After Mr. Wang left, Su Yaoguang said to Zhou Wangshu, "I’ll go home for a bit. Don’t run around here, I’ll be back soon."
The rain at times stopped, at times continued endlessly. At this moment, even the most refined scholars and guests couldn’t appreciate this gentle breeze and drizzle, wishing it would quickly disappear and not appear for several months.
Today is another rainy day.
In the past life, Su Yaoguang only vaguely remembered such events occurring, but didn’t recall it lasting so long. Perhaps her experiences then were different, not leaving a deep impression.
Fortunately, she had prepared in advance, at least not having to worry about running out of food and medicine.
Zhou Wangshu stood at the door watching Su Yaoguang leave. He donned a cloak and wrapped himself tightly, exiting the academy through the dog-sized hole Su Yaoguang mentioned.
His health had improved significantly, finally having the strength to care for Zhong Chushan and Chen Buyu among others. Most importantly, the little followers he placed with Zhong Chushan, he didn’t know how they were doing.
Last time Su Yaoguang asked him to stockpile food, he brought back ten times the amount Su Yaoguang mentioned. Apart from giving some to Zhong Chushan and Chen Buyu, he gave half to Su Yaoguang and kept the other half for himself.
When the illness began to spread, Chen Buyu and Zhong Chushan stayed at home. They never liked studying, being lax in their attendance, their families were accustomed to it, and the teachers at the academy didn’t bother them. Because of this, they weren’t stuck at the academy.
"Wang Shu, you’re alright?" Chen Buyu returned from outside, looking exhausted, and couldn’t contain his joy upon seeing him. "I knew you weren’t that weak, indeed lively and energetic. You don’t know how worn out I’ve been during this time. Fortunately, I followed you in storing a large amount of food and medicine, and using the prescriptions you copied to make medicine, our dance house people are fine."
"If it’s fine, why do you look so tired?" Zhou Wangshu noticed the dark circles under his eyes.
"Don’t mention it, the whole city is out of food now. Don’t know which son of a bitch said our dance house has food, these nights someone keeps trying to steal. Last night someone tried to get into my mother and sister’s room, scaring them. Our dance house staff usually just manage dance house affairs, the number of people seemed a lot, but scattered around, they can’t fend off those thieves."
"Then recruit more people. You have food, right now recruitment doesn’t require pay, just providing three meals a day, once this situation passes, let them leave."
"That makes sense! Why didn’t I think of it?" Chen Buyu slapped his forehead, "This brain isn’t useful at critical times, just here for show."
"If even your place is chaotic, wouldn’t Taoyao Square be targeted too?"
"Don’t worry about that, problems could occur anywhere, but not Taoyao Square. You know Taoyao Square donated both medicine and food, the government focuses on guarding Taoyao Square. It’s said that porridge is being distributed daily in the city, the largest merchants each set up a porridge stall, Taoyao Square also has one guarded by the government, no one dares cause trouble."
"Moreover, the prescriptions from the female doctor at Taoyao Square have been tested, results should come in these days. If effective, the government will surely protect and care for more attentively."
Upon hearing Chen Buyu’s words, Zhou Wangshu felt much relieved.
He also had tasks to do this time out.
"I need manpower, now is a good time to recruit, help me watch for good talents and keep them for me."
Chen Buyu looked at Zhou Wangshu, "Brother Wang Shu, Miss Su and her family treat you well, you don’t need to start fresh. What do you need so many people for?"
"Surely I won’t live off others forever?" Zhou Wangshu lowered his gaze.
"That’s true! A man wants to build his own enterprise, not rely on women. But why recruit so many?"
"I have my uses."
His maternal family still had mines, and nobody knew of them, he needed a group to manage the affairs there.
He had earned a sum, more than enough to sustain these people. Yet he needed more money to recruit even more people, he needed greater control.
He aimed to return to the Capital City.
...
As Su Yaoguang entered, Zhang Pandi shouted, "Yaoguang is back."
The store door at Taoyao Square was wide open, unlike other shops with closed doors. At the time, there were quite a few female customers inside, old patrons, yet this time they came not to buy products but to see Jiang Jing for treatment.
"Boss Su, I’m your store’s first batch of old patrons, you should take a look at me first! My illness has dragged on for ten days, worsening day by day, it can’t be delayed. Cough, cough..."
"Boss Su, I’ve bought several hundred taels of silver worth of goods from your store; surely you should see me first..."
Su Yaoguang was surrounded by a group of sickly female patrons, with Zhang Zhaodi and others coming from inside to promptly rescue her.
"Everyone, please trust our Doctor Jiang Jing, we will see you first indeed. Please line up and don’t push. Everyone is quite weak now, don’t bump into each other."
"Now that Yaoguang isn’t in the store these days, just tell us about store matters. You can see she’s worn out from looking after patients," Zhang Yingdi softly explained.
Su Yaoguang was saved from the encircling crowd by the Zhang Family Sisters, entering the inner courtyard, away from the chaotic scene.
"Jing’er..." Su Yaoguang watched Jiang Jing being surrounded by patients.
"Don’t worry; Jing’er faces so many patients daily, she’s already unfacingly dealing with them. She’s a doctor, those wanting her treatment must treat her with respect."
"What’s this situation?" Su Yaoguang asked.
"You gave the medicines to the academy people, who handed them to the county government. Lord County Magistrate personally visited Jing’er, requesting a lot of medicines to test on severely ill people. Though conclusions haven’t been drawn yet, many have come upon hearing the news for Jing’er’s care. Jing’er’s view is if they trust her, she’ll see them, things won’t worsen."
"Is home alright lately?"
"Rest assured, everything’s fine. We have ample food and clothing, the rain has no impact on us. The only downside is business has ceased."
"This rain, no one knows how long it will last. If it continues like this, I fear greater chaos will follow." She now couldn’t rely on past experience; things were already different. "I just returned from the academy and saw many homeless refugees on the streets. Oddly, our beggar numbers weren’t this high, where did these people come from?"
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter