271: Chapter 123: Ten Miles of White Gauze_1 271: Chapter 123: Ten Miles of White Gauze_1 The scene before Wu Yinquan was utterly unfamiliar.
He even stepped back a few paces and scrutinized the cell’s location several tis before finally confirming that he hadn’t gone to the wrong place.
This was indeed the infamous “D-class luxury cell” in the prison, not so exemplary cell designed to deceive the authorities.
Wu Yinquan suspected the man might have been beaten to death, and these scoundrels had staged him to look like he was sleeping to avoid punishnt.
He was about to go out to summon other prison guards—as he didn’t quite dare to go in and fetch the man by himself.
Just then, old Ding, a prison guard, approached, carrying sothing.
Upon closer inspection, he was carrying a food tray with a roast chicken, two white stead buns, and even a pot of wine!
“Well done, old Ding!” Wu Yinquan reached out to grab a chicken leg, “Who is this for, being so generous?
You must have “rolled a fair bit of oil,” huh?”
“Generous” outside ant comfortable, but in prison, it ant “willing to spend money.”
“Rolling oil” was also prison slang, aning to accept bribes.
Avoiding Wu Yinquan’s hand, old Ding stepped to the side with the food tray and said with a forced smile, “Boss, I’m just getting so food for Mr.
Qin.”
Wu Yinquan’s hand stalled mid-reach, and he felt slightly displeased.
He always considered himself quite generous to his subordinates, allowing them to take bribes privately and not being selfish like other petty wardens.
Catching them in the act and asking for a share seed quite reasonable.
But this old Ding seed so clueless!
“Won’t even let have a chicken leg?” he asked with a dark expression.
The cell was too dark for old Ding to notice Wu Yinquan’s expression.
Still, he continued to smile apologetically, “Mr.
Qin likes cleanliness; if you touch it, perhaps he won’t eat it.
I didn’t pay for this al; the n in the cell contributed to it.
There wasn’t enough money for the wine, so I chipped in a little.
I’ll treat you separately later.”
Wu Yinquan was even more surprised and montarily forgot his anger.
The scoundrels in the “luxury cell” were all tough as nails, too stingy to part with even half a Knife Coin, which is why they’d all been cramd into the “D-class luxury cell.”
Getting them to chip in for wine and dishes was like squeezing oil from a stone.
“Which Mr.
Qin?” he couldn’t help but ask.
“I only found out this morning as well.
The convict sent in yesterday is the director of the Western City Ze Ren dical Hall, Mr.
Qin Nianmin!
The son who inherited old Mr.
Qin’s mantle.”
“The son of old Mr.
Qin?” Wu Yinquan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Old Mr.
Qin was a revered figure known to all in Yuecheng, not only for his exceptional dical skills and his life-saving efforts but also for his physician’s benevolence.
Benevolence did not an old Mr.
Qin charged no fees; in fact, he charged hefty rates that ordinary people could hardly afford,
but his Ze Ren dical Hall treated scores of the poor who could not afford dical care every year.
Whenever a disaster struck a part of Yuecheng or an area was attacked by Fierce Beasts, Ze Ren dical Hall was always the first to donate.
And that was to say nothing of aiding orphans and providing porridge and dicines to Beggars.
All the high fees collected by old Mr.
Qin were spent on these causes.
Many of his disciples were orphans without a place to call ho.
He not only supported them financially but also taught them skills that allowed them to be self-sufficient.
In summary, in Yuecheng, there might be people who had never t old Mr.
Qin, but nobody who hadn’t heard of him.
Wu Yinquan was no exception.
“Yes!” old Ding exclaid sowhat excitedly, “My dad is alive today, all thanks to old Mr.
Qin!”
Seeing old Ding’s rare mont of excitent, Wu Yinquan suddenly understood why the “D-class luxury cell” was now so harmonious.
He unconsciously stepped aside, letting old Ding pass.
Old Ding passed the food tray through the small window into the cell, cursing under his breath, “Hold it steady!
You wretches!”
The people inside didn’t mind at all, chuckling as they received the tray, “Slls delicious!”
“Damn it, how long has it been since we had chicken?”
“Hurry, hurry, let have a sniff too!”
A group of crude scoundrels approached the bedside where Qin Nianmin lay sleeping soundly, but their voices softened, “Mr.
Qin?
Mr.
Qin?
Please wake up, it’s ti to eat.”
Qin Nianmin rose, sitting up on his bunk.
Wu Yinquan noticed a dark bruise at the corner of his eye, clearly, he had suffered when he first entered the prison.
The man beside him placed the food tray into his hands, “Please eat, Mr.
Qin.”
In the room, a line of audible swallowing sounds.
Wu Yinquan couldn’t help but think, for a group of inmates who could hardly be considered good n to treat soone with such genuine care, just how high must his moral standing be?
Qin Nianmin was also in his fifties and, thanks to proper maintenance, his hair showed only slight frost, and his face bore no signs of old age.
But at that mont, his expression was haggard, and he didn’t touch the roast chicken.
Instead, he tore the white stead buns into strips and ate them, bite by bite.
He didn’t look as though he was eating; it was more like he was chanically forcing himself to do sothing.
“If you don’t want to eat, why force yourself?” Wu Yinquan asked from outside the cell.
Qin Nianmin did not look to see who was speaking, nor did he even turn his head, simply saying, “I must stay alive.”
“The son of Elder Mister Qin shouldn’t have violated the law,” Wu Yinquan couldn’t help but ask, “What exactly are you in for?
The person who handed you over made such a ss of it, I couldn’t understand a thing.”
This ti, Qin Nianmin turned his head to look at him for a while, his eyes filled with sorrow, “You’re not too bad, I don’t want to harm you.”
Wu Yinquan tactfully closed his mouth.
Having been in the great prison for so many years, he understood all too well that it was best not to know things one shouldn’t.
Qin Nianmin clearly carried such burdens.
Hence, even with a father esteed for his virtue, he still ended up here.
With this in mind, Wu Yinquan asked, “Do you want to convey any ssage to Elder Mister Qin?”
In his view, the son of Elder Mister Qin was naturally worth the effort to deliver a ssage.
But at the utterance of his words, Qin Nianmin, who even in a cell had an air of being untainted by the world, suddenly put down his food tray and burst into loud weeping.
A man in his fifties, crying like a child.
…
Wu Yinquan, dispirited, left the great prison and walked with Old Ding towards the west of the city.
Elder Mister Qin was ninety years old, quite an age for longevity.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural to human life.
His passing should have been sothing the people of Yuecheng were ntally prepared for.
But when the day truly arrived, it was still so hard to accept!
What shook Wu Yinquan was that he knew very well he wasn’t what one would call a good person.
Yet, he also knew that pure and good people like Elder Mister Qin had been rare before and would only beco even rarer—with even bad people not wanting to live in a world filled only with the wicked.
When Wu Yinquan and Old Ding reached the vicinity of the Ze Ren dical Hall in the west of the city, they stopped.
Down the entire length of the street, wreaths connected one to another, the ground covered with white tribute flowers.
But there were hardly any people.
Given Elder Mister Qin’s status today, the front of his residence should have been bustling with traffic.
Why were there only tribute flowers lining the empty street?
The scene was eerily unsettling.
With a heart full of questions, Wu Yinquan followed the long street with Old Ding, walking all the way to the front of Ze Ren dical Hall.
The front gates were firmly closed, with a banner hanging above—
[Contagious disease within, no tributes please.]
Just that single line, nothing more.
Accompanying it, the deserted long street, ten miles of white silk.
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