Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

On the day Anhetang reopened, it drizzled a little in the southern part of the city.

The rain was light, a fine drizzle that washed the bluestone slabs of Yaopu Alley until they shone.

Shen Bo'an said this was a good omen, as the older generation said, "When a pharmacy opens and it rains, wealth will flow in like water."

Shen Jingqiu laughed at his superstition, but she still got up early, swept the doorway three times, and pasted a red paper couplet on the door frame.

The couplet was written by Ye Chen; the calligraphy wasn't particularly beautiful, but the content was substantial.

The first line is: May all people in the world be free from illness; the second line is: Why worry about the medicine on the shelf gathering dust?

Jiang Ruoxi looked at it and said, "Ye Chen, not bad! When did you learn to write couplets? I never realized you, a kid who grew up in the mountains, were so talented!"

Ye Chen said, "I checked this last night, how's that? My calligraphy was taught by my master, is that sincere enough?"

Jiang Ruoxi smiled and nodded: "The sincerity is enough. As for the handwriting, it's passable, but it still shows some skill. With more practice, it will definitely achieve results in the future."

The shop is small, with a medicine cabinet and consultation table at the front, and a small consultation room and a storeroom at the back.

Jiang Ruoxi had the old walls repainted and a row of wooden cabinets made in the style of an old-fashioned pharmacy, with the names of the medicines written in small regular script by Shen Jingqiu herself pasted on the cabinets.

The medicinal herbs were neatly stacked in the grid, including astragalus, angelica, and angelica from Baizhi Valley, as well as local herbs from Nancheng that Shen Bo'an brought back from his old house.

The top shelf was empty, except for a small porcelain bottle containing the lung-warming pills that Su Qinghan had given to Shen Jingqiu before he left.

She said, "I'm not selling this; I'm keeping it for emergencies."

On the first day of opening, not many people came; most people didn't know much about Anhetang.

The alley is deep, the signs are new, and most of the locals just pass by, peek at them, and then leave.

Shen Bo'an sat behind the consultation table, placing the pulse pillow neatly. On the table were the copper seal made by Anhetang and a newly copied medicine book.

He waited all morning, but only one old man came. He said he heard from his old neighbor that Anhetang had reopened, so he came to see what was going on.

Shen Bo'an chatted with him for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. He didn't prescribe any medicine, but only taught him a folk remedy to relieve knee pain: boil mugwort and ginger in water and soak his feet in it.

The old man left happily.

Shen Jingqiu was a little discouraged and squatted on the threshold, resting her chin on her hand.

Ye Chen walked over, handed her a lollipop, and said, "Running a pharmacy isn't like running a restaurant. If you can get your name out in the first month, you've already won. Your grandfather used to practice at Anhetang, and he had seven patients in the first six months. And then what happened? People from the whole street came to him for treatment."

Shen Jingqiu took the candy, but didn't eat it right away. Instead, she held it in her hand and nodded.

The rain stopped in the afternoon, and sunlight peeked through the gaps in the clouds.

Suddenly, footsteps came from the alley entrance, followed by a middle-aged woman carrying a four- or five-year-old child.

The child's face was yellowish, and he seemed listless, clinging to his mother's shoulder and refusing to lift his head.

The woman said she heard it from the old tailor in Yaopu Alley, that Anhetang had reopened, so she came to take a look.

Shen Bo'an asked the child to sit down, asked a few questions, and then examined the tongue and fingerprints.

He said, "It's nothing serious. It's just indigestion and a bit of a chill. I'll massage the child's stomach first, then prescribe two doses of digestive medicine. He should be fine after two days."

As he spoke, he laid the child down, gently rubbed the child's stomach a few times with his palm, then touched his fingertip with a needle and squeezed out a drop of yellow fluid.

The child cried out, but after a short while, his expression softened.

Shen Jingqiu dispensed the medicine according to the prescription with nimble movements, reporting each ingredient to Shen Bo'an.

Shen Bo'an nodded, and then she put it into the paper package.

The woman left after expressing her gratitude profusely, saying as she left, "I'll come again tomorrow to have my mother-in-law's legs checked as well."

Shen Jingqiu saw her to the door, and her steps were much lighter when she returned.

Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi stood at the back door watching, neither of them saying a word.

Jiang Ruoxi said softly, "That's right."

Ye Chen nodded in agreement, and Chongjiang Ruoxi smiled.

As evening fell and the shop was closing, Shen Jingqiu sat in front of the medicine cabinet, holding the copper seal in her hand and examining it over and over.

She asked Shen Bo'an, "Grandpa, why is this stamp on our prescription?"

Shen Bo'an said, "Anhetang's rule is that every prescription must be stamped with this seal, which means that the pharmacy recognizes the prescription, and patients can also use it to get medicine. If anything goes wrong, the pharmacy will take responsibility."

Shen Jingqiu dipped the copper seal in ink and gently pressed it onto a blank page of the medicine book.

The four red characters "Anhetang Made" were clearly written on the paper.

She looked at it for a long time, then closed the medicine book and put it in the drawer.

Dinner was eaten in the small courtyard behind the pharmacy.

Shen Bo'an sat in the main seat, with Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi on either side. Shen Jingqiu was busy serving dishes and soup.

The dishes were cooked by Jiang Ruoxi; three dishes and a soup, simple but warm.

Shen Bo'an didn't eat much, but he tried everything and even said that Jiang Ruoxi's sweet and sour pork ribs were better than last time.

Jiang Ruoxi said, "That's because you taught me well. I'm just learning as I go and messing around. I'm sorry for making a fool of myself."

Shen Bo'an smiled.

After dinner, Ye Chen made a video call to Su Qinghan.

Su Qinghan sat in the courtyard of Medicine King Valley, with a wall full of dried herbs behind her.

She inquired about the opening and gave Shen Jingqiu a few more instructions.

Shen Jingqiu held her phone and nodded repeatedly.

Before hanging up the phone, Su Qinghan said, "Jingqiu, once things are settled on your end, make a copy of Anhetang's medicine register and send it back to us. Medicine King Valley needs to keep a copy."

Shen Jingqiu agreed and carried out Su Qinghan's instructions.

At night, Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi took a walk in the alley.

The southern part of the city was cooler after the rain, and the bluestone slabs were still shimmering with shallow water.

Jiang Ruoxi, linking her arm with Ye Chen's, asked, "How long do you think Anhetang will stay open this time?"

Ye Chen thought for a moment and said, "As long as there are still people willing to let Grandpa Shen take their pulse and get medicine from Anhetang, it can stay open. Whether it's a shop or not is not important. What's important is that the sign is shining again."

Jiang Ruoxi nodded. She knew that Anhetang would definitely succeed under Shen Jingqiu's management.

Ye Chen and his companion walked to the alley entrance and looked back.

The doors of Anhetang were closed, but a sliver of light still shone through the crack in the door.

The light was warm, as if someone was keeping watch over the night inside.

Ye Chen stood there for a while, then suddenly stopped and said to Jiang Ruoxi, "Next spring, let Ayiguli come over too, and see if the seeds her cousin sent can grow here."

Jiang Ruoxi agreed, as she also wanted to see how things were developing here.

The two turned and walked back, their shadows stretched long by the streetlights as they stepped on the wet stone path.

A cat meowed once in the distance, then silence fell.

The entire alley of pharmacies slept peacefully in the night after the rain.

It's like someone who has walked a long way and finally lies back in their own bed, with nothing left to worry about.