Chapter 24: Can’t Remember Who It Was
“Dad, big brother, I’m going with you tomorrow,” Wen Yao suddenly said.
Wen Xiuyi looked up. “You need to buy something? Just tell your brother to get it for you. It’s such a long walk there and back, it’s tiring.”
With no transportation and poor roads, Wen Xiuyi couldn’t bear for Wen Yao to suffer through it.
And if they all went, what about Datou? Should they send him to the old house again?
Wen Yao sat up properly. “I was thinking—our fried rice business is starting to pick up a bit now. Maybe we could add something else to sell alongside it.”
“Add what?” Wen Xiuyi asked. He didn’t mind selling more as long as it made money.
Wen Yao rubbed her hands. “What about braised food? We make it at home, slice and weigh it at the stall—it’s not too much work. If someone wants a little extra with their meal, we can sell them a plate. Tomorrow I’ll go to the general store and see what spices they’ve got. If anything’s missing, we still have that… you know.”
She winked at the two of them. Since the space had been given to her, there was no reason not to use it. She couldn’t go around introducing bizarre things that would disrupt the balance of this world, but satisfying cravings? That should be fine.
Besides, if the space really vanished one day—like when the heroine of the book appeared—she’d better make enough money and stockpile enough goods for herself while she still could.
Wen Xiuyi thought it over and agreed.
“Right, braised food isn’t that much extra work. We’ll just buy another long table from Liuzi’s house and set it up beside the stall. Okay, you can come with us tomorrow. But what about Datou?” He looked down at his son. “Son, your sister won’t be home tomorrow. Can you stay at Grandma’s for the day?”
Surprisingly, none of the three saw a fussing Datou—only a very obedient Datou nodding his head.
“Good boy. Ask your sister to buy you candy. She’s rich now—the richest one in the whole family,” Wen Xiuyi said with a laugh.
Wen Yao lifted her chin proudly. “Exactly. As long as you call me sister, I’ll buy you super tasty candy tomorrow.”
White Rabbit milk candy—enough to make you cry with happiness!
Wen Xiuyi and Wen Jun also looked at Datou. Though Wen Yao seemed to be teasing, all three had a flicker of hope in their eyes. Just one word, even one, from the child would be enough.
Unfortunately, Datou only stared at her with his big eyes, not saying a word.
Wen Xiuyi let out a silent sigh and ruffled his hair. “It’s fine, no rush.”
Even if he never spoke a word in his life, the three of them would be there. As long as they were around, Datou could live a carefree, happy life. All that darkness from the original story—be gone, be gone, be gone!
The next day, after preparing everything, the three of them dropped Datou off at the old house and headed out.
Compared to the first time, they were much more experienced now.
Wen Yao went with them to the docks and helped get the stall set up. Before mealtime, Wen Xiuyi told Wen Jun to go with her to shop.
The siblings asked Liuzi to lend Wen Xiuyi a hand before heading off with a basket.
By this hour, the streets were already busy. They went straight to the general store they’d visited before. After checking all the available spices, they bought a few, but several key ingredients were missing.
“Angelica, licorice—those we’ll probably have to get from the pharmacy,” Wen Jun said as he watched Wen Yao sort through everything, muttering about what was still lacking.
Indeed, a proper braising broth needed several medicinal herbs. They’d have to visit the pharmacy again.
So the two of them made their way back to the pharmacy where they’d sold herbs before. As soon as they arrived, the shop assistant recognized them and came out smiling.
“Here to sell herbs again? I’ll go call the shopkeeper.”
Wen Yao quickly stopped him. “Big brother, we’re not selling herbs today—we’re buying. Do you have galangal, long pepper, licorice, angelica, and costus root?”
The assistant nodded. “We do. Someone in your family sick? Have you seen a doctor? If someone’s unwell, you can’t just self-medicate.”
Wen Yao hurriedly explained, “No, no, we’re using them as seasoning.”
The assistant scratched his head, embarrassed. “Ah, sorry about that. How much do you want?”
“One liang of each,” Wen Yao said, holding up one finger.
The assistant acknowledged and went to the medicine cabinet to prepare the herbs.
Wen Yao and Wen Jun stepped aside so as not to block the patients. While waiting, they noticed a table on the other side of the shop. Behind it sat an elderly physician treating patients.
Before long, the assistant returned with their herbs, neatly measured and wrapped. Noticing their gaze, he smiled. “That’s Doctor Jin, our in-house physician at Jishi Hall. The shopkeeper says he used to be an imperial doctor. He returned to his hometown in his old age and now treats patients here.”
Wen Yao’s eyes widened. “An imperial physician? That impressive?”
Jin… Used to be an imperial doctor… Why did that sound so familiar?
It felt like something from the book. But right now, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember where she had read it. It had to be in the original novel somewhere.
The more anxious she got, the harder it was to recall. She absentmindedly reached up to scratch her head.
Wen Jun, catching her gesture out of the corner of his eye, swiftly grabbed her hand. “What are you thinking about again?”
He was really scared his sister would yank out her own hair one day from overthinking.
Wen Yao shook him off and muttered, “Where did I see it…”
Wen Jun instantly knew it had to be something from the novel. He took out some coins, paid for the herbs, thanked the assistant, and pulled her out of the shop.
Once they reached a quiet alley, he lowered his voice and asked, “Yao’er, what did you remember now?”
Wen Yao glanced around, then said, “That assistant said the doctor’s surname is Jin and he used to be an imperial physician. I swear I’ve read about someone like that in the book, but I just can’t remember when or why he showed up.”
Wen Jun let out a breath of relief. He’d been afraid it was some major plot character again. “If you recognize the name but can’t recall the details, he’s probably just a minor character. Won’t impact the story much. Don’t stress about it. The male and female leads haven’t even shown up yet, and Datou’s still safe at home. Now, anything else we need to buy?”
Wen Yao, distracted from her thoughts, finally gave up trying to remember.
“Let’s go. Time to hit the market for some meat. If we’re lucky and find a whole pig’s head, that’d be amazing.”
She swallowed at the thought—braised pig’s head meat, so damn good. Just not sure if she had enough money in her pouch to buy one.
