The hall master, who usually saw patients at the front counter, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a veiled girl sat there.
The girl did not look very old, around eleven or twelve. She held a medical book in her hands and read quietly.
When Wang Xiaoming walked in, she showed little reaction.
She merely raised her eyes and gave him an indifferent glance before returning her attention to her book.
Wang Xiaoming searched the shop, even checking the latrine in the back courtyard, but still found no sign of the old hall master.
Having found nothing, he could only return to the counter. He stood on tiptoe and tapped it twice.
"Hello, big sister. May I ask where the hall master of this pharmacy is?"
The girl shook her head without a word.
She barely moved her head, turning it less than an oscillating electric fan.
Wang Xiaoming: "..."
Had he run into an introvert? Was she really that aloof?
"Big sister, can you fill prescriptions, then?"
This time, the girl hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Wang Xiaoming breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she could fill prescriptions, all was well.
He had been afraid this three-no girl-no voice, no expression, and no figure-could do nothing but shake her head.
"Big sister, get me a piece of hundred-year-old Whale Rubber and a piece of thousand-year-old Whale Rubber... You know the prices, right?"
Wang Xiaoming made a point of asking that last question.
After all, ordinary pharmacies generally did not stock Whale Rubber.
An aphrodisiac that expensive was not worth the price for ordinary people.
Aside from certain nobles who specifically asked people to obtain it from coastal cities, no pharmacy would go out of its way to stock it.
There were also plenty of unscrupulous merchants on the market who passed off animal "aphrodisiacs" as Whale Rubber and sold them at high prices.
Meng Zhuang's old eyes were failing him, so Wang Xiaoming did not dare entrust such a difficult task to him.
When Ye Lingling heard that Wang Xiaoming wanted Whale Rubber, the way she looked at him changed.
A six-year-old child-what does he want Whale Rubber for? Could it be for someone in his family?
She thought it over, then shook her head to refuse.
She had no idea how Whale Rubber was priced... because generally, no one bought it at her family's shop.
Besides, when had Grandpa stocked Whale Rubber?
Why had he stocked it?
Was he old but still vigorous?
Although she had never seen Whale Rubber, she had read about it in medical books and knew what it did.
"What does shaking your head mean? You don't have any, or you don't know the price?"
After Wang Xiaoming asked, Ye Lingling shook her head again, still utterly expressionless, answering both his questions at once.
The sight made the corner of Wang Xiaoming's mouth twitch.
After experiencing Ning Rongrong's hot violence, this was the first time he had experienced a woman's cold violence.
Who could stand that?
Just then, a voice came from the side.
"Little friend, it really is you. Have you come to buy Whale Rubber again?"
Wang Xiaoming and Ye Lingling looked toward the voice and saw a white-haired old man in high spirits walk in, carrying a medicine chest.
"Hall Master, you're finally back. Your salesperson isn't up to the job.
I wanted to buy something, and all she did was shake her head and refuse. How can you make money like that?
How are you supposed to grow bigger and stronger and bring this pharmacy to glory?"
As soon as Wang Xiaoming saw Ye Renxin come in, he hurried to complain, clapping his hands as he denounced Ye Lingling's behavior.
I'm not! I didn't!
Ye Lingling protested anxiously in her heart, but her face still showed little reaction. Only her lips tightened beneath her veil.
How could this brat say that about her?
Hearing this, Ye Renxin burst out laughing.
"This old man is to blame. I went out to see a patient and left my granddaughter, who doesn't like talking, to mind the shop. She doesn't know about Whale Rubber, so how could she sell you any?
As for growing bigger and stronger and all that, I practice medicine to help the world, not for fame or profit. I'm content just to do what little I can for all the people under heaven."
As Ye Renxin spoke, he took a box out from under the counter.
When he opened it, three pieces of Whale Rubber were neatly arranged inside.
Ye Lingling watched the box in Ye Renxin's hands with curiosity.
It was her first time seeing Whale Rubber. She had not expected... her grandfather really did have some.
"Here, the Whale Rubber is right here. Little friend, how much do you want this time?"
Wang Xiaoming thought for a moment, then planted a hand on the box and tossed a money pouch into Ye Renxin's hand.
"I'll take it all."
Ye Lingling: "???"
What kind of purchase was this? He wanted all of it? Could it be that everyone in his family was impotent?
Because she did not know its effects, Ye Lingling's thoughts went completely astray, and she looked at Wang Xiaoming with some pity.
What a shame. Although the child had a bit of a sharp tongue, he was still so young. She had heard that this sort of condition could be hereditary...
Yet he was eagerly buying this stuff for his family, unaware that years from now, he himself would come back here to buy Whale Rubber.
When Wang Xiaoming noticed Ye Lingling's gaze, he felt a chill run through him.
It was as though something filthy were cursing him.
Wang Xiaoming glanced at Ye Lingling, who sat to one side with her thin arms and legs, then quietly said to Ye Renxin, "Old man, haven't you given your granddaughter some of this to build her up? She's far too skinny."
In his experience, a single piece of hundred-year-old Whale Rubber might not turn her into a muscular Barbie, but it would at least make her a healthy little calf.
"Hehe, it's no trouble, no trouble. It's better for my girl to be a little delicate. She has no use for that stuff."
Ye Renxin chuckled and waved his hand. Then he looked at his granddaughter, pride and heartache in his eyes.
Support-type Soul Masters did not need that sort of thing to improve their physical condition.
In any case, she could not escape death in the end... It was better to let her have a happier childhood.
Unfortunately, his granddaughter did not like to talk. It seemed she could not even have a happy childhood.
Then Ye Renxin looked at Wang Xiaoming, a little puzzled.
"But what about you, little friend? Are you planning to keep taking this Whale Rubber? If you keep eating it, it shouldn't improve you any further, should it?"
As a doctor, Ye Renxin had an extremely sharp eye. From Wang Xiaoming's wrists, expression, breathing, and even the force with which he spoke, he could judge the strength of his body.
Hundred-year-old Whale Rubber would no longer improve him at all, yet he had still bought it.
Unless the boy was a fool with too much money who simply liked buying Whale Rubber,
he could not understand it.
Not everyone believed that Whale Rubber could improve physical condition.
He was only a support-type Soul Master himself and did not understand why Wang Xiaoming was using it to strengthen his body.
Still, he guessed it was most likely because Wang Xiaoming was a Battle Soul Master that he wanted to use this stuff to take a shortcut.