The next day, Yue Rujing indeed accompanied Gu Youyou to Jisheng Hall. His white clothing was too ostentatious, and in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Gu Youyou insisted he change into the attire of an ordinary worker, which he looked down upon for quite a while.
Even dressed in plain clothes, his good looks still caused quite a lot of trouble.
The youngest daughter of the affluent Fo family turned fifteen this year, which was the right age to discuss marriage. Unfortunately, in Qingshui Town, since their Fo family was the wealthiest, it had been difficult to find a suitable match despite their efforts.
Today, she followed her maid to Jisheng Hall for a medical visit and was immediately attracted to the handsome medicine dispensing worker, then insisted none of the girls and women in her household knew how to decoct medicine. She demanded that Jisheng Hall take responsibility for preparing her medication.
Hadn’t Gu Youyou seen such scenes before? She would have intervened if it were someone else, but with Yue Rujing, she was quite happy to watch him in trouble.
Gu Youyou said to Miss Fo with a smile, "Miss Fo, the medicine decocted by our workers is naturally a bit better than what ordinary people prepare. Leave the medicine here, and I’ll have them take it in to prepare. You can sit here, have some tea, and wait. Once it’s ready, I’ll bring it to you!"
"That’s good. Finally, someone who understands," Miss Fo signaled her maid to give some silver to Gu Youyou, and said, "This is a reward for you from this young miss. If the medicine is well-prepared, there will be extra benefits."
Qin Changlin had been trying in vain for quite some time to excuse himself from the task and was visibly annoyed when Gu Youyou straightforwardly took it on. He gave her meaningful looks and gestures.
Gu Youyou smiled, paid him no mind, and just took the medicine into the inner courtyard.
Following her in, Qin Changlin asked in confusion, "Sister Youyou, that Fo Youmeng is doing this on purpose. How could you agree to her demands?"
Gu Youyou replied with a light smile, "Isn’t serving our patients what we’re supposed to do running a medical hall? Besides, we’re getting paid in silver."
"But we’ve never had to prepare medicine for someone before!"
"One must be flexible. What we haven’t done before doesn’t mean we can’t start now. Some patients must remain under a doctor’s care to ensure their safety at all times. We can set up beds in the back courtyard for them and offer inpatient treatment. In this way, we can reduce our visits outside, yet earn a good amount of silver. Understand?"
Gu Youyou looked around the spacious back courtyard with its many vacant rooms, thinking it was time to consider setting up some wards.
Qin Changlin, already a shrewd businessman, immediately grasped her idea the moment she mentioned it.
"Ah, that makes sense! Sister Youyou, we can convert some rooms and rent them out to seriously ill patients, plus charge them rent, right?"
Gu Youyou praised, "Well taught. Not only should we charge rent, but also for nursing care. We must charge a consultation fee for each visit as well, and the amount shouldn’t be much less than what we charge for house calls."
Qin Changlin nodded silently, his gaze turning sympathetically towards Yue Rujing, who was being badgered by Miss Fo to the point of irritation.
This young miss would most certainly be our first inpatient customer!
The special tools Gu Youyou needed had been completed, a total of two, with Qin Changlin keeping one for himself.
"Sister Youyou, is this the type of knife you were talking about?"
Gu Youyou took it and examined it, testing the sharpness of the knife and feeling quite satisfied.
She said, "A knife will do. Find some time to prepare a pack of Knockout Drug for Yuancheng too!"
Though aware it was for medical purposes, Qin Changlin still couldn’t help but feel a shiver down his spine.