Chapter 2: The Apothecary

Suddenly.

Cheng Buzheng frowned slightly; the noisy commotion outside seemed to disturb his contemplation.

Before long, there was a knock on the door, followed by a youthful voice from outside

"Senior Brother Buzheng, come out quickly! Something has happened!"

Cheng Buzheng turned and walked toward the door. Upon opening it, he saw a medicinal boy dressed in similar coarse cloth. The boy looked to be about the same age as him, but with a somewhat chubby, baby-faced appearance that made him look quite cute.

Cheng Buzheng showed no sign of urgency. Judging by the volume of the arguing downstairs, he could roughly imagine what was happening.

A gentle smile appeared on his face. Habitually, he reached out to pinch the boy's chubby cheek and said

"Xiao Li, what's wrong?"

"Ow! Stop pinching!" The boy's chubby face contorted with an expression of anxiety as he said, "Senior Brother Buzheng, Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming are arguing again, and they're about to come to blows! You need to go down and check on them immediately!"

Although Cheng Buzheng wasn't worried, he did find it somewhat of a headache. These two little fellows seemed naturally incompatible; they had a major argument every three days, a minor spat every two, and would even resort to fighting when they lost their tempers.

The argument had only just begun, and it would be a while before they actually fought, which was why he appeared so unhurried.

The doctor had gone out for house calls, and since Cheng Buzheng was usually quite gentle with them, they felt emboldened to argue without restraint. Fortunately, the other medicinal boys were quite respectful of Cheng Buzheng as their leader, and luckily, there were only five medicinal boys in the pharmacy in total.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to manage these high-energy little rascals.

"Sigh," Cheng Buzheng let out a mature sigh and said, "Let's go down and take a look."

With that, he stepped out of his room and strode toward the direction of the intensifying noise. Xiao Li followed closely behind like a little tail, scurrying with quick, small steps.

Before long.

Cheng Buzheng saw two youths, one tall and one short, glaring at each other in the midst of a heated argument.

The taller, somewhat more delicate-looking youth, who appeared to be about eleven or twelve years old, was Xiao Hua, but his face was currently filled with defiance.

The shorter one, with bright, spirited eyes and a clever look, was Xiao Ming, who also wore a look of defiance.

They were of similar age, so their strength was roughly equal. Their fighting skills were also on par, as they had both learned from fighting one another; thus, there was always a winner and a loser, which was something Cheng Buzheng had learned from the mouths of the victors each time.

This was one of the few small pleasures Cheng Buzheng enjoyed. Of course, if he caught them arguing, he would intervene.

He was not willing to allow them to fight just for a bit of minor amusement; he possessed a sense of public morality.

"You two, stop for a moment. What is the reason this time?"

Cheng Buzheng looked at the two red-faced, angry little fellows with a hint of amusement.

"Senior Brother Buzheng... it should have been me going out with the doctor for house calls this time! It was Xiao Hua who interfered..."

Xiao Ming quickly spoke up, trying to win his senior brother's favor immediately while glaring indignantly at Xiao Hua.

"Senior Brother Buzheng, don't listen to his nonsense! He brought it on himself... Last time, I should have been the one going out with the doctor, but Xiao Ming messed it up!"

Xiao Hua countered immediately, not wanting to lose ground for fear that his senior brother would believe the other's slander. At the same time, he stared defiantly at Xiao Ming.

The two went back and forth, constantly pointing out each other's faults. Before long, they began digging up old grievances, yet neither mentioned their own mistakes in the slightest.

After they had explained for a long time, shifting the blame back and forth, Cheng Buzheng had roughly grasped the situation.

"I understand. You are arguing over who gets to accompany the doctor on house calls! How about this? From now on, regardless of who goes with the doctor, neither of you is allowed to interfere with the other. We will call it even! Otherwise, if you two keep sabotaging each other, neither of you will ever get to go with the doctor! You both know that the people the doctor visits are wealthy patrons who have delicious food and fun things to entertain him! Does that sound fair?"

Cheng Buzheng used temptation in his words. He knew that simply telling them to stop would be impossible, so he had to find a desire they couldn't resist.

Sure enough.

The scene instantly fell silent.

The two thought for a moment, and ultimately, the thought of delicious food and fun things won out.

"I'll listen to Senior Brother Buzheng."

"Senior Brother Buzheng, I'll listen to you too!"

Looking at the two unyielding little fellows, Cheng Buzheng prepared to use labor to exhaust their excess energy.

Otherwise, they would inevitably start arguing again before long. In his experience, this was the best way to ensure some peace and quiet, and it worked quite well.

Then, Cheng Buzheng spoke.

"Alright! Xiao Ming, go collect the dried herbs from the backyard. Xiao Hua, prepare the commonly used herbs. Xiao Li, you and I will take inventory of the herbs. We need to purchase any shortages to prepare for future needs!"

Upon hearing this.

Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming glanced at each other.

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

Then, both turned away with their heads held high and began their respective tasks.

As expected, the two did not argue again for the rest of the day.

***

The next day.

Early morning, at Bairentang.

Cheng Buzheng opened his door and walked down to the pharmacy.

*Tap, tap...* The heavy footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs within the quiet main hall.

The layout of the first-floor pharmacy was very traditional. There were large medicine cabinets against both side walls, reaching nearly to the ceiling. Each drawer in the cabinets contained processed medicinal herbs, with red paper labels attached to the outside indicating their contents.

Beside the cabinets stood bamboo ladders to allow the medicinal boys to place or retrieve herbs easily.

Due to the years of storing herbs, the entire pharmacy was filled with a faint, medicinal fragrance.

Behind the counter, Xiao Li sat with his chin in his hand, looking half-asleep as if he hadn't woken up yet. Hearing the sound, he rubbed his eyes and turned toward the stairs.

"Senior Brother Buzheng, it's not your turn to be on duty today. Why didn't you sleep in a bit longer? Waking up early is so tiring!"

Speaking of duty, Xiao Li's chubby face was full of discontent.

Cheng Buzheng walked behind the counter, reached out to pinch Xiao Li's cheek, and smiled.

"Ow, ow... Senior Brother Buzheng, don't pinch my face every time! It hurts!"

"If it hurts, then you know. Even if no one is here this morning, you must stay alert! Otherwise, if we run low on herbs, you'll be getting a serving of 'Stir-fried Pork Strips with Bamboo Strips' once the doctor returns. I'm doing this for your own good!"

Xiao Li rolled his eyes at Cheng Buzheng and muttered, "Every time, you always find a different excuse..."

Cheng Buzheng looked at the medicinal boy, Xiao Li, and smiled.

"There is nothing to do today. Tell Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming that they can go out and play. But they must not leave the town and must return by evening. I won't be staying at the shop today; I might be back a bit late."

Cheng Buzheng left the pharmacy. Before his eyes lay the shops of varying heights lining both sides of the street. Walking through the bustling streets, he did not linger and headed straight toward his destination.