CSGM - Chapter 43
Chapter 43: Working at the Pharmacy
Chu Xi saw a faint, beautiful trace lingering by the corner of her lips.
And on her lips themselves, two different shades of lipstick had blended together.
You had to look very, very closely to distinguish them. The deeper red was Ren Zhi's, and on it, she could still vaguely make out a fragment of her lip shape.
Chu Xi stared at this fragment, her mind slowly and involuntarily completing the picture. The shape of Ren Zhi's beautiful, full lips seemed to gradually materialize before her eyes.
Tsk…
They were quite nice to look at.
She couldn't help but think of how those two soft lips looked when they were speaking in that cold, passive-aggressive tone.
So much personality. Soft on the outside, sharp with her words.
Ren Zhi herself was like that, too. Getting along with her was far more interesting than with anyone else.
The corners of her mouth lifted. After washing her face, she slowly, bit by bit, wiped the lipstick print from her own lips.
Lying in bed with the covers pulled up, Chu Xi was still in an inexplicably good mood. A slight curve played on her lips as she stared at the ceiling, trying to get sleepy. Every now and then, she would reach up and touch her lips with her finger.
The next morning, at 8:04 AM, while Chu Xi was doing her hair, her phone buzzed with several consecutive WeChat notifications- "You have received 1 new message."
When she finished and checked, they were all from her agent, Yu Yixue.
Yu Yixue was indignantly telling her what she had found out yesterday-
It turned out that on the set of the crime suspense drama 《Vanguard of Major Cases》, the second-billed actress had suddenly gotten into trouble by crossing a legal red line. The production team needed to find a replacement. Coincidentally, a young actor on that set named Fan Yuzhe had recommended Chu Xi to the director. The director had contacted Chu Xi's agent, Yu Yixue, originally intending to give Chu Xi a chance to audition.
But somehow, the news had gotten out and reached Hu Lan. Hu Lan had some connections in the industry, and in the end, using some unknown method, she had subtly influenced the director of 《Vanguard of Major Cases》. The director then turned around and told Yu Yixue to forget it, that they didn't want Chu Xi anymore.
After all, it was just a small production. They just wanted to finish filming peacefully and go online, and they weren't willing to get caught up in drama and offend people.
To lose a second-billed role just like that, Yu Yixue could have slapped her own thigh in frustration!
She cursed to Chu Xi that her former agent was a real piece of work- petty and willing to ruin someone's career.
In any case, Chu Xi's new company and her previous one, Star Han Agency, were already sworn enemies, so a little cursing was no big deal. Yu Yixue wasn't afraid of getting in trouble for speaking her mind on this.
However, Chu Xi was exceptionally calm. After listening to the voice messages, she only replied: 【Oh.】
Sorry, but she couldn't see how losing the second-billed role in this drama would affect her future in any way.
She hadn't forgotten the line written by the screenwriter of this masterpiece- "This person committed suicide. After an assessment by the expert panel, his motive was probably that he no longer wanted to live."
So utterly idiotic.
There was no need to participate in a drama like this in the first place. Even if it were handed to her on a silver platter, she would have turned it down in disgust.
She told Yu Yixue the truth and even offered some well-meaning advice:
【As an agent, you should try to improve your sense of taste.】
Yu Yixue: 【/[Wiping sweat]】
Resources weren't that easy to find these days. Even if there was a good production, it would go to the top-tier stars first. For an unknown actress like Chu Xi who wasn't famous, she was lucky to get any role at all. Did she really expect a high-quality script to just fall into her lap?
Yu Yixue only complained silently in her heart, not saying it out loud.
With flying guest Zhou Luyan gone, 《Our Restaurant》 was back to its five permanent members today.
The RV drove from Jinwu Town to another vast plain.
Boundless green terraced fields came into the viewers' view, and pastures where the wind blew the grass low to reveal cattle and sheep flashed past the car windows. As the camera operator got out of the car, the chirping of a bird on a branch was captured.
Viewers: 【Whoa-】
This place is amazing! Natural, ecological, beautiful scenery, wide-open views, it looks so pretty!
The members also went: "Whoa-"
There wasn't a single house in sight. That dog of a director had brought them to another sparsely populated place!
There were no hotels or guesthouses here. White houses with black glazed tile roofs sat amidst the sea of green, like guardians of the fields.
This was a simple, agricultural village.
It was obvious that for the next few days, the members would be experiencing rural life.
The Director informed them of even more heartless news:
"Due to the restaurant's current remaining funds being zero, the restaurant will cease operations and take a two-day break. During these two days, you will need to work locally and earn start-up capital for the restaurant's re-employment through your own hard labor."
This time, however, none of the five members looked particularly surprised.
Just last night, after the production team took away all the money they had saved up over the past few days, everyone had a premonition that something like this would happen today.
Heh… they were discovering that they were getting to know the Director better and better.
The Director smiled shamelessly. "I'm still a nice guy. Considering you're new here and don't know your way around, I've already found two places for you to work."
The first stop the RV took the five of them to was a traditional Chinese pharmacy.
The old doctor in the pharmacy said, "If you work here, the job is very simple. You just follow the prescriptions the patients bring in and measure out the herbs accordingly. For some that need to be decocted before they're taken home, you just put the herbs in the pots over there to cook-" He turned and pointed to a row of large stainless steel pots in a small room.
"This is a scale. The amount of each Chinese medicinal herb must be strictly controlled. In that refrigerator are some herbs that need to be stored at low temperatures. Also, you need to keep a medication log. After filling each prescription, you have to write it down to ensure the records match the inventory…"
The old doctor even demonstrated the workflow for them-
He picked up a prescription slip held by a binder clip on the table, looked at it, and began moving as he mumbled to himself.
"This is a prescription for arthritis. 50 grams of Spatholobus stem, 30 grams each of Clematis root, Gentiana macrophylla root, motherwort, and Zaocys, 20 grams of Astragalus root and Angelica sinensis, 15 grams of Aconite root…" The old doctor opened one cabinet after another, taking out the herbs and placing them on a mini-scale to weigh them. Midway, he glanced back at the prescription and continued gathering herbs. "10 grams each of cinnamon twig, Saposhnikovia root, white peony root, and frankincense…"
After placing all these herbs in a medicine pot, the old doctor flipped the prescription slip to the next page.
"The next one is for dispelling wind, relieving pain, and treating rheumatoid arthritis. Get 18 grams of saffron, 95 grams of Dragon's Blood, 25 grams of cinnamon twig, 30 grams of processed fleeceflower root, hmm… and also…"
After filling two prescriptions, he stopped and said, "That's basically it. You just look at the prescription and grab the herbs. It's very simple. At the bottom of the prescription, it'll note how many minutes to decoct it for, so just follow what's written. After each order is decocted and sealed, give the patient a call to remind them to come pick it up."
It didn't sound difficult, but looking at the medicine cabinet that spanned an entire wall, with rows upon rows of hundreds of small drawers, one could easily imagine that this job wasn't as simple as it seemed!
The old doctor could fill prescriptions so quickly only because he was so practiced. But for a newcomer in a pharmacy, they probably wouldn't even know the general location of any of the herbs at first. Who knew how many times they'd have to run back and forth in front of these identical little drawers to fill a single prescription!
Just looking at them made one's eyes glaze over!
The old doctor said, "My pharmacy needs two people. Who's up for it?"
The members looked at each other. Luo Yangtian called out, "Sister Xi!"
Chu Xi had a great memory. Working here would definitely be no problem for her, much easier than for the rest of them.
Ren Zhi nodded in agreement, recommending, "Chu Xi, you can work here."
Chu Xi asked the Director, "Where's the next place?"
"A horse ranch."
After hearing the Director's answer, she made a decisive choice. "I want to go to the horse ranch."
That place was bound to be free, open, and windy- much better than being cooped up in a pharmacy.
She might even get to ride a horse for fun.
You couldn't force someone to do a job. Since Chu Xi had refused, the others didn't press the issue.
In the end, Luo Yangtian and Li Xiling chose to stay and work at the pharmacy.
It was a good fit. Their respective reasons for thinking they were suited for the job were- Luo Yangtian had learned some memory techniques under Chu Xi's guidance and wanted to challenge himself, while Li Xiling figured that when things weren't busy, she could sit in the pharmacy and slack off by playing a few rounds of online mahjong.
Just as the production team was about to take the remaining members to the next worksite, Chu Xi suddenly called out, "Wait a minute. I'm going to fill a prescription before I go."
Ren Zhi looked at her, puzzled. "Are you sick?"
Chu Xi glanced at her, ignored the comment, and walked straight to the medicine cabinet.
She casually picked up the small scale from the table and proceeded to fill a prescription herself.
Watching her fluidly pull open several drawers and deftly grab the Chinese herbs inside, the old doctor took a moment to react before quickly trying to stop her. "You can't just grab those herbs randomly!"
Although Chinese medicine was gentle, taking it haphazardly could still cause problems!
"I'm not grabbing them randomly." Chu Xi continued taking out herbs, reciting without turning her head, "18 grams of saffron, 95 grams of Dragon's Blood, 25 grams of cinnamon twig, 30 grams of processed fleeceflower root, 25 grams of Aucklandia root, 25 grams of pubescent angelica root, 14 grams of Panax notoginseng, 20 grams of Drynaria rhizome, 30 grams of Kadsura stem, 25 grams of Achyranthes root, 40 grams of ground beetle, 15 grams of tortoise shell glue, 20 grams of processed nux vomica, 20 grams of borneol, 20 grams of pyrite. Take a look, isn't this the prescription for rheumatoid arthritis?"
The prescription sounded very familiar, and several of the herbs were indeed components of the wind-dispelling and pain-relieving powder. The old doctor had worked in the pharmacy for many years, and the herbs Chu Xi listed basically matched his memory. But as for the specific gram amounts, his memory was fuzzy on several, and he couldn't be certain.
He remembered that the second prescription he had just filled was this very one. He immediately went to check it and found that everything Chu Xi had said was exactly the same as what was on the prescription slip!
By this time, Chu Xi had already handed the herbs to Luo Yangtian, telling him, "No need to decoct it. Just grind them separately, pass them through a 100-mesh sieve, mix them evenly, and package them. Bring them back with you after work."
The old doctor stared at her, baffled and astonished. "How did you know this prescription?"
Chu Xi answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "You just filled it once for me to see."
The old doctor: "!!!" To think there was such a genius in this world, so perfectly suited for filling prescriptions!!!
The old doctor's cloudy, presbyopic eyes instantly cleared. He looked at Chu Xi, asking with the desperation of one who had found a rare talent, "Are you sure you don't want to stay and work here? You're very suited for this job!"
No matter how you looked at it, this person was far more capable than the other two!
"Sorry, not interested." Chu Xi's rejection was merciless. With that, she got on the RV and had the driver take her to the horse ranch.
Left behind in the pharmacy, Luo Yangtian sighed as he watched her dashing figure depart.
Alas, perhaps this was the difference between a genius and an ordinary human like him.
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