The Medicine Hall

Suddenly.

Cheng Buzheng's brows furrowed slightly. The noise outside seemed to have disturbed his thoughts.

Before long, someone knocked on the door, and a childish voice called from outside:

"Martial Brother Buzheng, come out quickly! Something's happened!"

Cheng Buzheng turned and walked to the door. When he opened it, he saw a Medicine Boy dressed in the same coarse cloth. He looked about the same age as Cheng Buzheng, but his cheeks were a little chubby, making him rather cute.

Cheng Buzheng wasn't in the least bit anxious. Judging by the volume of the argument downstairs, he could more or less guess what had happened.

A gentle smile appeared on his face. As usual, he reached out and pinched the Medicine Boy's cheek. "Xiao Li, what's wrong?"

"It hurts! Stop pinching me!" The chubby cheeks of the Medicine Boy showed his anxiousness. "Martial Brother Buzheng, Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming are arguing again. They're about to start fighting! Hurry downstairs and take a look!"

Cheng Buzheng wasn't worried, but he was rather troubled. Those two little fellows seemed born to clash with each other. Every three days they had a big argument, and every other day a small one. When they got worked up, they even came to blows.

The argument had only just started, so it would be a while before they started fighting. That was why he wasn't in a hurry.

The physician had gone out to make house calls, and Cheng Buzheng was usually quite gentle with them. That was why they dared to argue so recklessly. Fortunately, the Medicine Boys had great faith in Cheng Buzheng as their leader. It was also fortunate that there were only five Medicine Boys in the Medicine Hall.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to manage these energetic little fellows.

"Ah." Cheng Buzheng sighed with an air of maturity. "Let's go down and have a look."

As he spoke, he left the room and strode toward the increasingly heated voices. Xiao Li hurried after him with quick little steps, like a tiny tail.

Before long.

Cheng Buzheng saw two boys, one tall and one short, glaring at each other as they argued fiercely.

The taller boy, Xiao Hua, looked rather young, about eleven or twelve, but his face was full of indignation.

The shorter one, Xiao Ming, had bright, shrewd eyes and looked quite clever. He was just as indignant.

They were the same age, so they were evenly matched in strength. They were also equally skilled at fighting, having learned their techniques from each other. As a result, they won about as often as they lost. Cheng Buzheng knew this from the victor each time.

This was one of the few pleasures Cheng Buzheng had in his day-to-day life. Of course, if he caught the two arguing, he would stop them.

He wasn't willing to let them fight just for that little bit of amusement. He still had a sense of decency.

"You two, stop for a moment. What's the reason this time?"

Cheng Buzheng looked at the two little fellows, their eyes red and faces flushed, and couldn't help finding it a little funny.

"Martial Brother Buzheng... I was supposed to go out with the physician to make house calls this time!

Xiao Hua was the one who interfered."

Xiao Ming spoke up smartly at once, trying to get his senior brother on his side first. He glared angrily at Xiao Hua.

"Martial Brother Buzheng, don't listen to his nonsense. He brought this on himself.

Last time, I was supposed to go out with the physician to make house calls, but Xiao Ming was the one who meddled."

Xiao Hua immediately shot back, unwilling to back down. He was afraid his senior brother would believe the other boy's slander, and lifted his chin to stare defiantly at Xiao Ming.

The two traded accusations, endlessly listing each other's faults. Before long, they were dredging up old grievances, while saying nothing about their own mistakes.

After listening to their explanations and watching them shift the blame back and forth, Cheng Buzheng had more or less figured out what had happened.

"I understand. This started because you're arguing over who gets to go with the physician on house calls!

"Here's what we'll do. From now on, whoever goes with the physician, neither of you is allowed to sabotage the other. Let's call everything that happened before this even. How does that sound?

"Otherwise,

"if you keep getting in each other's way, neither of you will ever get to go out with the physician!

"You both know the people who can afford to have the physician visit them at home are all rich. They'll treat the physician to delicious food and fun things!

"What do you think?"

As he spoke, Cheng Buzheng tempted the two little fellows. He knew there was no way they would simply stop if he told them to, so he had to find something they would find hard to give up.

Sure enough.

The scene fell silent at once.

The two thought it over for a moment. In the end, thoughts of delicious food and fun things won them over.

"I'll listen to Martial Brother Buzheng."

"Martial Brother Buzheng, I'll listen to you too!"

Cheng Buzheng looked at the two little fellows, each still unconvinced by the other, and decided to put them to work and burn off some of their excess energy.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be long before they started arguing again. He wanted a little peace and quiet, and experience had taught him this worked well enough.

Then Cheng Buzheng spoke.

"All right!

"Xiao Ming, gather up the dried medicinal herbs in the back courtyard.

"Xiao Hua, process the commonly used herbs. Xiao Li, come with me and take stock of the medicinal herbs. We need to buy anything we're short of, just in case!"

At that,

Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming glanced at each other.

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

Then they each raised their heads proudly, turned, and went about their tasks.

Just as expected, the two didn't argue again for the rest of the day.

The next day.

Early in the morning, at Bairen Hall,

Cheng Buzheng opened the door and headed downstairs to the Medicine Hall.

"Thud, thud." His heavy footsteps on the wooden stairs echoed through the quiet hall.

The Medicine Hall on the first floor had a very traditional layout. A huge medicine cabinet stood against each of the two side walls, reaching almost to the ceiling. Each drawer held processed medicinal herbs, and a piece of red paper on the front of every small drawer bore the name of its contents.

A bamboo ladder stood beside the medicine cabinet, making it easier for the Medicine Boys to put away and retrieve herbs.

Since medicinal herbs had been stored there for years, the entire Medicine Hall was filled with a faint medicinal fragrance.

Behind the counter, Xiao Li rested his chin in one hand and looked half-asleep, as though he hadn't woken up yet. Hearing the sound, he rubbed his eyes and turned toward the stairs.

"Martial Brother Buzheng, you're not on duty today. Why didn't you sleep in a little longer?

"Getting up early is so tiring!"

At the mention of being on duty, Xiao Li's chubby face grew unhappy.

Cheng Buzheng walked behind the counter and reached out to pinch Xiao Li's cheek. Smiling, he said:

"It hurts, it hurts. Martial Brother Buzheng, don't pinch my face every time. It really hurts!"

"So now you know it hurts. Even if there's no one around in the morning, you still have to stay alert!

"Otherwise, if any medicinal herbs go missing, the physician will give you a good 'bamboo-stick stir-fry' when he gets back.

"I'm doing this for your own good!"

Xiao Li rolled his eyes at Cheng Buzheng and muttered, "Every time, you come up with a different excuse."

Cheng Buzheng looked at the Medicine Boy, Xiao Li, and smiled. "There's nothing to do today. Tell Xiao Hua and Xiao Ming they can go out and play.

"But they mustn't leave town, and they have to be back tonight. I won't be keeping watch at the medicine shop today, so I may return a little late."

Cheng Buzheng left the Medicine Hall. The first thing he saw was the shops of varying heights lining both sides of the street. He walked along the crowded street without stopping and headed straight for his destination.