Chapter 21 Unwarranted Grievances

Chapter 21: A Baseless Hurt

Wu Qiu held the prescription note, vaguely sensing something was off but unable to pinpoint it immediately.

Zhao Wen reached out to grab his wrist. "Don't touch that! You'll ruin the evidence!"

Yang Shu, who had been shielding Wu Qiu earlier, was shoved roughly aside by Zhao Wu. She shouted anxiously but was no match for Zhao Wu's strength and couldn't get past him. Lei Li pushed forward, shoving Zhao Wen's hand away and barking, "Mind your manners!"

Just then, a man accompanying Zhao Wen and Zhao Wu approached and whispered in Zhao Wen's ear, "We must hurry. If the others return, things could get complicated."

Zhao Wen considered this reasonable. They had originally come only for the fifty taels of silver, thinking the clinic was occupied only by two children, having picked the perfect moment. Unexpectedly, Wu Qiu had appeared midway, checking the register and examining the prescription, dragging things out and wasting considerable time. He had thought a bit of bullying would scare Wu Qiu into handing over the silver, but Wu Qiu wasn't falling for it, digging in his heels and refusing to relent. Now, with time running out, he had no choice but to take a gamble. Taking advantage of Lei Li pushing him, he quickly shot Zhao Wu a look. "Well! You dare to hit me? Everyone saw it! They're attacking me!"

Zhao Wen himself was stooped and disabled, with a crooked back. Although Lei Li was still young, subduing him might not be impossible. But Zhao Wu was different—tall and powerfully built; Zhao Wen's tough talk was all thanks to Zhao Wu's brawn. Seeing the signal, Zhao Wu charged forward, drawing back his fist to strike Lei Li.

Suddenly, Wu Qiu shouted loudly, "Everyone, stop! There's something wrong with this prescription! It's not from our clinic's physician!"

This interruption allowed some of the onlookers who hadn't reacted earlier to understand. They stepped forward to pull Zhao Wu away. "You're such a big man. Do you intend to bully someone's family?"

Zhao Wen stamped his foot in frustration, yelling, "What more excuses can you make? This paper, with your physician's name in black ink, and the handwriting is undoubtedly your physician's. If you don't believe it, compare it!"

Wu Qiu sneered coldly. "If that's truly the case, why not go to the authorities instead of causing a commotion here at the clinic?"

He turned and bowed to the crowd, then walked toward the writing desk. Lei Li had been writing out prescriptions there earlier, and a few sheets of paper still lay on the table. Wu Qiu picked up a small stack and, along with Zhao Wen's prescription note, held them up for everyone to see. He spoke slowly, "Everyone, please look. Our clinic is a government-established official medical facility. Medicinal materials, instruments, and all supplies are allocated by the authorities, including the paper used for prescriptions. Several stacks are delivered to the clinic monthly, and we cut them for use ourselves. Look closely at the grain pattern on this paper—it's about two fingers wide. Look at this sheet, this one, and this one—they're all the same."

As he spoke, Wu Qiu spread out the prescription papers in his hands one by one, drawing the crowd in for a closer look. A young man examined carefully and nudged the man beside him. "Look, dear. The prescription they brought seems to lack the two-finger-wide horizontal grain."

His husband, dressed like a scholar, nodded. "Their prescription uses smooth white xuan paper, while the clinic's uses white hemp paper. Hemp paper is slightly rougher, and the grain is wider. Although that prescription is old, there's no mistake—they are indeed different."

Everyone heard their words. Wu Qiu nodded and added, "Furthermore, for the past few months, the clinic has consistently used this type of paper for prescriptions. The register records your visit to the clinic less than a month ago. Look at this prescription note—it's cut extremely neatly, and even the header and signature don't resemble our physician casually using other paper outside. Therefore, you must have forged the handwriting, intentionally writing the wrong dosage, to frame us!"

Seeing their scheme exposed, Zhao Wen and Zhao Wu pushed aside those around them and tried to flee outside. Wu Qiu, shoved by them, staggered and nearly fell to the ground, but Lei Li behind him caught and steadied him.

As Zhao Wen rushed out the door, a horse's whinny sounded in front of him. He almost got trampled under the hooves of a tall horse, instantly his legs turned to jelly as he tumbled to the ground.

Wu Qiu looked up and saw Lei Ding reining in his horse, swinging down from the saddle in one fluid motion. A wave of relief washed over Wu Qiu. He had been exhausted these past two days, and now a wave of dizziness hit him. He hurriedly leaned on the table to steady himself, slowly catching his breath.

Somehow, even though he had single-handedly controlled this crowd earlier, preventing any major incident, even though he had methodically found evidence, throwing the other side into disarray and exposing their flaws, thus proving this was a frame-up and fraud, even though the matter was over, Wu Qiu felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of hurt.

He had never been like this before. No matter how much hardship and exhaustion he endured, he never easily felt this way, nor did he seek others to confide in or complain to. Now, he only wanted Lei Ding to hold him and comfort him. In just over a month, it seemed Lei Ding had truly raised him into a child who loved to act spoiled.

Seeing Zhao Wen trying to get up, rage surged through Lei Ding. He flew into a kick, sending Zhao Wen tumbling another zhang away, howling as he collapsed by the roadside. The surrounding people, seeing Lei Ding truly enraged and fearing a loss of life, dared not step forward to stop him, only scattering to both sides to clear a path for Lei Ding.

Zhao Wu had crossed paths with Lei Ding before and knew his prowess. Not daring to confront him head-on recklessly, he hid among the crowd, hoping to escape in the chaos.

Yu Yuan, riding another horse with Lei Tan, arrived shortly after. Sitting on horseback, Lei Tan immediately spotted Zhao Wu trying to slip away and shouted, "Big Brother! And that tall, burly man! Don't let him get away!"

Seeing the situation turning against him, Zhao Wu ducked his head and tried to run but was intercepted by Lei Ding, who grabbed and pulled him back. Zhao Wu had no choice but to assume a stance, planting his feet firmly to establish a defense and exchange a few moves with Lei Ding. But Lei Ding's movements were lighter and swifter, not giving him a chance to set his stance. Zhao Wu only felt the world spin before he lay on the ground, blood streaming from his nose, a pitiful mess.

No one dared to stop Lei Ding. Lei Tan and Yu Yuan only clapped and cheered, standing to the side without attempting to intervene, egging the neighbors on to cheer. Some troublemakers even added fuel to the fire, shouting to Lei Ding, "Lord Lei, this man was about to hit your young master earlier! You mustn't let him off!"

Yu Yuan heard it too. This Qiu Geer staying with the Lei family—he had heard Lei Ding mention him countless times over the past month. Almost every time they met, Lei Ding would intentionally or unintentionally bring him up. He himself had seen him a few times and knew he was an honest and kind person. Now, seeing Lei Ding pummel Zhao Wu's face with two more furious punches, he couldn't help but click his tongue, quietly saying to Lei Tan, "I say, this Qiu Geer is truly your big brother's heart's treasure. Look how enraged he's made him."

The last time there was trouble at the clinic was two years ago. Yu Yuan had been there then too, witnessing those people smash some clinic items. But Lei Ding couldn't be bothered to exchange words with them, directly reporting to the authorities and having the city's Patrol Officers arrest them.

Lei Tan was too engrossed in watching to pay attention to what Yu Yuan said, casually replying, "Brother Qiu is an extremely good person."

Yu Yuan opened his fan, waving it, clicking his tongue. "You're just a child. You truly understand nothing."

Wu Qiu ran out from inside the room, and Lei Ding stopped. Ignoring the two wailing on the ground, he grasped Wu Qiu's arm. "How are you? Did they hurt you?"

Seeing Lei Ding, the hurt in Wu Qiu's heart could no longer be suppressed. He only lowered his head, shaking it, and forced out the words, "I'm fine." Remembering so many people were still watching outside, he pushed Lei Ding's hand away, though inwardly feeling even more distressed, and fell silent.

Lei Ding wanted to say more, but the Patrol Officers Yu Yuan had sent a clerk to summon arrived, and Lei Xun hurriedly rushed back as well. For a moment, chaos erupted again. Zhao Wen, Zhao Wu, the man in mourning clothes, and their entire group were apprehended and taken away for questioning. Wu Qiu, Lei Ding, Lei Li, and Lei Tan were also invited to the yamen to clarify the incident's course, leaving only Lei Xun to care for Cui Nanshan.

After all this commotion, by the time Wu Qiu and the others finally returned to the clinic, the sky was already pitch black.

Wu Qiu had been worried all along that Lei Ding might be detained by the yamen for injuring someone, but the officials seemed only to have called a clerk to question Lei Ding briefly before releasing him. Wu Qiu finally relaxed completely, only then feeling utterly exhausted and overwhelmed. He remained sullen and silent the entire way back. Upon returning to the clinic, fearing Yang Shu would worry, he forced himself to eat a few mouthfuls of porridge before claiming tiredness and heading straight to his room.

Today had been truly chaotic, so much so that Wu Qiu's heart was in turmoil as well. He couldn't sleep, lying silently in bed with his eyes closed.

Lately, with so many people around and constant activity, he hadn't had a chance to be alone with Lei Ding. Thinking of this made him miss Lei Ding even more, feeling the bedding was uncomfortable too. Unconsciously, he tossed and turned in bed for an hour, extremely weary yet unable to fall asleep.

Suddenly, a "creak" sounded, somewhat jarring in the night's tranquility.

Wu Qiu turned over, watching a figure slip inside the door. He slowly draped his robe over his shoulders and sat up from the bed.

Lei Ding approached, asking softly, "Did I wake you? It's alright, it's me. Go back to sleep."

Wu Qiu's voice choked, words seemingly stuck in his throat, unable to come out. After a long moment, he only managed a trembling sentence, "You came."

This voice trembled, filled with utter hurt. Lei Ding's heart ached terribly. He pulled Wu Qiu into his arms. "Qiu Er, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I'm here. You were frightened today, weren't you? Blame me for not arranging things properly at home."

Wu Qiu shook his head vigorously. Lei Ding was already stretched thin, running between the infirmary and home. Cui Nanshan was seriously ill, and everyone at home was already doing their part; they were all very tired. Besides, those who came to cause trouble were Zhao Wen and Zhao Wu—naturally, it had nothing to do with Lei Ding. How could it be Lei Ding's fault? He opened his mouth and said, "How can this be blamed on you? They didn't hurt me either. It's just... just today... I missed you so much..."

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