Boom.
Rumble...
After the scorching heat of June and early July, the torrential rain that had been brewing for days finally poured down.
Shuzhou City, which had been sweltering just moments ago, was instantly doused by the rain, its heatwave extinguished. Even the lingering warmth on the stone pavement rapidly faded.
The cool, pleasant breeze finally allowed the city's people to slow their steps.
Even workers who had toiled all day, yamen runners, and City Guard soldiers who had raced about all day could now stroll leisurely through the streets and alleys.
Yet beneath the heavy rain, many craftsmen struggling to make a living found it hard to smile.
After all, no one would watch someone smash a boulder on their chest in a downpour.
Wudong Street, beyond the East Market, Jishi Pharmacy.
With the tea drinks from Hundred Herbs Hall drawing business back in, the Medicine Hall was already full of people.
The vast majority were not sick patients, but craftsmen from the East Market.
There were burly men skilled in farming feats, acrobatic performers, and some who told fortunes or read marriages and futures.
They gathered in twos and threes inside the Medicine Hall, both to shelter from the rain and to drink a cup of tea.
Though they worked hard every day and earned little, they could still afford Wang Ji Tea at two coins a cup.
"I wonder what recipe Hundred Herbs Hall used. This tea tastes like tea, yet not quite tea. One cup leaves you cool and refreshed."
"Even beneath the fiercest sun, it keeps you from feeling hot for half the day."
A man dressed in short-sleeved hemp cloth and shorts cradled a porcelain bottle in his hands, sipping it little by little, clearly reluctant to finish it in one gulp.
Beside him,