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Chapter 7
With a burst of energy, Jiang Sheng hurried deep into the mountains for three whole days and came back with three large baskets full of mushrooms that she had picked. It took her two days to sell them all.
Added to the money from the books that Xu Mo had copied, she now had over eighty copper coins in total.
Together with what she had saved before, it came to well over a hundred copper coins.
Jiang Sheng's eyes welled up with hot tears. In the seven years she had lived by cheating, stealing and swindling, she never imagined that one day she would earn this much money.
Although her three brothers deserved some credit, Jiang Sheng arrogantly believed it was her own decisions that were paramount.
“From now on, you should all follow me,” she patted her chest and bragged. “I can make sure you brothers get to eat meat and become rich gentlemen.”
In Jiang Sheng's limited life experience of seven years, the wealthiest people she had seen were the ox stewards in the east of town. So she swore that she and her brothers would all become stewards.
They would get to eat pork with salt every day!
Even when digging the fields they would use golden hoes!
Xu Mo suppressed an urge to laugh and ruffled her little head. “Okay, from now on you’re Steward Jiang.”
He pointed at Fang Heng, “Steward Fang.”
Then pointed at Zheng Ruqian, “Steward Zheng.”
“Have you eaten yet, Steward Xu?” Jiang Sheng greeted them as she had seen the villagers do.
Zheng Ruqian laughed so hard he oinked like a pig. Even the ever-serious Fang Heng had a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
The cheerful atmosphere continued late into the night. Jiang Sheng still had a smile on her face even as she fell asleep.
But when she opened her eyes the next morning, Jiang Sheng could no longer smile.
She had been woken up by the cold.
Through the cracks in the broken temple gates she could vaguely see a vast expanse of grayish white outside.
It wasn't a glaring pure white, but a hazy translucent color - it was frost.
In previous years, Jiang Sheng had feared winter the most. The cold weather meant needing more clothes to stay warm, but she didn't have any. Her tattered shoes and clothes would make her hands and feet stiff from cold. Not only was stealing scraps of food difficult, she was also likely to get beaten half to death if caught.
But at this moment, none of that was the main concern. The main concern was the mushrooms up in the mountains.
The deeper into the mountains, the cooler it got.
After the frost hit, mushrooms at the foot of the mountain could still survive, but those deep in the mountains would all die from the cold.
But they didn't get to pick the mushrooms at the foot of the mountain anyway.
Just as they had barely scraped together a load of copper coins, their means of making a living was now gone.
Jiang Sheng plopped down on the ground, overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness and melancholy.
"Jiang Sheng." Fang Heng came back from outside, still wearing his thin clothes. "What's wrong? Are you cold?"
As he spoke, he started taking off his outer garment.
Jiang Sheng quickly stopped him and shook her head. "Third brother, you're wearing even less than me. If you take that off you'll have nothing left."
It was her fault for only thinking about satisfying her stomach these past few days and forgetting to prepare for the cold weather.
Jiang Sheng looked back and saw Zheng Ruqian shivering and curling up into a ball on the straw mat. As the only cotton quilt had been given to the injured Xu Mo.
"Second brother, second brother." She rushed over and shook Zheng Ruqian awake.
People were most prone to freezing to death in their sleep when they felt the cold.
Jiang Sheng had seen many beggars like herself lie down in heavy snow and never get back up.
Fortunately there was only frost today. After waking up, Zheng Ruqian stopped shivering, though his lips were slightly pale.
Jiang Sheng quickly cooked some flour dumplings and brought them over steaming hot.
After eating a piping hot bowl, their backs were slick with sweat.
"We need to go change Big Brother's bandages today," Jiang Sheng took out all the money from under the Buddha's feet, seeming to have made a big decision. "We'll give the gold bean to the imperial doctor, and use the rest of the money to buy cotton quilts."
But before that, they still needed to go rent a flatbed cart.
Jiang Sheng jogged into town and rented a cart, then hauled it back to the broken temple. Fang Heng and Zheng Ruqian carefully lifted Xu Mo onto the cart.
Having two able-bodied brothers was useful. Fang Heng took the initiative to pull the cart while Zheng Ruqian pushed. The two took turns occasionally, though they were soon panting for breath it was still manageable.
Jiang Sheng trotted along behind them. When they were still some distance from the medicine hall, she saw a group of men emerge from inside.
These men wore iron breastplates and carried sheathed broadswords. They had cold, merciless expressions.
Behind them were the imperial doctor and his wife, shackled in chains.
The two looked disheveled, their clothes in disorder, faces haggard, with traces of blood at the corners of their mouths.
Fang Heng paused in pulling the cart, drastically reducing his speed.
Zheng Ruqian couldn't brake in time and nearly flew forward.
"Why'd you stop so suddenly..." He nagged, but Xu Mo cut him off after just one sentence.
"Head down, don't look at them."
Fang Heng swiftly lowered his head.
Zheng Ruqian was half a beat slower. His dull eyes met those of the sword-wielding captors for a moment, but fortunately he looked like the dumb son of a landlord. The captors only glanced at him before turning away.
"Keeping your mouth so tight, just what good turn did Prefect Xu do you!" The leader bellowed, "Come with me to the county prison, I'll see whether your mouths or the county interrogators are harder!"
After speaking, he kicked the imperial doctor again.
"Dear..." The doctor's wife cried loudly, and was immediately whipped.
"Cry again, cry again and I'll sell you to a brothel!"
Under Fang Heng's deliberate control, they slowly followed behind the group until the distance grew and the captors disappeared from sight. Only then did they dare stop in front of the medicine hall.
Jiang Sheng's eyes brimmed with tears. She didn't understand what crime the imperial doctor had committed to warrant such treatment.
Xu Mo's teeth were clenched tight, not speaking a word.
Fang Heng's expression was icy, his gaze chill.
Zheng Ruqian looked left and right, scratching his head as he softly said, "What about Big Brother's leg now?"
That's right, with the imperial doctor gone, who could treat them?
Jiang Sheng could hold back no longer as tears streamed down her face.
"We can only go to the county now," Fang Heng said with a furrowed brow.
But at the speed they could pull the cart, it already took an hour from the broken temple to town. Getting from town to the county would surely take a full four hours.
The round trip would be eight hours even with an empty cart, let alone with a person loaded.
Jiang Sheng gritted her teeth. "Let's wait here for a bit, what if the imperial doctor comes back?"
No one objected, so she pushed open the door of the medicine hall and laid Xu Mo down on the consultation bed to quietly wait.
...
But after waiting half the day, still no one came.
Jiang Sheng couldn't stand the hunger anymore. She took Fang Heng out to buy four steamed buns.
Returning to the medicine hall, each person got one. The piping hot meaty buns with green onion aroma floating to their noses were pure bliss as they took big bites.
Just as Jiang Sheng was busily swallowing her food, the abrupt sound of wood scraping rang out.
Immediately after, the rear compartment of Xu Mo's bed was raised to reveal a narrow slit. A pair of inky black eyes peered out from inside.
Jiang Sheng was startled, nearly dropping her bun onto the floor.
Fortunately she caught it in time with fumbling hands. She patted her chest, still flustered as she asked, "Who's there?"
The person didn't speak, only staring longingly at her bun.
No doubt he was also hungry.
Without a word, Jiang Sheng squatted in front of the box and started taking big bites of her bun.
The meaty aroma mixed with green onion floated in the air. The person in the box endured it for a while, then actually closed the slit shut.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Jiang Sheng was rendered speechless. She shoved the bun into her clothes and forcefully opened the box.
Inside, she saw a skinny and frail little boy curled up in the corner.