"Young Master, you said your teacher is Old Doctor Chen?"
Old Master Ma's face, which had previously held a smile, became somewhat solemn.
"It seems that the villagers all call him that," Lu Qing replied with slightly less tension on his face.
"Yes, Old Master Ma, my young brother here goes to study and read with Old Doctor Chen every day."
At this moment, Brother Da An found an opportunity to chime in.
Old Master Ma scrutinized Lu Qing and Brother Da An with a look, then suddenly, his smile returned.
"So you're Old Doctor Chen's esteemed pupil; I have been disrespectful."
Old Master Ma proceeded to bow to Lu Qing with great formality, which seemed to frighten Lu Qing as he took two steps back.
Lu Qing waved his hands somewhat frantically: "I am not worthy of being called an esteemed pupil. I've only learned a bit about herbs from my teacher, and I still can't even treat illnesses."
Seeing Lu Qing's sincerity, Old Master Ma couldn't help but smile gently.
"No matter what, I was disrespectful to the Young Master just now. Let's do this: I'll pay for the meat you were buying at this stall."
"How can that be?" Lu Qing shook his head repeatedly, "Unearned rewards should not be accepted. My teacher has taught me not to take things from others lightly."
"But I indeed was disrespectful to the Young Master just now. Could we consider this meat an apology to you, Young Master?"
No matter what Old Master Ma said, Lu Qing just shook his head, firmly unwilling to accept Old Master Ma paying for him.
Brother Da An beside him was astounded.
It was his first time seeing Old Master Ma being so polite to someone.
And that person was his young brother, Lu Qing.
Seeing that Lu Qing was continuously refusing Old Master Ma's offer, Brother Da An was becoming somewhat anxious.
It was over ten pounds of meat; to refuse when someone is offering it free of charge, what was Ah Qing thinking?
However, despite feeling anxious, Brother Da An didn't speak up for Lu Qing.
He knew that Lu Qing could read and had the guidance of the elder doctor, surely knowing more than he did.
Since he was unwilling to accept, he must have his reasons.
Seeing that Lu Qing still did not want to accept his apology, Old Master Ma had a sudden inspiration and laughed again.
"The Young Master is truly magnanimous, befitting of being Old Doctor Chen's esteemed pupil. How about this: since you seem to be troubled by this silver, let me help you change it?"
Upon hearing this, the meat stall owner hurriedly said, "Indeed, Young Master, the only one here capable of changing your silver, I fear, is Old Master Ma."
Upon hearing this, Lu Qing hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Then I'll have to trouble Old Master Ma."
Saying so, he took out the silver, and Old Master Ma, upon seeing the fine snowflake pattern on it, believed in Lu Qing's words a bit more.
A regular country boy wouldn't be able to get his hands on such good quality silver.
After weighing it for a moment, he laughed and said, "This silver should weigh about six qian, which translates to around six hundred copper coins."
Old Master Ma removed a cloth bag from his person and fished out two small strings of copper coins before handing the cloth bag to Lu Qing.
"The copper coins in this bag should be equivalent to your silver. Count them and see."
Lu Qing took the money bag without hesitation and began counting right away.
Brother Da An wanted to help, but knowing he was not good at counting and that it would be more of a hindrance, he could only worry from the side.
Lu Qing began counting the copper coins quickly.
Old Master Ma's eyes narrowed as he watched Lu Qing count the money.
It's rare for country folk to be literate, and being able to recognize numbers within a hundred was already quite a feat.
It was clear from Lu Qing's counting speed that numbers posed no difficulty for him.
Old Master Ma grew more and more convinced that Lu Qing was indeed the disciple of that elder doctor.
In no time at all, Lu Qing had finished counting the money.
He looked up, "It seems there is extra."
There were a total of six hundred and fifty copper coins in the cloth bag. Given the exchange rate of one tael of silver for one thousand copper coins, there were fifty extra coins.
"It's not too much. Your silver is of very good quality, so it's right to give you an extra fifty coins," Old Master Ma laughed.
Lu Qing thought for a moment, then did not refuse again.
He knew that Mr. Ma was trying to befriend him.
But he had already turned down the man's offers several times, and he couldn't really deny him any face.
Moreover, for Lu Qing, this was an opportunity to learn about the outside world.
"The money has been exchanged, Young Master, you can rest assured in making your purchases. By the way, I still don't know the Young Master's name?" Mr. Ma took the opportunity to ask.
"I'm Lu Qing," Lu Qing replied, pointing to Wang Da An at his side, "This is Brother Da An, from the same village as me."
"Mr. Ma, my name is Wang Da An," Wang Da An said somewhat ingratiatingly.
"Wang Da An, not bad."
Mr. Ma could obviously tell that Wang Da An was just an ordinary rural youth.
Nevertheless, he nodded at Wang Da An with great composure.
But just this much was enough to excite Wang Da An, his face flushing red.
"Lu Qing, my young friend, I wish you a pleasant time here. I have some matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave now."
Mr. Ma was a man who understood proportion and did not take the opportunity to follow Lu Qing around, but chose to keep his distance instead.
Lu Qing, of course, was pleased with this outcome.
While he did have the intention of making a connection with this Mr. Ma, now was not the time.
After all, their strengths were not yet equal.
Right now, the other party had only taken a higher interest in him because of his status as "Elder Doctor Chen's Disciple."
Once Mr. Ma had left, Lu Qing returned to the meat stall.
"Boss, can I buy the meat now?"
"Of course." The meat stall owner was all smiles, "Young Master, so you're a disciple of Elder Doctor Chen? No wonder you're so presentable!"
Lu Qing looked at his patch-covered clothes and was somewhat speechless.
Is this considered presentable?
"How about you, Boss, do you also know of Elder Doctor Chen?" Wang Da An asked curiously.
"Young man, who around here doesn't know Elder Doctor Chen? Last year, my wife had a post-childbirth cold that nearly took her life, and it was the elder doctor who cured her. He's a famous Divine Doctor around these parts!"
"Given that, shouldn't you, Boss, give us a discount on the meat?" Wang Da An quickly asked.
"A discount, of course a discount!"
In the end, the meat stall owner rounded down the price, charging Lu Qing three Copper Coins less.
After buying the meat, Lu Qing and Wang Da An continued to wander around the market.
It wasn't long before they had bought a lot of things.
Mostly they bought food and some daily necessities.
Grain was the bulk of the purchase.
Apart from these, Lu Qing also bought some vegetable seeds and thread.
He wanted to plant more vegetables in the yard.
He couldn't always go foraging for wild vegetables.
As for the thread, it was because the fishhook made with a large iron needle at home was already struggling to hold up.
He planned to make more fishhooks as backups.
Lu Qing also saw fish for sale at the market, asked about the price, and found it to be somewhat cheaper than pork.
But that made sense, as for the lower-class citizens of this world, fat was very important, hence even pork fat was more expensive than lean meat.
Fish, which hardly contain any fat, didn't satisfy hunger as well.
Only those wealthy nobles and gentry, who desired delicacy, were willing to pay a high price for fish.
For the commoners, if given a choice, they would even prefer pork over fish.
After purchasing these items, the six hundred and fifty Copper Coins that Lu Qing had were mostly gone.
He then bought two large bamboo baskets, and together with Wang Da An, carrying and lifting, they managed to take everything with them.
Then the two set off with somewhat heavy steps, leaving the market behind and heading toward their village.