Chapter 21: 21. The Townsmen's Respect
The young mother looked embarrassed. "I know the medicine you gave Lillian must be very expensive, but this is all the money I can offer…"
Jason Liu glanced at the dozen silver coins in Martha's rough, cracked hands and sighed softly. He understood how hard it must have been for their family to save that money, so he refused it. After all, he had no shortage of money.
Martha, seeing that this noble man from the East really didn't want her money, tried to kneel again in gratitude. Jason Liu stopped her, feeling a headache coming on.
As people gathered around the house, they learned that Jason Liu's treatment was indeed effective. They came in one by one to see it for themselves. They also found out that this noble man had treated little Lillian for free, which made the people of Market Town admire his kindness.
At first, everyone, including Old Rhodes, who had benefited from Jason Liu, had been afraid and distant from him. They didn't respect him. However, today's events had given the townspeople a genuine respect for this kind young man.
In an era with strict social classes, where nobles were at the top and commoners were treated like dirt, a noble showing kindness to the poor was rare. This nobleman was willing to spend a lot of money to save a poor little girl's life.
The lowly people in the North may not have had much education, but they could tell who was good and who was bad.
"Lord East, thank you for saving little Lillian. If you come to my tavern, you can have a drink—"
Old Rhodes rubbed his hands together, excited. He had a bit of alcohol on his breath. "Hiccup… oh, I almost forgot, you don't drink… but that's okay! If you just want to eat, I'll charge you only half the price!"
"Hahaha, Old Rhodes, you're so cheap! I thought you'd say it's free!" someone joked, laughing at him.
"If it were free, I'd be out of business," Old Rhodes muttered as he wiped his red nose.
Everyone else burst into laughter, lifting the sad and dull atmosphere that had hung over them.
Seeing the simple smiles of the people in Bidong Market Town, Jason Liu couldn't help but feel happy. A smile spread across his face. Compared to the cold relationships in modern society, the people in this poor and backward world were much simpler and warmer.
After spending some time at Martha's house, Jason noticed that little Lillian was asleep in bed. Her face had returned to a normal rosy color, and her body temperature was normal.
He instructed Martha and the others to call him if they needed anything, and then he went back to his house.
As Martha walked Jason out, she saw her five-year-old son, Michal, lying beside the bed, looking worriedly at his sister. She hugged her son gently.
Michal clung to his mother tightly, still shaken by the day's events. "Mother, Lillian is alright now, right?" he asked, his black hair framing his dirty little face. There was a glimmer of hope in his big eyes. "I don't want my sister to die like my father. I want my sister!"
"Oh, Michal…" Martha couldn't help but cry as she hugged her son's head tightly, kissing his forehead. She kept comforting him, saying, "Don't worry, the kind man just now has cured your sister. Lillian won't die…"
"Sister…"
Seeing Martha cry with her nephew, the young girl beside her, Martha's younger sister Lena, stroked her shoulder, tears running down her dirty cheeks. "It's wonderful! I thought poor Lillian would really leave us like brother-in-law Vic. I'm so glad…"
"Thank you, Lena. I'm lucky to have you and Michal with me," Martha said as she wiped her tears away, a smile appearing on her face. "All thanks to the noble Lord East who saved our little Lillian! May the old gods bless such a kind lord."
As Martha thought about Jason Liu, she looked at her sister and said, "Lena, please, I'll take care of things here. If you can, go next door to see Lord East and see if there's anything you can do to help."
"I heard that Lord East came to Westeros from the far east alone, without a maid. It must be hard for him living alone," she added.
Lena remembered saying earlier that if the nobleman could cure Lillian, she would be willing to serve him and his family for a lifetime. If Lord East agreed, she would be happy to work as his maid. After all, it's not easy to meet a kind nobleman.
Thinking this over, Lena nodded and got up to see if she could help Lord East.
"Wait a minute, Lena," Martha said, stopping her sister. She pointed to the black ash on Lena's face. "I made you put that on before, but now go wash your face and change into clean clothes before you go."
Lena looked confused. She didn't understand what her sister meant.
Martha had made her smear black ash on her face to hide her beauty and make herself look ugly. This was a way to ensure her safety. Since her brother-in-law Vic had died of illness two years ago, only women and children remained in their family. Lena, who had once been a little girl, had grown more beautiful over the past two years.
Now at 16, Lena was at the age where she could marry, but her husband's death had delayed that.
In a family like theirs, a beautiful girl could easily attract danger. Many people who passed through their village were rough farmers, drunken mercenaries, and rude soldiers who treated civilians like animals. If they saw Lena's pretty face, terrible things could happen.
Because of this, Martha usually asked her sister to cover her face with ash and wear dirty clothes to look like a country girl for her own safety. Thankfully, Lena had been helping cook in Winterfell, and so far, no one had seen her true face and caused any trouble.
Seeing her sister's puzzled look, Martha helped her find some clothes and said gently, "Lena, I can't be by your side all the time, and I can't protect you. If you can, serve Lord East. Being a maid is a good job. It's better than just helping in the kitchen…"
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