Miss Wei and Chen Zhang

"This woman is from out of town and has come to Chang'an City to visit relatives!"

Her surname is Wei!

The information Zhang Xuezhou revealed was simple, yet very practical.

One is the name, and the other is the origin.

This information was useful to Chen Zhang and did not cause any trouble for Wei Shao'er.

Aside from never revealing the relationship between Wei Qing and Wei Shao'er, that was all Zhang Xuezhou knew.

"That girl's surname is Wei, which sounds like a good surname," Chen Zhang said with a delighted expression. "Is what you're saying true?"

"I guarantee it's true. If you don't believe me, we'll make another bet. I'll call that girl down, and you can see if her surname is Wei," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"I have nothing of value to gamble with you on, but you should at least verify these things. If you just give me a perfunctory answer, wouldn't I be at a huge disadvantage?" Chen Zhang pondered.

"What you said makes sense!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, then gestured for Chen Zhang to wait a moment before going upstairs.

My surname is Jiang!

As soon as Zhang Xuezhou pushed open the door to the upstairs room, Wei Shao'er, who was eavesdropping at the door, whispered something.

"What do you want?" Zhang Xuezhou, his head aching.

"I don't want your ten taels of gold. Give me his two taels of silver and five hundred half-taels of coins instead," said Wei Shao'er.

"OK!"

Zhang Xuezhou was causing trouble at the front, while Wei Shao'er was easily reaping the rewards from the rear.

But this matter really requires Wei Shao'er's help, otherwise if Wei Shao'er denies it outright, Zhang Xuezhou will have to give up his ten taels of gold.

Zhang Xuezhou simply attributed his bad luck to his average fortunes and considered such an unexpected sharp drop in income to be a normal occurrence.

He was neither greedy nor resentful, and readily agreed, which surprised Wei Shao'er.

"You agreed quite readily," Wei Shao'er said.

"We've been through thick and thin together," Zhang Xuezhou said. "What's a little money?"

Zhang Xuezhou's words "risked my life" sent a shiver down Wei Shao'er's spine.

If it weren't for a life-or-death situation, why would she give half of it to Zhang Xuezhou?

She held Zhang Xuezhou's victory or defeat in her hands, but Zhang Xuezhou held her life in his. If she suddenly developed symptoms and refused to help, she would likely die.

Correspondingly, the children's health department dared not go too far.

The two of them left the matter unresolved.

"I didn't mean to swindle your money. First, I was the one who lured this person here, and second, I'm really hungry. I'll starve to death without money," Wei Shao'er said in a low voice. "I need to eat at least two hundred and a half taels of meat a day now."

"Good appetite," Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

"If I continue like this, I'll easily starve to death," Wei Shao'er said.

"You could try taking some medicinal pills," Zhang Xuezhou suggested.

"Can't afford it!"

While meat can be bought with money, elixirs are not something Wei Shao'er can simply obtain at will, and the prices involved in their trade are extremely high.

Even though Wei Shao'er had some alchemy skills, he couldn't overcome the lack of medicinal herbs.

Her mind is now filled with thoughts of making money, and then she uses that money to buy food.

This sum of money from Chen Zhang was enough to feed her for nearly ten days, and it also gave her some time to catch her breath.

"Didn't you look for your brother?" Zhang Xuezhou asked curiously. "He's a minister close to the emperor, after all; surely he could be of some help?"

"If you ask my brother which family has the best horses, which type of horse sells for the highest price, or which family makes the most money driving a carriage, he'll have no problem with any of those things," Wei Shao'er said. "But if you ask him for elixirs, how could he possibly get his hands on any good ones!"

"Maybe they know!"

Even if he knew, the money my brother has saved wouldn't be enough for me to squander!

Wei Shao'er shook her head repeatedly, clearly not intending to trouble her younger brother.

As someone skilled in alchemy, Wei Shao'er was well aware of this profession. Higher-grade pills were traded for gold, while good pills were not something ordinary people could obtain. Furthermore, the secret formulas for pills were important secrets of various sects and schools.

Who can refine pills, who sells them, at what price, whether they require exchange items, and whether the pills are safe to use have all become major problems in this industry.

Only the imperial court and some schools of thought specializing in alchemy possessed elixirs, but these were things that Wei Shao'er could not currently access.

After a few quiet words, Zhang Xuezhou understood the dilemma Wei Shao'er was facing and the predicament of Alchemist.

Liang Yuan looked down on his alchemy skills, while there were at least several hundred novice Alchemist in the Wenying Pavilion in Huainan.

What Zhang Xuezhou saw was that Alchemist from powerful forces were as numerous as weeds. That was only because the demand from these Alchemist was supported by powerful forces, which made it possible to have enough medicinal materials for alchemy. It could be said that almost all the Alchemist in the Huainan region were concentrated in Shouchun City.

Alchemist remain a scarce talent, especially those with a good reputation who also sell their Alchemist.

Alchemist like Zou Bugui were rare figures even in the Han Dynasty.

"Don't you have a mother-in-law?" Zhang Xuezhou asked. "She's given you a lot of elixirs. Ask her for some more to treat your health!"

"Grandma only taught me some skills and gave me pills because she saw how pitiful I was in the past," Wei Shao'er said after a moment of silence. "Now that I am no longer pitiful, it is naturally difficult for me to obtain Grandma's pills again."

"Your relationship is a bit strange!"

Zhang Xuezhou sighed, while Wei Shao'er could only manage a wry smile.

She had a chivalrous spirit but lacked the ability. When she faced a life-or-death situation, she was saved by the Holy Mother of Wudang and then taught some skills.

Things were rather simple, and she wasn't as mysterious as Zhang Xuezhou had imagined.

After a brief conversation, when Wei Shao'er pointed downstairs, Zhang Xuezhou could only shake his head and walk out.

"Miss Wei has come downstairs!"

Zhang Xuezhou called out, which made Chen Zhang, who was waiting downstairs, quickly raise his head.

A familiar yet vague impression welled up in Chen Zhang's mind; he felt as if he had seen Wei Shao'er before.

"I must have met her in a past life to feel this familiarity!"

As Chen Zhang thought to himself, he felt all thoughts of money and the pain from the sword wound on his arm vanish into thin air.

In his eyes, only the woman who poured a basin of water on him from upstairs remained.

"Young master, I was just exhausted and couldn't carry the water properly, so I apologize for spilling it on you!"

Upon seeing the table of food ordered by Manager Chen, Wei Shao'er felt an uncontrollable hunger pang rising in his stomach.

But Zhang Xuezhou and Chen Zhang's bet was still going on, so she could only give Chen Zhang a graceful bow.

"Shao'er, what a lovely name!"

Chen Zhang was overjoyed, his face turning bright red.

"I've asked for your name and brought the person down to confirm. That's the end of it!"

Chen Zhang looked delighted, while Zhang Xuezhou had been stepped on by Wei Shao'er.

Clearly, Wei Shao'er wanted to end things as soon as possible.

Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to quickly wrap things up.

"Ah, it's over. I've only just begun!"

Chen Zhang was still clearly a bit dazed, and even after Zhang Xuezhou patted him on the shoulder, he still hadn't come to his senses.

He practiced martial arts diligently, and even when he attended banquets, he only saw some palace maids and female relatives of certain officials.

The palace maids were restrained and dared not be presumptuous, while the daughters of officials were dignified and well-mannered, making it difficult for Chen Zhang to harbor any disrespectful thoughts.

He had never experienced being splashed with water by a woman before.

It was one thing to splash water, but the real thing was that when Wei Shao'er, such a sweet and gentle girl, smiled at him, Chen Zhang felt as if he had witnessed the beauty of the world, and his heart was burning with excitement.

Young and inexperienced in matters of the heart, he was no match for a mature woman like Wei Shao'er.

With just a smile and a frown, Chen Zhang's heart was captivated.

"Please help me again, I want to get to know Miss Wei!"

Seeing Wei Shao'er clutching her stomach and about to go upstairs, Chen Zhang was extremely anxious and quickly tugged at Zhang Xuezhou.

This made Zhang Xuezhou turn around and look at Chen Zhang, then at Wei Shao'er, who was so hungry that he was pressing his hand against his stomach.

"If you want to get to know people, treat them to a meal!"

Zhang Xuezhou casually mentioned it, and Chen Zhang immediately trotted over to Wei Shao'er's side.

"Miss Wei, let's have dinner together!"

Chen Zhang reluctantly stepped forward to invite him, which made Rong Tianding want to complain about how lame this way of striking up a conversation was.

To Rong Tianding's surprise, Wei Shao'er agreed immediately.