Translator: Yuchaoz

Editors: Fire, Wise

Chapter 27: Hundred Herbs House

The Hundred Herbs House of Jiangning city was located at the Leda Shopping Centre at the west of the city. There was a busy shopping street in front of the square and the train station was just at the back. The area was bustling with people, so there were many customers coming to the mall.

Yan Huang went up with the elevator to the second floor of the shopping center. The moment he reached the second floor, he saw the Hundred Herbs House"s plaque. Although the location of this shop was not at the prime spot of the shopping center, the rent of the shop was still very high. It was around 60,000 a month (T/N: a bit over $8500).

Yan Huang walked in and saw his mother standing in front of rows and rows of drawers. It was already noontime but there were still many customers. Shui Xiaolian was offering consultation to the customers and prescribing herbs for them.

She was shocked to see Yan Huang but since there were still customers, she had no time to attend to him. She signaled with her eyes and told him to sit at the side.

Cultivation was not widely accepted by the public but martial arts were currently popular. This was because martial arts were beneficial to one"s health and could help elongate a person"s life. As rarer herbs appeared, Chinese medicine rose in popularity. Many people went to Chinese medicine shops to buy some herbs to strengthen back their health.

Yan Huang didn"t mind. He walked to the drawers. There was a tag stuck on each drawer. It showed what herb was inside the drawer.

Yan Huang opened the drawers and looked at the herbs. He touched them and smelled them. He even tasted some.

Very soon, he recognized most of the herbs. Some herbs were found only on earth while others could be found in the Pangu World too.

Yan Huang quickly found a herb that could replace Han Yi Gen. The Strengthening Dan was not a high-cla.s.s Dan medicine. Han Yi Gen was not a rare or expensive herb, so it was easy to find a replacement.

Strengthening Dan only had effects on normal people and cultivators who were at the Qi cultivation state. The effects were minimal for someone like Yan Huang who managed to reach the foundation building state. Hence, Yan Huang needed to make a more powerful Dan medicine, the Spirit Enforcing Agent.

Unfortunately, Hundred Herbs House was just a normal herbs shop, Yan Huang only managed to find three basic herbs needed for the Spirit Enforcing Agent. The rarer herbs couldn"t be found.

Yan Huang thought for a moment. Seemed like he needed to use his son again. Hong Xin cried so much yesterday. Let"s make him cry again today.

After 20 minutes, Shui Xiaolian finally got some rest.

She saw Yan Huang looking at the herbs just now. She thought that he would lose his interest after a moment, but he actually looked at all the herbs in the shop. He even seemed to recognize all of them.

“Are you interested in Chinese medicine?” Shui Xiaolian felt that she needed to understand her son again. Last time, when she brought some herbs back, Yan Huang didn"t even glance at them. She was a little puzzled.

“A little,” Yan Huang replied naturally. He closed the drawers. “Mother, I"m hungry.”

Shui Xiaolian looked at her watch. “It"s already 1 pm!” she exclaimed in surprise.

“What do you want to eat?” Shui Xiaolian patted her son"s shoulders. There were some herbs on his clothes, so she dusted them off. “Don"t you always order food delivery?”

“I want to eat with you today,” Yan Huang replied calmly.

Shui Xiaolian was stunned. She looked at her son who seemed like he was whining and couldn"t help but smile. “Okay, let"s have some chicken braised with brown sauce at the shop below.”

“Yes,” Yan Huang replied.

“I need to look after the shop. Can you order take away?”

“Sure.”

Yan Huang prepared to go out. He looked at the shop which was around 50 square meters in size and asked, “Mother, are you the only person looking after the shop?”

Most shops like this had at least two to three shop a.s.sistants. There were many things to do such as answering to customers, prescribing medicine, as well as cooking the medicine. Hence, more than one a.s.sistant was needed. How could Shui Xiaolian do everything alone?

“Someone took leave today. So… it"s busier than normal.”

“What about him?” Yan Huang raised his finger and pointed at the back of the storeroom. There was a man playing with his cellphone in the storeroom.

Yan Huang had noticed his presence a long time ago. “Why isn"t he helping you?”

“He is the manager of the shop, Manager Xie…” Shui Xiaolian replied awkwardly. “It"s okay, I can handle it.”

……

When Yan Huang came back with the food, more customers had appeared at the shop. Shui Xiaolian was busy attending to the customers. She would answer their queries and then prescribe medicine for them. Then, she would attend to the medicine furnace at the side of the shop. She didn"t rest at all.

Yan Huang hurriedly went to help her. Luckily, he looked around the shop just now, so he remembered where all the herbs were placed. He managed to offer a lot of help to his mother.

Shui Xiaolian looked at her son in surprise. She didn"t have the time to ask him further since one customer was walking towards her.

Just like that, they worked until 2 pm. Shui Xiaolian was tired and hungry. Her stomach was growling. The food that Yan Huang brought back had turned cold.

However, customers kept coming in. Shui Xiaolian didn"t have time to eat her lunch.

“Son, you are doing great today. You must be hungry. Hurry up and have some food. You came to look for me today but in the end, you had to work with me. I feel bad for you,” Shui Xiaolian forced a smile as she said to Yan Huang.

Yan Huang continued to get herbs out of the drawers behind him. He packed them up smoothly and collected the money from the customers. Then, he sent them away.

Yan Huang looked at his mother who was sweating profusely and said, “I"m not hungry. You can eat first.”

“Yan Huang…”

Shui Xiaolian felt moved.

She looked at Yan Huang and then glanced Manager Xie who was still hiding in the storeroom and playing with his cellphone. She decided to walk towards him.

“Manager Xie, it"s very busy today and Xiao Jie took leave. Can you help me for a while?”

Manager Xie was someone who looked like an ape. He was a scrawny middle-aged man. At this moment, he was engrossed in his game, so he didn"t raise his head when Shui Xiaolian spoke to him.

Shui Xiaolian rubbed her hands. She looked back at Yan Huang who was helping out at the shop. She felt bad for him. She turned back and said, “Manager Xie, can you help me? The shop is really busy today. I can"t handle everything alone. I didn"t have time to eat my lunch either…”

Manager Xie appeared to finally hear Shui Xiaolian. He raised his head and rolled his eyes at her. “Oh.”

Although he replied, he didn"t move. The lights on his cellphone shone brightly. Noisy music was coming from the speaker. He had no intention of helping.

Shui Xiaolian waited for a while but Manager Xie didn"t move at all. The customers started calling her, so she had no choice but to walk out of the storeroom.

She looked up and met Yan Huang"s gaze. She smiled and replied, “Yan Huang, you can eat first. I will handle everything.”

Yan Huang"s face turned dark. He immediately walked towards the storeroom. He would go and invite this person himself!

“Yan Huang, Yan Huang!” Before he reached the storeroom, Shui Xiaolian hugged him. She was shocked. This was the first time she saw her son getting angry. She was surprised and touched.

“Yan Huang, forget it. He is the manager. I"m just a shop a.s.sistant. It"s not worth it.”

Yan Huang looked at his mother and gritted his teeth. He hesitated for a while before saying, “Fine.”

Translator: Johnchen Editor: Calofel