"I saved your lives, it's true, but you also saved our lives last night. This evens things out, so don't mention it again."
Only then could A Jiu regain her composure.
"Eat up!" A Jiu added.
"Then... we won't stand on ceremony."
Gratitude flashed in Guang Wenqiang's eyes.
A Jiu could tell that they had just recovered from serious illness, and most of them were men. Naturally, their appetites would be large upon regaining their health.
Guang Wenqiang took the lead, grabbing a peach and tearing it in half. He counted carefully, found it wasn't enough to go around, and split one half into two more portions.
One peach divided into four portions, along with a small piece of watermelon for each person, was just enough.
Full and content, the fellow patients lay sprawled against the tree trunks, asleep.
A Jiu glanced at Guang Wenqiang, the only one still awake. She had actually noticed his accent wasn't local for some time.
"Uncle Guang, you're not from around here, are you?"
Her local dialect was a little stiff, but understandable.
"You noticed?" Guang Wenqiang chuckled, sitting down beside A Jiu.
"I came here three years ago. My hometown is Lingnan."
A Jiu's eyes widened upon hearing this. "Lingnan? That's a land of plenty, where nothing is lacking. Why did you come all the way here?"
Guang Wenqiang scratched his sparse hair and sighed. "My daughter was young and foolish. Five years ago, she fell for a young master who was selling salt in Lingnan. She insisted on marrying him. At the time, it was a long and distant journey, and we, as parents, couldn't properly vet the match. A couple of years later, we heard about a severe drought here. My wife asked me to bring some money and food to check on her. If the drought was as severe as rumored, we would bring our daughter and her husband back.
Who would have thought that not only was there a drought, but there was also war? I couldn't find my daughter, and I heard that Qi Ming City was long deserted. I decided to return. On the way, I was robbed by bandits.
Forced to eat some scavenged meat, I then traveled all the way from Qi Ming City to Nan Ming City, where I fell ill and was moved to the Yi Zhuang."
At this point, Guang Wenqiang fell silent, as A Jiu already knew what happened next. She could only sigh, "My daughter was so foolish..."
The largest salt merchant family in Qi Ming City was the Li family.
But in her past life, A Jiu remembered that Old Master Li was unable to have more children after his wife gave birth to a daughter. That's why he wanted to buy a maidservant, hoping to have a son in his old age.
Therefore, Old Master Li had no sons.
It seemed that Uncle Guang's daughter had been deceived.
A Jiu found it inappropriate to say this afterwards. "There is widespread displacement and refugees everywhere due to the war. But Uncle Guang, don't worry. If your daughter has grown up, she will surely understand her parents' hearts."
Guang Wenqiang nodded. "I hope she's still alive. Only as a mother can one truly understand a parent's heart."
"Right, it's because you're from Lingnan that these fellow patients asked you to lead them?" A Jiu changed the subject.
"That's right," Guang Wenqiang nodded. "But this road is too long. When I came here, I traveled by horse, and it took over four months. I don't know when I'll reach my destination if I walk back."
A Jiu's brow furrowed sharply. That far? She had thought it would take at most four months on foot.
"However, there's still a chance to go back, and we owe that to the medical skills of Meng Nü Yi," Guang Wenqiang suddenly remembered, his mood brightening.
"Let's not mention this matter again. Besides, I didn't go to the Yi Zhuang to rescue people solely for your sake. The government was pressuring us, and I had no choice but to come up with a prescription."
A Jiu spoke truthfully. She disliked people placing too much importance on such favors; for her, everything was a natural arrangement.
"Ah, so Miss Meng, like Old Master Liu, was also forced?" Guang Wenqiang suddenly became serious.
"They didn't force you to eat poisoned meat, did they?"
Upon hearing this, A Jiu's eyes widened.