Luck and Change

Luck and Change

The moment Lu Qing entered the room, he saw a brand-new Iron Pot sitting there.

Old Doctor Chen returned to the inner room and took out a cloth bag.

"This silver was what we got from selling the Red Moon Carp. Keep it safe."

The Old Doctor handed the cloth bag to Lu Qing.

When Lu Qing took it and felt its heavy weight, he could not help but be startled.

"So much? Grandpa Chen, how much did the Red Moon Carp sell for?"

"Your luck was good," the Old Doctor said. "The distinguished guest I delivered medicinal herbs to this time has a wife who has recently been weak and needed nourishment. When he heard that I had a Red Moon Carp, he purchased it without a second word for one hundred taels of silver."

"One hundred taels?" Lu Qing's eyes widened. "Grandpa Chen, didn't you say before that my Red Moon Carp had grown too large, so its value had dropped somewhat?"

He remembered the Old Doctor saying before that even the finest Red Moon Carp were worth only one hundred taels each.

"That is why I said your luck was good." The Old Doctor stroked his beard. "Under normal circumstances, only the very best Red Moon Carp are worth one hundred taels."

"But that distinguished guest dotes greatly on his wife. Besides being exceptionally delicious, the Red Moon Carp also has excellent nourishing effects, so he directly offered me the highest price for it."

What a coincidence.

After hearing that, Lu Qing had no choice but to agree with the Old Doctor.

His luck really was quite good.

"I asked for all one hundred taels in silver. After deducting the ten taels of patterned silver I previously spent treating you and prescribing medicine, as well as the five taels for the Iron Pot and salt, there are still eighty-five taels of patterned silver inside."

Lu Qing opened the cloth bag and took a look. The gleaming white silver inside was somewhat dazzling.

Most of it was in silver ingots, large and small. The large ones were ten taels each, the small ones five taels each, along with some loose silver.

Clearly, the Old Doctor had considered his everyday needs and exchanged part of it for loose silver.

As for the fifteen taels that had been spent, Lu Qing did not care much about them.

The Old Doctor charging ten taels for consultation and medicine sounded rather expensive.

But from what he knew of the Old Doctor, Lu Qing suspected that he had still charged too little.

Then there was the expense of buying the Iron Pot and salt.

Never mind the salt; Lu Qing had expected the Iron Pot to be expensive.

After all, in his memories, when the original owner had sold the Iron Pot from their home, it had fetched quite a bit of money too.

Even now, there were not many households in the village that could afford to use an Iron Pot.

One could imagine how valuable an Iron Pot was.

But no matter how expensive it was, Lu Qing had to buy one.

Having been in this world for so long, nearly everything he ate had been boiled or stewed. His mouth was about to fade from blandness.

With an Iron Pot, there would be far more dishes he could make.

It did not matter if he had to make do with clothing, but when it came to food, he absolutely could not treat himself too shabbily. That had always been Lu Qing's principle in life.

"Also, I already seasoned this Iron Pot for you last night. You can use it directly once you get home; there is no need to season it yourself," the Old Doctor added.

Lu Qing looked and saw that the inside of the Iron Pot was indeed slick and gleaming with oil. It had been thoroughly seasoned.

"Grandpa Chen, seasoning a pot takes a lot of oil, doesn't it? I'll pay you for it." Lu Qing opened the cloth bag.

"No need." Old Doctor Chen waved his hand. "It was only two pieces of fatty pork, hardly worth any money. I cannot be bothered cutting up silver for you again."

Seeing that the Old Doctor was unwilling to accept it, Lu Qing could only let it go.

He knew that people in this world held a certain contempt for pork.

Especially the upper nobility, who considered pork lowly, something eaten only by the poor and destitute at the bottom.

Anyone with even a little money preferred beef and mutton.

Therefore, pork was not particularly expensive in this world.

Of course, that meant inexpensive only compared to beef and mutton.

For commoners at the bottom, as long as it was meat, it could not be cheap.

So even pork was not something they could eat often.

Only during holidays, when they had money to spare, or when guests came to the house would they buy some to eat.

However, Lu Qing also knew that the Old Doctor was clearly not short of money. Two pieces of fatty pork were probably nothing in his eyes.

"Then thank you, Grandpa Chen."

"Enough, stop fussing over such a trivial matter." The Old Doctor did not care. "Lie on the bed first. I'll give you acupuncture."

Lu Qing obediently removed his upper garment and lay down on the wooden bed.

The Old Doctor took out silver needles.

"Today will be the third time I administer acupuncture to you, and it will also be the last. Once this session is over, there will be no need for any more needles."

"Grandpa Chen, does that mean my body has fully recovered?" Lu Qing asked joyfully.

"It cannot be said to have fully recovered, but your vital essence has basically stabilized. In the days ahead, you only need to eat better and rest properly, and you will gradually recover. The Essence Solidifying and Origin Nourishing Needles, however, will no longer be necessary."

"Thank you, Grandpa Chen."

"Alright, relax your mind and do not move again."

Old Doctor Chen began inserting the needles. Before long, the silver needles were all in place, and Lu Qing fell asleep as well.

The Old Doctor looked at the sleeping Lu Qing, his brows slightly furrowed.

Although Lu Qing had recuperated at his place over this period and recovered very well,

he still had not been able to discover why Lu Qing had suddenly improved in the first place.

During this time, he had also taken the opportunity while administering acupuncture to examine Lu Qing's body carefully.

There was indeed nothing unusual within his body, nor had any trace of illness been left behind.

It truly left him unable to make sense of it.

After thinking for a while and still finding no answer, the Old Doctor finally relaxed his brows.

If he could not find the reason, then so be it. Fortunately, Lu Qing's body had been nursed back to health in the end, so all his painstaking care had not been in vain.

"Grandpa Chen, is Brother asleep?"

Xiao Yan asked softly from nearby.

After watching Lu Qing receive acupuncture several times, the little girl was no longer as frightened as before.

But when Grandpa Chen inserted the needles, she still did not really dare to watch.

"Mm, he is asleep. Come, let us not disturb your brother's rest. We'll go outside. Yesterday, Grandpa bought some pastries from the city. I heard they taste very good."

"Really? What kind of pastries are they?"

"They are called Osmanthus Cake..."

When Lu Qing woke from his deep sleep, he felt his entire body brimming with vitality.

Moreover, he was certain that this was no longer the illusion he had felt after his first acupuncture session. His body had truly recovered almost completely.

For all of this, he had Old Doctor Chen to thank.

Just as he was thinking that, Lu Qing heard Xiao Yan's laughter drifting in from outside the courtyard.

He smiled faintly, put on his upper garment, and walked out into the courtyard.

He saw Old Doctor Chen and Xiao Yan still seated on the stone stools. The little girl held a piece of pastry in her hand, and who knew what they had been chatting about? Her feet swung back and forth as she tipped her head up and laughed with particular delight.

This scene was almost exactly the same as what Lu Qing had seen when he woke after his first acupuncture session.

Only then, his body had been weak, he had possessed nothing, and even survival had been somewhat difficult.

Now, his body had basically recovered, and he had just earned more than one hundred taels of silver.

He also had the opportunity to study medicine with Old Doctor Chen in the future.

Everything had become different.

This chapter makes up for last night's. I had a headache yesterday and could not finish writing it, sorry. There will still be two updates tonight.