Chapter Seventy: The Mysterious Lobster

Old Madam Bai, having heard from Fubao that her own daughter was doing well, felt content. Ever since this little girl had arrived, she hadn't been so happy in a long time. While Old Madam Bai and Fubao enjoyed their warm company, things were not as harmonious on Bai Yugou’s side. Bai Yugou did not care for Fubao at all, finding the brightness in the girl’s eyes unsettling, as if they could lay bare all her hidden secrets. Still, there were more pressing matters at hand, and she had no wish to deal with that troublesome child for now.

While Old Madam Bai was worshipping Buddha, Fubao made her way to the Bai family’s courtyard. Mistress Bai was busy preparing the arrangements for the family banquet taking place in a few days, ensuring everything was organized to avoid mistakes. As for Bai Jie, he was being forced to study, his tearful complaints echoing around the room.

The eldest brother, Bai Zhuo, was currently serving as a companion reader at the palace and had not yet returned. That left Bai Jie as the only child at home, bored out of his mind. Just as he was staring blankly at the characters before him, the door to the study creaked open and a small head poked in. Fubao’s eyes lit up upon seeing Bai Jie—she had found him! Now she could go out and play!

Looking from his plump little cousin’s sparkling eyes to the books before him, Bai Jie simply said, “Let’s go.” The two of them slipped out hand in hand.

The little attendant in the study could only stare after them in silent protest—were they just going to ignore him completely?

The two little scamps strolled out of the Bai residence’s back gate and swaggered down the bustling street. The liveliness here was beyond anything a small county town could offer. Fubao, clutching her rabbit, gazed curiously left and right, marveling at everything she saw.

Behind them, the little ginseng spirit had somehow acquired a small red flower from an old lady’s stall and now wore it on its head, drifting through the air like a floating blossom. The sight startled the old woman, who began to suspect she was seeing things!

“Wow! There are crayfish here!” Fubao suddenly exclaimed, her sharp eyes spotting a young man selling a small basket of bright red crayfish in a side alley.

“Fubao, have you ever eaten these?” Bai Jie asked, peering into the basket. These creatures had only recently been brought to the capital by envoys from the Eastern lands. Grandfather had managed to obtain a few, but they were not yet popular among the common folk. How could this girl know about them?

“I’ve eaten them before. My aunt used them as pig feed, but not this big—they were tiny. And their eyes weren’t red like these, just black. These ones are huge, and their eyes are so red—and they stink!” Fubao recalled seeing smaller, black-eyed crayfish at her aunt’s home, nothing like these red-eyed monsters. It was unsettling.

Bai Jie was speechless—pigs ate these? But the red eyes… Just as he leaned closer to have a better look, a furious male voice boomed from a nearby medical clinic: “You worthless doctors! If you can’t save my child and anything happens to him, I’ll make you pay with your lives!”

Fubao looked up to see a crowd gathered around the clinic, so thick it was nearly impenetrable. “Hmm, what’s going on over there?” she asked, pointing at the commotion. Bai Jie stood on tiptoe but still couldn’t see. “No idea, probably another patient having a fit.”

“Again? Are so many people falling ill?” Fubao inquired.

“Lately, there’s been a strange illness in the capital. Some people suddenly develop red rashes and swelling on their faces,” Bai Jie replied, pouting. His grandfather and father had been working themselves ragged trying to find the cause, but with no luck so far.

“I want to go see!” Fubao declared. Hugging her rabbit, she darted into the crowd.

Bai Jie, still stunned, wondered what had gotten into his little cousin and hurried after her.

Inside the clinic, a common-looking man was angrily berating a physician, while a weeping woman clutched a child in her arms. The little one’s skin was swollen and red, with large blisters in some places. The symptoms looked awfully familiar.

Fubao peered intently at the child—wasn’t this the same illness her aunt had suffered from?

The elderly physician was at his wit’s end. In all his years of practice, he had never encountered such a peculiar disease. As he stood there, helpless under the onslaught of the father’s curses, Fubao squeezed forward and piped up, “Hey! Didn’t he eat crayfish? My aunt had the same illness, but she’s all better now!”

The child’s father was stunned. The old physician was speechless.