Listening to All Things

The sightseeing boats on the Great Marsh, the street vendors hawking their wares, the thunderous applause in the bookstore.

Liang Qu leaned against the wall of a deserted alley, closed his eyes, and let his hearing expand.

Countless voices played out a grand drama in his mind, and information leaped onto the paper.

"The people who used to travel back and forth to Shang Rao Wharf are no longer visible."

"I heard someone counted, and he swam back and forth a thousand times! He was in the water for several days!"

"A thousand times? That's strange. It's about seventeen or eighteen li by water from Shang Rao Wharf to Pingyang Wharf. A thousand times, that's seventeen or eighteen thousand li? Even the strongest iron would have turned to dust by then."

"He's Martial Master master, he's different from us."

"What's the difference? If you offend Master Liang, you'll still have to follow him around eating his farts!"

Two energetic young people walked past the alley entrance, their bodies showing signs of fatigue.

One had a weak left leg and was "limping," while the other landed with a dull thud and was "slightly hunchbacked."

As Liang Qu passed the alley entrance, a faint fishy smell wafted over, and he heard the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

Two young fishermen who set out at midnight and returned at dawn?

"There's a curfew tomorrow night, so go home and rest early. From now on, we'll have to go out fishing early in the morning, and hopefully we'll have a good catch."

The voices faded into the distance.

Liang Qu opened his eyes and poked his head out of the alley.

Two young men in linen shirts were carrying fish baskets. One had his left foot lower than the other's back, just like what he had "heard."

"I heard that a brothel is going to open on Azure Stone Street, right next to the old Azure Tile Alley. That's not far from my house. I hope that such a morally corrupt thing won't lead my children astray."

"It's not a brothel. I remember it being called a brothel, a place to listen to music. It's different from a brothel."

Two more pedestrians passed by, and the information they gave was completely different from that of the previous two fishermen.

The footsteps they made didn't carry the rough sound of straw sandals scraping against stone slabs; they were more "Fugui," though less "angry," though still quite numerous. They weren't very old, one of them was "slow-tempered," often worried and angry. Two middle-aged businessmen? "What's the difference? Would a respectable girl come out to sing? Have you read too many storybooks? Selling your art, not your body?"

This kind of thing shouldn't be located in town; it should be far away. It's immoral and indecent.

I said, "Let's go talk to the Village Elder and see if we can get that brothel to move to another location. It's really too close; it's causing a bad impression..."

"The Village Elder might not be able to persuade them. Why don't we let Village Elder and beg Master Liang? Master Liang has a lot of influence. We old Yixing people can't let rotten stuff ruin the atmosphere of our town!"

"Yes, yes, yes, let's go find the Village Elder and resist these Evil Qi!"

Me? Liang Qu glanced outside and saw two middle-aged men in light blue brocade robes walking slowly, confirming his guess.

I never imagined that the location of a brothel in town would be related to him.

But could he dissuade Liang Qu from opening a brothel? He needed to hone his Ear Consciousness Method; he couldn't work in isolation. As several pedestrians passed by, Liang Qu's application of the Ear Consciousness Method became increasingly refined.

When you can achieve 100% success, your auditory perception will have reached a minor level of mastery.

If one goes a step further, without needing to consciously train it, then one has reached the pinnacle of skill.

Further up, the difference lies in the amount of information that can be heard.

After spending half an hour in the alley and listening to the "information" from hundreds of passersby, Liang Qu gained some insights and left the alley to head home.

As I passed through a fish alley, a strange sound entered my hearing range.

Liang Qu paused, then turned his head to the side.

"Your silver Silver Carp's gills are dark, and its eyes are sunken and dry. Do you think I'm a farmer who can't pick fish? Three copper coins!"

At the fish stall, a middle-aged man haggled with the fisherman, pointing out the flaws of the fish on the stall.

The stall owner spread his five fingers wide, refusing to budge an inch.

"Big Fish weighing three pounds and six ounces, enough for at least three meals, would cost five copper coins!"

"Three meals? Can't you see how hot the sun is? It'll go bad in two hours. How much salt would I need to use to pickle it? Two meals at most!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man rummaged through his satchel and grabbed three blackened copper coins from inside.

"See? I only have three copper coins on me today! I don't have any more. Just say the word, or I'll go look elsewhere."

"Once Chen Shi (7-9 AM) has passed, the weather will get even hotter, and your fish probably won't even fetch three copper coins!"

"Alright, alright, three copper coins it is."

The stall owner gave up and threaded a straw rope through the fish's gill cover, tying a knot in it.

The middle-aged man paid for the Big Fish and happily carried it home, intending to eat smoked fish for a couple of days, when a large hand pressed down on his shoulder.

"You have a liver problem."

"What kind of grandson curses his grandfather... My God, Master Liang!"

The middle-aged man turned around with a sullen face. When he saw the tall young man standing behind him, he swallowed the words he was about to say, and when he spoke again, his chin was trembling.

Liang Qu wasn't annoyed; he simply patted the middle-aged man on the shoulder and repeated what he had just said.

"I have a liver problem?" The middle-aged man panicked.

"Huh, what's the problem?"

Liang Qu shook his head. He had only studied at the clinic for about half a year, mostly focusing on external injuries, fractures, bleeding, and basic pharmacological identification. He knew little about internal lesions and could not make a judgment.

But the man in front of me has a problem... that's not small.

Ordinary people suffer from various forms of fatigue and injuries, and have some degree of health problems.

Just like the two fishermen before, even though they were young, one had a limp and the other a hunchback.

The only one was the man in front of them; the information he gave was very serious, to the point of being "terrifyingly weak."

Have you been feeling unwell lately?

"No, no." The man's hands groped around involuntarily, and he said in a trembling voice, "Master Liang, you are a big shot, you wouldn't make fun of a nobody like us from some back alley, is there really... is there a problem?"

Liang Qu nodded.

There were no symptoms in the early stages, but the liver problem was very serious...

He roughly knew what was wrong with the middle-aged man; it was almost certainly a carbuncle.

"Let's go to the Evergreen Hall in town; the doctors there are quite skilled."

Liang Qu gave the man five coins and turned to leave the alley.

He didn't know if it was right or wrong for him to tell the truth.

If a man doesn't tell, he might be able to live a carefree life for a short while; if he does, it might actually...

Let's consider the five taels of silver as compensation.

In the alley, the man, holding half a tael of silver, looked more flustered than ever before, picked up the silver carp and hurriedly headed towards the Evergreen Hall.

The Chen Clan is next to the Liang Residence.

Chen Qingjiang's family was mixing soil, adding lime and slag, preparing to build a thatched shed in their yard.

A donkey that hadn't fully grown up was tied to a stake and was circling it back and forth, its braying filled with unease, exhaustion, and fear.

"Uncle Chen, aren't you going to call on other people to do the work?"

"A Shui is here. Oh, there's not much work to do. It won't take much time to do it myself. A Di, go and pour some tea."

Chen Qingjiang stood up and asked his wife to go back inside to get some water.

"No need, I have something to do and can't have tea. I came to deliver something to you."

Liang Qu amplified his hearing and listened to each of the people present to confirm that there were no problems. He then took out two wooden Lotus Leaf from his pocket, the two smallest ones, each only the size of a bull's eye.

"Sister A Di, these two little things, sew them together with a piece of cloth later, make sure there are no gaps, then put them in a small bag and hang them around Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Kui's necks so they can always wear them. It'll be good for them."

A Di washed her hands in the bucket of water and carefully took the two Lotus Leaf.

Under the sunlight, the amber-colored Lotus Leaf shimmer with beautiful golden veins, making them truly extraordinary.

Chen Qingjiang didn't know what kind of Wooden Head the lotus petals were made of, but he felt they were precious. Otherwise, why would he need to wear two layers of cloth? It was too much trouble.

"It's not valuable, not as good as the Azureback Dragon Carp you gave me last time Uncle Chen. That's all, I have to go now."

Liang Qu was very familiar with this routine. He waved his hand, turned around and left, giving Chen Qingjiang no chance to refuse.