Chapter 87: You Went into the Deep Mountains?
"Brother Ming, Da Dong and Taozi haven’t come back these past few days. They were definitely murdered." One of the men kneeling on the ground spoke. "Those three gunshots we heard back then—someone must have shot and killed Da Dong and Taozi. And to be able to dispose of the bodies so cleanly in such a short time, without leaving a single trace, not even shell casings or footprints... besides the Young Master’s men, who else could it be?"
Brother Ming gritted his teeth. "I know. But you were all too reckless this time. The other side has already reported it to the police. If they work with the police and find any evidence, do you think we’ll get off easy? Don’t you forget how we got here, you bunch of morons! Even if you want revenge, who goes and hacks people up in the middle of the street? You think this is Xiangcheng? You’re all so stupid I can’t even stand to look at you."
As he spoke, Brother Ming grabbed the teapot beside him and hurled it to the ground, shattering it. The kneeling men flinched and shrank back. "Brother Ming, what do we do now?"
"What else can we do?" Brother Ming roared. "Stay in the mountains for a while. Don’t go anywhere, and don’t cause me any more trouble. We’ll talk again when Brother Sheng gets back."
"Yes."
At the county hospital, the door to the emergency room finally opened, and a doctor walked out, his face etched with exhaustion.
Seeing him, Fu Yuzhen rushed over. "Doctor, Doctor, how’s my son? How is my son?"
The doctor quickly said, "Fortunately, he was brought in time. His life is saved, but the patient is very seriously injured and needs further observation. If no secondary infections occur, he’ll be considered out of the danger period."
Fu Yuzhen’s legs went weak again when she heard this. ’Just how serious are his injuries?’ Su Qing quickly supported her.
Hearing how badly his eldest son was hurt, Pan Runqing’s heart ached. He quickly asked the doctor for details about what they needed to watch out for, just as he saw Pan Youming being wheeled out by a nurse.
"Oh, Xiao Ming," Fu Yuzhen cried, walking up to her unconscious son and calling his name softly.
A nurse beside them quickly said, "Ma’am, the patient is still unconscious."
"Okay, okay." Fu Yuzhen quickly asked, "Nurse, when will my son wake up?"
"I’m not sure about that," the nurse said comfortingly. "But he’s young and his body will recover quickly. I’m sure that with good care, he’ll be back on his feet soon."
"Okay, thank you, thank you."
Fu Yuzhen thanked her through tears.
Su Qing supported Fu Yuzhen and saw Pan Youshan with one arm in a sling, his other hand gripping Pan Youming’s as he walked alongside the gurney. She sighed inwardly. ’The poor kid must have been terrified today.’
The person who had brought the Pan brothers to the hospital had helped pay the medical fees and even specially arranged a semi-private room for them, so the room was quite peaceful.
Fu Yuzhen had her younger son lie back down on his bed and then sat by Pan Youming’s side, watching him worriedly. Pan Runqing was still talking with the doctor to understand the specifics of the situation, so Su Qing secretly channeled a wisp of green mist into Pan Youming.
She didn’t dare send too much green mist, afraid that Pan Youming would recover too quickly and arouse suspicion.
Fu Yuzhen’s emotions had calmed down a bit. She took out her keys and tried to hand them to Su Qing. "Xiao Qing, you’ve spent so much time with us today, and it’s getting late. Don’t go back. Stay at our place. Here are the keys to the house."
Su Qing quickly said, "Aunt Fu, you should go home and rest. I’ll stay and watch over them."
"No, I have to stay with my two boys. I won’t be able to rest otherwise. You go home and get some sleep."
"That’s right." Pan Runqing entered the room just then and said to Su Qing, "Xiao Qing, listen to your Aunt Fu. Go to our house and rest. Your Aunt Fu and I will be fine watching over things here."
Su Qing thought for a moment, then said, "Alright then. I’ll go back, and I’ll bring you all breakfast tomorrow morning."
"Xiao Qing, you’ve worked hard today." Fu Yuzhen placed the keys in Su Qing’s hand. "Get some rest early tonight. We can just buy something to eat from the hospital cafeteria tomorrow morning. Don’t go to the trouble."
Su Qing thought for a moment and said, "How about this? I’ll make some wild pheasant soup tomorrow and bring it over for Brother Youming and You Shan. I found some ginseng in the mountains, and the old doctor at the pharmacy confirmed it’s authentic wild ginseng of a decent age. I’ll stew it in the soup. It’ll be good for their recovery."
A few days ago, Su Qing had gone into the mountains. Although she hadn’t found any Purple Danshen, she did manage to find a sixty or seventy-year-old stalk of wild ginseng. She hadn’t sold it yet, so this was the perfect time to use it.
"What? You went deep into the mountains?" Fu Yuzhen asked in alarm.
"Not too deep," Su Qing said quickly. "Don’t worry, Aunt Fu. I know my limits."
Fu Yuzhen knew that her two sons were seriously injured and that ginseng chicken soup would indeed help them. In her heart, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. She took Su Qing’s hand. "Xiao Qing, this time, Aunt Fu owes you a great debt."
"Xiao Qing, thank you," Pan Runqing also said quickly.
"Uncle Pan, Aunt Fu, you don’t have to be so formal with me. Didn’t you also tell me not to be so formal with you?" Su Qing said with a smile.
"You’re a good child." Fu Yuzhen’s tears started falling again. She quickly wiped them away and said to Su Qing, "It’s getting late. You should hurry back and get some rest."
"Okay, I’ll come back tomorrow."
"Okay."
The next morning, Su Qing got up early, prepared a wild pheasant, and took out three-quarters of the ginseng. After blanching them, she started stewing the pheasant and ginseng in the hallway.
In this era, the kitchens in family apartment buildings were all in the corridors. Su Qing didn’t dare to leave the stove. She wasn’t familiar with the people in the building and didn’t know their character. This soup was to help a patient recover; she couldn’t use it as a test of human nature.
Soon, the aroma of the wild pheasant and ginseng soup spread throughout the entire hallway.
"Oh my, who’s stewing chicken? It smells amazing."
"Mom, I want to eat meat."
"Grandma, I want meat."
...
The rich aroma made the neighbor’s kids cry with craving. Many parents were cursing inwardly: ’Who stews a chicken this early in the morning? Great. Now the kids are screaming for chicken, and where are we supposed to get it!’
The vast majority of people could only grumble to themselves, but there’s never a shortage of thick-skinned people, no matter the time or place.
"Well now, child, are you a relative of the Old Pan’s Family?" An old woman, a neighbor from a few doors down from Fu Yuzhen’s, poked her head out. Seeing it was just Su Qing, a young girl, guarding the stove with the chicken soup, she walked over with a cheerful smile and asked.
"I suppose so," Su Qing said, nodding politely at the woman. She lifted the lid of the clay pot and stirred the contents with a ladle, releasing an even richer aroma.
The old woman swallowed, then cheerfully produced a bowl and said to Su Qing, "Little girl, ladle a bowl of chicken soup for your aunty here. Make sure to add plenty of chicken pieces."