Baohe Hall is a century-old medical center, where medicines of all kinds are available at fair prices, and the doctors on duty are carefully selected for their virtuous character.
The space of the Medical Center is vast, spacious and open, with an antique and elegant decoration that carries the flavor of years gone by. Extensive shelves line the lengthy east, west, and north walls, made up of numerous small drawers. Each drawer is labeled with the name of the medicine it contains, with thousands of medicines stored on the three walls.
A few nimble youngsters stand on either side of the entrance of the Medical Center. As soon as someone comes in, they greet them in turn, directing them to a doctor who specializes in their particular ailment for treatment.
There are four doctors in the Medical Center, all senior physicians. They sit around the perimeter of the center, methodically treating patients.
As soon as Cai Wei and the others stepped inside, a young shop assistant came over, warmly greeting them, "Ladies and young masters, please come in. Are you here for medical treatment or to pick up medicine?"
Cai Wei briefly explained her father’s condition. The shop assistant listened carefully, then immediately ushered them over to an elderly doctor near the south window and relayed Cai Wei’s words to him.
The old doctor had a benevolent demeanor and kindly eyes, showing him to be a compassionate old man.
After listening to the shop assistant’s recap, the old doctor pondered for a moment and said: "From what you’ve described, your father’s condition arises from excessive mental and physical strain, nutritional deficiency, and a sudden attack of heart fire. The condition is both weighty and light; if he rests and recuperates well, a few doses of medicine can greatly improve his condition, otherwise, it might endanger his life."
Cai Fei became anxious upon hearing the words ’endanger his life’, and hurriedly asked: "Doctor, what should we do then?"
The old doctor said: "The urgent matter at hand for your father’s condition is to rest peacefully and recuperate. If you can afford it, the best remedy would be ’Ginseng Soup’ for nourishment. It works quickly and replenishes qi and strengthens the body.
Ginseng Soup, as the name implies, is a soup made solely from ginseng. Cai Wei blinked her eyes; her space was already overflowing with ginseng, enough to fill a whole cart, just from the thousand-year-old ginseng.
"However, I don’t know why, but recently, medicine merchants from the Liaodan kingdom have been buying up ginseng in our Great Jin dynasty on a large scale. Many pharmacies have sold out of ginseng, or if they do have it, the stock is extremely low. Naturally, this makes it a rare and expensive commodity with a high price. Even a small, three to five-year-old ginseng sells at ten taels of silver, so if you find this difficult, I can prescribe some other nourishing medicines for you instead. However, their effects are slower than that of ginseng."
When Cai Fei heard that a small ginseng could cost ten taels of silver, she bit her lip and looked at Cai Wei in silence. Wen’er and Wu’er also stared at their sister with big, expectant eyes.
A twitch ran through the corner of Cai Wei’s mouth as a pain shot through her heart.
So, her brothers were waiting for her to speak up and provide the money. If she didn’t buy the ginseng, they would be disappointed in her. But if she did buy it, considering the amount of thousand-year-old ginsengor even more numerous than white radishes she had in the forest of her space, the loss seemed unbearable.
After taking all factors into consideration, she made a wise choice between the money and her prestige as an older sister.
"Let’s buy it!" So, two thumb-thick, dry pieces of small ginseng – of uncertain age and potency – were purchased by Cai Wei for twenty-three taels and four coins. This made her internal organs writhe in pain, and she immediately decided to recoup her loss.
Given the currently high price of ginseng, rather than letting the ginseng in her space go to waste, it would be better to exchange it for silver. With good luck, she might even make a huge profit.