Chapter 48: Little Pharmacy Apprentice 2

Chapter 48: The Little Pharmacy Apprentice 2

After seeing his husband, who had been frowning and sighing, even turning over in his sleep, for two days, suddenly all smiles today, Gu Wen kept stealing curious glances at him.

Chen Youyan naturally knew why Gu Wen was surprised.

Usually at this hour, Gu Wen would find him a nuisance, but today he was in a genuinely great mood, and Chen Youyan remained cheerful and beaming.

That lively little expression of his had always been able to drive Gu Wen wild.

At that, Gu Wen couldn't resist anymore.

He glanced around, saw no one nearby, and quickly darted in to peck Chen Youyan on the cheek.

After the peck, before Chen Youyan could shoot him a glare, he quickly backed off and asked, deadpan, "Did something good happen today? What's got you so happy?"

Sure enough, Chen Youyan, who had been about to scowl, couldn't help but break into a smile again.

He let out a huff and tugged Gu Wen outside.

The two walked over to the drying rack on the east side of the courtyard.

Chen Youyan jutted his chin out. "Take a look."

Gu Wen looked up and saw a bamboo drying tray on one of the racks piled with plantain and some other leaves he didn't recognize.

"This..." Gu Wen wasn't sure what Chen Youyan was getting at, so he didn't dare say anything and just gave him a puzzled look.

Chen Youyan pointed at the herbs. "These are plantain, and these are bupleurum."

"They're all common herbs, but these were picked by An Geer and Liu Geer when they went out to play."

Gu Wen immediately caught on to what Chen Youyan was getting at.

He knew exactly what his husband had been fretting over these past few days, and he'd also asked around while out working about what trades might suit a little boy.

But no matter who he asked, the answers were mostly embroidery, flower arranging, washing silk, cooking...

And he knew his own little boy all too well.

Embroidery was a no-go.

The little boy was learning from his dad and grandma, but the mandarin ducks he stitched looked like regular ducks, and the peonies looked like flatbreads.

If the needle so much as pricked his finger, he'd wail loud enough for the whole village to hear.

As for flower arranging—honestly, that was a bit too fancy for a farming family.

And washing silk? That was out too—too much hard work.

Cooking, though, had some potential, since the little boy loved to eat.

But he'd mostly been keeping these thoughts to himself and hadn't told Chen Youyan yet.

Seeing Chen Youyan like this, Gu Wen perked right up.

Studying medicine was a great idea—healing the sick, convenient for the family, and others would look up to him for it.

Seeing Gu Wen's reaction, Chen Youyan knew he was on board with the idea.

Chen Youyan went on, "Liu Geer knows his herbs, and he had An Geer tagging along and picking them up too—that shows An Geer's interested!"

The more he talked, the more convinced he got, and then he eagerly dragged Gu Wen to the kitchen to talk it over with Wang Xiuxiu and Gu Daniu.

The four adults talked it over and all agreed it was a good idea.

So at dinner that evening, Gu Chaoning noticed the elders in the family were unusually excited.

And the one they kept looking at seemed to be An Geer.

Was something good going on in the family?

Gu Chaoning couldn't figure it out, but he had something to say too.

"Father, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, the county exam is coming up, and the teacher suggests we head to the county town in the next few days."

Last time the exam was also in the county town, and close to exam time, all the inns and small courtyards near the exam hall would be booked solid, so they needed to head out early.

One reason was that, and the other was to get acclimated beforehand.

This time, it wasn't just Gu Chaoning and Gu Rong from Xiaohe Village taking the exam—Xu Huaisheng and Chen Hengdao from Chen Family Village were also sitting for it.

The county exam was stricter than the previous Tongsheng exam—it required five students to vouch for each other and a shengyuan scholar from the county to act as guarantor.

Three students from Xiaohe Village plus one from Chen Family Village made four.

Plus one student from Xiaodukou Village.

That made up the group of five who'd vouch for each other.

And the guarantor would be Teacher Zhang.

Gu Chaoning went on, "The teacher suggested the five of us stick together and pool our money to rent a small courtyard."

With five people vouching for each other, they were all in the same boat.

If one person got into trouble, the other four would be dragged down with him, so it was best to stay together—keep an eye on each other and watch each other's backs.

"That works." Gu Wen nodded.

"Have you guys picked a day to leave?"

"Not yet. A Rong, Huaisheng, Hengdao, and I all think the sooner the better, but we still need to contact the student from Xiaodukou Village."

Since Xiaodukou Village was close to Dukou Town, the students there mostly studied in Dukou Town.

Gu Wen nodded and, seeing that Gu Chaoning had it figured out, didn't ask any more questions.

The conversation then came back around to the earlier topic.

Chen Youyan cleared his throat and looked at Gu Muan, who was chowing down with a wooden spoon.

"An Geer, did you have a good time picking herbs with Liu Geer today?"

Gu Muan nodded eagerly and scooped up a meatball with his spoon. "Fun, fun!"

The meatballs were so tasty—if only he could have yummy meatballs every day.

“How does An Geer know so many medicinal herbs? Even your dad doesn’t recognize some of them.”

Gu Muan scooped up another spoonful of stir-fried wild veggies with lard cracklings, briefly mulling over Chen Youyan’s question.

How does he know them? Even his dad doesn’t?

Gu Muan finally looked up, breaking into a grin.

He turned to Gu Wen, “Liu Geer just told me, and that’s how I know them. Dad, if you don’t recognize them, An Geer can teach you.”

Gu Wen chuckled at his response, “Ah, alright, thank you, my little An Geer.”

At that moment, everyone except Gu Muan caught on to what Chen Youyan and Gu Wen were hinting at.

So they wanted to send An Geer to study medicine?

Gu Chaoning nodded to himself, thinking it could work.

In his past life, An Geer had a basic grasp of medicine.

He had a sharp sense of smell and taste—just one sniff and he could tell if many herbs were prepared properly.

Yin Hongxue had been going to town daily to learn painting these days, but he still had Gu Muan’s situation on his mind.

Seeing that the family seemed to have a plan, he was secretly pleased.

If An Geer also went to town to study medicine, the two of them could travel together.

Gu Muan shoved the lard crackling and wild veggie stir-fry he’d just scooped up into his mouth.

The fragrant, oily cracklings and fresh, crisp wild veggies were so good together they could go with two big scoops of rice.

Gu Muan gave a little happy wiggle.

So good, so good—if only he could have this every day.

Chen Youyan then asked again, “If An Geer could know even more herbs, would that make you happy?”

Know more herbs?

Gu Muan looked up, “How much more? More than Liu Geer knows?”

If he made medicine his trade and studied every day, he’d naturally end up knowing more than Liu Geer.

Chen Youyan nodded, “Yeah, more than Liu Geer knows.”

Hearing this, Gu Muan sat up straight, excited.

More than Liu Geer knows—then he could teach Liu Geer too!

Liu Geer always got so excited when he found new herbs; if he taught him some, Liu Geer would be over the moon.

Gu Muan beamed with joy, his heart pounding: “Happy! I’m happy!”