Testing Each Other, Major Shopping Spree

"Young man, you said your master is that Old Doctor Chen?"

Master Ma's face lost its earlier smile and grew somewhat solemn.

"It seems the villagers all call him that."

The tension on Lu Qing's face eased slightly as he answered.

"Yes, Master Ma. My little brother here goes to Old Doctor Chen's place every day to study."

At that moment, Wang Da'an also found an opening to chime in.

Master Ma studied Lu Qing and Wang Da'an, then suddenly smiled.

"So you are Old Doctor Chen's gifted disciple. I was disrespectful."

Master Ma solemnly bowed to Lu Qing, startling him so much that he took two steps back.

He waved his hands in a fluster. "I can't be called a gifted disciple. I've only learned a little about herbs from Master so far. I can't even treat illnesses yet."

Seeing how earnest Lu Qing was, Master Ma could not help smiling.

"No matter what, I offended you just now, Young man. How about this? I'll pay for the meat you buy from this stall."

"How could that be?" Lu Qing repeatedly shook his head. "One should not accept rewards without merit. Master taught me that I cannot casually accept things from others."

"But I truly did offend you just now, Young man. Let this meat count as my apology to you, then?"

Yet no matter what Master Ma said, Lu Qing only shook his head, firmly refusing to let Master Ma pay for him.

Wang Da'an, standing to the side, stared so wide-eyed that they nearly bulged out.

It was his first time seeing Master Ma treat someone with such courtesy.

And that person was his little brother, Lu Qing.

Watching Lu Qing keep refusing Master Ma's gift, Wang Da'an was growing anxious inside.

That was over ten jin of meat! Someone was giving it away for free, yet he did not want it. What was A Qing thinking?

Though anxious in his heart, Wang Da'an did not speak up and accept it for Lu Qing.

He knew Lu Qing could read and had Old Doctor Chen's guidance, so he certainly understood more than Wang Da'an did.

Since Lu Qing was unwilling to accept it, he must have had his reasons.

Seeing that Lu Qing refused to accept his apology no matter what, Master Ma had a flash of inspiration and smiled again.

"Young man truly has a kind heart, worthy indeed of being Old Doctor Chen's gifted disciple. How about this? I saw you seemed troubled by this silver just now. Shall I help break it into smaller change?"

Upon hearing that, the meat-stall owner hurriedly said, "That's right, Young man. Around here, I'm afraid only Master Ma has the means to break your silver."

After hesitating briefly, Lu Qing nodded. "Then I'll trouble you, Master Ma."

As he spoke, he took out the silver. Master Ma accepted it and saw that it was fine Snowflake silver tael. He believed Lu Qing's words a little more.

An ordinary country youth would have had no way of obtaining such fine silver.

After weighing it in his hand, he smiled. "This silver is roughly six qian. Exchanged for Copper coin, that would be around six hundred coins."

Master Ma removed a cloth pouch from his person, then took two small strings of Copper coin from inside it before handing the pouch to Lu Qing.

"The Copper coin in here should be worth about the same as your silver. Count them and see."

Lu Qing took the money pouch and, without ceremony, immediately began counting.

Wang Da'an wanted to help, but he knew he was poor at counting. If he forced himself to help, he would only add to the confusion, so he could only stand anxiously to one side.

Lu Qing took out the Copper coin and counted them quickly.

Watching Lu Qing count the money, Master Ma narrowed his eyes again.

Among country folk, few knew how to read. Being able to recognize numbers under one hundred was already quite remarkable.

Judging by the speed at which Lu Qing counted, numbers clearly posed no difficulty to him.

Master Ma increasingly believed that Lu Qing truly was Old Doctor Chen's disciple.

Very soon, Lu Qing finished counting the money.

He raised his head. "It seems there are too many."

There were six hundred and fifty Copper coin in the pouch. At the rate of one tael of silver for one thousand Copper coin, there were fifty extra coins.

"It isn't too much. Your silver is of excellent quality, so giving you fifty extra is only proper," Master Ma said with a smile.

Lu Qing thought for a moment and did not refuse again.

He knew Master Ma was trying to show him goodwill.

But he had already refused the other party several times. He could not truly give him no face at all.

Besides, for him, this might also be an opportunity to learn about the outside world.

"The money has been exchanged. Young man, you can buy things without worry now. By the way, I still don't know your name," Master Ma asked, taking the opportunity.

"My name is Lu Qing," Lu Qing said, then pointed to Wang Da'an beside him. "This is Da'an Ge from my village."

"Master Ma, my name is Wang Da'an," Wang Da'an said somewhat ingratiatingly.

"Wang Da'an, is it? Not bad."

Master Ma could naturally tell that Wang Da'an was merely an ordinary country youth.

Even so, he nodded to him with great composure.

But that alone was enough to make Wang Da'an excited, his face flushing red.

"Little Brother Lu Qing, then I wish you a pleasant time here. I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

Master Ma was someone who understood propriety. Rather than using the chance to remain at Lu Qing's side, he chose to keep his distance.

Lu Qing was naturally pleased by that.

He did intend to befriend Master Ma as well, but not now.

Because at present, their strengths were still unequal.

Right now, it was only his identity as "Old Doctor Chen's disciple" that made the other party regard him highly.

After Master Ma left, Lu Qing returned to the meat stall.

"Boss, can I buy meat now?"

"Of course." The meat-stall owner beamed. "Young man, so you're Old Doctor Chen's disciple. No wonder you look so dignified and refined!"

Lu Qing glanced at his patched clothes and felt rather speechless.

This counted as looking dignified and refined?

"What, Boss, you know Old Doctor Chen too?" Wang Da'an asked curiously.

"What are you saying, little brother? Who in these villages for ten li around doesn't know Old Doctor Chen? My wife caught Wind-Cold after giving birth last year and nearly died. It was Old Doctor who cured her. He's a renowned Divine Doctor around these parts!"

"Since that's the case, Boss, shouldn't you give us a discount on this meat?" Wang Da'an seized the chance to say.

"A discount? Of course, a discount!"

In the end, the meat-stall owner waived the odd amount from the price, charging Lu Qing three Copper coin less.

After buying the meat, Lu Qing and Wang Da'an continued wandering around Da Ji.

Before long, they had bought a huge pile of goods.

It was mainly grain and some daily necessities.

Of these, they bought the most grain.

Besides those things, Lu Qing also bought some vegetable seeds and needle and thread.

He bought vegetable seeds because he wanted to grow more vegetables in the courtyard.

They could not dig wild vegetables every time, after all.

As for the needle and thread, it was because the fishhook at home, made from a large iron needle, was already struggling under the burden.

He wanted to make more fishhooks as spares.

Lu Qing had also seen fish for sale at the market. After asking about the price, he found that it was even cheaper than pork.

But that made sense. For the lower-class commoners of this world, fat was important, so even pork fat cost more than lean meat.

Fish had hardly any oil, and eating it did not fill one up.

Only wealthy noble lords would be willing to spend large sums on fish just for a taste of freshness.

For commoners, if they had a choice, they would even rather eat pork than fish.

After buying all those things, more than half of Lu Qing's six hundred and fifty Copper coin were gone.

He bought two large Bamboo baskets as well. Then, carrying and lifting things between them, he and Wang Da'an finally managed to take everything with them.

The two then left Da Ji with somewhat heavy steps and headed toward the village.