Chapter 146: Preparation
Editor: Atlas Studios
Seeing that his sister was in a daze, Little Bowen couldn’t help but hold her hand nervously. “Sister, what’s wrong?”
Mu Yangling came back to her senses and put on a gentle smile. Patting his head, she said with a smile, “It’s fine. Let’s go find the bookstore first. The old bookstore is no longer open because of the Jin soldiers. I wonder where this new bookstore is now.”
After walking around the county, Mu Yangling finally found the new bookstore in a corner of the street where the old bookstore had been previously.
Mu Yangling looked at the slightly blocked facade at the protruding corner of the wall and then looked up at its plaque. Only then was she certain that this was really the bookstore she had been looking for.
Speechless, Mu Yangling pulled Bowen in and asked the boss, who was sleeping on the recliner, “Why did you open a bookstore here? It took us a long time to find this place.”
The bookstore owner raised his eyelids and glanced at them. Then, he lowered his eyes and said, “All the academies and private schools in the county know that my bookstore is located here. You can go and take a look at whatever you want to buy. Just pay the bill when you’re done browsing.”
So this boss was only counting on business from the academies.
Mu Yangling muttered as she pulled Bowen in. She took the book list that the academy’s teacher had written for him and chose a few books. Then, she went to choose a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. “Bowen, come and take a look. Which one do you want?”
This being Bowen’s first time shopping in a bookstore, he reached out to touch the inkstone on the table lovingly before reluctantly looking away from it. He said obediently, “Sister, just choose for me.”
Mu Yangling stroked his head and reached out to pick up the inkstone he had touched just now. She chose a few more brushes from the brush holder before bringing him to look at the inksticks.
As these were all marked with prices, Mu Yangling knew at a glance if she could afford them. Hence, she didn’t need to ask the boss for the price.
When choosing ink, Mu Yangling hesitated.
She picked up a relatively cheap inkstick and asked the boss, “Will this smudge?”
The boss opened his eyes and took a look. “Yes.” He glanced at Mu Bowen, who was beside her feet, and said, “Inksticks below 500 copper coins will smudge. If you want something better, buy something that costs 800 copper coins or one tael of silver.”
The inksticks here were sold in packs of ten pieces. Should one wish to purchase an individual piece, it would be more expensive. Since inksticks were bought for the purpose of studying, people would usually buy a pack at once.
Frowning, Mu Yangling thought for a moment. In the end, she put down the ink in her hand and picked up an inkstick respectively costing 800 copper coins and one tael to smell. In the end, she decided to buy the ones costing one tael of silver.
After choosing the items, Mu Yangling brought them over and asked the boss to settle the bill.
The boss knew at a glance that it was for a new student. He glanced at Mu Bowen before asking Mu Yangling, “Where are the adults in your family?”
“They’re busy, so I came here with my brother.” Mu Yangling flipped through the booklet beside her. She remembered that she had always prepared notebooks to record notes when she was studying. After all, there were so many notes that there wasn’t enough space in her textbook to record them. Hence, Mu Yangling took out another blank booklet and handed it to the boss. “I’ll take this too.”
The boss’s lips curled up slightly as a smile appeared on his face. He nodded in admiration. “You sure know how to choose. Is he not the first person to attend school in your family?”
Mu Yangling was stunned for a moment before nodding. “My mother and father are both literate. I can read a few words too.” However, only she and her mother were properly educated. What her father knew was taught by her mother.
For a family with so many literate individuals, the boss mistakenly assumed them as scholarly farmers.
Scholars tended to have a certain air about them, so upon identifying that they were scholarly farmers, and seemingly not well-off, the boss intentionally omitted the price of some items. In the end, he lazily calculated the abacus and said, “A total of 9 taels and 520 copper coins.”
Mu Yangling’s eyes widened. “Isn’t it 10 taels and 320 copper coins?” She searched through the items before finally pointing at the two tubes of brushes and pile of paper. “You forgot to calculate these two, right?”
The boss glared at her and wrapped it up for her. Then, he said, “10 taels and 300 copper coins then. I’ll round down those 20 copper coins for you.”
Mu Yangling was a little confused by his glare, but she still thanked him and took out money from her pocket.
Just as she was about to turn around and leave with the things, the boss asked, “How did you calculate so quickly?”
“What? Oh, you’re talking about tallying the bill?” Mu Yangling said matter-of-factly, “I calculated it mentally.”
The boss frowned but did not ask in detail. He glanced at their baskets and said, “Your brother has to buy a briefcase for school. Otherwise, how can he bring books to the academy?” The boss pointed at a corner and said, “The briefcases are over there. Go take a look. I’ll give you a discount.”
Mu Yangling looked at the boxes and thought to herself, ‘No matter how cheap it is, we won’t be able to afford it.’ If they bought this on top of the medicine, they’d be using up all their money and could only hope Great-aunt could sell the wild rabbits. It was good to have some spare money at home. Besides, Bowen wouldn’t be able to carry a briefcase considering it was so heavy.
Mu Yangling declined the boss’s good intentions and held Bowen and Xiulan’s hands as they left. Xiuhong followed closely behind. After walking far away, Xiuhong said unhappily, “Cousin, that boss isn’t friendly at all.”
Mu Yangling said with a smile, “This boss is not friendly, but he’s very interesting. He’s even better than the previous bookstore owner.”
Mu Yangling brought them to the pharmacy and took out Bowen’s old prescription for the shopkeeper to see. The shopkeeper looked at the prescription and then at Mu Bowen. Seeing that his face was still rosy, he asked, “When did you start taking this prescription?”
“He’s been taking it for five months. It was prescribed by the doctor when our family was still in Seven Mile Village. He’s been taking medicine previously, but it was a different prescription previously.” Mu Yangling took out a cloth bag from her pocket and showed him the previous prescription. “This is the prescription for my younger brother before he was two years old. This prescription was given two years ago. When the symptoms started, he took one set every two days. Usually, he takes one set every two days. This one was given in late autumn last year. Usually, he takes one set every two days.”
Nodding, the shopkeeper said, “These are all medicinal herbs that nourish the body. They’re not very toxic, but since he’s still young, it’s more or less harmful to take medicine for so many years. If you want to change the prescription, why don’t you ask my boss to take his pulse and have a new prescription written? If the chronic illness in his body has been cured, then there’s no need to take medicine anymore. Food therapy is much better than taking medicine.”
Mu Yangling hesitated for a moment before agreeing. She held her brother’s hand and went to see the boss.
Benevolence Hall was a century-old pharmacy in Mingshui County with a stellar reputation. Other than an in-house physician, the owner, the Pang family, also treated patients here. Today, the head of the Pang family, Pang Kongqing, was the one attending to patients.
Mu Yangling led Mu Bowen over and a smile bloomed on his face. He waved at him kindly. “Come and let Uncle take a look.”
Pang Kongqing’s face was gentle and amiable, making people subconsciously trust him. Even Mu Yangling could not help but have a good impression of him, let alone Bowen, who was so young.
Pang Kongqing smiled, making Little Bowen’s previous nervousness dissipate slightly. He sat obediently on the chair and extended his hand to him.