護花近衛 - 第77章 有殺氣的人 - 墨香閣

...

"Uncle Chu, if there's nothing else, I'll be off to school now?" Wei Zhao had said everything that needed saying; how to deal with the rest was Gu Pengzhan's business.

"Good," Gu Pengzhan nodded. "Don't tell Yao Yao about what happened today. I don't want her troubled over it."

"Don't worry, Uncle Chu. I won't go around talking." Wei Zhao rose to his feet, ready to leave.

"Li Fu, see Xiao Yi to school," Gu Pengzhan instructed Uncle Qing, who stood at his side.

"Yes, Mr. Gu." Uncle Qing answered with a nod.

"No need for that. I can just flag down a taxi downstairs." Wei Zhao said hastily. He meant to stop by a pharmacy, and he had no wish for Uncle Qing to tag along; there were some matters he would rather others did not know too much about.

"As you like, then." Seeing Wei Zhao speak so, Gu Pengzhan did not press the point. "Until I have settled the company's troubles, I am leaving Yao Yao's safety in your hands."

"Heh—" Wei Zhao waved a hand. "Uncle Chu, since my assignment has to do with Miss Gu, I naturally won't let anything happen to her before I formally take it up."

Gu Pengzhan nodded, then gave a faint sigh. He had thought this arrangement a bargain for Wei Zhao, but from the look of things now, Wei Zhao did not seem especially taken with Gu Mengyao. He had no idea how his father had arranged it, but never mind; he would do as he was told.

"Li Fu, in a little while go and notify the administrative department to ready a meeting room. I am convening the board of directors this afternoon." The reason Gu Pengzhan had not insisted after Wei Zhao refused Uncle Qing's escort was that he had matters for Uncle Qing to arrange.

"Yes, Mr. Gu." Uncle Qing nodded and hurried out of Gu Pengzhan's office. Gu Pengzhan kept a full-time secretary, yet much could not be entrusted to a secretary's ears; only Uncle Qing, his trusted confidant, would do. In many cases, therefore, Uncle Qing served in the secretary's role as well.

Walking out of Pengzhan Tower, Wei Zhao flagged down a taxi.

"Where to, young man?" the driver asked once he was in the car, flipping down the meter.

"Driver, do you know where Chinese medicinal herbs are sold wholesale?" Wei Zhao was unfamiliar with the lie of Songshan City, but veteran cab drivers were living maps, knowing every trade in the city inside out.

"Oh, you mean Chinese medicine — the loose kind, twigs and stalks, or the prepared patent medicines?" The driver did not know which Wei Zhao wanted.

"Heh—" At the driver's description Wei Zhao could not help but laugh to himself. In the eyes of most ordinary people, Chinese medicine was indeed much the same as twigs and sticks. "The loose kind. The twigs and sticks."

Wei Zhao did not bother correcting him. The man was no professional, and so long as he could be understood, with no barrier to communication, that was enough.

"For wholesale you would have to go to the Chinese herb wholesale market in Qiaonan Village," the driver said. "But it isn't in the city, and it's a good half day's drive. If you're buying only a little, a bigger pharmacy would serve — they keep a fairly full stock."

Hearing this, Wei Zhao abandoned the notion of the wholesale market; at least for now there was no need to go. Buying a little at a pharmacy for immediate use would do. "Then help me find a rather large pharmacy."

"Easy enough." The driver started the car as he spoke.

After a few turns the car drew up in front of a large pharmacy. Plainly the driver had not taken him the long way round; the meter still showed the starting fare.

Wei Zhao paid the fare, thanked him, and got out, walking into the pharmacy.

Once inside, Wei Zhao sighed in admiration. It seemed that no matter the age, medicine was a very profitable trade. In broad daylight the shop was full of people buying medicine, and the counters for many common drugs were already crowded.