Chapter 516 - 304: Unparalleled Talent!
Chapter 516: Chapter 304: Unparalleled Talent!
Ma Liangcai dared not delay. After seeing the water mark on the table, he nodded heavily and turned to leave Jishi Medicine Hall.
Chen Yi watched him walk away and let out a light breath. He would absolutely never be this cautious unless it was necessary. However, Xiao Jinghong was currently less than five miles away from his location in the East Market. Even if she did not use True Essence, relying solely on her hearing, she could still hear the sounds here. Therefore, Chen Yi had to let Ma Liangcai make the trip on his behalf.
As for confirming whether those people from the grain merchants had bought back that batch of grain from Cui Qingwu... that was simple.
Chen Yi turned his head to listen and heard the clamor and commotion outside the nearby grain merchants. Most people were complaining about the rising grain prices, cursing those reckless horse bandits from Poshisu Country. But there were also a few gleeful laughs.
"Mr. Lin truly predicts things like a God. After receiving the news yesterday afternoon, he immediately determined that grain prices would skyrocket today."
"You can say that again."
"If he hadn’t notified us in time, all this silver probably would have been pocketed by that Miss Cui."
"Actually, Miss Cui didn’t lose out either. The day before yesterday, she bought our grain for ten taels of silver, yet yesterday she transferred and sold it for fourteen taels of silver. Sigh."
"In just one day, she made four million taels of silver... She earns money much easier than we do."
"Who says otherwise?"
"If we had known earlier, we shouldn’t have listened to Mr. Lin a few days ago."
"We can’t entirely blame Mr. Lin. Who could have imagined that King Nalandu and his Peacock King Banner would be so audacious?"
"Not only did they send men to intercept and kill passing merchants on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, but last night, ’Jackal’ Du Cang even kidnapped Eldest Miss Xiao. They are truly courting death!"
"If it weren’t for a Steward working under Mr. Lin risking his life to send back the news, why would we have rushed to find Miss Cui?"
"Yeah, fourteen taels of silver. Her price gouging is even more ruthless than ours..."
"That Miss Cui may be beautiful, but her heart is black..."
The voices inside the grain store rose and fell. Having caught the general gist of it, Chen Yi set his mind at ease. Four million taels of silver was neither too much nor too little; at most, it made a few grain merchants cough up the silver they had previously earned. As long as the grain prices didn’t fall, they would sooner or later earn the silver back using the grain they had on hand.
However, having laid out such a massive scheme, how could Chen Yi let the grain prices continue to rise?
Through the faint light, he watched the noisy scurrying of the commoners outside the Medicine Hall, his expression growing ever calmer. The scene of Yuan Liu’er selling herself to bury her father that day was still vivid in his mind. Crushed beneath the weight of the general trend, the commoners were like straw dogs; someone had to stand up for them. Now, it was indeed time to put an end to this farce.
At this moment, Yuan Liu’er blocked the light.
Compared to her emaciated and filthy state a few days ago, she had now changed into the uniform of a Physician apprentice. Wearing blue clothes and black boots, with a white linen belt wrapped around her waist, her thin face was clean and tenderly white, and her large eyes held a hint of gratitude.
Chen Yi snapped out of his reverie. Seeing her clinging to the doorframe and peeking at him, too afraid to enter, he smiled and waved her over. "Come in and talk."
Hearing this, Yuan Liu’er instantly shrank back. A moment later, she finally walked in with her head lowered, stuttering slightly. "Apprentice... Apprentice Yuan Liu’er greets you, Shopkeeper."
Chen Yi looked her up and down, smiling and nodding. "Sit down and let’s talk."
"Yes."
Yuan Liu’er carefully sat in the seat farthest away from him, her body occupying only a corner of the chair. Her head was lowered, and she occasionally lifted her eyes to peek at him, only to hurriedly lower her head again before meeting his gaze. Looking at her like this, it was hard to imagine that she had such a resolute side when selling herself to bury her father.
Chen Yi sighed inwardly. His smile faded slightly as he asked in a gentle voice, "Are you getting used to staying at the Medicine Hall?"
Yuan Liu’er quickly glanced at him and replied in a low voice, "I-I’m used to it."
"That’s good. From now on, just peacefully follow Ma Liangcai to learn Medical Skills. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask him. If he doesn’t teach you, I’ll teach him a lesson for you."
"N-no, he hasn’t refused to teach me. Shopkeeper, Master treats me very well. P-please don’t punish him..."
Chen Yi couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing her acting like a startled bird, he waved his hand and said, "I figure he wouldn’t dare anyway." Pausing for a moment, he changed the subject and asked, "What has your master taught you these past few days?"
Previously, he had told Ma Liangcai to take Yuan Liu’er as an apprentice, claiming she was a genius in the Medical Dao. Thinking about it carefully, he ultimately needed to test her.
Yuan Liu’er glanced at him again and said submissively, "Master had me memorize the Pharmacopoeia, and also told me to commit the Yin Yang Five Elements Theory to memory. B-but I’m too stupid. Master had to teach me word by word."
"Which page are you on?"
"Today, I barely... barely finished reading them."
Chen Yi gave a slight nod and continued asking, "How much do you remember?"
"Remember..." Yuan Liu’er looked slightly bewildered. Gathering her courage, she raised her head to look at him. "I remembered all of it."
Her expression seemed to say, "I can’t forget it after reading it. What do you mean by ’remember’?"
Chen Yi raised an eyebrow. "All of it?"
Perhaps worried that he would punish Ma Liangcai, Yuan Liu’er hurriedly said, "Shopkeeper, I-I’m not lying to you. I really remembered all of it. If you don’t believe me, y-you can test me!"
Feeling slightly odd, Chen Yi didn’t decline and asked directly, "Heaven and earth have the Yin Yang Five Elements, and so does the human body. What is the Five Elements cycle within the human body?"
"The heart is fire, the kidneys are water, the liver is... Yin and Yang are also divided into deficiency and excess..."
"Astragalus?"
"Astragalus is sweet in taste and slightly warm in nature. It belongs to the spleen and lung meridians, and can replenish Qi, elevate Yang, consolidate the exterior, and stop sweating..."
Chen Yi asked a few more questions, covering the contents of various pages from the Pharmacopoeia and the Yin Yang Five Elements Theory. Yuan Liu’er answered fluently. Even for some Profound Mysteries regarding the entry-level Medical Dao that were not in the books, she managed to offer some shallow insights.