Chapter 78: Goubuli is trying every possible way to force herself to leave.
As the sun set, the crowd outside Zuixianlou gradually thinned. Luo Shanchang watched a carriage disappear around the corner, his smile fading slightly as he hurried back.
Lin Meiju's willingness to help does not mean that other drug dealers have the same intention. They are all smart people and must have made all the necessary preparations before refusing. According to past experience, either the required medicines have been sold out and have not been replenished, or they are unable to make ends meet. Even if an imperial decree comes down to punish them, there is nothing they can do.
"Her request wasn't excessive. She wanted the garrison to send someone to escort the drug dealers through the most bandit-infested route. If she could convince the others..." Luo Shanchang paused, remembering her other request and feeling a little guilty. But compared to Shen Changfeng and the garrison, it was obvious which was more important.
Luo Shanchang was pondering over a countermeasure. When he looked up, he saw Shen Changfeng quietly putting half a piece of Aiwo Wo into his mouth. He thought that Shen Changfeng had thought of a perfect plan, which was why he could eat so calmly, so he waited for him to speak.
Then Shen Changfeng raised the white porcelain cup, took a sip of the tea, and then took a light bite of the pastry in his hand. He ate very carefully, chewing it slowly, savoring each bite. He looked at the pastry dripping with sugar with a focused and satisfied look. He ate very slowly, as if he was reluctant to finish it.
Luo Shanchang: Is it so delicious? Isn't it just the most common pastry in the market? Luo Shanchang threw a piece of Aiwo Wo into his mouth, chewed it twice, and thought to himself: Isn't it just walnut and sesame filling... Could it be that the filling he ate was different?
No, this is not the time to discuss whose Aiwo Wo tastes better!
Luo Shanchang swallowed the food in his mouth whole and said, "You still have the mood to eat! Come up with a plan!"
If you say Shen Changfeng is hungry, he left the table full of food uneaten and only ate the cake in front of him, and he ate very slowly, as if he was tasting a delicious delicacy; if you say he is not hungry, he ate up the half cake in front of him and drank up the tea in his hand without leaving a drop, and he looked very unsatisfied.
Luo Shanchang was so busy that he didn't notice anything wrong, but Jiang Jin, who had been walking around watching the fun, saw it clearly: Shen Changfeng was clearly sitting in Lin Meizhu's seat!
Seeing a dark shadow standing in front of the door, Luo Shanchang made a "tsk" sound and said dissatisfiedly, "Why are you always so jumpy? If you have nothing to do, go and see how the city wall is being repaired!" Then he drove Jiang Jin, who seemed to have discovered some shocking secret, downstairs.
Shen Changfeng finished eating and seemed to be in a good mood. A satisfied look appeared on his face. He asked, "Have the people been sent out?"
Luo Shanchang nodded. "The Huishengtang guys are all out now. I guess we'll get back to you tonight. Manager Lin is very efficient at his work." He lowered his voice and said, "How about you go out and stay out of the spotlight?"
There were three types of expulsion orders. If a soldier deserted or committed a crime, the garrison commander had the authority to issue a "jun ticket" (goujun piao) and escort the prisoner to his place of exile. If a civilian household encroached on military farmland, the garrison would forcibly expel them and confiscate their property. Shen Changfeng was clearly not one of these, which left only the last option—expulsion of suspected refugees a hundred miles away under the pretext of "protecting the territory and the people."
To be fair, Luo Shanchang didn't want to drive Shen Changfeng away. He saw Shen Changfeng's ability from the beginning, so he reluctantly gave up and recommended him to Xiang. The position of General Flag was originally intended for his cousin Jiang Jin. And what happened later proved that Luo Shanchang was right.
Shen Changfeng didn't answer immediately. His knuckles gently rubbed the rim of the white porcelain cup, and he was slightly lost in thought. After a while, he said, "Let's transport the medicine back to the institute first."
Luo Shanchang asked curiously, "How do you know it will succeed?"
Shen Changfeng chuckled: "She is much smarter than you and I thought."
Luo Shanchang sighed lightly, knowing that these two people might not be able to explain some things to him in front of him. He thought about secretly keeping Shen Changfeng, but would that really change anything?
Lin Meizhu saw things more clearly than he did; the garrison lacked more than just a Shen Changfeng. Luo Shanchang was surprised that an ordinary woman could possess such sharpness and insight, but when he thought about it, a woman who single-handedly founded a medical clinic and built it into a thriving business in just a few months must have extraordinary courage and insight.
Shen Changfeng naturally understood this truth. If he thought about it from another angle, Lin Meizhu was not trying to drive him away, but because she knew he wouldn't achieve much if he stayed here, and was forcing him to go out and explore the world. She was showing him the way. Thinking this way seemed to make him feel better.
When the moon was at its highest point, a convoy of cars was running through the city.
Just as Shen Changfeng said, Lin Meizhu did it.
Luo Shanchang looked at the numerous drug names and dosage details on the prescription, as well as the monetary amounts on each page, and his mouth almost opened in shock. If he hadn't met Lin Meizhu before, he would probably think that she was bragging when she said she ran a "small pharmacy."
Luo Shanchang was ashamed: "It seems that Manager Lin is not only smarter than I thought, but also richer."
Luo Shanchang obviously didn't expect things to go so smoothly when he left. However, now all the employees in the major pharmacies had dispersed, and Jiang Jin was sent by him to supervise the construction of the city wall. He couldn't find anyone to do the moving work for a while, so he had to order Qingsong to call people from the garrison.
It was almost midsummer at this time. Luo Shanchang was a stout man. He was out of breath after moving twice and his clothes were soaked with sweat. He had no choice but to retreat to the second line, driving the car and writing down Shen Changfeng's name, and also to cheer him up.
When it was almost time, Shen Changfeng ran half the county alone, loaded the urgently needed medicines onto a carriage, handed it to the soldiers who arrived, and ordered them to ride as fast as possible to send it back to the garrison.
They could wait, but dozens of seriously injured soldiers in the garrison could not.
With the help of the new people, the moving work became much faster, and everyone finally arrived at Huishengtang in Yongpingfang.
Shen Changfeng had been moving for nearly two hours. He looked like he had been fished out of the water. When he raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his sleeves, water could be shaken out. However, all the fatigue of the day was swept away the moment he stepped into Huishengtang.
While moving things back and forth, he quietly looked at the pharmacy's furnishings, and stood in front of the counter while checking the prescriptions, imagining that she had also stopped here, imagined that she was standing opposite and talking to him, or sitting at the back of the hall, concentrating on taking the patient's pulse, and comforting the patient with gentle words... In this not-so-big pharmacy, there were traces of her life everywhere, and the breath she left behind was everywhere. Just thinking about it made him become a hundred times more energetic.
After the last load of goods was loaded onto the carriage, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Someone joked, "At this hour, the dogs are asleep, and we are still on duty."
Xiao Hei, who was called out in the kennel, tugged at his eyelids lazily, turned his head to the other side and continued to sleep.
The shirtless soldiers were drawing water from the well behind the hall to wash their faces and bodies. Passing by the kennels, they caught a glimpse of a faint light. Bending down to examine it, they exclaimed in wonder, "Look! This kennel is almost as big as our duty room! And it even has its own lamp."
The midnight breeze gradually grew cooler. Shen Changfeng heard the tinkling of a bell, and a familiar feeling in his intuition made him hesitate to wipe his face. He looked up and saw Jiang Jin holding an octagonal lantern. Several people were leaning forward to stare at the painting on it. "It seems to be a woman, probably caught in the rain, but it's a pity I can't see clearly..."
Xiao Hei was too lazy to pay attention to these noisy people. When he saw the lamp was taken away, he didn't even bother to open his eyes and fell into a sound sleep.
Shen Changfeng looked at the lantern and gave a bitter smile. The good news was that Lin Meizhu had received the lantern he had made. The bad news was that she simply disdained it. To be more precise, even a dog would look down on his gift. Although he had expected this, he couldn't help but feel disappointed when he saw it with his own eyes.
There were faint voices coming from behind, and the soldiers were all startled when they saw the person coming.
Lin Meizhu had actually been in the wing behind the hall. Seeing that the guards had almost finished cleaning up, she told Aunt Zhang to bring out the prepared supper—or perhaps breakfast—for the soldiers who had toiled all night. She still had to make a living here, so she didn't want to jeopardize relations with the guards. She understood the principle of giving a candied date after a blow.
Most of the soldiers who came to transport the goods were young men. They knew that the guards were able to escape danger this time thanks to Huishengtang's help, so they did not dare to act presumptuously. They quickly stopped smiling and gathered up their clothes.
Shen Changfeng was different; he was still shirtless. He looked at Xiao Hei thoughtfully, not noticing the movement behind him.
Jiang Jin couldn't bear it, staring at Shen Changfeng's sturdy tendon muscles, slowly put on his clothes, and said sarcastically: "It's almost the same as mine, why are you showing off?"
Shen Changfeng came to his senses and saw Aunt Zhang and Xiaoman scooping water and porridge behind him. He quietly tugged on his clothes and walked towards the donkey cart, where there was still one last load of goods that hadn't been tied up. Luo Shanchang supported the goods in front, while Shen Changfeng stepped firmly on the edge of the cart with one foot. He grabbed the rope with his right hand and pulled it back violently. He removed the jujube wood wedge he was biting and hammered it into the knot. He tugged on the rope twice more, confirmed it was tight, and then let go. He patted the stacked goods and said, "It's done."
Luo Shanchang responded with an "ah" in front, and then quickly thanked someone again.
Shen Changfeng turned sideways and saw a bowl of clear water being handed to him. He reached out to take it, but the porcelain bowl fell to the ground unexpectedly, making a crisp "clang" sound and broke into several pieces. Several people nearby immediately looked over.
Shen Changfeng's gaze was fixed on the outstretched slender knuckles. He raised his eyelids and met Lin Meiju's calm face.
Aunt Zhang said from behind, "It's okay, it's okay. I have more here, Xiaoman, take it quickly."
Xiaoman approached with a tray in hand. Lin Meizhu reached out and picked up one of the bowls, still handing it to Shen Changfeng. Just as Shen Changfeng's fingertips were about to touch the bowl, there was a clang, and another bowl fell to the ground. Broken porcelain pieces mixed with residual tea splashed everywhere, soaking most of the shoes of both of them.
This time even Xiaoman noticed something was wrong and stopped serving tea. She quietly retreated behind Jiang Jin to peek.
Shen Changfeng looked at the shattered porcelain pieces and suddenly felt that this was just like his relationship with Lin Meizhu. It was hard to mend what had happened. She was telling her in this way that he had no right to use her bowl and chopsticks, that he would never have the chance to sit at the table, and that he could never become a part of this family.
They all knew that even if Luo Shanchang kept his promise and issued an expulsion order, Jingzhou was so large that if he wanted to stay, there would be ways. He could secretly hide from the government and continue to live.
Lin Meiju obviously didn't want to see that happen, even though she knew that was not his style and even though the chance of that happening was very slim.
She was trying everything to force herself to leave.
The psychological comfort that Shen Changfeng had given himself before was like a broken porcelain bowl on the ground, which suddenly collapsed and shattered into pieces.
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