Plan ahead
The next morning, when Pei Qingwu woke up, the sunlight was shining in at an angle, falling on the ground and shimmering like fish scales.
She straightened up and rubbed her eyes, still half asleep.
When her gaze fell on Gu Heng's bed, she was instantly jolted awake—the boy's bed was empty, with only the blankets neatly folded.
He's still injured, how did he run away?!
Pei Qingwu was wide awake and suddenly sat up in bed.
The pharmacy wasn't crowded in the morning; the doctors and medical assistants were still a bit sleepy. Pei Qingwu looked around and found that the doctor who had been on night duty the previous night had gone home. Helpless, he could only grab a medical assistant at random and ask, "Where's the person in that bed? Why isn't he here?"
The medic glanced at it, thought for a moment, and said, "Oh, he just went out by himself."
"He went out? What did he go out for? He's injured, why is he running around like that..."
Just as Pei Qingwu was getting anxious, she turned around and saw Gu Heng's figure.
"Boss, you're up." Gu Heng met her gaze and laughed heartily.
The next second, Pei Qingwu slapped him on the forehead without any mercy.
"Why!"
She didn't hold back this time, using all her strength.
He kneads dough behind the cutting board every day, and his hands are quite strong. Gu Heng winced in pain and took two steps back.
When she spoke again, her tone was full of grievance: "Boss, why did you hit me?"
"What are you doing? You ran out while you were still injured, without saying a word, without even telling me? Tell me, if I don't hit you, who else should I hit?"
As Pei Qingwu spoke, he reached out to twist Gu Heng's ear.
Gu Heng didn't dodge; instead, he obediently lowered his head so that Pei Qingwu could twist him more easily.
"I asked the doctor, and he said I can walk around because of my injury, so I went out... Ouch, boss, be gentle, be gentle."
Gu Heng grimaced as Pei Qingwu pinched him.
"Where did you go out to do?"
"Buying breakfast." Gu Heng shook the food box in his hand. "I thought the master would be hungry if he woke up, so I wanted to buy it in advance."
That's how it is.
Pei Qingwu's heart skipped a beat, but his hand didn't soften. He twisted it hard again before saying, "You're thoughtful. Eat up, eat up. We'll see the doctor after we finish eating."
As she spoke, she let go of his hand and took the food box.
Lifting the lid, the aroma of the flatbread rises, mingled with the sweet, warm steam of goat's milk.
She picked up a piece and held it to Gu Heng's lips: "Here, priority for the wounded."
Gu Heng blushed, lowered his head and took a bite, the crispy crust falling into the bowl.
The two shared the food at the lacquered table.
As Gu Heng was eating with his head down, Pei Qingwu suddenly reached out and gently pinched his ear: "If you run around like that again, you'll regret it."
He shrank back and smiled, "Next time, I'll definitely tell the boss."
After finishing breakfast, Pei Qingwu took Gu Heng to see the injury. Only after confirming that he was alright did he breathe a sigh of relief and prepare to return to the shop.
"Boss, I told you it was nothing."
Pei Qingwu glared at him: "Still dare to talk back? I didn't pinch you hard enough!"
Gu Heng gave an awkward smile and shut up.
At the entrance of Sushan Market, everyone was already preparing to open the door. Seeing Gu Heng helping Pei Qingwu down from the carriage, they hurriedly came forward to greet him.
"Master, what's wrong? Why are you only coming back now?"
Pei Qingwu looked at the concerned eyes and felt a warmth in his heart: "It's alright. He ran into a madman and got injured. He went to see a doctor, so he's only just returned."
Qian Tao exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly pulled Gu Heng aside: "Let me see, is Aheng alright?"
She and Gu Heng came from the Drunken Moon Pavilion together, and she was more worried than others.
"It's alright, the doctor has already bandaged me up."
After speaking, they entered the courtyard, and Yinlan came over and poured Pei Qingwu a cup of hot tea.
Pei Qingwu picked up the glass, took a hot sip, and saw Shi Dayong carrying coal into the yard. He asked, "Why are you preparing coal at this time?"
"Master, autumn cools down quickly in Qinzhou, and winter will arrive in the blink of an eye. It's better to prepare early so that life will be more comfortable. Besides, it's not really winter yet, so coal is cheaper to buy."
Pei Qingwu nodded, recalling the scene from last night, and asked, "By the way, Brother Shi, you travel around every day, have you heard about Sun Cheng's situation in prison?"
"Sun Cheng."
Upon hearing the name, Shi Dayong smiled contemptuously: "I was just about to tell my boss, but that shameless bastard is already dead in prison."
"Dead?"
Just as Pei Qingwu had predicted.
"Yes, just a few days ago, the jailer went to deliver the food and called everyone over one by one. Sun Cheng was the only one who didn't move. At noon, his food wasn't touched either. When the jailer went over and nudged him, he found that Sun Cheng was stiff."
Shi Dayong deeply resented Sun Cheng's despicable behavior, and when he spoke of it, he became animated and vivid in his description.
"I heard that when he was thrown into jail, he was beaten and his pants were covered in blood. Nobody there cared, he just had to tough it out on his own."
"In addition, his reputation was already bad, and the jailers were too lazy to care. He had a high fever several times. God is not going to protect such a person, so he died like that."
Pei Qingwu gave a cold laugh: "Dead, it's good that you're dead."
That was exactly the effect she wanted when she bribed the jailers that day.
The matter was then dropped.
As the old saying goes, "One autumn rain brings one chill," and Qinzhou City has indeed been getting colder and colder after several drizzles.
As soon as the weather gets cold, people become lazy. Today, very few people personally went to the shop to buy pastries. Most of them asked a deliveryman to pick up the goods and deliver them to their homes.
Pei Qingwu also got lazy, so he simply closed the shop for a day, stayed inside, lit a fire, and made roasted mutton.
The charcoal fire was burning brightly, casting a warm glow on people's faces.
A whole leg of lamb sat on an iron rack, sizzling as it was licked by the flames.
The rich, succulent fat melts as it heats up, dripping onto the glowing red-hot charcoal, sparking tiny sparks and releasing an enticing, caramelized aroma.
Pei Qingwu rolled up his sleeves and personally took the knife, making fine cuts on the surface of the lamb leg to allow the lamb to absorb more flavor.
Then, she took the sauce from the side, dipped it in the brush, and carefully spread it on the lamb.
The sauce is made from a mixture of soy sauce, maltose, sesame oil, and powdered spices from more than a dozen kinds of spices. When heated, the complex aroma and rich meat fat explode, filling the entire room. Even the sound of the pattering rain outside the window seems to be blocked out by this strong fragrance.
"Gulp."
Someone swallowed hard first.
Yinlan smiled and distributed the sliced mutton to the plates in front of each person.
The edges of the meat were crispy, while the inside still had an enticing pink hue.
"Eat it while it's hot. The chef's skills are even better than the most famous Hu Si restaurant in the West Market."
Fifth Sister couldn't wait any longer. She picked up a large piece and stuffed it into her mouth. Even though it was so hot that she gasped for breath, she didn't want to spit it out. She mumbled a praise: "Delicious! So delicious!"
Yu Yi ate more delicately, taking small bites, but her eyes narrowed with satisfaction: "This meat is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and juicy, and the spices are perfectly matched."
Pei Qingwu sat next to Gu Heng, eating while quietly asking him if his wound still hurt.
Gu Heng shook his head, handed her a particularly crispy piece of meat from the plate, and whispered, "Don't worry, boss, it doesn't hurt anymore."
Pei Qingwu was relieved and smiled, her eyes crinkling.
In the corner of the room, Nianci was playing with her two puppies, Tuanzi and Maomao.
Two furry little creatures circled around Nianci's skirt, whimpering and chasing after a colorful strip of cloth she used to tease them.
Tuanzi lunged forward, but missed the strip of cloth and instead rolled into a snowball. Mao Mao immediately went over and nudged it with its nose.
Nianci was amused by their adorable appearance and laughed heartily.
Shi Dayong did not sit at the table; he held Xiao Mingyi in his arms and stood a little further away, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
Mingyi was wearing a thick padded jacket, wrapped up like a round ball, and held steadily in his strong arms.
The little guy stared intently at his sister and the two puppies with his bright, dark eyes. Getting excited, he waved his tiny, chuckle-like arms and clapped his hands together.
Jinniang sat to one side, doing needlework, her loving gaze lingering on her two children.
As I looked out the window, I glanced up and saw the continuous rain that had woven a gray curtain of rain.
The raindrops pounded rapidly against the window paper, making a loud pattering sound, without any sign of stopping.
She put down her work, her brow furrowed slightly, and her voice was filled with worry: "The rain has been so heavy these past few days, it's making people anxious... I'm afraid if this continues, the river embankment outside the city won't be able to hold up, and there will be flooding."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil.
The group of people who were chatting and laughing fell silent, and their eyes turned to the window in unison.
The incessant sound of rain now seemed even more urgent than before.
Shi Dayong weighed Mingyi in his arms, his brows furrowing. "Jinniang is right. The other day I went to buy coal outside the city and saw that the river was swollen and the water was muddy. It was flowing so fast it was frightening to hear. If this rain continues for another three or five days, I'm afraid things will get bad."
Yu Yi put down her chopsticks: "Qinzhou City is on higher ground, so it's not so bad, but those villages and farmlands outside the city along the riverbank..."
She didn't continue, but everyone understood what her unfinished words meant.
Upon hearing this, Fifth Sister smacked her lips, the satisfaction from the roasted mutton fading considerably: "Sigh, this weather really won't let anyone have a moment's peace—"
Pei Qingwu put down the small knife he was using to cut meat and took a cloth to wipe his hands.
After a moment of contemplation, she said slowly, "Jinniang's concerns are not without merit... Brother Shi, if the rain subsides a bit tomorrow, go outside the city again to check the situation carefully."
"Yinlan, how much grain do we have left in the warehouse? Include both coarse and fine grains. Also, check if there are any unused oilcloths or thick linen cloths. Take inventory of them all."
Knowing that she had a plan, the crowd calmed down and responded in unison.
At this time, heavy rain is falling. Qinzhou is located in the upper reaches of the Wei River. The mountainous terrain will lift the airflow, which will aggravate the intensity of the precipitation. In addition, Qinzhou is located on the edge of the Loess Plateau, where the soil is loose. Heavy rain can easily induce soil erosion and landslides, exacerbating the disaster.
Therefore, if a flood were to occur, it would likely cause further damage to Qinzhou City, which was already facing a shortage of resources.
At that time, the price of grain may be higher than the price of gold.
After Yinlan's inventory, the remaining food at Sushan Market was enough for daily consumption, but it would be far from sufficient should a disaster occur in the future.
Therefore, Pei Qingwu instructed Shi Dayong to buy more grain and store it in the warehouse.
At the same time, she also approached Li Yinzhu and asked her to find a way to inform her father so that the Qinzhou government could also make preparations.
Her concerns were not unfounded.
Just over half a month later, bad news came from several small counties under Qin Prefecture—flash floods washed away several farmlands, and many farmers lost their land and became homeless refugees.
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