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Doctor Zhou narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly, “That noon, the sky was overcast. My wife had just made dumplings, and they were barely in the pot when Brother Song arrived with his son.
I even invited him to stay for a meal, but he said his family was waiting for him and he needed to hurry back.”
Wrong. Everything was wrong. The villagers all believed Song Feng and his son had gone missing in the mountains. But according to Doctor Zhou, Father and Eldest Brother must have met with misfortune either in town or on their way back.
The Tongchuan Prefecture where they lived had decent public security—there were no bandits or mountain thieves within a hundred miles. So where could two grown men have disappeared to?
“Girl, give me your hand. Let me check your pulse.”
Doctor Zhou’s voice snapped Song Anning out of her thoughts. She had been so absorbed that she’d forgotten about her poisoning.
Just then, Doctor Zhou’s wife emerged from the house and took Song Anning’s other hand to examine.
After a long while, the couple nodded at each other, and Doctor Zhou’s expression grew graver. “This poison comes from Wanhe Hall.”
“?”
Song Anning was puzzled. “Isn’t Wanhe Hall a medical clinic? Why would they poison people? I haven’t been to town in years—why would they target me?”
“It is indeed a medical clinic, but their methods are despicable. The poison in your system won’t kill you, but it will make you grow increasingly heavier. Even if you drank nothing but water, your weight wouldn’t drop.”
“Wanhe Hall uses this on young ladies from wealthy families. These women care deeply about their appearance and have no shortage of silver. Once they seek treatment for their condition, the clinic introduces their newly developed slimming tea—which contains the antidote to the poison—and sells it at exorbitant prices.”
As they spoke, the couple also seemed perplexed. Song Anning was just a village girl from an ordinary family—she couldn’t afford the slimming tea. How idle must the people at Wanhe Hall be to travel over ten miles just to poison a young girl?
“Could this poison be connected to my father’s disappearance?”
Doctor Zhou shook his head. “The poison in your system has been there for at least a year. Think back—when did you start gaining weight?”
Song Anning was horrified. It was true. In the original host’s memories, around this time last year, her old clothes no longer fit. Her mother had sewn new ones for her while saying, “Girls at this age do tend to fill out and grow taller. Don’t worry—it’ll pass in a couple of years.”
A missing father and brother. Herself, poisoned over a year ago…
Everything had become a tangled mystery.
“I can cure this poison, but the prescription requires a few rare herbs. As you saw earlier, my clinic doesn’t have much in stock.”
“I’ll write the prescription for you, but you’ll have to find the herbs yourself. Remember—do not share this prescription with anyone. If Wanhe Hall finds out, it could cost you your life.”
“Uncle Zhou, don’t worry. A’Ning swears on her family’s lives that she will never reveal this prescription.”
The fact that they were willing to give her the prescription was something money couldn’t buy elsewhere. What more could she ask for?
Song Anning stood up with her sister and bowed deeply to the Zhou couple.
“Your father and I have known each other for years. Whenever he dug up medicinal herbs in the mountains, he’d bring them here. Now that he and your brother are gone… well, this place won’t last much longer either.”
After handing the prescription to Song Anning, Doctor Zhou gave a self-deprecating smile and added one last warning:
“Ning Girl, whether your father and eldest brother’s matter is connected to Wanhe Hall or not, stay far away from it now. Don’t inquire, don’t get involved.”
“That’s not something ordinary folks like us can meddle with. Just look at what’s become of my family, and you’ll understand.”
Song Anning nodded solemnly. “Uncle Zhou, don’t worry. With younger siblings at home to care for, just putting food on the table is hard enough.”
“I can imagine what would happen if I confronted Wanhe Hall now. I hope you and Auntie can leave this troubled place soon too. To heal others, one must first stay alive, isn’t that right?”
Her words brought tears to Madam Zhou’s eyes, who spoke hoarsely: “Good child, A’Ning is truly wise.”
“Husband, where there’s life, there’s hope. With kindness in our hearts, we can heal people anywhere. Let’s go…”
After hearing them, Doctor Zhou replied gloomily, “Let me think about it some more.”
As evening approached and more words were exchanged, Song Anning stood to bid farewell to the family of three.
When leaving, she tried to pay for the prescription, but the couple refused vehemently, instead pressing their ancestral herbal balm into Song Anning’s hands, insisting she take it.
After thanking them again with Song Anyue in tow, the sisters walked down the street, both preoccupied with thoughts.
“Elder Sister is poisoned, will she die? A’Yue won’t eat candy anymore, will use the money to treat Elder Sister.”
Having understood some of the adults’ conversation, little Song Anyue now pouted, her obsidian-like eyes brimming with tears.
Elder Sister had just gotten better, and now she might die—what should they do? Wuwuwu…
Gathering her thoughts, Song Anning pulled out the prescription and waved it before A’Yue.
“Silly girl, this is the prescription Uncle Zhou gave me. After taking two doses, I’ll be fine.”
“I won’t die. Elder Sister still needs to buy candy and meat for our A’Yue.”
“Come, let’s go shopping.”
A child’s world isn’t so complicated. If a scraped head needed two doses of medicine, and poisoning also needed two doses, then a scrape and poisoning were the same—gone in a few days.
She quickly put it out of her mind, happily waiting for Elder Sister to buy her candy.
“Elder Sister, don’t forget to buy an extra piece for Second Brother. He’s waiting at home…”
“Alright, our A’Yue is so good, still thinking of her brother…”
Passing another Wanhe Hall, Song Anning merely glanced at it indifferently, recalling a saying she’d seen online in her past life:
When you’re weak, your anger is just a joke to others.
Shaking off the thought, the sisters first went to a fabric shop for coarse cotton and linen to make short coats for work.
They also bought some cotton cloth for everyday wear and to sew undergarments. The most awkward thing here was that people didn’t wear loincloths, so outer clothes often got stuck between buttocks—requiring constant adjustments while working.
They had bought some grain yesterday—rice at five coppers per pound—but Song Anning only bought three pounds. Combined with their mixed grain rice at home, by the time they finished it, her System store would likely be unlocked.
According to the System, even the first-level store sold food. She’d see then.
“Shopkeeper, do you have any seasonings?”
After browsing the grain shop, apart from salt, sugar, and soy sauce, even the most basic seasonings were absent.
In the original host’s memories, the town’s grain shops did sell things like Sichuan peppercorns and bay leaves, but the prices were exorbitantly high.
The young shop assistant, who wasn’t very old, gestured with his chin toward the Wanhe Hall diagonally across the street. “Sigh, it’s all monopolized by the Wanhe Pharmacy now. We can only buy from them.”
“If this keeps up, they’ll snatch away our shop too. Might as well let them monopolize everything,” he added.
At his words, the shopkeeper rushed out and scolded, “You damn fool, what nonsense are you spouting? Have a death wish? One day that loose tongue of yours will be the death of you!”
Song Anning actually agreed with the young assistant’s assessment. First the clinics, then the pharmacies, now the spices—what would be next? What else would they take over?
After buying a packet of sugar and a bottle of soy sauce, Song Anning headed toward the market at the town entrance with A’Yue, her mind set on one thing:
She had to make money and upgrade the System as soon as possible!