Someone’s Dead?

But Song Caitang was really just looking at the knife. She didn’t intend to scare Huamei at all.

It was just that she was trying to look at it from all angles and make sure she didn’t overlook any part. The best way to check the blade would be to hold it against the light since that made it easier to see. Also, she had to try holding it to see if it felt comfortable in her hands.

Huamei thought Song Caitang was threatening her, but that was just her own imagination.

Song Caitang started rating the knife as she took a close look at it.

This was a scalpel that was used very commonly in dissection. It was well polished, and the blade was done well. The person who made it was highly skilled. Also, the entire thing was made according to the diagram she had given, so the angle of the blade was exactly the same, and the proportion of the handle to the blade was perfect. It was clear that the boss of this shop was one who respected his customers. He may not understand the design, but he did not make any assumptions and change it on his own. He followed the original designs strictly.

Song Caitang flicked her finger against the blade. The blade wasn’t too bad. It was hard enough and was pretty tough.

It was just that…

Song Caitang looked at the boss’ wife, “Can the blade be made any thinner?”

The wife pulled her husband out of the corner he was hiding in, “She’s asking you a question, not complaining about your work! Why are you so scared?”

The boss’ eyebrows formed an A shape, and the frown on his face made him look a little comical, “Um…if I make it any thinner, it will become brittle or bend if you use too much force.”

Song Caitang froze for a moment.

She had forgotten that the metallurgy techniques of the past were nowhere near the modern day.

But it didn’t really matter. In this line of work, such tools had to be replaced from time to time. She smiled and said, “It’s alright. If it breaks, I’ll just come back and ask you to make another one for me.”

The boss was too stunned for words.

His wife processed these words faster and broke into a smile immediately, “Sure! Miss, come anytime! I’ll be sure to supervise my husband when he does your order! Guaranteed to make them good and quick!”

As she spoke, she pinched her husband. She said if it breaks, she’ll spend money with us again! She’s clearly a cash cow with loads of money to spare! Why are you just standing there?! Agree to it!!

This went against the boss’ professionalism, however. The things he made were always known for being sturdy and useable for a long time. Who would want something that broke easily and had to be replaced often? Metal tools weren’t that cheap either…

But he couldn’t hold up against his wife’s death stare and had no choice but to go along with it, “We’ll do this batch like this then. If you aren’t happy with it and you change your mind and want me to make a new batch of thicker blades, I’ll charge you half price.”

His wife’s eyes bulged in shock at these words, but she quickly started laughing again, “Yes, yes, we’ll charge you half price!”

She probably wasn’t happy with what her husband said, but it would look bad if she chided her man in front of other people, so she went with what he said. Since she had agreed to take Song Caitang’s orders, then she ought to agree quickly and be magnanimous about it. It was meaningless to get all upset now.

Song Caitang had a twinkle in her eye as she looked at this very interesting husband and wife,

“Sure.”

But she wasn’t going to change her demands.

She looked at the samples for the other items and summarized her questions and requests about them. The boss and his wife answered all her questions and gave suggestions.

Through their conversation, the boss realized that Song Caitang was more particular about the sharpness and resilience of the tip of the blade, so he promised to make them well. He even suggested making a design for a permanent handle, so she could save some money by just changing the blades.

He noticed that she kept testing the grip and seemed more particular in this area as well, so he took the initiative to suggest making the handle part a little rougher to prevent slipping…

That was a pleasant surprise.

“In that case, I’ll take this sample back with me.” Song Caitang held up the scalpel, “How do I address you?”

Once the topic moved away from his field of work, the boss immediately bowed his head. No more of that nonstop discussion and suggestions he had when they were talking about his work.

His wife replied on his behalf, “My husband’s surname is Zhong, and everyone calls him Blacksmith Zhong. As his wife, I’m a Zhong as well. Miss, it’s alright if you don’t remember, I recognize your maid,” She looked out of the door and spotted Qingqiao, “Yep, that round-faced girl is called Qingqiao, right? If you need anything, just send her here. There’s no need for you to come here personally.”

Qingqiao came over to say hello, then bowed toward Song Caitang, “Young Mistress, don’t worry – if you need someone to send a message or run errands, I’ll do it! I promise to do a good job!”

Everyone in the room burst out laughing. They had a fun conversation, and the atmosphere was lively.

Compared to the other maid who stood next to the door, her brows furrowed and her skirts slightly lifted so that they didn’t touch the floor… Huamei didn’t want to come in at all, but she had to follow her Cousin Young Mistress in. Her unhappiness and displeasure were written all over her face.

It was very awkward indeed.

Just when they were done at the shop and were about to leave, a commotion broke out outside,

“Someone’s dead!”

“Potter Li’s killed someone!”

“Boss Li killed Mao San!”

In that instant, shouts about someone dying and someone being a murderer echoed in their ears. Amidst all this, the sound of a woman wailing miserably that her husband was innocent.

It was impossible for anybody to pretend that they hadn’t heard the commotion or to sit still in their seats. Everyone with Song Caitang immediately walked out of the door.

The incident had happened very close to them, and not that many people had gathered yet, so one could see everything very clearly.

Song Caitang looked at the man on the ground. He was a young man with a very muscular body, wearing very thin clothes, and his sleeves were rolled up all the way, revealing a frightening red and purple bruise on his arm. It wasn’t only his arm. Parts of his shoulder and back were exposed, and large patches of similar bruises could be seen on those parts.

He had fallen to the ground and wasn’t moving at all. His chest didn’t rise either. More and more people began gathering around his body like a gushing river, and some bolder ones put their fingers under his nose, “Yep, he’s dead. He’s not breathing anymore!”

About ten steps away stood a middle-aged man who was still in shock and did not seem to realize what in the world just happened. He wore very high-quality cotton clothing and was extremely skinny. He stared at the young man on the ground with a terrified look on his face and simply couldn’t snap out of it.

Seated next to him was a middle-aged woman who stuck her elbow out to prevent others from coming too close to him. Her wails echoed loudly, “My husband didn’t kill anyone! He doesn’t even dare to kill a chicken. What more a man! That Mao San collapsed by himself and fell to his death!”

Someone immediately yelled back sarcastically, “A healthy, young person would just fall to his death for no reason? Look, it’s normal for a wife to defend her man, and all of us understand that. But saying something illogical like this is unacceptable!”

“Exactly! Exactly! While it’s true that this Mao San isn’t a good guy, since he’s stolen from others and bullied many people, but he’s never murdered anyone or set anybody’s house on fire. One can’t just die like that!”

“A life for a life! There’s no point in arguing! We saw it with our own eyes!”

For every agitated shout, there was a sigh of regret.

“When one is really unlucky, they’d even get water stuck between their teeth. Who would have thought that just a gentle push would cause the death of Mao San?”

“In the past, all of us would curse and scold Mao San when we saw him and wish that he’d die an early death. But now…”

“Poor Boss Li. He’s so unlucky to have knocked Mao San down…”

“His wife is the pitiful one. If her husband ends up in prison, her shop won’t have anyone to take care of it. Their business is good now, but without a boss, it’ll fold in no time…”

The surroundings were a mess and very noisy, so Song Caitang could only see the scene of the crime but couldn’t hear what the people around her were saying clearly. She instinctively turned around to ask the wife of the blacksmith, “Mrs. Zhong, do you know the two people involved?”

“Of course I do,” said the wife with a sigh, “This Mao San is a hooligan who steals from others often, among many other horrible things. Everyone along this street has been a victim before, so everyone hates him. Boss Li is really skinny and a little timid, like my husband, but he’s a very skilled craftsman and a very honest businessman. Both he and his wife are genuinely good people…”

Song Caitang felt that there was something unusual about the case, so she frowned, picked up her skirt, and started walking toward the man on the ground.

Huamei became extremely anxious, “Young Mistress, where are you going? That person is dead…”

Song Caitang didn’t even look back, “I’m going to take a look. Maybe he’s not dead yet.”

But how could that be? Didn’t somebody say he wasn’t breathing anymore?

Huamei bit her lip nervously and stomped her feet, but she just didn’t have the guts to follow behind Song Caitang.

Qingqiao view Song Caitang’s life as more valuable than her own, so she wasn’t going to just let her Young Mistress walk alone. She immediately ran over and even raised her voice to help clear the way for Song Caitang, “Excuse me! Sorry! Please let us through!”

This entire street was full of shops owned by craftsmen. Some worked with metal, some with ceramics, and some were sculptors. There were all sorts of craftsmen here, and they were all considered to be part of the lower class of society, so they seldom saw anyone from the upper class. But when they spotted a young lady in her mid-teens wearing expensive, pretty clothing in a light color that would be dirtied easily and shiny accessories in her hair, walking with steady and elegant footsteps, as well as possessing a beauty that was too difficult to describe, everyone knew immediately this was some influential family’s daughter and instinctively quietened down.

Nobody dared to block her way or say anything. It was as though someone had hit the pause button on the very boisterous scene earlier.

Song Caitang walked swiftly to the body on the ground and squatted down. She used a finger to test his breath, checked his pulse, then unbuttoned his shirt to listen to his chest.

She immediately narrowed her eyes.

“This man JUST died?”

Someone responded immediately, “That’s right! He was jumping around just moments ago!”

Song Caitang looked at the marks on the ground as well as the way the man was lying on his side. Her gaze landed on a bull cart about five steps away that had its cargo unloaded already. She pointed a slim finger at it, “He hit the corner of that cart?”

“That’s right! Boss Li was the one who pushed him and seemed to have used an exceptional amount of strength. He stumbled several steps backward and couldn’t stop himself, so he hit the corner by accident, then stumbled over to this side, fell to the ground, and stopped breathing!”

Song Caitang pressed the bruise on the man’s arm, then pressed the swelling on his left chest and immediately came to a conclusion.

This man probably wasn’t dead yet. His heart had been hit very hard, and so he had stopped breathing temporarily.

But if nobody did anything about that, he was going to stop breathing forever.

In such an emergency, the best method would be to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and pump the heart to revive it.

Song Caitang rolled her sleeves up, then adjusted the man so that he was lying on his back instead of his side.

While doing that, she inevitably noticed what the man looked like.

He probably hadn’t washed his face in days, so it was covered in grime and hair. There was caked-up mucus at the corners of his eyes, and his eyebrows were hilarious thick and seemed to stand out a little too much. His mouth was huge, and she could smell his bad breath even from this distance…

She was afraid that she might end up puking before she could save him.

She was a coroner, not a doctor. She didn’t have the noble sort of sentiment that they had for saving lives.

But even those she couldn’t stand the sight of this filthy young man’s face, she got herself ready, took a deep breath, picked up his chin, and looked at him solemnly.

This was a human life they were talking about, after all.

Hang in there, Song Caitang!