Tian Street Corner was bustling with excitement.
Four adjoining shops were divided into two storefronts. Above were the fluttering red banners, and below were the smiling faces of the Dong family of five.
From Zheng Ruqian to Jiang Sheng, they were all dressed in brand new clothes and shiny new layered cotton shoes, welcoming guests at the door.
Xu Mo was the most simple, still wearing narrow-sleeved cotton robes with a light-colored overcoat on the outside. His head was tied with a headband of the same color. Just standing there, he was as graceful as a willow, like a jade tree in the wind.
Zheng Ruqian wore a broad-sleeved round robe of plain silk, tied at the waist with a belt. On the left side of the belt hung a jade pendant, and on the right was a large ornamental purse the same color as his robes. His long hair was held in place by a jade hairpin, revealing a broad and smooth forehead.
Chang Yan and Wen Zhiyun's outfits were simple, just the most common crossover cotton robes. The only difference was that Wen Zhiyun's slender figure wore an additional sleeveless vest inside, which made him appear even more delicate.
Then there was Little Jiang Sheng.
Auntie Zhang definitely favored this only little girl, taking special care to sew her a nice cotton skirt.
On top she wore a light blue half-sleeved shirt, paired with a moon-colored short jacket. Along with the light pink pleated skirt, it looked just right on the eleven-year-old girl. Even the two little buns on her head were changed to light pink, echoing the pleated skirt while also appearing lively and cute.
Behind them, the open doors of the two shops boldly displayed the items inside.
One was filled with countless pastries.
The other was full of all kinds of medicinal materials.
Passersby couldn't help but curiously ask, "Are you selling pastries or medicine here?"
Zheng Ruqian loudly answered, "These are the shops of me and my brother."
The passerby suddenly understood.
He didn't want to miss this opportunity, and went on introducing, "My brother is a miraculous doctor who can cure all illnesses. My shop has countless pastries, whatever you want to eat, we have it all."
But the passerby strode away quickly, with no desire to go in and browse.
Zheng Ruqian's eyebrows were tightly knitted, full of murmurs in his heart.
Beside him, Wen Zhiyun's face flushed red as he pulled Chang Yan and whispered, "Second brother is exaggerating a bit too much. I can't cure all illnesses, at best I can only treat fifty or sixty minor diseases."
"Fourth brother, 'all illnesses' is just a figure of speech. Second brother's shop also only has a dozen or so pastries, yet he still boasted 'countless'. " Chang Yan comforted in a low voice, "Little Five believes in you, believes in you forever."
Although the fourth brother was fragile and weak, he never resigned himself to falling behind. He kept working hard to be strong, working hard to be capable, working hard to protect his younger siblings, learning to be a qualified brother.
He was Chang Yan's intimate brother of the same age, as well as the best fourth brother.
Just then, sunlight shone brightly.
Xu Mo gestured to the position of the shadows and raised his voice, "Auspicious time has come!"
Jiang San and Jiang Si jumped up like monkeys and stood under the signboards.
With a slight nod from Zheng Ruqian and Wen Zhiyun, the two jumped up wielding long rods and pulled down the red cloths, revealing the glistening gold signboards underneath.
One exuded the fragrance of pastries - "Jiuzhen Store".
The other the strong smell of medicine - "Wen's Clinic".
The signboards were specially made to order by Zheng Ruqian, with gold letters on a red background and gold painted borders, more eye-catching than the usual red on black of other shops, and a bit more flashy.
Wen Zhiyun was somewhat shy, but feeling the encouragement of his fifth younger brother, he still walked into Wen’s Clinic with composure and hung up a notice at the door. It read: Clinic open for business, free consultation for the first three days.
Then, Young Doctor Wen tidied his clothes and sat down in the consultation area, quietly waiting.
In the blink of an eye, two people rushed over and held out their wrists.
Then five, seven, ten...
Wang Xiaozhu hurried out to direct people, "Queue up properly, those who don't line up won't be seen. According to the order of arrival, stand in line one by one."
In less than half a cup of tea's time, a long line had formed in front of Wen's Clinic, as fast as if people were brought over.
"We didn't hire people right?" Zheng Ruqian said, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
Xu Mo smiled, "Hired help for free consultation?"
Taking advantage doesn't differentiate between rich and poor. Poor people are reluctant to see doctors to save a couple cents, while the wealthy can also come just for the novelty of something free.
In any case, Wen Zhiyun's move could be called exquisite.
Just three days of free consultation could quickly build up a client base. Even if only one-tenth of the people came back to buy medicine, it would bring benefits to the clinic.
Really unexpected coming from the usually quiet little fourth brother to have such business acumen.
Xu Mo nodded approvingly, then turned to look at the dumbfounded Zheng Ruqian. "Second brother, why not try to understand and apply this?"
At the street corner, Zhu Sihuan had already brought people over. Believe it won't be long before the pastry shop became lively too.
But such liveliness would become cold and dreary again after acquaintances left.
After all, complimentary support was just social etiquette between people. The shop's real business still relied on passersby, relied on commoners who sincerely wanted to buy pastries.
While the clinic could offer free consultations, his pastry shop certainly couldn't give out food for free.
Zheng Ruqian took a deep breath and quickly calculated the costs in his mind, then rushed into the clinic to grab Wen Zhiyun's writing brush, ink stick, paper and inkstone for writing prescriptions.
Everyone thought he would pull some flashy tricks.
However, Zheng Ruqian simply presented them to Xu Mo and said, "Big brother, please write 'Taste First, Buy Later' and 'Buy One Get One Free' for me."
Taste first, buy later was to attract cheapskates.
Buy one get one free was an upright promotional activity to reduce prices.
Even so, according to various costs, there was still profit to be made.
Xu Mo nodded slightly. As the thick brush danced across the paper, it left behind eight neat characters. At the end he signed: Valid for first three days only.
Then Zheng Ruqian pasted it on the door of the pastry shop with paste and yelled loudly, "Jiuzhen Store is open for business. Buy one get one free. Feel free to sample the freshly made pastries."
