The Apothecary Diaries Ep 21

As one would expect, Maomao failing to explain herself properly (as per usual) resulted comedic chaos this week! It had me in stitches from laughing so hard.

Ever since Lihaku got the word that there’s a potential buyer for Pairin, he’s started to get frantic and anxious about whether he’d be able to compete with that, so he sought out Maomao for consultation on the matter. Maomao deeply cares for her elder sisters, so she isn’t the type to easily give any approval unless she fully trusts them. In Pairin’s case especially, she was actually the one who breastfed Maomao when she was a baby. Despite being compared to a lustful demon, she’s regarded to have natural maternal instincts that would make her a great mother. So it’s important to Maomao to help make sure they find the right match that would make them the happiest. For Lihaku’s case, Maomao already knows he’s a good guy, so all that was left was really to determine his compatibility of Pairin, which led to the chaotic misunderstanding that ensued.

The compatibility test came down to assessing Lihaku’s physique. An an apothecary, Maomao has learned how to read people’s personalities and habits just based on how their bodies look. She had the guy strip down to his underwear, flexing to show off his muscles and was about to even have him remove his loincloth in order to freaking judge his manhood. MAOMAO PLEASE! As you can see, she was very committed to this assessment about this. But the last part didn’t follow-through as Jinshi barged in to put an end to that session immediately.

But the misunderstanding wasn’t over just yet, as Maomao simply continues to speak without fully providing Jinishi the context of what was going on. The poor guy can’t keep up with her, though he really should know by now that Maomao has a bad habit of only speaking of what she was presently doing, and not why she was doing it. She did eventually address that– only at the very end when she pointed out that there was no point in her analyzing Jinshi’s body because he wouldn’t be compatible with her sisters. It was pretty funny how she interpreted him pouting because he was jealous and wanted to brag about being prettier— oh Maomao… Yes, he’s jealous, but not for that reason. RIP Jinshi. He has a longgggg way to go.

However after hearing about the reason for all of this, Jinshi decided to take the matter into his own hands by making an offer that some would find difficult to refuse: Offering to present 20,000 Silvers to help with the purchase.

Jinshi however benefited this talk for himself as well. Not only did this clear the air that Lihaku has no feelings towards Maomao, (as his heart is committed to Pairin), but he also proved that he is not the type to be swayed by money, making him a person Jinshi can potentially trust to rely on in the future, as Maomao has come to trust him as well.

And it’s Lihaku’s earnest commitment to Pairin is what makes him such a great guy. He’s the type who wear his heart on his sleeve, and his feelings for Pairin are incredibly pure. He understands the nature of her job, respects her as a woman, and won’t stand by idly if someone were to disrespect her. Furthermore, he didn’t feel it was right for him to accept the incredibly enticing offer by Jinshi to receive the funds needed to buy her out immediately, so he declined. Even though it will take longer, and long as she’s willing to wait for him, he will make the money needed in his own way. But best of all, he wasn’t about to dive head first into buying her out without consulting with her first about whether she was genuinely interested in becoming his wife. What a man!

Maomao didn’t tell Lihaku this, but she knows that if Pairin really likes him, she won’t cost 10,000 Silvers to buy out. I do hope the two work out though, I think they’d make a good match, especially since Lihaku can keep up with Pairin’s stamina.

Last but not least, and I almost forgot to address this: We learned a bit about the Quack doctor’s family background and how he actually ended up working at the rear-palace. His family used to be quite wealthy as they are involved in an extensive global trade of creating paper, and even served as the palace purveyor for it. However their wealth declined to almost nothing when the former Empress passed a law to prevent deforestation, and they had to finds resources elsewhere. But the substitute materials didn’t possess the same quality, and lost their business as result of it. His elder sister ended up going to the rear-palace, only to never been seen again, and then he accepted becoming an eunuch in place of his younger sister, who was about to be sent as well. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make.However he suddenly got news that the palace was no longer going to use them as their suppliers because the quality had declined too much. Although he was tight-lipped about the family’s secret ingredients for the glue that determine the strength and quality of the paper, Maomao was able to decipher a solution: Use Oxen’s saliva as a substitute to improve the paper’s strength, so she advised him to check where the Oxen are getting their water. He of course being, was slow to take her hint.

Next week will be the Blue Roses mission! I think it might also be the episode I’ve been most anticipating in regards to Lakan’s story, so I’m looking forward to it! (Though if it’s not next week, then it’ll probably the the following one).

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