Hearing the old woman’s wails, Shen Zhihe paused her movements. After handing the bowl of tofu brain to the customer in front of her, she turned to look at the elderly woman.
Before she could even ask what was happening, a commotion erupted from the back of the crowd. Within moments, two strong men emerged carrying a simple stretcher, on which lay a pale-faced man.
Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, the old woman threw herself onto the stretcher and pointed a trembling finger at Shen Zhihe. “My son ate a bowl of your tofu brain yesterday. Not long after returning home, he started vomiting and having diarrhea. Now, after one night, look at him – he’s already lost half his life!”
As soon as these words fell, the customer who had just received the tofu brain froze with his spoon in hand, caught in an awkward dilemma of whether to eat or not, standing frozen in place.
Seeing that Shen Zhihe showed no reaction, the old woman grew furious. She stood up and rushed toward Shen Zhihe, reaching out to scratch her.
Snapping out of her daze, Shen Zhihe raised her hand to block the old woman’s withered, bark-like arm. Turning to Grandma Hu who sold Sa Zi next door, she said, “Could I trouble you, Granny, to fetch a Langzhong for me?”
“Of course, young lady. Please wait a moment.” Having interacted with Shen Zhihe for several days, Grandma Hu couldn’t claim to know her well, but she absolutely refused to believe that Shen Zhihe’s food was unclean. As she prepared to leave, she instinctively scooped up the terrified Shen Zhian from beside Shen Zhihe’s stall.
But just as she was about to leave, Shen Zhian, who had been quietly nestled in her arms, began struggling so violently that Grandma Hu could barely hold him. He kept crying that he didn’t want to leave his sister.
Seeing this, Grandma Hu looked helplessly at Shen Zhihe, who quickly approached. She reached out and patted Shen Zhian’s head, leaning close to his ear to whisper, “Didn’t Zhi An tell his sister yesterday that he wanted to protect her? Today, if Zhi An goes with Grandma Hu to fetch the Langzhong, that would be protecting his sister. Look at all these people around – that old woman wouldn’t dare do anything to me. Hurry and go with Grandma Hu.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhian immediately calmed down. He even began urging Grandma Hu from within her arms to hurry to the medical clinic, making her both amused and exasperated.
Meanwhile, the old woman blocking Shen Zhihe’s stall grew anxious when she saw that someone was being sent for a doctor. She turned and gave a meaningful look to the two men behind her, who exchanged glances before moving toward Grandma Hu. Fortunately, Shen Zhihe had been watching their movements closely.
The moment she saw them move, she called out loudly, “What urgent matter do you two have that you’d abandon the sick man on the ground to leave in such a hurry?”
The crowd immediately turned their attention to the two men. Anyone with eyes could see they were probably planning to intercept Grandma Hu.
“You two are quite strange,” someone from the crowd said. “The old woman claims he got sick from the Shen Family’s tofu brain. What’s wrong with Miss Shen sending for a doctor? Why are you trying to stop Grandma Hu?”
“Yes, are you just trying to extort money?”
…
The comments from the crowd made the old woman flush with anger and shame. Pointing directly at Shen Zhihe’s nose, she screamed, “If anything happens to my son today, I’ll make you pay with your life even if it costs me mine!”
However, Shen Zhihe paid her no mind. Instead, her gaze swept around, her heart filled with doubt. All the ingredients sold at her stall were freshly prepared each morning, and both she and Zhi An consumed them daily. Moreover, she had been setting up her stall here for quite some time, and no one had ever complained of falling ill. Could it be that this person was allergic to soybeans?
As she pondered, the old woman, seeing her remain silent as before, assumed the young woman was intimidated. She snorted coldly, “If you admit your mistake, compensate me with ten taels of silver, and promise never to set up your stall here again, I’ll let the matter rest today. If you refuse… hmph, this old woman will smash your stall right now.”
Just as the words fell, a flash of inspiration struck Shen Zhihe, and she quickly formed a plan. Before she could speak, a rough voice called out from behind the crowd, “Stop spouting nonsense! The young lady of the Shen family is not that kind of person. The matter hasn’t been clarified yet—how can you arbitrarily accuse her? I’ve already reported this to the authorities, and the officers should be arriving soon. Let’s wait a moment longer.”
As he spoke, a burly man emerged from the crowd. Shen Zhihe found him somewhat familiar but hesitated to place him. The man approached her and said, “Sister Shen, don’t you remember me? I’m Wang Dalan.”
Hearing his introduction, Shen Zhihe finally recalled him. She had been busy lately with her tofu brain and experimenting with new dishes, so it had been a while since she last encountered anyone from the Wang family. She bowed slightly to Wang Dalan and said, “Thank you, Brother Wang, for your assistance.”
Meanwhile, the old woman, seeing the two conversing while ignoring her, grew restless again and interjected, “Who would have thought someone so young could be so cunning? I assumed you were an orphan with no one to care for you, which is why I asked for less silver. Now I see you’ve even ensnared such a sturdy man. If you don’t hand over twenty taels of silver today, this matter is far from over. Even if you call the officers, I’m the one in the right here.”
“Watch your tongue! If I hear any more of your nonsense, don’t blame me for disregarding your age,” Shen Zhihe retorted, her willow-leaf eyebrows raised and eyes wide open, exuding an unexpected authority that made the old woman shrink back.
By the time the old woman regained her composure and tried to retort, she had already lost the initiative and could only glare helplessly.
At that moment, Grandma Hu arrived, carrying Shen Zhian and leading a Langzhong she had brought from the medical clinic. “A He, I’ve brought the doctor for you,” she said.
“Please, doctor, examine the person on the ground carefully,” Shen Zhihe said, guiding the physician toward the prone figure. “This old woman had him carried to my stall early this morning, claiming he fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea after eating my tofu brain. Yet, in the half-hour he’s been lying here, I haven’t seen him vomit once.”
Before they could get close, the old woman rushed over, shouting, “Your tofu brain nearly killed my son, and now you’re trying to fool me with some random person pretending to be a doctor?”
Hearing this, the physician was about to turn away in anger, his beard trembling as he pointed a shaking finger at the old woman and fumed, “You unreasonable old crone! I am the resident physician of Dechun Pharmacy. How dare you claim this young lady hired me to deceive you?”
“Exactly. This young lady saw your son lying here for a long time and called a physician for him, yet now you slander her.”
“Just now this old woman made an exorbitant demand, insisting that Miss Shen give her twenty taels of silver.”
…
“What is all this commotion about?”
As he spoke, the constable walked slowly through the crowd with his hands behind his back. His gaze swept over the man on the ground before finally settling on Shen Zhihe’s face.
Before the old woman could speak, Shen Zhihe quickly stepped forward and knelt before the two constables with a thud. When she looked up, her eyes were red-rimmed, and her lowered voice carried a faint sob. “I beg Your Honor to uphold justice. This person brought the man on the ground to my stall early this morning, claiming he fell unconscious after eating the tofu brain from my stall yesterday. I was confident my food was safe, so I called a physician to examine the gentleman. But this old woman blocked the physician and accused him of colluding with me in a staged performance.”
She gently wiped the corner of her eye and lifted her head, tears now streaming down her face, evoking immense pity. “If she had only insulted me, I wouldn’t have said much. After all, I lost both my parents and now struggle alone to raise my young brother, relying on my stall to earn enough to support him. I dare not offend this granny. But she went so far as to slander the physician from Dechun Pharmacy—a compassionate healer!”
As she spoke, Shen Zhihe pulled Shen Zhian, who had somehow appeared beside her, into her embrace. In a spot hidden from view, she pinched her own thigh hard, startling herself with the pain. Biting her lip, she suppressed a cry of pain, making it appear to onlookers that she had been grievously wronged by the old woman but dared not speak out, stirring hearts with sympathy. Glancing sideways at the pitying looks from the crowd, Shen Zhihe felt a secret delight, unaware that her subtle actions had been observed by a man on the second floor of a nearby tavern.
He raised his wine cup to his lips, hiding a playful smile at the corner of his mouth.
Meanwhile, after hearing Shen Zhihe’s tearful account, the constable glared coldly at the old woman and demanded, “Is what this young lady said true?”
Just as the old woman was about to defend herself, Wang Dalan jumped in from the side. “Your Honor, that woman made an outrageous demand earlier, insisting that Miss Shen pay twenty taels of silver and never set up her stall here again, or she wouldn’t let the matter drop.”
“Is this true?” The constable turned to Shen Zhihe, who hung her head in silence, further convincing him. He pointed at the physician and ordered, “Examine that man and determine what exactly is wrong with him.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Zhihe subtly gestured with her finger. Shen Zhian slipped out of her embrace and, taking advantage of his small size, darted over to the man on the ground before the old woman could react. He wiped his finger across the man’s face, and a white substance came off on his fingertip. Bringing it to his nose to sniff, he immediately ran back to Shen Zhihe and shouted, “This man has flour smeared on his face!”
The crowd gasped in astonishment. The physician’s expression changed, and ignoring the old woman’s protests, he grabbed the man’s wrist to check his pulse. It was strong and steady—nothing like that of a seriously ill person.
Seeing this, everyone understood: this person had clearly targeted Miss Shen because she was alone and vulnerable, attempting to extort money from her.
“I told you this person came to extort money.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
The bickering in just a few words was giving people headaches. The constable coughed once, fixed his fierce eyes on the people on the ground, waved his large hand, and led his men to take them away. This farce thus came to an end.
The man upstairs in the tavern, having watched a good show, tossed a piece of broken silver onto the table with satisfaction and turned to leave.
“Shen Family younger sister, I have something to say but don’t know if I should speak it.” After helping Shen Zhihe sell all the tofu brain, Wang Dalan pushed the cart back as they walked.
Shen Zhihe held Shen Zhian’s hand walking to one side. Hearing this, she lifted her gaze and thought to herself that since this person had helped her today, perhaps his family could be trusted. “Brother Wang helped me today. If there’s something, you might as well speak directly.”
Wang Dalan stopped his movements somewhat awkwardly. His dark face instantly flushed deep red. “I noticed you made quite a bit of money from the tofu brain today. I wanted to ask if you could bring us along to do this business.”
Seeing Shen Zhihe’s expressionless face and fearing her refusal, Wang Dalan grew anxious and quickly stepped forward. “I can carry the wooden buckets and push the cart for you every day. Moreover, as a delicate woman doing business, you’re bound to encounter situations like today’s. I can protect you.”
“Brother Wang, don’t worry. Let me think it over, alright?”
Hearing this, Wang Dalan knew further words would be useless. After helping her pull the cart into the courtyard and getting it settled, he turned and left.
Shen Zhihe stood at the doorway, watching Wang Dalan’s back disappear into the neighboring courtyard gate. She thought to herself that although she could have handled today’s situation without him – she had observed the patrolling constables and calculated their route timing, estimating they would arrive near her stall around the same time as the doctor from Dechun Pharmacy.
If it had been a bean allergy, she would have covered the medical fees. If it was intentional extortion, with the constables present, they wouldn’t have gained any advantage anyway.
When others see such situations, they usually avoid getting involved. She hadn’t expected Wang Dalan to specifically go invite the constables. Ever since she arrived here, besides Shen Zhian, she hadn’t dared to trust anyone else. But now it seemed this Wang family might be trustworthy. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is better than a distant relative.
If she could build good relations with the Wang family, the benefits would outweigh the disadvantages.