Disease rights policy

Qiao Ran entered the building alone. The young man who was there to greet her was still fast asleep, snoring loudly. Qiao Ran approached him and tapped on the table.

The young man mumbled "Who is it?", then sleepily got up and stretched. He had only raised his arm halfway when he froze, staring at Qiao Ran's face.

The sleepiness on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a smile. He asked Qiao Ran in a low voice, "What do you want to ask of me, young lady? Why did you come here alone? It's not safe."

Qiao Ran knew that she would need this face sooner or later, so she smiled and replied, "I'm looking for your Commander Wu."

"Oh, you're looking for our commander?" the young man said slowly. "What do you need our commander for? Just tell me."

Qiao Ran smiled, placed her hands on the table, and said sincerely, "Come and become my apprentice."

"Oh, to become an apprentice... Ah!" The young man straightened up abruptly, howling at the people outside as if he had heard something in his sleep, "Old Pei, Old Cheng, come in quickly!!"

Before long, all the burly men who had been picking their toes outside rushed in.

"Ge Qingqing, what are you yelling about!"

Ge Qingqing ran out from behind the table and grabbed the sleeve of the square-faced, burly man at the front. "Old Pei, it's a ghost! It's a ghost!"

The man called Lao Pei shook off Ge Qingqing's hand with a look of disgust, saying, "Get lost, what happened?"

“The regimental commander’s little apprentice is here,” Ge Qingqing said, pointing to Qiao Ran, who had a simple, silly smile on her face. “Did you all see him?”

Upon hearing this, all the burly men present stopped picking their toes, stunned into silence, swallowing hard as they stared at Qiao Ran, completely bewildered.

After a long pause, Qiao Ran finally spoke in a clear, crisp voice, "You all knew I was coming?"

A slightly younger man gave an awkward smile, "Well, we all heard that the commander was going to take on a little apprentice, but we didn't expect it to be a young girl. We were quite surprised."

"Oh, I see." Qiao Ran felt much relieved; Chen Jiu's arrangements were even more thoughtful than she had imagined.

The young man awkwardly wiped his hands on his lapel before clasping his hands in greeting to Qiao Ran, "My name is Cheng Kaiji, nicknamed Old Wolf, and his name is..."

"My name is Shan Nian, but they all call me Shan Zi," Shan Nian was pushed forward by the people behind him, quickly interrupting Cheng Kaiji's well-intentioned introduction. The brothers behind him used all their strength, and he stumbled twice from the push.

In an instant, Cheng Kaiji and Shan Nian were quickly shoved down, and the others rushed forward one after another, enthusiastically introducing themselves to Qiao Ran.

"My name is Dayue!"

"Hello, little sister, my name is Lao Pi."

"...It's my turn, it's my turn, don't push! My name is Gou Fugui, but they all call me Fugui."

"And me and me!"

"..."

Qiao Ran was forced to lean against the table behind her. They were so enthusiastic that they were spitting all over her, making her smile freeze.

"Everyone, step back!" the burly man who had been standing at the front shouted, grabbing the two idiots who were staring intently at Qiao Ran by the back of their collars and pulling them aside. He didn't forget to kick them a couple of times, cursing, "What kind of behavior is this? Don't scare the girl. Stand at the back!!"

Qiao Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The burly man said, "My name is Pei Chenghu, and I am the deputy head of this Tuoyue Pavilion. What is your surname, young lady?"

Qiao Ran straightened her appearance, cupped her hands and said, "Hello, Commander Pei, my name is Qiao Ran, everyone is so warm and welcoming."

Pei Chenghu smiled and said, "They just didn't expect you to come. They're all naive and haven't seen much of the world. They don't mean any harm, so don't be afraid."

“I know,” Qiao Ran glanced at everyone, “Everyone is… doing well.”

"The commander just went out, he should be back in a bit, please wait a little while."

Qiao Ran: "It's alright, it's alright."

"Ge Qingqing," Pei Chenghu shouted, "There's too much noise up front, take Qiaoqiao to the backyard to rest."

Ge Qingqing, despite being instructed, was all smiles. She darted up in a flash, squinting her eyes and cheerfully said, "Qiaoqiao, I'll take you to the back to wait. There are some delicious snacks there, and we've also planted some flowers for you to see."

"it is good."

Although she had only met this group of people once, Qiao Ran felt a sense of familiarity during their brief time together, as if they had known each other for a very long time. They treated her like a little sister, warmly welcoming her arrival without any sense of estrangement.

This feeling instantly pulled Qiao Ran back to her previous life, where she had made a group of truly good friends in her former organization, and she could always entrust her back to them in times of crisis.

She thought she would never experience this feeling of mutual appreciation again in her life, but Tuoyue Pavilion gave her hope again.

Qiao Ran followed Ge Qingqing to the backyard. The backyard was square and neat, with all sorts of weapons on display. However, there were two potted plants on the steps facing due north, drooping and looking wilted, clearly indicating that they hadn't been watered in a long time.

Qiao Ran laughed out loud, "These are the flowers you grow?"

Ge Qingqing smiled sheepishly, "I forgot to water it today. Look how droopy it is. I'll water it in a bit, and I guarantee it'll be lively again by tonight."

"what is this flower?"

It was a bright red, but Qiao Ran couldn't tell what kind of plant it was.

Ge Qingqing scratched the back of her head and stared blankly for a while. "Huh, what's it called again? I can't remember for a moment. The regimental commander brought it back from somewhere and put it here."

Qiao Ran laughed again, "A bunch of grown men live in this courtyard, who would take care of a potted plant?"

"Qiaoqiao, have some snacks first, don't be shy."

Qiao Ran sat down inside the room. She noticed that the furnishings in each room were the same: two simple tables and a bed.

She said, "I saw that everything was brightly lit as soon as I came in. What's that covering my head?"

"This is called fluorite, and it can keep you from getting dark for years," Ge Qingqing said, thinking Qiao Ran was interested. He said, "Wait a moment," and ran out. Not long after, he came back in with a handful of fluorite and dumped it all in front of Qiao Ran.

"Qiaoqiao, pick a few to carry with you. You can use them to light your way when it gets dark, and they won't look different during the day. They can also be used as accessories."

Qiao Ran stared wide-eyed at the exquisitely crafted fireflies carved in various styles before her. "Are these things worthless? Are they readily available on the black market?"

Ge Qingqing shook her head. "How could that be? Fluorite is a building material on the black market. It is rare and difficult to transport, so it is very precious. It is never circulated outside the black market. What you can buy on the black market are leftover scraps from construction, which have been processed into various styles that everyone likes and sold."

Qiao Ran felt increasingly embarrassed that someone would give her so much of something so precious.

Seeing that she hadn't chosen anything for a while, Ge Qingqing assumed that she didn't have any styles she liked, so she left with a "wait a little longer" and disappeared.

Qiao Ran assumed he was going to take it again and didn't have time to stop him.

But this time Ge Qingqing came back empty-handed. He sat down opposite Qiao Ran and said, "If Qiao Qiao doesn't like these, then don't be picky. Old Cheng and the others heard that you like fluorite, so they took all their money and went out to buy some. Buy more, and there's bound to be one you like."

Qiao Ran pursed her lips dryly, too moved to speak.

Sure enough, Cheng Kaiji and his group returned shortly afterward, their bags piled high like a mountain. They surrounded Qiao Ran, opened the bundles, and the entire room was illuminated by the exquisite fluorite trinkets.

"Qiaoqiao, hurry up and pick a few to take with you." Ge Qingqing pulled Qiao Ran and urged her to get them quickly.

“This looks good,” Gou Fugui picked out a special fluorite hairpin and was about to put it in Qiao Ran’s hair, saying impatiently, “It’s so bright, it makes Qiao Qiao look even more radiant.”

"This pendant, carved into the shape of a jade pendant, is also beautiful."

Amidst the lively debate, Qiao Ran was soon covered in a pile of clothes.

"Brothers, I can be a lamplighter now."