chapter 89

Those who showed a great interest to try something new purchased every single novelty in Song Qinghan’s shop after they found the great flavor of the lemon tea. They didn’t cost that much by the way. And if it turned out that all of them got a good flavor, they could come over again and purchase more. If it turned out that they didn’t, they could still purchase lemon pieces only.

As the sun was beaming high in the sky, the crowd in the alley started to dissipate gradually. Song Qinghan knew it was because people rushed back their home to have their lunch. Probably he should wait for one more hour for the next wave of customers.

Just at the moment he was about to poured himself a cup of lemon tea, two figures emerged all of a sudden in front of him.

It startled him that he almost spilt all the lemon tea in the cup, and then he muttered with astonishment, “What brings you here, lords?”

Old Zhu glanced at Old Man Gao with disdain, saying, “I’m here for purchasing something I need. As for him… Well, he’s just a nasty copycat and follows me along the way.”

Old Man Gao rolled his eyes, and then calmed himself down a bit, while saying seriously, “Nonsense! You’re the COPYCAT! I just walked before you and you followed me instead! Why are you being so cheeky and telling a lie?”

After he finished the last bit of his words, he took one step ahead, thundering, “Pack me every product in your shop for me!”

Song Qinghan nodded, but just at the moment he was about to pack, Old Zhu uttered in a leisurely tone, “I want two packs.”

Old Man Gao’s eyebrows sank, “THREE PACKS!”

“Four,” said Old Zhu peacefully, without even raising his face to look at Old Man Gao,

“FIVE!” roared Old Man Gao, with his eyes bulging fiercely.

“Six.”

“You nasty old man! Seven packs!” growled Old Man Gao.

Old Zhu laughed with a grinning face, and then he raised his eyebrows, saying, “Yes, you’re right. I will order seven packs, and you will get nothing.”

Well, it seemed that these two old men were coming here today for spreading their money. Song Qinghan wasn’t annoyed at all, but he would love to see how these two men fighting with each other.

Old Man Gao glanced at Song Qinghan, and then waved his hands, shouting as if he was about to show off his generousness, “I will acquire the half of your goods with one more pack in your shop.”

It seemed that this Old Man Gao was quite good at arithmetic. This old man figured out that if he could acquire half of the goods with one more pack in Song Qinghan’s shop, then it would be no chance for Old Zhu to get more than him. And then it was Old Zhu who sneered, and then cleared his throat, saying, “I want all stuff in your shop. Pack them all for me.”

Old Man Gao rolled up his sleeves as if he was going to fight. And then he pointed at Old Zhu on the nose, warning in a menacing tone, “I said it first! Why do you have to do something in opposition with me?”

“It’s me who came here first, and it’s you who did something in opposition with me!” Old Zhu snorted, and then stared at Old Man Gao with a condescending attitude.

Song Qinghan looked at the two who were on the verge of breaking out a fight. If these two old men kept clinging to quarrel here, it would be a bad thing if their family came over to find them, and then he hurried to urge the men, saying, “Lords, go back home now and have lunch. You can decide whether you want to purchase or not after your that. I am not able to move my shop anyway, you can come here at any time.”

At the moment Old Zhu nodded and was about to agree with Song Qinghan, Old Man Gao shouted, “I don’t need to think about it, just pack half of the goods for me now. And here are the coins.”

And then, he patted on the counter with five silver drafts under his palm, as if he was showing off that he was kind of wealthy with a fat purse.

A trace of hesitation could be found on Old Zhu’s face all of a sudden, and then he patted on the counter with five silver drafts either, shouting, “Child, pack mine first. Just let this nasty old man wait here.”

Song Qinghan looked at them awkwardly. He saw both of the old men were showing a pretty bad attitude to each other, and then he sighed slightly while turning around and commencing packing.

Although the shop was tiny, goods combined together weren’t in a small quantity. Old Man Gao grabbed over the pack which he ordered, but just at the moment he lifted it up and tried to carry it on his shoulder, he felt a bit embarrassed while the pack failed him to do so.

Old Zhu caught the awkwardness on Old Man Gao’s face, he laughed with a grinning face, and then pointed Old Man Gao, mocking, “Haven’t you ever looked at yourself? You can’t carry something on your shoulder, and you can’t even lift it in your hands. What make you be so confident for that? Go back home and get someone here to help. Mind your waist, nasty old man, or it will break.”

Song Qinghan echoed, advising, “Lord Gao, put the pack here and get a servant to help you. You don’t need to do everything by your own, do you?”

He was packing the other part of the goods when he suggested, and it took not long for him to finished packing the remaining up. Old Man Gao stood there dithering, but just as he noticed that it was rather easy for Old Zhu to lift another pack of the goods, he glared at Old Zhu with his eyes bulging, and then exerted himself to lift his and carry it on his shoulder and walked outward while gritting his teeth.

Looking at the backs of the two who were racing each other, Song Qinghan shook his head with resignation, and when he was about to shut his shop, he lowered down his head and noticed those ten silver drafts which were worth one thousand silver coins lying on the counter. He was startled while shouting hurriedly, “Lords, wait! It’s too much for the payment.”

However, beyond Song Qinghan’s expectation, Old Zhu sped up all of a sudden after his shout, this old man quickened his pace until he found he had already kept a long enough distance with Old Man Gao.

On the other side, Old Man Gao, who intended to wait for Song Qinghan for a while until he could get the change, got utterly discomfited suddenly when he noticed Old Zhu ran far forward, and then he followed and chased as if he had already forgotten everything Song Qinghan mentioned.

Song Qinghan closed the door in a hurry, tucking the silver drafts in his chest, and then intended to chase those two old men. But when he got out on the street, there was nothing but a dreadful emptiness. Where did those old men go?

He pondered for a moment, and then turned his face toward the direction of his house and walked. These two men wouldn’t disappear anyway as long as they were still neighbors, he still could have chance to give them the change. But… It seemed that everything just went so strange today, as if Old Zhu teased and provoked Old Man Gao purposely to purchase something in Song Qinghan’s shop.

As Song Qinghan walked into the yard of his own house, Wu Dahu had just finished cooking and prepared to send it to Song Qinghan in the shop. It shocked him when he saw Song Qinghan came back with his hands empty, and then he asked, “Have you shut the shop already?”

Song Qinghan took the silver drafts out of his pocket and got Wu Dahu informed about everything from the very beginning to the end.

Wu Dahu pondered for a moment with silence, and then he nodded, saying, “I do share the same thought with you, probably Old Zhu did that for purpose. Maybe it’s because you saved his grandson and charge for nothing? And he just pay you in such a way.”

Hearing that, Song Qinghan delivered a wry smile and then sighed slightly. He put away the silver drafts inside the room and washed his hands ready for the lunch.

“Fortunately, we’re much luckier than the previous owner of this house since these two lords don’t seem to have evil intention to us and bother us in a way they did to the previous owner. Well, I would say that I am finally able to figure out how the he felt before. He couldn’t fight back to these two lords. Even if they slapped him on the face, he still had to show a good and obedient attitude. That was why he couldn’t even sleep and eat well in this house.” muttered Song Qinghan.

Wu Dahu smiled indulgently while feeding Little Shitou with another spoon of congee, and then he uttered gently, “Let them fight as long as they don’t bother us. If they dare to do something evil to us, we can sell them cathartic tonic, let us help them let their internal anger off.”

“What…?!” Song Qinghan sniggered, and then burst out into laughter as if he never expected that Wu Dahu could be that humorous.

After dinner, he took Little Shitou over in his arms and urged Wu Dahu to take a rest. Wu Dahu pondered for a moment, but still got into bed being obedient. After a good and peaceful nap, he woke up and headed to Liangyi Martial Club again in fine fig.

After Wu Dahu left, Song Qinghan found himself nothing to do but just held Little Shitou in his arms while wandering in the room. He teased Little Shitou indulgently and Little Shitou giggled in excitement. Gradually, Little Shitou sank into a dream of sweetness with a smile still lingering on his face, Song Qinghan couldn’t help but kiss his baby child on the face “Fiercely”, and carefully put him on the bed.

Just as he was about to take a nap together with Little Shitou, there rang a door-knocking noise in the yard, coming with Old Zhu’s muffled voice.

“Is Doctor at home?”

Song Qinghan was utterly stunned and then he walked to the yard and stood in front of the gate, saying, “What’s the matter, Lord Zhu? My husband isn’t home right now, is it suitable for you to come over tonight?”

Well, if it was Old Man Gao who came over, it would be no doubt that he was coming to get the coins. But if it was Old Zhu, Song Qinghan should know that everything wasn’t that kind of simple and needed to be figured out.

Sure enough, Old Zhu who stood outside the door dithered for a moment, and then confessed slowly, “My old friend just comes to visit me, and it’s only at the moment I found that he got an incurable disease. I feel so much for him, so I would love to ask if Doctor gets a time now and comes with me to make a diagnosis?”

“And,” Old Zhu added, as if he was afraid that Song Qinghan would refuse at once, “Forget about that petty and nasty old man Gao, he is not able to make some troubles out of it because the old friend of mine saved him once.”

Song Qinghan answered with hesitation, saying, “Why? Why would you just trust me so much in my medical skills, Lord Zhu? Is your grandson getting better?”

Old Zhu responded in a hurry, saying, “Yes, yes, he’s getting better now with the help of you, Doctor! I wouldn’t have thought of you if my grandson isn’t getting better!”

Song Qinghan pondered, now he could draw a clear conclusion that Old Zhu’s grandson got a disease called scurvy. He wondered how long his grandson hadn’t taken vitamin C intake that he could get such an obvious effect within one day!

But to cure some other… He stood still pondering, but not long he still reached out to open the door and greeted Old Zhu. Seeing that Old Zhu was in all excitement, Song Qinghan lowered his voice, saying, “Would you describe the detailed symptoms of that man? If it’s really an incurable disease, I’m afraid that it will be out of my capability even I go check and make a diagnosis.”

Obviously, Old Zhu wasn’t a man of asininity. He then opened the rice paper in his hands, and delivered it to Song Qinghan, saying, “Here, it’s painted here on this paper.”

Song Qinghan got utterly shocked all of a sudden when he saw the painting on the paper. He reached out and took it carefully. After a careful scrutiny on the paper, he got his gaze fixed while saying with seriousness, “This tumour… How long has he been living with it?”

Well, it could tell that the painter who drew the man on the paper got quite a good talent in drawing, he not only successfully depicted the vivid appearance of the man with incurable disease, but also described the color of the tumour to its maximum. That was why Song Qinghan showed a face of seriousness with his eyebrows frowned tightly.

In modern times, tumour has become quite common because of various bad habits people possess. And it isn’t difficult to be examined by any precise machine. Doctors in modern times need to make a diagnosis to judge whether it’s a benign tumour or malignant one. If it’s benign, it only requires to be cut in time. But things change if it’s a malignant one, probably it will bring more troubles than a benign one does. A malignant tumour shouldn’t be cut without a further analysis and in the meantime, it requires doctors to restrain the growth of it. Otherwise, it probably would grow to be a real “Incurable Disease” as Old Zhu described.

Being questioned by that, Old Zhu answered actively after a brief while, “According to his description, he has been living with it for nearly ten years now. It was just a flesh pimple in the size of a finger nail, but it grew as the time went by. As you can see from the picture now, it developed like that. How is it? Doctor. Is it curable?”

Ten years?! Song Qinghan’s eyebrows sank even tighter when he was informed about that information. He then fixed his gaze again on the tumour in the picture, and then stared at the man who suffered from it. The emptiness deep in the eyes of that man failed Song Qinghan to reject Old Zhu’s entreaty, and then he lowered his voice, saying, “For more details, I should check it out by myself to answer that question.”

Though Song Qinghan didn’t promise directly, Old Zhu could still figure out what he meant at once, and then he shouted in excitement, “Great! Doctor, this way please. I’ve already prepared a carriage since he might live a bit far away from here.”

Song Qinghan nodded, he went back to his room to pick up Little Shitou, and then took his wooden box of scalpels, went out and got on the carriage together with Old Zhu.