CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 049 HELP

Gu Jinli took the herbal medicine and murmured as he checked them one by one: Scutellaria, Bitter Dandelion, Bile Wood, chameleon plant... More than a dozen types of medicinal herbs that they needed at the moment.

"Xiao Yu, are these herbs okay?" Qin San Lang watched from the side, seeing Gu Jinli examining the herbs and even breaking off a small section from each bundle to chew, he was worried that the herbs they bought would not be effective. After all, they were bought from a barefoot doctor in the countryside, and it was hard to say whether the herbs were of good quality.

Gu Jinli looked up at him and smiled, saying, "No problem, they can be used."

The processing heat was poor, which affected the medicinal properties slightly, but they could still be used, especially at this time, any usable medicinal herbs would do.

Gu Jinli took out a bundle of dried mugwort, lit it, and used it to fumigate the grass shed, in order to sterilize and eliminate insects and moisture.

He then took out some chameleon plant, chopped it up with a Dagger, and added it to the pot with the other herbs to simmer.

After the medicine was ready, Gu Jinli called everyone, "The medicine is ready, everyone come and have half a bowl."

This pot of medicine was for those who were not sick, mainly to prevent colds, in case Third Grandma, Old Mrs. Yan and the other patients had not yet recovered, and another group would fall ill.

Mrs. Chen was the most eager, she rushed over immediately upon hearing this, using the wooden bowl previously used to feed Brother Wang to scoop from the pot.

Gu Jinli, quick with his eyes and hands, immediately tapped the back of Mrs. Chen’s hand with the handle of the Dagger to stop her action: "Aunt Gui, this is the bowl used by Brother Wang for taking medicine, have you washed it? Using this bowl to serve directly, do you want everyone to catch a cold?"

Mrs. Chen felt the pain on her hand, and initially wanted to scold Gu Jinli, but upon hearing his words, she dared not speak and sheepishly smiled: "Aunt just got a bit anxious."

Everyone knew that colds could be contagious, and in this era, a cold could be fatal, they couldn’t afford to be careless.

Gu Jinli took a clean wooden bowl from the side and handed it to Luo Huiniang, "Hui Niang, distribute the medicine for everyone."

If she didn’t distribute it, he was sure that given Mrs. Chen’s temperament, she would have had each of her family of four gulp down two bowls each. There wasn’t much medicine in the pot, and half a bowl per person was already pushing it.

"Okay." Luo Huiniang responded, took the wooden bowl, and began distributing medicine to everyone.

Mrs. Chen, who was given only half a bowl of medicine by Luo Huiniang, was very unsatisfied and said to Luo Huiniang, "Girl Hui, fill up auntie’s bowl, with just this little bit of medicine, what can it cure?"

Luo Huiniang replied, "Half a bowl per person, auntie, if you want more, you need to buy water."

In Yuchang Prefecture, the river had stopped flowing, only the deep wells were still able to pump out water, but as external refugees, they had to buy water with Silver Coin.

Mrs. Chen was stingy, asking her for money was almost like asking for her life. Hearing this, and seeing Gu Dagui glaring at her, she didn’t dare to persist further. After drinking half a bowl herself, she took another half bowl back for Brother Fa to drink.

The other families also started lining up to get their medicine.

Their activity attracted attention; the surrounding refugees were all watching, many wanted to come and grab some, but they were intimidated by the knives in the hands of Qin Er Lang, Qin San Lang, and Father Luo.

There were also those playing the sympathy card.

A couple holding a sick child came to the front of the shed, knelt down before Third Grandpa, "Old sir, please, give us some medicine, our child can hardly hold on anymore!"

Third Grandpa glanced at the child in the couple’s arms, the child’s lips were purple, cheeks flushed, clearly suffering from the cold and running a fever, but the child was not unconscious and was still alert.

Third Grandpa said, "There is a village nearby with a barefoot doctor; you can take the child there for treatment."

"Old man, the nearby villages won’t let us in. Besides, where would we get the money? Please, please save the child," the child’s mother pleaded, a gaunt woman with a scarred face.

Third Grandpa furrowed his brows and was about to refuse when the woman quickly knelt down to him, startling him so much that he quickly stepped aside and scolded her, "Woman, why are you making it so difficult for others? Our medicines are for saving lives; we don’t have any extra to give you. If you want medicine, take money and go buy it from the barefoot doctor."

But the woman paid him no heed, continuing to kowtow to Third Grandpa while wailing.

Her husband didn’t stop her but instead sat on the ground holding the child, appearing determined to stay until Third Grandpa gave them medicine.

"Get up, get up!" Third Grandpa was deeply annoyed; this couple intended to impose themselves on them.

Along the way, he had seen many cunning refugees, but now he was really troubled. If it had been adults, it might have been easier, but this married couple had come with a child seeking help.

What Gu Jinli hated the most were these people who used children to coerce others; such individuals were despicable.

Seeing that the couple refused to leave, she was infuriated. She picked up a stick and charged at the wailing woman, striking her several times, causing the woman to stop crying and leap up, cursing Gu Jinli, "You wicked girl, have your heart been eaten by dogs? Not giving medicine to save people is already bad enough, why do you hit people?"

Gu Jinli laughed angrily, "This medicine was bought with money pooled by several families. Why should we give it to you?"

The woman didn’t listen, instead, she cried to the surrounding refugees, "Oh dear, everyone, come look! The people in this shack have no conscience. They won’t save my child and even abused us. They want to take the lives of my entire family."

From the moment the couple came to ask Third Grandpa for help, the refugees lingering around the shabby temple had been closely watching this tent, waiting for a chance to plea for medicine themselves.

Now, seeing that Gu Jinli and her group refused to give out medicine and hearing the woman’s cries, they all moved about ten steps closer towards the tent, using their presence to intimidate Gu Jinli and the others.

Once the refugees surrounded their tent, a few shady characters stepped forward. A familiar man, named Wu Da, who often roamed around with his gang, was leading them. He pointed at them and said, "We are all refugees fleeing famine, we must help if we can. You not only do not help but also hit people; what kind of reasoning is this?"

Wu Da sneered, addressing the refugees, "Everyone, tell me, those who see a child dying from illness and refuse to help, don’t they deserve some punishment?"

His accomplices immediately spoke up, "Such heartless people, not even saving a child, not to mention punishment, killing them wouldn’t be too much."

The refugees had long wanted to rob them and, seeing someone taking the lead, they instantly agreed, "Exactly, they only care about themselves, not even saving a child. They are heartless; we must teach them a lesson, let them learn to have a conscience."

"Let’s not sugarcoat it; in reality, you are just looking for an excuse to rob us," Gu Jinli scoffed coldly, scanning the surrounding refugees and resting her gaze on Wu Da, "You are Wu Da, right? This isn’t the first time you’ve used this tactic, do you think you will succeed this time?"

Men like Wu Da were ruffians who survived the journey from Northwest to Yuchang Prefecture by stealing and using crooked tactics.

Seeing that Gu Jinli had foiled their plot, Wu Da immediately incited the surrounding refugees, "Don’t waste words with them; they are just a group of heartless Evil Men. Let’s go together, take their medicine, and uphold justice."

Up yours!

Gu Jinli struck preemptively, gripping a stick and in a few swift steps reached Wu Da, striking his head.

Bang!

Wu Da’s head was bloodied, and he was dazed for a moment. Once he recovered, he cursed loudly, "You damn unworthy wench, dare to hit your Elder Wu..."

Before he could finish, he was knocked down by a sweeping kick from Qin San Lang, who then grabbed his ratty hair and dragged him in front of the tent, pummeling his face mercilessly.