Chapter 64

Haha, that's great to hear. As long as everything's okay, that's all that matters.

Zhou Qingzhu quickly dumped a basket of mushrooms into Chen Jue's bamboo drying tray.

"Brother Chen, these are probably the last batch of mushrooms this year. Dry them and save them for winter. I'll head back up the mountain in a bit—there's plenty more up there.

These yellow mushrooms taste like chicken broth when you stir-fry them! They're perfect in noodles! Brother Dalin, you should make some for Brother Chen today.

My brother's already up the mountain setting snares. He'll definitely bring back a chicken by tonight."

Zhou Qingzhu said with a smile to Huo Lin.

As long as the two of them had made up, everything was good.

Huo Jilin waved his hand, telling him to get lost and stop hanging around.

After he left, Huo Jilin brought Chen Jue's camphorwood chest back over and helped him reorganize it, putting his own clothes back in and taking out the autumn ones. He also borrowed Chen Jue's paper and brush, using them at the kang table to scribble notes in his medical book.

After Chen Jue finished organizing all the herbs, Huo Jilin took him to town. This time, they didn't go to Shopkeeper Dong's place—they went to Jishi Hall.

Aside from the expensive tonics, Chen Jue sold most of his herbs to Shopkeeper Li.

But this time, the supply was a bit smaller. Shopkeeper Li glanced at Chen Jue's belly and understood, smiling. "You're further along now—will you be supplying fewer herbs from now on?"

Chen Jue nodded. "Shopkeeper Li, from now on just ask for a few of the main herbs, and I'll do my best to get them to you."

Shopkeeper Li chuckled. "Alright, I'll make you a list. Winter's coming, so herbs for colds and coughs will be in short supply. I'll also need some for winter injuries and fractures—those are all used in large quantities."

Huo Jilin cut in: "Shopkeeper Li, typhoid is a common winter disease, and it hits fast. In severe cases, it can kill. Families who are cold and hungry often try to tough it out, but in the dead of winter, the longer they wait, the worse it gets—and that's what makes it deadly, right?"

Since they were regulars, Huo Jilin was offered tea. He waited until Shopkeeper Li had put away all the herbs before saying this.

Shopkeeper Li saw that everything he said was right and hit the root of the problem.

He sighed. "Every year, a lot of people die from typhoid. Many pass away with high fevers and coughing. They think they can tough it out, but they never understand how it keeps getting worse."

Doctor Tang walked in and, hearing this, corrected him: "Typhoid has always been a common winter illness and also the most severe one, because it might start as just typhoid, but as it drags on, it triggers other ailments. Many people already have asthma or heart problems... When the body weakens, everything flares up at once..."

Chen Jue listened silently. In modern times, many people died from the flu every year too—viruses causing pneumonia, myocarditis, plus asthma—and with carelessness, they were gone just like that.

The common cold was so ordinary in modern times, yet it could still kill.

Let alone in ancient times—the line "bodies frozen to death on the road" was no exaggeration.

Huo Jilin looked at Old Doctor Tang. "Old Doctor Tang, you've been at Jishi Hall for so many years and seen countless patients. Do you have any way to prevent it?"

Old Doctor Tang raised an eyebrow. "Prevention?"

If people couldn't even afford medicine when sick, how could they talk about prevention? Prevention meant building up the body—eating well, eating enough, wearing cotton clothes, living in a warm house—but how many people could actually do that?

How many people froze to death each year?

He stared at Huo Jilin. "Do you have a prevention plan?"

Under his intense gaze, Huo Jilin said slowly, "Doctor Tang, what if I made a medicine cheap enough for common folks to afford, something they could grab and take anytime—would you and Shopkeeper Li be willing to sell it on consignment?"

Chen Jue glanced at Huo Jilin. Was he planning to make medicine?

Doctor Tang still stared at him. "How would you pull that off?"

Forget about what consignment meant—just the idea of a medicine that every common person could afford and take anytime was extremely hard to achieve.

Huo Jilin just smiled at him. "Old Doctor Tang, I can't prove it with words right now. Once I make this medicine, I'll bring it to you for appraisal. If it passes your inspection, then I'll talk cooperation with Shopkeeper Li."

After leaving Jishi Hall, Huo Jilin didn't explain his grand plan. When loading the herbs onto the cart today, he only loaded a portion and said the rest was for backup.

Since it wasn't time to discuss it yet, Chen Jue didn't ask.

Huo Jilin said to him, "Let's go eat at Qinyue Tower?"

One tael of silver for a meal—Chen Jue declined this time. "Let's just buy meat and eat at home."

One tael of silver could buy almost half a pig. Better to save money.

He felt a lot of money would be needed ahead. Starting a business came at a cost.

Wasn't there a saying: don't fear a rich kid squandering the family fortune—fear them starting a business.

Huo Jilin chuckled at Chen Jue's words. "Scared we won't be able to afford the next meal, huh?"

So he'd already seen it coming himself.

A smile tugged at the corner of Huo Jilin's mouth. "Don't worry. If the business fails, I'll go hunting."

Then they might as well starve.

Chen Jue stopped paying him any attention and stepped onto the carriage first. Climbing up the stool, his belly was already quite a burden.

Between months seven and eight, his belly had grown especially fast.

Huo Jilin supported him. "Then let's go have some mutton soup. After the soup, we'll stroll around a bit longer and buy more food today. The weather's cooler now, so it'll keep longer. After this, you won't need to come along for every supply run."

Chen Jue hummed in agreement. He also felt his belly was no longer suited for bumpy rides, even with quilts padded in the carriage, because the roads weren't modern asphalt—they were still jarring to travel on.

The mutton soup was delicious, especially the local young goats—tender meat, fresh broth, not a trace of gamey smell. The milky-white soup was topped with chili and chopped cilantro. Chen Jue drank two big bowls and ate a flatbread.

After the first bowl, he still felt a bit guilty about Little Flower; by the second bowl, he was already thinking about how to eat Little Flower.

Little Flower would definitely taste even better—a picky eater raised on only the best food.

The two stocked up on plenty of grain and visited many general stores, buying quite a few odd tools and even a big supply of candles. Chen Jue watched without comment. After wandering for most of the day, they finally headed home.

On the way past Zhang Yan's house, Chen Jue went in to see Zhang Yan and Little Flower.

Little Flower circled around him, and Chen Jue felt a bit guilty. Luckily, Little Flower didn't smell anything on him—it just opened its mouth and chewed on his clothes, until Aunt Zhou swatted it away: "Don't you see how expensive Jue Geer's clothes are! And you're chewing on them! Jue Geer, come sit on the kang!"

"How have you been feeling these past few days? You look like you've got good color."

Chen Jue looked him over before speaking. Zhang Yan's complexion was rosy—much better than a few days ago.

Twenty days had passed since Zhang Yan gave birth. He was recovering well, and the wound hadn't formed raised scar tissue, which lowered the risk of scarring.

Chen Jue pressed down on his belly carefully again and checked his pulse before feeling reassured.

"Rest up. I'll come check on you again in a few days."

Zhang Yan grabbed his hand. "My belly doesn't hurt anymore. I can eat, drink, walk, and even jump—don't worry about me. You don't need to visit so often. You're almost eight months along now—take good care of yourself."

He counted on his fingers again and said, "Once I finish my month of recovery, I'll come and take care of you during yours! I've got plenty of experience now."

Chen Jue couldn't help but smile. "Alright."

Back home, the two of them neatly and carefully unloaded the things from the cart.

Huo Jilin finally shared his plan with Chen Jue.

"Turn it into ready-made medicine." Huo Jilin showed Chen Jue the rough draft of his plan.

Chen Jue looked at the proposal and was silent for a moment. Although he had guessed what Huo Jilin intended from his conversation with Shopkeeper Li, he still couldn't help but sigh once he confirmed it.

Huo Jilin explained further, "Besides what Shopkeeper Li mentioned about the difficulty common folks have getting medicine, there are also the soldiers on the battlefield. On a battlefield that changes in the blink of an eye, there's no time to brew herbal decoctions. Common ailments like colds and diarrhea have become the deadliest conditions in this ancient world. If we can produce ready-made medicine, we'll corner that market."

Huo Jilin had his sights set on this market.

Chen Jue stared at him strangely. So Huo Jilin really was a capitalist from a pharmaceutical company—how did he come up with the idea of making money off the nation's suffering?

Huo Jilin narrowed his eyes. "What's with that stare?"

Chen Jue shrugged. "Nothing. I just didn't expect this."

He was also a doctor, with a hospital-director father and a mother from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners—why hadn't he thought of making ready-made medicine?

Although the prepared pills would be slightly less potent than brewed decoctions, they were certainly more convenient. For these common illnesses, most patients would try to tough it out, but under these living conditions, the longer they put it off, the worse it got. A cold could turn into pneumonia and kill you.

Especially in acute emergencies, it was practically a lifesaving remedy.

For instance, when a heart attack hits, how much time is there to brew medicine?

Some patients don't even have time to take their medicine.

This was the first time Chen Jue had ever agreed with Huo Jilin's idea.

That flicker of agreement in Chen Jue's eyes was like a night-blooming cereus blossoming—brief but dazzling, and Huo Jilin caught it immediately.

No man could resist a look like that.

He was gay, and the recognition from a worthy equal was an honor; but gaining the approval of Chen Jue, who had always opposed him and never stood on his side, was nothing short of a miracle—the ultimate glory.

A surge of intense warmth suddenly flooded his chest, washing over him and softening his heart. It held back the mocking words "Because you're not me" and replaced them with something far gentler.

"Because you're a doctor who heals and saves lives, and I'm a merchant driven by profit."

Chen Jue hadn't expected Huo Jilin to say something so agreeable, given how his words usually rubbed people the wrong way.

And why was he looking at him so strangely?

Like scorching lava flowing into a gentle stream, turning into warm, soft water.

Chen Jue couldn't quite get used to that look. He furrowed his brow slightly and offered a half-hearted reassurance: "You... don't have to put yourself down like that. Pharmaceutical companies need to make money too."

Huo Jilin smiled. "I'm speaking the truth. Ask yourself—what in this world makes more money than medicine? Even more than manufacturing explosives."

Chen Jue was silent for a moment. Indeed, what's more valuable than life?

A single shot of anti-cancer medicine costs millions...

Making explosives takes lives, while making medicine saves them—and that's what's needed more.

"So trust me, I'll give you all the funding you need."

Huo Jilin just made that self-deprecating remark and then changed the subject.

He casually rested his hand on Chen Jue's chair. This old-fashioned armchair was currently the most comfortable seat for Chen Jue, a bit more so than the edge of the heated brick bed (kang).

Chen Jue looked down at the proposal without speaking, and the two of them shared a rare moment of silence.

The sun hanging over the mountaintop looked like a duck egg yolk, slowly being eaten away bit by bit. When it was completely swallowed by the mountain, leaving only a layer of orange-gray afterglow spread over the peak like a silk scarf, Chen Jue spoke up.

"I want to eat duck egg yolk millet porridge."