Chapter 6: Quack Doctor

Early the next morning, Du Ruo drank a bowl of wild vegetable porridge so thin she could see her reflection, and then followed Jiang Cheng to Doctor Gu's house.

Doctor Gu was the only barefoot doctor in the village, with ancestral skills. Villagers would go to him for any headache or fever, much more convenient than going to the medical clinic in town.

"My master's medical skills are very good, not worse than those sitting doctors, he will definitely be able to cure your face, sister-in-law." Jiang Cheng comforted her while walking, and after thinking about it, added, "It's just that his words aren't very pleasant, don't take it to heart."

Du Ruo said oh.

Actually, she could cure it herself, but first, she had no money, and she couldn't buy the medicine she wanted; second, the original owner was just an ordinary village girl who didn't know many characters, so how could she explain that she knew medicine?

She could only take it one step at a time. If this Doctor Gu was really as powerful as Jiang Cheng said, that would be the best.

Doctor Gu's house was at the west end of the village, about a quarter of an hour's walk. On the way, they inevitably met some people, all of whom looked at her with very strange eyes.

Du Ruo vaguely heard a few words, it seemed to be how ugly, how scary, how pitiful, anyway, none of them were good words.

Du Ruo smiled and didn't care.

Doctor Gu was considered a decent person in the village, so he lived better than the surrounding families, with blue bricks and black tiles. Some medicinal herbs were drying under the osmanthus tree in the courtyard. Before they even entered the door, the unique fragrance of medicinal herbs drifted into their noses.

"Master, I brought my sister-in-law over." Jiang Cheng's attitude was respectful.

Doctor Gu was eating. Hearing this, he put down his bowl, looked Du Ruo up and down, and asked: "Did you bring the money?"

"Brought it, brought it!" Master never owed money, Jiang Cheng naturally knew.

Doctor Gu nodded, signaled Du Ruo to stretch out her hand, closed his eyes, and began to focus on taking her pulse.

Suddenly, he said "Eh": "You're poisoned?"

Du Ruo was overjoyed.

This doctor looked unremarkable and not very old, but she didn't expect his skills to be quite good, as he immediately saw she was poisoned.

"Can it be cured?" She asked.

Doctor Gu didn't answer but turned to look at Jiang Cheng, "How much money did you bring?"

Jiang Cheng hurriedly took out a string of copper coins from his bosom and held it in front of him, saying: "One hundred wen, Master, do you think it's enough?"

Doctor Gu put the money into his pocket, his expression a bit impatient, "How is this little money enough? The toxins in her body have already spread to the six internal organs. If it drags on like this, not only will her face rot, but her life won't be saved."

Jiang Cheng was shocked, "Then what should we do?"

Doctor Gu stroked his three-strand beard and said: "Like this, I'll prescribe a dose of detoxifying medicine for you to take back. Her situation is very serious, and she must take it for at least two months."

As he spoke, he casually took a pack of medicine from the shelf behind him and handed it to Du Ruo, "Boil three bowls of water into one, and come back for a follow-up visit in two days."

Du Ruo took the medicine and rubbed her hands back and forth on the medicine bag.

"Third-rate quack." In her mind, the system had already detected the ingredients in the medicine bag, its mechanical voice carrying obvious disdain, "It's just some of the most common medicinal herbs like honeysuckle, wild chrysanthemum, and dandelion, and they are of the lowest quality. According to the prices of this era, ten wen is the limit, and he actually had the nerve to charge one hundred wen. Your third brother-in-law is his own apprentice, his heart is really black."

The key was that it didn't help her condition at all, it could only be said that it wouldn't kill anyone.

Du Ruo's hands paused, then she pushed the medicine back and smiled: "Forget it, this medicine is too expensive, I can't afford it."

"What do you mean by that?" Doctor Gu's horse face pulled down, "These are all top-quality medicinal herbs. If it weren't for the sake of Third Brother, I wouldn't even be willing to give it to you for two hundred wen!"

Jiang Cheng thought Du Ruo was distressed about the money and followed suit to persuade: "Yes, sister-in-law, your illness is important."

Du Ruo was speechless, this little fool.

"No need, I don't want the medicine." Her hand reached directly in front of Doctor Gu, "Please return the money to me."

Doctor Gu had no choice but to take out the string of copper coins and threw it into her hand in a rage, sneering: "If you can't bear to spend money, why come for a medical visit? Why not just lie at home and wait for death? Wasting my time!"

Du Ruo narrowed her eyes.

Those who learn medicine must first learn to be human. This Doctor Gu's character was not good, his mouth was poisonous and his heart was black. Where was he worthy of being a doctor who saves lives and heals the wounded? She didn't know how many patients had been pitted by him before.

She put the copper coins on the table and said indifferently: "This is the consultation fee."

He wasn't a doctor with morals, but she was a patient with morals. No matter what, the registration fee had to be paid.

After speaking, she turned and left.

Jiang Cheng looked at his master who was blowing his beard and staring, then at Du Ruo who was walking further and further away, stomped his feet, and resignedly chased after her.

"Sister-in-law, wait for me!"

On the way back, Jiang Cheng's mouth kept nagging, worrying about his master being angry for a while, and worrying about Du Ruo's illness for a while. His two thick lips were almost worn out.

"Alright, stop nagging." Du Ruo was annoyed by him, "Little Third, how long have you been learning medicine from your master?"

Jiang Cheng counted with his fingers: "About two years."

"Two years... that's not a short time. Then what have you learned? Can you take a pulse? Can you distinguish medicine? Can you do acupuncture?"

Jiang Cheng's dark face began to turn red, and he said awkwardly: "... No, none of them."

As expected.

Du Ruo nodded and continued to ask: "Is it that you have no talent, or your master refuses to teach you?"

"No." Jiang Cheng hurriedly defended Doctor Gu, "Master said, learning medicine is not a matter of one morning or evening, and it can't be achieved without time. So Master let me start from the basics, learning how to collect medicine, grind medicine, recognize medicine, and Master would take me with him when he went out for visits..."

"Is it that he let you carry the medicine box, or help patients boil medicine, or when patients couldn't get up, let you turn them over?"

Jiang Cheng was stunned: "How do you know?"

Du Ruo sighed.

This child was brainless, having been a free laborer for two years without knowing it. Why wasn't Doctor Gu afraid that Jiang Cheng would go home and find out that the pack of medicine was of poor quality? It was because for two years, he hadn't even taught his apprentice how to distinguish medicine!

"I ask you, why did your master accept you in the first place?" Du Ruo tried hard to wake up this stupid child.

Speaking of this, Jiang Cheng became energetic, "Back then, many people in the village wanted to apprentice under Doctor Gu, but Master only picked me! Master said, among so many people, I have the most wisdom, am the most honest, and the most diligent!"

Du Ruo rolled her eyes: "In short, you are the stupidest."

"........." Jiang Cheng was aggrieved and a bit unconvinced, "Sister-in-law, how come you are the same as my eldest brother!"

Du Ruo didn't stimulate him anymore.

Jiang Cheng's personality, to put it nicely, is simple; to put it not so nicely, it's stubborn. His own eldest brother couldn't convince him, so she, a sister-in-law who had just entered the door and hadn't even sat down, couldn't even think about it.

No rush, people, after all, have to hit the south wall before they know how thick the wall is and how painful the head is. Jiang Cheng would know how stupid he was one day, and then he would grow up.

Since it didn't work here with Doctor Gu, she had to find another way for her illness. Du Mingzhu gave her chronic poison, which wasn't difficult to condition, but there were a few rare and expensive medicinal herbs, and with the string of copper coins in her hand, she was afraid she couldn't even buy a dreg of medicine.

Or wait until she completed the task released by the system, earned enough points, unlocked the system mall, and then bought the antidote in the mall.

Unfortunately, no matter which method, she faced the same difficulty—that was money.

How could she earn quick money...

Du Ruo fell into deep thought.

In her ear, that husky was still nagging: "Actually, I don't really like learning medicine, but my brain is stupid, reading is no good, hunting is no good, eldest brother says I'm not even as smart as the wild boars in the mountains..."

In the mountains? Du Ruo suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

That's right, if she couldn't afford medicine, she could pick it herself!

Even if she couldn't pick medicine, picking some mountain goods to exchange for money was good. In the novels she read before, which traveler girl didn't have divine help when entering the mountains, picking up rabbits by bending over, stepping on ginseng by slipping, or at worst bringing back a few wild chicken eggs? Anyway, she would never return empty-handed.

As a traveler girl, Du Ruo planned to try her luck.

Worried that Jiang Cheng would be suspicious when picking medicine, she found an excuse to send him home and went to the back mountain by herself.

The back mountain was not far from the village, but Du Ruo was too fat and her body was weak, so it took her a full quarter of an hour to reach the foot of the mountain, and she was panting.

She rested for a while and started looking for medicinal herbs that could detoxify in the mountains.

Du Ruo didn't dare to enter the deep mountains. Although 200 jin of fat was not a small amount, it wasn't enough to fill the teeth of a wolf pack, so she'd better be safe. The periphery was safe, but unfortunately, things that could be exchanged for money had long been picked by the villagers. After turning around for a long time, except for a few inconspicuous medicinal herbs, let alone rabbits and ginseng, she didn't even find a cow-dung mushroom!

Du Ruo held her sore and swollen waist and looked up at the sky silently.

She was definitely not the biological daughter of the traveler god; this luck was too bad??

Seeing that the sun had risen to the treetops, the temperature in the mountains was getting higher and higher. If she stayed any longer, she might get heatstroke, so Du Ruo had to return home.

After entering her own dilapidated courtyard, Du Ruo soon noticed something wrong.

The house was quiet, with no movement at all, even the depressed big black dog in the family was shrinking in the corner of the courtyard, trying to minimize its presence.

The atmosphere was a bit weird. ===== CHAPTER 7 =====