Li Ang hurried along, crossing the neighborhood streets. Just as he stepped out of the alley, he saw two middle-aged men standing at the entrance of Security Hall Pharmacy, preparing to knock.
One man had darker skin and a small goatee, holding a paper fan. The other was rather chubby, with a benign and amiable appearance, toying with two walnuts in his left hand and carrying a wooden box tied with a thin rope in his right. They were Yu Miaoshui and Ai Rong, the Chairman of Yizhou City's Xinglin Society.
Li Ang narrowed his eyes, tucked the "Shangqing Linggan Chapter" under his arm, stepped forward, and greeted them with a cupped-fist salute, "Doctor Yu, Chairman Ai, what brings you two here..."
"Risheng, we were just waiting for you." Ai Rong waved cheerfully, handing over the wooden box. "This is a set of Xuan Brushes and an inkstone I bought in Xuanzhou some time ago. I heard you're also taking the provincial examination this year. I wish you success."
"Thank you for your kind intentions, Chairman Ai." Li Ang glanced at the wooden box but didn't take it, speaking coolly, "However, if you two are here for Security Hall today, then there's no need. Unworthy as I may be, I have no intention of selling the family estate."
"This..." Ai Rong's brow furrowed. Beside him, Yu Miaoshui tapped his folding fan, rubbed his small goatee, and said lightly, "Whether it's truly your family property is still debatable. Chairman Ai?"
Ai Rong sighed softly and said to Li Ang, "Risheng, please show us inside first. This matter... it's rather complicated to explain."
Li Ang glanced at the smug expression on Yu Miaoshui's dark, thin face, frowned slightly, and led the two towards Security Hall's back door.
Establishments like Security Hall, with a shop at the front and a courtyard at the back, usually didn't lock the main entrance from the outside. It was typically secured from within by a bolt or lock. When the front door wasn't open for business, the family and their guests would use the back entrance.
Li Ang unlocked the back courtyard door and led Ai Rong and Yu Miaoshui into the Security Hall pharmacy.
These two clearly harbored ill intentions, and he was in no mood to ask the maid to boil water. He simply unlatched the front door, allowing sunlight to stream in, then poured some lukewarm water from a kettle boiled that morning. He carelessly tossed in a few tea leaves, deeming it sufficient hospitality.
"HEH." Yu Miaoshui picked up the lukewarm teacup, took a casual sip, and placed it gently on the wooden table. Clearing his throat, he said, "Risheng, your father and I were old acquaintances. For years, he worked diligently, saving lives and healing the injured. He was a model doctor in Yizhou.
And our Xinglin Society has always upheld the principle of mutual aid and support.
Let me put it this way: I'm willing to offer one hundred and eighty strings of coins, plus a house on Anlin Street in East City, and ten acres of water fields outside the city, to buy Security Hall and its three acres of medicinal fields.
The one hundred and eighty strings will cover your living expenses, the house will be for your residence, and the water fields can be leased to tenant farmers for annual rent."
Yu Miaoshui smiled, closed his paper fan, took another sip of tea, and said smugly, "All this, Risheng, is enough to support you for the next ten years. I've even brought the land deed. You just need to sign it, register it at the Government Office, and you can move into the Anlin Street house tonight..."
Li Ang's eyes narrowed. "I refuse."
"That's right... Hmm? What did you say?"
"I refuse," Li Ang repeated, stating calmly, "Since Doctor Yu is willing to offer such a high price, it naturally means you don't intend to let Security Hall continue operating peacefully.
If my late father, in his heavenly abode, were to see Security Hall turned into a place selling your 'Wanling Green Bean Soup' or other 'Miracle Medicine,' he would surely not rest in peace."
Li Ang heavily emphasized the phrases "Wanling Green Bean Soup" and "Miracle Medicine." Ai Rong looked awkward, while Yu Miaoshui's eyes narrowed, a hint of hatred surfacing on his dark face.
All his life, he loathed doctors who called themselves 'Fortune Doctors'.
"HMPH." Yu Miaoshui's gaze turned cold as frost. Recently, he had cunningly acquired—half by persuasion, half by force—a prescription from an old village Daoist. It was called Black Tiger Pill, made from ingredients like Arisaema, Xionglao, and Du Zhong, and could treat limb pain, joint swelling, and restricted movement.
He planned to emulate other prominent medical families, having his Jifu Hall specialize solely in selling this Black Tiger Pill from now on, aiming for enormous profits. Even if the 'Fortune Doctor' title eventually faded, the wealth would continue to roll in.
And Security Hall, situated beside the Yishui River—allowing for easy distribution of finished medicines via the Cao Transport waterway to any city in Jiangnan Road—was an indispensable part of his plan.
This pharmacy, this plot of land—he was determined to have it.
"Do you really think Security Hall belongs to you?" Yu Miaoshui sneered. "Chairman Ai?"
Beside him, Ai Rong sighed softly and took a piece of paper from his robes.
"This is the B version of Security Hall's land deed and house deed," Ai Rong said. "I don't know if your father ever told you, but seventeen years ago, when he built Security Hall, he borrowed the money from the Xinglin Society's public account.
At that time, I wasn't the chairman of the Xinglin Society; it was an old doctor from South City, who has since passed away.
This contract states that in June of the third year of Yong Zheng, your father borrowed one hundred and fifty strings of coins from the Xinglin Society. He was to repay fifty strings after two years. Five years after that, he was to repay one hundred strings, and ten years following that, another one hundred and fifty strings. In total, the repayment would be three hundred strings.
If all the money were repaid, Security Hall would belong to your father outright. However, if, seventeen years later—meaning by June of this year—he could not produce the one hundred and fifty strings, then the Xinglin Society would have the right to reclaim Security Hall's property and would not refund any previous payments."
Ai Rong placed the paper on the table, pushed it towards Li Ang, and explained, "Compared to the high-interest loans from banks and temples, the Xinglin Society's terms for its members—doubling the principal over ten years—were already quite generous.
Your father had an A version of this agreement, the Xinglin Society has this B version, and the Government Office holds two copies. All are verifiable."
Li Ang scanned the signatures, fingerprints, and border designs on the paper. Everything seemed to be in order. He vaguely recalled his father, Li Hanquan, mentioning that they had misplaced a contract, but fortunately, the Government Office had a B version.
He silently put down the contract and looked calmly at Ai Rong and Yu Miaoshui. "Is this coercion?"
"Risheng, how can you say that?" Yu Miaoshui grinned. "Aren't we just concerned that you're grieving during your mourning period and have no mind for these trivial matters?
If Chairman Ai truly intended to pressure you, he could have waited until the last day of the fifth month to present this contract and directly confiscate Security Hall."
Li Ang ignored Yu Miaoshui and asked Ai Rong, "Chairman Ai, I recall that the use of the Xinglin Society's public funds is decided by a vote of its fee-paying members, correct? Wasn't this matter raised at the last regular meeting of the Xinglin Society?"
"This..." Ai Rong hesitated and glanced at Yu Miaoshui. Li Ang understood instantly: during these four months of mourning, Yu Miaoshui had already bribed all the other doctors in Yizhou City's Xinglin Society.
They wouldn't even grant a few days' grace.
Li Ang nodded slowly. "I understand..."
"So, you finally understand?" Yu Miaoshui sneered. If not for the fear of damaging his reputation, he would indeed have arranged for the Xinglin Society to seize Security Hall's shop and land on the very last day. "Twenty days. In twenty days, the deadline for the one hundred and fifty strings of coins on the contract arrives.
Looking at you, Risheng, I suppose you don't have that kind of money on hand, do you? HEH. Security Hall's three acres of medicinal fields can only be pawned for thirty strings of coins. And if you borrow from usurers, while you might cover the shortfall for now, with the interest compounding, Security Hall will still fall into someone else's hands within a few months.
You'd be better off selling Security Hall to me now. At least that way, the old pharmacy can retain some dignity. Otherwise, if you end up destitute and begging on the streets, that would be truly pitiful."
TAP. TAP. TAP.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Chai Cuiqiao, who had been eavesdropping nearby, ran over, her face flushed and fists clenched at her sides. She burst out at Yu Miaoshui, "You're utterly outrageous!"
However, Yu Miaoshui and Ai Rong didn't even glance at her. They stared intently at the expressionless Li Ang, awaiting his response.
SWISH.
Li Ang stood up from his chair. With a wave of his hand towards the open main door, he said calmly, "Please leave, both of you. Return in twenty days. By then, I will have raised the one hundred and fifty strings of coins."