The Resplendent Farming Apothecary

Chapter 133 – First Visit to Jimin Pharmacy

“Grandmother, the divine physician, just started learning medicine with her master this year. A few years ago, she’s just a child! Even if we encountered her then, there’s nothing we could’ve done.” Master Ding saw the sorrow in the Old Madam’s eyes and explained.

Old Madam Ding possessed magnanimity unique to her age. She smiled. “I just thought of my old man and felt rueful. You guys need to listen to the divine physician’s words. Especially you. You’ll be given the family punishment if I find you straying from your diet plan!”

Her finger pointed towards the middle-aged Lord Ding. The family turned their gazes towards Landlord Ding who was silently reaching for the steamed dumpling with pure meat fillings.

Landlord Ding froze and then his face flushed. He placed his chopsticks down embarrassed and sighed bitterly. “Life is all about eating and drinking, having fun, and taking care of your needs. Food comes first. What’s the point of living if I can’t eat what I want? For the past half a month or so, all I’ve been having is healthy food…”

Old Madam Ding hit his head with the chopsticks. “Unfilial! Is food more important than your mother? You want your mother to mourn for you? Then go ahead and eat as much as you wish! At worst…at worst, I’ll die with you and let my old man teach you a lesson! Hmph. I think you miss being whipped by your father with a strap!”

Landlord Ding was a bit naughty and mischievous when he was young, so he had been beaten by his father frequently. His father had even gone through a few straps. Later on, Landlord Ding slowly restrained himself and inherited the family business. The only thing he didn’t change was his strong desire for great food. He enjoyed eating meat more than his father as if nothing was more important than that!

Landlord Ding was a filial son. Hearing his mother’s words, he hurriedly made an oath and promised that he wouldn’t eat meat in the future, disregarding his reputation. It took a while to coax his mother.

For her past two lives, Gu Ye had been desiring a lively and warm scene like the scene shopkeewithin the Lord Ding’s family. She smiled faintly at the scene, wanting to keep this beautiful memory. Moved, she dictated a few prescriptions to treat coronary heart diseases for the Ding Family.

One example included putting shelled peanuts and osmanthus into vinegar and soaking it for twenty-four hours. Then take fifteen pills every day after getting out of bed. Another example included washing the white fungus and edible fungus with warm water and then drying and placing them in a bowl. Add water and crystal sugars. Then steam it for an hour. Divide it into several portions for eating.

The Ding Family trusted her fully. They persisted in taking these prescriptions every day. Paired with taking medicine, they also exercised which helped to alleviate the symptoms for coronary heart disease.

She promised to bring medicine to the Ding Family again before the New Years. The siblings then bid farewell to the enthusiastic Old Madam Ding who urged them to stay. The siblings carried their bamboo baskets full of medicinal ingredients and headed to the Jimin Pharmacy.

It was only a thirty minute walk to the end of the street within this nameless town. There were less than a hundred people in this town and also why Baicao Pharmacy didn’t want to open a branch here.

Jimin Pharmacy was at the end of the street, an inconspicuous shop front as well as the only pharmacy in this town. There was a diagnosing physician, a shopkeeper in charge of making up a prescription, and a shop assistant cleaning after the store. The two sides of the shop front were occupied by rows of neat medicinal cabinets.

When the Gu siblings entered the store, there were no patients inside. The old physician sitting inside propped his head up with his arms as he snoozed. The shop assistant was diligently cleaning the medicinal cabinets.

He detected noise and turned to look at the siblings. Smiling, he asked, “Are you two here for diagnosis or to grab a prescription?”

“May I ask where your Shopkeeper Fang” Gu Ye smiled back at their good attitude.

“Our shopkeeper is receiving noble guests right now. You guys can talk to me. It’s the same.” The shop assistant looked at the bamboo basket on the siblings’ backs, guessing their intention. He was familiar with the prices of selling herbs. There was no need to disturb the Shopkeeper Fang.

Gu Ye softly shook her head. “Your employer said that our herbs will be checked by the Shopkeeper Fang. You probably can’t do anything about this.”

The quality of the herbs within the bamboo baskets were much better than the ones she sold last time. If the herbs from last time were considered top-quality, then the herbs this time were definitely supreme quality. It was the peak of the top-quality. How could a shop assistant tell the difference?

The shop assistant took another careful look at her. A small figure and an extremely skinny figure, with a pair of quick-witted eyes. Wasn’t she the person that the shopkeeper and his employer told him to keep an eye on?

The shop assistant felt anxious, afraid that he might’ve mistreated the noble guests. He hurriedly smiled and said politely, “Please have a seat. I’m going to ask the Shopkeeper Fang to come over right now.” After that, he ran towards the backyard.

The shop assistant knocked on the Shopkeeper Fang’s door as he tried to catch his breath only to be scolded. “Why are you running? What’s with the rush? Didn’t I tell you not to disturb us if there’s nothing important?”

The shopkeeper was researching the dapagliflozin he had brought from Gu Ye with the third Lord from Yan City— Bai Jingxuan. He was unhappy to be cut off in the middle of a sentence.

“Shopkeeper Fang, the lady you wanted me to keep an eye on…had just come. She also came with two baskets full of herbs!” The shop assistant was also quick-witted. Before the shopkeeper took his anger out on him, he hurriedly explained the situation.

Shopkeeper Fang and Bai Jingxuan looked at each other, revealing a delighted glow in their eyes. Smiling, “Third Lord, we were just talking about that lady and she’s here!”

“Let’s go! I’ll come with you to meet this suspected descendent of a sage apothecary!” Bai Jingxuan went into a pharmacy and researched the medicine he obtained from Shopkeeper Fang after he sent it to Yan City for several days and nights, completely wrapped up in work.

However, the sage apothecary had vanished for almost two decades. The medicine’s manufacturing wasn’t identical to the sage apothecary’s methods. Therefore, they hadn’t made any conclusions.

Bai Jingxuan valued these medicinal ingredients and the apothecaries who knew how to concoct them even more. He heard from his two nephews that the apothecary was actually a ten years old girl. Such a young lady was that skilled? Could she really be the descendent of the sage apothecary?

It didn’t matter if their guesses were real or not but he felt the need to be on good terms with the girl. Even if she wasn’t the sage apothecary’s disciple, her talent destined her to be as good as Baili Apothecary a decade from now!

They needed to use this opportunity wiself if they wanted the Jimin Pharmacy to surpass the pharmacies with long-established reputations. As a result, Bai Jingxuan didn’t hesitate to lower his level to personally visit this remote and desolate town.

“Lady Gu, you’re finally here!” Shopkeeper Fang said the same exact words as Master Ding when he saw Gu Ye. He also appeared rather enthusiastic.

“Shopkeeper Fang, are you guys done selling the medicine I sold to you last time?” Gu Ye was a bit confused. Such a small pharmacy would have great business? Her two baskets of medicine were at least 200-300 lbs. Did the townspeople take medicine like it was a normal thing to do?

Shopkeeper Fang saw through her confusion. “We obviously wouldn’t be able to sell that much medicine within the nameless town. But there are eight branches of Jimin Pharmacy just in the underlings of Guangyan City. Not to mention the other cities. Even more, your medicine is extremely effective.”

Gu Ye nodded frankly. She pointed at the bamboo baskets next to her feet. “The medicine this time has a better quality than last time. Do you want to take a look?”

“Yes, it would be disrespectful to refuse. Third Lord, how about…we both take a look?” Shopkeeper Fang looked at Bai Jingxuan and motioned him over.

Gu Ye had detected this refined man with an extraordinary temperament. So it turns out he was one of the owners of Jimin Pharmacy. He was ranked third within the Bai Family and the twins’ third uncle! She had to admit that the Bai Family had good genes. Even if he was an uncle, he was still very handsome.

Bai Jingxuan walked to the bamboo basket as Gu Ye observed him. He opened a bag of herbs. Inside was the licorice root she had concocted. It had been soaked by wine and cut into thin slices. It was scarlet yellow inside and outside. Truly a top-quality item.

One could see how exquisite the apothecary’s skills were. She was able to control the heat just perfectly. Her knife work was also good. Each slice was even and well-cut. After many years of researching the sage apothecary’s methods, Bai Jingxuan could tell that Gu Ye’s licorice root cutting technique were definitely from the sage apothecary. However, there were some slight changes. The changes didn’t change the nature of the medicine though.

“Not bad. The licorice root is a rare fine item within the top-quality items.” Bai Jingxuan sincerely praised. Gu Ye smiled at this.

Bai Jingxuan and Shopkeeper Fang checked the other medicinal ingredients. Gu Ye had brought over eight types of medicinal ingredients. Each one of them was quality good. Bai Jingxuan glanced at the malnutritioned lady wearing a plain outfit. He couldn’t help but ask, “Lady Gu, you concocted this yourself?”

Gu Ye placed the cup used to warm her hands down and nodded. “That’s right. I manufactured them. Owner Bai, are you satisfied with the quality?”

“Yes, very!” Bai Jingxuan answered without hesitation. Even without the sage apothecary, Jimin Pharmacy wouldn’t be able to obtain such quality dapagliflozin.

Only a few apothecaries that worked with the Jimin Pharmacy were comparable to the sage apothecary. Apothecaries who had reached this stage were all noble and arrogant. They decided on how much medicine they wanted to manufacture every month. Jiming Pharmacy was also barely surviving amongst the pharmacies with a long-established reputation. They obviously desired good medicinal ingredients.

“Shopkeeper Fang, calculate the price of these medicinal ingredients. Count them as top-quality exquisite items.” Bai Jingxuan ordered. Shopkeeper Fang personally calculated the price with his people. The two baskets of herbs were much more expensive than the four baskets from last time. Gu Ye received an extra eighty-five silver taels.

Though the silvers she obtained from selling herbs was nothing compared to the money she received from selling Instant Heart-reliever Pills, she did receive them due to hard labor. This was the new skill she learned since coming to this world. This skill alone could help her become a millionaire.

It was better if she stopped showing off her advanced manufacturing methods. After all, things could go wrong if she kept boasting. She didn’t want to be seen as a monster and be hunted for her skills.

“Lady Gu, is it convenient for you to tell us who your master is?” Bai Jingxuan couldn’t contain his urge and finally asked.