pjbooks Chapter 217
Chapter 217
After Li Pan and Jiang Yeli left the capital, Li An also packed his bags to leave."Second Brother, keep the Yunhua Token safe," Li Ping said, handing a cloud-shaped token to Li An.
With the Yunhua Token, he would receive full support at any shop under the Yunhua Chamber of Commerce.
Li An took it and put it away securely.
Li Ping then introduced the three people he had brought along: Chonglou, Kongqing, and Lingyu.
All three were highly skilled in martial arts and experienced in traveling the martial world. Li Ping had specially selected them to protect Li An.
Li An accepted the three of them and declined any others.
"Second Brother, when you arrive at a place, don't just treat patients. Look out for any business opportunities too, and write to me," Li Ping instructed.
"Alright, I'll definitely write to you," Li An promised. "Take good care of yourself in the capital."
Li An left the capital in a carriage.
His first stop was Jinzhou.
Chonglou and the other two had already been instructed by Li Ping: no matter where Li An went, their only job was to take good care of him.
Upon arriving in Jinzhou, after some investigation, Li An met the two people he wanted to see.
Compared to seven years ago, Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue had aged significantly.
Their backs were bent, their heads hung low, and their hair was turning gray...
Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue looked at Li An with confused eyes. Who was this?
Their bewildered expressions made Li An smile.
"I'm so glad to see that you two are doing poorly."
"Are you... Jiang Tingjun?" Jiang Mingrui suddenly thought of a name.
"My name is Li An," Li An introduced himself.
"Jun'er, you've come looking for your father!" Jiang Mingrui cried out, trying to lunge toward Li An, but the mine workers stopped him.
They wouldn't let him get close.
"Jiang Tingjun, your mother's death had nothing to do with us. It was all Ye Yunniang's fault," Zhuang Meixue's words caused Li An's expression to change.
Zhuang Meixue said eagerly, "When Ye Yunniang was a wet nurse, she deliberately seduced Jiang Mingzhe. She's the reason I lost my child, the reason Jiang Mingzhe abandoned me.
"I lost my child and my husband. I only went crazy and clung to your father because of that.
"I made mistakes, but I was forced into it by Ye Yunniang!
"If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have clung to your father. If you want to blame someone, blame Ye Yunniang.
"She only raised you to prepare to marry Jiang Mingzhe."
Zhuang Meixue spoke faster and faster.
"Jun'er, I truly didn't mean to abandon you. I didn't want to either. Please forgive me. From now on, Dad will treat you well. Forgive Dad," Jiang Mingrui chimed in.
"Don't believe what your mother said. Believe the two of you—an adulterous couple who abandoned their spouses and children to collude together," Li An smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Jun'er, you have to believe—mmm! Mmm!"
"Son... mmm! Mmm!"
Both Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue were suddenly unable to speak.
Chonglou and Lingyu stepped back behind Li An.
Li An nodded in satisfaction. "My mother is wonderful. Exceptionally wonderful. Anyone who speaks ill of her is my, Li An's, enemy."
After saying that, Li An ignored Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue's muffled cries.
Walking out of the mining area, Li An slipped a pouch of silver to the overseer, asking him to transfer Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue to the most dangerous mining tunnel.
In Li An's view, their lives were still too easy, giving them too much time to let their imaginations run wild.
After leaving the mining area, Li An didn't immediately leave Jinzhou. Instead, he stayed to offer free medical consultations and medicine.
Once he confirmed that Jiang Mingrui and Zhuang Meixue were living miserably, he left satisfied.
"Second Master, where to next?"
"Let the horses wander. We'll go wherever they take us."
Replying to Kongqing, Li An sketched a map of Jinzhou.
Hearing this, Kongqing loosened the reins, and the carriage slowed down.
Riding alongside the carriage, Chonglou and Lingyu also relaxed their tight grip on the reins, letting their horses walk leisurely.
Whenever they encountered a settlement, they stopped to rest.
After traveling for over a month, they arrived at Hua Town.
A Flower King competition was currently being held there.
Finding it interesting, Li An decided to stay and watch.
Because of the Flower King competition, many outsiders had come to town.
The four of them asked at every inn in town, but all were fully booked.
Finally, Li An used the Yunhua Token to find a fabric shop in town run by the Yunhua Chamber of Commerce. The shop squeezed out two rooms in the backyard for the four of them.
Chonglou and Lingyu shared one room, while Li An and Kongqing shared the other.
Li An explored for two days before losing interest, telling Chonglou and the others to go watch the festivities. He set up a sign on a street corner, offering free medical consultations.
Worried about Li An being alone, Chonglou and the others set up a rotation, with one of them protecting Li An each day.
Li An set up his stall for three days, but not a single person came to see him for an illness.
Li An looked like a youth of only sixteen or seventeen. To use a common saying, he was still wet behind the ears; how could he possibly know how to treat illnesses?
Chonglou and the others grew anxious and thought about going out to solicit patients, but Li An stopped them.
Li An wasn't in a hurry. If there were no patients, he read medical texts.
Everywhere he went, Li An would visit local clinics to seek advice.
There were those genuinely willing to exchange knowledge and improve together.
There were also those who hoarded their knowledge; for them, Li An simply threw money at the problem.
With a younger brother who was excellent at making money, Li An had more money than he could spend.
Relying on sincerity and solid gold, Li An learned a great deal.
"Are you a doctor?" a timid voice asked. It was a little girl of about six or seven.
Li An set down his medical book, his voice gentle.
"I am a doctor. Do you need to see one?"
"M-my older brother is sick."
"Tell your brother to come here. My consultations are free."
The little girl shook her head. "My brother can't come. Can the doctor come to our house to see him?"
Li An stopped Kongqing, who looked like he wanted to say something. "I can."
Li An packed his book into his medicine chest and said to Kongqing, "You watch the stall. I'm going to see a patient."
"Second Master, this subordinate will go with you." Kongqing wasn't comfortable letting Li An go off with the little girl just like that.
Kongqing took out a small piece of broken silver and asked the fortune teller at the neighboring stall to help keep an eye on their spot.
On the way to the little girl's house, Li An learned that she was born on the day of Xiaoman, so she was named Xiaoman, and she was nine years old this year.
Their parents had died early, and Xiaoman and her older brother, Dongzhi, depended on each other for survival.
It could be said that Dongzhi raised Xiaoman.
Because he had to take care of Xiaoman, Dongzhi couldn't take on long-term jobs and had always made a living doing odd jobs.
A month ago, Dongzhi said he had found a good job.
If he worked for a full month, he could earn ten taels of silver.
What kind of job paid ten taels of silver? Xiaoman worried it was a scam and didn't want her brother to go.
But Dongzhi wanted to earn more money, so he went.
A month passed, and Dongzhi didn't come home.
Xiaoman had a bad feeling.
She wanted to look for him, but because Dongzhi hadn't told her the exact location, she couldn't find him.
Late at night five days ago, Dongzhi suddenly returned.
As soon as he got back, Dongzhi locked himself in his room and forbade Xiaoman from entering or checking on him.
How could Xiaoman ignore the brother who was like a father and mother to her?
Especially when she heard Dongzhi's hoarse screams coming from the room, Xiaoman wanted to rush in.
Dongzhi refused to let her in, saying that if she entered, he would no longer acknowledge her as his sister.
Xiaoman went to find a doctor.
Because she couldn't afford the house call fee, no doctor was willing to come.
Xiaoman had intended to go beg the doctors again today when she saw Li An offering free consultations and mustered the courage to ask.
"Dr. Li, please save my brother," Xiaoman said, tears welling in her eyes.
He was her only living relative.
If her brother was gone, she wouldn't be able to live either.
"I will do my utmost to treat your brother," Li An assured Xiaoman.
As they spoke, they arrived at Xiaoman's house.
Xiaoman's house was at the southernmost edge of the town, at least fifty yards away from the nearest neighboring house.
Behind the house was a barren hill.
The house was very dilapidated and didn't look like anyone lived there.
Kongqing stepped forward, blocking Li An.
"Don't be afraid, Dr. Li. This really is my home." Xiaoman pushed open the rustic fence gate, fashioned from uneven sticks tied together, and stepped into the courtyard.
"I believe Xiaoman." Li An signaled Kongqing to step aside and followed her inside.
"Ah—"