"It’s only been a few days, and she’s still in her postpartum confinent. She couldn’t resist sneaking out to et her lover. She truly has no sense of sha," Jie Jingjue cursed.
Afraid of being discovered by Qin i, Jie Jingjue didn’t dare get too close and trailed her from a distance. At the end of the alley, he watched from afar as Qin i got onto a bicycle. Once seated, she intimately wrapped her arms around the rider’s waist.
Jie Jingjue was seething with anger. They were on a bicycle, making it impossible for him to catch up. He could only watch their figures recede until they vanished into the night.
At the black market, Mrs. Xie was dressed in n’s clothing and a hat, not a single strand of her hair visible. Qin i hadn’t gone as far as a full disguise like Mrs. Xie, but she was concealed so well that unless soone knew her personally, it would be impossible to recognize her.
"Xiao i, we need to be quick," Mrs. Xie reminded in a low voice.
’We were caught at the black market last ti. If we get caught again, we’ll lose all face and dignity.’
"Mom, don’t worry. I already picked it out last ti." She just hadn’t had the chance to make a move before she was caught. This ti, Qin i had co prepared.
"Last ti?" Mrs. Xie asked in surprise.
Qin i pulled Mrs. Xie along, and using her mory from the last visit, she quickly found the stall selling dicinal herbs.
"What can I get for you two?" the old man selling herbs greeted them warmly.
"Sir, I’ll take all of these herbs. Na your price," Qin i said, getting straight to the point.
"All of them?" The old man was stunned.
"Yes, all of them," Qin i confird with a firm nod.
"Are you sure?" the old man asked again. When he saw Qin i nod, he stopped hesitating and nad his price.
"Fifty?" Mrs. Xie asked, looking at the five fingers the old man held up.
The old man shook his head. "Five hundred."
"Five—" Mrs. Xie’s eyes widened in shock. Realizing she had lost her composure, she covered her mouth and asked in a hushed voice, "Five hundred? Are you sure this pile of herbs is worth five hundred?"
The old man glanced around warily and whispered, "This pile of herbs isn’t what’s valuable. These are."
The old man opened a nearby urea sack for Qin i to inspect. After a single glance, she decided to buy. "Five hundred it is."
The old man was overjoyed. The herbs were valuable, but they would only sell to a true connoisseur. He had been trying to sell them at the black market for two months without finding such a person. Clearly, this young lady knew her stuff.
"Young lady, do you know anything about Chinese dicine?" the old man asked.
"My family cos from a long line of Chinese dicine doctors," Qin i replied with a smile.
Hearing this, the old man bead. Since the young lady was so decisive, he decided not to be outdone. He knocked one hundred off the price for Qin i. "Alright then. Seeing as your family cos from a line of Chinese dicine doctors, I’ll give it to you for four hundred."
Qin i lived by the principle that only a fool passes up a good deal. She imdiately took an envelope from her crossbody bag, pulled out one hundred yuan, put it back in her bag, and handed the remaining four hundred in the envelope to the old man. "Sir, please count it."
The old man took the envelope, opened it, wet his finger with a bit of saliva, and began to count the money right in front of her. "Not a yuan more, not a yuan less. Exactly four hundred."
The old man gleefully pocketed the money and deftly packed the herbs into two large urea sacks. Qin i took one, Mrs. Xie took the other, and the two of them quickly departed the black market.
Once they were out of the black market, Mrs. Xie could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The herbs were all dried and didn’t weigh much. Qin i sat behind Mrs. Xie, holding one of the bags.
"Xiao i, is your family really from a long line of Chinese dicine doctors?" Mrs. Xie asked doubtfully.
"No." Qin i shook her head. ’My family cos from a long line of Chinese dicine doctors, but the original owner of this body’s family does not.’
"Then why did you..."
"I was lying to him," Qin i said with a smile, interrupting Mrs. Xie. "You can never be too careful. By saying that, I made sure he wouldn’t dare try to pass off low-quality herbs as good ones."
Mrs. Xie smiled in understanding. ’Qin i is so thoughtful and cautious. That’s very good.’
Mrs. Xie suddenly thought of sothing, and her expression darkened. "He gave you a hundred-yuan discount so easily. There isn’t a problem with these herbs, is there?"
Mrs. Xie didn’t know anything about Chinese dicine, so she certainly didn’t know anything about herbs.
"They’re fine," Qin i said with certainty. After a mont of thought, she added, "We were both wary of each other, but he also wants my business again in the future. Giving a discount of one hundred was a gesture of goodwill. Mom, I have a feeling that the next ti we go to him for herbs, he’ll take us to his ho or choose a safer place to make the deal."
The ntion of a "next ti" made Mrs. Xie’s heart skip a beat. She asked, "How many herbs does Jing Qi need to treat his leg?"
"So of these herbs are for Jing Qi, and so are for Jie Jingchen. I have other uses for the rest," Qin i said without elaborating.
"Jing Si?" Mrs. Xie was taken aback, then asked with a hint of excitent, "Jing Si’s right hand... can you treat it?"
"Mom, do you want to treat him?" Qin i didn’t answer directly, asking a question in return.
Mrs. Xie fell silent. ’His right hand is crippled, which is why Jing Si had to retire from service. If Qin i could actually heal it... that would bring both joy and sorrow.’
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