The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1067 - 146 Leisure Illness

Chapter 1067: Chapter 146 Leisure Illness

The crowd surged towards the carriage, and Daji immediately jumped down from the carriage to hold the horses.

Manbao stood on the shaft frowning and shouted at the people rushing up, "Stop! Move, and I’ll leave!"

No one paid attention to her. Young Manager Zheng rushed out with his men, clearing a path. He shouted to Manbao, "What are you doing here now?"

Manbao jumped down from the carriage, walking inside while saying, "It’s not a solution to have them keep blocking like this. They want to see a doctor, don’t they? Fine, let them come. By the way, how much is my consultation fee?"

Young Manager Zheng: "...Previously, it was five wen per visit."

That’s very little, Manbao inquired, "How much does Doctor Ding charge?"

"It starts at ten wen per visit, depending on the situation. If some illnesses are too difficult, take up more time, and the patient’s family is not short of money, Doctor Ding charges differently."

Manbao waved her hand, it wasn’t good to discuss this matter further in front of everyone, so she lowered her voice and said, "Have them line up. I want ten wen per visit too. Hmmph, their complexions are rosy; they don’t look sick at all."

Young Manager Zheng nodded in complete agreement.

The pharmacy’s assistants squeezed through the crowd to bring Manbao into the pharmacy, which was also full of people.

She went straight to her consulting room without heading to the backyard, lifted the curtain, put down her basket, took out a pulse pillow among other items, and with a wave of her hand, declared loudly, "Those who need medical attention, come inside."

Young Manager Zheng, fearing mishaps, didn’t leave either and stayed inside the consulting room without moving.

Outside, two assistants maintained order, letting in only one person at a time.

The people outside evidently didn’t expect Manbao to truly sit in consultation. They came in, eager and rushing.

Manbao took a basket for miscellaneous items from the shelf beside her, emptied its contents, placed it on the table, and as the first person entered, grinning, she pointed to the basket and said, "Ten wen for the consultation fee. Pay up."

The visitor was taken aback, subconsciously reaching for his money pouch to pay but paused halfway, feeling something was off, and asked, "Isn’t payment usually made when getting the medicine?"

"That’s correct, but there are too many patients today. To avoid chaos, we are collecting the consultation fee before the consultation."

The visitor didn’t understand how paying afterwards would cause chaos, but seeing Manbao’s firm gaze, he weakened in demeanor.

He counted out ten wen and placed them into the basket. Manbao nodded in satisfaction, gesturing for him to sit down at the table and place his hand on the pulse pillow, then asked, "What seems to be the problem?"

What seems to be the problem?

He wasn’t actually feeling unwell at all.

After hesitating for a good while, the visitor asked, "Young genius doctor, did you truly cut open the young noble’s stomach? What was inside?"

Manbao carefully examined his complexion. While taking his pulse, she replied, "The five internal organs. What do you do for a living?"

"Me? I help manage the family shop and occasionally go out to collect rent. Are the young noble’s internal organs any different from ordinary people’s? Are they similar to those of pigs or sheep?"

Manbao withdrew her hand and reached for paper to write a prescription. She said, "Quite similar to yours."

After completing the prescription, she handed it to him, saying, "All right, your illness has been taken care of."

The visitor looked down, "Carry water for ten trips, split wood for five bundles, walk the mill fifty rounds... wait, what kind of illness is this?"

Manbao looked at him and said, "Idle illness!"

She waved her hand, "Out you go."

Young Manager Zheng suppressed his laughter, immediately placed his hand on the visitor’s shoulder, and pushed him out, "All right, all right, Young Doctor Zhou needs to see the next patient, and since you’re cured, you should head home."

Most of those who came to block the way were those without illnesses, who were idle and bored and wanted to join in the excitement, as well as people sent by other pharmacies to snoop around. There were also those with unclear motives, who just insisted on squeezing in to get a look at Manbao.

Manbao let them see her openly. She diagnosed and prescribed medicine for those with detectable ailments. For those who seemed to be well-fed with nothing to do, she prescribed an "idle prescription" and sent them on their way without even needing to dispense any medicine.

But there were also those genuinely ill, who had specifically sought her out, having heard of Manbao’s reputation as a miracle-working young doctor.

There were those who came in person and others who sent their children or parents to inquire first. Gradually, she took down each record, arranging a good time for them to bring the patients for consultation.

In this manner, Manbao managed to see three patients every quarter of an hour. As the people waiting outside gradually dispersed on their own, by lunchtime, she had managed to clear most of them out, leaving only those who were actually sick.

Seeing that there were not many people left in the main hall, Young Manager Zheng finally felt relieved and returned to his post.

Shopkeeper Zheng, who had been filling in behind the counter, saw his son return and immediately relinquished his spot, laughing as he asked, "How was it? Young Doctor Zhou is capable, isn’t she?"

Young Manager Zheng silently nodded; indeed, she was very capable and full of surprises.

Previously, he did not quite comprehend why his father held Zhou Man in such high regard, but having seen her decisive actions this time, he understood.

Shopkeeper Zheng nodded and laughingly said, "The days ahead will be long."

But for Manbao, these days felt quite short, because too many things had happened in the past few days, and she hadn’t had the time to sort things out properly.

No sooner had she finished dealing with all the patients lining up to see her than she had to pack her belongings and rush back for her classes. Upon reaching her home’s threshold right after alighting from the carriage, an administrator from the State Duke Pi’s estate arrived to deliver an invitation, requesting her to visit the estate the next day to examine the young noble’s injuries.

Having stayed at the Su Family for a few days, Manbao had previously interacted with the inviting administrator, who took the opportunity to remind her, "Several old madams and ladies from other state dukes’ and marquis mansions are very interested in Young Doctor Zhou. They will come to visit the young noble tomorrow and wish to take the opportunity to meet Young Doctor Zhou."

Manbao received the invitation and asked, "Do they need medical attention?"

Caught off guard, the administrator paused before replying, "That is, they probably just want to meet Young Doctor Zhou, talk with you."

If they were looking for treatment, they should have invited her to their own homes. It would be somewhat inconvenient to receive treatment at their residence; those old madams and ladies probably couldn’t sit at ease.

Understanding the implication, Manbao nodded, indicating she would go.

Mr. Zhuang, seeing this, said, "I won’t start any new lessons during this period. Just read some books and practice your calligraphy, you may manage your time freely."

Manbao agreed.

"Daji won’t be able to accompany you into the inner estates. Would you like to take Lijun with you?"

Manbao thought for a moment and shook her head, saying, "No need, the shop also needs Lijun for accounting. I’m just going to examine Su Jian; I can manage on my own."

Mr. Zhuang advised, "Listen more, speak less."

"Don’t worry, teacher, I’ll be sure to do so."

Mr. Zhuang looked at his lively pupil, not reassured in the least.

She was good in many aspects, but she talked too much.

Manbao, however, felt she had grown up a lot, had become quite reserved, and having already visited the State Duke Pi’s mansion several times, she wasn’t timid at all. The next day at noon, after finishing work at Jishi Hall, she took the carriage to State Duke Pi’s mansion.