Guo Que's funeral was held hastily during the autumn harvest season. Everyone in the village said that Wang Qing had a hard life, leaving behind three children for him to take care of.
"Luckily, it's a girl in her belly. It would have been a pity if it were a boy and he died."
"Oh dear, it's all that girl's fault. She was breech and caused her mother's death."
"That was her fate. How come other babies survive after birth, but she died?"
“Wang Qing already has two sons, so the family line continues, but he doesn’t have a wife. He still has to raise three children who are not yet grown up. Alas, his life is hard.”
Wang Lan brought half a liter of rice paper and incense to offer condolences. Upon hearing these words, she felt both sad and ridiculous. The dead never got a good ending, and everyone sympathized with the man who killed her.
She went inside, covered Guo Que with a white cloth, burned some paper money, and went home without even eating.
The village quickly became busy with the autumn harvest again. Autumn is not only busy in the village, but also in the city. The year's harvest depends on these few days. New rice and flour are on the market, and the market and trading market in the east are crowded with people.
That morning, Lu Yunfeng took Qin Xiaozhou and Lu Yu to the trading market. It was mostly merchants from other places buying local specialties from each other. In just half a month, it had already grown to a considerable size.
Li Changpu had no idea that he was here to be chosen by a girl. His master only told him that there was a trading market in the county town and that he should bring the herbs he had dried a few days ago to set up a stall and practice medicine. He heard that small vendors could sell a stall at the trading market for five coins, so he brought his medicine box and bamboo basket.
The stall had barely been set up when an elderly woman brought her granddaughter to see the doctor. "Doctor, my granddaughter has a sore neck and a persistent cough that won't go away. She can't even eat."
Li Changpu smiled sheepishly as she took the child's pulse. "It's autumn, and the weather has been dry these past few days because it hasn't rained. The child has a bit of a fever. I'll get some medicine to take home for the child to drink. He should eat less spicy food and more bland food."
The old woman hesitated, rubbing her hands nervously. "Doctor, is this medicine expensive? I don't have much money."
Her granddaughter was neglected by her parents at home and had been unable to speak for several days without anyone caring for her. The grandmother felt sorry for her and secretly brought her granddaughter to the county town for a visit. She dared not let her son and daughter-in-law know. She only had a few coins from selling wild fruits. If it weren't for the doctor's honest and simple appearance, she wouldn't have dared to come to the stall.
Li Changpu stuffed the medicine into the old woman's hand, saying, "They're all medicinal herbs from the mountains, not worth much. Just give her a little money for her hard work, Granny."
That's how he practices medicine. He uses cheap herbs for the poor and good medicine for the rich, so the prices are naturally different. Besides, he picks and dries all the herbs himself, so he doesn't need to spend money to buy them.
The old woman gratefully placed three coins on the stall, half of her earnings for the day. "Doctor, please look at this..."
Li Changpu put the money away, saying, "That's enough."
The old man made his granddaughter kowtow to Li Changpu before leaving with his entourage.
Lu Yu watched the whole thing from a short distance away, and after a long while, she said, "He has a good heart."
Everyone has their own code of conduct, and Qin Xiaozhou didn't comment much. Besides, Li Changpu seemed to be not good at speaking, but he was practical. Although he was poor, as long as he was good to Lu Yu, wasn't that a good outcome? At worst, the Lu family could provide more subsidies. As long as he wasn't a bloodsucker, Qin Xiaozhou wouldn't mind helping him out more.
Lu Yunfeng naturally understood these things as well. "Auntie, as long as he treats you well, we can always get by."
Lu Yu was disheartened. "Well, as long as he agrees, let's settle the marriage."
Lu Yunfeng acted quickly. Li Changpu arrived home in the evening, and Doctor Li smiled and pulled him into the house. "Disciple, here is five taels of silver. Go find a carpenter to make a new bed, a wooden basin, a table, and chairs. Also, find someone to repair these two rooms properly."
Li Changpu was puzzled. He had a rough idea of how much his master had, and five taels of silver was a sum that would take him two or three years to accumulate. "Master, why do you need to repair this perfectly good house?"
Doctor Li's house is located in the middle of the southwest of Lijia Village. There are people living in the front and back. There are only two slightly larger rooms in the house, one for the master and one for his apprentice. The yard is very large. In the corner of the yard, there is a simple kitchen, a woodshed, and a room for storing medicinal herbs. There are seven or eight shelves in the yard, with flat shelves on them, all filled with medicinal herbs.
Dr. Li stroked his beard and said, “Today you went to the county town and a girl took a liking to you. You hit it off, discussed marriage, and decided to get married before the New Year.”
Li Changpu was stunned, her mind went blank, and she immediately became nervous. "Master, why didn't you tell me sooner? I didn't even change my clothes today, and I didn't perform well. This is so bad. I only earned twenty coins."
"Hahahaha." Doctor Li patted him on the shoulder. "Why don't you ask who that girl is?"
Li Changpu belatedly realized what was happening, her face turning bright red with excitement and anticipation, "...Who is it?"
"The girl from the Lu family in Wangjia Village."
There is only one Lu family in Wangjia Village, and they only have one daughter of marriageable age. Li Changpu asked in confusion, "Isn't that girl engaged to Li Yang from the north?"
The Lu family is now a well-known family in the surrounding area. Everyone knows a lot about their family. Li Changpu heard about the engagement from his neighbor's aunt half a month ago, but he spends his days with herbs and doesn't care about such things.
Doctor Li, however, didn't care about Lu Yu's past. "Sigh, that marriage has already been called off. I think that girl is a good one and doesn't mind her past. Don't take it to heart either. After you get married, live a good life together. But don't mention it in front of the girl, lest you hurt her feelings and cause the couple to drift apart."
Li Changpu nodded in agreement.
On August 20th, the matchmaker knocked on the Lu family's door. Fearing another unexpected event, the marriage was finalized in just two days, and the date was set for the third day of the tenth month.
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