Chapter 98: Chapter 64 Accidental Encounter_1
Renxin Medical Hall was once again visited by two young girls, instantly buzzing with liveliness.
Before Lu Tong arrived, there were only Ah Cheng and Du Changqing in the shop; now, with the sudden addition of four girls as lovely as flowers and as beautiful as jade, even the plum tree at the entrance looked more pleasing to the eye.
Under the scorching sun, the cicadas buzzed loudly on the trees by the door, enough to make one’s head spin. Du Changqing entered from outside and placed several bowls of syrup water on the counter: "Tea time!"
Yin Zheng, who was helping Lu Tong organize the medicine cabinet, glanced over and asked, "What is this?"
Du Changqing, hands on hips, proudly declared, "A syrup water shop just opened on West Street, three copper coins for a bowl, and you get one free with a purchase. The owner’s treating you all; it’s on the house."
"Thank you, cousin," said Xia Rongrong, who was embroidering handkerchiefs with Xiang Cao, in a soft voice.
Xia Rongrong, not familiar with medicinal herbs and reluctant to take the work of Yin Zheng and Ah Cheng, sat demurely in the shop during the day, quietly doing embroidery work with Xiang Cao.
Du Changqing instructed them to divide the syrup water among themselves; he’d bought a variety, including pear puree, ginger honey drink, apricot crisp beverage, jasmine soup, and chilled cold elixir...
Lu Tong ended up with a bowl of ginger honey drink, which had been pre-chilled in an ice bucket and was served in a green bamboo tube, enhancing the drink’s clarity and amber hue.
She took a sip, sweet and icy cool. Looking up, she saw everyone else holding back.
Du Changqing asked, "How is it?" Without waiting for a response, he took a sip himself.
The next moment, he couldn’t help but cough: "Cough cough cough! What the heck, why is it so cloying?"
Cloying?
On the other side, Xia Rongrong frowned, "It is a bit too sweet."
Even Ah Cheng, who loved sugar the most, wrinkled her nose: "Boss, this isn’t sugar in water, this is forgetting to add water to the sugar."
Yin Zheng and Xiang Cao, though silent, had pushed their bowls of syrup water far away, apparently unwilling to take another sip.
Du Changqing, frustrated, said, "Seriously, the syrup seller assured me that if it wasn’t sweet, it was free, and it turns out to be true. Does this guy have a screw loose, trying to cloy someone to death with this sweetness?"
Turning his head, he saw Lu Tong continue sipping from her bowl without much expression and said irritably, "Stop drinking that. Why is it that you don’t try to save on my behalf usually? Who’ll be responsible if you drink yourself to death?"
Lu Tong was silent.
Du Changqing thought for a moment, then looked at her suspiciously: "Don’t you find it cloying?"
"It’s fine."
Du Changqing looked at her in disbelief: "You’re not going to tell me it’s to your taste?"
Lu Tong replied, "If the shop doesn’t close down, I’ll continue to patronize their business."
She added, "One bowl every day."
The others fell silent.
Du Changqing was at a loss for words. After a while, he nodded, "Impressive, I must admit. It seems whether the syrup shop can survive on West Street is all down to Doctor Lu’s patronage."
Lu Tong showed her support for the syrup shop by finishing her drink.
After finishing, she put the empty bamboo tube aside, and Yin Zheng came out of the courtyard carrying Lu Tong’s medical box.
The others in the medical hall were accustomed to the sight, and Du Changqing waved at the two of them: "Make it a quick trip."
Yin Zheng simply responded: "Got it."
Today was the day to treat Lady Fan.
Lu Tong and Lady Fan had agreed that she would visit every seven days to administer acupuncture. Today was their third session.
Having left the hall, by the time Lu Tong and Yin Zheng arrived at the Fan Mansion, Lady Fan, Mrs. Zhao, had just awoken from her nap.
Seeing Lu Tong, Mrs. Zhao beckoned her over to proceed with the acupuncture.
As usual, Lu Tong took out the Golden Needle from her medical box and administered the treatment for Du Channel.
With the maid Cui’er fanning behind her, Mrs. Zhao lazily asked with her eyes half-closed, "Doctor Lu, how much longer will these acupunctures take?"
As Lu Tong inserted a Golden Needle, she replied, "Madam has already slimmed down. It’s a critical time. If we stop the acupuncture now, the benefits will be lost after a while. To reinforce the effects, it is advisable to continue for another two months."
"Another two months?"
"Then, we will switch to one session every ten days, six times over two months. What do you think, Madam?"
Mrs. Zhao sighed, "Alright."
Lu Tong fell silent and concentrated on treating Mrs. Zhao.
Mrs. Zhao lifted her eyelids to watch the busy Lu Tong for a moment, then relaxed again, a satisfied smile curling the corners of her mouth.
She was very pleased with Lu Tong.
To be precise, Mrs. Zhao was highly satisfied with Lu Tong’s skill in using the Golden Needle for acupuncture. Whether it was "Xianxian" or Lu Tong herself visiting every few days, the treatments seemed effective. Mrs. Zhao’s waist had indeed slimmed down, and her usual dresses had become somewhat looser.