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The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Uncle Chu, if there's nothing else, I'll head to school first?" Wei Zhao had said all that needed saying; how to handle the rest was Gu Pengzhan's affair.
"All right," Gu Pengzhan nodded. "And about today—don't tell Yao-yao. I don't want her to be too troubled by it."
"Don't worry, Uncle Chu. I won't go blabbing." Wei Zhao rose to his feet, ready to leave.
"Li Fu, drive Little Yi to school," Gu Pengzhan instructed Qing-bo, who stood to one side.
"Yes, Mr. Gu," Qing-bo answered with a nod.
"No need. I can just flag a cab downstairs myself," Wei Zhao said hurriedly. He meant to stop by a pharmacy, and he did not want Qing-bo trailing along; there were some things he would rather not have others know too much about.
"As you like, then." Seeing Wei Zhao say so, Gu Pengzhan did not insist. "Until I've sorted out the company's troubles, I'm entrusting Yao-yao's safety to you."
"Ha—" Wei Zhao waved a hand. "Uncle Chu, since my task concerns Miss Gu, naturally I won't let anything happen to her before I formally carry it out."
Gu Pengzhan nodded, then gave a faint sigh. At first he had felt this arrangement was letting Wei Zhao off easy, but now it seemed Wei Zhao was not all that keen on Gu Mengyao after all? He had no idea how his father had arranged things, but never mind—he would simply do as he was told.
"Li Fu, in a little while go notify the administrative department and have them prepare the meeting room. I'm convening the board this afternoon." The reason Gu Pengzhan had not pressed the point after Wei Zhao declined Qing-bo's escort was precisely that he had matters for Qing-bo to arrange.
"Yes, Mr. Gu." Qing-bo nodded and strode quickly out of Gu Pengzhan's office. Gu Pengzhan had a dedicated secretary, but there were many things a secretary could not be told—only Qing-bo, his trusted confidant, would do. And so in many cases Qing-bo also played the secretary's part.
Once out of Pengzhan Tower, Wei Zhao casually hailed a taxi.
"Where to, young man?" the driver asked after Wei Zhao got in, pressing down the meter.
"Master, would you happen to know where they sell Chinese medicinal herbs wholesale?" Wei Zhao was unfamiliar with the lie of Songshan City, but veteran cab drivers were living maps, thoroughly versed in every trade and trade in the city.
"Oh, you mean Chinese medicine—the loose kind, twigs and stalks, or the prepared patent medicines?" The driver did not know which sort Wei Zhao wanted.
"Ha—" At the driver's description Wei Zhao could not help but laugh quietly to himself. In the eyes of many ordinary people, Chinese medicine really was much the same as twigs and stalks. "The loose kind—twigs and stalks."
Wei Zhao did not bother correcting any of it. The man was no professional, after all; so long as he was understood and there was no barrier to communication, that was enough.
"If it's wholesale you want, you'd have to go to the Qiaonan Village Chinese Medicine Wholesale Market," the driver said. "But that's not in the city—it's most of a day's drive. If you're only buying a little, you could go to a larger pharmacy; they're fairly well stocked too."
At the driver's words Wei Zhao abandoned the idea of the wholesale market—at least for now he had no need to go. He could buy a little at a pharmacy for present use, and so he said, "Then help me find a fairly large pharmacy."
"That's easy enough." With that the driver started the car.
After a few turns the car pulled up before a large pharmacy. It seemed the driver had not taken him the long way round; the meter still showed only the base fare.
Wei Zhao paid the fare, thanked him, and got out, heading into the pharmacy.
Entering the shop, Wei Zhao sighed inwardly: it seemed that no matter the era, medicine was a highly profitable trade. In broad daylight the pharmacy was crowded with people buying medicine, and the counters for many common drugs were already ringed with customers.