The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 273 - 269: Breaking Off All Ties

Chapter 273: Chapter 269: Breaking Off All Ties

After the washing-three ceremony ended, Xuanbao left with Madam Liu.

This time, it was Brother He who drove the carriage to take them into the city.

Xiaohong had already completed her month-long postpartum confinement and could now drive the carriage.

Therefore, the family now had two carriages, one stationed in the city and another left in the village.

After leaving the Zhang Family, Madam Liu went to the Academy to deliver some food to Master Liu, who had classes that morning and was not at home. She merely set down the items, left a note, and departed.

Now that the family had opened a bookstore in the city and the children were studying at the Academy, Madam Liu and Madam Jiang often stayed in the city for periods of time to take care of their husband and children, and to offer help.

Madam Liu, as long as she was in the city, would visit Master Liu every few days. When he was not too busy after classes, he would help out at the bookstore or give guidance on homework to his son-in-law and grandson. They met frequently, so Madam Liu did not wait for Master Liu and left after setting down her things.

After the mother and daughter left the Academy, they headed straight to the bookstore, where they left a heap of food.

Recently, due to the autumn imperial examination being imminent, the bookstore’s business was thriving. Every day many people came to read books, while others bought books to take home.

There were also quite a few scholars who specifically came to discuss knowledge with Ruo Shui and Ruo Jiang.

Ruo Shui and Ruo Jiang had become acquainted with many scholars during their time at the bookstore. Some of them, upon learning the two were behind "In the Water’s Edge" and "Mountains Need Not Be High," frequently came to exchange knowledge with them.

Seeing her husband was entertaining guests, Madam Liu did not linger and took Xuanbao home with her.

On their way, they stopped by Fang’s Medical Clinic to bring some food for her younger brother-in-law.

Whenever a family member made a trip home before heading back into the city, they would bring some food to the city and then deliver a portion to Ruo Shan.

The carriage stopped not far from Fang’s Medical Clinic.

There was a crowd surrounding Fang’s Medical Clinic, and from inside the carriage, Xuanbao could hear someone loudly berating from inside the clinic.

Inside, a middle-aged man and a woman were loudly scolding Ruo Shan.

"Your clinic’s attendant mixed up the medicines, causing my father to take the wrong prescription, leading to vomiting and diarrhea. You must provide us with an explanation!"

"We came here because we heard that Doctor Fang of Fang’s Medical Clinic was highly skilled. Never did we expect that even the attendants here cannot distinguish the medicinal herbs. This time my father only suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. What if the wrong medicine had been poison? Wouldn’t he be dead? If your clinic does not give us an explanation today, don’t bother opening again in the future; you might end up harming more lives!"

Ruo Shan looked at the prescription in disbelief. The day he dispensed the herbs, the prescription was clearly not written like this. He had even felt that the dosage of two similar herbs in the prescription might have been reversed; after all, one of them was slightly toxic, and an overdose could potentially poison a patient, although not necessarily if their constitution was strong. He even asked Fang Boshan, who assured him there was no mistake.

But now, the dosages for those two similarly named herbs on the prescription had been altered.

At this moment, Madam Zhuang stepped forward: "Ruo Shan, you’ve been an attendant here for so long, yet you still make such a basic mistake!"

Ruo Shan frowned, "That’s not right, the dosages on this prescription are incorrect! Doctor Fang..."

Ruo Shan looked to Fang Boshan.

Fang Boshan avoided Ruo Shan’s gaze.

The prescription had been altered by his wife, Madam Zhuang, and he originally did not agree with it. He did not want to shift the blame onto Ruo Shan.

However, Madam Zhuang was right; Ruo Shan was merely an attendant, and it was quite normal for an attendant to mix up medicines. Since no one had died, compensating with some silver would resolve the matter, and after a while, everyone would forget, without affecting his future medical practice.

But if he, a doctor, made an error in the prescription, who would dare to seek his treatment in the future? This could also affect the business of the clinic and tarnish his father’s reputation.

The most important thing was that he was about to participate in the Pharmacist Association’s competition; his reputation couldn’t be damaged.

The consequences of an attendant grabbing the wrong medicine are far lighter than those of a doctor prescribing the wrong medicine, causing the least harm to the medical clinic.

Although Fang Boshan felt guilty, after weighing the pros and cons, he could only let Madam Zhang push all the blame onto Ruo Shan.

He would definitely compensate Ruo Shan later.

Ruo Shan still had some things unclear, he was just about to say something.

That’s when Fang Yingying tugged at his sleeve, "Brother Ruo Shan, bitter almonds and sweet almonds look so similar—it’s normal for you to have grabbed the wrong one."

Ruo Shan looked at her in disbelief.

This was the woman he loved!

She actually didn’t believe him?

Fang Yingying’s eyes were filled with pleading; her elder brother’s reputation couldn’t be ruined. If her elder brother’s reputation was ruined, the clinic’s reputation would be ruined too.

Moreover, her mother had promised that if Ruo Shan admitted that it was he who had grabbed the wrong medicine, she would consent to Ruo Shan’s marriage proposal.

At that moment, the middle-aged man began speaking again, "Since your medical clinic admits to the mistake of grabbing the wrong medicine, you should quickly give us an explanation!"

Madam Zhang immediately responded, "Rest assured, Master Pan, I will definitely give you an explanation!"

Then she looked at Ruo Shan with disappointment, "Ruo Shan, the clinic is here to save lives and heal the sick; every packet of medicinal herbs concerns the patient’s life. How could you be so careless? This time I can’t save you anymore; you can’t stay in the clinic any longer. Considering your many years at the clinic, even though you have no merits, you have worked hard, so you don’t need to compensate with silver. Pack your belongings and go home! You’re always so careless in your duties; you’re not suitable to be an attendant, let alone a doctor. This isn’t the first time you’ve grabbed the wrong medicine. If it weren’t for my husband noticing in time, lives would have already been lost."

With these words, Madam Zhang effectively blocked Ruo Shan’s future path as a doctor.

An attendant who often makes mistakes in grabbing medicine still wants to be a doctor? Is this to treat and save people or to poison them?

Then Madam Zhang said to the middle-aged man, "Master Pan, this incident is all our medical attendant’s fault. Our clinic is willing to compensate with a decade-old Lingzhi mushroom. What do you think?"

Master Pan snorted coldly, "Fine! I won’t hold this against you for the sake of Doctor Fang’s face. But your clinic needs to be more careful in the future, don’t hire such attendants anymore!"

Madam Zhang agreed repeatedly.

The onlookers also chimed in, "We always thought this attendant was quite attentive when we came to get treatment. It’s odd that he has been an attendant for so many years and never learned medical skills to become a doctor. Could it be that he’s really that unreliable?"

"Such a careless person, how could Fang’s Medical Clinic dare to employ him? He should have been dismissed long ago!"

"This is tragic; I’ve taken medicine he prepared too. No wonder I had diarrhea after taking it last time! He didn’t grab the wrong one, did he?"

...

Ruo Shan wanted to say something, but Fang Yingying was tightly gripping his sleeve.

Seeing the pleading in her eyes, he suddenly felt his heart turn to ashes.

He had been in the clinic for so many years, he understood everything that needed to be understood. It was only because he had been constantly held back, never being allowed to treat patients. But to repay his debt and for her, he was willing to be an attendant with no complaints. To be with her, he had endured humiliation time and time again, holding back against Madam Zhang’s repeated slander.

But now there was no need to stay, right?

After this incident, he had repaid his debt and returned her favor.