Chapter 4: Annoying Interloper

As they got closer to the pharmacy, Lei Xing suddenly stopped and looked at Xiao Ting and the others and then looked around, then walked towards a hairpin stall, dragging Xiao Ting with her.

The moment they got to the stall the saleswoman perked up and beamed a bright smile at them, Lei Xing smiled back.

"Xiao Ting, what do you think of these?"

Xiao Ting looked at the selection, "hm, they are not bad."

"Not bad? I think you haven't really looked at them...so stay here and examine them closely, okay?" Lei Xing said as she pulled her hand free from Xiao Ting's.

"...but..."

"You stay here and pick out something for me, I'll just quickly go to the pharmacy...pick something as a good luck token for tomorrow... here's a hint, I like silver."

"Okay! I'll pick the most beautiful one!" Xiao Ting said with a bright smile and looked closely at the selection of hairpins.

"I put my trust in your excellent taste..." Lei Xing said with a laugh, then left Ah Cai and two of the guards with Xiao Ting and took the remaining one with her. When she got to the front of the pharmacy, she told the guard to wait outside and entered on her own.

She walked up to the reception desk, where an old man was currently snoring on the desk. She looked at him skeptically and cleared her throat to try to get his attention, all she got in response was a grunt, and then resumed snoring.

"Excuse me, hello?..." the old man continued snoring.

"Oy, Oy, there's a customer here...wake up!" Lei Xing abruptly said, lightly hitting the table. The snoring old man jumped up and gaped at her, yawned, then scratched his head while looking around with a confused expression on his face... before squinting his eyes at Lei Xing, who awkwardly looked back at him.

{...He must have thought he was at home in bed, I understand your pain T_T)...}

"Oh! A customer is here...?" The old man perked up, seemingly awake.

"hahaha...you must not be very busy here." Lei Xing said with a hesitant nervous laugh...

{...Did I come to the wrong place?...}

"Nothing like that, it's just most people are blind." The old man said puffing up his chest with a proud smile."

{...Okay, I'll bite...it's definitely not because you are incompetent...}

"Are you Doctor Lou?"

"Yes, I am the famous Doctor Lou, my remedies are always efficient and effective cutting through your problems like water, you cannot go wrong coming here..." He said as he slashed an 'X' with a hand.

Lei Xing raised her eyebrows.

{...Water? water doesn't cut through anything...At least not here anyway -_-)'...}

"...So what can I get for you today? conception medicine? Oh, prevention medicine?..." the old man then leaned across the desk, and put one hand to cover one side of his mouth and whispered, "...abortion medicine?"

Lei Xing blankly stared at Doctor Lou, who was smiling expectantly at her and seemed a little too keen at the prospect of her wanting abortion medicine.

{...I'm definitely in the wrong place -_-)'...}

"Is your specialty pregnancy?" Lei Xing asked flatly.

"No, but I am quite well known for my womb's touch." The old man smiled proudly, puffing up his plump cheeks.

{...Womb's touch? That is a weird way to put it, but okay...}

"Good for you..." Lei Xing said flatly, showing her obvious disinterest in his 'womb's touch' potency.

Doctor Lou sat back and looked at Lei Xing skeptically. Lei Xing noticed his scrutinizing gaze and boldly returned it, also scrutinizing him. They both assessed each other from top to bottom and then bottom to top, and it seemed they somehow got into some kind of staring contest, waiting for the other to break first.

{...What am I doing? -_-)'...}

"Okay, you win..." Doctor Lou said with a pout.

Lei Xing felt a bit embarrassed.

{...Win? I have never felt so childish in my life...}

"...so since you are not here for my womb's touch...what are you here for?" Doctor Lou said with a disgruntled tone.

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow, a bit amused.

{...Why does he sound like he's sulking? Oy, you have a head and long beard full of white hair, so act like it!...}

Lei Xing kept her thoughts to herself and smiled at the old man, "Ah, I was wondering if you knew much about poisons?"

Doctor Luo's eyes lit up again, and he perked up and asked, "Poison? You want to poison someone?" Then he leaned forward again, put his hand to cover one side of his mouth, and whispered, "...is someone trying to poison you?"

Lei Xing laughed and asked, "Why? Are you planning on making an arrest?"

"What does a young miss like you want to do with poisons?" Came a gentle voice from behind Lei Xing. Lei Xing frowned at the interruption and turned to find the interloper.

It was a young man, seemingly in his 20s, with handsome refined features, wearing white robes lined with silver on the edges. His hair was tied loosely behind him and a small smile on his lips, he embodied the concept of the elegant, refined scholar.

{...Handsome or not, mind your own business -_-)...}

Lei Xing nodded her head towards him in greeting and then back to the doctor Lou and asked, "So are you knowledgeable about them?"

Before the doctor could answer, the 'refined scholar' interrupted again, "So what do you need poisons for?"

Lei Xing's eyebrows creased.

{...If your presence is ignored, can't you get a clue that you are not welcome? -_-)...}

"I don't see how it concerns you." Lei Xing said flatly without even looking at him.

"True, it may not be my concern, but I am quite curious, so do share."

Lei Xing ignored him, "Doctor Lou, are you-?"

"I saw you earlier buying the slaves...I must say you handled that brilliantly, you have good bargaining skills."

"Oh, okay." Lei Xing said with obvious disinterest.

"How about you sell those slaves to me?"

"Not for sale."

"I'm sure you bought them out of compassion and don't particularly need them, so why not sell them to me where they can be put to good work?"

{...Who the hell is this human? -_-)'...}

"Not for sale." Lei Xing was getting increasingly annoyed with this disruption.

"I'll pay you double what you paid, how about 30 taels of silver?"

"I'm not selling!"

"I'll pay you 50 taels of silver."

Lei Xing sighed and faced the man, giving him a blank stare, and then asked, "Do I look like a slave trader or someone in need of money?"

Before the man could respond, she continued, "No? Then leave me alone. I'm sure there are several other slave traders in the city, and I'm sure they would appreciate your offer."

"How ab-"

Lei Xing cut him off, facing Doctor Luo, she said, "Doctor Lou, it seems you are busy right now, so I will take my leave for now."

"Ah?" Doctor Luo was confused, he glanced at the other man, who currently seemed to be staring at Lei Xing in shock .

Lei Xing had already turned and was walking towards the door, when Doctor Lou shouted after her, "Miss, make sure to come back...poisons are also my specialty, I can be considered the poison king...you can't go wrong coming here, be sure to come back."

Lei Xing had left the store, leaving the refined scholar and doctor Luo behind.

Doctor Luo looked at the man skeptically and stretched his neck and then asked, "Oy, young master, are you buying anything, or are you chasing after the flower? You've made me lose business, you should at least invest some money here..."

The refined scholar shot Doctor Lou a cold look, his smile was gone, leaving a face void of emotion and giving one a cold and unfeeling ice-block.

Doctor Luo seeing his reaction, pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders and put his arms back on the table to use as a pillow, and settled back down to sleep.

The 'refined scholar' turned to the door and stared at it for a long time, before eventually walking out.

{...I have never been blatantly dismissed outside the palace like this in my life...by anyone...}