"Brother Dongzi, could you please call a young apprentice over? I'll have my dad and the others come in first."
"Alright, just stay put, I'll call him for you." Gu Chengyu watched as Dongzi ran towards the counter, then quickly turned around to wave at his dad and the others outside, making sure they saw him and started to come in before he glanced back at Dongzi.
Dongzi was struggling to push through the queue of people, speaking to a twelve or thirteen-year-old apprentice at the counter. But the apprentice was waving his hands incessantly, indicating he was busy, looking impatiently, and muttering something, likely saying he's too busy and has no time. Gu Chengyu thought if they were truly busy, who knows how long he'd have to wait, fearing being ignored. It's hard enough to see a shopkeeper, let alone an apprentice. Perhaps he'd have to queue up pretending to fetch medicine, just to speak to someone.
