After Marrying The Paranoid God of War (Rebirth) - Chapter 31.2
On the opening day, Wei Yuan handed Ruan An the contract signed with the official and introduced her to a pair of twins he bought from a broker: “This pair of twins, one is called Tian Ya, and the other Tian Jiang. I have already arranged for someone to teach them some pharmacology, and from now on, they will be the medicine boys of… Miss Ruan.”
Ruan An looked at the two boys under ten years of age and thought they both looked quite clever. Previously, she had adopted a pair of twin dragons and phoenixes during the Apricot Flower Spring, who are now doing well. Sun Ye, like her back then, went to the southern border to practice medicine. She gave two hundred taels of the thousand taels of silver Huo Pingxiao had given her to Sun Ye as travel expenses.
She wondered how well the young boy was doing in his wandering medical practice.
Ruan An was somewhat worried that Sun Ye might be too playful on his journey and not study medicine diligently or advance his medical skills.
After Wei Yuan left, Ruan An stood in front of the shiny new medicine cabinet, deeply inhaling the medicinal fragrance in the hall, gradually relaxing.
This is where she belonged.
Although being the wife of the Lord of Dingbei was both wealthy and leisurely, in her heart, Ruan An always felt that she was still the young medicine-gathering girl in the mountains, and healing people was her original intention.
Moreover, she liked Huo Pingxiao too much. In his presence, she always seemed too constrained and uneasy, almost becoming another person.
She didn’t like the way she acted around Huo Pingxiao.
But in this medicine hall, Ruan An felt that she could stretch her arms and legs; this was her own world.
However, on the opening day, although Ruan An was full of confidence, as the sun set, no one came to the medicine hall, not even a shadow of a patient.
Only a big yellow dog and a beggar asking for food came in.
Ruan An sat beside the square pear wood table in front of the medicine hall all afternoon, watching Tian Ya wave the yellow dog away and Tian Jiang giving a bun to the beggar, her spirits falling.
She didn’t rely on the profits of this medicine hall for a living, but the lack of success on the first day of opening was still disappointing.
As the sun set, the medicine boy Tian Ya came to her and asked respectfully, “Miss Ruan, shall we close the hall?”
Ruan An shook her head, walked to the medicine cabinet, opened one of the drawers, and gently touched the Angelica sinensis.
After smelling one of the Angelica sinensis, she immediately frowned.
It seemed that although they could buy some herbs, they couldn’t get high-quality ones. The established medicine shops in Chang’an City must have taken the best quality herbs first, and a new medicine hall like hers could only get inferior ones unless she had a unique way of sourcing herbs.
Ruan An put the Angelica sinensis back in the drawer.
Anyway, she still had hundreds of taels of silver, and the medicine hall Huo Pingxiao opened for her was also funded by Wei Yuan using his private silver.
Men were not short of money, so Ruan An was not in a hurry to repay him for opening this medicine hall.
Thinking this, Ruan An said to the medicine boy Tian Ya, “We’ve just opened, and it will take some time to attract business. After closing today, remember to take the tiger bell and walk around the alleys of Feng’an Square.”
The tiger bell is a bell that every itinerant doctor carries on their medicine box. Whenever people hear the clear sound of the tiger bell, they know a wandering doctor has arrived. If they need to see a doctor, they will follow the sound of the bell to find the doctor’s footsteps.
Ruan An asked Tian Jiang and Tian Ya to take the tiger bell and walk through the streets and alleys, which would be much more effective than simply shouting.
Tian Jiang and Tian Ya nodded their heads.
Ruan An continued to instruct the two medicine boys, “If you meet people in the alleys who want to see a doctor, remember to tell them that from the tenth to the fifteenth of every month, our medicine hall will not charge any consultation fee and offer free consultations to patients, but only twenty patients will be accepted each day.”
That night, Tian Jiang and Tian Ya took the tiger bell and walked around the alleys of Anren Alley, and as Ruan An said, they encountered several civilians who wanted to see a doctor.
Tian Jiang and Tian Ya, as instructed by Ruan An, repeated her message to these people.
The next day was the tenth.
In the early morning, Ruan An, disguised as an old woman, arrived at the medicine hall and was surprised to find that people were already waiting in line outside for her consultation.
Since the people came for treatment, they naturally also wanted to be cured, so they could get their medicine from Ruan An.
Previously, the batch of medicinal herbs that Wei Yuan had helped Ruan An to procure was not of the highest quality, but it was still effective in treating illnesses. From the tenth to the fifteenth of the month, Ruan An did not charge the common people the market price for the medicine but only the cost price of the herbs.
In just five days, the people who had come to Ruan An for treatment all experienced effective healing, and Ruan An’s medical hall gradually gained a reputation in Anren Alley.
After the fifteenth, there were also people coming here for medicine and treatment. Compared to the bleak opening day, the medical hall was now much busier.
On the eighteenth.
Seeing that there were no patients coming to the medical hall in the afternoon, Ruan An said to Tian Ya, “Let’s close the hall earlier today, and remember to spend more time studying medical texts, you and Tian Jiang.”
Just as Tian Ya and Tian Jiang were about to agree, a warm and gentle male voice came from outside the hall –
“Is Doctor Ruan planning to close the hall now?”
Ruan An looked up, and upon seeing the face of the visitor, a hint of surprise appeared on her face.
It was Li Yifang.
But she hadn’t opened this medical hall under the banner of ‘Doctor Ruan’, so how did Li Yifang know she was here?
“Lord Li…’l”
As Ruan An spoke, Li Yifang had already walked straight to the medicine cabinet and sat down next to the pear wood square table.
The man wore a dark blue robe, placed his palms facing up, and rested his wrists on the pulse pillow, speaking warmly, “I have been unwell recently and have sought many doctors to no avail. Please, Doctor Ruan, take me as your last patient before closing for the day.”
According to Ruan An’s understanding of Li Yifang, although he was young, he was extremely upright and restrained, even a bit too old-fashioned and serious.
By his nature, he wouldn’t pretend to be ill to tease her.
But observing his complexion, Ruan An couldn’t see any signs of illness.
However, in traditional Chinese medicine, diagnosis is made through inspection, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking. Without taking his pulse, Ruan An couldn’t judge his condition.
Since Li Yifang had come, of course, she had to take his pulse and prescribe a treatment to cure his illness.
With this in mind, Ruan An sat opposite him and said warmly, “Then, Lord Li, you will be my last patient for today.”
As she was about to place her fingers on the man’s wrist,
She suddenly felt a strong, oppressive breath coming towards her head. Ruan An looked up and saw Li Yifang’s calm expression change slightly.
“Snap”.
Her hand was suddenly grasped by a hot, bony hand. The back of the man’s hand was faintly veined, exuding a strong sense of power, also blocking her fingertips from touching Li Yifang’s wrist.
Ruan An immediately recognized the owner of the hand – it was Huo Pingxiao.
Why did he come to the medical hall without prior notice?
Li Yifang frowned and said, “Doctor Ruan is treating me, what is the Marquis of Dingbei doing?”
Huo Pingxiao looked somewhat languid, but there was a faint hostility in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
He looked down, gazing at the girl’s complex face, and replied in a low voice, “Treat me first. My illness is more urgent.”
