Chapter 50: Sampan Porridge

The Tanka people were free-spirited by nature, unbound by the etiquette imposed on women ashore, and had no rule against revealing their private names to others.

The group exchanged greetings with one another.

Bai Qing invited Lin Qian and the others aboard her boat, then worked the oar to catch up with the fleet.

Lin Qian noticed that this small boat was much smaller than the other Tanka vessels, and found it strange.

Bailangzai asked first: "Sis, why didn't you bring the big boat? Where's Mother?"

Bai Qing stood at the stern and said: "The big boat is moored at the pearl grounds. Mother is getting old, and it's not easy for her to travel by sea. I planned to sail the small boat back, and after the officials finish their count, I'd hurry back early."

The pearl folk were counted by household, with one boat counting as one household, so only one boat from each family needed to return.

Were it not for her high-pitched voice, Bai Qing would have looked like a thin, dark man. She wore the same short jacket as the men, her bare feet planted on the deck.

Lin Qian noticed that Bailangzai also took off his shoes and socks after boarding, and guessed this must be the custom of the Tanka people, so he removed his own as well.

Zheng Zhilong followed suit and did the same.

Seeing this, a smile spread across Bai Qing's face: "Brother Lin, Brother Zheng, let's eat on the boat tonight. I'll cook some sampan porridge for everyone."

Bailangzai had been eating nothing but delicacies from land and sea with Lin Qian these past two days, and figured Lin Qian would surely look down on their humble sampan porridge.

So he spoke up: "Sis, Brother Lin, he…"

He was cut off mid-sentence by Lin Qian: "That sounds wonderful. Thank you for your trouble, Sister Bai."

Bai Qing spoke Cantonese while Lin Qian spoke Mandarin. Though their accents were worlds apart, with Zheng Zhilong and Bailangzai translating in between, they could still understand each other.

Bai Qing laughed: "What's this 'Sister Bai'? I might not even be older than you. How old is Brother Lin this year?"

Seeing that Bai Qing was quite forthright, Lin Qian dropped his flowery speech and said plainly: "Just turned twenty."

"Oh! Then you've got the wrong title. I'm only seventeen—if anything, I should be calling you big brother."

Lin Qian smiled and deferred politely, but inwardly felt a flicker of surprise.

Bai Qing didn't look seventeen at all—people would believe she was twenty-five.

Indeed, under heavy toil, people aged faster.

No wonder the two of them, so young, would say things like "Mother is getting old." Under such brutal labor and exploitation, even someone of thirty or forty would count as elderly among the Tanka.

The small boat sailed all the way to Poshan Wharf.

This was a sheltered harbor, far from the city of Guangzhou, with few people around.

It was precisely the anchorage of Bailangzai's group of Tanka folk.

Lin Qian took a rough look and counted over a thousand boats in the harbor, clustered in groups of a hundred, with passageways left open between them.

For them to be arranged so orderly, each boat must have a fixed berth.

According to Zheng Zhilong, the Great Ming also imposed the baojia system on the Tanka people—just like the folk ashore, one boat counted as one household, ten households formed one jia, and ten jia formed one bao.

Sister and brother Bai Qing cooked porridge at the bow.

When it was done, Bailangzai brought Lin Qian a bowl: "Try it, Brother Lin."

Lin Qian took it and stirred it a little with his spoon. The porridge was filled with fish, shrimp, and river delicacies.

Yet whether from the thickness of the porridge or the chipped edges of the bowl, one could see the poverty of their lives.

Lin Qian scooped up a spoonful and instinctively blew on it, then realized there was no steam at all—the porridge was lukewarm.

As it entered his mouth, he found the rice grains still hard at the core, and the porridge was bitter and salty, which only made the fishy smell of the seafood stand out more.

Bailangzai gave Lin Qian an apologetic look.

You couldn't use a strong fire to cook porridge on a boat, and even if they went ashore to cook, their family didn't have that much firewood. This was the best they could manage.

Bai Qing, however, ate with a smile on her face. It seemed that even this half-cooked, fishy rice porridge was a rare treat for their family.

Spoonful by spoonful, Lin Qian slowly ate the porridge, then smiled: "It's delicious."

Bai Qing took the bowl with a smile, rinsed it in the river water, and said: "I'm glad Brother Lin likes it."

She wasn't being insincere. Bai Qing had never once left the Tanka boats—she genuinely thought the sampan porridge was delicious, the best thing she had ever eaten.

Taking advantage of no one watching him, Zheng Zhilong tilted his head back and swallowed the porridge in one gulp. He couldn't speak, only gave a thumbs up.

After the meal, Bailangzai called his sister back into the cabin, took a cloth pouch from his clothes, and mysteriously handed it to her.

Bai Qing opened it and found it filled with lustrous white pearls, stacked layer upon layer, weighing a good seven or eight taels.

Having worked with pearls all her life, she could tell at a glance that every single pearl in the pouch was top grade—one of them was worth ten taels of low-grade pearls.

This whole pouch of top-grade pearls was enough not only to cover their family's entire year's taxes, but to leave plenty left over.

Bai Qing was startled. She quickly sealed the pouch shut, one hand gripping the dagger at her waist, and watched Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong warily from the corner of her eye.

The boat was only this big—the two of them must have seen the pouch of pearls, and there was no telling whether they might harbor covetous thoughts.

Bai Qing had seen plenty of pearl divers harm each other over a single top-grade pearl when out at sea. The fact that she had survived to this day meant she was no soft-hearted soul.

Just then, Bailangzai stopped Bai Qing: "Sis, I earned all this with Brother Lin. Pearls like these—there will be more to come."

Bai Qing froze, and saw Lin Qian's gaze turn toward her. There was no fear in his eyes at all—rather, a hint of appreciation.

That kind of look, Bai Qing had only ever seen in one type of person—sea bandits!

Only sea bandits would appreciate the Tanka people, who were fierce in spirit yet desperately poor.

Bai Qing wasn't stupid, just inexperienced. In an instant she understood where Bailangzai's pearls had come from, and figured out the identities of Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong.

This, in turn, made her relax.

After all, sea bandits were still better than ordinary folk from shore.

Besides, her own little brother had apparently already boarded the sea bandits' pirate ship long ago, so she had even less to worry about.

Bai Qing released her grip on the dagger: "I've made a fool of myself before the chief."

Lin Qian laughed: "If it weren't for your move just now, I wouldn't have noticed the dagger at your waist. Now I know where Bailangzai got his skills."

Bai Qing said: "People who live on the water must always stay on guard." Then she stepped out of the awning and looked around.

Seeing that the Tanka folk on the surrounding boats were all busy with their own affairs and no one had noticed them, she finally relaxed.

Bai Qing retreated into the cabin and first clasped her hands to Lin Qian: "My brother has been under your care at sea; on his behalf, I thank you."

Lin Qian waved a hand: "Better to call me Brother Lin—calling me 'Chief' at every turn draws too much attention."

"Yes." Bai Qing glanced at Bailangzai, then at the pouch of pearls, and made up her mind. "Brother Lin is my brother's sworn brother, and you have shown our family kindness. If there is anything we siblings can do for you, please do not hesitate to command us!"

"There is actually one thing..."

Lin Qian had not intended to reveal his purpose, but since Bai Qing had been so open and candid, he saw no reason to keep it hidden.

"At Poshan Wharf, are there many physicians?"

Hearing this question, Bai Qing could not help but be taken aback.

The next day, Su Kang and his daughter rose early and came to Poshan Wharf outside the city to offer free medical treatment to the Tanka boat people.

He had not wanted to come, but he owed Lin Qian silver from before.

Even setting aside the matter of personal favor, for the sake of the silver alone, he had no choice but to come.

Arriving at the wharf, the father and daughter set up their stall and laid out various instruments. Soon, Tanka boat people began rowing up one after another, coming ashore to seek consultation.

In the harbor, the Bai family's small boat continued weaving among the many vessels, spreading the news that a physician was offering free treatment.

The Tanka boat people lived hard lives—everyone was riddled with ailments—but when they could barely fill their stomachs, seeking doctors and medicine was out of the question.

Even if they had silver and wanted to go ashore for treatment, they would be scorned and turned away by the clinics.

Over time, this deepened the Tanka people's estrangement from those on shore, and they refused to go ashore for treatment, causing many who had only minor ailments to let their conditions worsen until they sickened and died.

Lin Qian had Su Kang treat the Tanka boat people for free—this both won their hearts and further tested his medical skill, since many of the illnesses the Tanka suffered were also ones sailors were highly likely to contract.

Besides Su Kang, Lin Qian also had Zheng Zhilong and Bailangzai separately seek out over a dozen well-known physicians throughout the city to come and offer free treatment as well.

It served as a contest of medical skill, and Lin Qian could use the results to decide which physicians to recruit.

For this, Lin Qian spent another ten-odd taels of silver.

To avoid disturbing the yamen runners, Lin Qian had Zheng Zhilong use silver to smooth things over in advance, costing another two taels.

During the treatment sessions, Lin Qian stayed on shore, pausing before each medical stall for a while—first, to gauge the physicians' skill.

Second, since the silver could not be spent in vain, he needed the Tanka boat people to recognize his face.

At lunch, Su Kang let out a long sigh.

"Father, why are you sighing? Isn't the food good?" Meier said.

This food had been freshly purchased by Lin Qian's orders—with both vegetables and meat. In Lin Qian's view, it was merely at the level of a working meal.

But to poor physicians like Su Kang and his daughter, it was already a rare treat of meat and fish.

Su Kang said: "These Tanka boat people, though ignorant and cunning, are still human. Some have minor ailments, but they sought treatment too late and are left with chronic conditions—truly a pity."

Before Meier could speak, a physician offering treatment nearby spoke up in a sarcastic tone.

"Isn't this the 'True Orthodox Chinese Medicine' Dr. Su? Why have you brought your daughter along to see patients too?"

Su Kang studied under Chen Shigong, and because Chen Shigong authored the book *True Orthodox Surgery*, their lineage was also called the Orthodox School.

Because they advocated bold surgery and incisions to treat both internal and external ailments together, they were disliked by other schools of Chinese medicine that advocated purely internal treatment. Add to that Su Kang's foul temper and poor social skills, and they were even more suppressed.

That physician deliberately twisted *True Orthodox Surgery* into "True Orthodox Chinese Medicine" as a way to mock him.

Su Kang just kept eating and completely ignored the man.

Meier said: "With all the time you spend bickering, you could have seen two more patients."

The man snorted coldly: "A bunch of curved-heels—if it weren't for the silver, who would bother with them."

Their arguing was not quiet, and the words "curved-heel" fell on the ears of the surrounding Tanka boat people, causing many to glare angrily at that physician.

The physician was outwardly fierce but inwardly timid, feigning anger: "What are you looking at? A bunch of filthy trash!"

Lin Qian had somehow already arrived behind the physician, and said calmly: "Leave. We won't need you this afternoon."

The physician turned around in a fury, but upon seeing that it was his patron Lin Qian, he hastily changed his expression and repeatedly begged forgiveness.

Lin Qian merely uttered a single word flatly: "Scram."

The physician's face flushed bright red in an instant. He wanted to argue but knew he was in the wrong. His gaze swept over the Tanka boat people at the wharf and Su Kang and his daughter—all of them watching with leisurely composure.

The physician angrily flicked his sleeve and then fled the scene as if running for his life.

The Tanka boat people burst into cheers.

Meier said to her father: "Father, see? He really is a good man!"

Su Kang: "Shut up!"

Yahei

Fenyuan

Pen