"Tomorrow at 5-7 AM, meet at the west dock," Zhu Changle returned the pole to the ground beside her foot. "Alright, disperse now."
The crowd hesitated before bowing and retreating.
"Hey, wait a moment, you there."
Those who had just taken a few steps all stopped and turned back.
The person on the dock saw that the young lady was looking at him, and nervously walked over to bow. "What are your orders, miss?"
"No orders, just a question. Is Granny Liang preparing crab again today? My family can't handle eating crab every day. Could you see if anyone has caught any rare fish? I'd like to buy some for my grandmother and mother to nourish their health."
The man lowered his head even more. "These past few days, our main catch has been crabs and small shrimp. The portion for Auntie Liang is what we set aside for her."
"I see," Zhu Changle was extremely curious about their way of interacting, but now wasn't the time to ask. She waved away the people who were still looking in their direction, and led her horse while walking and talking with him.
"I've noticed you don't have many stalls here, and most of what's sold are daily necessities. I haven't seen much seafood for sale. So where do you sell all the things you catch?"
"Merchants come every other day to buy our goods."
"Oh? They buy everything?"
"Yes."
Zhu Changle was astonished. "Wouldn't they drive the prices down mercilessly that way?"
"It used to be like that." The man lifted his head slightly, his face showing an admiration that Zhu Changle couldn't quite understand. "My parents told me that before, because we couldn't sell our goods, we had to accept whatever low price the merchants offered. But then the official came. He gathered all our goods to sell together. At first, the other side still offered extremely low prices and even united to pressure the official to compromise. So the official personally led people to transport and sell goods to Zhi County. After a period of negotiation, the other side finally agreed to buy at the price set by the official."
"And this continues to this day?"
"Yes."
Zhu Changle smiled. She was sure now that this Luo Ding was a good person. Even if he had selfish motives, he might not be entirely good, but based on what she understood of the situation so far, she felt that this person had the local people in his heart. No wonder the people admired him.
"Junzi, Junzi!"
The man looked towards the voice and saw Granny Liang. His expression changed and he hurriedly bowed. "I have matters to attend to, I must take my leave."
Without waiting for Zhu Changle to say anything, he quickly ran towards the voice.
Zhu Changle immediately followed, then thought of something and turned back to find someone. She said coaxingly, "Let's go take a look."
The sun was high now, and Qiuli was getting a bit impatient with the heat, fanning himself repeatedly to drive away the warmth. But seeing Zhu Changle's expression, he couldn't bring himself to say no. He simply took the lead and walked over.
"Qiuli is the best!" Zhu Changle ran a couple of quick steps to get in front of Qiuli and walked backwards. "This place is so strange, isn't it?"
Qiuli nodded slightly. The situation here was a bit unexpected, completely opposite to what he had imagined.
"It's strange, but the feeling is quite good, not the kind of strange that feels off."
Qiuli nodded again. It was indeed so.
"So if we interact with more people, we might find the answer."
So that's what she was explaining. Qiuli's irritation from the heat instantly vanished. He casually folded his fan and lightly tapped her on the head with it.
"If we hadn't come here, what goes on in this place would be none of our concern. But since we're here, we need to figure it out."
Zhu Changle's eyes crinkled with a smile. She stopped walking backwards and pulled him forward to run. "Quick, quick!"
Qiuli thought to himself, "There's no need to change attitudes quite so quickly."
As soon as they got outside, they saw Junzi coming out of the house with someone on his back, Granny Liang anxiously helping to support them.
Junzi saw Zhu Changle and didn't know how to react, but then heard her ask, "Are you going to the medical clinic?"
"Yes, to see Doctor Tang."
Zhu Changle glanced at her horse but gave up the idea. It was too tall, and she didn't know the patient's condition. "Never mind, you go quickly. Don't worry about me."
Hearing this, Junzi set off running. Granny Liang looked at Zhu Changle as if wanting to say something, but Zhu Changle waved her hand. "Other things aren't important now. Go on."
"Yes, yes."
The two followed them all the way into the Chengde Medical Clinic.
When Tang Ming saw the two of them, he was briefly startled, but he couldn't worry about that now. After taking the pulse of the person slumped in the chair, he asked, "By my calculations, you shouldn't have run out of medicine, right?"
"No, no, we haven't," Granny Liang hurriedly replied. "This morning when I left the house, everything was normal. When I returned halfway, he wouldn't respond to my calls. Doctor Tang, what's wrong with my husband?"
Tang Ming carefully took the pulse again, his brows furrowing. "Has Mr. Liang experienced any shocks recently?"
"Shocks? Our days just pass as usual, how could there be any..." Granny Liang suddenly paused, her eyes darting furtively towards Zhu Changle.
So this had something to do with her? Zhu Changle, who had been standing far away to avoid disturbing them, stepped closer at this cue. "Go ahead and say it. I promise that no matter what you say, I won't take offense. Doctor Tang can be my witness."
Tang Ming coughed lightly. He really didn't have much confidence in front of Miss Zhu.
Granny Liang said in a low voice, "Miss Zhu is kind-hearted. A few days ago, she left a piece of silver at this old woman's stall to reserve some seafood. In my joy, I went back and told my husband about it, and also mentioned that the new county magistrate had arrived. At the time, he only said that Miss Zhu was kind-hearted and didn't show any unusual reaction. It shouldn't... shouldn't count as a shock, right?"
Tang Ming glanced at Zhu Changle, who grinned.
"Ahem, did he eat any oily or meat dishes?"
The old woman's eyes wandered, and after a moment she lowered her head and admitted, "My husband has been bedridden for almost two years, with nothing left but skin and bones. Finally having some money, I wanted to buy some meat to nourish him..."
The old woman suddenly raised her head. "Doctor Tang, did I feed him the wrong kind of meat?"
"It was fatty meat, wasn't it?"
Seeing her nod, Tang Ming had a clear idea. "His constitution has weakened, and he's had little meat these past few years. Suddenly eating so much rich food, his body couldn't handle it."
"Then I... then I..." The old woman hit herself hard. "It's all my fault, all my fault!" Her knees weakened and she fell to her knees in front of Tang Ming. "Doctor Tang, please save my husband. You know the reason now, surely you can save him, right? Please save him. I have money, I do."
The old woman had brought all the money she had at home before coming out. Now she pulled it all out at once. "It's all for you, all for you. Please save him, please help me keep this man. He's all I have left... waaah..."
Tang Ming tried to help her up, but the old woman insisted on kneeling, as if her husband's life depended on her staying down. She didn't dare to get up.
"Stand up first. If I can save him, I'll do everything I can. If I can't, even if you kneel here until you die, it won't help." Tang Ming gestured for Junzi to help her up. "Although this is a medical clinic, you all know the situation. Even if I try my best, half of that row of medicine cabinets is still empty."
Junzi supported the woman, letting her lean on him. "Doctor, are you saying that Uncle Liang can be treated, but you're short on medicinal ingredients?"
"That's right."
