Chapter 60: The Green Plum Clinic Moves

Dawn was just breaking, the sky faintly light.

The city of Guangzhou had not yet woken from its slumber.

There were few pedestrians on the streets.

Yet outside the Green Plum Clinic, patients were already standing in a full queue, waiting.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The knocking came without pause.

"Coming!" Mei'er called out, flustered as she flung aside the cloth curtain and ran out from the back courtyard.

With a creak, she opened the front door.

Seven or eight people stood outside.

At their head was a young man with a cold, stern face — none other than Bailangzai.

Mei'er recognized Bailangzai and exclaimed in surprise: "It's you! Have you come today to see my father for treatment?"

Bailangzai nodded.

"My father hasn't risen yet. You all sit and have some tea first — I'll go call—"

Before she could finish, her mouth was covered, and both arms were pinned behind her back.

The hands that seized her were like iron pincers — no matter how she struggled, she could not break free.

The sailors swiftly bound Mei'er's hands and feet, stuffed a piece of sackcloth into her mouth, and shoved her into a burlap bag.

In the instant she was being stuffed into the bag, Mei'er saw her own father being carried out from the back courtyard like a pig being hauled off for the New Year slaughter.

Her father too had his hands and feet bound, with sackcloth stuffed in his mouth.

Father and daughter exchanged one glance, then both were thrust into bags, the mouths tied shut. The two struggled desperately, yet no matter what, they could not break loose.

Bailangzai said to his men: "The helmsman's orders — take everything in the clinic exactly as it is. Especially the medicines and instruments — pack them carefully. Don't mix anything up, don't leave anything out."

The men acknowledged the order and split up to work through the clinic.

Four hours later, everything had been packed up.

A small river ran right behind the clinic, and the sailors loaded the goods onto the boat in an orderly fashion.

Su Kang was withdrawn by nature, unfamiliar with his neighboring merchants, and the clinic frequently echoed with screams of agony, which had dragged down business for the surrounding shops as well.

So when they saw the clinic moving out, they were all delighted — not one person came forward to ask why.

Mei'er had been in the bag for four hours. She struggled violently at first, but before long her strength gave out.

Suddenly she felt herself being lifted, and in terror, she struggled with renewed vigor.

Just then, a low threat came from outside the bag: "Move again, and I'll put a cut in your father for every twitch."

Mei'er froze at once and stopped moving.

Bailangzai delivered the same threat to Su Kang.

Father and daughter were as if struck by a body-fixing spell.

The small boat followed the waterway eastward, bribing the guards at the water gate to pass out of the city.

Who knew how long had passed before Su Kang was finally released from the burlap bag.

Looking at the sky, he saw it was already full of stars.

"Doctor Su, we meet again." Lin Qian said with a warm smile, ordering someone to untie Su Kang's bonds.

Per Lin Qian's instructions, Su Kang's ropes had not been tied tightly — his limbs were numb, but not at risk of necrosis.

The first thing Su Kang did upon coming out of the bag was to search everywhere for his daughter, but on the deck there was only the one bag at his feet — no sign of his daughter.

"Where is Mei'er? What have you done to her?" Su Kang roared hoarsely, lunging with both hands at Lin Qian's throat.

Lin Qian walked to the ship's rail and pointed at the sea: "Your daughter is over there."

Su Kang stumbled over and followed Lin Qian's finger. He saw a warm yellow spread of ship lanterns across the sea surface, like ten thousand points of starlight.

On the Tanka boat nearest the Santa Ana, Mei'er was also gazing upward. Father and daughter called out to each other for a long while, confirming that the other was unharmed, before they could rest easy.

Su Kang drew back and said to Lin Qian with indignation: "What do you want?"

Lin Qian pointed toward the cabin: "Some of my brothers are wounded. I've specially invited Doctor Su to treat them."

Bailangzai said: "Everything from the clinic has been moved onto the ship. Whatever Doctor Su needs, you can just say the word."

Father and daughter separated onto two different boats — a threat made plain as day.

His weak spot was grasped with perfect precision; Su Kang had no choice but to comply.

Su Kang saw things clearly and had no intention of playing the foolish game of talking tough and then caving under threat.

He merely glanced sideways, then spat: "Despicable."

Lin Qian: "Treat the wounds with care. Wherever you heal one of my brothers badly, that's where a piece will go missing from your daughter."

Su Kang stared at Lin Qian, his eyes wanting to devour the man. In the end, he could only shoulder his medical chest and head down into the cabin.

The wounded had been placed in the lowest hold, together with the gunpowder magazine.

That spot was below the waterline — in battle it would basically never be hit, making it the safest place.

Su Kang descended to the lowest hold and saw a dozen or so wounded men lying there, all seriously hurt. Their wounds had been hastily treated, but most of the dressings had split open.

These were pearl divers who had been accidentally injured when Lin Qian attacked the water stockade.

Su Kang set down his medical chest and went forward to treat them, while several sailors held candles and lamps behind him.

On the Tanka boat.

Mei'er saw her father trapped on the great ship, steeled herself, and made to leap into the water.

She was yanked back by Bai Qing behind her.

"Let go of me!" Mei'er lashed out at Bai Qing with fists and feet.

Bai Qing was utterly unbothered. He pinned Mei'er's hands behind her back and applied the slightest pressure — Mei'er cried out in pain, tears streaming down her face.

Seeing the little girl cry, Bai Qing quickly withdrew her hand, thinking to herself that people on shore were just too delicate—she had only used two-tenths of her strength, and the girl was already crying.

Mei'er knew she couldn't beat Bai Qing, so she could only curl up in a corner of the Tanka boat.

After a long while, she smelled a savory aroma.

She saw Bai Qing carrying over a bowl of warm congee and pressing it into her hands.

"Eat." Bai Qing tried to speak as gently as she could.

Mei'er had been tied up since early morning, gone the whole day without water or food, and frightened besides—only now that she smelled the food did she realize how thirsty and hungry she was.

She carefully took the warm congee, blew on it even though there was no steam to blow away, then took a sip.

It tasted awful.

She glanced at Bai Qing, saw that Bai Qing was eating with relish, and didn't dare say much—she tilted her head back and drank the congee down.

Fortunately she was starving, so she gulped it down without caring about the taste.

After the meal, Bai Qing rinsed the bowl carelessly in seawater, put it away, then blew out the boat lamp.

"Sleep." Bai Qing said.

Mei'er gave an "oh," and obediently lay down, but her heart was worried about her father, she was in a strange place, and the boat kept rocking—how could she possibly sleep?

After enduring miserably for a long time, she called out softly to Bai Qing: "Sister?"

Bai Qing opened her eyes in the darkness, her right hand gripping the dagger at her waist: "What is it?"

"Could you let me go?"

Bai Qing said coldly: "No."

"I miss my father."

"Bear it."

"I want to go home..."

"Bear it."

The little girl sobbed quietly. Bai Qing sat up helplessly and lit the boat lamp again.

There was nothing she could do—the helmsman had ordered her to keep a good watch over this little girl, neither letting her escape nor letting her be wronged.

This was truly harder than killing someone.

Seeing the little girl cry harder and harder, Bai Qing asked softly: "Little girl, what's your name?"

"My name is Su Qingmei, and my father is Su Kang."

"We're heading to Nan'ao Island right now. Once we get there, you'll be able to see your father, and you'll have a new home.

This new home is bigger and more comfortable than your old one.

There's firewood that never runs out, a stove that never collapses, no more drinking cold water, no more eating half-cooked rice porridge—isn't that good?"

Su Qingmei gradually stopped sobbing: "Really? How much longer?"

Bai Qing reached out and stroked the little girl's hair: "Soon, we're almost there."

Yahei

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