The voice behind her sounded both familiar and unfamiliar, and Su Wan turned around in surprise.

An elderly man with gray hair, a wrinkled face, and a hunched back slowly walked towards her, leaning on a cane.

She searched through the original owner's memories for the old man, but couldn't recall him. She then carefully tried to remember his voice, and after a long pause, she finally remembered who he was.

Zhao Fu was the housekeeper when her father and mother were alive. Before her father passed away, he entrusted her, at the age of thirteen, to the care of his brother Su Heng and his wife. For some reason, Zhao Fu did not go with them, but stayed in Suiyang County to manage the pharmacy.

"Is it... Uncle Zhao?" she whispered.

She wasn't quite sure if the person in front of her was Zhao Fu. In her memory, Zhao Fu should be around forty years old, about the same age as her father. But the Zhao Fu in front of her looked more like Zhao Fu's father.

"Xiao Wan, you recognize me now." The old man's laughter was full of helplessness and bitterness. "It's not your fault. Even I hardly recognize myself anymore."

Su Wan wanted to step forward and help Zhao Fu, but then she thought of the current state of the pharmacy and stopped in her tracks.

"Uncle Zhao, are you still running this pharmacy?"

The pharmacy is no longer the same as when her mother first established it, and she hopes that Zhao Fu has nothing to do with this matter.

Zhao Fu nodded and said, "I am the manager of Baohetang."

Su Wan didn't believe what she heard.

When her parents were still alive, Zhao Fu served as the Su family's steward, always doing his best and being a very competent steward. When she was little, she would run around the Su family mansion, and Zhao Fu would always chase after her, calling out, "Miss, be careful! It would be troublesome if you fell and scraped your face."

She wouldn't listen to Zhao Fu at all. And her ailing mother would intercept her on the road she most frequently passed.

"Oh dear, Xiao Wan," her mother stopped her, wiping the sweat and dust from her little face with a handkerchief, "you didn't fall, but Zhao Fu did..."

Su Wan looked back and saw that it was true. Zhao Fu had been chasing too fast and had fallen, hurting his foot. He was sitting on the ground, groaning and crying.

"Uncle Zhao is so stupid." She made a face at her mother.

She was only five years old then, too young to understand, and unaware of the trouble her mischief caused others.

I heard that Zhao Fu broke his ankle.

At that time, his father was serving as the governor of Youzhou, and he was penniless and had little spare money. Much of the family's income was used to treat his mother's illness, so Zhao Fu didn't go to see a doctor, saying it was just a sprain and would get better with rest.

However, this recovery went awry. Later, my foot didn't hurt when I lay down, but it hurt when I walked. I called a doctor, who said that the fall had actually fractured my ankle bone, but I hadn't seen a doctor to set it. So, of course, the bone was crooked after it healed on its own.

There is a way to treat it: break the bone open again and realign it.

The cost was a considerable sum of money, a significant burden for the Su family at the time. Zhao Fu said it wasn't necessary; his wife's illness was more important, and he could simply use a cane.

Zhao Fu, leaning on his cane, busied himself as usual. However, his mother ultimately succumbed to her illness and passed away.

When she was twelve, her father fell ill due to overwork.

A year later, she was taken away from Youzhou by Su Heng and his wife, and the Su family mansion where she had lived for thirteen years was replaced by another Su family mansion.

As Su Wan thought about it, she felt a lump in her throat.

She clearly hadn't actually experienced any of these things. But the memories in her mind brought these past events back to her, vividly displayed before her eyes, bringing with them the same joy, pain, and sorrow.

Zhao Fu, leaning on his cane, entered Baohetang and asked the two shop assistants, "What's wrong with you two?"

One of the workers, who couldn't open his eyes but could at least speak, shouted, "Boss, someone sprayed us with pepper spray, it hurts our eyes so much..."

The other one had capsaicin in his mouth and could only make "ah ah" noises; he couldn't speak at all.

Su Wan said, "You two stop shouting. Go to the back room and get plenty of water to rinse your mouths and wash your eyes. You'll be fine in half an hour at most."

The two shop assistants still wouldn't give up. The one who could speak, with his eyes closed, said to Zhao Fu, "Manager, look at the state of our pharmacy! Why don't you report this to the authorities and get the magistrate here..."

Zhao Fu said, "You two go wash up first, I'll take care of things here."

Seeing that the shopkeeper had spoken, the two shop assistants had no choice but to get up and go to the shop next door to get water to wash up. Zhao Fu bowed to the crowd outside and said, "Baohetang is closed today, please forgive us."

Seeing that Su Wan seemed to have given up on causing trouble after Zhao Fu arrived, the crowd outside grew bored. It was also noon, and everyone was hungry, so they dispersed. Only Su Wan's guards remained, scattered to guard the entrance of Baohe Hall.

Su Wan hung up the "Closed" sign, went back inside, pulled up a chair, and placed it in front of Zhao Fu, saying, "Zhao Fu, sit down. I have something to ask you."

Zhao Fu sat down, leaning on his cane, and said with a wry smile, "You're asking about the pharmacy, aren't you?"

“That’s right,” Su Wan pulled up a chair and sat opposite Zhao Fu. “Do you know what Baohetang looks like now?”

Zhao Fu nodded and said, "Of course I know."

Su Wan said, "Then why are you still here as the manager? Isn't that aiding and abetting a tyrant?"

Zhao Fu's eyes dimmed, and he lowered his head, saying, "Miss, you're right. I should have left long ago. I should have quit as soon as Su Heng and his wife took over this place."

"Then why do you still stay here?" Su Wan said angrily. "I heard from someone that you guys probably charge 3% interest a month for letting poor people borrow money to buy medicine. And that's not all, you even add interest on top of interest, so that when it comes time to pay back the money, it's all given to you."

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