Chapter 234 SIDE STORY 6: Shifu And Baizhu.

The disaster relief couldn’t be neglected, and because time was running out, the team delivering it had to run for several days until they finally arrived at Langcheng.

The earthquake was much more serious than expected. Along the road, collapsed houses were seen, one after the other, while corpses laid on the ground. There were starving people among the ruins. It looked like Hell on Earth.

When Xiao YuAn, who was still full of joy of returning to Taoyuan Village, saw this scene, he put aside the idea of visiting his relatives after such a long time. After Xiao YuAn tied up his hair, then rolled up his sleeves, he set up shelters with the soldiers to treat people’s wounds and take care of the sick.

Chen Ge, and some soldiers, didn’t dare to let Xiao YuAn work. They stopped him every time they could. But Xiao YuAn would always patiently say: “What ‘honorable status’ are you talking about? I’m here! I can’t just be a useless waste of food, right?!”

In the end, Chen Ge still complained and tried to stop him. But Xiao YuAn hit Chen Ge’s head with a skillful kung-fu hand move.

The soldiers will never forget that day.

Their Empress rolled up his sleeves and raised a stick. With a smile on his face, that felt like a Spring breeze, he said: “Are you all going to try and stop me again?”

With the combined efforts of everyone, the shelter was built in half a day. Then, Xiao YuAn divided the soldiers into two teams. One team was in charge of sending the wounded people to the shelter, while the other team went to help people clean up the ruins.

Xiao YuAn stayed in the shelter to apply medicine to the wounded, who had been carried by the soldiers. An old man, dressed in rags, wiped his tears as he sobbed: “We’re glad you came here, the other shelter is running out of medicine. If you hadn’t come, we wouldn’t be able to survive.”

“Other shelter?” Xiao YuAn was puzzled.

The old man said: “Yes, a few days after the accident in Langcheng happened, two physicians surnamed Zhang came from the neighboring town, from Taoyuan Village. They’re good people! They saved a lot of people and treated their injuries without asking for money.”

Xiao YuAn’s eyes lit up as he asked: “Where are they now?”

“There’s a half-collapsed Taoist temple on the outskirts of the town. They’re right there!”

When Xiao YuAn finally managed to make some free time for himself, he ran to the outskirts of the town, right where that old man said. From a distance, he saw several bamboo poles outside the Taoist temple, with strips of gauze hanging on them. There were also three big dustpans next to the bamboo poles, as well as many herbs stained with soil.

The Taoist temple was converted into a temporary medical center. Every corner was filled with herbs, bottles and jars, while several wounded people laid on thick quilts. In the Taoist temple, there was an old man bending over, in order to examine a man whose leg was bleeding.

As the setting sun shone through the cracks of the broken walls, the old man’s white hair looked amberish. His back was a little bent, and his hands were holding a medicine jar, which were trembling slightly due to his age. As he stroked his white beard, he shouted all of a sudden: “Zhang Baizhu! Bring me the gauze at the door. Come on, brat! Hurry up!”

Xiao YuAn looked around, only to find that Zhang Baizhu wasn’t there. Without knowing where Zhang Baizhu had gone, Xiao YuAn didn’t dare to neglect as he hurried to take the gauze and hand it over to Zhang Changsong.

Zhang Changsong took the gauze, and when he was about to ask ‘Zhang Baizhu’ to lend him a hand, he raised his eyes. The second he saw Xiao YuAn in front of him, he froze.

But Xiao YuAn understood that Zhang Changsong didn’t know it was him, because Zhang Changsong didn’t recognize his appearance. Since Xiao YuAn didn’t know what to say, the two of them stared at each other in silence.

The wounded man on the table groaned all of a sudden, unconsciously moving his legs. As soon as he struggled, the pierced thigh began to bleed again. If the bleeding wasn’t stopped right away, that man may be in a critical condition.

Zhang Changsong pushed aside his astonishment and hurriedly said to Xiao YuAn: “Would Gongzi please help me hold him down? This wound needs to be pressed hard!”

“Alright.” Xiao YuAn nodded and hurried to do as he was told.

After a lot of effort, the wounded man finally quieted down. The wounded leg was also bandaged and no longer bled. At that moment, Xiao YuAn and Zhang Changsong, who were exhausted to death, each sighed a long breath.

A basin of clear water was placed next to the table, and Zhang Changsong washed his blood-soaked hands. Then, he called Xiao YuAn to wash his hands as well.

Xiao YuAn went forward and dipped his hands into the water. As Xiao YuAn washed his hands, he began to think about what to say.

‘Sigh. Even though we meet again, you don’t ‘know’ who I am. Where should I put my joy then?’

Xiao YuAn was still lamenting, when all of a sudden, Zhang Changsong said: “Excuse me, Gongzi, may I ask if you know a man named Xiao YuAn?”

His Shifu’s voice was very soft, but it fell on Xiao YuAn’s ears like thunder. Making Xiao YuAn raise his head in shock, staring straight at Zhang Changsong.

As if something had blocked Xiao YuAn’s throat, he swallowed several times. At that, it felt as if something had fallen into his heart, stirring up a thousand waves. In the end, Xiao YuAn shouted: “Shifu!”

Zhang Changsong was stunned at first, but then he hesitantly asked: “Xiao YuAn?”

Xiao YuAn was so excited, that he wiped his hands carelessly and said incoherent words: “It is me, Shifu! You- how? How did you know it was me?!”

Zhang Changsong cursed out loud, but he had tears of joy accumulating in his eyes: “Humph! You brat! I was the one to teach you how to stop the bleeding by pressing on the wound! I taught you and Zhang Baizhu! How could I not recognize you?! But you…. changed your appearance? How…. what did you do to look so different?”

Xiao YuAn said: “…. Something happen-…. in the Palace….cough, Shifu, it’s a long story.”

Zhang Changsong didn’t pursue the matter. As he stroked his white beard, he remained silent for a long time. Then, he reached out to pat Xiao YuAn soothingly: “You must have suffered a lot.”

Xiao YuAn was stunned.

No one had ever said those words to him.

All of a sudden, Xiao YuAn was graped by emotions that were hard to describe. But he didn’t feel any pain. In fact, Xiao YuAn wanted to thank Zhang Changsong for comforting him.

After Xiao YuAn rubbed his eyes twice, he looked up and smiled: “Shifu, what are you talking about? Whether I had suffered or not, it was still something I’ve chosen myself.”

Zhang Changsong sighed lightly, patted Xiao YuAn’s shoulder again, and finally asked: “Are you alright?”

As he nodded with his head down, Xiao YuAn stretched out his hand to rub his eyes again.

“That’s good.” Zhang Changsong then let out a long breath.

At that moment, out of nowhere, a loud voice was heard from outside: “Father! Hear me out, I just found out that there is Tianqi1 in the mountain that’s 10 li2 to the West. Let’s go and dig some! This way we won’t have to worry about running out of myrrh3!”

As Zhang Baizhu shouted, he walked into the Taoist temple. When he saw Xiao YuAn and Zhang Changsong looking at each other with teary eyes, Zhang Baizhu couldn’t help but be stupefied: “Uh, who is this Gongzi?”

When Xiao YuAn saw Zhang Baizhu, Xiao YuAn was immediately delighted: “I’m the godfather of your son of course!”

Zhang Baizhu: “What? What did you say?”

Xiao YuAn said: “Can’t you tell who I am?”

Then, Xiao YuAn mentioned Zhang Baizhu’s son’s infant name, as well as the complete date of his birthday. All of which Zhang Baizhu had personally written to him in a letter.

”
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Zhang Baizhu: “Shit! Who the hell are you?!”

Xiao YuAn: “Didn’t I just say that I’m your son’s godfather?”

Zhang Baizhu finally realized: “You fucker! Xiao YuAn, is that you?!”

Xiao YuAn: “Hell yeah it’s me!”

Then, Zhang Changsong yelled at them: “This Taoist temple is full of patients that need to rest! If you two want to shout, shout outside.”

As soon as he said that, Zhang Changsong kicked them out of the Taoist temple.

Once Zhang Baizhu and Xiao YuAn were kicked out of the Taoist temple, they stabilized themselves, then they stared at each other. Only to burst out laughing with youthful spirit right after. Just like the old days.

As Zhang Baizhu wrapped an arm around Xiao YuAn’s neck, Zhang Baizhu rubbed Xiao YuAn’s head with the other hand: “You really are Xiao YuAn! But, why do you look so different?!”

Since Xiao YuAn wasn’t willing to show weakness, he wrestled with Zhang Baizhu: “Guess. If you can guess correctly, I’ll tell you.”

The two men quarreled for a while, when all of a sudden, they heard Zhang Changsong shouting from the Taoist temple: “What are you two doing? Get your asses back here and take care of the patients!”

Only then did the two friends release each other, and hurried into the Taoist temple to help Zhang Changsong in taking care of the injured people.