Chapter 32: Alcohol is harmful

"Cargo yard?" Wang An stroked his chin. "Is it for leasing or selling?"

Er Gouzi scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "I haven't asked about this. If the little doctor is interested, we will go to ask the owner of the cargo yard tomorrow."

Wang An nodded and patted Er Gouzi on the shoulder. "Okay, take me to see if the place is suitable tomorrow."

Ergouzi readily agreed. The neighbors in Doujiafang had not eaten meat or drunk wine for a long time.

Soon, all the meat and vegetables on the table were gone.

The women were burping and sharing steamed buns dipped in vegetable juice with their full children.

The men were full by now, so they had time to clink glasses and play rock-paper-scissors.

As the host, Wang An was inevitably persuaded by the neighbors to drink a few more glasses, and he didn't even know when he got drunk.

But when Wang An woke up, it was already the next morning.

The silvery sunlight shines through the window and falls on the bed like tiny cubes.

Wang An raised his hand and wanted to rub his face, but as soon as he moved, he felt something heavy pressing on his arm.

Wang An turned around and almost jumped out of bed with fright.

I saw two girls curled up like kittens on each side of my arms.

"Xiaowu and Xiaoliu, what did you do to me!" Wang An sat up in horror and checked his clothes nervously.

All her outer clothes were stripped off and neatly folded on the table at the foot of the bed, leaving only a set of underwear on her body.

Wang An himself was not sure whether he had been violated or not.

"Is my lifelong reputation just... gone like this?" Wang An dejectedly sighed in regret. He lost it without even realizing it for the first time. It was such a loss!
Xiaowu and Xiaoliu were the pair of sisters who stayed in the store to work as helpers. They were also neighbors in Doujiafang. Their parents died of illness one after another in the early spring. Wang An couldn't bear to see them, so he let them work as helpers in the store to earn some money for a living and take care of their own food and clothing.

At this time, the two sisters sat up, rubbing their eyes, looking like they were still sleepy.

Xiao Wu, who was sleeping outside, got out of bed and walked towards the washbasin stand in a daze, "Brother An, Xiao Wu will go get you some water to wash your face."

Xiaoliu rubbed his eyes for a while, but finally couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell into Wang An's arms with a plop.

Looking at the weak and petite body in his arms, twisting from time to time, a strong sense of guilt instantly crept into his heart.

"I am such a beast!" Wang An closed his eyes in pain and murmured in despair: "Wine is harmful to people, fortunately in the Ming Dynasty..."

Otherwise, at such a young age, Wang An would have to spend several years in jail.

Before Wang An had time to repent deeply, Xiao Wu came back with an empty basin.

"Brother An, Uncle Ergou is here to see you. He wants to take you to see the cargo yard."

Wang An lowered his head, not daring to look at her, and got out of bed silently.

Xiaowu obediently took the clothes, and Wang An took them one by one and put them back on.

But before leaving, he couldn't help himself and said with great shame, "Um... I'm sorry, it must hurt, right?"

"Ah?" Xiao Wu glanced at his knees and said brightly, "It's okay. My knees don't hurt that much now." "Knees? I told you to kneel!" Wang An opened his eyes wide and turned to look at Xiao Wu, "I'm such a damned fool!"

Wang An covered his face and ran out, feeling ashamed to face the people of Jiangdong.

I wanted to run out of the herbal medicine shop in one breath and find a deserted place to calm down, but I was stopped by Ergouzi at the door.

"Little doctor, where are you going in such a hurry?" Ergou looked at Wang An in confusion, "Didn't we agree to go to the warehouse today?"

Wang An seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw, and stared at Er Gou with his eyes as big as copper bells, "Er Gou, what have I done to you?"

Although Ergou was puzzled, he still said honestly: "The little doctor was very kind to Zhang Ergou. Not only did he let me be the...agent of moisturizing glycerin, he also let my wife work in your laundry shop."

"With four of us in our family, if it weren't for the little genius doctor, we would have to do business outside Guangning Gate."

"Then there's one thing you can't hide from me!" Wang An stared into Ergou's eyes and tried to test him: "Well... I drank too much last night, but I didn't make a fool of myself, did I?"

Ergou shouted, "The little doctor is a very good drinker. What kind of embarrassment can he cause if he falls asleep after getting drunk?"

"Um...did anything happen when you were sleeping?" The young and immature faces of Xiaowu and Xiaoliu seemed to appear in front of Wang An's eyes again, and the guilt in his heart almost overwhelmed him.

Er Gou was stunned for a moment, scratched his head and said, "The neighbors all left after I fell asleep, how would I know where to go?"

After a pause, he added, "But the neighbors are worried that you might kick off the quilt while you sleep at night, so they asked Xiaowu and Xiaoliu to take care of you."

"Speaking of which, these two girls are a little too thin. Last night, Xiaowu helped you into the room and you fell down. Your knees were swollen. It was I who helped you in time! Hehe..."

Wang An heaved a sigh of relief. This is how Xiao Wu's knee hurt. I thought...

It’s good if it’s not, it’s good if it’s not!
Otherwise it would be too beastly...

But on second thought, why didn’t Xiaowu and Xiaoliu go home after helping me to bed?
Suddenly, he became nervous again. He thought that Ergou and Xiaowu had met each other, so he just went for it and asked, "Why didn't they go home last night?"

Ergou blinked his eyes, "Didn't those two girls tell you? Their shabby house collapsed under the snow yesterday. Where is their home anymore?"

"Maybe I haven't had time to tell you yet."

Wang An was relieved, otherwise Ergou would have walked out of the shop. "Where is the cargo yard?"

"Go west past Zuo'anmen and walk two blocks to Baimajing."

The two of them walked on the snow, one step deep and one step shallow, for about two quarters of an hour, and finally arrived at Baimajing.

Under the leadership of Ergou, Wanan came to an open space surrounded by mud.

The open space was about the size of a standard football field in later generations. There was a big gate facing east and a sign for rent and sale was hung at the door.

Before entering the cargo yard, Wang An noticed that the yard was full of coal. Wang An had not yet mastered the skill of estimating the weight with his eyes, but he blindly guessed that it was about one million kilograms.

The temperature is dropping now. Although it has just snowed heavily, the temperature is still colder than New Year's Day in previous years.

At that time in Beijing, even ordinary civilians had already used coal as fuel on a large scale. It was a bit strange that there was not a single person in such a large coal yard.

"Little doctor, let's go check inside the house. It's so cold, everyone should be inside."

(End of this chapter)