Chapter 85: Chapter 60 Reading Person_1

The happenings at the Fan Mansion were unknown to Lu Tong.

Early in the morning, just after Renxin Medical Hall opened its doors, a customer arrived at the shop.

He was a middle-aged man with a scholar’s square scarf on his head, dressed in an old, washed-out cloth Zhiduo, with shoes covered in mud, giving the appearance of an impoverished scholar.

The scholar looked panicked and pale, seemingly out of breath as if he had run all the way here.

Yin Zheng was sweeping at the doorway, and upon noticing this put down her broom to ask, "Sir, are you here to buy medicine?"

Lu Tong glanced at the man and recognized something familiar about his features before she could speak. The scholar had already hurried inside, reaching across the counter to grab Lu Tong’s sleeve and pleading desperately, "Doctor, my mother suddenly fell sick, she has been unable to eat since yesterday, and now she can’t even speak. I beg of you to show mercy and save my mother’s life!"

As he spoke, tears began to fall.

At this time, Du Changqing had not yet arrived. In the shop, aside from Lu Tong, there were only Ah Cheng and Yin Zheng. Yin Zheng hesitated, as the man was a stranger, and Lu Tong was, after all, a young lady; it could be dangerous for her to make house calls alone.

Ah Cheng, however, after a stunned moment, recognized the scholar’s face and whispered, "Isn’t this Brother Wu?"

Lu Tong turned to ask, "Ah Cheng, you know him?"

The young assistant scratched his head, "It’s Brother Wu who lives at the fishmonger at the temple on West Street, Official Hu often mentions him." The kind-hearted boy, seeing the scholar in such a pitiful state, couldn’t help but feel compassion and persuaded Lu Tong, "Doctor Lu, please go have a look, I will explain to the owner when he arrives."

The scholar stood at the door, hesitant to enter, looking at her with tearful eyes, "Doctor..."

Lu Tong said nothing; she went into the courtyard to get her medical kit, called for Yin Zheng to follow, and said to the scholar, "Let’s go."

The scholar stood dumbfounded for a moment, then bowed his head in profuse thanks and led the way, with Yin Zheng following behind, whispering, "Miss, wouldn’t it be safer to have Shopkeeper Du accompany us?"

Lu Tong had been at the Renxin Medical Hall for quite a while now and except for treating Young Master Dong, she always sat in the shop. Du Changqing never allowed her to go on house calls alone, saying they were both young women new to Shengjing, unfamiliar with the place, and feared they might encounter danger.

Yin Zheng’s concern was justified, but Lu Tong merely shook her head, "It’s okay."

She watched the anxious back of Scholar Wu leading the way, recalling when she had seen this man before.

It must have been a few months earlier, not long after Chun Shui Sheng had been introduced, that this scholar had visited Renxin Medical Hall once, scraping together a few silver coins from a worn pouch to buy a dose of Chun Shui Sheng.

The medicinal tea must have been expensive for him; he hesitated for a long time at the shop’s entrance but eventually gritted his teeth and made the purchase, leaving a deep impression on Lu Tong.

As he led the way, the scholar said, "Doctor, my name is Wu Youcai. I live at the fishmonger at the temple on West Street. Last night, my mother complained of feeling uncomfortable, her phlegm ailment had flared up. I tried to help her with massage and gave her water, but this morning, she couldn’t eat or drink anything. I know it’s against the rules to ask you to make a house call, but yours is the only medical hall still open on West Street, I truly had no other choice..."

Although he looked haggard and withered, his speech was still coherent, and he remembered to apologize to Lu Tong, seemingly a man of good manners.

Lu Tong replied gently, "It’s no problem."

She was well aware that Wu Youcai was not lying.

Ever since Chun Shui Sheng was acquired by the Official Medicine Bureau, for reasons unknown, Xinglin Hall had not reopened. If Wu Youcai wanted to find a doctor on West Street, his only option was her.

In desperate times, one doesn’t choose their doctor, much less when there is no choice at all.

Wu Youcai, anxious and flustered, walked hurriedly and unsteadily, stumbling several times. When they reached the end of West Street and turned past the temple entrance, he led the two women into a fishmonger’s shop.

On one side of the fishmonger were dozens of fish stalls, reeking of fish and blood. After passing the last stall, a thatched hut appeared in front of Lu Tong.

Although the dwelling was dilapidated, it was very clean. Chickens pecked at seeds on the ground of the fenced yard, fluttering away to one side as they approached.

Wu Youcai, without looking back at Lu Tong and Yin Zheng, rushed into the house, calling out, "Mother!"

Lu Tong and Yin Zheng followed him inside.

The humble house was cluttered with various items. On a stove by the door sat a medicine pot with a dark brown decoction that had grown cold.

On the bed by the window, half of a thin cotton blanket had fallen to the ground, which Wu Youcai picked up to tuck around the person on the bed. As Lu Tong approached, she saw an old woman lying in the middle of the bed with her eyes tightly closed, her body emaciated, skin pallid, exuding a heavy aura of despair.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read