Xu Yi returned home in the early afternoon. He discovered that Madam He had come by at noon to feed Little Huang, but the collapsed kitchen was still a mess. Not knowing Xu Yi’s plans, she hadn’t cleaned up.
Yang Rong had been taken home by Madam Yang. When she finished her tasks and didn’t see her son, she was so frightened that she shouted through the entire alley looking for him. Fortunately, she ran into someone Madam He had sent, preventing Madam Yang from running off to search outside.
After learning that Rong’er was safe, Xu Yi went into the kitchen and moved out the collapsed bamboo frames and winnowing baskets, picking out the medicinal herbs that could still be used and drying them in the courtyard. The water jar in the kitchen was intact, but the rainwater that had gotten into it made it unusable. He emptied the water and planned to carry the shoulder pole to fetch fresh water.
As he walked out the courtyard gate, Xu Yi encountered family members of the patients from the morning’s free clinic. These families seemed to have coordinated their visit, some carrying baskets, others holding things wrapped in hemp cloth sacks in their arms.
Xu Yi was puzzled and set down his shoulder pole. “Why have you come?”
Leading them was the old woman. Her wrinkled hands lifted the coarse cloth covering her basket as she said gratefully, “We’ve come to thank Doctor Xu. If Doctor Xu hadn’t so generously come to our rescue, my son would probably be gone.”
Speaking of her grief, she couldn’t help but cry and wipe away tears. “Such a great kindness, yet we have no way to repay it. We can only gather some humble items to give to Doctor Xu. Please don’t look down on them.”
The basket she brought contained twenty or thirty eggs, seemingly saved up over quite some time.
After the old woman spoke, the others all crowded forward to press their gifts into Xu Yi’s hands.
“Young Master Xu… no, now we must call you Doctor Xu. Thank you for saving my husband. If he had fallen, I couldn’t have gone on living either.”
“These are steamed buns, made just yesterday. They were kept inside during last night’s rain and didn’t get wet. They’re all good. Please don’t disdain them, Doctor Xu.”
“Our household is tight on money, we really can’t bring anything better. These soybeans saved from the spring harvest…”
As everyone spoke over each other, various items were hung on Xu Yi’s arms. He quickly gathered them in his embrace, looking at the eggs, steamed buns, vegetables, and soybeans in his arms, warmth instantly blooming in his heart.
He didn’t expect these free clinic patients to be grateful or remember him, but as a doctor, being remembered by patients’ families and having them think well of him truly felt wonderful.
Xu Yi smiled gently. “So much, how could I possibly finish it all?”
“They’re all worthless humble items, Doctor Xu. Please accept them,” the old woman said.
“Yes, Doctor Xu.”
To them, if they couldn’t finish eating these foods, they could sell them in the market for a few dozen wen. But compared to Xu Yi’s great kindness and the silver he had spent, it was nothing worth mentioning.
They sincerely wanted to thank him. Xu Yi knew that if he refused again, it would only make them uneasy, so he agreed.
Afterward, when one of the men learned that Xu Yi was going to fetch water, he immediately took the shoulder pole, saying he would go and return shortly.
Xu Yi couldn’t stop him with his arms full of things. He could only watch helplessly as the man carried the pole away.
The other younger ones, upon hearing that Xu Yi’s house had also been damaged and the kitchen beam had collapsed, said they wanted to come in and help.
“How could we let Doctor Xu do this work? You just rest. The few of us can work together. Don’t laugh at us, but we’d be more than willing.”
After speaking, they wouldn’t let him lift a finger. They asked him to sit in the courtyard, and even brought over a wooden stool for Xu Yi.
Among them were women and eleven or twelve-year-old children. How could Xu Yi possibly resist?
Xu Yi sighed softly. He could only watch helplessly.
It was just that from time to time, a child would be sent over with items one by one to ask him, “Doctor Xu, what is this? Can it still be used?”
Hearing Xu Yi say it couldn’t be used, they would say with a pitying expression, “These and these can’t be used anymore? They all look good. If we dry them, can they still be used?”
Children from poor families were used to poverty. Even the most broken and tattered things in their homes would be patched and patched again to continue using.
Hearing Xu Yi say that dampened medicinal herbs couldn’t be used and the broken wooden beams weren’t needed either, they felt sorry for him first.
At this moment, a woman came over and apologetically pulled the child’s hand. This child was from her family, making her somewhat flustered. “Doctor Xu, please don’t blame him. If medicinal herbs are ruined, of course they must be thrown away. How could we ask you to be the villain and continue using them?”
She knew that doctors all had their own rules. If the child accidentally gave offense and angered Xu Yi, that would be bad.
She then scolded her own child, “I told you to come ask clearly, who told you to be clever and offer suggestions? If you’re so disobedient, are you looking for a beating?”
Hearing this, the child’s face paled in fright. Clutching his mother’s sleeve, he cried, “I won’t dare again, Mother, don’t hit me.”
Then the woman wanted to make him kowtow to Xu Yi in apology.
This directly frightened Xu Yi into jumping up from his stool. He stopped her, saying, “Children speak without thinking. Just scold him a bit. How could I let him kneel to me? Besides, it wouldn’t be proper.”
He held on, not letting the child kneel. The woman had no choice, but she also realized that Xu Yi wasn’t angry, and her heart relaxed.
Soon, the man who had gone to fetch water returned.
He voluntarily took on the task of scrubbing and washing the clay jar, not letting Xu Yi touch it. Then, hearing that the kitchen beam had collapsed, he said, “I know some tile and masonry work. In the past, many people building houses in the village came to me to construct walls. If Doctor Xu doesn’t mind my rough skills, you can let me repair the beam. This broken wooden beam doesn’t need to be thrown away either. Once repaired, it can still be used.”
Xu Yi was delighted. He had just been thinking about renovating the house. Seeing that this man knew how to repair houses, he called him over to ask for details.
This man was called Huang San, third in his family (san = three/third). Among today’s injured, the one hit on the head was his second brother. He knew some tile and carpentry work, all self-taught without formally apprenticing to a master craftsman. Seeing Xu Yi agree to let him do the repairs, he was very excited and said he didn’t need wages.
“My inner room also leaked rain last night and needs repairs. What do you think is the best way to fix it?” Xu Yi asked him.
He said he needed to go inside and look. Xu Yi led him into the room to inspect.
After entering, Huang San asked Xu Yi for a ladder to climb up to the beams. It was a thatched roof house after all, so naturally dried thatch and rice stalks were used on top for waterproofing, durable and sun-resistant. Many poor families on South Street used thatch. Wherever there was occasional leaking, they would replace it with new thatch.
Huang San came down from the roof and told Xu Yi the problem wasn’t serious. He would go get some newly dried thatch to lay over it, and it should stop leaking.
Xu Yi looked at the somewhat dilapidated beams. Before this incident, he hadn’t realized that this “inheritance” left to him had deteriorated to this degree.
He pondered for a moment and asked Huang San, “Brother Huang San, I want to replace the thatch above and change it to tile roofing. What do you think?”
“Change to tile roofing?” Huang San was a bit shocked.
Using tile for the roof wasn’t cheap at all. The Xu family only had three rooms, but calculated out, without more than ten strings of cash, it couldn’t be done.
Huang San voiced his concerns to Xu Yi.
“These tiles have to come from the tile workshop. Each kiln costs no less than one string of cash. For Doctor Xu to order them, you’d need several kilns at least, and you’d have to hire workers to lay the tiles, which costs over ten wen per day in wages. Calculated out, it won’t be less than ten-plus strings…”
Hearing it would cost over ten strings of cash, Xu Yi was a little surprised. It was even cheaper than he had thought.
He currently had over thirty strings of ready silver on hand, and that didn’t even count the agarwood or the betrothal gifts returned by the Wang family.
Xu Yi wouldn’t touch the betrothal gifts. For the fruit cakes that couldn’t be preserved, he distributed them to neighbors. The silver ingots, candles, trunks, and such he kept, placing them in his parents’ room.
As for the agarwood… Xu Yi had considered that when the time was right, he would bring it out.
Xu Yi thought for a moment and said, “I’ll trouble Brother Huang San to recommend a good tile workshop. One room of this house has collapsed, and the rest ultimately aren’t safe. It’s better to spend some money to properly renovate the house and avoid today’s troubles recurring.”
Huang San quickly agreed, saying he would go to the tile workshop to ask about prices and then come find Xu Yi.
Xu Yi saw him out of the house, and the others dispersed as well.
Only he and Little Huang remained in the house. After last night’s incident, Little Huang now followed Xu Yi closely, not leaving his side for a moment. Wherever Xu Yi went, it would follow. His tail hardly wagged anymore.
Xu Yi knew he was frightened and comforted him several times, then said they would go for a walk.
Most of those affected by the disaster were South Street residents. Xu Yi took Little Huang out and saw many households whose houses had collapsed, busily moving wood, thatch, and straw back and forth to repair their homes.
Most were unwilling to hire craftsmen and would repair things themselves so the houses could continue to be lived in.
There were even more dilapidated thatched houses than the Xu family’s, yet inside could still live a whole family of seven or eight people, old and young…
After walking around, Xu Yi understood that this heavy rain had made things even worse for families that were already impoverished.
–
A day later, Huang San came looking for Xu Yi, saying he had found a tile workshop with suitable prices. The master there would even bring two apprentices to build the house. The wages requested weren’t high. Thirty wen per day for the master and twelve wen for the apprentices, and they didn’t even need to provide meals.
Hearing this price, Xu Yi didn’t say another word and chose this one. Taking his money, he went with Huang San to the tile workshop.
After negotiating with the tile workshop master about how to renovate the house and finalizing everything, the master said he could bring the tiles over to roof the house in five days.
Within two days, everyone on South Street knew that the Xu family was going to renovate their house.
The first to know were naturally Madam He and Madam Chen’s family.
After Madam He’s husband learned that South Street had been hit by the disaster, he immediately requested leave from his employer and returned. Seeing that the home was fine, he chatted with Xu Yi for a bit before leaving and returning to work again.
Madam He sighed helplessly, “He’s never home, but at least the monthly wages are sent over. Otherwise it would be as if this person doesn’t exist.”
Hearing this, Madam Chen laughed and said, “Good sister, if you ask me, my husband is the one who’s no good. Just now I saw how Official He’s words were full of thoughts of you, considerate and caring for the family. That’s much better than staying home being lazy and good-for-nothing, much better than being detestable.”
Madam He’s earlobes reddened at her words.
She glanced at Xu Yi, only to see that the child wasn’t listening to their boring conversation at all, picking up cake pieces to feed Little Huang.
“Brother Yi, you’re about to renovate the house. Do you have enough silver on hand? I don’t have much money to lend you, but I can give you a portion,” Madam He asked him.
Xu Yi thanked her first, then said, “The money is enough. The money saved from selling medicinal herbs is still there. If I really run short of money, I’ll come borrow from Madam He.”
Madam He laughed. “You’re always good at saying pleasant things for us to hear. Even if you had difficulties, you might not tell me.”
“Never mind, never mind. Seeing that you’re going to build a new roof makes me happy too.”
Madam Chen watched from the side, feeling melancholy. Recently, though she and Madam He came together to eat, drink, chat, and pass the time at the Xu house, she wasn’t as comfortable as Madam He, who loved to tease Xu Yi.
Speaking of it, it was still Chen Erwang’s fault. If not for him, she wouldn’t be caught in this awkward position, neither here nor there.
Xu Yi didn’t know what she was thinking. Seeing her lost in thought, he called out, “Madam Chen.”
Madam Chen came back to herself. “Brother, what is it?”
Xu Yi observed her complexion and asked softly, “Has Madam Chen not been sleeping well these past few days?”
“You noticed?” Madam Chen was slightly startled, then sighed resentfully. “I haven’t been sleeping well. I easily wake from nightmares in the middle of the night, and when I wake, my chest feels uncomfortably tight. After a while it’s fine again.”
Having said this, she covered her face with her handkerchief somewhat embarrassedly. How could she be telling these things to a young man?
Madam He made a sound of concern. “That’s not good. Why haven’t you gone to see a doctor?”
Madam Chen shook her head. It was just a small ailment. How could it warrant calling a doctor to take her pulse?
Xu Yi said, “If Madam Chen doesn’t mind, you can let me take a look.”
“Can I pay you a consultation fee?” Madam Chen twisted her handkerchief, thought for a moment, and said, “If you don’t charge a consultation fee, I won’t let you examine me. I can’t just keep taking advantage of you.”
Xu Yi fell silent.
Madam Chen’s complexion was poor. Her chest felt tight and uncomfortable, she had nightmares at night and couldn’t sleep. This was probably liver qi stagnation.
He said, “I’ll charge. Since it’s a consultation, naturally a consultation fee should be charged.”
Having said this, he heard Madam Chen and Madam He simultaneously cover their mouths and laugh.
Xu Yi: “…”
Had he said something wrong?
“Never mind, we won’t tease you anymore.” After Madam Chen finished speaking with a sigh, she extended her hand.
Xu Yi collected himself, got up to fetch the pulse pillow, and returned to take Madam Chen’s pulse.
From the pulse, it was indeed as he had thought: liver qi stagnation, an unsettled mind. Thinking back to the sounds of quarreling he occasionally heard, it seemed the marital relationship was not harmonious.
Ever since Chen Erwang had been dismissed from his accounting position, he had been muddling through days at home, unwilling to come out and see people, and would pick fights with neighbors at the drop of a hat.
From other people’s mouths alone, Xu Yi had heard no less than seven or eight times people speaking ill of Chen Erwang.
When gossip spread, it was also bad for Madam Chen’s reputation. She had cooking skills, and sometimes when other families wanted to eat something good, they would pay her some money to have her come cook some food and earn a few coins.
Now because of this matter, fewer people came looking for work from Madam Chen, so she looked at Chen Erwang with increasing displeasure.
Xu Yi knew some of the reasons, but this was a matter between husband and wife. He couldn’t interfere, so he picked out some things to say. “Madam Chen, this is pent-up qi in your heart, caused by liver qi stagnation. You still need to broaden your mind and think more happy thoughts.”
“Looks like it’s an old problem.” Madam Chen raised her hand to lightly rub her temples. Thinking of Chen Erwang made her chest tight and breath short. She waved her hands repeatedly, refusing to think of him anymore.
She asked Xu Yi, “My illness isn’t serious, is it?”
She really didn’t want to be sick, but with things weighing on her heart, how could it be up to her to decide?
“Taking two doses of medicine to soothe the liver and regulate qi will do,” Xu Yi said. “Melancholy builds up to form emptiness. The key lies with Madam Chen herself, in how to dispel your worries.”
Hearing these words, Madam Chen grew quiet.
She understood the principle Xu Yi was speaking of.
“Brother Yi is right. People must think of good things. You can’t let external matters make you physically uncomfortable,” Madam He said, clear as a mirror about where the cause lay. She held Madam Chen’s hand and patted it, comforting and advising her.
Madam Chen lowered her eyes slightly. The composure she had been maintaining crumbled in this moment. Her eyes reddened and reddened, and tears fell like raindrops.