"Esteemed guest, what would you like to purchase?"
Within the largest Four-Peace Pharmacy in the capital, people were everywhere, coming to buy medicine.
Du Fei was one of them.
The reason he came to the Four-Peace Pharmacy was precisely because of Wang Qiyang.
"Um, I'm looking for someone. Is Boss Qi Lianshan here?"
Du Fei uttered the name Wang Qiyang had told him before he came.
Qi Lianshan was much younger than Wang Qiyang. Both were members of the Chinese Traditional Medicine Association. Because they hit it off, they quickly became friends despite their age difference.
This Four-Peace Pharmacy before them was one of Qi Lianshan's family businesses.
When the shop assistant heard Du Fei was looking for the boss, he immediately sized him up from head to toe.
"Do you have business with our boss?"
Although Du Fei had stated the boss's name, his tone suggested they weren't very familiar. To be safe, the shop assistant wanted to clarify first.
Du Fei nodded. "I had an appointment with Boss Qi. Just tell him my name is Du Fei, and I was introduced by Mr. Wang Qiyang."
Upon hearing this, the shop assistant no longer pressed further but asked him to wait there for a moment while he went to report.
After speaking, the shop assistant instructed someone nearby, then turned and went to the back of the pharmacy.
Seeing the shop assistant leave, Du Fei slowly looked over the medicinal herbs displayed behind the counter.
Indeed, as one of the largest pharmacies in the capital, the Four-Peace Pharmacy had an astonishing variety of medicinal materials.
From common herbs for colds and flu to ginseng, lingzhi, and even snow lotus, everything could be found here. It was truly a one-stop shop.
"Xiao Hong, Xiao Hong, what's wrong?"
Just as Du Fei was estimating that the shop assistant should be back soon and planned to return to his original waiting spot for Qi Lianshan, a sudden exclamation sounded from not far away.
Following the exclamation, many customers in the pharmacy turned to look.
A middle-aged woman in plain clothes was squatting beside a little girl, her face filled with anxiety.
Soon, a middle-aged man in his fifties, wearing a long robe, approached her.
After exchanging a few words, he began to examine the girl lying on the ground.
"This mother and daughter are quite lucky. Fortunately, this happened at the Four-Peace Pharmacy, otherwise, it would have been a real trouble."
"That's true. The Four-Peace Pharmacy is not only one of the largest medicinal shops in our capital, but it also has many skilled TCM practitioners. Some of them are comparable to chief physicians in the hospital."
"Exactly. My son used to cough constantly. I spent thousands at the hospital but couldn't cure him. Then I came to the Four-Peace Pharmacy. Physician Hu prescribed two doses of Xiao Chai Hu Tang, and he was fine after a week of drinking it."
"I say, we Chinese should see TCM doctors. Western medicine is all about treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
"Indeed, indeed. You're absolutely right."
The onlookers began to murmur amongst themselves.
Amidst their discussions, the middle-aged man in the robe stood up.
"Madam, please don't worry. I've examined your daughter. She's likely just suffering from fatigue and the heat, causing mild heatstroke. I'll have someone take you inside to rest, and then I'll prescribe a decoction for her to drink, and she'll be fine."
"Thank you, thank you, doctor. Thank you so much."
The woman, upon hearing his words, was overjoyed and repeatedly expressed her gratitude.
Following her thanks, the onlookers who had been watching also cast looks of admiration towards the physician.
With a faint smile on his face, the physician, standing among the crowd, truly enjoyed this feeling of being the center of attention.
"Wait! Don't move her."
Just as the physician was signaling for someone from the pharmacy to help the middle-aged woman move the little girl to rest, someone suddenly stepped forward and stopped them.
The physician frowned, looking at the newcomer. "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. What's important is that you cannot move this little girl right now, or you might kill her in minutes!"
The one who had stopped the pharmacy staff from acting was none other than Du Fei.
"Heh, you're just spreading fear. This little girl only has mild heatstroke. How could it be fatal? You haven't answered my question, who exactly are you?"
The physician who had just examined the girl was already displeased by Du Fei's interruption. Hearing Du Fei's bold claims, he became even more annoyed.
However, Du Fei completely ignored him at this moment and turned to ask the girl's mother.
"Has your daughter complained of stomach pain frequently over the past half-month? And have red spots appeared on her body, only to disappear within a day or two?"
"Yes, yes! How did you know?"
Initially, the little girl's mother was puzzled when Du Fei stopped the Four-Peace Pharmacy physician from helping her daughter rest. She didn't understand why Du Fei was doing this.
But upon hearing Du Fei accurately describe her daughter's symptoms from the past half-month, she was utterly astonished.
"Your daughter was likely bitten by a venomous insect. However, the insect's venom was weak, so it didn't cause a fatal injury. But with the hot weather outside, when your daughter's body temperature rose, and you gave her cold drinks, it immediately triggered the residual poison within her."
"The toxins in her body are currently in a delicate state. If she's moved, the toxins will circulate in her bloodstream, which would be troublesome. That's why I don't want anyone to move her."
Du Fei said slowly.
"Oh my, I almost mistook this young man. I thought he was here to cause trouble, but I didn't expect him to have such a logical explanation."
"The girl's mother has confirmed what the young man said. It seems he's telling the truth."
"Mmm, if the young man hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have noticed. There is indeed a bottle of cold drink next to the little girl."
Just moments before, everyone had been whispering, wondering who this brash young man was who dared to question the diagnosis of the Four-Peace Pharmacy's physician.
But now, after Du Fei's compelling explanation, everyone was convinced.
"What should we do then? What should we do? Please, you must save my daughter. Please."
The middle-aged woman's relieved mood immediately turned tense again.
Especially when she heard Du Fei say her daughter's life was in danger, she couldn't help but speak with a tearful voice.
"Madam, please don't listen to his nonsense. 'Bitten by a venomous insect,' 'cannot be moved' – this is all baseless fabrication! He hasn't even diagnosed her properly and has already drawn a conclusion? Is he Hua Tuo reborn?"
Although everyone present, including the little girl's mother, had been convinced by Du Fei's impressive discourse, the physician who had examined the girl did not agree.
In his opinion, he had been practicing medicine for over twenty years. Du Fei was just a young man, and he had merely observed from the side, yet claimed to know the girl's condition?
This was utterly preposterous. He believed Du Fei was merely trying to cause alarm.