Chu Xia knew Cen Huai’an’s condition and understood that his current state was a result of the original owner and Wang Yulan’s actions.

Now that she was here, she had to take responsibility for the original owner’s consequences, so when Li Guanzhong scolded her, she accepted the blame with a very good attitude.

“Sorry, I was indeed negligent in the past. Now that I realize my mistake, I’ve brought him to see a doctor. Doctor, can his condition be improved now?”

Chu Xia’s face was filled with worry and anxiety.

Seeing this, Li Guanzhong nodded, feeling that she resembled a concerned mother.

“It needs to be adjusted slowly. It’s best to use medicinal food or drink warm Chinese medicine. If the herbal medicine is too strong, it won’t be beneficial for his current condition and might weaken him further.

Medicinal food requires special knowledge to prepare well, and it involves many subtleties, plus good ingredients are not cheap. So, I suggest you use warm Chinese medicine; it might be bitter, but I’ll tell you how to prepare it, and you can make it yourself at home.”

Chu Xia nodded, showing trust in him. “Okay, Doctor, I’ll follow your advice.”

After receiving the prescription, Chu Xia asked Li Guanzhong to check her pulse as well.

“Your health is even worse. How have you and your child been living?”

Li Guanzhong sighed and did not say much more, as patients have their privacy.

However, he was more detailed in his instructions for Chu Xia, emphasizing that she must adhere to the medical advice, take her medicine properly, and avoid overworking; otherwise, she wouldn’t last a year.

Hearing this, Cen Huai’an, who had been indifferent to his own health, immediately turned to look at Chu Xia, staring at her face as if trying to discern whether the doctor’s words were true.

Chu Xia knew that Li Guanzhong’s words were accurate; she indeed would suffer from a serious illness and die within a year, which she had diagnosed herself.

With both of their prescriptions in hand, Chu Xia went straight to the pharmacy in the hospital to get the medicines.

This was Liangzhou City’s largest hospital.

As long as it wasn’t an extremely rare and nearly extinct herb, other medicinal materials could be bought here, including a specialized Chinese medicine pharmacy.

Li Guanzhong prescribed ordinary herbs that would provide the best results for adjusting their health.

Expensive herbs were not suitable for Chu Xia and Cen Huai’an’s conditions.

Even though Chu Xia could write prescriptions herself, they wouldn’t be as suitable as Li Guanzhong’s.

As an old Chinese medicine doctor who had studied for a lifetime, Li Guanzhong’s prescriptions were far superior to what Chuxia learned in her previous life.

Moreover, she had never treated Chinese medicine cases herself, only learning from watching her grandfather.

In addition to the herbs prescribed by Li Guanzhong, Chu Xia also bought some herbs for making medicinal food, all of which were warm and neutral, such as codonopsis and poria.

Cen Huai’an could not read and therefore couldn’t understand the prescriptions.

However, he was much quieter during this trip.

Unlike his previous awkward silence, he was no longer as resistant to the hospital.

When they exited the hospital, Chu Xia suddenly stopped and pulled Cen Huai’an to the side, asking him to open his mouth.

Cen Huai’an didn’t open his mouth and even turned his head, trying to pull away his arm.

Chu Xia took out a packet of powdered medicine and pointed at his mouth. “Don’t you feel any pain? You were just burned so badly. Let me see.”

Cen Huai’an and Chu Xia were at a standstill.

Seeing that he wouldn’t open his mouth, Chu Xia said directly, “If you don’t open your mouth, I’ll make you…”

Before the medicine even touched him, Cen Huaian had already closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and opened his mouth, his face displaying a stubborn expression as if being forced, which almost made Chuxia laugh.

However, she quickly focused on checking the inside of his mouth, and as expected, his tongue was so scalded that it had turned an unusually bright red.

She opened a packet of medicine and gently sprinkled the light yellow powder meant for treating burns on his tongue.

Cen Huaian only felt a sudden coolness on his tongue, and the pain immediately subsided.

He secretly opened his eyes and saw his mother’s face, which was very close to his, as she looked down.

He was stunned and stared directly at her face.

He had never seen his mother like this.

In his limited memory, his mother was always frowning, either crying or sighing.

But now, his mother was different.

He didn’t know what it was, but he vaguely sensed that she was not the same as before.

“What are you staring at? It’s done. Don’t lick it with your tongue.”

Chuxia put away the medicine packet, then took Cen Huaian’s hand and continued walking forward.

She was carrying three large bags of traditional Chinese medicine, and with the consultation fee, she had spent more than twenty yuan.

At that time, this was considered expensive; she worked as a textile worker and earned only 32.5 yuan a month.

The main reason for the high cost was that Chuxia bought medicine for two people, and she herself bought a lot, otherwise, it wouldn’t have cost so much.

Without buying expensive herbs, the common medicinal ingredients weren’t considered costly at the time.

Moreover, the prescription given by Li Guanzhong was filled with inexpensive herbs, which was a common practice for good doctors at that time.

Her grandfather had told her that in the past, people’s lives were difficult, so if a disease could be treated with cheaper medicine, they would always prioritize those ingredients, ensuring that patients could afford their treatment.

Even as people’s lives improved after she grew up, her grandfather maintained this habit, and when he taught his apprentices and her, he emphasized this principle.

After leaving the clinic, Chuxia didn’t go home but instead took Cen Huaian to the nearby department store.

Cen Huaian’s clothes were old, small, and dirty, and he was wearing a pair of cloth shoes that were so worn that the soles were almost gone.

As for Chuxia, she was still wearing her work uniform, as the original owner of the body didn’t have many clothes.

The clothes her husband had bought for her when they got married were taken by her mother later on, and she had lived a tight life since then, with her meals being inconsistent, so she hadn’t paid much attention to dressing up.

The salespeople at the department store were indeed as arrogant as the rumors said.

But the quality of the clothes was still good, although the styles weren’t very modern, so Chuxia wasn’t interested, and she couldn’t make clothes herself.

Now that the economy had opened up, there were clothes from Yangcheng being secretly brought in and sold outside, so Chuxia planned to buy from there.

However, the leather sandals looked pretty good, so Chuxia asked the salesperson to get sizes for both Cen Huaian and herself.

Cen Huaian had never been to a department store before, and everything there seemed new and fascinating to him.

He looked at his mother, who was talking to the salesperson about buying shoes, and his small mind couldn’t quite understand.

His mother definitely wouldn’t have come here before.

And was his mother really going to buy him shoes?

His grandmother said that children’s shoes were a waste and that it was unnecessary to buy them; straw sandals would suffice, and shoes could be bought when he grew up, to avoid wasting money.

Cen Huai’an didn’t believe that his mother would be willing to buy him shoes, but seeing Chuxia already having the salesperson bring out the shoes, he stayed still.

Chu Xia asked Cen Huai’an to take off his current shoes. “Try these on to see if they fit.”

Seeing that Cen Huai’an wasn’t moving, she crouched down to help him take off his shoes.

As soon as she touched his ankle, Cen Huai’an flinched and pulled his foot back.

Chu Xia firmly held his foot. “Don’t move. Hold still and let me help you.”

Cen Huai’an stopped moving but didn’t help her; he just let her remove his shoes that exposed his toes.

His feet were black, thin, and dirty, and the salesperson complained, “How can we sell the shoes after they’ve been tried on with such dirty feet?”

Cen Huai’an’s feet shrank back, and he turned his face to the side, his thin, dark face showing a hint of redness.

Chu Xia didn’t even look at the salesperson; she put the shoes on Cen Huai’an’s feet without worrying about how dirty they were.

“You have an attitude problem. Shoes are meant to be worn, and I’m buying them. Leather shoes can be cleaned if they get dirty; they aren’t cloth shoes that need washing.”

Seeing that Chu Xia was not to be trifled with, the salesperson kept a stern face and said nothing more.

Chu Xia then turned to Cen Huai’an. “Walk around and see if they fit.”

Cen Huai’an had never worn such comfortable and soft leather shoes before and didn’t know how to walk in them.

He took a few cautious steps, his body tensed up.

“Do they fit?” Chu Xia asked him.

Cen Huai’an looked at her face, unable to tell if she really wanted to buy them.

He looked down at the leather shoes, his small, skinny face still expressionless, and murmured a quiet “mm” in response.

He couldn’t believe his mother would actually buy them for him.

But if she really did buy the leather shoes, he definitely wouldn’t let his grandmother take them away for his cousin—even if it meant a fight.

“Alright, we’ll take these. Also, get another pair in the same size but brown.”

Cen Huai’an looked up at Chu Xia in disbelief, unable to believe she was really buying him leather shoes, let alone two pairs.

He bit his lip, feeling his palms getting a bit sweaty.

He watched as Chu Xia paid for the shoes and handed them to him to carry.

His small head was completely blank, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Chu Xia bought herself a pair of black leather sandals with a slight heel and put them on right away.

She threw away Cen Huai’an’s ragged cloth shoes and her own patched-up shoes.

Cen Huai’an carefully held his new leather shoes as Chu Xia took him to the counter where they sold malted milk.

She bought a can of malted milk and some fruit candies and White Rabbit milk candies.

He instinctively licked his lips, hugged his leather shoes tightly, and stared intently at the candy box in Chu Xia’s hand.

Chu Xia unwrapped a White Rabbit milk candy and popped it into his mouth.

Smiling, she asked him, “Is it sweet?”