Chapter 31: Friends
“Sister Changxi, you’ve come to collect medicinal herbs!”
Seeing Hua Changxi arrive at the storeroom to collect medicinal herbs, Li Meng enthusiastically greeted her.
Hua Changxi: “Has Brother Yu woken up?”
Li Meng nodded with a smile: “He’s awake, Brother Yu can even get up on his own now.” As he spoke, he approached Hua Changxi and lowered his voice.
“The palm print on Brother Yu’s back has disappeared. Sister Changxi, your medical skills are amazing.” He gave Hua Changxi a thumbs-up.
Hua Changxi smiled: “It’s good that he’s awake. He still needs to drink the medicine. Brother Yu’s internal injuries are quite severe; he’ll need to drink it for at least five days.” Saying this, she went to move the medicinal herbs.
Li Meng quickly said: “Sister Changxi, come over here to get your medicine.”
Hua Changxi glanced at the medicinal herbs Li Meng was pointing to and shook her head: “I’ll move these ones.”
Li Meng became anxious and walked over, whispering: “These medicinal herbs you’re moving are very difficult to wash.”
Hua Changxi smiled: “It’s fine, I wash them quickly, and washing these medicinal herbs isn’t difficult for me.”
Every day, seeing the laborers from the Sixth Bureau return to their rooms exhausted, seeing their hard work, she sometimes thought that if she hadn’t stumbled upon this opportunity, she would be just as struggling as them.
An ordinary laborer, day after day, doing arduous work, earning a meager amount of silver.
Whenever she thought this, she felt fortunate for herself and sympathetic towards the laborers.
Since washing medicinal herbs isn’t a problem for her, what’s the harm in washing a few more difficult ones within her ability?
Seeing Hua Changxi insist on taking the difficult-to-wash medicinal herbs, Li Meng felt a bit helpless. After the laborers who came to collect herbs had mostly left, and he had nothing else to do, he went to find Yu Hui.
“Brother Yu, this wound medicine Sister Changxi made is truly effective. After just one night, your wound has already started to scab. I need to write down this prescription. Next time we get bumped or bruised, we’ll use this medicine.”
Wan Xiaozhou carefully placed the crushed medicinal paste made by Hua Changxi into a porcelain jar.
Yu Hui was also surprised by Hua Changxi’s medical skills. If he had been injured by a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist before, he would have suffered for at least half a month. But this time, he barely felt any pain.
Wan Xiaozhou: “Brother Yu, after your injuries heal, you must properly thank Sister Changxi. Not to mention she carried you back, just for treating you, we saved dozens of taels of silver.”
Yu Hui’s expression became a little unnatural. When the people in the storeroom were targeting Sister Changxi, he had stood by and done nothing. She must hate him.
Wan Xiaozhou noticed Yu Hui’s expression and thought for a moment: “Sister Changxi is a person of strong character. If there’s any misunderstanding between you and her, Brother Yu, it’s best to clear it up soon.”
At first, Brother Yu really liked Sister Changxi. Later, for some reason, Brother Yu suddenly stopped paying attention to her.
Yu Hui softly grunted in agreement.
At this moment, Li Meng entered the room. He first asked about Yu Hui’s injuries and, upon learning he felt no discomfort, began to talk about Hua Changxi collecting medicinal herbs that morning.
“I don’t know what Sister Changxi was thinking. I told her to take the easier-to-wash medicinal herbs so it would be less work, but she insisted on taking the difficult ones.”
Wan Xiaozhou thought for a moment: “Sister Changxi washes medicinal herbs very quickly. As for the other laborers, even the easy-to-wash ones keep them busy until evening, let alone the difficult ones.”
“Perhaps Sister Changxi wanted to help others? If she washes the most difficult ones, it will be easier for others.”
Li Meng looked skeptical: “Is that so? In the past, everyone we encountered was slacking off. For a young woman like her to act so unconventionally, I’m finding it hard to believe.”
Wan Xiaozhou smiled: “There are still many kind people in this world. There are people like Sister Changxi, who appear cold but have warm hearts, and people like Brother Yu, who lend a helping hand.”
“If Brother Yu hadn’t helped us, we would have been thrown into the Yong’an Canal by the dock workers to feed the fish long ago.”
Wan Xiaozhou and Li Meng were villagers from villages near the Capital City. They made a difficult living at the Yong’an Canal dock on the South Gate. Simply because they accidentally offended a steward, they were almost ordered to be beaten to death.
For saving them and giving them stable jobs, the two were truly grateful to Yu Hui from the bottom of their hearts.
Yu Hui had to speak up at this point: “Why bring this up again? We are all fellow sufferers; mutual assistance is only natural.”
Wan Xiaozhou chuckled: “I was just talking with Li Meng, and the conversation led here.”
Yu Hui: “Sister Changxi used to like to take only a small amount of each medicinal herb. When she comes to collect herbs, please mention to her to continue taking them like she used to.”
Wan Xiaozhou and Li Meng both agreed with smiles.
Yu Hui recovered completely after seven days of rest and then came to the storeroom to supervise the distribution of medicinal herbs.
Hua Changxi came to collect medicinal herbs as usual. Seeing Yu Hui there, she smiled and greeted him: “Brother Yu.”
Yu Hui’s expression was a bit awkward. He hesitated for a while, and only after Hua Changxi had loaded all the herbs she was collecting onto the cart did he speak: “Sister Changxi, thank you for saving me.”
Hua Changxi smiled: “You’re welcome. When I first joined the Labor Department, you took good care of me, Brother Yu. I haven’t forgotten.”
Yu Hui felt a bit embarrassed. While helping Hua Changxi move the herbs, he seemed to want to say something but hesitated.
Hua Changxi looked at him: “Brother Yu, do you need something?”
Yu Hui quickly shook his head: “No, I don’t need anything.”
Hua Changxi finished loading the herbs. Seeing Yu Hui still following her closely, she thought for a moment and finally asked: “Brother Yu, can you tell me if I offended you somewhere before?”
Yu Hui paused, then awkwardly scratched the back of his head: “That… I thought you looked down on me.”
Hua Changxi looked surprised: “Why would you think that?”
Yu Hui became even more embarrassed and, after hesitating, finally said: “The people in the storeroom teased us. If you didn’t look down on me, why would you get angry?”
Hearing this, Hua Changxi couldn’t help but laugh out loud, looking at Yu Hui: “You think I shouldn’t have been angry?”
Yu Hui: “It was just a joke.”
Hua Changxi’s expression turned serious: “I don’t like being a joke in other people’s mouths, and I am not anyone’s joke.”
Seeing her seriousness, Yu Hui didn’t know what to say.
Hua Changxi crossed her arms: “Brother Yu, if I were to throw you into a male brothel for people to amuse themselves with, and then tell you it was just a joke, would you be happy?”
Yu Hui’s eyes widened: “You, Sister Changxi, you are a young woman, how can you talk about male brothels so casually?”
Hua Changxi snorted: “Why can’t I? You men can talk about brothels freely, so I can talk about male brothels too.”
Yu Hui looked around anxiously: “Stop talking, someone might hear, and it will be bad for your reputation.”
Hua Changxi snorted and turned her head away.
Seeing this, Yu Hui could only soften his tone: “Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this anymore.”
Hua Changxi looked back: “Why not? Since the problem has arisen, it must be resolved completely, otherwise, neither of us will have any lingering issues.”
Yu Hui was truly flustered: “It’s not that serious, not that serious.”
“It is for me.”
Hua Changxi looked at Yu Hui seriously: “Brother Yu, I am very serious about choosing my friends. Do you know you were wrong?”
Yu Hui’s mind was racing. Wasn’t this about Sister Changxi offending him? How did it turn into him being wrong?
Hua Changxi raised her right hand and held up her index finger: “Your first mistake is thinking I shouldn’t have been angry.”
Yu Hui thought of Hua Changxi’s male brothel analogy and felt he was in the wrong. He nodded: “Yes, yes, yes, I was wrong.”
Hua Changxi then held up her middle finger: “Your second mistake is that you didn’t communicate with me at all. I didn’t even know what you were angry about, so how could we resolve any misunderstanding?”
Yu Hui continued to nod: “Yes, I was wrong.”
Seeing him admit his mistakes, Hua Changxi magnanimously said: “Alright, seeing your attitude in admitting your mistakes is acceptable, I forgive you.”
Looking at her like this, Yu Hui muttered: “I was wrong, but you weren’t?”
Hua Changxi glared: “What did I do wrong?”
Yu Hui: “You have such a quick temper. If Mao Wei was causing trouble for you, and you had come to me for help, wouldn’t I have helped you? Using this as an excuse, we could have also naturally reconciled.”
Hua Changxi: “When faced with problems, I prefer to solve them myself rather than asking for help. Also, Brother Yu, I want to ask you a question.”
Yu Hui: “Ask away.”
Hua Changxi: “Do you want to be friends with me?”
Yu Hui nodded: “Of course.”
Hua Changxi smiled: “Since we are friends, why would there be any asking for help? Shouldn’t it be mutual assistance?” She said this while looking at him very seriously.
“Brother Yu, when I first became friendly with you, I was thinking of quickly establishing myself in the Labor Department. I was a bit eager and a bit utilitarian.”
“You have been in the Labor Department longer than me and manage the storeroom, holding a higher position than many laborers. Your choices in who to associate with are far greater than mine.”
“You might have sensed my utilitarian intentions and, seeing that I am a young woman, you took care of me a bit.”
“However, in your heart, you didn’t see me as a friend, but merely as someone dependent on you.”
“Therefore, when the people in the storeroom made fun of me, because you thought it was nothing, I shouldn’t have been angry.”
“And after you stopped talking to me, I should have eagerly sought you out.”
“Brother Yu, do you think this is how friends are supposed to be?”
Yu Hui looked at Hua Changxi, remaining silent.
Hua Changxi continued with a smile: “Brother Yu, there is one prerequisite for being friends with me, and that is that we are equals.”
“If you approach this with the mindset that I am dependent on you, then I tell you, we can never be friends.”
After speaking, she smiled and pushed the medicinal herbs away as she left.
Yu Hui stood there stunned, contemplating Hua Changxi’s words.
Wan Xiaozhou walked over: “Brother Yu, you haven’t cleared up the misunderstanding with Sister Changxi, have you?”
Yu Hui shook his head: “No.” He then sighed, “In this life, I can only be friends and comrades with Sister Changxi.”
He understood Sister Changxi’s words, and it was precisely because he understood them that he realized how proud a person Sister Changxi was.
He was not someone who could subdue such a person.
Wan Xiaozhou was confused: “Isn’t being friends good?”
Yu Hui looked at him and said nothing.
This was the first young woman who had smiled brightly at him and called him Big Brother!
