Chapter 80 Free Medical Clinic at the Market He couldn't help but turn his face away from her...
Guo Jia walked through the market carrying a cloth bag, his fingertips stained with the oil from the pastries. He was wondering why Deng Zhao and his wife had specifically asked him to buy this "pastry that Ming'er likes," even though the child had clearly complained about the pastries being greasy just yesterday.
As I turned the corner of the herbal medicine stall, I suddenly heard a clear voice say, "Sir, this medicine needs to be simmered over a low flame, and you must abstain from meat and fish for three days." The voice was familiar, but the pronunciation was slower than usual, as if the tone was deliberately lowered.
Guo Jia stopped and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a girl in coarse linen clothes kneeling on a straw mat. There was a small table in front of her, and several bags of herbs were placed beside her. She was writing something down.
Sunlight shone on her unadorned profile, her hair casually tied up with a rough wooden hairpin, a few strands of hair falling loose at her temples, making her look completely different from the exquisite woman in Chinese dress and hairpins at home.
If it weren't for the familiar "Sir," Guo Jia wouldn't have recognized Deng Jie at first glance. Guo Jia reached into his sleeve and touched the still-warm cake, pondering the couple's intentions. He couldn't help but smile and stood there watching for a while longer.
"Young man!" the charcoal seller suddenly called out, "If you want to see a doctor, come forward and don't block the way!"
Guo Jia didn't move. He was watching Deng Jie, who had mud on his fingers. Deng Jie wiped it on the hem of his coarse cloth and then went to look for new linen. His movements were swift and skillful.
Yesterday I thought she was just idly turning over soil at home, but now I realize that all those medical supplies in the house were actually her doing.
Seeing that he didn't move, the charcoal seller simply grabbed his sleeve and said, "Young lady! This young man has been staring for a long time. Perhaps he doesn't know your skills. Let me take a look!"
Guo Jia was suddenly pulled in front of the straw mat and almost lost his balance. Deng Jie looked up, and their eyes met.
She blinked, a look of surprise on her face: "Mr. Guo?"
Guo Jia leaned down and rubbed his stomach, his other hand resting on the table, revealing his wrist bone: "Ouch, my stomach hurts."
She stared at his rosy complexion, his expression not serious like a patient's, but rather playful. She guessed he was trying to tease her, so she suppressed a smile and took his pulse. "Hmm..." she feigned hesitation, "Sir, what's wrong...?"
"I'm hungry." Guo Jia suddenly pulled a cloth bag from his sleeve, unwrapped it, and handed it over. "Miss Deng, do you need help?"
The aroma of honey caramel wafted through the air; it was her favorite shortbread.
She took the cake and said happily, "Sir, you even know that this cake is delicious!" Without any suspicion, she chatted and laughed with Guo Jia, "I didn't get enough yesterday, and I was even complaining to my sister-in-law about it."
Guo Jia watched her take a bite with a smile before slowly saying, "I passed by a pancake stall and saw a lot of people..."
He ignored the "deliberate instructions" of Deng Zhao and his wife, and casually moved to sit next to her, even helping her to tidy up the scattered moxa wool on the table.
She chewed slowly while stopping Guo Jia, saying, "Sir, there's no need..."
“I’ll sit down and rest for a bit,” he interrupted Deng Jie. “You should continue your medical practice, young lady.”
Deng Jie opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't chase him away.
"Young lady, you're here to set up your stall again today?" A slick voice suddenly interrupted.
A drunken rogue, seemingly oblivious to Guo Jia beside him, collapsed with a thud in front of the table, reaching out to touch Deng Jie's wrist, "Let your brother see too... Ouch!"
A flash of cold light, and a three-inch silver needle was already stuck in his tiger's mouth.
Deng Jie didn't even glance at him: "Don't cause trouble!"
The rogue jumped away yelling, and seeing Guo Jia about to get up, he left cursing.
Guo Jia was about to stop him, but seeing this, he slowly sat back down.
"Do you encounter this often?" he asked in a low voice.
Deng Jie put away the silver needles and said in a calm tone, "My brother will come to protect me when he is at home."
He paused, then added, "When I'm not around, they get scared after I give them two injections."
His tone carried a hint of pride, but Guo Jia couldn't help but clench his fists.
“In the past, when my brother came home, he would often come to visit me. Why is he like this today…” Deng Jie said, glancing at the cake in his hand and then turning his gaze to Guo Jia.
Guo Jia froze, stopping his movement as he moved toward her, because of that gaze. "Mr. Guo, were you entrusted with this task?"
Guo Jia, having been exposed for the first time, seemed somewhat flustered, frowning and stammering, "Is... that so?"
Deng Jie chuckled and scolded, "Brother, you're so lazy! You're ordering people around as soon as the guests come home. You'll have to talk to him when we get back!"
Guo Jia seemed to be stung by her bright, smiling eyes, a tingling sensation even stronger than yesterday, spreading from his heart to his fingers and cheeks. He couldn't help but turn his face away, avoiding her gaze, "Is...it..."
After seeing off an elderly woman suffering from abdominal pain, Deng Jie finished writing down the medical records, put down his pen and bamboo slips, and began to organize the silver needles.
Most of the patients at today's free clinic had similar symptoms: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and some even had yellowing of the whites of their eyes, but the cause could not be found, which inevitably made them feel a little frustrated.
She sighed, looked up at the deepening twilight on the horizon, and thought that if things continued like this, let alone getting treatment, she might not even have enough medicine to go around.
"Is Miss Deng always this busy?" Guo Jia noticed her troubled expression and tried to change the subject. "And... you don't charge money?"
Deng Jie put away his needle pouch and looked at Guo Jia apologetically: "I studied medicine for my sister-in-law's congenital disease. She arranged for me to learn some basics at various medical clinics, but it was never enough. I also wanted to gain more experience by doing free clinics. Actually, it's only four times a month: the first, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth of the month."
Guo Jia watched her earnestly counting on her fingers and suddenly felt that this girl was both meticulous and somewhat naive. He chuckled and asked, "Is that why you're dressed like this?"
He pointed to her coarse linen clothes and said, "If she were dressed in fine clothes and had gold hairpins, I'm afraid few poor people would dare to come near her."
For some reason, Guo Jia recalled the time when he was a child and his parents fell ill but had no money for treatment, so they had to lock him in the inner room.
If Yangzhai had had doctors offering free medical consultations back then... He shook his head, dismissing such thoughts.
Deng Jie rubbed his cuffs: "Not entirely. Actually, these kinds of clothes are more convenient for working. I just like them..."
As they were talking, a rich floral fragrance wafted closer. Deng Jie looked up and saw a woman of the night, dressed in a crimson gauze dress, walking gracefully towards him. A gold pendant around her neck swayed and flashed with a dazzling light.
"Little Doctor, I'm here again."
The woman's voice was languid as she skillfully lifted her skirt and sat down. "The medicine you gave me last time did alleviate my dizziness a bit, but my appetite hasn't improved, and this rash..."
She pulled open her collar, revealing a red mark below her collarbone.
Before Deng Jie could speak, Guo Jia asked, "Does a young lady like you also lack money for medical treatment?"
The woman rolled her eyes at him: "It's not about the money. It's rare to find a doctor in the city who's easier to talk to."
She leaned closer to Deng Jie and chuckled in a low voice, "What's even more remarkable is that the little doctor is here with her lover to see patients today."
Deng Jie's ears burned, and she vehemently denied it: "Sister, don't talk nonsense. This is my brother's friend."
She examined the red rash on the woman's wrists and neck, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper. "Still nauseous? The rash is even worse than last time..."
Guo Jia's gaze, however, was drawn to the gold pendant around the woman's neck. It was about four inches in size, with a small horizontal design and flamboyant patterns resembling a taotie.
“This pendant is quite unique; it doesn’t look like the style that most young ladies would wear.” He suddenly reached out and lightly hooked the gold chain with his fingertips.
The woman was taken aback, then burst into laughter: "Oh my, this lover is so unruly in front of the girl?"
Guo Jia then realized what was happening and quickly withdrew his hand and bowed, saying, "My apologies, I was just curious about this thing."
The woman wasn't annoyed. Instead, she took off her gold pendant and handed it to him: "Look closely. This is called a 'gold voucher,' issued by the Wu family's rice shop. One voucher can be exchanged for three bushels of millet."
Guo Jia took the pendant and noticed that there were also small red rashes under the woman's skin where the gold chain was pressing down.
He gently stroked the gold certificate, turned it over, and saw the four characters "Wu's Rice Shop" clearly engraved on it.
"Young lady, did this rash appear after you started wearing this?" Guo Jia stared at the spots of her rash and compared them with the gold voucher.
The woman casually looked away: "Who knows? My body has been itching terribly for a while now, and every now and then I get a different symptom, but I still can't figure out what's wrong with me."
Deng Jie said guiltily, "It's because my medical skills are inadequate..."
"What are you saying, little doctor?" The woman patted her hand. "It's already a blessing to have a doctor like you to treat us. If we go to other clinics to get a prescription, we'll have to endure being touched inappropriately and being given dirty looks."
She fastened the gold pendant and winked at Guo Jia, "If you like this pendant, my lord, you can exchange it at Wu's Rice Shop. These days, the whole city is full of them."
Guo Jia smiled, but his hand reached behind Deng Jie and pulled out a small piece of linen to wrap and press the crushed powder that he had secretly pried off the gold voucher.
After the woman left, Deng Jie sighed: "These gold coupons have been circulating in Wancheng for more than three months. They are a voucher issued by Wu's Rice Shop for exchanging grain for purchases."
At first, no one believed it, but later, when they saw that it could really be exchanged for grain and gold, they all rushed to have it.
Ordinary people had never seen anything so shiny before, and they kept them as rare treasures. Many people, like the young woman earlier, wore them as ornaments, and it even became a fashion trend in Wancheng.
Guo Jia seemed thoughtful: "Oh? Is that so? Why don't you believe it, young lady?"
Deng Jie carefully explained to him the origin of the gold certificate: it turned out that the five-zhu coins that Dong Zhuo had changed were unreliable, and grain prices had skyrocketed in the past two years.
When the coupons were first issued, they were priced at 2,500 coins, but at that time a bushel of millet already cost 1,000 coins. They said that if you bought the coupons, you could go to their rice shop the next day to exchange them for three bushels of millet, so everyone naturally wanted them.
But what businessman would do a losing business for no reason?
Deng Jie shook his head in confusion, "Everyone says it's gold, but I think it's harder than the hairpin my brother gave me, so I don't believe it. But I can't really say what it is. Even if it's copper or something, it's still nice to look at because it's shiny."
Lord Lu only said that stabilizing grain prices and increasing tax revenue wasn't a bad thing, and my sister-in-law and the others didn't think it was bad either; the shops would have to do business too. I don't know that much. Are you very interested in this, sir?
Guo Jia dusted off his sleeves and said calmly, "Like you, I don't know that much."
He glanced at the Wu family's rice shop flag fluttering in the wind at the street corner, his eyes darkening slightly, but he ultimately said nothing more.
The next morning, as the morning light was just right, Guo Jia was leaning against the corridor reading a book when he suddenly felt a fluffy tail brush against his feet. The orange cat was back again, its golden eyes half-closed, the tip of its tail hooking onto the hem of his clothes, looking like a familiar guest.
He rolled up the scroll and deliberately walked along the corridor. There was a rustling sound behind him, and sure enough, the cat followed closely behind.
A few steps further, as I passed the main building, a very soft "Eh" came from behind the pillars.
Guo Jia smiled slightly, and without turning around, walked all the way to his room. Suddenly, he turned around, and Deng Jie froze on the spot, his fingertips still in the position of wanting to touch the cat. But the cat jumped away and slipped into Guo Jia's room.
Seeing him suddenly turn around, she hurriedly put her hands behind her back, her ear tips instantly turning bright red.
"Miss Deng, would you like to play with it too?" He smiled lazily, stepping aside to let the door open. "Come in, I won't close the door." He placed the bamboo slips on the desk: "You play with yours, I'll sit here and read the bamboo slips."
Deng Jie hesitated for a moment, but the orange cat had already swaggered onto the low couch, its tail tip wagging triumphantly, as if beckoning her to come and play.
She finally stepped inside, crouched down, and gently scratched the cat's chin with her fingertips. The orange cat squinted its eyes and purred contentedly.
"It didn't hide from you today," Guo Jia said with a smile, setting aside the scroll and looking at Deng Jie's satisfied expression.
"It's all thanks to you, sir." Although Deng Jie said this, he was secretly overjoyed, as it was rare for this little guy to let him be so affectionate.
Before she could finish speaking, Deng Jie suddenly sat up straight, her knee slamming into the low couch with a thud. She cried out in pain, and the orange cat, startled, darted out of the room and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Deng Zhao stood at the door, his gaze sweeping between the two of them, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "Your relationship is so good that you're visiting each other's homes?"
"No! It's a cat!" Deng Jie's ears turned bright red as he gestured frantically. "It ran in by itself!"
Guo Jia looked completely innocent, avoiding eye contact: "Brother Yuanming, you've misunderstood..."
Frustrated and angry, Deng Jie sulked and rushed out, nearly crashing into the doorframe. Deng Zhao instinctively steadied her, but this only made Deng Jie more flustered, and she fled through the door.
Deng Zhao laughed and patted Guo Jia on the shoulder: "You're something else! It's only been two days, and you've already made my sister jump with laughter."
Guo Jia lowered his head, holding up a scroll to cover his face, hiding the smile on his lips: "Brother Yuanming, you've truly misunderstood..."
In the afternoon, Deng Zhao brought a jar of wine in from outside. He stepped onto the pavilion and looked around but did not see Guo Jia. Instead, he saw his younger sister sitting on the second floor of the main building, basking in the sun and pounding medicine. He shouted to her, "A-Jie, go and call Fengxiao to come and drink! I found a jar of fine wine; he'll definitely like it!"
Upon hearing the sound, Deng Jie glanced at Guo Jia, who was leaning against the east corridor reading the bamboo slips. Seeing that Guo Jia had also looked up, she shouted to Deng Zhao, "Mr. Fengxiao, did you hear that?" After shouting, she was stunned. She had always called him "Mr. Guo" before, so why did she call him "Mr. Fengxiao" like her brother?
But then she saw Guo Jia turn to look at her, roll up the bamboo slip, and walk towards her with a smile. "What? Jia didn't hear you. What did you say, Miss?"
Deng Jie choked, "Your brother is calling you downstairs for a drink."
Guo Jia approached her and whispered, "That's not what you said just now. Did anyone hear it?"
"...Mr. Fengxiao, did you hear that...?" Deng Jie blushed and avoided his gaze.
Guo Jia tapped her desk lightly with the bamboo slip, then brushed past her shoulder with satisfaction. "Did you hear that, Mr. Fengxiao?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
