"Young master, you said your master is that old doctor Chen?"
The smile on Master Ma's face disappeared, replaced by a somewhat solemn expression.
"It seems that's what the villagers call him."
Lu Qing's tension eased slightly as he answered.
"Yes, Master Ma, my little brother goes to Doctor Chen's place to study every day."
At this moment, Wang Da'an also found an opening and took the opportunity to speak.
Master Ma scrutinized Lu Qing and Wang Da'an, then suddenly smiled.
"So you are Dr. Chen's esteemed student. I have been disrespectful."
Master Ma bowed solemnly to Lu Qing, but seemed to frighten Lu Qing, who took two steps back.
He waved his hand somewhat flusteredly: "I am no match for your expertise. I have only learned a little about herbs from my master. I don't even know how to treat patients yet."
Seeing how honest Lu Qing was, Master Ma couldn't help but smile.
"Anyway, I offended you just now, young man. How about this, I'll pay for the meat you bought at this butcher shop."
“How can this be?” Lu Qing shook his head repeatedly. “I cannot accept gifts without merit. My master taught me that I cannot accept things from others casually.”
"But I did offend you just now, young master. Consider this meat as my apology to you."
However, no matter what Master Ma said, Lu Qing just shook his head and resolutely refused to accept Master Ma paying for him.
Wang Da'an, who was standing to the side, stared wide-eyed.
This was the first time he had ever seen Master Ma treat someone so politely.
And this person was none other than his younger brother, Lu Qing.
Seeing that Lu Qing kept refusing Master Ma's gifts, Wang Da'an became a little anxious.
That's over ten kilograms of meat! Someone offered it to him for free and he wouldn't take it. What is Ah Qing thinking?
Although he was anxious, Wang Da'an did not agree on Lu Qing's behalf.
He knew that Lu Qing was literate and had been taught by the old doctor, so he definitely knew more than him.
Since he is unwilling to accept it, he must have his reasons.
Seeing that Lu Qing was unwilling to accept his apology, Master Ma had a sudden inspiration and laughed again.
"Young master, you are indeed kind and generous, worthy of being a disciple of Doctor Chen. How about this, I noticed you seemed concerned about this silver earlier, how about I help you find it?"
Upon hearing this, the butcher quickly replied, "That's right, young man. The only person here who can probably make change for your money is Master Ma."
Upon hearing this, Lu Qing hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Master Ma."
As he spoke, he took out the silver. Master Ma took it and saw that it was fine snowflake patterned silver. He believed Lu Qing's words even more.
An ordinary country boy couldn't possibly get his hands on such fine silver.
After weighing it in his hand, he smiled and said, "This silver is about six qian (a unit of weight), which is about six hundred copper coins."
Master Ma took a cloth bag off his body, took out two small strings of copper coins from it, and handed the bag to Lu Qing.
"The copper coins in here should be worth as much as your silver. Count them."
Lu Qing took the money bag and started counting it without any hesitation.
Wang Da'an wanted to help, but he knew he wasn't good at counting, and if he forced himself to help, he would only make things worse, so he could only stand by and worry.
Lu Qing took out the copper coins and quickly counted them.
When Master Ma saw Lu Qing counting the money, his eyes narrowed again.
In rural areas, few people can read; being able to recognize numbers up to one hundred is already a remarkable achievement.
Judging from how fast Lu Qing counted the money, it was clear that counting was no problem for him.
He was becoming increasingly convinced that Lu Qing was indeed the old doctor's disciple.
Lu Qing quickly counted the money.
He looked up: "It seems like there's too much."
There were 650 copper coins in the bag. According to the exchange rate of one tael of silver to one thousand copper coins, there were 50 extra coins.
"That's not much. Your silver is of very high quality, so giving you an extra fifty is only fair," Master Ma said with a smile.
Lu Qing thought for a moment and then did not refuse.
He knew that Master Ma was trying to curry favor with him.
But he had already refused the other party several times, and he couldn't really refuse to give them any face at all.
Moreover, this could be an opportunity for him to learn about the outside world.
"The money has been exchanged, young master, you can buy things with peace of mind. By the way, do you still not know your name, young master?" Master Ma asked, seizing the opportunity.
“My name is Lu Qing,” Lu Qing said, then pointed to Wang Da’an beside him, “This is Brother Da’an from my village.”
"Master Ma, my name is Wang Da'an," Wang Da'an said somewhat obsequiously.
"Wang Da'an, not bad."
Of course, Master Ma could tell that Wang Da'an was just an ordinary country youth.
However, he still nodded politely in response.
But even this was enough to excite Wang Da'an, and his face turned red.
"Brother Lu Qing, I wish you a pleasant time here. I have some things to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
Master Ma was a man of discretion; he did not take the opportunity to follow Lu Qing, but chose to keep his distance.
Lu Qing was naturally happy to see this happen.
Although he was also interested in getting to know this Master Ma, it wasn't the right time.
Because right now, their strengths are still unequal.
He is only being looked up to because of his status as "Dr. Chen's disciple".
After Master Ma left, Lu Qing went to the meat stall again.
"Boss, can I buy meat now?"
"Of course." The butcher beamed. "Young master, so you're Doctor Chen's apprentice! No wonder you're so handsome!"
Lu Qing looked at his patched clothes and was speechless.
Is this what you call having a dignified appearance?
"What, boss, you know Dr. Chen too?" Wang Da'an asked curiously.
"Young man, what you're saying is true. Everyone in this area knows Dr. Chen. My wife caught a cold after giving birth last year and almost died. It was Dr. Chen who cured her. He's a famous miracle doctor in this area!"
"In that case, boss, shouldn't you give us a discount on this meat?" Wang Da'an said, seizing the opportunity.
"Cheap, of course it's cheap!"
In the end, the butcher still rounded down the price of the meat, charging Lu Qing three coins less.
After buying the meat, Lu Qing and Wang Da'an continued to stroll around the market.
Not long after, he bought a lot of things.
It mainly consists of food and some daily necessities.
Grain was the most purchased item.
In addition to these, Lu Qing also bought some vegetable seeds and needles and thread.
I bought vegetable seeds because I want to grow more vegetables in my yard.
We can't go digging for wild vegetables every time.
As for the needle and thread, it was because the fishhook at home, made of a large iron needle, was already becoming too heavy to handle.
He needs to make more fishhooks as spares.
Lu Qing also saw fish for sale at the market, asked about the price, and found that it was cheaper than pork.
That makes sense, though. For the poorest people in this world, fat is very important, which is why even in pork, fatty meat is more expensive than lean meat.
Fish doesn't have much oil, and it doesn't keep you full for long.
Only wealthy nobles would be willing to spend a lot of money to buy fish just for a taste of freshness.
For ordinary people, given a choice, they would even prefer pork to fish.
After selling all these items, Lu Qing had already spent most of his 650 copper coins.
He bought two more large bamboo baskets, and together with Wang Da'an, they carried and lifted them until they finally got everything.
Then the two of them, with somewhat heavy steps, left the market and headed towards the village.
