The converted dye house had dry rooms and a well, but the residents did not know what opening the gates would require of them. They gathered around Ning’s clinic table and asked whether hosting evacuees meant they had to join the coalition.
“No,” Ning said. “Shelter and medical care don’t require allegiance. Your committee decides how long the rooms stay open.”
A miller named Orin sat near the door. He worried that Registry guards would seize his shop if he left it unprotected. Bai showed him the volunteer watch board. Orin could choose a shift or leave the board blank. No one asked for a permanent pledge.
“I can take the first night,” he said. “After that, I need to check the mill.”
Bai wrote down the shift and left later nights open. Orin said he would decide after he slept.
The well worried the residents. The water looked clear, but several remembered a bitter taste from last spring. Qinghe asked the local pump keeper to draw a sample. The first jar held sediment from the pipe. They flushed the line, drew another jar, and tested it beside the clinic table.
The second sample passed. The residents placed a bucket at the outlet for daily checks. The pump keeper would record the date and taste, and Ning’s team would test again if anyone reported a change.
