The Apothecary Diaries Book 7

The Thought Behind the Thought

On their first day off in a long time, Maomao's suspicion that there was something going on turned to certainty. She wanted to know how things were going in the pleasure district, so she slipped out of the dormitory and headed for the Verdigris House.

She discovered more or less what the letters had insisted: that everything was fine. In the middle of the day, the place felt relaxed; an apprentice was sweeping by the front door and an obnoxious brat was playing with Maomao the cat.

"Freckles!" Chou-u exclaimed when he saw Maomao. He came charging over to her, still holding the cat, who fought and struggled and kicked Chou-u in the stomach until she managed to slip away from him, then sought shelter behind Maomao (the person). So at least she still remembered her.

Maomao plucked the creature up and ushered her over the fence, where she ran off. That was one fickle furball. Maomao hoped the cat would bring her some rare herbs as a thank you.

"Why don't you ever come home?" Chou-u demanded.

"Because I'm working. I don't have much choice." Chou-u looked like he was about to cling onto her, so she stuck a hand against his head to hold him back.

Hm? Was it just her, or had he gotten taller? And his skin was more tan, maybe because he was outside playing every day. His front teeth had even straightened out, making him look markedly less dumb.

"Is Sazen around?" Maomao asked, glancing about in search of the apprentice apothecary.

"Yeah. He's with the one-eyed guy right now." So Kokuyou was here too.

Maomao made her way to the apothecary shop, which occupied a space rented from the Verdigris House, greeting familiar courtesans in passing as she went. She could hear voices from inside.

"That's right. You need to make sure you grind it to a very fine powder. If you get the amount even slightly wrong when you make the pills, they won't be as effective."

"Okay..."

Sazen was pulverizing something, Kokuyou giving him diligent instructions. It was great that they were doing their jobs, but when she got a look at the two of them in the shop, her opinion quickly soured.

It was hot, which explained why all the doors and windows were open, but that caused problems of its own: several courtesans grinned as they watched the two men hard at work in these close quarters. Kokuyou could be downright attractive as long as he kept the scars on his face covered, and while Sazen's appearance was unremarkable, he couldn't be called ugly.

Those ladies are rotten to the core, Maomao thought. There were plenty of women out there with an enthusiasm for male-male love. The Verdigris House didn't trade in male-male prostitution, so Maomao was sure the women were enjoying this.

She marched up to the two men, who seemed to have no idea that they were the source of such entertainment. "Looks like everything is going well here," she said.

"Aw, yeah, we're doing great!" Kokuyou replied, sounding every bit the dumbass he usually was.

"Uh, I think it's been pretty tough," Sazen said. He could barely keep the resentment off his face.

"I'm so glad you're not having any problems."

"Hey, aren't you listening to me?!" Sazen wailed. Well, wasn't he the one who'd written to her that everything was fine? Or had the old lady forced him to say that? Maomao knew that asking him about it would only get him started on a litany of complaints, so she decided to ignore him. Sazen could be so stubborn.

Maomao looked around the shop to make sure everything was in order, taking a quick survey to see if anything was out of stock—or if there was anything there that shouldn't have been.