“HURRY! HURRY!”
“Lord Xu is here!”
“Kids, gather up here. DON’T WANDER AROUND!”
“Yes, I can now get my sprain checked.”
“Father! Be careful, easy now…HEY, MOVE ASIDE!”
“I was here first!”
“Ma! They’re fighting again!”
“Fuck OFF!”
“My condition is worsening! Get me the spot!”
“Bastard…OLD HAG, you’re blocking the way!”
“SHUT UP ALREADY!”
“Yh, there are babies here!”
“I give NO TWO SHITS ABOUT IT! You’re a slut in the first place!”
“Vulgar youth! Come here, SECURITY!!!”
“SILENCE!!!”
“EVERYONE, MR XU NEEDS TO CONCENTRATE!”
“LINE UP IN 10 COLUMNS! ALL OF YOU WILL GET A CHANCE! THERE IS PLENTY OF TIME FOR EVERYONE”S TURN SO FUCKING BEHAVE ALREADY!”
The main district hall was a sea of filth and odor. The entire circular stadium was a formerly worn-down temple until the peasant population came and settled, establishing this as their common meeting area. The large pillars of limestone, decayed over centuries, had major inadequate repairs from the labor of the unskilled paupers that riddled the major streets of this district, located east of the DongBu village center. The roof held no proper structure and the walls were riddled in cracks, made by plant stems and tree roots. Despite that, this served as the main headquarters for Mr Xu and his band of physicians to conduct monthly healthcare examinations en masse.
Beyond the main hall was a flight of stairs that led into the second floor which housed a large double door at the front, opening into another spacious hall which served as the operating room. The knobs and wood were replaced and the walls surrounding the hall were reinforced with a new patch of concrete, ensuring the safety of the doctors and their staff.
The first column was called upon by the hired guards to continue the queue from the previous batch who most of them had just received their own inspections. Each patient waited as they slowly got closer to the operating hall. The left door was the entry point while the right labeled the exit.
Within the hall, several stations were put in place, partitioned by curtain folds. Each station was run by a different physician and all of them had connections to supplies for medicine and sterile tools. At the very end, a larger partition was arranged which belonged to Mr Xu. Being the most skilled in the practice, he took the most severe cases and it required more space to perform his treatments.
Returning back to the entrance, his assistants were in charge of identifying the priority patients and determining the complexity of their injuries. Using a variety of color coded cards, they were distributed to each individual patient to organize them into the categories mentioned above and additionally to which station to go to with some physicians specializing in one field better than the rest.
“Therefore, it truly is quite the systematic and efficient set up, isn’t that right ReZhui?”
“I guess so…”
Currently, ReZhui was given a detailed tour of the place. Beside him was the servant XinLi who was instructed to show him around the place. As they walked past the final post, the duo arrived back at Mr Xu’s station. ReZhui observed Mr Xu as he consulted a family of ten, comprising both parents and eight children ranging from early teens to infant stages. The doctor maintained a calm and wise demeanor, carefully examining what appears to be a dislocated shoulder from the 2nd eldest son. Blue-black bruises covered the entire injury, scattered with large purple pimples. Behind him, the 5th daughter was being attended to by another assistant of Mr Xu. The assistant applied a mixture of oils and watery paste onto her back which was infected with severe rashes. The mother was cuddled tightly in her husband’s arms, filled with anxiety. Making out a serious expression on the father’s face, ReZhui could tell the couple had seen worse days.
Both wore ragged tunics and the children’s outfits were loosely sewn together by random cuts of discarded fabric. Their children had very bony figures and roughly cut hair. However, compared to the rest of the pauper crowd, they were surprisingly relatively clean. ReZhui frowned at this sight.
Fortunately, this was picked up by XinLi who felt some hostility from him towards her lord. Not that she was part of the dispute between the kid and her lord, nonetheless, XinLi heard detailed rumors about what happened between the two from her colleagues and decided to act up for her lord. She could not leave any bad opinion of her lord unattended for.
“ReZhui, the patients my Lord is servicing over there is the Lee family. They have been regulars ever since Lord Xu implemented this monthly program, backed by the village council several months back.”
“So the reason for their cleanliness was because…”
“Yes, that’s right. It was a recommendation from my Lord. It is the truth that he is very benevolent.”
“...”
“ReZhui?”
“Just asking, why was the entire temple not rebuilt entirely? Why is it that only this room gets the upgrades?”
A slight frustration appeared on her face as she replied back.
“You do not seem to understand that the only reason this part of the temple was refurbished is due Mr Xu’s own spending for regular maintenance. Unfortunately, the village funds were bled dry from the taxations and charges imposed by Mr Sun. Moreover, even if that wasn’t the reason, there would still not be enough money to repair the temple as this program is quite recent.”
“Again, again, it all has to do with that-!”
“ReZhui, I may speak out of duty right now but I think it is necessary for you to understand my Lord’s situation,” XinLi interrupted.
“No, that’s not what I meant! I took three days off to contemplate my thoughts and I already made an apology to him. I can finally conclude that I am not angry at him any longer. It’s just that…”
ReZhui did not want to continue that sentence. He knew that his attitude towards her throughout the tour was extremely brash and defiant but not for the reasons she inaccurately deduced from. It all has to do with the time when he took the carriage here with only Mr Xu in tow.
---
As they rode their way through the dark and narrow alleyways of the compact district that is the slums, ReZhui watched closely at his surroundings.
He saw the dilapidated concrete housing or makeshift tents made out of ground clay and animal hide. Aimless children who wandered around, neglected and carefree. Elderly peasants slept on the pavements and under the shade of second-used parasols. They had no way of getting up for treatment and just laid there lifelessly. Some had crows pecking on their dried up skin and making their way into open wounds and exposed bones.
It was a heart-wrenching sight for him.
Men gathered in small groups, covered in grime and shared a large pipe, exhaling coloured smoke as they moaned in pleasure. Some were more well-fed than the rest but they all were collectively under the influence. Others held weapons, such as spears with lackluster rusted metal tips and wooden clubs dried with their victims' blood. ReZhui trembled at their sight, reminiscent of those men under Mr Sun. However, as he shuddered in fear, Mr Xu held an arm on his shoulder.
“Enough, calm yourself.”
As he instructed ReZhui to take in deep breaths, Mr Xu began to explain what was happening there.
“Don’t worry about those vagabonds. They are just criminals. The lowest of the low. All that they are capable of is intimidation and petty infighting amongst other gangs of their kind. They will also do anything for money, even for the smallest penny. Pathetic individuals overall, all bark and no bite.”
As ReZhui nodded at the assurance of Mr Xu’s explanation, he continued to look out the window.
Women could be seen in torn clothing and smoking a similar thing. They lay wasted over their window panes or wandered around, seducing other men into their schemes. Their hair was bushy and flies could be seen nesting within the gaps. They appeared to have not slept for days on end and their hip bones jutted out of their skin with many having saggy breasts. Again, he remembered the memories of the dying mother, the root cause of his frustrations. He grimaced deeply which was noticed by Mr Xu, who sat beside him on the carriage.
“ReZhui”
“What now?”
“This is what that mother would be like if I continued to save her. Is this what you truly wanted her life to be like?”
“Is…is there no other way?”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“If that were the case, most of these women would not be in such a state.”
“Most?”
“Not all people are as hardworking and kind-hearted as you think they are. Some of them among the population are here due to their own wrongdoings. While others like that mother do not have a choice. But we digress…”
“Right, but why is that? Why is there no other way?”
“That’s how the real world works, ReZhui. The one that you were comfortable with is a fabricated dream that resides in your village only since it is a tight-knit community, away from inhumane influences.”
“...I…I do not know what to say.”
“That’s natural, child. But, the more you live in this type of society, you grow immune to the horrors.”
“Is that the reason why you brought me here and not ShiYan?”
“Someone has to keep watch of the pharmacy shop and she already has her fair share of experience coming here with me. On the other hand, you don’t and this reality proves my point that evening, doesn’t it?”
“...Yes, and I hate it. I hate this cruel world is the truth.”
Sighing heavily, Mr Xu directed the boy’s attention to a new subject, one to enrich himself.
“Looking back on your goal to do entrepreneurship, these are some things that may be played in their hands.”
“What?!”
“Merchants move money, don’t they? Eventually, there will be risk involved that will sacrifice people to become like this in exchange for your success and larger profits. However, don’t let that discourage you. It can also bring back fortune to the people. It all depends on your skill as a businessman, ReZhui.”
“What’s your point, Mr Xu?”
“Study hard on merchantry. Use your hatred for this harsh reality as your fuel for improvement. Be the guiding light to lead them into a better future.”
Taking a moment to digest what the doctor just told him, ReZhui reaffirmed one final doubt he had. One that he overlooked back in that evening.
“Sir?”
“Yes, ReZhui”
“Is this the best you can do…by helping them with their health?”
Surprised at his question, Mr Xu answered honestly.
“Unfortunately that is a yes…But, I will definitely do something about this in the future. I will make sure that the Mayor would never touch DongBu and the other villages ever again after what he did to ShiYan. Just leave that to the adults, ReZhui. The only duty you have now is to learn. That’s the reason why you came here, isn’t it?”
‘Wow…they’re truly the same.’ ReZhui thought to himself, ‘In the end, my suspicions about him working under that bastard mayor were false. He did all that for the sake of not angering the mayor into harming the people he dearly loved. Unlike myself when I…Father…’
“Mr Xu!”
“What, ReZhui? We are arriving soon.”
“I…I want to apologize for my behavior back then. I wrongly accuse you personally within my heart to be following under the evil Mayor. For that, I am very sorry!”
He lowered his head till his eyes made contact with the floor of the carriage.
A silence remained in the air around them.
ReZhui continued to remain in that posture until Mr Xu hurriedly brought him up.
“Alright, alright, I forgive your actions. You are just 9 years old, ReZhui. If you keep up the good work at this rate, you will certainly grow up to be a fine adult. So, study hard, understand?”
“Yes, Mr Xu.”
ReZhui gave one last look at the streets of the slums. The temple could be seen towering above the low shacks and huts, and crowding in between them were innocent folk who made haste towards it. They all were busy gathering into the main district hall for the free examinations. But, the sight of their impoverished appearances were the same as the other hooligans and strays. It was the plight of the hopeless poor.
‘Is this something Mr Xu had to deal with on a regular basis?’
ReZhui held his hand close to his chest. He still felt the raging emotions within his heart. And it ached badly, very badly.
---
XinLi stopped talking at this revelation. She blushed in embarrassment, averting her eyes away from his sight.
Seeing her immediate silence, ReZhui rubbed his head in irritation and proceeded to explain his reasoning to calm her down on the misunderstanding.
“Listen, I understood why I was at fault for what happened three days ago. I was clouded with shock at my first witness of death in front of me. I have seen murder of animals on a regular basis but that was due to the need to survive. We need to eat so I can see the logic behind that. But at that time, it was a living human being and one that had the chance to live. Despite that, in the end, she gave up on all that. Swelled with anger, I instinctively thought that I didn’t want her to die. Thus, I lashed out and labeled Mr Xu as a bad person.
As expected, that was a narrow-minded reason to make one as an enemy. He is, as what you think of your Lord to be, and I get that now. Naturally, that leaves the mayor as the true culprit.”
“...”
“Throughout the past three days, I went around asking about Mr Sun, observed the effect he caused onto the village and…Although, I can barely understand the politics behind it, I felt that the results were miserable for everyone. Yet..even when I wanted to punch him very badly and make him amend his ways,” ReZhui clenched his fist together tightly, “He is too powerful for myself to even touch him and I was told that he could kill all of us if he wanted to with the Emperor’s army. Believe it or not, I experienced his threats firsthand after you headed back towards the pharmacy building.”
“I…I apologize for what happened to you, ReZhui…”
“No, I don’t want your pity. In fact, I was the one who triggered his wrath in the first place. Regrettably, my father had to kowtow in exchange for my kept dignity. I am also mad at myself that I had the guts to carelessly insult a higher official when it meant disaster to everyone that I know and care for. Nonetheless, I still side with my way of justice. All I did wrong back there was not finding the right time nor the method to express myself properly.”
“ReZhui, I am glad that you think that way.”
She held a hand close to her heart, sensing a feeling of accomplishment.
“Surprisingly, there is a part of me that still stubbornly thinks otherwise but overall, I am on his side now. All I have to do now is to make up for that by following his wishes.”
“That’s splendid, ReZhui! …Just so you know, I am sure everyone in the Xu residence will also support your actions. I can promise you that.”
XinLi grabbed his hand as she brought him close.
“Let’s get you something to do then. Mr Xu instructed me yesterday.”
He was tugged forward vigorously by her petite frame as she headed straight for the back of the station, away from the eyes of the crowds of patients.
---
Hours had passed since then. The continuous waves of patients never dwindled in size and the doctors paced themselves properly, seeing that this was a regular occurrence every month. The assistants ran about the entire length of the operating room, distributing messages on the behalf of their respective physicians to another, resupplying hot water from the nearby well and bandages among other herbs and medicines.
Within Mr Xu’s station, a paper partition separates the temporary storage area from the main operating section. And, that was where ReZhui was placed on duty. Apart from lunch break, he walked about the place, inspecting packages containing a multitude of herbs and oils or new sets of bandages and cloth. After confirming the labels, ReZhui would register the number along with several other details onto a record book, similar to the ones ShiYan used for keeping track of cash flow. As he moved a brush with his right dominant hand onto the hard fiber paper, ReZhui finished his next row of data about a 100g bag of dried ginseng from a particular merchant.
Looking up to scan his surroundings, ReZhui noticed the same group of assistants who just returned with extra boxes of other ingredients. Apparently, Mr Xu had a case of a family-wide diagnosis of severe migraine and the packet of ginseng he just recorded was already taken back to the front for treatment.
“Next!” one of them shouted. The others headed back to the other stations and that person followed right after. ReZhui approached the boxes; he then ran his fingers across the labels and wrote the corresponding information.
‘Haah, this is way more exhausting than I had anticipated it to be. The ‘main’ assistant title is just a ruse. I didn’t even get the chance to help out at the main operating section...’
“ReZhui!”
Right after, someone called out for him.
Turning towards the direction of that voice, he recognised the girl. It was XinLi again.
“What do you want, Assistant XInLi? Can you see I am busy now?”
“That’s rather boastful of you, ReZhui but I can understand that. My Lord surely knows how to create job satisfaction for his employees.”
“No…it’s rather the opposite.”
“Well, my Lord had predicted you would react like this. Thus, I was told to give you the message he wanted to convey,” XinLi expressed proudly.
‘Wow…’ ReZhui thought to himself.
“Ahm, according to Lord Xu, the reason he assigned you this role is due to its basis in foundation regarding management. When you open your own business, you wouldn’t start with a set group of workers on the get go. Therefore, most of the work needed to organize goods for trade is done through your own hard work. This is practice for that upcoming future. End of message.”
“I will take note of that, Assistant XinLi. Thank you for delivering that message.”
“No problem! Just thought you wanted the much needed explanation.”
Giving her a light nod, ReZhui returned to his packages, remaining three left that were unaccounted for. However, as XinLi said her last words of encouragement before leaving the storage area, a loud crash reverberated heavily throughout the large operating hall. The sound of metal on metal sounded right after.
Following the sound of that unknown incident, ReZhui heard the rising commotion surrounding the station on the opposite side of the hall from here. XinLi, who originally was headed for the right, turned her tracks to the left.
“ReZhui, let’s see what’s going on,” she insisted with glee.
“But…I,” however, as ReZhui reconsidered the situation outside, he sighed in defeat, “Alright, I am right behind you.”
The two of them made haste as they shoved through the gathering crowd towards the scene. Unidentifiable screams slowly became more profound the more he reached closer to the center. He got so far ahead due to his smaller size, XinLi was lagging behind him.
“Monster! How dare you?!”
“Bro, let’s teach it a lesson!”
“Yeah!”
“Do it! Do it!”
The crowd began to erupt in support for their actions. Children grinned and laughed along while the adults stood there, some feeling satisfied at the attacker’s behavior while others wore disgusted expressions at the ‘thing’ the offenders were assaulting.
‘No, this can’t be…How is this right?’
Pressing through the first row of people, ReZhui managed to squeeze through the gaps and make his way at the center. What he saw was a young boy, near his age but extremely malnourished and donned in tattered clothes. He groaned in excruciating pain as he was tossed to a corner of the partition pole hard on impact. ReZhui took a hard look at the scene and successfully identified his assailants, who were a group of boys of varying ages from 12 to 7. While they were dressed like any other child who was raised in a poor family, the condition of their bodies compared to the other boy was like night and day. The eldest of the group was especially muscular in his build and could probably land quite the hard punch onto an ordinary adult.
“Arrrh! This is no fun at all, you know that? Boys, get him here!” the eldest boy demanded.
Agreeing in unison, the rest of the group charged straight forward. Fortunately, the cornered boy was fast enough to make a swift escape. Nonetheless, due to his lack of physicality, the boy easily exhausted himself and subsequently tripped on the uneven floor of the room. Falling face first onto the ground, the boy landed close to the surrounding crowd. Taking the opportunity, ReZhui rushed immediately towards the injured boy’s aid and checked up on his condition. But as he did so…
“Hey! Are you al…righ…t…,” ReZhui went speechless.
Helping the boy to lift his injured head, they both made eye contact with each other and all ReZhui saw was...
“Blue…”