Chapter 2

Suddenly.

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Cheng Buzheng's brows furrowed slightly; the noise outside seemed to have disturbed his deep thoughts.

Not long after, the door was knocked on, and a young voice came from outside, "Senior Brother Buzheng, come out quickly, something's happened!"

Cheng Buzheng turned and walked to the door, opened it, and saw a medicine boy dressed in the same coarse cloth, who looked to be about his age, with a slightly chubby face that looked quite adorable.

Cheng Buzheng was not at all anxious, and from the volume of the argument downstairs, he could roughly imagine what was happening.

He smiled warmly and habitually pinched the medicine boy's chubby cheek, saying, "Xiao Li, what's wrong?"

"It hurts... don't pinch me!" The medicine boy's chubby face showed a look of urgency, "Senior Brother Buzheng, Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming are arguing again, and they're about to start fighting. You should go down and see!"

Although Cheng Buzheng was not anxious, he was also quite troubled. These two little rascals seemed to be natural enemies, having a big argument every three days and a small one every two. When they got really angry, they would even start fighting.

The argument had just begun, and it would take some time before they actually started fighting, so he was not in a hurry.

The doctor was out on a house call, and he usually treated them quite gently, which is why they argued so freely. Fortunately, the five medicine boys in the pharmacy were quite obedient to Cheng Buzheng as their leader.

Otherwise, he would not be able to manage these energetic little rascals.

"Ah..." Cheng Buzheng sighed maturely. "Let's go... and see what's happening!"

With that, he left the room and walked briskly in the direction of the increasingly intense voices, with Xiao Li following closely behind like a little tail.

Not long after,

Cheng Buzheng saw two boys, one tall and one short, glaring at each other and arguing intensely.

The taller one, who looked quite young and was about eleven or twelve years old, was Xiao Hua, and his face was full of defiance.

The shorter one, with bright eyes and a sharp look, was Xiao Ming, and he also had a defiant expression.

Both were about the same age, so they were evenly matched in strength and fighting skills, each having won from the other. This was something Cheng Buzheng had learned from the winners' accounts.

This was one of the few sources of amusement for Cheng Buzheng, but if he discovered them arguing, he would stop them.

He was not willing to let them fight for a little amusement; he still had a sense of public morality.

"You two, stop for a moment. What's the reason this time?" Cheng Buzheng asked with a slight smile, looking at the two red-faced boys.

"Senior Brother Buzheng... this time it should have been me to go with the doctor on the house call... but Xiao Ming interfered!" Xiao Ming, being smart, quickly said, trying to win his senior brother's support and glaring at Xiao Ming.

"Senior Brother Buzheng... don't listen to his nonsense... it was his own fault... last time it should have been me to go with the doctor, but Xiao Ming interfered!" Xiao Hua was not to be outdone and immediately countered, afraid that his senior brother would believe the other's lies, and he lifted his head to stare at Xiao Ming defiantly.

...

The two boys continued to accuse each other of their faults, and soon they were bringing up old grievances, but they did not mention their own mistakes.

After a long explanation, each trying to shift the blame, he had a general understanding of what had happened.

"I understand now. You two are arguing over who should go with the doctor on the house call this time!

Here's what we'll do!... From now on, no matter who goes with the doctor, you two must not interfere with each other. This will cancel out the past issues! Otherwise... in the future, neither of you will be able to go with the doctor!

You both know that the people who can get the doctor to make house calls are all wealthy merchants, who will provide good food and entertainment for the doctor!

Do you think this is a good idea?"

Cheng Buzheng tempted the two boys, knowing that simply telling them to stop was impossible, so he had to find something they could not give up.

Sure enough,

The scene suddenly became quiet.

The two boys thought for a moment, and the idea of good food and entertainment eventually won out.

"I'll listen to Senior Brother Buzheng..."

"Senior Brother Buzheng... I'll listen to you!"

Cheng Buzheng looked at the two defiant boys and decided to use some labor to burn off their excess energy.

Otherwise, they would start arguing again soon. He wanted a bit of peace, and this was his experience, but it worked quite well.

Then, Cheng Buzheng said,

"Alright... Xiao Ming, go collect the dried herbs in the back yard... Xiao Hua, process the commonly used herbs... Xiao Li, you and I will inventory the herbs and order more if needed to be prepared for emergencies!"

Upon hearing this,

Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming looked at each other.

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

Then they both turned and went their separate ways, each busy with their tasks.

As expected, they did not argue again that day.

...

The next day.

Early morning, Bai Ren Tang.

Cheng Buzheng opened the door and walked downstairs to the pharmacy.

"Thud... thud..." Heavy footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs in the quiet hall.

On the first floor, the pharmacy was laid out in a very traditional style, with a large medicine cabinet on each side of the wall, almost reaching the ceiling. Each drawer in the cabinets contained processed herbs, and a red paper label on the outside indicated the contents.

Next to the cabinets was a bamboo ladder to help the medicine boys place and retrieve the herbs.

Due to the long-term storage of herbs, the entire pharmacy was filled with a faint herbal fragrance.

Behind the counter, Xiao Li, with his chin in his hand, looked half-asleep, as if he had not woken up. Hearing the sound, he rubbed his eyes and turned to look at the stairs.

"Senior Brother Buzheng... it's not your shift today, why didn't you sleep in?... Waking up early... is really tiring!" Mentioning the shift, his chubby face showed dissatisfaction.

Cheng Buzheng walked behind the counter and pinched Xiao Li's cheek.

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

"Since you know it hurts... even though there's no one in the morning, you still need to be alert... otherwise... if the herbs are missing, the doctor will give you a 'bamboo stir-fry' when he returns... I'm doing this for your own good!"

Xiao Li rolled his eyes at Cheng Buzheng and muttered, "Every time... you can find different reasons..."

Cheng Buzheng smiled at the medicine boy Xiao Li in front of him.

"There's nothing to do today. Tell Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming they can go out to play, but they must not leave the town and must return by night. I won't be at the pharmacy today and might come back late."

...

Cheng Buzheng left the pharmacy and saw the shops of various sizes on both sides of the street. Walking down the busy street, he did not linger and headed straight for his destination.