to comfort him.
Chen Ji stared at the furry little paw for a long time, then asked, "I guess because you haven't beaten the white cat, Concubine Jing and Chunrong are angry that you are not motivated, so they won't treat your wounds or give you food. So, a cat raised by a princess would only be thinking about a meat bun, right?"
The little black cat looked at him silently.
Chen Ji asked seriously, "How about when I'm able to leave the clinic, you can go wandering around the world with me?"
The little black cat looked confused.
"No, it has to be a bit ceremonial!" Chen Ji pulled out a slip of paper from the counter, used for writing prescriptions, and with a crooked brush, he wrote down the ancient ritual prayer for marrying a cat: "The cat slave is on the road to Luocheng, surrounded by dark clouds. Today, Chen Ji wants to marry this 'dark cloud' to his home. As I don't have any dried fish, I will use a crystal bead as a betrothal gift. The Kitchen God bears witness to my unwavering commitment, and the City God bears witness to my grace and righteousness."
When he wrote the last word, he took out the cinnabar ink and looked at the black cat: "If you can really understand what I say and are willing to follow me, then press your handprint yourself."
Under the boy's gaze, the black cat hesitated for a quarter of an hour, and finally raised its paw to dip it in the cinnabar ink, and then pressed its paw print on the letter of appointment.
The next moment, the letter of appointment spontaneously combusted without fire and turned into stars in the air.
Chen Ji looked at the brilliant scene before him and muttered to himself, "This world is really not normal..."
A voice asked, "What's wrong?"
Chen Ji slowly turned his head towards the black cat...
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