The three of them, each wearing a rabbit fur hat and carrying food and firecrackers, had just returned to the Anzhi Hall when Qing He came running over excitedly.
"Master, something terrible has happened..."
"What's wrong?" Jin Shanyao looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed at home. Qing He closed the courtyard gate and pulled her towards the side room.
"This afternoon, someone knocked on the door. When I opened it, I found a woman holding a child, unconscious, lying at our doorstep. There were footsteps all around, so it was obvious that someone had abandoned her at our house."
I was afraid that someone would freeze to death and damage Anzhi Hall's reputation, so I dragged the person in. Who was so cruel as to leave a dying person at the shop's entrance? Isn't that bad luck? Luckily, I discovered it early."
Jin Shanyao. "If the person who came really wanted her dead, they wouldn't have knocked. Where is she?"
"In the side room..."
Qing He quickly walked to the door and opened it. Qing Yang, holding a two- or three-year-old boy in her arms, greeted Jin Shanyao as she entered, "Master..."
Jin Shanyao softly, her gaze falling to the ground. The woman was wrapped in three or four quilts, only her tightly closed eyes visible. Not far from her were three or four charcoal braziers.
"Did you see who delivered it?" She reached out and pried open the woman's eyelids to take a look.
Qing He: "No, I even asked Shopkeeper Wang next door, and he didn't see it either. That woman is ruthless; she wrapped the child in cotton clothes and only wore a padded jacket herself. She's really courting death."
After examining the Jin Shanyao called Meng Anzhi over to take a look. "This is a symptom of someone catching a cold and fainting. Let me explain the precautions for treatment."
Meng Anzhi squatted down beside the woman and examined her carefully, saying, "People with frostbite cannot be directly warmed by fire or scalded with hot water, otherwise their skin will ulcerate."
Do not rub or pat vigorously, as this can cause blood vessels to rupture and the cold to penetrate deeper, damaging the internal organs. Do not allow the patient to drink alcohol, as alcohol dilates blood vessels, accelerates heat loss, and worsens frostbite.
Jin Shanyao in satisfaction and instructed Qing He to fetch a basin of warm water and boil some ginger soup. Qing He complied and withdrew.
Meng Anzhi closed the woman's blankets. "The treatment is divided into three stages. First, we need to isolate the patient from the cold, bring them indoors, wrap them in blankets, and use warm water to relieve the frostbite on their hands and feet. If the patient is unconscious, we can feed them warm ginger soup, rice soup, or sugar water. After they recover, they need timely treatment and follow-up care."
Jin Shanyao praised, "Not bad, you remember it very well. You'll handle this patient."
Meng Anzhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. That was terrifying... No, she still had to memorize pharmacology tonight. She couldn't stop studying, or she would disappoint her aunt.
The woman didn't wake up until late at night. She was wrapped up and couldn't move. She looked around the dark room, and only when she saw her child's little head did she close her eyes in peace.
The next day, Jin Shanyao over for a follow-up appointment, "How are you feeling? Are you feeling better?"
The woman asked hoarsely, "Did you save me?"
Jin Shanyao a faint "hmm," and recalling Old Medicine Zhou's half-truthful words, she laughed, "You're really lucky; anyone else would have frozen to death long ago."
The woman's eyes darkened. At that moment, Meng Anzhi came in carrying medicine, followed by a three-year-old child. The child was holding dumplings and rushed forward with the dumplings when he saw his mother wake up.
"Mother, eat..."
The woman burst into tears the moment she saw her child. She felt so sorry for him, making him travel with her in the dead of winter and almost freeze to death.
"You're awake. Time to drink your medicine," Meng Anzhi helped the woman sit up and fed her the medicine little by little. "I'll bring you the porridge when it cools down a bit."
Jin Shanyao stood aside and said, "You don't look like a beggar to me, so how did you end up sleeping on the streets?"
Thinking of the hardships she had endured during this time, tears streamed down the woman's face.
"My name is Zhang Su'e, and I'm from Li Household Village Sui'an Prefecture, Pingqiu County, Sui'an Prefecture. My husband's name is Shi Dun."
Sadness settled in Zhang Su'e's eyes. "My husband and I are both orphans, and we don't have much savings. After I became pregnant, I needed to supplement my nutrition, so my husband joined the army in Jing'an Prefecture so that I could have a better life."
He would send money and clothes back every month, and life was looking forward to things. But last year, we suddenly lost contact. I asked someone to send a letter to the army, but I waited for more than half a year.
After finally receiving a reply, he said that he had been caught in a flash flood while transporting grain and was buried alive at the foot of the mountain, and his fate was still unknown.
At that time, the child was young and we had no money, so we sold everything we could at home. After much effort, we managed to raise enough money and set off to the military camp in Jing'an Prefecture to find someone.
But when they arrived, they found that all twenty-eight members of the grain transport team had been buried; the mudslide was too great, and they couldn't dig out the bodies.
She wiped away her tears, turned away from the dumpling her son was offering her, and gently coaxed, "Sweetie, Mommy's not hungry, you eat it yourself."
Seeing that his mother wasn't eating, the little boy grabbed a dumpling and stuffed it into his clothes, wanting to save it for her. Meng Anzhi quickly stopped him.
Zhang Su'e sniffed and continued, "I asked around for directions to that mountain, but I got lost and ran out of money."
I was so tired I couldn't walk anymore, so I just wanted to rest at a street corner. Before I knew it, I fell asleep, and when I woke up I was here.
She finished speaking in one breath, and seeing everyone in the room looking at her, she quickly assured them, "Don't worry, I'll definitely find a way to pay you back for your medical expenses once I'm better."
Meng Anzhi didn't reply, but changed the subject, asking, "Are you still going to look for your husband now that you're better? In this freezing weather, even if you find that mountain, you won't know where he's buried."
Zhang Su'e smiled bitterly, "Go... I want to see him alive or dead. We didn't have a home before, but now we do, and we won't let him become a wandering ghost."
The topic was somewhat heavy, Jin Shanyao dared not speak easily, especially when it came to comforting people; she had already kept quiet about it.
Zhang Su'e stayed at the Anzhi Hall for half a month. Just as her condition improved, she took her son and prepared to leave. Meng Anci gave the baby the clothes she wore when she was a child.
Qing He gave Zhang Su'e last year's cotton-padded coat. Zhang Su'e had never worn such nice clothes before and felt a little embarrassed, so she thanked her repeatedly.
Before she left, Meng Anzhi gave her five taels of silver for travel expenses and two bottles of anti-freezing cream, instructing her to apply them regularly.
Zhang Su'e was poor and had nothing to repay them with, so she simply knelt down with her son and kowtowed to say goodbye.
Just as they saw the man off, the bandit leader and his henchmen hoarsely carried in another person and placed him at the entrance of the Anzhi Hall.
Jin Shanyao stared at the beggar, then burst into laughter in exasperation.
There's a first and a second time, but not a third or fourth. These two idiots think this place is a mass grave. Just because the tiger isn't roaring doesn't mean you can bully me.
At midnight, Jin Shanyao his Spiritual Power to arrive at the mass grave. All the ghosts stood in a row. Jin Shanyao pointed to a three-year-old ghost child, then to a female ghost, and finally his finger stopped on an old ghost.
"You three, step forward."
The three ghosts excitedly ran to Jin Shanyao and asked, "Master, is there anything we can do for you?"
Jin Shanyao glanced at them, "From today onwards, you will be called Ghost One, Ghost Two, Ghost Three."
"I am willing to go through fire and water for my master," the female Ghost One said excitedly as she floated in the air. She never thought she would have a chance to rise above others.
Old Ghost felt a little uncomfortable. Why was a three-year-old child Ghost Two, while he was Ghost Three? But then he thought about the unnumbered ghosts and felt relieved.
Jin Shanyao told the three ghosts where the bandit leader and his henchmen lived, "Go and warn them that if they dare to display dead bodies in front Anzhi Hall Anzhi Hall again, I will hang them there as mummies."
The three ghosts' expressions instantly turned serious. "Master, rest assured, we will definitely complete the mission."
And you know what? The vengeful ghost was as powerful as two ghosts combined. The bandit leader and his underlings huddled together that night, trembling with fear.
The desire to do good was nipped in the bud.
They dared not send the living dead to the Anzhi Hall's door again.