Qiuli stepped forward and extended his fan, which Zhu Changle quickly grabbed to steady herself.
Dingding, who came up behind them, clicked his tongue and said, "Zhu Changle, are you throwing yourself into his arms?"
"Well, I didn't quite make it, did I?" Zhu Changle grinned mischievously as she took the opportunity to feel the fan, trying to find something unusual about it. As for throwing herself into someone's arms... wasn't that something delicate beauties did? She was quite beautiful, but she wasn't delicate - she was very self-aware about that.
Standing high and seeing far, Zhu Changle shaded her eyes with her hand and looked in all directions, remarking, "Even on the rooftop, I feel like I'm looking down on everything. Don't those houses hit their heads?"
"Given their height, they probably don't," Dingding also found it quite incredible. "They're generally quite short here. Is there something special about Yunbei?"
"That can't be, right? It's still within the borders of Da Wan, isn't it, Qiuli?"
Qiuli nodded.
Zhu Changle scratched her head, "There must be a reason. We didn't notice people being this small and thin in other places on our way here."
"Poverty," Qiuli summed it up in one word.
"But it's not just this place that's poor," Zhu Changle crouched down and scraped some moss into her palm. "The village elder in the new village said when they had no food, they ate loess, tree bark, and young leaves. That's poor too, but they're not short. Right, Dingding? They're quite tall actually."
"Now that you mention it, it's true. They really aren't short," Dingding crouched beside her and poked at the moss in her hand, pretending to do it unintentionally while actually making her hand a mess of black and green.
Zhu Changle was poking at it herself, and when she noticed Dingding wasn't paying attention, she quickly wiped all the dirt from her hand onto him before jumping up and running away.
Dingding scooped up a handful of moss and gave chase. Zhu Changle laughed loudly as she hid behind Lan Ping, and when she saw him coming, she jumped behind Qiuli. Dingding had always been a bit wary of this person, and naturally couldn't be as familiar as Changle was, given their short acquaintance.
Seeing this, Zhu Changle stopped going to Lan Ping and just swayed back and forth behind Qiuli, occasionally making faces to provoke Dingding.
Qiuli's clothes had wide sleeves. Seeing their dirty hands, he rolled up his sleeves and held them for a while, before finally just jumping down from the roof.
"Oh, Qiuli, why are you running?" As her shield ran away, Zhu Changle quickly chased after him. Qiuli opened his fan to block her from getting close. "Where are you staying?"
"The room is still being cleaned," Zhu Changle reached out to push the fan away, but then realized why he was avoiding her when she saw how dirty her hands were. Mischievously, she deliberately tried to grab his hand, laughing out loud when she saw him retreat as quick as lightning.
Qiuli made a gesture as if to lightly slap her hand, the warning very clear.
"Qiuli, don't try to scare her. She's not afraid of that. Just hit her directly, she can't beat you anyway," Dingding crouched at the edge of the roof and egged him on.
Zhu Changle's mouth turned down as she called out, "Little Bottle Cap, Dingding is bullying me."
Lan Ping, who was standing right next to Dingding, very conveniently kicked him off the roof.
Dingding got up, rubbing his bottom resentfully. "Lan Ping, weren't you supposed to be leaving? Hurry up and go!"
"No rush," Lan Ping jumped down and tugged at Changle's clothes. "Go change into something clean."
"Wait a moment," Zhu Changle had finally seen Xu Zheng leading the doctor out of her elder brother's room. She followed them to the outer courtyard, and once out of sight of her family, she quickly caught up to them. "Xu Zheng."
Xu Zheng turned around, "Fourth Young Miss."
Zhu Changle waved her hand, "What's this doctor's surname?"
The doctor was in his early fifties, with a beard, and he bowed with his head lowered, "This old one is Tang Ming, greetings to the Fourth Young Miss."
"No need for formalities, come this way," Zhu Changle led the two to a spot near the side door and asked in a low voice, "How is my grandmother's health?"
Tang Ming had been nervous at first, unsure why he was being stopped, but hearing that she was asking about his area of expertise, he relaxed a bit and immediately said, "The Old Madam is fatigued. With good care for a few days, she will improve."
"What about my elder brother?"
"The eldest young master..." Tang Ming looked towards Xu Zheng, unsure if he could speak.
Xu Zheng said, "You may speak freely."
"Yes, anything you can't tell my brother or my parents, you can tell me."
Tang Ming naturally didn't dare to take all of this at face value, but with this assurance, he felt more comfortable speaking, "The eldest young master's constitution is weak, much worse than the average person. He needs to avoid overtaxing himself mentally and physically on a regular basis. At present, he must stay in bed to recover, and his condition needs to be closely monitored. We cannot allow any mishaps, and someone must stay with him at all times."
Zhu Changle had heard these words since she was little. In the past, she felt like her ears had grown calluses from hearing it so often, but now she found it pleasing to hear. No change meant no deterioration, and until the old monk could produce the Restoration Pill, she would be satisfied if they could just maintain this state.
Moreover, what this doctor said was no different from what the famous doctors in the capital and the imperial physicians had said. What did this mean? It meant that in this poverty-stricken place called Yunbei, there was actually a good doctor hidden away!
This was good news! Zhu Changle took out a piece of silver from her bosom and stuffed it into his hands without a second thought. Tang Ming naturally didn't dare to accept it, but how could he possibly be more stubborn than Zhu Changle?
"Take it, take it. I know my mother must have paid the medical fee, but that doesn't prevent me from giving another one. We have old and young people in our family, and one with poor health. In the future, we might need to knock on your door in the middle of the night for a house call. When that time comes, please don't find us troublesome."
"It's a doctor's duty. Making house calls is what we should do."
"You'll only accept my knocking if you take this money, right? I've already paid the knocking fee in advance."
This was truly unreasonable, but not at all unpleasant. Tang Ming thought for a moment and then accepted the silver. "Indeed, this old one has accepted the knocking fee. You may come knocking at any time."
"I like efficient people the most. Xu Zheng, follow Doctor Tang back to recognize his house, then come back and tell me."
"Yes, Fourth Young Miss."
Watching the two leave, Zhu Changle walked towards her friends. Yes, she now considered Qiuli one of her friends too.
Dingding said, "You were waiting for the doctor to come out all along, weren't you?"
"I wouldn't feel at ease if I didn't ask. Grandmother has a good constitution, she can recover from fatigue, but my elder brother's body can't withstand even the slightest issue. Although we didn't let them suffer any real harm on this journey, bumps and jolts were inevitable. He might hide things from us, but he can't hide from the doctor."
Lan Ping was a bit confused, "You have a good relationship with Master Zhiqing, didn't you ask him to take a look?"
"After I met the old monk, I showed him all of my brother's prescriptions and such. I wanted him to come and take a look too, but he said that the experts who are treating my brother have established a balance within his body. Without a better treatment method, rashly disrupting this balance could be fatal. Little Bottle Cap, can you do me a favor and run an errand? Urge the old monk to hurry up and refine the pill. I'm afraid I'll have to stay here for a while."
"Alright."
