Chapter 28 Old Friend 4 I also hate Du Yuting to the core

Ah Si wandered outside the gate of the Du family for two days. With his cleverness, he became acquainted with the gatekeeper of the Du family. After several casual chats, he finally found out the news about Liu Dabao.

Liu Dabao's father, Liu Erzhu, was once Du Yuting's personal servant. Liu Erzhu died of illness a year ago, and Liu Dabao took his father's place and came to Du Yuting.

Du Yuting loved drinking tea. Although Liu Dabao had learned some tea art, he was never able to meet Du Yuting's requirements. As a result, he was often verbally abused and beaten, and even his nose was broken.

Su He asked, "How is his family situation?"

Ah Si replied, "There's only my mother at home. Since Liu Erzhu passed away, she's been crying day and night until her eyes went blind. Now Liu Dabao has to take care of Du Yuting while also taking care of his blind mother. Life is very difficult."

"Where does he live?"

"I live in Chenjia Lane on Dong'an Road."

Su He thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to his house now." Then he went into the inner room, changed into simple casual clothes, and left the house in a carriage.

Dong'an Road is the back street of the capital, and Chenjia Lane is at the end of Dong'an Road. The lane is remote, deep and narrow, and even a carriage cannot enter. Su He had to get off the car and walk.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, I finally found Liu Dabao's house at the corner.

It was a low wooden house with its pillars leaning to the right, as if it would collapse at any time.

The old lady was sitting at the door sewing shoe soles. Because she was blind, she had to use her fingers to feel carefully every time she sewed, and her speed was extremely slow.

Ah Si stepped forward and explained his purpose.

The old lady put down her needle and thread, raised her dull eyes and asked: "What... do you want from my Bao'er?" There was worry in her tone.

The thing that the poor and weak people in this world fear most is getting into trouble, and Su He understands this feeling too well.

She told a white lie: "Don't worry, old man. I'm Dabao's friend whom I haven't seen for many years. I came here today to ask him about some old things. I have no ill intentions."

The old lady breathed a sigh of relief and then told the truth: "Baoer is on duty at the Du family and has not returned yet. It will probably take another quarter of an hour for him to come back. You guys go in and sit down first." Then she stood up and groped her way into the house.

Su He hurriedly reached out to support her, but accidentally felt her pulse.

As the saying goes, medicine and poison are closely related. She has also learned many methods of using poison to cure diseases from Bai Jinan.

She asked, "Do your eyes hurt sometimes?"

The old lady shook her head: "It doesn't hurt, but there is no light."

"Do you cry sometimes?"

The old lady smiled helplessly: "When my old man passed away, all the tears in my eyes dried up. Now I can't shed a single drop."

Then he asked, "Could it be that the young lady knows medicine?"

Su He replied: "I only have a basic understanding."

The old lady sighed, "Bao'er spent all his father's savings on my eye treatment, but my eyesight still hasn't improved. Now I have accepted my fate and will not seek treatment anymore."

Su He didn't say anything more, but he already knew what was going on.

A quarter of an hour later, Liu Dabao came back as expected.

Because he had been beaten with a stick a few days ago, he still walked with a limp and his face was very pale.

When he first saw Su He after entering the room, he was stunned for a moment.

The old lady heard the noise and fumbled to her feet. "Bao'er is finally back. Your friend has been waiting for you for a while. He said he wanted to ask you about some old things."

Liu Dabao didn't recognize Su He, so he naturally knew that the "friend" was fake, but he didn't expose it to her face. After all, he didn't want to make his mother worry.

He stepped forward and supported the old lady: "Mom, go back to the house and rest first. I want to chat with my friend alone."

The old lady warned: "Don't neglect the guests."

He replied: "Don't worry, mother."

The old lady went into the inner room.

Su He also asked Ah Si and Zhang Xiuhua to guard outside the door.

She and Liu Dabao were the only ones left in the room.

Liu Dabao looked at Su He twice, his expression full of caution. "Madam and I are strangers. I wonder why you've come to visit me?"

Su He took out a bottle of ointment from his sleeve pocket: "Your injury hasn't healed yet, maybe it can be used."

Liu Dabao declined: "This medicine is expensive. I have thick skin and can't afford it."

Su He had no choice but to put the ointment on the wooden table in the house and said, "You don't need to be overly cautious."

Liu Dabao lowered his head and said, "I see that Madam is of noble status, so I dare not flatter her."

Su He didn't want to beat around the bush any further. "That day, under the Du family's stage, I saw you being humiliated by Du Yuting with my own eyes." He lowered his voice and said, "To be honest, I hate Du Yuting to the core."

Liu Dabao raised his eyes: "What do you mean, Madam?"

Su He's eyes were slightly cold: "I want to know how to get close to Du Yuting."

"What does Madam want to do?"

"Do what you, Liu Dabao, also want to do."

The two looked at each other solemnly.

No one spoke for a moment.

Liu Dabao could see that this lady was of noble status and was very different from him.

But he inexplicably felt that this lady had some kind of tacit understanding with him. It was a tacit understanding that after being humiliated and trampled on in a lowly position, they wanted to resist and seek revenge. It was a tacit understanding that could be understood with just one glance.

That’s right, Liu Dabao was fed up with Du Yuting and wanted to kill him.

When my father was alive, he was often bullied by Du Yuting, which led to his health deteriorating and he died of a serious illness. Now he has repeated the same mistakes and is scolded and beaten by Du Yuting every now and then. His life is worse than death.

But in the end, he had the will but not the courage, after all, he was just a slave, and after all, he still had an old mother.

Liu Dabao didn't want to ask who the person in front of him was.

He bowed his head again and said, "I am of humble origin. All I want to do is serve my master loyally and take care of my mother."

Su He knew he was pretending.

She was once a slave, and she understood too well the situations and feelings that slaves faced when they were oppressed.

She looked determined: "If I can cure your mother's eyes, will you help me?"

Liu Dabao paused and asked, "Madam, are you joking?"

He spent all his money to treat my mother's eyes. It's not like he can cure it just by saying so.

"Are you kidding? Just try it and you'll know."

"Why should I trust you, Madam?"

Su He's expression slightly restrained: "You won't lose anything anyway, right?"

Liu Dabao fell silent, seemingly undecided. Su He added, "Don't worry, I won't drag you into this. After this is done, I'll give you some money to help you find another way to make a living."

Liu Dabao's expression eased slightly. "If Madam can truly cure my mother's eyes, I am willing to help you get closer to Du Yuting."

Su He breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, then I'll send someone to bring some eye ointment tomorrow. Apply it for more than ten days, and your mother's eyes will be back to normal."

The two reached an agreement and then returned to the topic.

Liu Dabao admitted, "Du Yuting has always valued his life. He is always accompanied by three highly skilled guards to protect his personal safety and food security. Even when he sleeps at night, the guards take turns on duty. It is very difficult to get close to him."

Su He asked: "Can you think of a way to lure the guards away?"

"I'll talk about it when I find an opportunity."

Liu Dabao paused and said, "I know a weakness of Du Yuting."

"What weakness?"

"He's suffering from hypochondria!"

Su He frowned: "Hypochondria?"

"A few months ago, I was locked up in a dark room in Du Yuting's mansion for an entire night because the tea I made was too bland. That night, Du Yuting suffered a hysterical attack, slamming cups and shouting in the courtyard. If the guards hadn't restrained him, I'm afraid the news would have spread to everyone."

Su He didn't know much about hysteria, but she vaguely felt that this might be a breakthrough.

"That's good," she said.

He then gave Liu Dabao a few words of advice and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he pointed to the ointment on the table and said, "This medicine can help you heal faster. Try it."

Liu Dabao bowed and said, "Thank you, Madam."

After Su He returned to Chunhuayuan, he began to extract the eye ointment, and the extraction was completed at dusk.

Then she took out the booklet given by Bai Jinan and read it carefully, trying to find out the symptoms and taboos of hypochondria. She was so fascinated by it that she turned off the lights and went to bed in the middle of the night.

The next day, she asked Ah Si to deliver the ointment to the old lady, and told him to wait at the entrance of Chenjia Lane every day, waiting for news from Liu Dabao at any time.

Ah Si received the order and ran out.

From then on, he stayed in Chenjia Lane for a full six days.

During these six days, the old lady Liu's eyesight had indeed improved. She began to sense light and then gradually was able to see things. The old lady was so happy that she said countless words of gratitude.

Six days later, Ah Si returned. "Liu Dabao thanked Madam for saving his mother. He also said that he had tried many ways to lure Du Yuting's guards away but had not been able to do so. But now, a good opportunity had suddenly appeared."

Su He asked, "What opportunity is it?"

"The sixth day of the fifth lunar month is the annual meeting of the Textile Industry Chamber of Commerce. All members will gather at the Chamber to discuss countermeasures and verify accounts. Du Yuting will naturally bring his guards with him, but because the Chamber of Commerce's accounts must be kept strictly confidential, the guards can only stay in the front hall, while Du Yuting will go to the back hall alone."

"The guards can't enter the back hall, and naturally they can't enter from the side either. How can we approach him smoothly?"

Ah Si replied, "It's said there will be a banquet during the meeting, and a banquet naturally requires maids, and those maids are all recommended by Chamber of Commerce members." He took off the cloth bag on his back and opened it in a few seconds. "This is the maid's dress that Liu Dabao got for you, young lady, as well as the waist badge for entering and leaving the Chamber of Commerce. When the time comes, Madam can disguise herself as a Chamber of Commerce maid and sneak into the back hall."

Su He breathed a sigh of relief, his brows relaxed: "Liu Dabao is really thoughtful."

Zhang Xiuhua looked at the cloth bag, her face showing worry. "It's just this one dress? The people in the Chamber of Commerce are all big and strong men. Can you go in alone?"

Ah Si was also a little worried: "I'm short, how about I find a way to sneak in and help Madam?"

Su He shook her head: "The walls of the Chamber of Commerce are high and thick. You can't just enter if you want to. Besides, too many people will cause trouble. I am enough." She raised her hand to take the dress and badge.

Everything will be revealed on May 6th.

The sixth day of May is the day after tomorrow.

And tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival.

Su He instructed Zhang Xiuhua: "Aunt, please get some mugwort to hang on the door lintel, and also get some bamboo leaves, so we can make rice dumplings together."

He then instructed Chunlan, "Please prepare some colorful silk threads. We will weave them into a long life thread and tie it around our wrists to ward off plague and evil spirits."

Then he looked at Ah Si and said, "As for you, you are the youngest and the smallest, so you should help clean the yard."

After receiving the order, several people went about their work.

The usually deserted courtyard suddenly had a festive atmosphere, and big red lanterns were lit under the corridor.

Then Su He sat at the table and started making rice dumplings.

She learned how to wrap it from her mother when she was a child, so she is quite good at it.

Zhang Xiuhua was naturally more skillful at wrapping than her, and she had wrapped a whole wooden barrel in no time.

She couldn't help but remind him, "Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that the son-in-law is also on holiday. Miss can't celebrate the festival with him in two different places, right?"

Su He replied nonchalantly, "I'll go to the study tomorrow and invite him over for dinner."

Zhang Xiuhua was delighted when she heard this: "Young lady, are you really willing to bow your head?"

Su He lowered his voice and said, "We must bow to him so that we can proceed smoothly in the future."