Bai brought three growers’ names to the clinic before opening time. He had spoken with them at the market and written down the quantities they could offer, the delivery dates, and the way they usually dried their herbs.
“The amounts are smaller than the guild shipment,” he said. “One grower can’t deliver until after the next rain. The other two may have enough for cough treatment and wound care, but not both at once.”
Ning compared the list with the patient schedule. She moved the clinic’s most urgent needs to the top and left a space beside each quantity for the supplier’s mark. “We should reserve what we have for the conditions that cannot wait. Then patients can choose among the substitutes we actually have.”
Qinghe lifted the restricted additive from the ordinary shelf and returned it to the sealed bench. She relabeled the common medicines with plain names, dates, and amounts. A patient should not need to understand a guild’s trade language to know what was in a bottle.
Tessa found a jar of dried leaves at the back of a crate. No receipt or supplier mark came with it. “Does this belong on the ordinary shelf?”
Qinghe opened the jar and examined the leaves. She checked their color and scent but did not pretend that either proved their identity. “Not until we know who gathered them and how they were dried.”
