Chapter 16: Buying medicine and food and becoming a poor man in a second

Seeing this, the old man looked at Li Yaoguang's clothes and her young age and couldn't help but sigh.

Well, in this Western Inner City, there are powerful people everywhere. Since she was blamed but did not seek medical advice in time, she must have some unspeakable secrets. The old man did not ask any more questions and just let Li Yaoguang ask her.

"Do you know what caused the injury?"

Li Yaoguang carefully recalled the scars on his uncle's body, gestured, and replied uncertainly, "I guess it was caused by a ruler or a whip. The bruises are serious and the wounds are broken and bleeding to this day."

"Hiss, isn't this too harsh?"

Li Yaoguang had just finished speaking when the old doctor frowned and hadn't spoken yet, but the pharmacist beside him couldn't help but hissed and blurted out something. The old doctor glanced at him with disapproval, and then he shut up.

The old doctor withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, raised his hand to grab the pen and was about to write a prescription. Li Yaoguang quickly said, "Doctor, please allow me to report. My family's conditions are limited. I am afraid it is not easy to boil the medicine. I wonder if your hospital has any good medicine that can be swallowed and used? If so, please prescribe some for me."

This is the inner city, and the old doctor doesn't look like an ordinary person. He should have pills, medicinal liquor, etc., right?

As expected, the old man nodded after hearing this, but he hesitated after looking at Li Yaoguang, "Yes, there is, but kid, this price is expensive."

Li Yaoguang's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously reached for his chest. Thinking of the two taels of silver left in the space, he couldn't help but ask nervously, "I wonder how much it costs?"

The old doctor then quoted a price. Fortunately, Li Yaoguang had enough money, so he breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly. In the end, he spent two taels and one cent to buy a packet of medicine for wounds, a porcelain bottle of medicated oil for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, plus a bottle of pills for removing heat, toxins and inflammation. More than two taels were gone.

She counted the remaining forty-three Tongbao coins in her hand, totaling to four hundred and thirty coins. She didn't have enough money even if she wanted to buy her little cousin some ointment to treat the ulcer... She had just asked about the medicine for the child, and the cheapest one was five hundred coins! And she also wanted to buy a chicken, so she didn't know if she had enough money left.
The poor ghost put away his disappointment, took the medicine, left the clinic and went to the street to look for the chicken that his uncle had ordered.

After going around and making careful calculations, and finally after a series of price comparisons and tasting, Li Yaoguang could only choose a freshly roasted chicken sold in a small shop. The chicken was priced at two hundred coins each. She originally wanted to buy only one, but when she thought of her aunt and little cousin, Li Yaoguang made up her mind and ordered two, spending four hundred coins. Finally, looking at the three Tongbao coins left in her hand, the poor Li Yaoguang instantly turned into a poor man with a wry smile.

This person can't afford to get sick.

This money is really hard to spend.

Taking the medicine and putting the fragrant roast chicken wrapped in lotus leaves into the food box, Li Yaoguang touched his stomach and pitifully used another Tongbao to buy five white flour buns on the roadside as his meal. Holding the last two Tongbao coins, poor Li gritted his teeth and once again put the matter of making money on the agenda.

After returning, Li Yaoguang did not stay for long and went straight to the corner gate. As a result, he met Mrs. Zhou blocking his way again. Looking at the hand that was stretched out to him again, the poor Li Yaoguang sneered repeatedly.

"Mother Zhou, one should not be greedy. What, are you addicted to taking advantage of others? What do you think this place is? Who are these masters in the courtyard? Hmm? You are a gatekeeper, and you are addicted to selling tickets at the corner gate of the mansion? Anyone can enter and leave the mansion as they please by paying you, but those who don't pay you are not allowed to enter even for urgent matters? Good fellow, you are more noble than the master, you treat the master's house as your own home, and you treat the master as your canary, and you are selling tickets for visits!"

Mrs. Zhou never expected that Li Yaoguang would suddenly turn hostile and speak so viciously. How could she know that the man in front of her was really penniless and was just being stingy?
Being accused of such a big crime, Mrs. Zhou was furious and said, "You are talking nonsense!"

"I'm talking nonsense? Ha! Mother Zhou, I'm still trying to persuade you to stop! If you really make me angry, I will risk my dignity and take the opportunity of the Ninth Master's return to host a banquet to make a scene in front of everyone. By then, I will certainly lose my reputation, but what about you, Mother Zhou? Will you have a good ending? Mother Zhou, you have to understand that no matter what, I am a guest living in your house, and you... humph, are a slave!"

"you you……"

"What are you talking about? Get out of the way!"

Li Yaoguang didn't want to talk to this rat, so she pushed the person in front of her away without any courtesy, and walked past him with her heavy food box, leaving the greedy woman trembling with anger. Having saved the entrance fee, Li Yaoguang was very happy as she touched the only two coins she had left. She carefully returned to the front of the ancestral hall and found the place she had agreed with her uncle in advance. After confirming that there was no one around, Li Yaoguang put down the food box, tried to tiptoe and lie down under the window, meowing. Soon she heard footsteps coming from inside, followed by the familiar shouting of her uncle in a low voice.

"Sister Guang, Sister Guang? Is that you?"

Li Yaoguang also lowered his voice and replied: "Uncle, it's me."

The people inside were overjoyed, "Oh my son, you really came, come quickly, can you give your uncle the chicken I want?"

Li Yaoguang...

She wanted to say, Uncle, it doesn't matter whether there is a chicken or not, what matters is that you should apply medicine to the wound on your body first!
But when the teasing words came to his lips, they turned into a simple "hmm", which made Cheng Sule inside very happy.

"Okay, okay, good light, quick, quick, give me the chicken."

"Okay." Li Yaoguang didn't delay. He quickly bent down, opened the lid of the food box, took out a lotus leaf bag, held it with both hands and was about to stuff it into the empty window above his head.

The result... ahem, well, she overestimated her height.

It’s okay, it’s okay. She’s only ten years old. If she eats more, she will definitely grow taller.

Li Yaoguang comforted himself, looked at his small paws holding the big roasted chicken in his hands, then looked at the window above his head and sighed.

She was poor and short, and without the help of her claws, she couldn't even reach the window. Li Yaoguang was silent...

Seeing that there was no movement outside for a long time, Cheng Su inside became anxious and asked anxiously in a low voice, "Sister Guang, Sister Guang? What's wrong with you? Where is my chicken? Sister Guang, are you still there?"

Li Yaoguang came back to his senses, looked at the window, looked at his hands, and finally his uncle, who was on the other side of the wall, was urging him. Li Yaoguang also lowered his voice and quickly responded, "Uncle, please wait a moment."

What are you waiting for? Hey, Guang Jie, what are you doing?

There was no more sound from outside. Cheng Su could only hear the sound of footsteps fading away. He became more and more anxious.

But Li Yaoguang did not stop and rushed towards the direction he had aimed at. Soon he moved back a piece of Taihu stone that was used for landscaping in front of the wall, chose an angle and placed it under the window. Then he picked up the lotus leaf bag again and stepped on it.

Seeing a big lotus leaf bag being stuffed in the gap of the window, Cheng Su was overjoyed. He reached out to take it and opened it quickly. The fragrance filled the air instantly. Cheng Su hadn't eaten a proper meal for two days and had to rely on the cakes and pastries sent by his niece to fill his stomach. He was very hungry, so he tore off a golden chicken thigh and stuffed it into his mouth.

Hmm... full of rich aroma, soft, tender and crispy. As he chewed, Cheng Su suddenly realized what was happening. He held the roasted chicken and asked, "By the way, Guangjie, have you eaten yet? If not, let's eat together."

Li Yaoguang was also amused. He jumped off the Taihu stone to get the medicine bottle from the food box and replied, "Uncle, don't worry about eating it. I bought two. This one is just for you. I will take the other one back to Luyuan later to eat with my aunt and Yangyang."

(End of this chapter)