Chapter 46: A Wonderful Medicine to Relieve the Anxieties of the Three Hundred Eunuchs in the Inner Court

Qin Huairu was rather surprised to hear Duan Chenglang's words.

Old Li from the adjacent courtyard was somewhat of a minor celebrity around this neighborhood, though his reputation was far from stellar. Everyone knew he possessed some uncanny and inexplicable medical skills, which were often wrapped in bizarre rumors. In South Luoguxiang Alley, only the elderly secretly sought him out for medical consultations and herbal medicine; the youth rarely bothered with him.

She whispered to Duan Chenglang, "Oh, you want to see him? He's just an unlicensed quack. Still, now that I think about it, it might actually fit our purpose. People say those strange herbal plasters of his are both cheap and effective. The only problem is the endless gossip that his medicines are shady and fishy—there are all sorts of wild stories floating around. Aren't you worried it might gross you out? Aside from a few old folks in this alley, hardly anyone else goes to him for treatment."

Duan Chenglang smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just using him as a smokescreen so this room gets a bit of a medicinal scent, not like I'm actually going to use the stuff. What is there to be afraid of?"

With that, he pulled fifty cents from his pocket. "Here, Sister Qin, take this money for the medicine. It would be best if you could also get him to casually throw in a couple of packs of raw herbal medicine for me. I'll boil those up when I get back to make the medicinal smell in this room even stronger."

Qin Huairu walked over to the edge of the brick-bed, took the fifty cents, and was promptly caught by the hand as Duan Chenglang seized the opportunity to stroke it for a good long while.

With a softened body and a flushed face, Qin Huairu finally managed to break free, lightly spat in mock disgust, and then shuffled over to the doorway. She first peered cautiously through a narrow gap in the door, and seeing no one outside, she slipped out of the room. She hurried from the front courtyard past the inner moon gate toward the alley entrance, treading very carefully as she went to buy the medicine from Old Li next door.

Humming a soft tune to himself, Duan Chenglang shifted his consciousness and retrieved the hammer that had just won him merit from his spatial storage, holding it in his hand to play with for a moment.

Contributions deserved rewards; since this hammer wouldn't be needed for a while, he decided he would place it on a shelf, adorn it with a big red flower, and honor it first.

Duan Chenglang lay back on the warm brick-bed inside the room, feeling thoroughly content and at ease.

Meanwhile, Silly Zhu was lying on a hospital bed, wailing incessantly. People often said that breaking bones meant tearing the tendons attached to them. It was precisely this process of breaking and reconnecting that could truly make a person feel the pain deep down into their very soul.

The doctor had just finished examining him and said to a deeply anxious Yi Zhonghai, "The patient has a foot fracture, and the situation is quite severe. I won't specify the exact bone, but it can be considered a transverse arch fracture, and there is already a noticeable displacement. You can even tell from the outside that it's deformed. Our hospital can't treat this; you'll have to transfer him to a larger hospital for prompt reduction. It will likely require open surgery and internal fixation."

"Ah!" Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but gasp in a mixture of shock and terror.

With a trembling voice, he asked, "Is it that serious? How long will it take to recover? Will there be any permanent sequelae?"

The doctor shook his head and replied, "It's hard to say. It depends on the progress of treatment and recovery. If it's not handled promptly, or if improper methods are used during treatment, it's very easy to cause permanent damage. As for a full recovery, even if everything goes smoothly, it will take at least two to three months."

Yi Zhonghai was dumbfounded. He never imagined that a whole-house meeting—which had been meticulously planned and seemed like an absolute sure thing—could possibly end up in such a state. It was a complete disaster where he had thrown good money after bad and lost on all fronts; could anyone be more unlucky than this?

Silly Zhu, who in the past had always relied on his fists and feet to emerge victorious in every endeavor, had finally kicked a metal plate this time, and the consequences were catastrophic.

Listening to Silly Zhu's groans, Yi Zhonghai knitted his brows tightly together, his teeth nearly biting through his lips until they bled.

Back in the east wing of the front courtyard of South Luoguxiang Alley, Duan Chenglang still couldn't bear the thought of lying here idly wasting time. So, he decided to try entering the small courtyard within his spatial dimension to see if he could still perceive the outside world and react in time if someone came by.

And indeed, he could react!

Previously, he hadn't paid much attention, but paying closer notice this time, he found that his perception of the external environment seemed even sharper while inside the spatial dimension.

Just like now, while lingering inside the space, he clearly sensed Qin Huairu hurriedly turning in through the inner moon gate and walking swiftly toward his room.

Duan Chenglang hastily exited the space and tucked himself back under the quilt.

By now, the courtyard outside had grown quiet. Those who had taken Silly Zhu to the hospital hadn't returned yet, and everyone else had retreated to their respective homes. On such a freezing day, even those with good news to share had gone inside to chat under their covers.

Duan Chenglang couldn't help but let his mind wander as he lay in the room. Pondering deeply, he felt a genuine sense of desolation; everyone knew he was injured and laid up here, yet not a single person had bothered to check on him.

Could it be that simply because he had shouted a few words, he had managed to scare everyone away?

Therefore, seeing Qin Huairu running over with a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead, a trace of unexpected warmth stirred in his heart. This was what they called true friendship forged through adversity.

Qin Huairu closed the door behind her, carrying a paper parcel of medicine in one hand and a small clay jar in the other.

Walking over to the edge of the brick-bed, she told Duan Chenglang, "Old Li said this ointment was originally passed down from the imperial palace. It has relieved troubles for quite a few people and saved many lives as well. Paired with these few doses of herbal decoction, even if it can't cure you completely, it will ensure you don't develop chronic aches later on."

Duan Chenglang was quite surprised and hurriedly asked Qin Huairu, "How did you phrase it to him?"

Qin Huairu smiled and replied, "I simply described the moves Silly Zhu used when he kicked you during the meeting today and explained the exact situation at the time."

Well then. It seemed Old Li was truly a man of hidden depths, possessing even top-tier medicine capable of relieving troubles for the three hundred eunuchs of the imperial harem.

Qin Huairu smiled at Duan Chenglang and asked, "Shall I help you apply it?"

"Apply my foot. I'm fine as I am; if I put that stuff on and actually rub myself into a disability, I won't even know where to cry."

Qin Huairu burst into a chuckle.

Just as Qin Huairu was getting ready to take her leave, Duan Chenglang called her back once more. "You'll need to help me ask for sick leave at the factory early tomorrow morning. Just take my work permit and explain the situation at the main gate, alright? Also, if the matter can't be resolved tomorrow morning, you'll need to make another trip here around midday. Help me bring two ration books to the aquatic product counter salesperson at the Beixinqiao Food Market and pick up two yuan worth of pork. There might even be pork bones or pork offal available; I'll give you a bit extra for that. Make sure you carry a wicker basket and cover it up tightly so nobody catches a glimpse."

Qin Huairu looked at Duan Chenglang in utter astonishment. What shocked her was that Duan Chenglang actually had the pull to make a seafood counter salesperson reserve pork for him, complete with pork bones and offal to boot.

Seeing her expression, Duan Chenglang offered a faint smile. If he made a prior arrangement with someone today only to ghost them tomorrow, that relationship would likely be severed for good. Therefore, under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to rely on Qin Huairu's help for now. As for what her reaction might be once she found out or what she would choose to do, he would just have to cross that bridge when he came to it.

Qin Huairu departed.

Duan Chenglang opened the lid of the ointment she had bought from Old Li next door and took a sniff. Heh! It was truly pungent and stinging, brimming with a potent medicinal fragrance. Excellent—this was the best possible outcome, perfect for setting the mood.

There was no way in hell he was going to smear that stuff directly onto his own body, but he still had to put on a convincing act. After pondering for a moment, he rummaged through a pile of clothes at the head of the brick-bed until he fished out an old pair of underwear whose origins had long been forgotten. Pinching his nose, he slathered the ointment generously all over the old underwear.

As for the issue of meals, he planned to purchase a coal stove once this whole affair blew over and keep it right inside the blacksmith shop space. The forge in the blacksmith shop couldn't be used for cooking, but setting up a separate small stove in the room would make boiling water and preparing meals entirely feasible. Cooking right in there was ideal since time stood still outside and no food odors would leak out. Moreover, not having to be physically present in the space also saved on fuel. The blacksmith shop room was quite spacious anyway; carving out a dedicated living corner wouldn't interfere with normal forging operations at all.

He could even wait until he had some free time to deliberately build a brand-new cooking range, which would be even better. When the time came, he could simply construct a simple, open-concept little kitchen right there.

His plans were grand, but his stomach was currently growling with hunger. For now, he had no choice but to settle for the two leftover coarse-grain steamed buns from the pot, washing them down with plain boiled water just to appease his belly.

Having pacified his rebelling stomach and listening to the quiet settling over the courtyard, Duan Chenglang couldn't bear the thought of idly wasting time in bed. Instead, he simply retreated into the spatial dimension to till the soil and get to work, determined to clear out that vegetable plot without delay.