Chapter 90: I Want to Go See Yun Province
After hearing what Pan Runqing said, Su Qing smiled. "Don’t worry, Uncle Pan. I just ran into him on the street and we exchanged a few words. We don’t have any real connection, and we won’t in the future, either."
"That’s good." Pan Runqing nodded.
The three of them spoke for a little while longer before Pan Youming and Pan Youshan woke up. Su Qing then opened the lunch box and insulated thermos.
"That smells amazing," Pan Youshan couldn’t help but say as he took in the aroma of the ginseng chicken soup.
Fu Yuzhen smiled. "Your Sister Xiaoqing made this specially for you two."
Pan Youshan smiled at Su Qing. "Thanks, Sister Xiaoqing."
Pan Youming, who was still very weak, simply gave Su Qing a small smile.
Just as they were about to eat, Su Qing paused.
There was an old locust tree in the hospital courtyard. Perhaps because it was so old, its green mist was especially dense. As Su Qing absorbed the green mist, she also established a connection with the tree. And right at that moment, Fang Lutian and A Cheng were under that very tree, talking about her.
"Uncle Tian, I noticed you were very polite to that young woman today. What’s her story?" A Cheng found it strange, as people like them rarely had any dealings with the ordinary folk of the county.
Fang Lutian chuckled. "I’m counting on her to find some old ginseng and sell it to me. As you know, our Young Master is about to run out, and truly old ginseng is hard to find these days."
"What? That girl has old ginseng?"
"She does," Fang Lutian said, his eyes narrowing. "The last time she was at Hongji Hall, she sold a piece of ginseng. If I’m not mistaken, that ginseng was at least seventy or eighty years old."
A Cheng was shocked. "What? Seventy or eighty years old? The old ginseng our Young Master has been taking is only a little over fifty years old."
"That’s right," Fang Lutian said with a firm nod. "And I’m certain she has more old ginseng on her right now."
"Really?"
"That’s right," Fang Lutian said. "The insulated thermos she brought today is full of ginseng chicken soup. While I can’t be sure of the exact age of the old ginseng in it, I’m sure it’s not young."
A Cheng laughed. "No wonder the Young Master always says you have an incredibly sharp nose, Uncle Tian. I couldn’t smell a thing."
Then he added excitedly, "Uncle Tian, in that case, we should find that girl and buy her ginseng right away! The Young Master’s supply is about to run out. If we can’t find more well-aged ginseng, it’ll be bad for his recovery."
"Let’s wait a little longer," Fang Lutian said. "I gave her my address. Let’s see if she comes to us. It wouldn’t be right to show up at her door and try to force a sale. Have you forgotten what the Young Master told us?"
A Cheng sighed. "The Young Master is just too averse to conflict. If he weren’t, we wouldn’t have ended up here. If it were up to me, I’d go straight to Mr. Gong and just throw money at the problem. There’s no way he wouldn’t sell us the ginseng then."
"You dare do that, and you’ll get a beating," Fang Lutian glared at A Cheng.
A Cheng pressed his lips together. "All right, all right, Uncle Tian. I was just talking."
Then, A Cheng lowered his voice and said to Fang Lutian, "Uncle Tian, those two men from the First and Second Masters’ side... who do you think actually took them out? Our people didn’t touch them. Who did they piss off to get themselves killed, only to have the blame fall on us?"
"I don’t know," Fang Lutian said, shaking his head. "They were deep in the mountains. For all we know, those two who went missing were killed by some wild animal. It’s hard to say. In any case, we’re not just going to let this go. They showed up out of nowhere to attack people; we can’t just let it slide."
"Definitely!" A Cheng nodded eagerly. "No matter what, we have to make the First and Second Masters answer for this. If they don’t, we’ll take it straight to the Old Madam."
"The Young Master still has unresolved issues with the Old Madam and the Old Master. This whole thing..." Fang Lutian shook his head and sighed, trailing off. He just said, "All right, go check on the hospital room one more time. If everything’s fine, we’ll head back."
"Okay."
Su Qing had only started listening to Fang Lutian and A Cheng’s conversation because they were talking about her. She never expected that the latter part of their discussion would seem to have something to do with her.
’In the mountains... two people...’
’Could it be the two guys I took care of?’
’If that’s really the case, doesn’t it mean Pan Youming’s and Pan Youshan’s injuries are somehow related to me?’
’But these are just thoughts,’ Su Qing told herself. ’I’m not going to take the blame for something that isn’t confirmed.’
"Xiao Qing, Xiao Qing." Seeing Su Qing staring into space, Fu Yuzhen called out to her. "Why aren’t you eating?"
"Oh." Su Qing snapped out of it and smiled. "I was just wondering when the autumn harvest will be over. I’m looking forward to hibernating for the winter."
Fu Yuzhen laughed at her words. "Once your winter hibernation starts, you should come over a few more times before the snow falls. I’ll make you lots of good food. You need to build up your strength over the next few years. The past few years really took a toll on you, so you need to hurry and recover while you’re still young. Otherwise, you’ll suffer for it when you’re older."
Su Qing pursed her lips into a smile. "To be honest, Aunt Fu, I was thinking of traveling a bit once winter sets in."
Upon hearing this, Fu Yuzhen and Pan Runqing both asked anxiously, "Xiao Qing, where are you planning to go?"
"I want to take a trip to Yun Province," Su Qing said. "My dad used to tell me how beautiful the scenery is there. Since there won’t be much to do this winter, I thought I’d go see it for myself."
Pan Runqing nodded. "I’ve heard your dad talk about Yun Province, too. He spent some time there when he was young. He used to tell me that he wanted to go back with me someday for another look, but I never imagined..."
Pan Runqing grew sad, thinking of his old friend’s words.
Fu Yuzhen quickly patted Pan Runqing. "Don’t go upsetting the girl."
"Ah, right, right." Pan Runqing took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I won’t say any more."
But the thought of Su Qing going to Yun Province by herself made him worry again. "Xiao Qing, you’re a young woman traveling all alone to Yun Province. You don’t know the area or anyone there. It might not be safe."
"That’s right. It’s too dangerous for you to be on your own," Fu Yuzhen added, equally concerned.
"Aunt Fu, Uncle Pan, please don’t worry," Su Qing said with a smile. "I won’t talk to strangers or accept food from them. I’ll carry something for self-defense, and I won’t go to any secluded places. Nothing will happen. I just really want to take a trip during the winter lull."
"All right, then." Although Pan Runqing hadn’t spent much time with Su Qing since his return, he could tell she had a mind of her own. Even if he and Fu Yuzhen disagreed, this girl would likely do as she pleased anyway. So he said, "Just make sure you have your letter of introduction and other papers ready, or things will be difficult. And most importantly, be extremely careful."
"Okay."
