Coming to Ask

The skies had cleared for a few days, but now the mountains and streets of Zhenshan County were once again wrapped in rain and mist, a soft drizzle falling without pause.

Zhu Fengqin sat in the main hall with a few idle women, pasting matchboxes together, working and gossiping in equal measure.

'This rain comes a few days, clears a few days, back and forth it'll go until Qingming, and then the sky will finally open up. Once it clears, the fields will be soaked through — right around Qingming is when you plant the beans and sow the melons.'

'The way things look, this should be a good year. Plenty of rain.'

'Whatever our eldest girl likes to eat, we ought to plant more of it in the private plot.'

'Her? She likes everything that tastes good, and frowns if she has to eat two extra bites of something that doesn't.' Speaking of Zhu Shi'an, Zhu Fengqin glanced around and, not seeing her, asked, 'Where has she gone off to?'

Xu Tang came running in with news: 'The family head sister is busy in her room.'

'Busy doing what?'

'The family head sister said she's drawing Peace Talismans.'

Xu Tang wrapped herself around her mother and wriggled about until she earned a smack on the bottom, then ran off giggling.

Zhu Fengqin remembered: 'The children from the clan who passed their exams — they'll be leaving soon, won't they?'

Zhu Changfang said, 'Not so far, really. The farthest school is in Wuhan — from our county you take the Spring River by boat out to the Yangtze River, then follow the Yangtze straight to Wuhan. The whole journey is by boat, no changing transport halfway, unlike those children going to study in other places who have to switch vehicles again and again.'

Zhu Fengqin mentioned it once, and everyone understood — the eldest girl was probably preparing Peace Talismans for those children heading off to school.

Wu Shenpo, sitting to Zhu Fengqin's right, nudged Zhu Changfang: 'My little granddaughter can never sleep soundly at night. Could we ask the eldest girl for a Peace Talisman for her to wear?'

'I'll ask for you.'

Zhu Fengqin didn't even lift herself off the stool. She craned her neck and called loudly toward the inner room: 'An'an! Wu Shenpo is asking you for a Peace Talisman!'

Zhu Shi'an heard her. She came out carrying a Peace Talisman and said, 'Bring the child over so I can have a look.'

Wu Shenpo set down her matchbox. 'I'll go fetch her right now.'

Zhu Shi'an glanced at the sky. 'No hurry — wait until the rain stops.'

'Fair enough.'

Zhu Shi'an handed the Peace Talisman to Zhu Changfang. 'Fang jie, when you have a moment, make a trip to the clan.'

Zhu Changfang took it with a smile. 'I love doing this sort of errand. I'll go deliver it.'

With the Peace Talisman handed off, Zhu Shi'an didn't rest — she went to the storeroom in the back courtyard to find a plank of wood to carve a spirit tablet. On her way through the back courtyard she passed Xiao Bai's room. She glanced in: empty. Probably draped over some rafter somewhere.

That snake really had all the luck — food, amusement, years of idle ease in the Zhu Clan's home. Just thinking about it was enough to make one envious.

Zhu Shi'an sighed. Unlike Xiao Bai, she still had to work hard at her Cultivation Practice. And these days, with Spiritual Energy so diffuse and scattered, Cultivation Practice was a matter of twice the effort for half the result. Exhausting.

By mid-afternoon the rain had stopped, though dark clouds still piled up overhead — it would likely fall again come evening.

Zhu Changfang dusted off her hands and stood, telling her two daughters to stay put and not wander: 'Wait here until I come back for you.'

'We know!' the sisters called back from inside.

Zhu Fengqin, knowing she was heading to the clan, said, 'Take an umbrella — don't get caught in the rain halfway there.'

'I've got one.'

Not long after Zhu Changfang left, Wu Shenpo arrived carrying her three-year-old granddaughter Fufu, with Wu Shenpo's husband following close behind.

Zhu Fengqin called into the house: 'An'an, come out quickly!'

Zhu Shi'an had found a suitable plank and was looking for a carving knife when she heard Fengqin calling. She set the plank down and came out empty-handed.

'Eldest girl, have a look at her, would you?'

Wu Shenpo placed Fufu in Zhu Shi'an's arms and said, 'We had Changming look at her before. Changming said the child is perfectly healthy — not a thing wrong with her.'

Wu Shenpo's husband added, 'Changming also said the nighttime crying was probably from being too hot or too cold, or from being smothered under too many quilts in winter. He didn't prescribe anything.'

Fufu had round, blinking eyes and was unbearably sweet to look at. Zhu Shi'an felt her pulse, then pressed a hand to her forehead. The child hummed contentedly, pressing her little head again and again against Zhu Shi'an's palm.

Zhu Shi'an smiled. She drew her hand back, but the little girl seized her fingers and pressed them to her own cheek, delighted.

Zhu Shi'an touched her soft face, then handed her back to Wu Shenpo. 'Nothing serious. Small children have light souls — they startle easily. Settling the soul will do it.'

Zhu Shi'an pointed to the thermos on the table. 'Fengqin boiled some sugarcane water. Give Fufu a little to drink.'

Wu Shenpo paused, then nodded. 'Sugarcane water is a bit sweet — Fufu loves it.'

The young wives working busily with their hands all laughed. What child didn't love something sweet?

'I'll pour.'

Zhu Fengqin poured out several bowls of sugarcane water, one for everyone.

'The sugarcane is from Jin Xiu — she planted a clump of it along the base of her back wall. It didn't grow very well, lots of nodes, tough on the teeth. She gave me two stalks. Boiled into water it's lovely to drink.'

Wu Shenpo laughed. 'We're all getting to share in the good fortune.'

'Oh, this stuff is worth nothing — what fortune is there to share?' Zhu Fengqin turned and called out, 'Xiao Tang! Meimei! Come over here, quick!'

'Coming!'

The two sisters came running. Two bowls had been left on the table for them.

Xu Tang drank half a bowl in one breath, beaming: 'This is so good!'

Xiao Mei smacked her lips. 'Better than the sugarcane water my mum makes.'

A drop of sugarcane water spilled from Fufu's lips. Wu Shenpo dabbed it away with a handkerchief. 'Good, isn't it?'

Fufu nodded with a happy squint. 'So good!'

Wu Shenpo thought nothing of it — she assumed her granddaughter simply liked sugarcane water — and said, 'Tomorrow I'll have your dad find someone to buy a couple of stalks, and we'll boil our own sugarcane water at home.'

'You can boil it yourself — use the water from here.' Zhu Shi'an waved her hand and walked off.

Wu Shenpo didn't quite follow. Zhu Fengqin quickly explained: 'The well water in our courtyard is especially good. Better to use ours.'

Aren't all the wells in Sanqing Lane the same? What could possibly be different?

Wu Shenpo didn't understand the difference then, but by evening she did. Fufu, who used to wake and fuss several times a night, slept through the entire night without stirring once — a deep, sweet sleep.

Wu Shenpo's son and daughter-in-law were still puzzling over it when Wu Shenpo slapped her knee in excitement: 'There it is! It's the water from the eldest girl's courtyard — our Fufu drank that water and didn't wake once all night!'

'Really? Just from drinking water?' Liu Xin stared at her daughter's dopey smile, baffled.

Wu Shenpo said, 'Aiyoh, the eldest girl said it herself — it must have worked. Otherwise why did our Fufu sleep so soundly last night?'

Wu Shenpo's husband said, 'We owe it all to the eldest girl.'

Liu Xin looked at her husband Zhu Kangchuan and ventured, 'Could it be... that thing...?'

Zhu Kangchuan understood at once. 'Hard to say.'

Liu Xin immediately asked her in-laws, 'What exactly did the eldest girl say?'

'She said the child's soul was light and easily startled, that settling it would help, and that our Fufu should drink more sugarcane water.'

Zhu Kangchuan and Liu Xin exchanged a glance. That had to be it. Had Fufu been seeing something she shouldn't, all those nights she couldn't sleep?

The thought filled them both with dread. They skipped breakfast entirely, scooped up their daughter, and went straight to find the eldest girl — they had to know for certain.

Zhu Shi'an was not one to rise early. Zhu Fengqin had to go specially to her room and rouse her before she came out, reluctant and half-awake, to receive her visitors.

'Up!' Fufu spotted Zhu Shi'an and stretched out her arms.

Before Zhu Shi'an had fully come to her senses, the little girl was already in her arms. Zhu Shi'an poked her soft cheek gently. 'Slept well last night, did you?'

Fufu had no idea what 'well' meant. She wriggled happily in Zhu Shi'an's arms, perfectly content.

Liu Xin said quickly, 'She slept wonderfully — didn't wake once all night.'

'Good. Keep drinking plenty of water. Once she's older and her soul settles, she'll be fine.'

'That water...' Liu Xin hesitated.

Zhu Shi'an smiled. 'It's ordinary water.'

'But the water from our house...'

Zhu Shi'an said, 'Your water won't do. It has to be ours.'

Zhu Kangchuan and Liu Xin understood. The eldest girl had clearly done something — otherwise why would only her water have this effect?

'Before, when Fufu cried at night — had she seen something unclean?'

'No. Wandering spirits don't have the nerve to enter Sanqing Lane. Sanqing Lane is very clean.' Zhu Shi'an handed the child back to them. 'If it's too much trouble to bring her over every day, you can come by with a bowl and take some water home with you.'

'No trouble at all. My in-laws are retired and have time on their hands — they can bring Fufu over every day easily enough.'

'That's right, my parents have the time.'

Fufu was their only child. Between the two grandparents, one of them was always home with her — it was no strain at all.

The couple's thoughts ran together: how could it be the same? The water the eldest girl boiled here must simply be better.

Zhu Kangchuan worked at the Grain Station; Liu Xin worked at the county committee office. Both were busy with work, and the recent nights of Fufu's crying had left them worn thin. Now that the nighttime fussing was resolved, it felt like a tremendous relief.

With the child sleeping through the night, they were both visibly restored — the change showed plainly on their faces.

The other members of the Sanqing Lane Zhu Family who knew the truth began visiting the main household more diligently, bringing their children daily for a bowl of water.

Outsiders knew nothing of this. When Zhu Kangchuan and Liu Xin's colleagues noticed how bright and energetic they looked, they all asked how they'd managed to settle the child.

'Not sure, really — she just got better on her own.' When colleagues pressed Liu Xin, she brushed it off with that easy answer.

'No medicine? No injections?'

'My child wasn't sick. Why would she need medicine or injections?'

Sun Dajie from the office pulled Liu Xin aside for a thorough inquiry: 'My little grandson is just like your Fufu — cries every night. Aiyoh, he's been this way since he was born, nearly a year old now and not a bit better. I'm at my wit's end. How did your Fufu suddenly get over it? Tell me!'

Liu Xin could hardly say anything reckless, so she only said the child would grow out of it.

The mail room called Liu Xin to sign for documents from the city. She hurried off: 'Sun Dajie, let's talk later.'

'Yes, we'll talk next time!'

Sun Dajie was still fretting when Old Zhang, who had been quietly sorting documents without a word, leaned over and murmured, 'Sun Dajie, Liu Xin's husband is from the Zhu Clan.'

The Zhu Clan — so what? Everyone else in the office pricked up their ears.

Both Sun Dajie and Old Zhang were born and raised locally. The moment the Zhu Clan was mentioned, something stirred in Sun Dajie's mind.

'Hasn't the old patriarch of the Zhu Clan been gone for years? And their Medical Hall has been closed for ten years now?' Sun Dajie asked Old Zhang.

'Old Zhu Furu has passed, yes — but a capable one has appeared in the family again.'

'Who?'

Old Zhang stepped close to Sun Dajie and murmured something in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Sun Dajie listened, then nodded. 'Then I'd better go.'

'Go where, Sun Dajie?' someone asked.

Sun Dajie smiled. 'Take the child to see a doctor, of course. The Zhu Clan doctors have a hereditary gift for pediatrics. There happens to be a Zhu family doctor at the County Hospital — I'll take my grandson to see him.'

Oh, just going to the doctor.

Everyone lost interest.

The Medical Hall was still closed, and it wouldn't do to show up uninvited for no reason. Sun Dajie waited until after work, then truly did take her grandson to the County Hospital to find the Zhu doctor. At the hospital entrance she ran into the county magistrate and his wife, also there with a child.

Sun Dajie greeted them: 'Magistrate He, you're at the hospital too?'

He Zaiming nodded pleasantly. 'The child has a slight fever. Brought him in to be seen.'

He Zaiming was young, had married late, and had two children — a six-year-old son and a son just over a year old, a few months older than Sun Dajie's grandson.

'Aiyoh, the weather has been so changeable lately — cold and rainy — children catch things easily.'

The two parties exchanged a few pleasantries, then each went their separate way with their children.

They were headed in different directions: Magistrate He and his wife took their child to the Western medicine wing for an injection, while Sun Dajie carried her grandson to the far end of the corridor to find Zhu Changming.

'Doctor Zhu! Your Zhu family has always been best at children's ailments — you must be skilled too. Come, have a look at my grandson.'

'Sit down and tell me.'

Zhu Changming took the child's pulse and examined his tongue, then said, 'Your child is perfectly healthy. Nothing wrong at all.'

Sun Dajie said loudly, 'There is something wrong! How can there not be? He cries every night — isn't that a problem?'

Before Zhu Changming could reply, Sun Dajie continued, 'If you can't treat this, the one in your family certainly can. Why don't you take me to Sanqing Lane to find your eldest girl?'

Zhu Changming: '...'

Sun Dajie's purpose was clear: she had come specifically to see the eldest girl of the Zhu Clan.

Zhu Changming said, 'Your child truly isn't sick.'

'That's not for you to decide.' Sun Dajie gave him a meaningful look. 'Back when your family's old patriarch was still alive, everyone said he was wonderful with children's ailments. If your Medical Hall were still open, I wouldn't have come to you at all.'

Outside the consultation room, a patient was craning their neck to peer in — also waiting to be seen.

Zhu Changming said to Sun Dajie, 'Household matters aren't mine to decide. Sit here and wait a moment — I'll send someone back to ask.'

'All right!'

The Zhu Clan's medical arts were hereditary. Zhu Changming had once studied under old Zhu Furu, and now he too had two apprentices: Zhu Kanglin and Zhu Yongwen.

Zhu Yongwen was in his second year of senior school, the older of the two — he was sent to run to Sanqing Lane and ask.

Zhu Shi'an happened to be free. She told Zhu Changming to bring the visitor back with him.

With that word, Sun Dajie was overjoyed. The moment Zhu Changming finished his shift she scooped up her child and followed him to Sanqing Lane.

He Zaiming, as county magistrate, had drawn the hospital leadership's attention the moment he arrived — after the injection and all the attendant fuss, he and his wife didn't leave until after closing time. As they came out, they happened to see Sun Dajie carrying her child and walking off with someone.

Director Li stepped forward to make an introduction: 'That's Doctor Zhu Changming. Treating children's ailments is a hereditary skill in his family — he's quite accomplished.'

'Zhu? The Sanqing Lane Zhu Family?' Magistrate He's wife, Lü Wen, asked.

Director Li nodded with a smile. 'The Sanqing Lane Zhu Family is very well known in our county. You've heard of them?'

Lü Wen said, 'My younger brother mentioned them once — said the Zhu Clan has a lot of empty houses.'

That was not a thread Director Li could easily pick up. He smiled, glanced at his watch with feigned surprise, and said, 'My, it's getting late. Magistrate He, you'd best head home — wait much longer and the rain will likely start again.'

He Zaiming laughed. 'I know. In this season around here, it's all spring rain and no mountains to be seen, winding rivers and not a boat in sight.'

'Ha! Yes, that's exactly how people say it.'

A few more courteous words, and the two parties parted. The entrance of the County Hospital fell quiet.