Suddenly.
Cheng Bu Zheng frowned slightly, the noise outside seemed to disturb his contemplation.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door, and at the same time, a tender voice came from outside:
“Senior Brother Bu Zheng, come out quickly, something has happened!”
Cheng Bu Zheng turned and walked to the door, opened it, and saw a medicine boy dressed in similar coarse cloth, who looked about his age, but with a somewhat chubby face, appearing quite adorable.
Cheng Bu Zheng, however, was not in the least bit anxious; hearing the volume of the quarrel downstairs, he could roughly imagine what was happening.
He showed a gentle smile on his face, habitually reached out and pinched the medicine boy’s cheek, and said to him:
“Xiao Li, what’s wrong?”
“It hurts! Don’t pinch me!” Xiao Li’s chubby face showed an anxious expression as he said:
“Senior Brother Bu Zheng, Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming are arguing again, and they’re about to come to blows! You should go down and see right away!”
Although Cheng Bu Zheng was not anxious, he did have a bit of a headache. These two little fellows seemed to be natural enemies, having a big quarrel every three days and a small one every two days, and they would even resort to physical fights when angered.
The argument had just begun, and it would still be a while before they started fighting, which was why he remained unhurried.
Now that the doctor was out on house calls, and he was usually quite gentle with them, they quarreled without restraint. Fortunately, the few medicine boys were quite convinced by Cheng Bu Zheng, their leader, and thankfully there were only five medicine boys in total at Bai Ren Hall.
Otherwise, he would not be able to manage these energetic little fellows.
“Sigh,” Cheng Bu Zheng sighed in a rather mature manner, saying:
“Let’s go down and see!”
With that, he stepped out of the room and strode towards the increasingly intense sounds, with Xiao Li following closely behind him like a little shadow, taking small, quick steps.
Not long after.
Cheng Bu Zheng saw two teenagers, one tall and one short, glaring at each other and arguing fiercely.
The taller, rather naive-looking teenager, who appeared to be about eleven or twelve years old, was Xiao Hua, but at this moment, his face was filled with an unconvinced expression.
And the shorter, sharp-eyed, rather shrewd-looking one was Xiao Ming, who also had an unconvinced look on his face.
Both were the same age, so their strength was equally matched, and their fighting skills were also identical, learned from each other, resulting in wins and losses for both sides, which he learned from the winners after each fight.
This was one of Cheng Bu Zheng’s few pleasures, of course, if he found the two arguing, he would also stop them.
He was unwilling to let the two fight for that little bit of fun; he still had that much public morality.
“You two, stop for a moment. What’s the reason this time?”
Cheng Bu Zheng looked at the two red-faced, angry little fellows with a hint of amusement.
“Senior Brother Bu Zheng… this time, it was originally supposed to be me who went out with the doctor for house calls!
It was Xiao Hua who caused trouble…”
Xiao Ming cleverly spoke immediately, wanting to win Senior Brother over to his side at the first opportunity, while glaring angrily at Xiao Hua.
“Senior Brother Bu Zheng, don’t listen to his nonsense, he brought it on himself.
Last time, it was supposed to be me who went out with the doctor for house calls, but Xiao Ming interfered.”
Xiao Hua was not to be outdone and immediately retorted, fearing that Senior Brother would believe the other party’s slander, while also raising his head to stare at Xiao Ming without backing down.
The two spoke back and forth, constantly recounting each other’s faults. Soon, they started bringing up old grudges, but neither mentioned their own mistakes in the slightest.
The two explained for a long time, each shifting blame, but he roughly understood the beginning and end of the matter.
“I generally understand; you two are arguing over who gets to accompany the doctor on house calls this time!
How about this! From now on, no matter who goes out with the doctor for house calls, neither of you shall interfere with the other. Let’s consider this matter mutually offset, how about that!
Otherwise.
If you two keep interfering with each other, neither of you will ever be able to go out with the doctor!
You two also know that those who can afford the doctor’s house calls are wealthy patrons, who will entertain the doctor with delicious food and fun activities!
What do you two think of this?”
In his words, Cheng Bu Zheng tempted the two little fellows. He knew that simply telling them to stop was absolutely impossible, so he had to find their irresistible desire.
As expected.
Suddenly, the scene quieted down.
The two thought for a moment, and eventually, the thoughts of delicious food and fun activities gained the upper hand.
“I’ll listen to Senior Brother Bu Zheng.”
“Senior Brother Bu Zheng, I’ll listen to you too!”
Cheng Bu Zheng looked at the two unconvinced little fellows, preparing to use labor to exhaust their excess energy.
Otherwise, they would start arguing again soon. To have some peace and quiet, this was his experience, but the effect was still good.
Then, Cheng Bu Zheng spoke.
“Alright!
Xiao Ming, you collect the dried medicinal herbs from the backyard.
Xiao Hua, you process the commonly used medicinal herbs. Xiao Li, you and I will inventory the medicinal herbs; any insufficient parts need to be purchased as a precaution!”
Upon hearing this.
Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming glanced at each other.
“Humph!”
“Humph!”
Then, both of them proudly turned and walked away, each getting busy.
As expected, the two did not argue again today.
The next day.
Early morning, Bai Ren Hall.
Cheng Bu Zheng opened his door and walked down to the medicine hall downstairs.
“Thump, thump…” Heavy footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs, resounding in the quiet hall.
Inside the medicine hall on the first floor, the layout was very traditional. On both sides of the walls, there were large medicine cabinets, almost flush with the ceiling. Each drawer in the medicine cabinets contained processed medicinal herbs, and red paper was pasted outside the small drawers, indicating the herbs stored inside.
Next to the medicine cabinets, there was a bamboo ladder to facilitate the medicine boys placing and retrieving herbs.
Due to the continuous storage of medicinal herbs, the entire medicine hall exuded a faint medicinal fragrance.
Inside the counter, Xiao Li rested his chin on his hand, looking half-asleep as if he hadn’t woken up yet. Hearing the sound, he rubbed his eyes and turned to look towards the stairs.
“Senior Brother Bu Zheng, it’s not your shift today, why aren’t you sleeping in a bit more!
Getting up early is really sleepy!”
Speaking of being on duty, Xiao Li’s chubby face was full of unhappiness.
Cheng Bu Zheng walked into the counter, reached out and pinched Xiao Li’s cheek, and smiled:
“Ow, ow… Senior Brother Bu Zheng, don’t pinch my face every time, it hurts a lot!”
“You know it hurts now. Although there’s no one in the morning, you still need to be energetic!
Otherwise, if any medicinal herbs are missing, you won’t escape a beating with ‘bamboo strips’ when the doctor returns.
I’m doing this for your own good!”
Xiao Li rolled his eyes at Cheng Bu Zheng, muttering:
“Every time, you find a different reason.”
Cheng Bu Zheng looked at the medicine boy, Xiao Li, in front of him, and smiled, saying:
“There’s nothing to do today. You tell Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming that they can go out and play.
But they must not leave the town and must return by night. I won’t be at the medicine shop today, and I might return a bit late.”
Cheng Bu Zheng left the medicine hall, and upon entering, he saw shops of varying heights on both sides of the street. Walking on the bustling street, he did not delay and walked directly to his destination.
PS: Bowing, politely asking for three things (seeking collections, seeking recommendations, seeking votes)
Fellow Daoists who truly like medicine boys can join the group: 547741836