“And here too. If you add Qilin flakes, the effect will double. Not just here, but also…”
The young woman pointed out several places in his prescriptions where he could improve.
Tong Zhihuan listened somewhat dazedly.
The formulas he wrote weren’t wrong, but after her changes, the medicinal efficacy would increase by at least twenty, or even up to fifty percent.
“Why are you looking at me?”
The young woman blinked and said, “Change it!”
Tong Zhihuan snapped back to reality, hurriedly agreed, lowered his head, and started revising the formulas.
The young woman pursed her lips and said, “Dolt.”
After Tong Zhihuan finished revising the places she had mentioned, he spoke again, “Could the young lady please look over my earlier formulas too?”
The young woman shook her head. “I want to read.”
Hearing this, Tong Zhihuan grew anxious. “If you help me edit them, afterwards, I’ll read the book to you while you look at it. How about that?”
The young woman glanced at him. “How will you read it to me?”
Tong Zhihuan paused, suddenly realizing.
The books she usually read left by Mr. Chen… how could he possibly see the words on them?
Tong Zhihuan opened his mouth, unable to think of a solution. For a moment, a hint of helplessness appeared on his face.
Seeing his expression, the young woman couldn’t help but let out a little laugh.
Tong Zhihuan was slightly stunned. Watching her smile brightly, his gaze couldn’t help but become somewhat vacant.
Strangely, he found himself saying, “Has anyone ever told you… you look very pretty when you smile?”
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
Such words spoken to a woman… weren’t they akin to those of a rake?
Tong Zhihuan was about to retract his words when he heard her say, “You are the first person who talked to me. No one ever said it before. You said it, so now I have heard it.”
Tong Zhihuan held his brush mid-air. His face suddenly flushed, and his heartbeat quickened considerably.
Realizing his impropriety, he hastily lowered his head.
The young woman covered her mouth with a light laugh. “Dolt.”
Tong Zhihuan didn’t dare utter a sound. He kept his head down, face burning.
He was truly flustered by how bold this young woman could be. This was probably the most undignified moment he had ever experienced.
Tong Zhihuan was somewhat puzzled. He wasn’t usually . Why was he being teased so easily in front of her?
How was he supposed to handle the days ahead…
Meanwhile, the young woman found Tong Zhihuan increasingly amusing. Every time she saw him, she felt compelled to tease him until his face flushed red, only then would she be satisfied.
She didn’t seem much like a proper young lady.
The twenty-seventh day of the fifth lunar month.
After the Summer Solstice, the weather grew even hotter. The sound of cicadas began echoing through the mountain stream.
Wispy smoke rose from the Taoist temple.
The twenty-seventh was an auspicious day for bathing and offering incense. Therefore, Tong Zhihuan rose very early. After cleaning the temple, he offered three sticks of incense before each Divine Statue inside. Newest update provıded by 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩
He knelt within the main hall and looked up at the sword held by the Statue of True Martiality.
After borrowing it last time, he had returned it exactly as it was.
“Mr. Chen should be coming soon…”
Tong Zhihuan thought this. What the Daoist Priest said before probably wouldn’t be wrong.
Just as he was thinking this, a sharp sword cry suddenly rang out.
Tong Zhihuan froze, raising his head to look again at the sword grasped by the Statue of True Martiality.
He saw the sword trembling slightly, emitting a faint buzzing sound.
Tong Zhihuan was initially confused, but he quickly understood.
“It means Mr. Chen is returning.”
The young woman’s voice sounded behind him. She continued, “The sword holds a spirit. Therefore, it naturally cries out when the master approaches.”
Tong Zhihuan paused, then hurriedly stood. “But Mr. Chen hasn’t arrived yet!”
The young woman rolled her eyes. “Dolt! Doesn’t it take time for Mr. Chen to get here? Just go wait at the temple gate.”
Tong Zhihuan grunted in understanding, then went along with the young woman to wait at the temple gate.
Chen Changsheng stretched, loosening his muscles.
He calculated with his fingers and murmured to himself, “It’s only the twenty-seventh of the fifth month? Five days earlier than last time.”
Chen Changsheng was thoroughly pleased. After death, he had spent three more years refining his spirit. He wasn’t sure what level he had reached, but waking early this time meant he could live a few extra days.
“Excellent. Excellent.”
Chen Changsheng smiled faintly, waved his sleeve, and set off along the Imperial Road.
Upon reaching Autumn Moon Market, as usual, he bought wine.
This time, however, Chen Changsheng saw a different sight.
The formerly old and slightly worn tavern at West Bridge had been transformed into a proper Wine Tavern. Bright vermilion paint shone in the sunlight, and a sandalwood signboard stood out prominently.
The clamor of voices filled the Wine Tavern. Xiao’er were busy serving food and wine, while the Manager sat scowling intensely behind the counter, furiously working his abacus.
“Wine is here! Patron, enjoy!” a Xiao’er shouted, then rushed to the kitchen to hurry along food, bustling frantically.
Chen Changsheng walked into the Wine Tavern.
A Xiao’er who had just served a dish hurried forward. Seeing the extraordinary bearing of this gentleman, he knew better than to be remiss. “Sir, please, take a seat upstairs.”
Chen Changsheng waved a hand. “No need. I’m looking for your Manager.”
The Xiao’er then guided Chen Changsheng to the counter.
“Manager, there’s a gentleman here to see you.”
The Manager, Xiaoliu, looked up from his abacus.
Weary from calculating accounts, he stood up abruptly, everything else forgotten.
Chen Changsheng gave him a warm smile and placed a Gourd on the counter.
The Manager didn’t finish his accounting. He didn’t even let a Xiao’er fetch the wine. He personally took the Gourd to the courtyard in the back.
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The Xiao’er was completely baffled, utterly lost as to what was happening.
A guest sitting upstairs at one table watched the gentleman in the Blue Robe follow the Wine Tavern Manager to the back hall. He promptly called out, “Xiao’er!”
The Xiao’er went upstairs. The man who called him wore a gold-trimmed brocade robe, had a Jade Pendant hanging from his waist, and possessed an imposing demeanor. Clearly, he was also someone extraordinary.
“I ask you, who was that fellow who just went inside with your Manager?”
The Xiao’er answered truthfully, “Patron, that gentleman seems to be an old acquaintance of our Manager. But I haven’t been here long, so I don’t recognize him.”
“You don’t recognize him?” The man frowned slightly.
The Xiao’er insisted, “Truly, I don’t recognize him, patron.”
Hearing this, the man waved his hand dismissively. “Very well. You’re dismissed.”
The Xiao’er acknowledged and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief before heading back downstairs.
One of the other people at the table asked, “Brother Mingjing, did you encounter someone familiar?”
Tang Mingjing shook his head. “I was just taken with that man’s extraordinary aura, so I paid closer attention. I didn’t expect to find such an ethereal person here in Autumn Moon Market.”
His three companions looked puzzled.
Tang Mingjing nodded firmly. “Absolutely, ethereal!”
For a fleeting moment, he even felt that man might not be of this mortal world.
But reconsidering it, he decided it must have been a trick of the mind.
“Never mind. Let’s drink,” Tang Mingjing said. “The task Brother Chang Shan entrusted us with still isn’t done. We should have an early meal, finish the business quickly, and return as soon as possible.”
“Ah…” One of the companions sighed heavily. “If it weren’t for losing that bet, why would we have come to this place?”