Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Concern
“Well?” the physician barked. “Are you getting him bandaged or not?”

Qin Hui Yin had been sorting the plot in her head, her thoughts slipping into a tunnel. She snapped back and nodded quickly. “Of course. Bandage him—and we’ll buy two bottles of medicine.”

“One bottle is enough!” Jiang Qi Bin blurted. “One bottle is 100 wen. I work a whole month at the Dam Worksite and only get 300.”

“You use one.” Qin Hui Yin took the two small bottles from the apprentice and pushed them into Song Rui Ze’s hands before he could refuse. “The other is for my brother.”

She met Song Rui Ze’s eyes steadily. “You’re working at the Dam Worksite. Scrapes and bruises are inevitable. Keep this kind of wound medicine on you. At a critical moment, it can save you a lot of pain.” Her voice softened, just slightly. “This bottle is a gift from me.”

Then she tilted her chin toward Jiang Qi Bin. “But yours—you pay me back.”

Jiang Qi Bin scratched his head, grinning despite the pain. “Of course.”

As Qin Hui Yin turned toward the door, Jiang Qi Bin couldn’t help himself. He leaned close to Song Rui Ze and whispered, “Brother Ze, how come you never said you had such a cute sister?”

Song Rui Ze’s mouth opened, and the words She isn’t my sister rose to his tongue—then stuck there, heavy and stubborn.

He watched Qin Hui Yin’s back for a breath, then turned away and faced the physician instead.

The physician worked quickly, wrapping cloth tight around Jiang Qi Bin’s foot. “Good thing it didn’t hit tendons or bone. Rest a few days and let it scab, and you’ll be fine. But you’re at the Dam Worksite.” His lips pulled into a thin line. “Even if you want to rest, the foreman watching you won’t agree. I’ll wrap it tight so it won’t come loose. Otherwise it won’t heal well.”

“Thank you, physician,” Jiang Qi Bin said sweetly. “You’re such a good person.”

The physician snorted. “Don’t flatter me. Useless. I’ve lost too much these past few days. From now on, this is the face I’m giving everyone.” He jabbed the knot hard enough to make Jiang Qi Bin hiss. “If I don’t keep a cold face, when I go home and my wife does the accounts and finds out I didn’t just fail to earn—I actually lost money—I’ll be kneeling on the abacus all night…”

Jiang Qi Bin’s eyes widened with sympathy in exactly the right way. “I can tell you cherish your wife. Only men who truly cherish their wives are this scared at home.”

The physician’s expression wavered. Times were hard—if he pitied others, he was the one who suffered—but the boy in front of him was thin as a bamboo pole, clearly shoved into bitter labor, and now he was saying the exact thing that hit the physician’s soft spot.

“…I can’t let you buy on credit,” he muttered at last. “But I can give you a bowl of medicine for free. Wait here. I’ll have an apprentice boil it. Drink before you go.”

He swept off to deal with other patients, leaving Jiang Qi Bin and Song Rui Ze under the watch of the pharmacy apprentice.

Jiang Qi Bin immediately swung his attention back to Song Rui Ze. “Brother Ze, how many people are in your family?”

“One.”

“Liar.” Jiang Qi Bin’s eyes went round. “Wasn’t the sister who paid for me just now a person?”

“I only stepped away for a moment, and this is how you talk about your benefactor?”

Qin Hui Yin came back in, holding a steaming bowl. Wontons, the aroma rich and clean in the cramped room.

She set it down between them. “Eat. I still have to return the bowl.”

Jiang Qi Bin’s stomach chose that exact moment to betray him with a loud, miserable growl. He glanced at Song Rui Ze like a child asking permission. “Brother Ze… can we eat it?” He lowered his voice and tried for humor. “Anyway, when you owe a lot, you stop worrying. We already owe so much—we’re not going to miss the price of one bowl of wontons!”

Song Rui Ze’s brows drew together. “You didn’t leave?”

“I thought you’d be hungry,” Qin Hui Yin said, as if it were obvious. “I checked a few shops nearby. Only this place smelled so good I wanted to try it myself.” She tilted the bowl a fraction toward Song Rui Ze. “If you don’t believe me, taste it.”

Song Rui Ze took the bowl, found a spot to sit, and began eating with the spoon, quiet and efficient.

Qin Hui Yin moved to the counter. “Do you have any medicinal herbs that can be used as spices?”

The apprentice blinked. “Are you making rouge and powder, or incense?”

“Neither.” Qin Hui Yin shook her head. “I want the kind you can cook with. Something harmless to the body, but that makes food taste better when added.”

The apprentice stared at her as if she’d asked to brew soup with gold.

Qin Hui Yin kept her expression polite. “How about I take a look? If I find what I want, I’ll buy five jin of each.”

“Five… jin?” The apprentice’s mouth twitched. “This is a pharmacy. People buy by the tael. I’ve never seen anyone buy by the jin—and you want five.”

“I want to choose personally.” Qin Hui Yin’s tone turned practical. “I won’t touch anything. You pull out the drawers and I’ll look. If I need to confirm something, you can take out a piece so I can smell it. If it works, I’ll buy five jin.”

The apprentice hesitated, then went into the back to ask the physician.

Jiang Qi Bin, half balanced on his bandaged foot, craned his neck. “What’s your sister doing? Herbs are expensive. She opens her mouth and says five jin—does she really have that much money?” He sighed dramatically. “Brother Ze, your sister is amazing.”

Song Rui Ze didn’t even look at him. “Does your wound not hurt anymore?”

“It hurts.”

“Then shut up.”

Jiang Qi Bin stared, wounded in a completely different way. “…Fine.”

The apprentice returned quickly, looking a little stunned. “My master agreed.”

So, under the apprentice’s watch, Qin Hui Yin went through the drawers one by one. She didn’t touch anything without being offered. She leaned close, sniffed, sometimes tasted the smallest bit at the tip of her tongue, and then pointed decisively.

“This one. This one too. And this…”

Jiang Qi Bin hopped closer on his good foot, unable to stop himself. “Sister, shouldn’t you talk to your family first?”

“No need.” Qin Hui Yin didn’t look up. “I make the decisions in my family.” She nodded toward the steaming bowl the second apprentice had brought out. “Your medicine is ready. Go drink it.”

Jiang Qi Bin turned—and sure enough, the decoction was there, fresh off the stove, scorching hot. It needed time to cool.

He swallowed his complaints. Clearly, this “Song Family Little Sister” also thought he was too noisy.

As expected. They really were alike.

The apprentice finished tallying and named the price without emotion. “Two taels of silver and 457 wen.”

Qin Hui Yin took out a piece of silver.

Jiang Qi Bin stared so hard his eyes nearly popped. He nudged Song Rui Ze with his elbow, whispering with awe, “I thought you were as poor as me. Turns out I was blind. Your sister is so rich—then you must be rich too!”

In his whole life, he’d only seen silver in other people’s hands. He’d never touched it himself. And this Brother Ze—this Brother Ze was apparently the kind of person who could have silver casually pulled out for him.