Chapter Twenty-Four: Buying a Medicine Shop

  He pretended to think for a moment, then turned his head in confusion and said, "Sister, I've never met anyone called Aya before, did I really call out?"

  Ning'er looked at Lu Qi's appearance, which didn't seem to be hiding anything. This matter didn't seem necessary to hide either. A flash of a frightening thought suddenly appeared in her mind. She remembered that Lu Qi had been possessed by an evil spirit once when he was young. And that night, Lu Qi's cries were mournful and terrifying. Could it be that he had spoken nonsense under the influence of the evil spirit? Such evil affairs are taboo to remind the person who has been possessed, as it would worsen the harm caused by the evil spirit.

  She was frightened and hastily said: "Don't think about it, maybe I heard it wrong."

  Lu Qiyan was stunned and nodded, saying in a soft voice: "I don't remember now, maybe I'll recall who that Aya is later."

  Ning Er reached out and gently touched his cheek, softly saying, "If you can't remember, then don't think about it."

  Lu Qi nodded, his mind turned to other things and thought for a moment, then said in a gentle voice: "Sister, I forgot to tell you something. Today, or rather yesterday afternoon, I went to the county government office to do some business and was temporarily appointed as the Protector of Shizai County, specializing in escorting grain taxes."

  "Really, you've become the county magistrate of Shitou." Ning Er said excitedly. The county magistrate was a substantive official position, although small, it had real power and salary, much stronger than the nominal seventh-rank scattered officials.

  "Sister, don't be too happy and don't show it off. The county magistrate of Shizai County is quite capable, I'm just a protector county lieutenant who can't interfere with government affairs, and I have no backing to rely on, so I probably won't last long in this position. However, as an official, having this county lieutenant position will reduce the number of troubles our family's business will face in the future, and once our family becomes truly wealthy, we'll be fearless." Lu Qi explained and exhorted.

  "Sister understands, it's just that this matter needs to be made known to Madame and Young Master's wife." Ning Er said softly.

  "I'll tell you when I leave Wangjiang Pavilion today. After dawn tomorrow, I will go to take over the medicine shop here, and the day after tomorrow I will go to practice martial arts with the soldiers. In a few days, there is an important task at the county government office that requires me to handle it. After finishing the official business, I will immediately run to Xuanzhou with my brother to sell medicine, and when I return, I will officially open the shop." Lu Qi said about his recent arrangements.

  "Xuancheng is too far away, and the world is in chaos now, it's very dangerous. Why not go to Chizhou city nearby to sell medicine?" Ning'er advised with concern.

  "Chizhou City is also short of medicinal materials, if we transport medicine from there to Shidai, we can only make a small profit. Don't worry, I won't have any trouble transporting the medicine." Lu Qi said confidently.

  Ning'er fell silent, her worried arms tightly wrapped around Lu Qi. Lu Qi gently patted her jade back, and as he looked at Ning'er's beautiful hair, a person suddenly flashed into his mind - a gentle girl as soft as the wind, delicate and lovely like a white lotus flower.

  "Sister, how is Bai Jia's Xiao Ling doing now? Is she married?" Lu Qi asked in a soft voice.

  Ning Er's body trembled, and after a while, she softly sighed: "A beauty's fate is shallow, do you still remember Xiao Ling?"

  Lu Qi Yi was shocked and hastily asked: "Sister, is Xiao Ling not doing well now?"

  Ning'er let go of Lu Qi and said in a low voice, "It should be bad news. You've been gone for over a year, and Xiao Ling'er has already married County Magistrate as his concubine."

  "What did you say? Little Ling married the county magistrate, are you referring to the current old county magistrate?" Lu Qi asked in shock, his mind immediately conjuring up the image of a nearly sixty-year-old, stout-bodied, fat-headed and big-eared old county magistrate.

  "Yes, it was Xiaoling's father who married her off to the county lieutenant as a concubine so that his eldest son could take up the post of county history." Ning'er said sympathetically.

  Lu Qi's eyes widened, and he let out a low hum as his emotions turned gloomy. Bai Ling'er was a renowned beauty from Shizhuang County, and her family had moved from Jiangbei to settle nearby, only a hundred steps away from the Lu residence. Bai Ling'er often visited the Lu household with her mother to seek instruction on embroidery from Madame Cheng. At that time, the Lu family was slightly more affluent than the Bai family.

  The so-called gentle and virtuous girl, the gentleman likes to match. Lu Qi's body was already that of a 15 or 16 year old young man, every time he saw Xiao Ling'er his heart would beat fast and his face would turn red, he himself couldn't say why, the meticulous Li Niang discovered his secret, teased him and then told Lu Mu, Lu Mu solemnly invited the matchmaker to propose.

  He didn't want to be rejected by Bailing's father, and since then, Bailing and her mother had not visited the Lu family again. Lu Qi was unhappy about this for a long time and often went out of town alone to play the flute to relieve his frustration. Later, Li Shiniang told him that it wasn't just the Lu family's proposal that was rejected, but also the proposals from other wealthy young men with better conditions were also refused. The Bai family had already made up their minds that Bailing would only marry an official, and Lu Qi knew he had to give up.

  "Xiao Qi, stop thinking nonsense. This is Xiao Ling's bad luck. With a greedy father, Xiao Ling has already become someone else's wife. Although the person she married is old, it can still be considered a life of wealth and luxury. There's no use in thinking about it." Ning Er said with a heavy heart.

  "Sister, I understand, I know it's all in the past now."

  Lu Qi came back to his senses and said, the young man's romantic dreams were ultimately just dreams. Xiaoling was not going to marry the old county magistrate, nor would she end up with him. This he knew very well in his heart. He was only feeling sad and lost for Xiaoling's unfortunate fate.

  "Xiao Qi, there's something that I didn't want to tell you, but not telling you would be a regret. When Xiao Ling got married, she brought a pair of silver bells that she always carried with her to the Lu family and gave them to Xiao Yan. She said it was a keepsake for Xiao Yan. Now those silver bells are with Madame, just know this, don't go ask Madame for them." Ning Er softly informed and reminded.

  Lu Qi's face turned red with anger, and after a moment of silence, he sighed: "What's the use of me going to get it again?"

  Ning Er said anxiously: "Xiao Qi, I shouldn't have said this."

  Lu Qi's face lit up with a smile, and he said softly: "Sister is my good woman." After finishing speaking, he tightly hugged Ning Er.

  The next day, Lu Qi and Ning Er got up very early. Ning Er went to pay respects and serve Lu's mother, while Lu Qi stood in front of the house, breathing in the morning air, exhaling the old and inhaling the new to adjust his body and mind. Today, he had a lot on his plate. If he really took over the pharmacy, it would be a long time before he could relax.

  After having a warm breakfast with the Zhou family, Lu Qi and his brother took Dong Qing Xiaoyun out to Xijie Street. After a night of rest and recovery from food, Xiaoyun's movements had become much more agile, although her face was still pale yellow.

  They arrived at the pharmacy on West Street and found it to be quite large, with a facade of over 10 meters wide. Inside was a spacious 100-square-meter medicine hall, where the west wall was lined with rows of small medicine cabinets, in front of which stood a long counter. In the northeast corner of the medicine hall was a back door, behind which might have been a courtyard and residence, a layout similar to that of Wang Rensheng's rice shop.

  There was a man in his forties, wearing an old blue long gown that had been washed until it turned white, with a rather ordinary face and small eyes. At this moment, seeing the first customer as soon as the door opened, there was no joy on his long face.

  "Two gentlemen, our store doesn't have many medicinal materials. What kind of medicinal material do you need?" the shopkeeper asked in a flat tone.

  Lu Qi smiled faintly and the shopkeeper, using such words to entertain guests, fully demonstrated his severe lack of confidence. He asked in a humble tone: "Are you the owner of this pharmacy?"

  The owner of the pharmacy was taken aback and nodded: "Yes, sir, is there something I can help you with?"

  Lu Qi looked around the shop again, reached into his sleeve and took out five ingots of silver, weighing one hundred taels, and placed them on the long cabinet. He said in a gentle tone: "I heard that this place is sold for one hundred taels, front and back. Bring the deed over and let's finalize the deal."

  The owner of the medicine shop was taken aback, looked at the silver and said in surprise: "Sir, you must be mistaken, I didn't say it was for sale here."

  Lu Qi's expression was stunned for a moment, he turned his body around and scanned the surroundings, then patted his head and said: "Oh, it's not here? I made a mistake?"

  "Oh, sorry, I'll go ask at another store." He said, then reached out and grabbed back his money.

  He turned around to leave, but suddenly turned back to face the owner of the medicine shop and asked in a gentle tone: "Excuse me, do you know which shop is selling it? My friend said there are three shops on this street that sell it, I forgot to ask the name."

  The owner of the pharmacy was taken aback, glanced at Lu Qi's hand with a lowered gaze, and said in a harmonious tone: "I don't know which shop is selling it either. What are you doing here buying a shop?"

  Lu Qi and Sheng said, "Not necessarily, I'm from the county town, I want to buy a shop here to do business, what kind of shop I buy is what I do, of course, it's best to be a rice shop, this year collecting and selling rice is very profitable."

  The owner of the medicine shop looked at Lu Qi and hesitated before saying: "This shop can also be sold, but it's one hundred and twenty taels."

  Lu Qiyan was stunned and said in a low voice: "You're selling this shop too."

  The owner of the pharmacy nodded and said, "Also sold."

  Lu Qi glanced around and shook his head, saying: "My friend said that the shops here are worth only 100 taels of silver at most, but I bought it for 120 taels. Wouldn't I be losing a lot?"

  "The owner of the pharmacy said hastily: 'It's a good deal, this is a pharmacy, and the existing medicines are worth at least 50 taels. I'm selling the shop and the medicine together.'"

  Lu Qi nodded and said, "That's right."

  After finishing speaking, he turned his head and said to Lu Tianhua beside him: "Brother, if we buy this shop, can we also sell medicine?"

  Lu Tianhua was taken aback and nodded: "Okay."

  Lu Qi turned his head again, took another silver ingot, and slapped the six silver ingots on the long cabinet, saying straightforwardly: "Alright, it's a deal. You take the silver, and leave the goods behind."

  The owner of the medicine shop was stunned, looked at the silver and hesitated again. Lu Qi impatiently said: "Sell or not? If not, I'll leave."

  The owner of the pharmacy hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and nodded: "I'll sell, but my family's belongings and bedding must be taken away."

  Lu Qi nodded and said: "That should be taken away, a contract has been made."