The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 934 - 913 Contract

Chapter 934: Chapter 913 Contract

Manbao’s connection with Jishi Hall could be traced back six or seven years, but she really began to understand Jishi Hall only after she went to Yizhou City.

The owner of Jishi Hall was surnamed Zheng and had connections to the Imperial Hospital. Shopkeeper Zheng had mentioned that a descendant from the direct line of the Zheng family had been admitted to the Imperial Hospital the year before last.

Since the owner’s surname was Zheng, all the managers in charge of the Jishi Halls elsewhere were Zheng family members, but Shopkeeper Zheng was from a fairly distant branch.

Still, his abilities were commendable, which allowed him to manage the Jishi Hall in Yizhou City, and even the entire Jiannan circuit was under his jurisdiction.

However impressive he was, he couldn’t compare to the Jishi Hall in the capital city.

Before her departure, Doctor Ji corresponded with her through letters, informing her that Zheng Yue from the capital city was from the second branch of the Zheng family and also from the direct line. Since Zheng Rui, who entered the Imperial Hospital, was the younger brother of Zheng Yue, he now held significant influence.

Jishi Hall in the capital city really listened to him, so he suggested that she come over to continue exchanging medical knowledge with Zheng Yue.

Manbao followed the clerk to the back courtyard, where she saw a person sitting on a stone bench. Around ten types of medicinal herbs were laid out on the stone table in front of him, and he was smelling one of them.

"Shopkeeper Zheng."

Shopkeeper Zheng heard the voice and looked up to see Manbao, who had followed the clerk in, "This is..."

"Shopkeeper Zheng, this is Young Lady Zhou from Yizhou."

Shopkeeper Zheng beamed with a smile, stood up to greet her, and said, "So this is Young Lady Zhou, indeed as youthful and promising as Ji described."

Manbao quickly responded with a greeting, "Doctor Ji has praised me too much, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Shopkeeper Zheng."

Shopkeeper Zheng hastily invited Manbao to sit and then noticed Dason, who was following her, "This gentleman is..."

Dason slightly bowed and said, "Miss, I’ll wait for you outside."

Manbao nodded, "You can go."

Dason then bowed respectfully and withdrew.

Shopkeeper Zheng’s gaze flickered as he glanced at Manbao’s letter, placed it beneath his hand, and chuckled, "A few days ago, I had already received a letter from Yizhou. I thought Young Lady Zhou would arrive in these few days."

He laughed, "I know you and Ji have a friendship that transcends age and have been exchanging medical expertise. The prescriptions and acupuncture techniques you provided have been of great assistance to Jishi Hall. I heard from Ji in a letter that you can now prescribe medicine and treat illnesses independently?"

Manbao nodded humbly, "It’s all thanks to Doctor Ji’s excellent teaching."

"That’s because Young Lady Zhou is so perceptive. My own son is still only scratching the surface," Shopkeeper Zheng laughed, "In that case, since Young Lady Zhou can prescribe independently, how about I set up a separate clinic for you here at Jishi Hall? As for the pay for attending as a doctor, what do you think of five taels of silver per month?"

Manbao’s mouth hung open as she pointed to herself and asked, "I get paid for attending clinic?"

Shopkeeper Zheng chuckled, "Naturally, if you are attending clinic to treat patients here, of course, you’ll get paid."

Manbao said apologetically, "But I am here to learn, and I can only come for half a day each day, as I need to go back home to study."

Shopkeeper Zheng said indifferently, "That’s not a problem. The pharmacy is indeed busier in the morning and sees fewer patients in the afternoon. You can just serve as the attending doctor for half a day. As for studying, which doctor isn’t learning while treating patients? Including myself, we have four doctors here at Jishi Hall. If you have any questions in the future, you can ask us, and we will communicate with you just as if you were still in Yizhou City."

Manbao hesitated.

When she was in Yizhou City, she did not charge any fees, mainly because Doctor Ji had said that she was already proficient in treating common ailments, but for serious or complex diseases, she still needed more practice. Therefore, although she was capable of prescribing treatments, Doctor Ji would always check her prescriptions to confirm that there were no issues.

She felt that already being able not to pay was pushing it, and to receive money would be too much.

While she was hesitating, Shopkeeper Zheng went into the room and brought out a contract to Manbao, smiling, "This is the treatment for our attending doctors. Take a look. In addition to the monthly salary of five silver taels, there are also two sets of clothes and shoes every quarter, and your family members will get some discounts when they come here for treatment and medicine..."

Manbao glanced over the dense terms of the contract and felt even more embarrassed. She placed the contract on the table and said guiltily, "Shopkeeper Zheng, I appreciate your kindness, but Doctor Ji said that only when I can make house calls with my own medicine chest will I truly be considered a qualified doctor. There’s still so much I need to learn. I am already very grateful that Jishi Hall is allowing me to study here; how can I dare to take such a generous salary?"

Manbao pushed the contract back and said, "I really don’t need the salary for attending work. Just provide me with a consultation room, and after I write prescriptions, I will still need Shopkeeper Zheng and the other doctors to help review them."

"Ah, you are being too formal, kid. Our doctors here start receiving salaries as soon as they are able to sit at the clinic and write prescriptions, so how can we treat you any differently in this regard?"

Shopkeeper Zheng was persistent in offering, while Manbao was equally persistent in declining.

But Shopkeeper Zheng had thicker skin, and Manbao, being younger and too modest, turned bright red in the face with just a few refusals. Yet she remembered her mother’s words that in life, it’s better to suffer a slight loss oneself than to take advantage of others. Otherwise, either your conscience won’t be clear, or you’ll end up at a greater disadvantage.

She felt that if she accepted this contract today, she would never be able to get over the hurdle in her heart. How could she face Doctor Ji when she went back to Yizhou City?

Although she was tempted, the five silver taels were evidently not as important as Doctor Ji. In order to avoid embarrassment when returning to see Doctor Ji, she decided to firmly decline.

So, with determination in her heart, she stood up, picked up her little basket, and said, "Shopkeeper Zheng, if you keep insisting, I will feel too embarrassed to hang my plaque at Jishi Hall. I’ll look elsewhere."

Shopkeeper Zheng: ...

He hurriedly stopped Manbao and carefully observed her expression for a moment before sighing and nodding, "Alright, if you don’t want it, you don’t want it. I’ll provide you with a consultation room then."

Manbao breathed a sigh of relief and repeatedly bowed to Shopkeeper Zheng, her face bright with a radiant smile, "Thank you, Shopkeeper Zheng. I hope to learn much from you in the future."

Shopkeeper Zheng twitched the corners of his mouth and said, "No, let’s learn from each other and make progress."

Once the matter was settled, Shopkeeper Zheng led Manbao to meet the other people in the pharmacy.

The location of Jishi Hall was very spacious; the main hall was divided into three sections, with the medicine counter in the middle and a long row of medicine cabinets for storing the herbs.

Directly opposite the counter were three rooms that took up most of the space in the pharmacy, and behind the medicine cabinets was another room, which was where Shopkeeper Zheng saw his patients. Usually, his regulars who didn’t want to wait with other patients came there and didn’t mind spending more.

What Manbao didn’t know was that the second floor was also dedicated to consultations, furnished with several small private rooms. Usually, only the wealthy or noble were able to go up there.

Thus, there was no concern of crowding by adding Manbao to Jishi Hall, because Shopkeeper Zheng had directly moved Doctor Gu, the best doctor in the shop, to his own consulting room, and Manbao could use Doctor Gu’s room when she came in tomorrow.

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