At dusk, Bai and Yan waited by the lower village buying table. Ning’s runner, Lian, checked the path for guards. Mara arrived with the first half of her herb load and her nephew, who had come to make sure the silver receipt was real.
The boy held the paper by its corners. “Why can’t the clinic buy everything openly?”
Bai answered without looking away from the road. “The court can punish a seller even when the medicine helps patients. The buying table keeps the family’s name off the order until the rule changes.”
Mara took the receipt from her nephew and checked the amount again. “Put the weight, quality and date on it. If a merchant says these were spoiled, we need to know which bundle he means.”
Bai wrote the three details clearly. The boy leaned over his shoulder to watch. “Is that the same amount?”
“It is,” Bai said. “Check it against your aunt’s tally.”
The boy counted the silver twice, then gave it to Mara. She nodded. The receipt was correct.
Yan helped Lian sort the leaves into dry and damp bundles. Qinghe had warned them not to mix the batches; the damp leaves needed to dry separately before use. Yan liked work with clear steps and a result he could check. He laid the bundles on clean cloth, leaving space between them.
