Chapter 418: Chapter 154: Returning to Her Parents’ Ho
Renxin dical Hall was bustling today.
Early in the morning, Du Changqing had taken Ah Cheng to Dai’s Butcher Shop at the East City Temple Entrance to buy at.
Yin Zheng and Miao Liangfang were cleaning the floors inside the dical hall, with Miao Liangfang standing outside watching Yin Zheng, who was standing on a chair, wipe the plaque above the door.
Across the street, Taylor Ge had set up his stall and noticed the busy scene at the dical hall. He couldn’t help but ask, "Miss Yin Zheng, why are you up so early? Is there a guest arriving today?"
The dical hall wasn’t usually this busy.
Yin Zheng turned her head from atop the chair and replied with a smile to Taylor Ge, "Today our miss has a day off and is returning to the dical hall!"
Oh, so it was Doctor Lu’s return to the dical hall!
Taylor Ge suddenly understood and took another look at Miao Liangfang, who was carefully arranging a pattern with the dicine jars at the entrance. He couldn’t resist mumbling, "If she’s coming back, she’s coming back, what’s with all the fuss? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a bride returning to her parental ho."
Sister Song from the silk shoe shop ca out and gave him a disapproving glance, "Renxin dical Hall is Doctor Lu’s ho after all; isn’t it just like coming back to her parental ho?"
She then approached the dical hall to call Yin Zheng over and handed over a basket of fresh loquats, saying, "I heard from Shopkeeper Du yesterday that Doctor Lu... no, dical Officer Lu is coming back. Her husband picked these loquats himself; they’re both sweet and fresh. Take them back, wash them, and let dical Officer Lu have a taste."
Yin Zheng hesitated, "How could I possibly accept..."
"Why the courtesy all of a sudden?" Sister Song beca anxious, "Don’t tell
that becoming an official has made you look down on us neighbors. When you have ti, have dical Officer Lu co to our silk shoe shop to pick out a few pairs of new shoes." She then pulled Yin Zheng aside and whispered, "Now that dical Officer Lu has entered the Imperial City, she must know quite a few talented young n. Don’t just take care of Widow Sun, also keep an eye out for soone suitable for our little sister."
Yin Zheng chuckled awkwardly, it took so effort to send Sister Song away, then Miao Liangfang was calling for her again.
The old doctor squatted at the entrance of the dical hall, focusing intently on the ssily arranged dicine jars on the counter, he cautiously asked, "Miss Yin Zheng, how should I arrange this jar to look right? Should I make it a flower, or should I make the four characters ’Welco Ho’?"
Yin Zheng: "..."
Taylor Ge said that Lu Tong’s return to the dical hall was as grand as a bride returning to her parental ho. Although exaggerated, it was not far from the truth.
Two days earlier, Lu Tong had sent word back that she would be returning to the dical hall for her day off today. Upon hearing this news, Renxin dical Hall beca a hive of activity.
Du Changqing had sought advice from friends who ran eateries several days in advance, prepared a nu for Lu Tong’s return... not, for her return to the hall, and had taken Ah Cheng on a raid through various vegetable markets and butcher shops, buying chicken, fish, and other groceries as if it were more important than the New Year’s celebration.
Yin Zheng and Miao Liangfang repaired the worn tables and chairs in the shop, and a banner with the words ’Cure Awaits the Ill’ was wiped down ten tis a day by Ah Cheng, truly needing no more cleaning. If it wasn’t for Yin Zheng’s intervention, Du Changqing would have even trimd the leaves of the Li Zishu tree at the entrance.
In Lu Tong’s absence, the dical hall had been running smoothly as if no one felt the absence of one person. But when Lu Tong was due back, the longing of everyone burst forth like floodwaters spilling through a broken dam, unable to be contained.
There was an overwhelming anticipation.
The sun gradually climbed overhead, and Du Changqing, with Ah Cheng carrying two large baskets laden with food, returned and imdiately plunged into the small kitchen to start cooking. They worked until the aroma of simring bone broth wafted from the courtyard into the space over West Street, and even after Taylor Ge from across the street had finished his lunch, there was still no sign of Lu Tong at the entrance of the dical hall.
Du Changqing had sent Ah Cheng to check at the street corner multiple tis to no avail. Standing under the Li Zishu tree at the dical hall entrance, with a frying ladle in hand, he resembled an anxious mother waiting for her daughter’s return, murmuring with furrowed brows, "What ti is it now, why hasn’t she co back yet?"
As he spoke, there suddenly ca the sound of a carriage’s wheels approaching.
Du Changqing’s spirits lifted, and he saw the rickety old carriage rattling along, coming to a halt slowly outside the dical hall.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and a young woman, carrying a dical box, stepped down.
"Lu..." Du Changqing’s next two words were stopped short as he heard Yin Zheng exclaim "Miss!" from behind, pushing past him and running forward.
Lu Tong had just stepped down from the carriage when she was embraced tightly by soone rushing toward her.
The choked voice of Yin Zheng was right in her ear: "You’ve finally co back!"
She paused, taken aback by the sudden closeness, slightly at a loss for a mont before she reached out and patted Yin Zheng on the back.
Miao Liangfang, leaning on his crutch, and Ah Cheng stood together, while Du Changqing, wearing an apron, mockingly scrutinized her: "So late? The food is getting cold; I thought dical Officer Lu wasn’t coming back today." He then rolled his eyes at the carriage behind Lu Tong: "As soone receiving a salary, couldn’t you hire a more presentable carriage? Embarrassing!"
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