Chapter 184 Black-Hearted Merchants
"Alright!" Shu Wan interrupted her, "You delayed their time in moving things, so you should move with them. You are not allowed to sleep until they finish moving.
She just left Cai Jingshu here and left.
"Shu Wan, why are you like this?" Cai Jingshu looked at her from behind and wanted to cry, "You can't do this to me!" She had come here after a long journey and was already tired and hungry. She thought Shu Wan would let her have a good rest, but unexpectedly, Shu Wan actually asked her to do hard labor here! Alas, Cai Jingshu sighed, just move, just treat it as early work.
But fortunately, the other people who were moving things with her saw that she was a girl and because she was Shu Wan's friend, they took good care of her and only let her move very light things.
Cai Jingshu was exhausted and finally could go to sleep, but after lying on the bed, she couldn't fall asleep again. She couldn't help but imagine the scene of herself volunteering to help tomorrow. What was she going to do? Was she going to participate in the great feat of saving people?
Her blood was boiling, and she was determined to make a career here and let everyone know her name! But after she really devoted herself to the rescue work, the situation was completely different from what she had imagined, it was completely different.
What she did was not something very dazzling, but some unknown trivial things. Of course, these are all later stories! ...
Like countless other doctors, Wen Nuan took people from house to house to take people's pulses and check their body temperatures to prevent anyone from contracting the disease without knowing it!
Shu Wan was half-forced by Rong Chen to stay in the mansion. She could only do some very simple things every day. She was not in danger, but she was always restless in her heart.
Rong Chen was so busy that he had no time to rest. Although he did not go to the disaster relief camp in person, he did a lot of work.
All the complicated matters were reported to him, waiting for his decision.
Shu Wan hardly even saw him, and Rong Chen always found time to visit Shu Wan after she fell asleep late at night.
He didn't wake Shu Wan up, but just sat beside her and looked at her quietly. After a while, he got up and left.
More than half a month passed in a flash.
Shu Wan was lucky not to be infected, but Rong Chen said he would never let her go around with patients again.
It seemed as if if Shu Wan didn't listen to him, he would pester Shu Wan day and night and stay with her all the time.
Shu Wan: ...
Shu Wan was so angry at him that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Wen Nuan is a delicate young lady, but she has been working at such a high intensity for half a month. She is really exhausted and really wants to take a rest.
But the more she looked at the current situation in Songyang County, the more she couldn't rest. If she did more, she might be able to save many people.
So, she had to persevere no matter what.
However, the team leader had already noticed her situation, so he forced her to take half a day off, forcing her to rest in the morning and report in the afternoon.
During this busy period, she didn't see Shu Wan, so she came to see Shu Wan at noon.
Before the two of them could say a few words, someone came running in hurriedly, reporting that something had happened.
Originally, these things should be dealt with by Rong Chen, but Rong Chen took Feng Ling out early this morning and has not returned yet.
Helplessly, Song Dagui could only ask someone to come and ask Shu Wan to solve the problem.
"What happened?" Shu Wan asked as he stood up and followed the servants out. Wen Nuan also hurriedly followed.
Since Song Dagui made someone come to see her in such a hurry, something big must have happened.
"Madam!" The servant led the way and answered Shu Wan's question, "Early this morning, Lord Song led a team of brothers to patrol the streets and found a sneaky man."
"Lord Song immediately arrested the man, and upon investigation, he discovered that he was actually selling used masks that Madam had ordered to be burned!"
"This is a serious matter. Lord Song doesn't dare to make the decision, and the city lord is not in the mansion. We can only dare to ask Madam to go and handle this matter!" The servant quickly explained the whole story.
"How dare you!" Shu Wan was furious.
Now the epidemic has broken out in other counties to varying degrees, so the demand for masks is very large. It is already difficult for each county to bear the number of masks in its own county, so now Songyang County no longer requests masks to be sent from other counties.
Instead, they produce it themselves, but the production of more than 300,000 masks per day is indeed a bit overloaded, and they also have many other things to take care of.
So at this time, some businessmen followed suit, producing masks and then selling them.
Rong Chen acquiesced, but issued a clear order that masks could only be sold for three copper coins. If anyone dared to take advantage of the disaster to make a fortune, they would be severely punished once they were found out.
There have been no accidents during this period.
Unexpectedly, today, we found someone who dared to defy the law and picked up used masks and resold them.
It's simply damnable that he doesn't care about human life and the hard work of so many people.
Soon, Shu Wan saw the man who was arrested for breaking the law at the gate of the mansion.
Song Dagui did not take him into the mansion, but detained him at the door, waiting for Shu Wan to come and deal with him.
"Madam, it's him!" Song Dagui knew at a glance that Shu Wan had heard the whole story. "I caught this man on the spot, along with thousands of used masks!"
"After interrogation, he confessed to his crime. According to him, he was going to sell these masks to West Street!"
"Also, someone was secretly raising the price of masks, so he wanted to take the opportunity to find a batch of masks and sell them cheaply to make a fortune!"
Shu Wan nodded to show that she understood, then looked at the man who was being detained and kneeling on the ground.
"What's your name?" Shu Wan asked first.
"Zhang Erzhu!" the man replied.
"Do you know that what you did is against the law?" Shu Wan's face was calm. "You have committed a capital crime. The plague is raging right now. If you are not careful, you will be infected."
“Do you know how much effort we have put in to minimize the number of infections?”
"How many people are busy day and night? They can't even drink a sip of water from morning till night. They don't even have time to go to the toilet. They can only endure it again and again!"
"So many people are running back and forth every day, visiting every household and diagnosing the people! The purpose is to ensure the safety of all the people to the greatest extent possible."
"How many people died suddenly on the battlefield due to exhaustion? There are many such people! They work day and night and overload in order to defeat the disease as soon as possible."
"But what you are doing now is trampling all their efforts under your feet, do you know that?"
"Even if ninety-nine of them worked their hardest, because of you, and because of your actions today, all their efforts will go to waste. Do you know that?"
"Also, did you see how many girls there were among the rescue team?"
"Many of them are daughters of wealthy families who have never had to work, but now, just to help Songyang County overcome the epidemic as soon as possible, they have come from thousands of miles away and taken the trouble to come here."
"Do you know that in Songyang County, girls are being used as men, and men are being used as animals?"
"They are fighting the King of Hell for people, and you are standing under their protection and putting a knife in their backs. Do you know that?"
"Can your conscience really bear with you?"
Shu Wan did not speak in a heart-wrenching voice or raise questions in a loud voice. Her tone was very calm, so calm that one would almost think she was not interrogating a prisoner but chatting with a friend.
The warmth behind her made her burst into tears!
In fact, she was not that pretentious and had never thought of crying, but after hearing what Shu Wan said, she really couldn't hold back her tears.
It's a kind of sadness that some people's efforts have been in vain.
She came to Songyang County for rescue not to make a lot of money or to become a hero that everyone envied. She just wanted to do her part and save as many people as possible.
However, there are people who see her efforts, remember them in their hearts, and are moved and touched by them.
At this moment, she just wanted to cry, tears of relief, as she felt that her hellish life in the past half month was not that bitter.
Shu Wan's words really moved everyone present.
What Shu Wan said were all their real thoughts.
Zhang Erzhu, who was illegally selling used masks, was silent for a while, then kowtowed to Shu Wan.
"Madam, I know what you said is true! But," he paused before continuing, "But Madam, you know what? It's not that I want to risk my head to do such a treasonous thing, it's just that we ordinary people can't live anymore!"
"The city lord and his wife are kind-hearted and provide food for all of us. Now we don't have to worry about food anymore!"
"But they can't survive just for a mask! Now those merchants have raised the price of masks."
"Each mask sells for one tael of silver! One tael of silver, this is more expensive than eating, and the city lord and his wife have issued a clear order that every citizen must wear a mask every day!"
"Madam, this means that the whole family needs to spend several taels of silver every day just to buy masks!"
"Few families can afford such a heavy burden..."
"I have no other choice but to resort to this desperate measure. I do not ask Madam to forgive me, but only ask Madam to investigate this matter thoroughly and give the people a way out!"
Zhang Erzhu burst into tears and kowtowed to Shu Wan.
"I promise you, I will thoroughly investigate this matter and find out the bad apples. I will return every penny of their dirty money to the people!"
"But you also broke the law. What you did today, although excusable, is unforgivable. The two cannot be compared. You must accept the punishment!" After Shu Wan heard this, the anger in his heart had reached a peak.
How could someone dare to do such a thing as confiscate property and exterminate an entire clan right under their noses?
If she doesn't catch the person herself, her name will be written backwards!
"Yes, Madam Xie, please seek justice for us!" Zhang Erzhu pleaded guilty and was ready to atone for his sins with his life.
"Sir Song, send him to the rescue!" Shu Wan looked at Song Dagui and said calmly, "Pay his wages as they should be paid. When the epidemic is over, he will be released from prison. If he dies of the disease during this period, send his silver and consolation money to his family!"
"Yes! Madam." Song Dagui didn't expect Shu Wan to make this decision. She thought Shu Wan would kill someone.
"Madam, you won't kill me?" Zhang Erzhu was also stunned.
"Now is the time to use people. It's better to let you contribute to the people than to kill you!" Shu Wan's tone was still indifferent. "Besides, don't think that sending you to the rescue is a way of sparing you. It's not so easy to stay there. The most common thing you see every day is the dead. If you have a bad mentality, you can be driven crazy. Of course, under this premise, you have to stay alive!"
…
After hearing such a thing, how could Shu Wan sit still? He immediately changed his clothes, disguised himself as an ordinary citizen, and went to West Street with warmth.
There are indeed many places selling masks here, but few people stop to buy them! Shu Wan and Wen Nuan, dressed as peasant women, went from house to house to inquire.
"Boss, how much is a mask here?" Shu Wan looked worried, afraid that the price quoted by the store was too high.
"One tael of silver each!" The shopkeeper's tone was really arrogant!
"One tael of silver for each?" Shu Wan exclaimed, "Why is it so expensive? Didn't the city lord order that a mask can only be sold for three copper coins?"
"Tsk, the order came from the city lord, then you should go buy it from him!" The shopkeeper disagreed, "Now Songyang County is full of patients infected with the plague, and the city lord is busy saving people, so he doesn't have time to take care of these things!"
"I just don't believe that if the city lord knew about this, he would not punish them severely!" Shu Wan was furious. These people were so bold.
"So what if you know? You can't make any money with a mask that costs three copper coins!" The shopkeeper sneered, "All the masks on this street are priced at this price. If the city lord doesn't allow them to be sold, then he can provide them to the people for free. However, he is so busy now that he has no time to care about these things. If he doesn't allow them to be sold, he can't make them himself. I want to see who will obey his order to wear masks!"
…
Shu Wan asked the whole street, and the answers he got were almost the same!
Shu Wan was patient enough. After bargaining a bit, he placed orders with all the shops on the street at 20% to 90% off.
After paying the deposit, Shu Wan left with the receipt.
That afternoon, Shu Wan brought people and blocked the entire street.
(End of this chapter)
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