In this way, little by little, Jiang Yu drank a bowl of dicine.
After drinking the dicine, he beca lucid, and his eyes appeared much more agile. Only then did Jiang Yu let out a long sigh of relief and, with a slight smile, looked at Shang Ruyi and said, "Young Madam, how did you end up in this filthy place?"
Shang Ruyi gave a bitter smile.
How could she answer that question?
So she didn’t answer, simply asking with concern, "Mr. Jiang, how did you—"
Jiang Yu replied with a bitter smile, "I caught the illness and was brought here."
"How long have you been ill?"
"It’s been about ten days now. I initially thought it was just a minor cold and didn’t pay much attention. But later, when many people around —only then did I realize sothing was wrong, so I ca to the city with everyone to seek dical treatnt, but it turned out there were no dicines in the city."
"..."
"Yesterday, we were all sent here together."
Saying this, he worriedly smiled and said, "I left in a hurry, I haven’t even fed the chickens at ho."
Normally, upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi would probably have laughed. At a ti when everyone thought their lives were at stake, this elderly man was still worrying about not feeding the chickens at ho. One couldn’t tell if he was too carefree or just indifferent.
However, it seems only soone like him would be unable to let go of the Buddha, and unable to let go of at and wine.
So she gently consoled him, "Well then, Mr. Jiang, tell which village you live in, and I’ll have soone help feed them for you?"
Jiang Yu waved his hand and said, "Forget it, this old man may be muddle-headed, but I know what’s important. Young Madam, you should focus on the important matters."
Shang Ruyi smiled again.
Since this old gentleman is so "altruistic," she didn’t insist but subconsciously glanced around before saying, "Last ti outside Dayan Temple, I rember seeing a young man with you—"
Jiang Yu said, "That’s my son."
"Where is he?"
"He went out on business and has been away for over half a month."
"Oh."
"He doesn’t know I’m ill yet; if he cos back and encounters this—sigh!"
The final "sigh" was expressed with a tone of helplessness, and also seed tinged with finding amusent in adversity. Shang Ruyi quickly reassured him, "Mr. Jiang, don’t worry, you will get better."
Jiang Yu glanced at her and just smiled.
Shang Ruyi looked again at the harsh surroundings and the appearance of the sick people nearby, then said, "I will have soone co and clean this place as soon as possible. Please endure it for now. No matter what, I will do my best to treat you all."
Just as she spoke, footsteps sounded behind her.
When she turned her head, it was Su Qinglan.
She approached with a bowl of freshly brewed dicine, listening to Shang Ruyi’s words, her expression beca a bit more peculiar, but she said nothing more, instead finding another patient whose wrist wasn’t marked and slowly fed the person the dicine.
Shang Ruyi comforted Jiang Yu again with two more sentences, then left him, stood up, and walked back with Su Qinglan.
However, this ti, the atmosphere had beco sowhat gloomy.
Shang Ruyi sensed that Su Qinglan seed to want to say sothing but hesitated several tis. When the two returned to the stable, two more pots of dicine had just finished brewing. Wo Xue deftly washed the emptied bowls, strained the soup, and Shang Ruyi imdiately picked up a palm-leaf fan and started cooling the soup as before.
Su Qinglan also squatted halfway down, watching Shang Ruyi, and said, "I didn’t expect Young Madam to be so skilled in these matters."
Shang Ruyi softly smiled and said, "Earlier, I took care of a patient with the plague, so I got used to it."
"Is that so,"
Su Qinglan glanced at her upon hearing this, then lowered her head in thought. Finally, as if having made up her mind, she said solemnly, "Since the Young Madam has taken care of plague patients before, you must know that no matter how we dical officers and doctors care for them, and no matter how many herbs we burn in this place, it’s the dicine that truly cures them and saves lives."
"..."
This ti, Shang Ruyi did not imdiately respond to her.
Not only did she not respond imdiately, she even lowered her head, focusing her gaze on the bowl of dark, muddy soup, as if she didn’t wish to et the eyes of those around her.
After a long pause, she heavily replied, "Hmm."
Su Qinglan turned to look at her, sowhat anxiously saying, "Since that’s the case, how can life-saving things be—"
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