Chapter 62 - 63: Silver Note
"Da Shi’s wife, I don’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to ask if you know where his family is now?" Gu Sanbu hadn’t expected a single glance from him to frighten her so much.
Li Cuicui pointed vaguely in one direction. "I saw his wife and mother over there, taking care of his father. Go find them yourselves!"
’She didn’t want to go over there. If she saw that family, she’d just be reminded of the water she’d had to give away.’
Gu Yuanjin didn’t want to get mixed up in any trouble either, so he helped Li Cuicui up. "Mother, let’s go back. You go get some rest. I’ll keep an eye on things here. If Seventh or any of the others get back, I’ll let you know right away."
’The old woman had managed to stay awake all this time, unlike his own father who couldn’t care less about anything. His snores were loud enough to shake the heavens.’
「」
"Those two are real pieces of work. They were trying to sell all of us out for their own gain." Gu Shulin carefully helped Gu Sanbu back to their ox cart.
"Sigh! Now I’m actually glad those precious water containers are gone. As long as we flatly deny everything and insist there was no miracle, they’ll have no proof. Even if the Lord Prefect believes the story, he can’t do anything if we don’t confess."
Gu Sanbu lay back on his bedroll but didn’t forget to add some instructions. "When you get a chance, give everyone a heads-up so they know what to do. We never encountered any miracle. All the water we’ve found on this journey was through everyone’s own painstaking efforts."
"But will they believe it?"
"What does it matter if they don’t believe us? Where’s the proof? Let them go find whoever started the rumor. Besides, if they can make up a story about a miracle, they can probably plant some so-called ’evidence’ too."
「」
When they saw Lan Tian return, covered from head to toe in wounds, the two Lan women—mother-in-law and daughter-in-law—felt their blood run cold.
Lan Yongnan still hadn’t regained consciousness and his wounds hadn’t been treated. Now Lan Tian was back, also covered in injuries. Wasn’t this just going to be the death of them?
"Mother, what do we do now?" Liu Xiaoli asked, her face a mask of misery. She didn’t even dare to touch Lan Tian’s clothes to remove them.
"Hurry up and go get that doctor. Tell him we’ll owe him, but he needs to come save a life first."
"But the doctor won’t agree. We already begged him before. Going again would just be humiliating ourselves." Liu Xiaoli was truly starting to panic. ’If the backbones of this family really fall, I can’t imagine what will happen to me.’
Mrs. Lantian gritted her teeth. She turned away, pulled a stack of silver notes from her inner pocket, and picked out one of the smaller bills. Turning back, she handed it to Liu Xiaoli. "The loose silver is all gone. This is all we have left. Tell the doctor this should be enough for a consultation and medicine."
Liu Xiaoli said, "Mother, the doctor is out of medicine. So many people were injured before, and in the end, they just had to make do with whatever herbs they could find on the roadside. My husband and Father are so badly hurt, I doubt that Doctor Liu can do anything."
"I don’t care if he has medicine or not, just get the doctor over here to treat my wounds!" Lan Tian, still lying on the ground, lifted his head to glare fiercely at Liu Xiaoli. "Instead of getting the doctor, you’re already making excuses."
Glared at by the mother and son of the Lan Family, Liu Xiaoli had no choice but to gather her courage and head toward Doctor Liu’s camp.
"How did you get so battered?" Mrs. Lantian asked, her heart aching at the wretched sight of her son. "You made it into the city, you should have run for your life! Why did you come back?"
Lan Tian didn’t bother explaining. "I thought reporting the miracle to the Lord Prefect would get us a reward. I never expected someone to ruin it all and mess everything up."
’If that He Tuliang hadn’t claimed the evidence was missing, the Prefect wouldn’t have thought we were trying to fool him.’
"And what about your sister? Did you see her?" Mrs. Lantian asked through gritted teeth. "That boy from the Gu family hasn’t returned yet, either. Do you think she ran off with him?"
Lan Tian shook his head. "I don’t know. It was too chaotic then. I just had to go with the flow of the crowd. I remember the Gu Family was in line ahead of us, so it’s unlikely they would have run into each other, right?"
"Then why isn’t she back? She’s a young girl all on her own. You don’t think she was kidnapped, do you?"
’Refugees might not be worth much, but a young woman in the prime of her youth like Lan Ying... that was a different story.’
"It’s all my fault. If I had just held on to her, this wouldn’t have happened." Lan Tian struggled to sit up. "Let’s move to a spot closer to the city corner. That way, she’ll see us as soon as she comes out."
"How could we get a spot there? The people from Bainiao claimed that whole area long ago. Small families like ours, with no one to lead us, get pushed to the margins." As she said this, a bitter feeling welled up in Mrs. Lantian.
’If only they had left with the main family, maybe they would have found a stable place to settle by now, and life would have returned to normal.’
With a silver note in play, Doctor Liu no longer insisted on being paid in water for a house call. He came over, carrying his blackened medical case, and gave the wounds of the father and son a simple cleaning.
"I’m completely out of medicine. I just cleaned the wounds with strong liquor. If they get infected by tomorrow, your only choice is to find a way into the city to see a real doctor." Doctor Liu gave the father and son on the ground a sympathetic glance. Even after his simple treatment, the wounds were still bleeding profusely. It was truly up to fate now.
"Wait, you took so much money from us, and that’s all you’re going to do?" Mrs. Lantian’s heart stung. ’This is a complete rip-off!’
Doctor Liu retorted, "You call this simple? Treating just the two of them used up nearly all the strong liquor I had left. You should know, you can’t buy this stuff for any price right now."
"Doctor, my mother is just worried," Lan Tian interjected. He knew how crucial a doctor was right now; he couldn’t let his mother burn that bridge completely.
"Being anxious won’t solve anything. Fine, I won’t bicker with a woman. Just make sure they rest well tonight. If either of them gets a fever, try to cool their forehead with water and see if they can make it through the night."
Only after the doctor was a good distance away did Liu Xiaoli finally release Mrs. Lantian’s arm. It turned out the only reason Mrs. Lantian hadn’t made more of a scene was because Liu Xiaoli had been holding her back.
"Why did you hold me back? That man Liu has no conscience! He just slapped a few things on them and dared to take so much of my money. Even a doctor in the Royal City wouldn’t be that expensive..."
"Mother, please, just stop." The moment Lan Tian spoke, Mrs. Lantian fell silent. "He’s the only doctor among all these refugees. If we make an enemy of him, we might not be able to get help next time we need it."
"..."
"Is there any water? I’m dying of thirst." Lan Tian hadn’t had a single drop to drink all day and could barely stand it. Forcing himself to talk so much had made his lips crack and bleed.
"Sigh... there’s only a little bit of water left. How are we going to survive?"