Early in the morning of that day, a big excitement happened in Xiaotong Guan.
Qiao Song hadn’t swallowed his breakfast yet when he heard the news, he touched his mouth and rushed to Duan Yelin’s office, shouting, “Commander, a ship has just been seized! There’s opium all under the deck!”
Duan Yelin narrowed his eyes and straightened his back: “Who is that desperate? It looks like they question whether we have enough bullets.”
Qiao Song frowned and said, “This is a bit difficult. It’s the Governor’s ship.”
“Him?” Duan Yelin tapped the table: “Is the quantity large?”
“Not large, it doesn’t look like it’s for sale.”
“This old man is always against me, heh, no wonder he is so anxious to find someone to kill me.”
“Commander, what do you mean by this?”
Duan Yelin made a smoking gesture: “Because recently, he has also come to ‘this’.”
Qiao Song suddenly realized what was going on and immediately rubbed his hands: “So should we suppress this matter first or deal with it?”
“Of course we have to deal with it. I gave the order, so how can I go back on my words? Go and kill all those who deliver the opium, and then burn the opium at the port. Don’t do it secretly, just make sure that old man knows.”
“Yes!”
Duan Yelin walked to the window and looked at the gray sky outside. It was cloudy today, with a bit of a late spring chill. He had to carefully think about whether Hezhou City could survive this late spring chill and welcome the real spring or not.
Think about it carefully.
Heming Medical Hall once again delivered a lot of tonic medicine to the Governor’s Mansion today.
Xu Hang watched the medicine being loaded onto the cart. After the people of the governor’s mansion had left, he said to Physician Hu, “Today will be our final delivery of medicine to them. There’s no need to prepare any more starting tomorrow. Also, inform the shop assistant that additional purchases are unnecessary.”
Physician Hu was very surprised: “This… the Governor’s mansion doesn’t need it anymore?”
Xu Hang’s eyes were firm: “Yes, he doesn’t need it anymore.”
As he spoke, Xu Hang took a few prescriptions and went out to Gu Fangfei’s house.
Gu Fangfei asked someone to tell Xu Hang to come to her house as a guest several days ago, but Xu Hang declined, saying he would go when he had time, and today was the day he had time.
Gu Fangfei was waiting at the door early in the morning. When she saw the rickshaw from afar, she walked forward to greet him.
She led Xu Hang to the living room, made tea and served snacks, and even asked the maid to bring a thin goose down blanket for Xu Hang to sit on. It can be said that she was very considerate.
“I am very happy that you are willing to come, Mister.”
“Miss Gu is too polite. I even feel a little embarrassed.” Xu Hang chuckled and took out a prescription from his arm. “Last time you asked me what Chinese medicines can be used in your cosmetics. I listed some for you. Here are the prescriptions for ‘Sanbai’ 1 and ‘Qizi Bai’ 2. If you sell well, I will prescribe some more for you.”
Gu Fangfei took it, looked at it for a while, and carefully put it away: “I have full confidence in Mister’s medical skills and character.”
“The two had a long conversation, discussing topics ranging from astronomy and geography to current events and politics.” Gu Fangfei originally thought that someone like Xu Hang, who grew up in an authentic way, would have more conservative ideas, but she didn’t expect that after a few conversations, not only was he omniscient, but also very open-minded. “When discussing the challenges of current affairs, he was able to sharply critique existing issues, which was truly remarkable.”
So she invited Xu Hang to dinner, and Xu Hang did not refuse. After dinner, they talked for a long time. When the maid replaced the tea with milk, Gu Fangfei looked outside, and it was already dark.
Looking at the watch again, it was seven o’clock.
At this time, Xu Hang mentioned, “I had someone send the necklace a few days ago. I wonder if you like it or not?”
Gu Fangfei smiled happily: “Of course I like it. I can tell it’s the latest style at first glance. It’s a waste for me to receive such an expensive gift from you, Mister.”
Xu Hang showed a relieved expression: “That’s good, I was worried that you might not like it. Oh, by the way…” He took out a brocade box from his arms, “The servant who delivered the necklace last time was quite slow and forgot to bring the matching earrings. I’ve brought them to you today. You can try both on to see if they suit you.”
Gu Fangfei took it with both hands, then called the maid upstairs to take out the necklace from the bedroom.
The young maid ran out carrying the jewelry box, but when she was going down the stairs, she suddenly felt a pain in her knee, as if someone was pinching her bone, and then her calf became numb, and she fell down the stairs.
“Ah—!”
She fell flat on her face, and the necklace fell out of the box and hit the ground, breaking.
Gu Fangfei’s and Xu Hang’s expressions changed, and they immediately stepped forward to help her up. Gu Fangfei looked her up and down: “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
Xu Hang politely brushed the dust off her knees.
The young maid didn’t fall heavily, and there were no cuts or bruises on her skin. She simply stood up, brushed off her clothes, and was fine. But when she looked down and saw the broken necklace, she burst into tears: “This… this necklace… Miss, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I don’t know why my legs were numb when I was just walking…”
Gu Fangfei quickly took out her handkerchief to wipe her tears and comforted her: “It’s alright, I saw it, you didn’t mean it.”
After comforting the young maid, Gu Fangfei bent down to pick up the necklace. As expected, the whole necklace was cracked, and the gems were also worn. It looked like it could not be worn anymore.
Gu Fangfei said apologetically, “Mister, it’s all my fault for not taking good care of it and wasting your kindness.”
Xu Hang took the necklace, looked at it carefully for a while, and said, “It’s not a big problem. I know a skilled craftsman. If I take it to him to repair it, it will definitely be as good as new.”
“Really? Where is the craftsman? I’ll go find him right away!”
Xu Hang said again, “I’ll go. It will take about two or three hours to fix it. I’ll send it back to you then.”
“That’s too much trouble for you ah, Mister. I’ll just go!”
“It’s already dark, it’s not convenient for a girl like you to go out, and I know the way there.”
Gu Fangfei could only say, “Then I’ll ask the driver to take you there.”
Xu Hang thought for a moment and said, “That’s fine.”
Ten minutes later, a Ford car drove out of the Gu family’s gate, its wheels turning rapidly, and went straight into the depths of the night.
It’s cold tonight, and the moon is bright. This kind of night is perfect for going out to do some work.
Note: 1. Sanbai: white peony root, white atractylodes, white poria.
- Qizi Bai: white atractylodes, white angelica root, white striata, white ampel, white poria, white peony root, white pearl.
T/N: The note was referring to the cosmetic prescription that XH prescripted above.
