Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
âItâs indeed effective, but itâs best to get two more doses of actual medicine, just in case.â The manâs mother said.
âThatâs true. Itâll be troublesome if it worsens at night. Iâll bring him over after dinner.â The man nodded.
After the meal, the man carried his child down the mountains. However, he was sternly rejected when he reached the foot of the mountain and went to the shed to find the official guarding the mountains.
The man had more or less guessed the reason, but when he looked down at the child in his arms, he still pleaded, âPlease, itâs just the two of us this time. Just let the brothers in the patrol team follow me.â
âNo, you wait here. Iâll send someone to get Doctor Gu.â The officer shook his head.
The man could only sit down with the child in his arms. âThank you, brother.â
The officer didnât give him a good look. When the patrol team came over, he requested them to go over and invite Doctor Gu over.
Gu Chengrui had already heard about this from Zhou Ying. So after receiving the notice, he took some relatively cheap medicines and went to the foot of the mountain.
After checking the childâs pulse, Gu Chengrui gave him three doses of medicine and said, âTo put it bluntly, this child is sick due to malnutrition and insufficient food. When you have time, go to the mountains to find some red dates or Chinese yam. Otherwise, he will catch a cold from time to time in the winter.
He should be fine after taking these three doses of medicine.â
After he finished speaking, he passed the medicines to him.
âThank you, thank you so much. How much are the medicines?â
âNo need; just send down two more bundles of firewood to us. It will save us the trouble of going up the mountains.â
âYou guys need firewood?â The manâs eyes lit up.
Gu Chengrui looked at his expression and knew what he was thinking. He nodded and said, âThatâs right; we need them in preparation for the winter. If you have extra firewood, you can sell it to me. A bundle of 50 pounds of firewood is five coppers, and the shrubs to light the firewood are three coppers.â
âI understand, I understand.â
âRemember,â the officer reminded the man, âyou can only cut branches like before. Otherwise, if youâre discovered, you wonât be able to live in the mountains.â
âI remember, yes,â the man responded, carrying the medicines and his child back to the Mother God Temple.
After returning home, he told his brothers about the matter, which excited them a little. No matter what, they could go to the village with this little income and buy some sweet potatoes.
The family happily went to sleep, but they got happy too early.
After midnight, about ten strong laborers quietly walked out of Mother God Temple, carrying burlap sacks with them. Two even brought two longboards as they sneaked down the mountains.
However, they didnât go down the mountains directly. Instead, they walked along the mountains to the outside of the village, near a trench with lush bushes. After the patrol team left the area, they immediately placed the long boards and quickly crossed the trench.
The group of people quietly rushed into the fields.
When they arrived at the sweet potato field, the group of people were like mice entering a rice jar. They quickly and greedily dug up the sweet potatoes, even picking up bunches of radishes and scallions.
After they had filled more than half of their sacks, they turned around and walked back.
However, their luggage wasnât as light as when they came, which was much more cumbersome.
Hence, they were discovered by the patrol team when they were halfway there.
The group of people wanted to throw the white potatoes away and run, but they couldnât bring themselves to give up at that point. In the end, the brother-in-law of the man with the sick child said, âWe have ten people, and they have eight. We have to fight it out if it comes down to it.â
âBut what if they come up the mountains to us?â
âAre you stupid? Letâs not go back to Mother God Temple. With these white
sweet potatoes, we can hide for half a month..ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om