Chapter 14 Pharmacy

It was a long way from Snake Creek Village to the county seat. They set out early in the morning and encountered a bandit on the road. They rested twice and did not arrive at the county seat until evening.

Er Gouzi finally saw the legendary county seat and looked at everything curiously with his eyes wide open.

There is an earth wall outside the county town, which is at least more than one foot high, much higher than the courtyard wall of Huang Laocai's family.

It was more majestic than the county seat he had imagined.

Looking beyond the city wall, you can see several tall buildings in the city, at least five or six stories high.

Only then did Er Gouzi realize that the house could be built so high and so exquisitely beautiful.

The city gate is at least two or three feet wide, and there are many people coming in and out of the gate.

There are many people like them who come to pay taxes with wheelbarrows.

After the group entered the city, they saw a group of ragged beggars rushing towards them after they had walked a few steps, which startled Ergouzi.

"roll!"

Laifu and Agui shouted and beat them with branches before driving the beggars away.

"These beggars bully the weak and shy away from the strong. They specialize in bullying country people who come here for the first time."

"Laifu, let's go to the old place and rest for a while, then go to the county government office tomorrow morning."

Huang Laocai asked Laifu to lead the way, and everyone walked forward along a bluestone street.

There are some shops on both sides of the street, tailor shops, candy and pastry shops, bun shops, groceries...

It was the first time for Er Gouzi to see so many colorful shops. It felt so fresh that he would not even leave.

Passing by a half-open wooden door, he poked his head to see what was for sale inside.

But he saw a woman walking out of the door. She was about the same age as her aunt, but she was wearing a very colorful dress, and her mouth was painted red, as if she had just drank blood.

"Brother... come in and play!"

As the woman spoke, she reached out to pull Er Gouzi, who was so frightened that Er Gouzi hurriedly took a few steps.

"Thank you Auntie, I'll come again next time!"

Ergouzi blushed, said a few words and left.

The aunt in the county town is so warm and inviting even though everyone is unfamiliar with her.

"Hahaha……"

Er Gouzi's embarrassment made all the tenants laugh.

"Ergou, why don't you go in!"

“It’s so fun in there!”

"I didn't expect you to be such a big kid!"

"..."

Amidst everyone's laughter, Ergouzi probably understood that this was the secret door he had heard of before, which made his face turn red and he did not dare to raise his head.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to play in the evening. I only need 5 copper coins to let you eat meat."

Agui patted Er Gouzi on the shoulder and winked, and the tenants next to him burst into laughter again.

"You can skip two meals..."

"You can't come all this way in vain..."

Judging from the way they were chatting, it seemed like they really planned to spend 5 copper coins here.

These people are as tired as dogs from working in the fields, and they are always digging for salt in the vegetables.

Now he is willing to spend 5 copper coins to do such a meaningless thing.

At 14 years old, he still cannot understand this behavior.

With these five copper coins, you might as well buy a meat bun to eat.

On the next road, we encountered several ajar doors. Some women were standing near the doors, greeting passers-by warmly.

The tenants were laughing and joking and making fun of others.

Ergouzi didn't dare to look out anymore, so he could only walk past with a red face.

When he occasionally raised his eyes to take a look secretly, he saw a medicine shop on the street. He was moved in his heart and noted the location.

Some time ago, he thought about adding some medicinal materials to Dali Pills to make them taste medicinal.

And it must be a medicine that will not kill people. He will not do the business of making money and killing people.

It would be better if these medicinal materials can also have some nourishing and strengthening effects.

To this end, he specifically asked Li Banxian for some knowledge on medicinal materials.

Master Li Banxian is a versatile man in both civil and military affairs, and he knows everything in heaven and earth.

He introduced some nourishing and strengthening medicinal materials to him.

For example, ginseng, polygonatum, ganoderma, etc., but these medicinal materials take a long time to grow and are expensive.

Ergouzi thought that it would be best to buy seeds and plant them himself.

However, there is only one herbalist in the entire Sanchazi Town, and he does not have these medicinal materials and seeds.

I have long wanted to visit the county town, but I have never been so far away, and I am not familiar with the road. I heard that there are bandits on the road, so I have been putting it off until now.

At the end of this street, there was an open space where several groups of people were already resting.

Most of them are businessmen or landlords from other places who come to pay taxes.

Probably because there were too many people, it was not affordable to stay in a hotel, so we had to make do with one night outside.

Laifu brought a large bundle of firewood and lit a bonfire on the spot.

Huang Laocai took out a large bag of dry food cakes and distributed them to everyone. Everyone picked them up with sticks and set them on the fire to bake and eat.

"Tonight, everyone will take turns to stay on duty. Four people will work in groups, and each group will stay on duty for one hour."

As Huang Laocai's cronies, Laifu and Agui often followed him to the county seat to arrange everything in order.

After assigning tasks and having enough to eat and drink, several tenants put their arms around each other and discussed in a mysterious manner.

"Ergou, let's go! I'll take you to stun you!"

Laifu patted Er Gouzi on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"I'm not going!"

Er Gouzi's face was red. Although he was a little curious, how could he dare to do such a thing blatantly.

When the others saw Er Gouzi's embarrassed look, they burst into laughter again, and then walked away arm in arm.

However, not long after Lai Fu and the others left, Er Gouzi also said hello to Huang Laocai and left alone.

He was certainly not looking for a secret door. When he passed a few such doors, the people inside waved to him, but he lowered his head and hurried past.

He soon found the pharmacy before.

The store was very simply decorated, with only a table and no medicine cabinet.

An old man was sitting behind the table, fiddling with the herbs in his hands. When he heard Er Gouzi's footsteps, he asked without raising his head:

"Do you want an abortion or treat syphilis?"

"I don't want an abortion, I want to buy some medicine!"

Er Gouzi explained quickly.

However, the old man seemed not to hear what he said, and continued to ask:

"Do you want an abortion or treat syphilis?"

"I don't need an abortion, and I'm not sick!"

The old man raised his head and found that there was a little boy in front of him who had not grown up yet.

"Why are you here when you're not sick? You're still young and you're infected with syphilis, and you don't dare to admit it!"

"I'm not sick!"

Er Gouzi blushed and wanted to explain stubbornly, but in the eyes of the old man, it was probably because the young man was too shy to admit it.

The old man took out a dozen small paper bags from under the table and threw them on the table.

"Two bags a day, for internal and external application, 20 coins per bag."

"I'm not sick, I just want to ask if you have any ginseng here?"

Er Gouzi felt that this old man was unreliable. How could he prescribe medicine without asking about the symptoms?

"Ginseng?"

The old man looked at Er Gouzi with a surprised look, and then waved his hand.

"No! Don't say I don't have any here. Most of the ginseng in Anchang County is in the hands of the county magistrate. At most, there are one or two left, and they have also been bought by Hong'antang.

You can go to Hong'antang to have a look."

Then Er Gouzi asked about several other medicinal herbs that can be planted, but none of them are here.

In the end, he only got a small bag of seeds that were said to be Cistanche deserticola, which cost him 100 coins.

The old man told him mysteriously that this thing grows in the desert outside the Great Wall, and it is a great supplement for kidney yang. Whoever eats it will know.

However, Er Gouzi was not sure that he could grow the species in the desert outside the Great Wall, so he could only give it a try first.

After some conversations, Er Gouzi also saw it.

This old man only knows three tricks, specializing in abortions and treating syphilis, and making some kidney-tonifying medicine that will not kill people. It feels too unreliable.

"I have a kind of powerful pill that can increase strength after eating it. Do you want it?"

Er Gouzi said, and wanted to take out the powerful pill.

"No!"

Although the old man was unreliable, he was very firm at this moment, and even showed a hint of sarcasm.

Er Gouzi was a little disappointed. He put away the Cistanche deserticola seeds, asked the old man about Hong'an Hall, and walked towards Hong'an Hall.

After walking out of this bluestone alley, there is a relatively wide street. It is just getting dark now, and the shops on both sides of the street are still lit.

When passing by a meat bun shop, Er Gouzi couldn't resist the temptation and bought two meat buns, holding them in his hands and eating them while walking.

The meat filling in the buns is so fragrant and oily. After taking a bite, the mouth is full of oil.

After eating two buns, he licked the oil off his fingers.

Hong'an Hall is the largest herbal medicine shop in Anchang County. The hall inside is five or six feet wide, with many medicine cabinets standing, and the floor is paved with a layer of bright marble.

Er Gouzi stood at the door and rubbed the mud on his straw sandals hard, and wiped the oil stains on his hands on his clothes, and then walked in.

There are two doctors sitting inside, and there are several apprentices busying around.

Not only can you see a doctor here, but also sell various medicinal materials.

There are also many pre-made pills and plasters in the store, and anyone can buy them and take them directly.

As soon as Er Gouzi entered Hong'antang, an apprentice came to greet him.

"Are you here to see a doctor or buy medicine?"

"I want to buy some medicinal herbs!"

As Er Gouzi said this, he was already curiously walking towards the rows of medicine cabinets, with many names of medicinal herbs written on the drawers.

At this moment, he saw from the corner of his eye that another man in blue walked into the door of the pharmacy.

This man was Zhang Youliang.

I met him at Huang Laocai's house this morning, so why did he come to the county town?

Er Gouzi didn't want to meet his cousin and turned away quickly.

"I want Peiyuan Guben Pills, are they available now?"

The cousin seemed to be very familiar with Hong'antang and asked directly when he entered the door.

"It just so happens that we got another batch a few days ago, and there are only a dozen pills in total."

"Okay! I want two pills."

The cousin took out two ingots of silver from his sleeve and threw them to an apprentice, then took a small porcelain bottle and put it in his arms and left.

Er Gouzi kept pretending to read the words on the medicine cabinet until his cousin left, then he asked the apprentice beside him.

"What is this Pei Yuan Gu Ben Pill?"

"This is a secret pill made by our store. It strengthens the body and replenishes vitality. It is especially helpful for martial artists."

"How much is it? How much is one pill?"

"This medicine is a bit expensive, 10 taels of silver per pill."

He originally wanted to buy one to try, but he didn't expect it to be so expensive.

One pill costs 10 taels of silver, and his entire fortune is only 5 guan.

In order to hide the embarrassment of not being able to afford it, he looked around the medicine cabinets casually.

Finally, he saw "Ginseng", "Ginseng Flower", "Ginseng Seed," and "Ginseng Leaf" written on a drawer of the medicine cabinet.

"Can you show me that drawer?"

The apprentice stepped on the stool and pulled out all the drawers for Er Gou to check.

It turned out that the drawer was divided into four compartments, which contained ginseng leaves, ginseng flowers, ginseng seeds, and a ginseng plant.

"How much is a ginseng plant?"

"This one is a wild ginseng that is more than ten years old, and it sells for 20 taels of silver."

"Originally, there were two plants, and one was just used up two days ago. Ginseng was added to the Pei Yuan Gu Ben Pill just now."

"The ginseng from the mountains has been bought up by the county magistrate. It's just that our Hong'an Hall has a strong relationship and can get one or two plants."

The apprentice said this with a smug look.

Er Gou's heart twitched. It was so expensive that he couldn't afford it.

However, he was more determined to grow ginseng.

Perhaps, he only needs one year to cultivate 10-year-old ginseng.

"How much is this ginseng seed?"

"It's not expensive, 60 wen per qian."

Er Gouzi asked his apprentice to pour out all the ginseng seeds in the grid and weighed them. There were three and a half qian, a total of 210 wen.

In addition to ginseng, he also bought some Polygonatum seeds, which cost 150 wen.

These seeds are originally medicinal materials. Buying one or two kinds will not arouse suspicion, but buying too many is not appropriate.

Finally, he successfully bought medicinal seeds and fulfilled a wish, and he was happy.

By the way, he asked whether Hong'an Hall would accept Dali Pills, but he was naturally rejected.

People thought he was a charlatan, just opening a business, and they valued harmony, so they didn't scold him in person.

The Dali Pills, which he had expected to make a fortune, could not be sold at all.

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