Chapter 3

After Ethan left, business at Jiang’s Apothecary got worse by the day.

Rumors spread that "the Jiang girl failed to cling to the genius doctor and was dumped."

Our old clients all drifted to the chain pharmacy down the street.

Chloe's personal assistant came by once.

Dressed in a sharp business suit, she walked into the apothecary, covering her nose with a silk handkerchief in disgust as she circled the counter.

"Oh, so this is the famous Jiang clinic? Smells like mold." She let out a cold laugh. "Miss Jiang, our Dr. Vance is a merciful man. Out of pity for your family taking him in back then, he sent me to offer you a way out. You can't keep this place running on your own anyway. Why not sell it to the Hearst Group’s health management branch? Dr. Vance can even arrange a receptionist job for you here. You still need to eat, right?"

I looked up at her, my hands never stopping as I crushed herbs with the copper pestle.

"Are you here to buy medicine, ma'am? If not, please leave. Jiang's Apothecary is not for sale."

Her face twisted, and she spat, "Ungrateful brat! Dr. Vance said it himself—a placebo healer like you who can't even tell herbs apart will kill someone sooner or later! Just you wait!"

She clacked away in her high heels.

I didn't have time to deal with her. The counter was piled with last month's bills and several herbs that desperately needed processing.

That afternoon, a light drizzle started to fall outside.

A man wearing a dark blue trench coat walked into the shop.

"Excuse me, can you treat patients here?"

I looked up and saw a face as warm and smooth as jade.

His eyes were beautiful, like a clear lake in autumn.

They carried a reassuring calm.

In his arms, he held a young man whose face was turning purple, his breathing extremely weak.

"Lay him flat, loosen his collar." I quickly set down my work, walked over, and checked his carotid artery.

His pulse was thin and weak, barely there.

"Your friend is lucky he ran into me." I turned to the cabinets, swiftly grabbing herbs, mixing them, preparing an injection, and applying acupuncture.

Forty minutes later, the young man let out a long breath. His color slowly returned to a normal pale state, and his breathing stabilized.

The man in the trench coat let out a sigh of relief and pulled out his phone to pay.

"I'll transfer you ten thousand."

"Ten thousand?" I was stunned. "The cost of the medicine is less than fifty. With the treatment fee, just give me fifty dollars."

He lowered his phone and smiled. His smile was like a warm spring breeze.

"You have incredible skills, Dr. Jiang. I asked three major hospitals in the city about this toxin, and they all said it was untreatable. You cured it in under an hour."

I blinked, counting his change. "Do you know me? Are you from the city?"

"Julian Cole, from Cole Pharmaceuticals." He bowed slightly, pulling a card from his cardholder and handing it to me. "My father was an old friend of your father’s. I came here when I was a kid."

He looked at me, his gaze gentle, without a hint of arrogance.

"Back then, you were sitting behind the counter cutting licorice root. You cut your finger and cried so hard, your eyes getting all red like a startled rabbit."

My face flushed instantly.

"Mr. Cole, the fee is fifty. Here is your change." I pushed the cash forward.

"Keep it."

"We are strangers. I can't take extra money from you."

He paused, then accepted the change.

"Then I won't overpay," he said. "But can I come by and sit here sometimes?"

"Sit in an apothecary?"

"Yes. Have some tea, chat. And maybe learn a thing or two about natural medicine."

I looked at him, unsure of what he was planning.

But his eyes were clean. There was no scrutiny like Ethan’s, nor any mockery like that assistant’s.

He just stood there quietly, waiting for my answer.

"Suit yourself. Just don't disrupt my business."

He smiled. Not a polite, formal smile, but a genuinely happy one.

His eyes curved, and the calm lake in his gaze rippled with warmth.

"See you tomorrow then."

He turned and walked out. His dark blue figure stepped into the rainy alley, opening a long-handled black umbrella before disappearing.

I lowered my head and continued crushing the herbs. *Thud, thud, thud.*

As the pestle struck the mortar, my heart rate finally began to slow down.