“娘，我这就起！”李乐有气无力地应了一声，咕哝着爬下炕。昨晚睡得浅，又被邻居小孩追着哭闹折腾了几句，脑子现在还带着浆糊味。

灶膛里的火头还有点微弱，锅里的稀粥咕嘟咕嘟冒泡，散着一股子米糠的土腥气。李乐抄起旁边的粗瓷碗，舀了半碗，扒拉了两口就感觉胃里一阵翻搅。肚子饿得发慌，可这点粥压根填不饱。

“阿乐，粥快好了，你赶紧给东家送过去。”他妈在炕上扯着嗓子喊，“老王那头牛今天又咳嗽了，怕是病得不轻，赶紧抓两副药去。”

李乐扒拉完粥，胡乱抹了把嘴，抓起门后挂着的那件破棉袄，套在身上。这件棉袄是他去年冬天从当铺赎回来的，料子是死沉的粗麻布，棉花也薄得要命，钻风。他妈说，当铺的婆娘看着眼熟，八成是那婆娘看他不顺眼，故意给他赎件质量差的。

他走出破旧的院落，长安的清晨总是冷得刺骨。灰蒙蒙的天空下，街道两旁的商铺还大多没开门，只有零星几个挑着担子的小贩在叫卖，吆喝声断断续续，混杂着牲口喷出的白气。

李乐快步朝东边的老郎中诊所走去。老王是个人形奶牛， Mainly because he's very old and has no family, so he has a lot of livestock. This is the reason why Li Le has to buy medicine for him. His landlord sells milk powder together with breeding, The landlord said that he often helps the neighbors, so he gets a lot of customers. After taking care of his neighbor's cow, Li Le's landlord will prepare some medicine and sell it.

“老先生，取药！”李乐在门口喊了一声，推门进去。诊所里光线昏暗，药柜后面坐着个须发皆白的老者，正拿着个铜钱在手里摩挲，嘴里嘟嘟囔囔念叨着什么。