Having not seen her for so long, Qin Changlin was clearly taken aback when he arrived at Jisheng Hall. Hurriedly, he pulled Gu Youyou into the inner courtyard and said, "Sister Youyou, where have you been these past few months? We’ve been looking everywhere for you!"
Gu Youyou felt puzzled and asked, "Didn’t anyone tell you I went back home?"
"No, not at all!" Qin Changlin was utterly confused!
This was strange. Jin Zijin had clearly said he would mention it! The man really was unreliable, not even bothering to let her know.
Gu Youyou gave a dry laugh and said, "Perhaps my family forgot to mention it!"
She set down the basket on her back and took out a small jar of chili sauce. Looking around, she lowered her voice and asked, "Where is your master, Doctor Zhou? Isn’t he supposed to be back?"
Qin Changlin replied, "Master went on a house call today, to the Ma family in the neighboring town! If he had known that you would come today, he would have said nothing could make him go! It’s such a pity he missed you!"
Gu Youyou was amused to herself, thinking it wasn’t a pity at all.
It was fortunate that Doctor Zhou wasn’t there, or she would have felt awkward asking Qin Changlin for help.
Gu Youyou handed the jar to Qin Changlin and said, "It’s an emergency, brother. I’m nearly broke, you have to help me sell these things!"
When it came to persuading people, Qin Changlin was second to none.
He looked just like Wang Shun, a simple and honest fellow. But while Wang Shun was genuinely simple, Qin Changlin was the type to wear an innocuous expression while harboring clever schemes.
Qin Changlin accepted the small jar Gu Youyou handed him with a surprised look, opened it to take a whiff, and was greeted by a spicy and pungent aroma, yet fragrant!
Being a medical student, he immediately recognized what it was.
Gu Youyou nodded and said, "That’s right, making them into sauce took a lot of effort. Are you confident you can sell them?"
"Well," Qin Changlin looked over the several jars and said with difficulty, "It won’t be easy... Chili is warm and disperses heat, it warms the stomach and induces sweating. We understand its medicinal properties, but you need to find patients with the right symptoms to prescribe this. With so much here... I’m afraid it won’t sell quickly!"
Gu Youyou clicked her tongue twice and said loudly, "Come, let me give you a lesson on what it means to turn medicinal therapy into food therapy!"
With that, Gu Youyou entered the kitchen of Jisheng Hall and asked the old cooking maid to step aside for a moment.
The old cooking maid was in the middle of preparing a chicken, which meant they were planning to enjoy a chicken dish that day.
Seeing no other ingredients she could use, Gu Youyou personally went to the kitchen to prepare a dish... Spicy Chicken using the chili sauce!
Of course, although the Spicy Chicken wasn’t quite authentic, it was enough to astonish them.
"Can you really eat more of this?" As a medical student of not long standing, Qin Changlin wasn’t sure if this medicinally infused ingredient could be consumed in this manner!
Despite his words, he didn’t stop eating, gorging down the dish and exclaiming how satisfying it was!
Gu Youyou laughed and said, "Aren’t you continuously eating it? You tell me, can you eat more or not?"
"Hehe," Qin Changlin chuckled and said, "Can this really replace cornelian cherries?"
In ancient times, people would use cornelian cherries instead of chilies for spicier dishes. However, with the introduction of a wider variety of chili types, people stopped eating cornelian cherries and switched to chilies.
Gu Youyou said, "Actually, chilies have more value as a food ingredient than as a medicinal one. So those chilies... I think you understand what I’m getting at!"
Qin Changlin slowed his chewing of the chicken, thoughtfully pondering Gu Youyou’s words.