Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 43 Son and Father

Outside, the heavy rain continued.

Master Gu glanced at Chen Qing, pondered for a moment, and then walked into Chen Qing's room to his desk.

"Grind the ink for me."

Chen Qing said "okay," then stood in front of the table and quickly ground the ink. Master Gu picked up his brush, dipped it in the ink, and wrote down the names of one medicinal herb after another on the paper.

Areca nut, magnolia bark, cardamom, anemarrhena rhizome, peony root…

He quickly wrote out a prescription, blew the ink dry, and then wrote a second one, and then a third one.

"This is Dayuan Drink."

Master Gu pointed to the first prescription and said, "It can prevent epidemics."

He looked up at Chen Qing and continued, "At that time, Anrentang can gather medicinal herbs, and our Gu family will brew medicine in the disaster-stricken areas to prevent epidemics."

"If someone already has a high fever, is delirious, and has rashes."

Master Gu pointed to the second prescription and instructed, "Use this one."

He explained the effects of the three prescriptions to Chen Qing one by one, then paused and said, "Medicine has always been based on a single lineage and prescription, so the decoctions made from these prescriptions may not be the right remedy. However, these are the experiential prescriptions summarized by our predecessors, so they can't be wrong."

He stood up, looked at Chen Qing, and continued, "Originally, I should have done these things myself, but my dear nephew... it is indeed time for him to make a name for the Gu family."

Chen Qing picked up the three prescriptions, looked them over one by one, and then looked at Master Gu, sighing, "Uncle always seems to be preparing to leave."

Master Gu turned to look at the torrential rain outside the window, then looked back at Chen Qing and said with a smile, "I'm the kind of person who likes to plan for the worst."

"If things go smoothly for me in Beijing, I will return to Deqing in the future. Perhaps I will even have the good fortune to hold my grandchildren."

Chen Qing put the three prescriptions into his pocket, then looked at the heavy rain outside, picked up the umbrella in the room, and walked out: "I'll go find Manager Lu to discuss the specific procedures."

Having said that, he opened his oil-paper umbrella and braved the heavy rain to walk into the rainy night.

In this era, manpower and resources are not very sufficient. Even disaster relief and rescue can only be carried out after the rain stops. However, before that, Chen Qing must make some plans in order to avoid being caught off guard.

Most of these matters need to be discussed and consulted with Manager Lu.

As Master Gu watched Chen Qing walk away under his umbrella, he stroked his beard, feeling somewhat surprised.

Chen Dalang, who usually seems to care about nothing, seems... seems to be quite concerned about this disaster relief effort?
…………

In the blink of an eye, another three days have passed.

After three or four days of heavy rain, the downpour finally stopped, and the sun reappeared. However, the continuous heavy rain had caused the Daxi River in Deqing to overflow, meaning…

The floods are already a foregone conclusion.

It was just the beginning of summer, and although this flood did not drown many people, it destroyed many houses and submerged a lot of farmland. Even if the crops in Deqing are replanted immediately, the entire harvest this year will probably be lost by at least 40%.

In an era where even a bumper harvest can leave many people hungry, such a year of famine is a devastating catastrophe.

While large landowners hope for stability, grain merchants and small landowners will inevitably hoard grain and speculate on prices, making a surge in grain prices this year a foregone conclusion.

That morning, not long after the heavy rain stopped, Magistrate Hong, dressed in plain black clothes, personally visited Master Gu at the Gu family home.

Soon, Master Gu personally came out to greet him, bowing and cupping his hands in greeting to Magistrate Hong from afar: "Your Excellency's presence is an honor, I am sorry for not welcoming you sooner."

Magistrate Hong returned the greeting, and the two proceeded to the main hall of the Gu family and took their seats. Magistrate Hong then looked at Master Gu somewhat embarrassedly and sighed, "Even if I didn't say anything, Brother Gu should know why I've come today."

Master Gu poured him some tea and asked, "Was the disaster very serious?"

Magistrate Hong lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and shook his head, saying, "The exact number is still unclear, but we received news last night that more than a dozen people drowned in one village."

"Judging from the situation across the entire county, the situation is probably very bad."

Magistrate Hong said with a wry smile, "I have reported to my superiors one by one, but it is still hard to say whether they will send people, money and grain. Even if they do, it is hard to say when they will reach Deqing, and how many grains will actually reach Deqing."

“Such a big thing has happened, and I can’t just ignore it, but as you know, Brother Gu, the county government is really dirt poor.”

At this point, Magistrate Hong stood up, bowed to Master Gu, and said, "Brother Gu, please lend me a hand!"

Master Gu said solemnly, "Your Excellency, I am a native of Deqing. When natural disasters occur, I, Gu, have an unshirkable duty to help."

"Well."

Magistrate Hong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "In a little while, I'll be hosting a banquet at Songhelou Restaurant for the local tycoons to discuss how to deal with this situation. Brother, please put in a good word for us on behalf of the yamen." Master Gu nodded solemnly.

"It's natural."

When such a major incident occurs, the local government will naturally "unite" local forces to face it together. Normally, the local powerful clans will contribute manpower, money, and effort.

The county magistrate, of course, would also have to invite these wealthy families to a banquet. The process of exchanging toasts and drinks alone would probably take several days.

As for the money and grain raised, successive county magistrates mostly split the profits 30/70.

Kind-hearted gentlemen would take 30% of it, while ruthless ones would take 70%.

For the sake of his future career, Magistrate Hong would have to protect his reputation at this time, so he would most likely not reach for such money. However, being in officialdom, he would inevitably have to go through these procedures, to deal with the powerful local families, and to "exchange ideas" with them.

While these gentlemen were drinking and chatting in the city, Chen Qing, along with Manager Lu, dozens of employees from Anrentang, several carts of grain, and a cart of medicinal herbs, had already traveled along the official road to the vicinity of the village most severely affected by the disaster.

He did not enter the disaster-stricken villages, but instead found an open space next to the official road and began to build a hut and a large pot for boiling medicine and porridge.

The continuous heavy rain has rendered most roads, except for the official road, impassable for vehicles. Once a vehicle gets stuck, there's no way to get it out. The only option is to distribute porridge nearby along the official road.

While sorting the medicinal herbs, Manager Lu directed several employees to start cooking the porridge.

He had worked in the herbal medicine shop for many years, and sorting herbs was a skill ingrained in his bones. Before long, he had prepared the herbs according to the proportions in the prescription.

Manager Lu called over a waiter and instructed him, "That's all. Boil half of the water in one pot."

He gave a few simple instructions, stood up, looked around, and finally saw Chen Qing, the eldest son of the Chen family, writing and drawing on the side, not knowing what he was writing.

As Manager Lu approached, he saw that Chen Qing had prepared several red silk ribbons at some point and was now writing on them with a large brush.

"Each person can receive one bowl of porridge per day, and five catties of dry firewood can be exchanged for another bowl."

"If you expose someone else for receiving more than their share, you can get another bowl."

"All consumption of medicinal decoctions is voluntary."

Manager Lu's gaze fell on the largest red silk ribbon, on which Chen Qing had written more than a dozen huge characters with a brush.

"The Gu family of Anrentang in Deqing, Chen Qing, are here to provide porridge and disaster relief."

Manager Lu was stunned. He winked at Chen Qing and said, "Young Master, isn't this a bit too... ostentatious?"

Lu Qing smiled wryly and said, "I'm afraid the government will be unhappy if they see this."

"It's alright, I'll just put this painting away temporarily when the officials arrive."

Chen Qing turned around and looked at Manager Lu.

"You can't do good deeds anonymously, can you?"

Manager Lu didn't know how to answer. After a long while, he scratched his head and said, "How about you remove the 'Anrentang Gu Family' from your name, young master?"

Chen Qing smiled and said, "Then it's up to you."

After saying this, he suddenly looked around and asked in a low voice, "Manager Lu, has Deqing ever experienced a civil uprising due to natural disasters?"

Manager Lu shook his head: "When people are hungry, they're bound to cause trouble. I know of several times already."

Chen Qing understood and nodded slowly.

"understood."

…………

Just as Chen Qing was single-mindedly focused on "making a name for himself," Prefect Chen, hundreds of miles away, also received letters from Master Gu and Madam Li at the same time.

After reading the letter, the prefect's face immediately darkened.

"Go and tell Magistrate Wang."

Prefect Chen looked down at the letter sent by Master Gu, remained silent for a moment, and then continued.

"I plan to return to my hometown to properly handle my eldest son's marriage."

"During my absence, the affairs of the government office have been entrusted to him."

(End of this chapter)