Chapter 202: Seeking a Doctor

The father and daughter were assigned to this young doctor.

They exchanged a glance and could only steel themselves and step forward.

The young doctor gave Yan Yu a quick glance, then fixed his gaze on Yan Lao’er.

“Sit.”

Yan Lao’er sat down as instructed. Just as he was about to speak, the doctor added, “Stretch out your hand.”

“We were hoping to invite Doctor An to make a house call.” Under the young doctor’s palpable gaze, Yan Lao’er involuntarily extended his wrist, muttering.

“What’s the illness?”

“High fever, vomiting,” Yan Lao’er answered honestly.

“How long has it been?”

“Several days.”

“This person—what’s their relation to you?”

Yan Lao’er hesitated: “…A fellow villager.”

The young doctor let go of his wrist and said, “Heart fire is blazing. Seems this fellow villager means a lot to you.”

Before Yan Lao’er could respond, the doctor said, “If you’re here to ask me to go to Gufeng, then please leave. You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last. My answer is the same—please go back.”

Yan Yu realized then—this young man was Doctor An.

“Doctor An, we’re not asking you to go to Gufeng. It’s Crouching Tiger.”

Doctor An let out an “oh” and said calmly, “So Crouching Tiger has an epidemic too.”

The father and daughter exchanged glances—this Doctor An knew everything.

“To tell you the truth, Crouching Tiger is under lockdown. My eldest brother is still in the city. There’s a severe shortage of doctors and medicine, which is why we came to Yongning to seek help.”

Doctor An sighed, a look of fatigue deepening between his brows. “I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it once more to you: even if I go, there’s nothing I can do.

I can write prescriptions—but can you get the medicine?

Because of the outbreak in Gufeng, the authorities have already diverted nearly half of Yongning’s medicinal supply. In this city, the remaining herbs for treating epidemics are few and far between. They’re being hoarded for emergencies or sold at sky-high prices.

Even if I went, I’d be powerless.”

Yan Lao’er and Yan Yu were stunned.

So the hard part wasn’t finding a doctor—it was the lack of medicine.

Yan Yu stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Doctor An, what if we can get the medicine? Would you be willing to come then?”

Doctor An looked at the child in surprise.

A child of only five or six, yet saying something so astonishing.

Herbs were in short supply—any remaining stock in Yongning would be priced several times higher.

“My family has a batch of herbs. We’ve had them for a while but haven’t gone through them properly yet. There might be some that are useful. Doctor An, would you come take a look? Our home isn’t far—it’s by a river on the road from Yongning to Crouching Tiger. Our village is right along the riverbank, far from any towns, so we rarely leave the village. Everyone’s still healthy. Not a single case of illness.”

Yan Yu mustered all her strength to persuade Doctor An.

Her tender voice, those earnest eyes…

It was really hard to say no.

Doctor An lowered his gaze, his long lashes trembling faintly.

Yan Yu bit her lip, holding her breath until her face turned red.

Then she opened her eyes wide, trying to make them appear more dewy and pitiful.

She pleaded softly, “Doctor An, please, I beg you—help us.”

The young doctor finally agreed. It wasn’t the child’s plea alone that moved him—what ultimately convinced him to go in person was confirming from an adult, Yan Lao’er, that this batch of herbs truly existed.

“Wait here a moment. I’ll pack my things,” said Doctor An.

Yan Lao’er took the chance to say, “Doctor An, please take your time. I have a few things to take care of. Would you mind waiting here? As soon as I finish, I’ll come fetch you.”

Doctor An nodded. Yan Lao’er and Yan Yu hurried off.

From the north of the city to the south, Yan Lao’er bought up all the offal from every meat stall he saw.

To keep up appearances, he also bought some good cuts of meat and even haggled a little.

Yan Yu silently loaded everything onto the cart.

By the time they reached the first shop where Yan Lao’er had ever taken a charcoal order in Yongning, the cart was already piled high with pork and offal.

The auntie who came out was startled.

“This much? I can’t take all of it. Hold on, I’ll ask the neighboring stalls.”

She was very warm-hearted.

Yan Lao’er was always sincere about keeping up with his clients—he didn’t just make a one-time sale and vanish.

Every time he came to Yongning, if he had time, he’d visit old clients and bring them country fare—wild greens, small fish and shrimp from the river, duck eggs from the reeds… to maintain good relations.

So the auntie was naturally fond of him. She’d even said last time that if he caught wild game, just bring it over.

She didn’t say “ask first”—she said “just bring it.” That made a big difference.

Now, seeing a whole cart of meat, and knowing her household couldn’t possibly use that much, her first reaction was to help him sell it.

Yan Lao’er really had a gift for personal connections.

“Auntie, no rush. I brought something else today and was hoping you could help me ask your mistress if she might need it.” He shyly took out some perfumed soap.

The square bar of fragrant soap instantly caught the auntie’s attention.

“This is scented soap? Oh wow, it looks quite fancy.” She picked it up, sniffed it, and rubbed the edge with her finger. “This must be expensive, huh? It even has writing on it—what’s it say?”

She couldn’t read.

“It says ‘Hidden Fragrance,’” Yan Lao’er replied, already having prepared his pitch. “My family originally planned to rent a shop and sell these exclusively. We put a lot of effort into the branding and stocked up plenty of inventory.

But just as we finalized everything, the landlord suddenly backed out. Then something urgent came up at home, and we needed money fast. I had to use the shop rental funds.

If I take this soap to someone else’s store, they’ll definitely try to lowball me. But I need the money now…”

The auntie studied the soap. “You’re right. Selling it yourself versus wholesaling to a shop—there’s a big difference. And the shape’s quite unique. Once they see it, they’ll copy it. Then they’ll offer you a low price, and if you refuse, they won’t take it—they’ll just copy it.”

“You’re sharp as ever, Auntie,” Yan Lao’er said with praise. “You’ve always been my good luck charm. Kind-hearted, well-connected. It was thanks to your help introducing customers that my charcoal business took off.

Now that I’m in trouble, you were the first person I thought of.”

The auntie weighed it over and agreed readily. “Alright, I’ll ask around. It’s no trouble. Tell me—how much are you planning to sell this for?”

“If it were in a store, it’d go for one tael and four qian. Without the overhead, one tael and two is enough.”

The auntie laughed heartily. “Wait here—I’ll be right back.”

Not long after, she returned with a young maid in tow.

“You’ve got good luck. Our young miss happened to be visiting Madam when she saw this soap and said the name was nice. Here—take it. She wants five bars.” She quickly stuffed silver into Yan Lao’er’s hand and pushed it down firmly.
—

Side note:
Might someone question why this perfumed soap is so expensive? Based on gathered info—most ordinary folks wouldn’t buy such luxury cleaning products. They used soapberry or Chinese honey locust instead. These shop items were consumed only by households with a bit of disposable income. Even rice-washing water was precious—it wasn’t used daily, since people didn’t eat rice every day. It was saved, fermented a bit, and used only when enough had accumulated. Yes, it smelled slightly sour, but it was said to be great for washing hair…

(End of Chapter)