Chapter 163 Returning to the Capital
"Achoo!" Xuan'er leaned listlessly against her mother's chest and sneezed several times.
Danniang touched her daughter's forehead and felt it was a little hot.
"Does he have a fever?" Yao Shisan placed the little chubby boy on the carriage bench.
When Xuan'er woke up this morning, she was a little listless. She only ate two bites of the sweet cakes that she had specially bought for the two children.
"A little." Dan Niang looked down at her daughter. "Xuan'er, is anything bothering you?"
Xuan'er leaned against her mother's chest, "My head hurts."
Yao Shisan knocked on the carriage and called out to the driver outside, "To the clinic."
Dan Niang looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, I've delayed things again."
Yao Shisan glared at her, "The child is the most important thing. Not going to the clinic is just making things worse."
All the medical clinics in Jinzhou are busy.
"There's no medicine left in the whole city. The child isn't seriously ill yet, so let's just wait it out."
I asked several clinics, but none of them had the medicine.
Ten days ago, a snow disaster struck Jinzhou, destroying countless houses and causing many people to fall ill in the freezing cold.
Especially frostbite and colds.
Other illnesses are manageable now, but there's no cure for typhoid fever.
Dan Niang couldn't help but get anxious, not expecting that the most common medicine was unavailable.
"Then let's hurry to the capital; the medical clinics there should have the medicine."
"There is no other way now, let's go to the capital."
Yao Shisan also frowned. The child's high fever developed very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, his whole body would be burning hot.
Back in the carriage, Xuan'er was already lying down in discomfort, her little face pale.
"Xuan'er!" Dan Niang hugged her daughter tightly. "She's so hot!"
The driver glanced back and gave them a suggestion.
"Why don't you go check the west side of the city? All the medicine for the snow disaster is there."
"I heard that the official from the capital is a good man. Go and beg him; he should give you the medicine."
The western part of the city is mostly inhabited by poor families from Jinzhou. Their houses are not sturdy and cannot withstand the impact of snow disasters.
Soldiers and officers have already begun emergency repairs.
There are soup kitchens and medicine stalls along the roadside.
Dan Niang carried Xuan'er and ran towards the medicine shed, crying, "Doctor, my daughter..."
Before she could finish speaking, she was kicked out by the shop assistant at the pharmacy.
"What's all the noise about! Can't you see everyone is queuing up?!"
"Besides, you're dressed so nicely, yet you're here robbing poor people of their medicine!"
Dan Niang held back her tears, "My daughter has a fever, and there's no medicine left in the whole city. I won't take it for free; I can buy it!"
"You're buying it?" The servant hesitated for a moment.
The stewardess came out and said, "We don't sell our medicine; these are all medicines donated by our young lady out of kindness."
She glanced at Dan Niang and said, "You don't meet the requirements, you can't receive them."
“But my daughter is burning up right now. She will get burned if she doesn’t have the medicine. I know I’m not entitled to take it. I can buy it with money.”
As soon as Yao Shisan got out of the car, he saw the manager of the medicine shed, the maid who had injured the child yesterday.
A hypocrite.
She turned to the young woman who had just received the medicine and asked, "Miss, do you sell this medicine?"
The girl glanced at her and said, "I'm not selling. My father has caught a cold too."
A young man walked up behind him and asked, "You want to buy it?"
The man glanced at her. "Two taels of silver, do you want it?"
"Yes, I want it." Yao Shisan took out his money and bought the medicine.
The man was overjoyed; he had sold a packet of cold medicine, which cost only a dozen coins, for two ounces in one go.
His eyes lit up. “One dose of medicine won’t cure a cold. Do you still want it? I’ll go get it for you.”
"I'll buy it if you can bring it."
Now that there are three children, Xuan'er has a fever, and it's possible that Fu'er will also develop a fever.
The man immediately went back to queue up, beaming with joy.
Dan Niang returned carrying Xuan'er, her eyes red and swollen. "What should we do? They won't give me the medicine."
Yao Shisan gave her the medicine he had just bought, saying, "Not everyone catches a cold. People who aren't sick don't need medicine. I bought it from them."
"Take the child back to the inn first, give the waiter some tip, and ask him to prepare your medicine."
Dan Niang held the medicine and wept with joy. "I was so anxious that I lost my mind. If they won't sell it to us, we can buy it from someone who doesn't need medicine."
Yao Shisan patted her shoulder, "I'll buy a little more, just in case, there are three children."
Dan Niang nodded. "Then be careful, those people are fierce."
Compared to the medicine stalls, the porridge stalls had even longer queues.
Yao Shisan walked directly towards the person squatting against the wall and asked, "Fellow villager, I'd like to ask you, is there a limit to the number of times you can get this medicine?"
One of the middle-aged men looked up at her and said, "Why are you asking this?"
She didn't hide anything and said directly, "My child has a fever, and there's no typhoid medicine left in the whole city. This is the only place that has it."
"The pharmacy said I'm not eligible. If you don't need medicine, please get me a dose, and I'll pay for it!"
How much are you willing to pay?
Yao Shisan, “Two hundred coins.”
Take a waiter in a restaurant as an example. He earns one tael a month. If he queues up five times, he can earn one tael, which is equivalent to a month's wages.
"I'll go join the queue!"
"I'm going too!"
The four people who were just drinking porridge in the corner have all gone to line up.
There weren't many people queuing at the pharmacy, and the first man who sold him medicine returned excitedly.
"It's here! The medicine's here!"
One packet of medicine weighs two ounces. If he makes ten trips, he'll have twenty ounces!
He had high hopes, but Yao Shisan wouldn't buy it at such a high price again.
"Two hundred coins. If you still want it, I'll take it."
"Didn't you say it wasn't two ounces? How come it's two hundred coins?!"
Two taels of silver was worth two thousand coins, but suddenly it became two hundred coins, so of course he was not satisfied.
Yao Shisan smiled and said, "I was willing to spend two taels to buy the first package because I was in a hurry, but I'm not in a hurry now."
"Besides, this is a business with no initial investment for you. Two hundred coins is already a huge profit."
The man was somewhat unwilling, as two ounces had turned into two hundred coins.
While he was still hesitating, the people who had just gone to queue up returned.
Yao Shisan and his men exchanged money for goods.
Two doses of medicine a day, and you should be better in about two or three days.
These people will only need to queue for three or four more times, and then it will be about time.
The medicine they received for free could be resold for money, so these people continued to queue up.
Seeing that she had collected so many medicines, the man in front of her gritted his teeth and sold them too.
After all, you can't eat this stuff.
When it was the third time, the servant dispensing the medicine finally noticed something was wrong.
"Didn't you already take it? Why is it you again?!"
The person who was caught stammered and couldn't speak. The people in line behind him realized something was wrong and turned around and ran away.
Making money is fine, but getting beaten up is not.
Yao Shisan hid at the corner of the alley. She turned around to leave, but bumped into Yang Shuyue.
"Isn't this woman's behavior too greedy?"
"My family distributes medicine for free. Why are you sending so much? What are you planning to do with it? Resell it?"
Yao Shisan chuckled lightly, "A dose of medicine costs a dozen or so coins, but I bought it for two hundred coins. Who would I resell it to?"
Yang Shuyue held a delicate little hand warmer in her hand, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes.
"A medicine that's unavailable in the whole city, and it costs over ten coins? My wife really knows how to do the math."
Yao Shisan didn't want to argue with her and turned to leave, saying, "I didn't steal or rob, Miss, it's none of my business what I do."
"Stop her!" Yang Shuyue frowned. "I can't control you, but put down the medicine in your hand."
Two servants immediately blocked her way.
Yao Shisan frowned. "You think you can rob me in broad daylight?"
"My child had a high fever and I couldn't buy medicine, so I bought medicine from someone who didn't need it."
“I want medicine, they want money, and you want a good reputation. Everyone gets what they need.”
A hint of impatience flashed across Yang Shuyue's face. "You can leave, I won't make things difficult for you, but leave the medicine behind."
Yao Shisan held the bundle of medicine in his arms, saying, "I bought this!"
At this point, onlookers gathered around.
Those who didn't know the truth might have thought she was there to steal something.
"What happened?"
A clear, cold male voice came from outside the crowd.
The crowd parted automatically, and Yang Shuyue stepped forward. "Lord Zhou, someone is taking advantage of the people who are collecting medicine to buy up large quantities and resell them."
She turned to look at Yao Shisan, "I caught you red-handed."
Zhou Congxian looked at Yao Shisan, who seemed to have suddenly appeared there, and almost thought he was seeing things.
"You... what are you doing here?"
Yao Shisan turned around and saw Zhou Congxian, whom he hadn't seen for several months.
"What's wrong with me being here?"
She then stood up, patting the string of medicines in her arms with displeasure, "What do you mean by 'exploit'? I bought these with my own money!"
She glanced at Yang Shuyue again, "If you're really kind, then help me brew the medicine! Don't you know that in this freezing weather, firewood and charcoal are the most expensive things!"
She breathed a sigh of relief; after all, he was an old acquaintance.
Meeting Zhou Congxian was better than meeting Xiao Shu...
Not necessarily.
What if, like Xiao Shu, she is also seen as a coveted prize to be shared among the Meng family's Northwest Camp?
Thinking of this, she took a step to leave.
"You can't leave..."
Yang Shuyue tried to stop her, but Zhou Congxian interrupted her.
"She is my...my friend, Miss Yang, please go ahead with your work."
He turned around and chased after them.
Ji Xiaoman, who was leading a horse at the alley entrance, rubbed her eyes hard.
He! He's not seeing things, is he?!
That was Sister Jiang just now?!
Zhou Congxian caught up, and for a moment he opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
Yao Shisan: "What are you doing following me? Aren't you busy with snow disaster relief?"
Zhou Congxian was unaware of what had happened in Ding County. "What's wrong with you? You're in Jinzhou to collect grain?"
"No, Wei Xunyue just wrote a letter saying that she would go to Suzhou and Jinzhou to collect medicinal herbs after the New Year.
"You've come all this way to Jinzhou to collect grain. The boats went to collect medicinal herbs, and you came by carriage to collect them?"
"It's not harvest season yet..."
Yao Shisan suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Lord Zhou, I've never seen you so free before."
Zhou Congxian, "...You've come all the way from Ding County, and as the father of Fu'er and Xiao Pangxi..."
"Wait, that's not right. Shuang'er and Wei Xun went out. Now that you're in Jinzhou, who's going to look after the two kids...?"
"Master Zhou."
A patrol of soldiers passed by, the leader of whom clasped his hands in a fist and held a portrait in his hand.
Yao Shisan turned around and stood sideways.
Zhou Congxian clasped his hands in a fist and asked, "Officer Cheng, is there another arrest warrant?"
They've gotten to know each other quite well after working together on the rescue efforts for so long.
Constable Cheng shook his head. "No, this is a portrait sent from Yuzhou. It says that the Princess Consort of the Prince Cheng's Mansion ran away in a fit of anger, and they asked us to keep an eye out."
"The Princess Consort of the Prince of Cheng's Mansion?" Zhou Congxian had not heard of any plans for Xiao Shu to marry a principal wife.
Yao Shisan almost stopped breathing.
She slowly turned her back.
"Hey, no, turn around."
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