Chapter 12: Apothecary - Earnings
As he entered the tent Shu He was greeted by a particularly interesting sight, the entire place was structured along a long counter that had many clerks standing behind it, it was in the shape of a horseshoe going around the tent and behind the counter were many prop up shelves lined with different jars or ingredients, in the centre of the room was a collection of fresh and dried herbs that you can look at and judge to find what you want.
"This is amazing…" Shu He was ecstatic, as someone who had his own mini herb garden growing back at home he immediately spotted the ones he was growing, along with ones he wanted to find before as well as others he didn't recognise at all, he thought to himself that he would definitely buy everything he could after he sold what he had.
"Impressed? It's not the most amazing place but it's certainly a good start" Bo Lin explained.
"Eh? Isn't this your store?" Shu He said, confused.
"Yes and no, I do own the store in name but the ones who run it are my students" Bo Lin gestured to all the people standing behind the counter.
"They're all your students?" He was amazed, there were nearly 30 people here in total, and they all seemed very competent at their jobs "You must be a great teacher" He naturally complimented the old man.
"Of course! Though praise coming from a kid doesn't mean much, at least you can tell what's good and what's bad" Bo Lin nodded.
They made their way over to the counter, Bo Lin opened a small part of the wooden top and walked behind it, clearing a space before drawing Shu He in front of him.
"Well then, let's see some samples first." He directed Shu He to bring out the medication.
"Eh?"
"What do you mean 'Eh?' "
"Didn't you just say you didn't run this place? So why are you…" Shu He was a little confused as he expected one of the students to come assess his medicine.
"Ah, don't worry about that It's just a slight hint of curiosity… I was interrupted anyway so I might as well do something else" He explained.
"Okay…" Shu He accepted, he pulled the satchel he was carrying his medication in and slowly brought out different wraps of cloth that were tied with string, he put them on the counter, untying them revealing small baked clay storage cases that held the different types of medication.
"Hmm, storage method is a little crude, but it works" Bo Lin commented.
"It's what I could afford, I'm not sure what else I could use…" Shu He replied.
"A proper storage case is needed for transporting over long distances, the ideal storage for medication is pure jade but that's ridiculously expensive; Glass or ceramics works as well, metal not so much as it can affect what's stored, there's some other stuff but for now those will do."
"Got it" Shu He acknowledged as he separated one of the containers, it had writing on that signified it was a case of the clotting salve, the type that had both pain killing and numbing properties, so it was the best type.
He opened the lid to reveal the slightly transparent white gel that was inside, a faint herbal aroma drifted from the concoction that filled the air.
"A fresh batch, very good" Bo Lin said as he reached over and pulled the small storage case towards him and adjusted his monocle to get a better look, he shifted over a small desktop lamp that he had to the left and twisted the bottom, a white light spread out from the centre brightening the small area they were at.
"What's that?" Shu He asked, he could see it wasn't a fire lit lamp but wasn't sure what else was inside that could light up like that, especially with such a pure white light.
"You haven't seen them before? It's a shinestone lamp" Bo Lin replied without taking his attention off the medication.
"Shinestone?" That wasn't something Shu He had heard of before.
"Not even that? I guess they don't see much use outside of the larger cities and capital… Shinestone is a special stone that glows when exposed to the air, they'll eventually decay, and you'll have to replace them, but they last for quite a long time" Bo Lin happily continued to explain while he split his attention.
"How nice…" Shu He already wanted to get his hands on some, but he had a feeling they were a bit too expensive compared to a candle.
After another minute or two Bo Lin closed the lid and started talking.
"Not too bad, for a child this attempt is actually quite good, how did you learn to concoct it?" Bo Lin asked as he was curious.
"My dad picked me up a book after my asking him for a while, it's titled 'Basics of Herbology and Medicine'".
"Oh! That one… Yes it's certainly a good start, you have good parents to give you something like that it wasn't cheap for sure.." Bo Lin spoke to himself eventually reaching murmurs that Shu He couldn't even hear.
"How do you want to become my student?" He suddenly proposed to Shu He.
"Student?" He was dumbfounded by the sudden proposition.
'Isn't this really good? He seems really skilled, I could learn a lot from him as I'm at a bit of an impasse right now… I feel I can't develop too much more from what I have.'
He was about to agree before he paused once more.
'But wait, to be his student won't I have to…'
"What's wrong?" Bo Lin asked seeing hesitation in the boy's face, he expected a near immediately reply like everyone else he asked so it was unexpected for him.
"If I become your student, won't I have to leave here…?" He asked slightly timidly.
"Ahh, of course I didn't think of that; You're still a child of course… It's fine, ignore what I said just now, in the future if you're ready you can come talk to me if you're still travelling along this path" Bo Lin quickly came to an understanding, of course a child wouldn't want to separate from their parents already.
"Okay" Shu He was thankful he was left an olive branch, in the future maybe he would take it.
"Anyway, on to this medicine, I would say it's quality would be just above low, that's not bad since it means it works as intended it just means it hasn't been processed to the full effect."
"There's a ranking for quality?" Shu He was surprised, there was no mention of it in the book he read.
"Of course, it's a fairly simple ranking though, low means bare minimum to be considered a viable product, medium means well processed and high means perfectly processed, while most people don't care too much about this ranking for us that make it, it's a sign of a apothecary's skill" Bo Lin explained.
"Take your 'Clotting Salve' for example, the distribution of materials is crude, I assume you did it by eye and hand?"
"Yes, I don't have a way to weigh them at home" Shu He admitted, scales were something he didn't know how to obtain, he needed a precision scale to measure the ratios but at most he could find the basic scale that weighed set weights against something else.
"It's also too thick, you should use purified water to dilute it, you don't need such high potency for what it's used for, doing so you can make more portions also"
"It's also not as smooth as it should be, what are you using?" Bo Lin's questioning continued.
"A mortar and pestle" Shu He used what he thought was the standard, he had asked it to be made a while back.
"The quality might be too low, or the material might be too soft… no maybe you just don't have the strength needed yet, a grinding wheel might work better for some thing so consider that" Bo Lin concluded.
"Got it… but I'm not sure where I'd get all this stuff." Shu He sighed with a bit of sadness.
"Oh that? Don't worry we have it all here, I can get it sent to your house afterwards." Bo Lin said much to Shu He's joy, but before he could thank him Bo Lin continued.
"Of course, the cost will come out of the sales here"
"Ah… of course that makes sense, that's fine" In the end Shu He wanted the equipment anyway, so he was fine with that, what's the need of money if you didn't get what you wanted after all.
"I'll give you a discount though, investing in a young apothecary that shows promise is worth it after all" Bo Lin smirked.
"Thanks!" Shu He said, delighted.
Shu He continued bringing out his other medication and Bo Lin continued to give him tips and teaching him what he didn't know, they were together for a full hour before everything was over, Shu Li was about to leave tent with a smile on his face and a few more coins in his pocket.
In total he sold what he made for just over 6 large silver coins! That was months of earnings for his household usually, save for the times the market came, so he was overjoyed, granted almost 4 of those large silver coins were spent on equipment.
Just before he went to leave he remembered something, he turned to asked Bo Lin who was cleaning up after their transaction and asked-
"Elder Bo, do you know anything about cultivation?"
"Cultivation?" Bo Lin was taken by surprise since the question felt out of left field "Why do you ask?"
"I… want to know about it, I want to try it" A slight hint of flame could almost be seen deep in Shu He's pupils and Bo Lin caught sight of it, he closed his eyes in thought for a second.
"Give me a second" He went behind the counter, pulling out parchment that was stored underneath and a quill.
"?!" Shu He was stunned; did he actually know something?!
'I only asked on the off chance, but could this actually be something?'
It appeared that Bo Lin was writing something, Shu He wasn't quite tall enough to get a good look but he also saw a diagram that seemed to resemble a person.
After 5 minutes that almost felt like an eternity to Shu He, Bo Lin walked up to him and handed him a piece of folded parchment.
"This?" Shu He wanted to open it and look there but Bo Lin held his hand over his and stopped him.
"Open it when you get home, I don't know if it will help you, but it's something I picked up along my journey" Bo Lin said while almost whispering so no one else heard.
Shu He nodded, his heart pounded with excitement and anticipation, soon after he left the tent having done what he needed, he wanted to go home as soon as possible, but he decided to stay and look around a bit more; His father wouldn't have been done yet anyway.
…
"Teacher, you were with that child for a while, did you take a liking to him?" A long, brown haired woman spoke to Bo Lin as he rested in the back of the tent.
"Hmph, that child showed more interest in plants and medication than my other students showed in their lifetime… Rather than just wanting money there was something more in those eyes" Bo Lin remembered the golden bronze pupils that were filled with life, something in them made him put a bit of trust in the child.
"Even enough to give him that?" She said, with a bit of bitterness.
"That was a gamble honestly, he should meet the requirements anyway, what he does with it and where he gets to is up to him"
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