"The youth only said his name was Wenhao and didn’t say what his family name was? He also didn’t say which village his relatives live in?" "Yes." Luo Huiniang was startled then exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no, Xiao Yu, he couldn’t be a swindler, could he? Not telling his family name, not mentioning his address, what if he doesn’t come back to repay the debt? We shouldn’t have offered to cover his consultation and medicine fees if we had known." Gu Jinli flipped through the three books in her bag and shook her head, "No, these three books, each is worth more than five hundred coins, if he doesn’t come back to redeem them, his loss would be even greater." Upon hearing this, Luo Huiniang patted her chest and said, "That’s a relief, otherwise Third Grandpa would have wasted more than two hundred coins for nothing. That money could buy nearly ten jin of meat." Luo Huiniang was relieved, but Gu Jinli felt increasingly suspicious about the incident. How could it be such a coincidence, that a youth riding a donkey from the county suddenly spooked the donkey and crashed into Third Grandpa and them... "It was morning at the time, there should have been quite a few people on the road, right?" said Gu Jinli. Luo Huiniang nodded, "Yes, there were quite a few people going to town, but that stinky donkey just happened to rush towards us. Talk about bad luck, right?" Gu Jinli nodded. Indeed, why did it just happen to charge at Third Grandpa and Luo Huiniang? "He didn’t need to borrow money from Third Grandpa. He could have just given his name, address, and his relatives’ names, asking the folks from Xuanhu Fang to fetch his family. Then he could have settled the consultation and medicine fees along with the service charge all at once—it would have been a much better deal, yet he didn’t do that." Luo Huiniang, puzzled at first, then responded, "That’s why I say he’s foolish." Gu Jinli smiled. If he were truly foolish, that would be fine, but it’s worrisome if he’s playing the fool with ulterior motives. A delicate scholar who just fell off a donkey, injuring his leg, should have been scared half to death. Yet in less than half an hour, he was able to ride the donkey back to his relatives’ place, overcoming his fear so swiftly. If he were a soldier, Gu Jinli might believe it, but this was a weak and clumsy scholar, and Gu Jinli was not convinced that he could have come out of the shadow of death so quickly. Unless, of course, the young scholar knew in advance that he would encounter this mishap. Gu Jinli looked at Luo Huiniang, who was almost fourteen years old now and could be betrothed. She was quite pretty, with big eyes and a round face, very cute. "Hui Niang, if that Wenhao comes back to repay the money, you shouldn’t meet him. And if he tries to interact with you privately, don’t engage with him. If anything happens, immediately tell your parents or us. As a young lady, it’s not proper for you to have frequent interactions with a young man. The world is full of malice; some people might seem honest and simple, but they are terribly wicked inside, so be careful." Luo Huiniang was stunned and blushed as she protested, "You silly girl, what are you talking about? I would never go meet such a fool in private." The one she liked was the valiant Great General skilled in martial arts, not a bookish nerd. Gu Jinli seriously said, "Many people covet our tofu and spice recipes, and they would commit any atrocity for the recipes. We need to be careful." Seeing Gu Jinli’s grave demeanor, Luo Huiniang promptly assured her, "Okay, I’ll listen to you. I definitely won’t interact with that scholar." Pleased that Luo Huiniang took her advice to heart, Gu Jinli put away the book bag and said, "This book bag will stay at our house, in Third Grandpa’s safekeeping. If that person comes to repay the money, let Third Grandpa speak to him, and you stay out of it." "Alright," Luo Huiniang agreed, and then pointed at the thing she was working on and asked, "What is this stuff? It looks like mud, all gray and dusty. What’s it for?" Gu Jinli put down her book bag and continued pounding the medicine clay in the mortar: "This is a scar removal medicine for my cousin. After the blood scabs on her face fall off, she can use it." Originally, she had wanted to make this scar removal medicine earlier, but one thing after another kept cropping up at home, and it had been delayed until now. Luo Huiniang was astonished and pointed at the mud-like substance in the mortar, saying, "Can this mud really remove scars?" So ugly, this scar removal medicine, wouldn’t it make one’s face uglier if applied? Gu Jinli nodded: "I can’t guarantee that it will completely erase the scars, but it can fade them, especially the new scars." Old scars are a bit harder to heal, but if she were in modern times, with sophisticated equipment to extract the ingredients of the herbs, she could make a medicine that completely removes scars. For now, she could only try and see how effective it is. If it works well, this could be a fortune-making medicine. Luo Huiniang said, "Did you find it in that medical book again? Xiao Yu, you’re really amazing." Luo Huiniang really admired Gu Jinli; she used to be fierce and liked to play with her because most of the girls in the village, like Sister Xiu, were dull and didn’t fight. Only Gu Jinli, like her, dared to quarrel and even fight with others at the drop of a hat. Gu Jinli said, "Sort of, I read the medical books and then figured it out myself." She couldn’t always use that medical book as an excuse, and that book didn’t teach how to make scar removal medicine either. "Ms. Chu, Huiniang, hurry home and mix the spices!" Ms. Chu shouted at Luo Huiniang across the courtyard: "There’s still spices to mix at home, you can go find Xiao Yu to play tomorrow!" Luo Huiniang’s face fell and she complained to Gu Jinli: "Mixing spices is so boring." Nevertheless, she got up and walked toward her house. Gu Jinli reminded her from behind: "Remember what I said, stay away from the bookworms." "I got it." Luo Huiniang turned her back to her, waved her hand, and soon returned to her own home to struggle with bags of spices. After Luo Huiniang left, Gu Jinli continued to work on her scar removal medicine. Shortly after, she took out a small clay stove, lit a fire with some small chopped firewood, and put the medicine mud from the mortar into a small copper pot to simmer. While simmering, she gradually added the juice of the white half-lotus, constantly stirring to prevent the medicine from sticking to the pot. Soon, a stench wafted from the small copper pot, and Third Grandma came over, covering her nose, asking, "Why does it smell so bad? Can this really remove scars?" Xiao Yu has been working on the scar removal medicine ever since she came back from town today. First, she took out the several medicinal ingredients she bought in the Prefecture and crushed them, then she added the very precious pearl powder, making all the medicine foam into a mud paste, which was truly heart-wrenching to watch. Pearl powder, oh, how expensive pearls are! She had lived a lifetime, and only when she was in her old hometown did she go to the county with her husband and saw a wealthy lady wearing a pearl hairpin. Third Grandma always thought pearls were used only to make hairpins, never imagining that pearls could also be medicine. What were the people at Prefecture pharmacy thinking, daring to smash such precious pearls into powder? Brother Cheng, hearing Third Grandma’s words, ran out and squatted beside the stove, watching Gu Jinli cook the medicine paste, and replied, "Of course, it’s possible. Don’t you trust my Second Sister, Third Grandma?" His Second Sister was amazing, never boasting, and he liked her the most. Third Grandma smiled and said, "I trust her, why wouldn’t I? Then you can just accompany your Second Sister and work on it slowly." If they could remove the scars from Girl Le’s face, not to mention pearl powder, even if Xiao Yu wanted to put gold into the medicine paste, it would be fine.