Chapter 39: Treating the Poor

Taking advantage of his father’s approval, Zuo Shaoyang said, “Could we buy her firewood? Help her a little? She’s been waiting more than two hours without a sale, in this cold.”

Zuo Gui looked at the load.

“So much wood. If we can’t keep the premises tomorrow, where would we put it?”

“If we can’t rent Madam Zhao’s property, can’t we rent somewhere else? Even without Guizhi Hall, we must live while we work as travelling doctors. We’ll need fuel. We’re running short anyway.

“And she saved my life! I was lying unconscious on a ledge halfway up the cliff. Sis couldn’t climb and could only cry. The girl happened to pass, heard what had happened and went straight up to bring me down.

“Without her, I might have frozen there. Or stirred while unconscious and fallen to my death. She’s my saviour. Buying wood isn’t giving her charity. She has her pride and wouldn’t take our money for nothing. It’s hardly even a favour—just useful to both of us.”

His father nodded repeatedly.

“Reasonable. How much?”

“I haven’t asked. Hers is the biggest load. Others charge eight wen. Since there’s more in hers, at least nine.”

“Very well.”

Zuo Gui counted nine coins.

“Have her bring it home.”

“Thank you, Father!”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“On her behalf.”

“Who are you to thank me for her?”

Zuo Shaoyang had no time to debate it. He ran happily to Peilan.

“How much for the wood?”

She gave him a slightly puzzled look.

“Eight wen.”

“So much for only eight? There’s more than in other loads. Make it nine. Father’s buying it. Would you carry it home for us? I couldn’t manage that much.”

He offered the coins.

She smiled gratefully, took them, counted and held one back out.

“What for? I said nine.”

He pushed it away.

She caught his hand and pressed the coin into his palm, then ducked beneath the pole and lifted the load. Looking at him, she waited for him to lead.

He knew her stubbornness. She had refused a reward for rescuing him too. She was not someone who sought little advantages.

He sighed.

“All right. This way.”

As she followed through the streets, he asked where she lived, who was in her family, whether she had studied and how she spent her days.

She only smiled, nodded or shook her head. She answered none of it.

At the shop, he hurried ahead.

“Mother! Father sent me to buy firewood. Where shall we put it?”

Huixiang answered from inside.

“Mother’s busy. Bring it into the kitchen. Is it chopped? Oh! It’s you!”

She came out, delighted to recognise his rescuer.

“Come in and sit! Little brother, help her take it down!”

“Yes, of course!”

Before he could help, Peilan moved nimbly through the hall and into the kitchen. She lowered the bundles, drew out the carrying pole and laid them flat. Holding them with a foot, she took a billhook from behind her waist. Two swift blows severed the vine bindings.

She braced a branch on the floor. Two more blows cut it into three pieces. She took another and kept going.

“Please don’t trouble,” Huixiang called from the kitchen door. “We can do it. Rest in the hall. Have some water.”

Peilan looked sideways, smiled and shook her head. Her hands did not pause.

There was no room for Zuo Shaoyang to help, even by gathering the cut pieces. He and his sister could only watch from the doorway.

“Sis,” he asked quietly, “weren’t you going to watch Huimin Hall for patients they couldn’t treat? Why didn’t you?”

“Who says I didn’t? I watched all morning. I came back for lunch and I’ll go again. You can’t expect me to starve there all day.”

“Did you find anyone?”

“One family brought an old woman. Crying when they went in, crying when they came out. I asked. They said she couldn’t be cured.”

His spirits rose.

“Why didn’t you fetch us?”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Rags from head to foot. Cure her and there’d be no fee.”

“They’re poor?”

“Yes. We’re trying to earn rent and avoid eviction. It’s sad, but even Huimin Hall can’t treat her. Can Father? And suppose he did, where’s the money?

“I know that sounds heartless. But they didn’t come to us, and we might not be able to save her anyway. So I left it alone.”

He grew subdued. She was right. He had sent her to look for a wealthy patient they could cure where Huimin Hall had failed. They did not need much, only enough to keep their home.

Poor patients could not serve that purpose. As for the duty not to let someone die without helping, he truly did not know whether he could cure an illness beyond Doctor Ni.

Yet the excuses gave him no peace. He felt as though he had done something shameful.

After a pause, he asked, “Where do they live?”

“Why?”

“I wanted to look. If we can help and she recovers, that’s a good thing.”

“You? With your skills? What if you fail and they blame you? Say you killed her and demand money? Then we’ll have real trouble.”

“I’ll only look. If I can help, good. If not, I won’t force it or get us trapped.”

“Leave it alone.”

“Just tell me where. Saving a life is better than building a seven-storey—”

“Enough! I don’t know. I don’t know where they came from or went. They heard there was no treatment and carried her away crying. I didn’t ask. I heard no address.”

She pouted.

“How can you not know? You were watching.”

“Watching doesn’t tell me everything. At a consultation people give a name. Do you expect them to announce their address and birth horoscope?”

“I only need the address.”

She turned to face him, expression hard.

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. We have trouble enough. Don’t add more. You couldn’t cure her with what little you know.”

While they talked, Peilan had cut both bundles into lengths of about a foot, ready for the stove. She stacked them neatly and slipped the billhook back into its sheath behind her waist.

Huixiang brought warm water.

“Thank you. Have a drink.”

Peilan accepted with a bright smile, drank it all and lowered her head as she headed out.

“Rest a while before you go,” Zuo Shaoyang urged.

She looked back, smiled again and stepped outside.

Then hurried footsteps sounded. A frightened group crowded into Guizhi Hall. A ragged man carried a large, heavy old woman on his back, almost crushed beneath her weight. Her arms dangled limply over his shoulders, swaying as though waving farewell to the world.

The man in front cried out, “Doctor! Is the doctor here? Please help! Save her!”

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