In front of the medical clinic were many herbs dug out from the ruins. A tall man, half lying on a wooden board, was staring at them intently.
Zhao Dashan and the others pretended not to see him and followed the clinic assistant. They watched as the assistant skillfully picked herbs from a pile. He held a scale and almost never made a mistake when weighing—he clearly looked like an experienced herbal medicine worker.
Everyone felt encouraged. At this moment, just seeing an “expert” gave them more hope and confidence.
They not only bought medicine said to treat head injuries from falling beams and improve blood circulation, but also bought medicine for colds, fever-reducing medicine… anything they could think of, they wanted to buy it all. More was better.
No one was stingy with money anymore. They only asked the assistant to be generous, especially for cold medicine—just take as much as needed. They were using money collected from the villagers.
Right now, all the villagers’ houses had collapsed. Before, people said their thatched houses leaked wind from all sides, but now even those thatched houses were gone. In the cold winter, adults might still endure it, but children would definitely not survive it well, and getting sick was inevitable.
They were lucky to meet a kind assistant. No matter if he was skilled or not, as long as it didn’t kill anyone, it already counted as good fortune.
If someone died from the medicine, then it was just bad fate—no one could be blamed.
After the incident of villagers robbing medicine, the assistants had their own thoughts. It was only the first day after the earthquake, and people were already openly robbing in the streets without caring about the law. In the coming days, the town would likely become even more chaotic. Doctor Lin had unfortunately died, and the only surviving guard could no longer protect the clinic or them. With just a few of them, protecting the medicine was like a dream during the daytime.
If they converted the medicine into money instead, it would be different. Then they could find a quiet place, wait for the main family’s manager to arrive, report everything, hand over the money, and they would not only avoid punishment but also secure future positions. It was better this way.
Both sides had their own intentions, but nothing bad was happening. Everything was going smoothly.
Even some clever villagers came forward to buy cold medicine and plague-prevention medicine with their own money. Zhao Dashan followed their example and bought several sets.
He carried all the family savings given by his mother—5 taels and 3 qian of silver. Besides buying medicine, he also wanted to see if he could buy food and coarse salt. However, judging from the situation in town, even the clinic was being robbed, so grain stores were probably not much better.
In normal times, ordinary villagers would never dare cause trouble in places like grain shops or clinics. Even when meeting shop assistants, they would respectfully call them “young master” or “sir.”
But now it was different. Natural disasters do not recognize people. Without guards, and with government officials overwhelmed, these shop assistants protecting goods were like meat on a chopping board, unable to resist.
Zhao Dashan never expected that a single earthquake would cause the town to lose order, as if laws no longer existed and the government was gone.
What he saw today made him uneasy and restless.
As if something bad was about to happen.
Or maybe, it was already happening.
……
In the past, whenever people had small illnesses, they would either pick herbs in the mountains and boil them, or simply endure it. If they survived, they lived; if not, they died. Going to town to see a doctor and buy medicine was impossible because they had no money.
They did not even dare step into a clinic, afraid they would dirty the place.
Only the Zhao family had a precious child, so they would prepare a few sets of medicine every winter. Otherwise, no one from Lixia Village would dare go to town to see a doctor. At most, they would go to the neighboring village to find a wandering barefoot doctor.
And the reason they hesitated was simple—it was too expensive. One cold medicine cost 75 wen, while the barefoot doctor in the neighboring village only dared charge 30 wen.
But no one dared complain. The men silently paid, thinking one dose per family was enough. They would boil one big pot and share it. That was all they could afford.
Lixia Village had only a little over 30 households. Just cold medicine alone cost nearly 3 taels of silver. Adding fever medicine and epidemic-prevention medicine bought by Zhao Dashan, the total reached about 5 taels of silver.
That was more than a year’s expenses for an ordinary family.
Besides buying for his own family, Zhao Dashan also decided to buy for the village. As he said, it was better to be prepared. Right now, being able to buy medicine was already luck. With the doctor dead and no information from nearby villages, no one knew the situation elsewhere.
It was better to spend the money than to regret it later when people were dying.
After paying, Erlai’s father carefully wrapped the medicine in oil cloth and placed it in Zhao Dashan’s basket. Only then did everyone feel at ease.
At this point, the Zhao family had become the spiritual leader of the village.
The village head had died, and his sons had only cared about their own families during the earthquake. They only realized too late that their father had been buried, missing the best rescue time.
Because of this, the villagers did not include them when buying medicine. Everyone looked down on such unfilial descendants. Since the position of village head was not hereditary, they would never support that family again.
Zhao Dashan and the others then went to the grain store. From across the street, they saw shop assistants fighting with villagers, while some women secretly filled cloth bags with rice. The scene was chaotic and disturbing.
“Why has the town become like this?” Zhao Sanwang scratched his head. He had only been to town twice, and each time he thought city life was better. But now it looked worse than their village. People were openly stealing rice in broad daylight.
And no one stopped them.
That was the scariest part—no one was in control. Everyone’s dark thoughts could come out.
Zhao Dashan hit him on the head. “What are you thinking?”
Zhao Sanwang grimaced in pain. “But that’s rice! So much fine rice!”
Before he could finish, he got hit again.
“Let’s go!” Zhao Dashan turned and left. The place was too chaotic. Anyone going in to buy grain would probably be treated like a fool—or even robbed.
Medicine was the most important thing now. His mother also said if they could buy grain, they would; if not, forget it.
They also failed to buy coarse salt. The shop was already half-collapsed, and no one was doing business anymore.
The entire Tongjiang Town was in chaos. People from the countryside were being chased away. Saying a few words could get shop assistants to call for guards. Everyone was protecting their own goods.
Zhao Dashan and the others had no choice but to keep asking around. The earthquake happened at night, and only one night and half a day had passed. Many news had not yet reached them. They only knew Tongjiang Town was on the edge of the disaster, not the center, so casualties were not the worst.
The real disaster zones had not been informed yet.
……
They returned to the village late at night.
Traveling in the mountains at night was dangerous, but fortunately nothing happened. In winter, wild animals stayed deep in the mountains. The only footprints in the snow were theirs.
Near the village, they saw firelight at the entrance. Several men were waiting with torches.
“Is that Zhao Dashan?” Li Dashun shouted, wiping his nose.
“It’s us! We’re back from town!” Zhao Sanwang waved his torch, accidentally almost burning Wang Damao’s hair. He jumped in shock and kicked Zhao Sanwang.
“Why did you kick me?!” Zhao Sanwang shouted.
“You’re throwing fire around!” Wang Damao shouted back.
The two of them argued.
Zhao Dashan ignored them and went forward. The villagers at the entrance greeted them and led them toward the drying ground, explaining the situation in the village.
After Zhao Dashan returned, they decided to build temporary huts at the drying field for everyone to stay in.
Zhao Dashan nodded and said they bought a lot of medicine. They would distribute it tomorrow. Some children already had colds and severe coughing.
Everyone was grateful.
Village life depended on mutual help. The village was small, only about 30 households, but everyone understood that in disasters, they had to rely on each other.
Later that night, they returned to the village.
The sky was dark, and everything felt uncertain.