Chunniang packed some silver and put her household registration pass in her pocket, then took the two girls off the boat.
Not long after they got off the boat, Xiao Chengjun also got off the boat with two guards.
There are ready-made ox carts and mule carts at the dock, all of which are used to solicit business.
Chunniang and two other people got on a mule cart and headed for the county town.
Yingbao was sitting in the car and asked the old man driving the car: "Excuse me, sir, what is the most famous thing here?"
The old man waved his whip gently and said with a smile: "The most famous one is definitely the mandarin oranges here. Every autumn, many merchant ships come to buy the mandarin oranges and transport them to the capital. But you came at an unlucky time. The mandarin oranges are not on the market yet."
"Do you have anything delicious here?" Chen Zhao asked.
The old man cracked his whip and said, "There are a lot of delicious food. There are snack vendors all over the cross street. You can go over there and take a look, young lady."
Yingbao: "Then please take us to the cross street."
"Okay!"
The mule cart ran very fast and soon entered the county town.
The county seat is called Anping County, and like Qinchuan County, it is a small town.
The mule cart went straight to the crossroads, and the old man kindly dropped them off at the door of an inn before driving away.
Yingbao first took A Niang and Chen Zhao to the inn to book a room, and then went shopping in the market.
It was noon, and there were not many vendors setting up stalls along the street, but there were many shops open.
Chunniang took her two children to the food store to have lunch, and then went to the grocery store to buy a backpack.
Because her daughter said she wanted to buy a lot of things, she prepared in advance.
Then they went shopping.
Chunniang lent her clothes to Mrs. Wen San's family. Since she had no clothes to change into, Yingbao bought her a few sets of clothes at the ready-made clothing shop, and also bought her two pairs of cloth shoes for easy walking.
Chen Zhao's clothes seemed very thin, and she had no more clothes when it was cold in the morning and evening, so she bought her two sets of jackets, which moved Chen Zhao so much that her eyes turned red.
Yingbao also bought herself two thick jackets and two blankets.
This blanket will keep you warmer when you sleep at night.
Although she has these things in her cave, it is not convenient to take them out and use them.
The three of them then went to the pharmacy and bought several large bags of herbs for treating colds.
The experience of Mrs. Wen's family reminded Yingbao that she didn't know how long it would take for her and her group to return home, so she had to prepare for a rainy day.
Back at the inn, Chunniang sorted out the things she had bought, Chen Zhao lay down on the bed to sleep, and Yingbao practiced Yu Bu in the room for a while.
Suddenly I heard a noise, as if it came from next door.
"Mr. Li, when will someone from your family come to pick you up? I am just a small business owner and I really can't afford the loss."
This was the voice of the innkeeper, and it seemed to be crying.
Yingbao was curious, so she opened the door and stuck her head out to check.
The innkeeper stood at the door of the next room, crying and saying, "Mr. Li, I'm not trying to spur you on, but you've been staying in my inn for several months. If you stay any longer, I'll lose all my money."
There were a few coughs in the room, and a hoarse voice said, "I'm sorry to trouble you. I, I've sent a letter home, and they will come to pick me up soon. Please give me a few more days... cough cough cough..."
The innkeeper sighed, turned around and left the room.
Yingbao quietly went to the door of the next room and looked inside, only to see a thin man lying on a wooden bed with a bamboo backpack at the head of the bed, which was the book rack for the scholar.
There is also a bamboo exam basket under the bookshelf. Through the hollow basket, you can see various exam supplies inside.
Apparently, this man was a scholar preparing for an imperial examination and was trapped in the inn due to illness.
According to the laws of this dynasty, if a scholar taking an imperial examination was unable to return home due to illness, the inn could not only not kick them out, but also had to invite a doctor to treat them.
The inn can then report the expenses to the county government, and the examinee's food, lodging and medical expenses will be reviewed by the county government and then returned to the inn.
But the prerequisite is that the inn must pay the fee first.
The scholar must have been in poor health, and his family had been reluctant to come and pick him up. The innkeeper was afraid that the scholar would die in the inn, so he came to ask about him.
"What's wrong?" Chunniang saw that her daughter was taking a long time to come into the house, so she leaned over to ask.
Yingbao returned to the guest room and whispered to A Niang, "There is a student next door who is taking an exam and he seems to be very ill."
"A scholar taking an exam?"
Chunniang sighed and said, "Then is there no one with him?"
Anyone who was going to take an exam was more or less accompanied by family members. At the very least, he would have a servant boy following him. It was rare for him to be alone.
Yingbao shook her head: "Probably not."
Suddenly I thought of my younger brother Jiang Jie. If he were to take an exam someday, my parents and I would definitely not let him go alone.
After a while, there was another noise outside the door. It turned out that the innkeeper had returned.
Yingbao ran out to check again.
I saw a doctor following behind the shopkeeper, and the doctor seemed very impatient.
The two entered the house, and the doctor did not feel the scholar's pulse. He just took a look at him and said to the shopkeeper, "I can't do anything about his condition. It's not that I can't treat him, but his body is too weak and there is no medicine to cure him."
The shopkeeper's face fell when he heard this, and he grabbed the doctor and said, "Is there really no cure? What should we do?"
It would be too unlucky if the scholar died in his own inn.
The doctor pulled back his sleeves and said, "That's all I have to say. I'll prescribe him another dose of medicine. You can boil it for him to drink. Don't come looking for me again."
Then he walked out of the guest room.
The shopkeeper sighed, glanced at the scholar lying on the bed, shook his head, and followed him out of the room.
Yingbao saw that the scholar looked ashen and was lying motionless.
She thought about it, then ran to the shopkeeper and called him, "Uncle shopkeeper, wait a moment."
The shopkeeper turned around and saw that it was the child who had just stayed in the hotel today, and asked, "What's the matter, young lady?"
Ying Bao said seriously: "I am a witch doctor and can cure that scholar."
The shopkeeper was startled, looked up and down at the little kid in front of him, and smiled: "Young lady, please stop joking. I am busy."
Yingbao: "I really am a witch doctor. Maybe I can help you cure that scholar. Why don't you believe me?"
The shopkeeper sighed, "Well, if you want to treat him, go ahead. If you can cure him, I will pay you nothing."
Ying Bao smiled and said, "Okay, but I need to buy some yellow talisman paper and a cinnabar pen first. Please help me get them, shopkeeper."
The shopkeeper was about to leave when he saw the kid take out a small ingot of silver and hand it to him: "It must be the best yellow talisman paper and cinnabar. Please buy more."
"Okay!" Since the customer paid the money first, there is no reason for me to not take this business. After all, I can get some commission.
The shopkeeper took the five taels of silver and went to the City God Temple himself to buy a large stack of yellow talisman paper, and then went to the medicine shop to buy cinnabar.
As soon as he returned to the inn, the waiter handed him the prescription written by the doctor.
The shopkeeper waved his hand: "Put it aside for now and we'll talk about it later."
He wanted to see if this little baby could cure diseases.
It doesn’t matter if she can’t cure it, since she has already earned eight hundred dollars from her.
When the time comes, I will use the money to buy medicine for the scholar, and maybe I can use the remaining money to hold a funeral for him.