Chapter 418: Chapter 154: Returning to Her Parents’ Home
Renxin Medical Hall was bustling today.
Early in the morning, Du Changqing had taken Ah Cheng to Dai’s Butcher Shop at the East City Temple Entrance to buy meat.
Yin Zheng and Miao Liangfang were cleaning the floors inside the medical hall, with Miao Liangfang standing outside watching Yin Zheng, who was standing on a chair, wipe the plaque above the door.
Across the street, Taylor Ge had set up his stall and noticed the busy scene at the medical hall. He couldn’t help but ask, "Miss Yin Zheng, why are you up so early? Is there a guest arriving today?"
The medical hall wasn’t usually this busy.
Yin Zheng turned her head from atop the chair and replied with a smile to Taylor Ge, "Today our miss has a day off and is returning to the medical hall!"
Oh, so it was Doctor Lu’s return to the medical hall!
Taylor Ge suddenly understood and took another look at Miao Liangfang, who was carefully arranging a pattern with the medicine jars at the entrance. He couldn’t resist mumbling, "If she’s coming back, she’s coming back, what’s with all the fuss? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a bride returning to her parental home."
Sister Song from the silk shoe shop came out and gave him a disapproving glance, "Renxin Medical Hall is Doctor Lu’s home after all; isn’t it just like coming back to her parental home?"
She then approached the medical hall to call Yin Zheng over and handed over a basket of fresh loquats, saying, "I heard from Shopkeeper Du yesterday that Doctor Lu... no, Medical Officer Lu is coming back. Her husband picked these loquats himself; they’re both sweet and fresh. Take them back, wash them, and let Medical Officer Lu have a taste."
Yin Zheng hesitated, "How could I possibly accept..."
"Why the courtesy all of a sudden?" Sister Song became anxious, "Don’t tell me that becoming an official has made you look down on us neighbors. When you have time, have Medical Officer Lu come to our silk shoe shop to pick out a few pairs of new shoes." She then pulled Yin Zheng aside and whispered, "Now that Medical Officer Lu has entered the Imperial City, she must know quite a few talented young men. Don’t just take care of Widow Sun, also keep an eye out for someone suitable for our little sister."
Yin Zheng chuckled awkwardly, it took some effort to send Sister Song away, then Miao Liangfang was calling for her again.
The old doctor squatted at the entrance of the medical hall, focusing intently on the messily arranged medicine jars on the counter, he cautiously asked, "Miss Yin Zheng, how should I arrange this jar to look right? Should I make it a flower, or should I make the four characters ’Welcome Home’?"
Yin Zheng: "..."
Taylor Ge said that Lu Tong’s return to the medical hall was as grand as a bride returning to her parental home. Although exaggerated, it was not far from the truth.
Two days earlier, Lu Tong had sent word back that she would be returning to the medical hall for her day off today. Upon hearing this news, Renxin Medical Hall became a hive of activity.
Du Changqing had sought advice from friends who ran eateries several days in advance, prepared a menu for Lu Tong’s return... not, for her return to the hall, and had taken Ah Cheng on a raid through various vegetable markets and butcher shops, buying chicken, fish, and other groceries as if it were more important than the New Year’s celebration.
Yin Zheng and Miao Liangfang repaired the worn tables and chairs in the shop, and a banner with the words ’Cure Awaits the Ill’ was wiped down ten times a day by Ah Cheng, truly needing no more cleaning. If it wasn’t for Yin Zheng’s intervention, Du Changqing would have even trimmed the leaves of the Li Zishu tree at the entrance.
In Lu Tong’s absence, the medical hall had been running smoothly as if no one felt the absence of one person. But when Lu Tong was due back, the longing of everyone burst forth like floodwaters spilling through a broken dam, unable to be contained.
There was an overwhelming anticipation.
The sun gradually climbed overhead, and Du Changqing, with Ah Cheng carrying two large baskets laden with food, returned and immediately plunged into the small kitchen to start cooking. They worked until the aroma of simmering bone broth wafted from the courtyard into the space over West Street, and even after Taylor Ge from across the street had finished his lunch, there was still no sign of Lu Tong at the entrance of the medical hall.
Du Changqing had sent Ah Cheng to check at the street corner multiple times to no avail. Standing under the Li Zishu tree at the medical hall entrance, with a frying ladle in hand, he resembled an anxious mother waiting for her daughter’s return, murmuring with furrowed brows, "What time is it now, why hasn’t she come back yet?"
As he spoke, there suddenly came the sound of a carriage’s wheels approaching.
Du Changqing’s spirits lifted, and he saw the rickety old carriage rattling along, coming to a halt slowly outside the medical hall.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and a young woman, carrying a medical box, stepped down.
"Lu..." Du Changqing’s next two words were stopped short as he heard Yin Zheng exclaim "Miss!" from behind, pushing past him and running forward.
Lu Tong had just stepped down from the carriage when she was embraced tightly by someone rushing toward her.
The choked voice of Yin Zheng was right in her ear: "You’ve finally come back!"
She paused, taken aback by the sudden closeness, slightly at a loss for a moment before she reached out and patted Yin Zheng on the back.
Miao Liangfang, leaning on his crutch, and Ah Cheng stood together, while Du Changqing, wearing an apron, mockingly scrutinized her: "So late? The food is getting cold; I thought Medical Officer Lu wasn’t coming back today." He then rolled his eyes at the carriage behind Lu Tong: "As someone receiving a salary, couldn’t you hire a more presentable carriage? Embarrassing!"