Chapter 37

“Huaishan!”

Sòng Wénhuì, usually composed, shouted out for the first time and rushed into the yard in a flurry. Yīn Huaixi followed closely behind, her heart in her throat.

“I-I’m fine…”

Yīn Huaishan quickly hopped to the door on one leg when he heard their voices, his face so haggard it almost resembled when he was exiled.

Seeing him, the two women finally felt their worry ease. But the next moment, they noticed he was standing on one leg, and rushed to help him inside and sit down.

“What happened to your leg?”

“The wall collapsed…”

Yīn Huaishan felt unlucky. First, the place he had been sleeping started leaking, and then when he moved the bed, the wall just collapsed. Now both his legs hurt, but the right leg was worse, with no strength at all.

“I’ll take a look.”

Yīn Huaixi immediately tried to lift her brother’s pant leg, startling Yīn Huaishan, who quickly blocked her.

“No, no need to look!”

He was a man—his younger sister shouldn’t be looking at his leg.

At this moment, Yīn Huaishan’s slightly old-fashioned modesty flared up, and he stubbornly refused to let her see. Fortunately, Sòng Wénhuì was sensible; she squatted down and directly lifted her husband’s pant leg.

“You should take a good look at him, little sister.”

There were no doctors in the village, so it was good enough that his sister was willing to check him. In the house, it was only family, so what was the point of worrying about some outdated rules about gender propriety?

Yīn Huaixi looked at her brother’s distressed face and almost couldn’t help but laugh.

She examined him and found that both of his legs had been injured. His left leg was bruised and swollen, but it was treatable. His right leg was more serious, with a minor fracture. It seemed he would need to rest for at least a month or two.

“Big Brother, stretch out your hand, let me check your pulse.”

Yīn Huaishan was still hesitant, but seeing his sister’s serious expression, he relented and stretched out his hand obediently.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. No internal injuries from the wall, just some stomach imbalance. I have the medicine for this. I’ll get it, and Sister-in-law can prepare it for you.”

“Alright, alright!”

“The rest are minor issues, but the injury to your right leg is more serious, so you need to rest well and avoid moving around. I’ll go get the medicine, and I’ll bring some bamboo strips back to immobilize your leg. For leg injuries, I don’t have enough of the right medicine, so I’ll need to buy it in the city.”

Yīn Huaixi looked relaxed, clearly confident in her understanding of the situation. Sòng Wénhuì, seeing her composure, felt reassured and made sure to remember all the instructions carefully.

Soon, Yīn Huaixi returned with the medicine, accompanied by her cousins.

The family was worried as they looked at the collapsed walls and house, but for now, getting the right medicine was the priority. Yīn Huaixi quickly immobilized her brother’s leg with bamboo strips and then went to Xiao Mǎn’s house.

She went to borrow a straw hat and raincoat. Otherwise, even if she managed to rent an ox-cart to the city, she would be soaked through.

Ah, living in this place, she realized there was always something to buy. Not only did she need to buy her brother’s medicine, but she also had to purchase the raincoat and straw hat. Xiao Mǎn’s mother had said that from June to August, it rained heavily on the island, and they would need those items often.

Yīn Huaixi left in the morning and returned when it was almost dark.

Luckily, the ox-cart dropped her and her purchases at the door, or else it would have taken her quite some time to carry everything.

“Mother, were you okay? Why did you take so long?”

“I’m fine. It was just slippery on the road, and the ox-cart moved slowly. Plus, I had to go to different stores in the city to find everything, so that’s why I’m late.”

Yīn Huaixi sorted out the items they needed at home and handed them to her daughter, leaving the rest—medicine, grains, and bottles and jars. She bought two raincoats and straw hats, one for each family, as well as two oil lamps, which were essential.

All together, she had spent six to seven hundred wen.

Yīn Huaishan opened his mouth a few times, wanting to ask his sister how much she had spent, but then he remembered he had no money at all, so even if he asked, it wouldn’t help.

He felt a bit dejected, and spoke even less.

Sòng Wénhuì, who had been with him for many years, knew exactly what he was thinking. She wanted to say something, but seeing her daughter still there, she swallowed her words. As the head of the family, she felt she needed to give her husband face in front of their daughter.

In her opinion, her husband was being too petty. Yīn Huaixi was his own sister, so what was wrong with her helping out? It wasn’t like she was going to rely on her forever. Once his leg healed, he could help her with work or find some odd jobs to earn money and repay her.

Sometimes, a family needed to keep things in perspective. At other times, they didn’t need to be too formal. As long as they knew what was in their hearts, that was enough.

After a long day, the new oil lamps they bought came in handy. Yīn Huaixi applied the prepared ointment to her brother’s leg and wrapped it up with a clean cloth.

It was a bit of a hassle, but it saved money.

When she went to the medicine hall to buy the medicine earlier, she had asked, and the ointment for bone fractures alone cost a full coin. But by buying the ingredients and preparing the medicine herself, she could make a large bowl of it for two coins, enough for four or five applications.

Although she wasn’t particularly skilled in treating sprains and fractures, she had benefited from the wisdom of her ancestors, memorizing many effective remedies since childhood.

These good prescriptions had been passed down through generations, tested, and improved over time. They might not be superior to modern ones, but they certainly weren’t inferior.

After applying the ointment, Yīn Huaixi finally had some free time. The family didn’t disperse after dinner but instead sat together to discuss the repairs for the house.

“The yard definitely needs to be fixed, but we can take our time with that. What’s more urgent is that the room where Big Brother and Sister-in-law sleep needs to be fixed quickly,” Yīn Huaixi said as she handed her sister-in-law a silver coin before her brother could speak.

“This is a loan from both you and Big Brother to me.”

“Once we make money, we’ll pay it back.”

Sòng Wénhuì graciously accepted, and with that, Yīn Huaishan didn’t know what else to say.

The house really did need repairs, and with his leg injured, what else could he do but take the money and hire someone to fix it?

That night, when Jiāng Wǎn and her daughter returned, they brought Yīn Níng back to the small stone house. Since Yīn Níng had given up her room to her parents for the time being, she had to squeeze in with her mother and cousin in the small house.

Fortunately, both the girls were very thin, so the three of them lying together still had a little room to spare. Yīn Huaixi was truly exhausted that day; as soon as she lay down, she fell asleep shortly after.

It wasn’t clear how long had passed, but eventually, Yīn Níng cautiously moved her stiff body.

“Cousin, are you still awake?”

Hearing someone speak in the quiet darkness, Yīn Níng was startled. She relaxed after realizing it was her cousin.

“You’re still awake too?”

Jiāng Wǎn made a sound of acknowledgment, turned to face her cousin, and whispered, “Cousin, are you thinking about Uncle’s leg injury, or are you wondering how to make money?”

“I…”

“I guess you’re thinking about both,” Jiāng Wǎn said with a knowing tone. She now understood her cousin very well. Her personality was very much like her uncle’s. With no steady income at home, spending money—especially when it wasn’t money she had earned—was making her feel uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry about Uncle’s leg, he’ll be completely recovered in two months at most.”

“As for the money, you should feel at ease. Aren’t we going to start a small business selling conch meat soon? We’ll divide the money according to the work we put in. Or, if you don’t want to work with me, you could always go to the city to buy some cloth or clothes to embroider. That will also bring in some money. We’re still young, there’s plenty we can do, and we can make money slowly.”

Yīn Níng felt a little teary listening to her cousin. Being her cousin, she was always the one who had to be comforted and guided.

“Cousin, have you fallen asleep?”

“No, I’m listening to you. You’re really kind, little cousin.”

Jiāng Wǎn chuckled, about to speak again, but before she could, her cousin spoke up, “I always feel like you’re the older sister, and I’m the younger sister. It’s kind of strange.”

After saying this, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself.

Jiāng Wǎn, resting her head on her pillow, couldn’t help but reflect—wasn’t that true? She was in her twenties in the modern world, so of course, she was the older one.