"Of course, of course, okay, then I'll accept it, thank you." Dr. Xu then accepted the money.

Dr. Xu led Old Cheng outside, saying, "How about we have a drink? We're brothers now. I'm a few years older than you, so I'll call you Brother Cheng."

Old Man Cheng readily agreed with a smile, "Okay, I'm excited too, thank you, Elder Xu..."

"Hey, why are you still calling me Old Xu?" Doctor Xu said disapprovingly.

Old Man Cheng quickly changed his tune, "It was my fault, it was my fault, Brother Xu. Then I'll call you Brother Xu. If you need any help, just say so. Although I'm not good at anything, I can at least help you with odd jobs."

"Alright, let's go. Let the child sleep here. The young apprentice will watch over him. He'll be fine. Let's go to the back courtyard to drink." Doctor Xu called over the young apprentice and instructed him to watch over Cheng Xuan.

Then he told Old Man Cheng to come with him to the backyard.

Old Man Cheng knew that Cheng Xuan would be safe here, so he readily followed Doctor Xu.

Doctor Xu took out some wine that he had brought from the capital when he left, and the two of them drank it very happily.

"I've never tasted this wine before. It's excellent! I wonder where Brother Xu got such a mellow wine. It's very pleasant to drink."

Old Man Cheng immediately sensed something unusual about the wine; it didn't seem to be from here, but rather something from over there.

This wine is mellow and delicious; the aroma alone is enough to make your mouth water, and once you've tasted it, you'll want more.

Dr. Xu spoke up, "Hey, no, today we're just drinking, not asking where the wine came from, but only where it ends up."

Old Man Cheng didn't understand for a moment, "Where to go?"

Where will it go?

Dr. Xu, abandoning his usual serious demeanor, pointed to his stomach and said, "The fate of all this wine is naturally in our stomachs, hahaha."

Dr. Xu slapped his forehead. "Oh my, I really didn't realize it until you said it. That makes sense. Come on, drink up."

The two of them drank back and forth. They were both a little tipsy, but they still wanted to keep drinking.

The next day, joyful sounds echoed through the town, waking up Doctor Xu and Old Man Cheng.

"Hey, those people disappeared overnight yesterday. What exactly happened?"

"Hey, how come you only know this much? I heard that the families who bullied that stall owner yesterday disappeared overnight. That's incredible. Who has such power?"

"Who cares about him? Anyway, all the local bullies in Mudu Town have been eliminated. We won't be afraid to go out anymore."

“You’re right. My daughter won’t be afraid to go out anymore.”

“You can argue with that. Ever since that incident, I’ve never dared to let my daughter go out on the street again. It’s too dangerous.”

"They're just dogs who abuse their power, ugh, they've really made our poor families suffer."

"But our good days are coming too! I heard that even the county magistrate has been arrested, so we don't have to be afraid anymore."

"What? The magistrate has been arrested? Who's so powerful? And there's even talk of dealing with the magistrate in a group chat? Could it be that young master?"

"I saw that young master the other day. He was clearly no ordinary person. He might even be more powerful than a county magistrate."

"I also saw that when Doctor Xu saw him, he was very excited and even wanted to kneel down to pay his respects, but that important person stopped him. Could it be that important person is really that powerful?"

"Hey, by the way, I heard that the Emperor went to the southern border to quell the rebellion. Could it be the Emperor himself?"

"Are you crazy? Why is everything about the Emperor? The Emperor is so busy, how could he have time to deal with these trivial matters? You'd better not overthink it."

"Why can't it be? I just think it was the Emperor. Otherwise, who else could be so powerful as to arrest the county magistrate so easily? Who else could it be?"

"Now that you mention it, it seems to make sense to me. Could it be that we really met the Emperor? That would be too shocking."

"Hey, stop guessing. Judging from Dr. Xu's expression, he seems to know that person. We'll just ask him when the time comes."

“You’re right. We’ll ask Dr. Xu then. Hey, Dr. Xu should be open by now, why isn’t he open today?”

"Oh, what you said makes a lot of sense. Could something have gone wrong?"

Just as everyone was talking, the door was suddenly opened.

Old Cheng nodded. "Oh, why was it so noisy outside? Turns out everyone's here. Are you here to see Doctor Xu?"