Chapter 13, Being a Handyman

Chapter 13, Being a Handyman

Chapter 13, Being a Handyman
Hua Changxi stood at the corner of the square for a long time, but she didn't dare to walk over to confront Doctor Sun. Just as she turned around and was about to leave, she heard a burst of noise from the next yard.

"It itches me to death!"

"Help!"

Pharmacist Xu had just told Hua Changxi not to walk around the Medical Department at will. Hua Changxi had planned to leave directly, but when she passed the courtyard gate, she heard the voice of Eunuch Jia.

"Everyone, please be quiet. We have already sent someone to get a doctor."

Hua Changxi stopped and stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking inside.

In the yard, more than twenty people were wailing and scratching their hands and arms. They did not stop even though their arms were covered in blood.

Hua Changxi glanced at the herbs piled in the yard and immediately understood what was going on. He then turned his gaze to Eunuch Jia.

Previously in the square, when Doctor Sun faced off against Eunuch Jia, he was suppressed the entire time. Even when he was ridiculed, Doctor Sun dared not say a word. This shows that Eunuch Jia's status is not ordinary.

Hua Changxi looked up at the plaque on the gate of the courtyard: Miscellaneous Services Hall.

There is an 80% chance that she will not be able to be an apprentice. She cannot get access to too many medicinal materials outside, and she cannot waste a year waiting for the Medical Department to recruit apprentices next year.

If I could work as a handyman in the menial hall, it might be an opportunity.

Since it is an opportunity, we cannot miss it.

Thinking of this, Hua Changxi stood up and saluted to Eunuch Jia: "My daughter greets Eunuch Jia!"

Eunuch Jia was feeling very annoyed at the moment. He suddenly heard someone calling him. He frowned, turned around, and found that it was someone he didn't know at all. His expression suddenly became gloomy.

When Hua Changxi saw this, she quickly explained, "Please forgive me, Eunuch Jia. I was passing by the servants' hall and heard someone shouting inside, so I went to check it out."

Then, he quickly pointed at those who were still screaming, "The problem of these people is easy to solve. Grind the black ice grass and apply it on their arms. They will get better within a quarter of an hour."

Eunuch Jia originally wanted to send someone to arrest Hua Changxi, but after hearing what she said, he changed his mind: "Oh, do you know what happened to them?"

Hua Changxi nodded and pointed at the herbs in the yard: "Fire crystal grass has fire poison and cannot be washed directly with water. If the fire crystal grass is placed in water, the poison will quickly dissipate. If people come into contact with it, they will end up like them."

Eunuch Jia raised his eyebrows and asked, "Do you know the herbs in the yard?"

Hua Changxi nodded again: "In reply to what Eunuch Jia said, my daughter's family runs a medicine shop. She knows some drug dealers and I have learned a lot of herbal knowledge from them."

In order to increase his own value, Hua Changxi added: "Not only can the Fire Crystal Grass in the yard not be washed with water, but the Thunder Bamboo can't be washed with water either."

Thunder bamboo is not a bamboo, but a herb that looks like bamboo.

"If the thunder bamboo is placed in water, the arms of the people who come into contact with it will become paralyzed. In serious cases, the arms will become necrotic, and the person will eventually become disabled."

Hearing this, the people from the errand hall present all showed fear on their faces. If the people who were dealing with the fire crystal grass had not gotten into trouble, they would have already started dealing with the thunder bamboo.

Anger was surging in Eunuch Jia's eyes; he knew that the Servant Hall was being targeted.

The eunuch beside him stepped forward and whispered, "Godfather, Pharmacist Gong from Fourth Street is probably trying to make things difficult for us because we gave the herbs to Pharmacist Ji from Fifth Street last time."

"He specifically wanted to use Fire Crystal Grass and Thunder Bamboo, but he didn't tell us how to process these two herbs. He's really putting us in a difficult position."

Eunuch Jia didn't say anything. Seeing the servants who were cleaning the Fire Crystal Grass screaming miserably, he called a young eunuch and said, "Go to the storehouse and get some Mysterious Ice Grass."

Xuanbing grass is a herb commonly used by warriors. It is not cheap and warriors outside may not be able to buy it even if they want to.

But this is the Medical Bureau, and the Miscellaneous Services Hall is responsible for the initial processing of all medicinal materials entering the Medical Bureau. There are several thousand kilograms of Xuanbing Grass in the warehouse that have not been processed yet.

Although he could not use the medicinal herbs in the warehouse at will, he could still take some to treat injured servants.

After the young eunuch left, Jia Gonggong looked at Hua Changxi again and said, "These two herbs cannot be washed with water, so how should we deal with them?"

Hua Changxi: "Use salt. Salt can quickly remove the dirt on the fire crystal grass and thunder bamboo."

"Bai Cao Jing Zhu" records in detail the precautions for handling fire crystal grass and thunder bamboo.

Seeing that Hua Changxi was so confident, Eunuch Jia hesitated for a moment and then decisively asked someone to get salt.

When the salt was brought, they found that there were not enough people.

The servants in the service hall have different divisions of labor. Now that more than 20 people are injured, there is naturally a shortage of manpower.

When Hua Changxi saw this, she immediately stepped forward and said, "Eunuch Jia, my daughter has nothing to do and is willing to serve you. Please give me a chance to broaden my horizons."

Eunuch Jia has now remembered that Hua Changxi is the candidate who applied for the apprenticeship. Knowing the inside story of this apprentice recruitment, he seems to understand what the young lady in front of him is planning.

But how did she know that all the places for female medical apprentices had been reserved?

Just then, the eunuch who was sent to call for the doctor came back with two doctors.

Eunuch Jia did not respond to Hua Changxi. He neither agreed nor disagreed. He went straight to greet the two doctors.

Seeing Eunuch Jia's behavior, Hua Changxi simply assumed that he agreed. He quickly walked to the middle of the servants and helped them process the fire crystal grass and thunder bamboo.

The servants were not sure whether salt could clean the fire crystal grass and thunder bamboo, so they all watched Hua Changxi operate in silence.

After making sure there was no danger, he began to process the medicinal materials according to Hua Changxi's method.

"What, you still need acupuncture?"

The two doctors also said that the twenty-odd people were burned by the herbs. To be treated, they would have to receive acupuncture and take medicine to detoxify. It would take at least ten days to recover.

Eunuch Jia frowned: "We know that many new medicines have been developed in the past two years. Is there no ointment that can be cured by just applying it?" The two doctors repeated the injuries of the twenty servants and said that the injuries were too severe to be cured by ordinary ointments.

Eunuch Jia glanced at Hua Changxi who was busy doing chores. The method this young lady proposed was much simpler than the treatment plans of the two doctors.

Eunuch Jia still asked two doctors to take the servants to the room for treatment, but he left a few behind. After the young eunuch took the Xuanbing grass from the warehouse, he asked them to crush it and test it.

"Father-in-law, it really doesn't itch anymore!"

After applying the black ice grass, the few servants who stayed behind felt that the itching and pain from being burned by fire and being gnawing by millions of ants quickly subsided.

After seeing that the condition of several servants had improved, Eunuch Jia went to check on the servants who were being treated by the doctor. They were still scratching and wailing, and Eunuch Jia couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

In the past two years, the Medical Bureau has discovered many new medicinal materials. The medicinal properties of many of these medicinal materials have not yet been tested. Even if they have been tested, the doctors and pharmacists will keep them secret and not share them completely.

In the Miscellaneous Services Hall, there have been several injuries while handling and cleaning medicinal materials.

Take the Fire Crystal Grass and Thunder Bamboo for example, the Servants' Hall had no idea of ​​their toxicity.

Eunuch Jia returned to the yard and silently watched Hua Changxi quickly processing the herbs.

This young lady's technique in handling herbs is fast, accurate and steady. She is even more skilled than the other servants. You have to know that these servants are all veterans who have been doing this for several years.

At this time, Hua Changxi was indeed working very hard.

[Immortality (beginner): Cleansing herbs 10/10]
When she had processed ten herbs, her mind was suddenly filled with various methods of cleaning ordinary plants. It seemed as if she had repeated these methods countless times and they had been engraved in her bones.

At this moment, whether she picked up the fire crystal grass or the thunder bamboo, she instinctively knew how to clean them.

It felt as if she was clearly a novice when it came to handling warrior medicinal materials, but now, she had become an experienced veteran who had handled countless warrior herbs.

[Immortality (Minor): Cleansing herbs 88/100]
[Immortality (Minor): Cleansing herbs 89/100]
[Immortality (Minor): Cleansing herbs 90/100]
┊

There were simply too many medicinal herbs to be processed in the Miscellaneous Services Hall. As Hua Changxi watched the words in his sight constantly changing, his expression became more and more excited.

After processing 100 medicinal herbs, just as Hua Changxi had expected, various methods of cleaning spiritual plants suddenly appeared in her mind.

Eunuch Jia stood aside and watched for a while. He found that Hua Changxi was indeed an expert in handling medicinal materials. After thinking for a while, he called the young eunuch and said, "Xiao Luzi, go find out about the young lady's family situation, and also see where she went in the Medical Department today."

An hour later, when several carts of fire crystal grass and thunder bamboo were almost processed, Xiao Luzi came back.

"Godfather, the young lady is called Hua Changxi. She lives in Nanluoxiang, Xiuzhengfang. She is the ninth child in the family. Her father is a constable of the Six Gates."

"Hua Changxi knows Pharmacist Xu from Ninth Street. After leaving the square, he went to Ninth Street to look for Pharmacist Xu. Pharmacist Xu and Pharmacist Wang from the Apprentice Hall are good friends."

Xiao Luzi reported the information he had obtained in detail to Eunuch Jia.

After hearing this, Eunuch Jia finally understood why Hua Changxi knew that the places for female medical apprentices had been pre-selected.

"Go, call Hua Changxi over to our house."

[Immortality (Great): Cleansing herbs 250/1000]
Hua Changxi was working hard when Xiao Luzi came over.

Upon learning that Eunuch Jia wanted to see him, Hua Changxi took a reluctant look at the medicinal herbs that had not yet been processed, and followed Xiao Luzi to Eunuch Jia.

"Eunuch Jia."

Eunuch Jia looked at Hua Changxi and didn't try to intimidate him. Instead, he got straight to the point: "You have helped our family solve a problem today. Tell me, what do you want from us?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi didn't hesitate, clasped her fists and bowed, saying: "My daughter wants to work in the errand hall, and I beg for permission, eunuch Jia."

Jia Gonggong showed a look of astonishment: "Although the errand hall is not like the apprentice hall, and recruitment must be announced in advance, this does not mean that anyone can enter the errand hall casually. Why should we recruit you?"

Hua Changxi no longer cared about being modest at this time: "Father, my daughter has a good memory. I know by heart all the medicinal herbs I have seen or heard others mention."

"I have my own experience in handling medicinal materials. To be frank, even if I were to face an old hand who has been handling medicinal materials for decades, I would still consider myself as good as him."

Hearing her say this, Eunuch Jia laughed out loud: "Little girl, you are bragging like that, aren't you afraid of biting your tongue?"

Hua Changxi looked at Eunuch Jia confidently: "If you don't believe me, just test me."

Eunuch Jia looked at Hua Changxi, and seeing that she didn't dodge or evade, he didn't test her, but continued, "The work of the errand hall is not easy. Not to mention that you are a young lady, even a man would often feel overwhelmed here. Are you sure you want to join the errand hall?"

Hua Changxi nodded firmly: "My daughter is not afraid of hardship."

Eunuch Jia continued, "As far as I know, you are here to apply for an apprenticeship today. Why do you think you will definitely not be hired?"

Hua Changxi thought for a moment and replied, "I think I am more suitable for the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall."

Eunuch Jia laughed and said, "You really don't regret it? If we agree to you today, you will be a member of the Menial Work Hall. Even if you are on the list of candidates for the Apprentice Hall in three days, you can no longer go to the Apprentice Hall."

Hua Changxi was silent for a second, then nodded again affirmatively: "My daughter only wants to join the Menial Services Department."

Compared to uncertain outcomes, she prefers to grasp what is certain in front of her.

When Eunuch Jia saw Hua Changxi like this, he showed some recognition on his face: "You are quite decisive. We think you are really capable. The Miscellaneous Service Hall is indeed short of manpower. I will give you a chance today. Come to the Miscellaneous Service Hall to report tomorrow."

Hua Changxi's face lit up with joy, and she bowed to Eunuch Jia at a 90-degree angle: "Thank you for your help, Eunuch. I will definitely work hard in the errand hall in the future."

Eunuch Jia said noncommittally: "We don't need your thanks either. We just hope you won't regret it after you enter the Servants' Hall. Xiao Luzi, send her out."

(End of this chapter)