Chapter 250: Chapter 250: Opening a Pharmacy
250 Opening a Pharmacy
She had no other choice but to come to the Sun Family, seeking help to see if they had any medicinal herbs available.
Mrs. Kang said, "I was thinking, since Doctor Sun often goes up the mountain to collect herbs, could you possibly sell me some of your medicinal plants?"
Sun Kang stroked his beard, thought for a moment, and said, "The prescription I gave you the other day included one tael each of radix scrophulariae, coptis, and Da Huang, ground into a powder, mixed with honey to make pill-sized pieces. Take thirty to forty pills a day with plain water."
"Radix scrophulariae is a local herb, and we do have some in our home. However, Da Huang and coptis are not locally grown."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Kang became somewhat panicked and asked, "Then what should we do?"
At this point, Eldest Uncle spoke up, "Let me try to help you with that. I know a small medicine dealer who hasn’t left Anyang County yet. I’ll ask if he has any in stock."
Mrs. Kang was, of course, full of gratitude and finally returned home.
After Mrs. Kang left, Sun Youwei sighed, "The Niu Clan is really getting too much! If this keeps up, us commoners won’t be able to afford medicine anymore!"
Zhao Guifen also sighed, "Indeed, but there’s nothing we can do. The Niu Clan’s influence is growing, and they’re expanding their herbal business nationwide. Even the nobles in the Capital City go to them for medicine. Nobody can compete with their family."
Zhao Zhitong couldn’t understand, so she asked, "Why do the nobles in the Capital City go to Xiangfu Medicine Hall for medicine when they’re so heartless, and their medicines aren’t even that good?"
Everyone shook their heads, unsure of the reason.
Sun Kang thought for a moment and offered a possibility, "Maybe they have a connection with someone in the Capital City."
Zhao Zhitong pursed her lips and began to think. In the past three years, situations like Mrs. Kang’s family’s predicament had become more common. Many people had become dissatisfied with Xiangfu Medicine Hall, but they dared not speak out against it. This couldn’t continue for much longer.
At this point, an idea struck Zhao Zhitong, and her eyes lit up as she proposed, "Grandfather, Eldest Uncle, why don’t we open a pharmacy in the county town?"
Upon hearing Zhao Zhitong’s words, everyone was momentarily stunned.
"Open a pharmacy?"
Zhao Zhitong nodded. "Yes, Grandfather and I both have medical skills. Grandfather can be the resident physician, and Eldest Uncle is knowledgeable about medicinal herbs and knows many medicine dealers, so he can source the herbs."
"Moreover, my second and third cousins have learned quite a few herbs by following Eldest Uncle around for the past two years. They also know how to read and write, so they can help Eldest Uncle with acquiring herbs."
"My eldest cousin is excellent at accounting! He can be our accountant. Once we’ve established our pharmacy, the commoners won’t have to die from illness because they can’t afford medicine."
Zhao Zhitong’s words caused everyone to fall deep into thought.
In the past three years, their family’s Peony Flower Shop business had improved their lives tremendously. However, the flower shop’s management now mainly fell on Sun Youcai, the fifth son, while Sun Youli, the second son, and Sun Lan helped out. The grandchildren in the family had gradually grown up; for instance, the eldest grandson, Sun Daji, was already fourteen and would be of marriageable age next year. The second grandson, Sun Daqing, was thirteen, and it was indeed time to plan for his future. Thinking of this, Sun Kang and Sun Youwei were both somewhat tempted. The cousins, imagining they too could achieve great things, also felt a stir of anticipation.
Even Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt began to consider the idea, and so, everyone looked towards Sun Kang, the head of the family, waiting for his decision.
Sun Kang instinctively reached for his tobacco pipe, intending to light it, but suddenly remembered Zhao Zhitong’s request that he quit smoking. He brought the pipe to his nose, sniffed it, and then put it away.
He then said, "Tongtong’s suggestion is a good one, but opening a pharmacy is a major undertaking. We need to consider it very carefully."
Zhao Guifen nodded in agreement. "That’s right. This is not a small matter. We should discuss this together once the second and fifth sons are back."
So, the matter was provisionally settled.
After studying for a while longer at her grandfather’s house, Zhao Zhitong returned home.
She was now eight years old and would turn nine after the New Year. Consequently, she insisted daily that she was a "little adult" and no longer needed her elder brother to escort her to school or her grandfather’s house.
Of course, if it was late when she returned home, her uncle would still have to escort her.
Over the past three years, Zhao Zhitong had made rapid progress. This year, she could already diagnose and treat simple illnesses by herself. Yet, she showed no signs of complacency and instead spent even more time studying medical books and researching.
Her schooling continued, but Zhao Zhitong and her classmates were no longer in the beginners’ class. Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue, the two youngsters, had twice qualified as Elementary Scholars.
The examinations for Elementary Scholar status, sometimes also referred to as the Academy Examinations, were held twice every three years. They had already passed both the county and prefectural exams; furthermore, Qiao Muchen had even consecutively achieved the top rank in both the county and prefectural exams on two occasions.
For a time, he became a minor celebrity in Anyang County.
Zhao Yue’s performance wasn’t bad either. Although his results weren’t as good as Qiao Muchen’s, his intellect and eloquence had improved greatly over the past three years.
Even Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen had been tricked by him several times, much to Zhao Yue’s smug delight.
Although both boys had smoothly passed the Elementary Scholar examinations twice in a row, they, like Zhao Zhitong, showed no complacency. During this period, they had both been diligently preparing for the next year’s provincial examination.
If they passed the provincial exam, they would become official scholars and could attend the Official School.
Consequently, not only were the two boys nervous, but even Scholar Meng was extremely anxious, and giving them special tutoring had become an almost daily routine.
Zhao Zhitong recently had a little secret known only to her three best friends: in her quest to study human anatomy, she had been sneaking out to Mass Grave Hill in the dead of night to dig...
This had scared Zhao Yue, Qiao Muchen, and Wei Shulan half to death at the time, especially the precocious Zhao Yue, whose budding, unusual affection for Zhao Zhitong was instantly extinguished.
Afterward, his common refrain became, "Zhao Zhitong is no girl!"
Indeed, what normal girl sneaks out in the middle of the night to secretly play with corpses?!
「Once again, it was just past eleven o’clock at night.」
CUCKOO, CUCKOO.
At the sound of two cuckoo calls from outside the wall, Zhao Zhitong’s eyes snapped open. She instantly dressed, slipped out of bed, opened the door, and stealthily slipped out.
Outside the main gate, under the moonlight by the wall, stood a young boy with ink-black hair, clad in dark robes, his posture tall and straight. His eyes, like tranquil lakes, held the silver frost of the moonlight and shone exceptionally bright as they met hers.
"Qiao Muchen, I’m here."
Zhao Zhitong waved, called out cheerfully, and trotted over. "Your mother didn’t find out, did she?"
Qiao Muchen smiled slightly and shook his head. "No."
Zhao Zhitong produced an iron shovel from behind her back, raised her other hand to pat Qiao Muchen’s shoulder, and said with great camaraderie, "You’re a true brother!"
Then, glancing at the young boy who was now nearly a head taller than her, Zhao Zhitong couldn’t help but grumble internally, What has he been eating to grow so fast? Back in the day, I used to be a whole shoulder taller than Qiao Muchen! Yet, in just three short years, he has actually surpassed me...
"AHEM." Qiao Muchen coughed from Zhao Zhitong’s pat and said with a smile, "That pat of yours was quite brotherly too."