"I never expected Li Piaoqing to write in faint ink on the back." Qu Xin looked thoughtful.
"Is whether she wrote in faint ink the issue here?!" Pei Ye glared at her. "Keeping both sides in the dark and taking money from each! What Little Medicine Lord? You're nothing but a medicine peddler!"
Qu Xin counted the snowflakes falling toward her eyes.
"What else do you have to say?"
Qu Xin straightened her head. "I told you, this was the cost of keeping the Top Pavilion reserved for you for three extra days after you left the Shaolong Medical Tower without permission..."
"Give it back!" Pei Ye held out his hand.
Qu Xin paused, then took out twenty-one taels and gave them to him.
"You told Piao Qing it was twenty-one taels?"
Qu Xin fell silent for a moment, then took out another nine taels and gave them to him.
Pei Ye hefted the substantial weight in his hand and snorted.
Just then, hesitant, solemn footsteps approached from beside Qi Zhaohua, Xing Zhi, and the others watching and snickering. The newcomer stood quietly behind them.
"And another thing," Pei Ye said. "Who told you to collect my medical fees in advance? If I hadn't read about it in the letter, were you never going to tell me?"
"Of course not," Qu Xin said calmly. "That was insurance money."
"...What insurance money?"
"If one day you're gravely injured and dying, and you've spent all your money, I'll use those three chances to save you." Qu Xin looked at him earnestly. "So I won't have to leave you to die."
Pei Ye was silent for a long while before he understood. In other words, he would still have to pay for treatment in the future... only once he had spent all his