Chapter 9: First Impression

With lighthearted banter, the group, initially drowsy, became lively again.

Those who were interested gathered their courage and asked Jiang Nian questions, which she patiently answered.

Others, whose elderly parents had backaches and leg pains, asked her if she had any remedies. She explained them one by one, but whether they would use them was beyond her control.

After the crowd dispersed, Niu Aixiang finally got a chance to speak. “If I had known you were so skilled in medicine, it would have been great. That fever medicine we took during the day was a waste. It didn’t work at all.”

“I wanted to say something, but you were too anxious. The attendant came over, and I didn’t dare to speak up.” Zhao Heping’s fever was caused by internal injuries and blood stasis. Without treating the internal injuries, the fever medicine wouldn’t be able to reduce his fever.

“It’s my fault for being too nervous. But Jiang Nian, you’re so skilled in medicine. I wish I could be as skilled as you. Are you really only as old as us?”

Her eyes were filled with admiration.

Everyone else on the train was asleep. Niu Aixiang, confirming that Zhao Heping’s fever had subsided, yawned and closed her eyes.

Zhao Heping quietly said to her, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She didn’t save him for nothing. It was a mutual benefit.

Look, her reputation as a skilled doctor had spread.

But to achieve the effect she wanted, she still needed to do a little more.

The train rattled along, and through the window, she looked out at the starry sky. Occasionally, a shooting star would streak across the night.

They had been on the train for two days, and the weather was hot. At first, everyone was afraid of being impolite, but later they couldn’t bear it anymore and simply took off their shoes and socks, revealing their bare, smelly feet.

The smell in the carriage wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Even Jiang Nian leaned back, looking weary, as if she had lost her energy.

At the hottest time of the day, as the train whistle blew, the attendant stood in the carriage with a loudspeaker and shouted, “Passengers getting off south of Jianglin City, please gather your luggage and belongings and prepare to disembark.”

“We’re here?” Niu Aixiang felt instantly revived. She would have gone crazy if she had to sit there any longer.

Li Rui was also happy. “Yes, we’re finally here. Let’s quickly gather our luggage. Don’t leave anything behind. Let’s get off together. Keep an eye on each other so we don’t get lost.”

Jiang Nian’s two large sacks were quite conspicuous in the crowd.

Fortunately, she had secretly moved the heavy things inside into her space along the way and stuffed some lighter things in to deceive people. So, although they looked big, they weren’t very heavy.

Li Rui was carrying a backpack and holding a net bag with a basin and a thermos. He had one free hand. “Jiang Nian, can you carry two big sacks by yourself? You’re a girl. Let me carry one for you. But your family really loves you. How could they let you come so far away alone?”

He thought her family couldn’t be too bad off. It shouldn’t be difficult to find a nearby place to work in the countryside with a little bit of connections.

“I’m too beautiful, so people are jealous. They secretly changed my work location to this place.”

Li Rui and Niu Aixiang were both stunned. Then they started grumbling. “What kind of people are there? How could they do something so immoral? It’s outrageous!”

“By the way, Li Rui, why did you come here?” Niu Aixiang asked him.

“I wanted to experience freedom on my own, so I deliberately ran away from my parents.” But when he thought of his parents’ tearful expressions, he couldn’t help but feel sad. Suppressing that feeling, he asked Niu Aixiang, “What about you? Why did you come here with Zhao Heping?”

Zhao Heping looked dejected. “I just wanted to come.”

Niu Aixiang didn’t hesitate to express her love. “Because he wanted to come, so I came.”

What a touching love story! Unfortunately, the man clearly wasn’t interested in her. Niu Aixiang was at most a foolish girl with unrequited love.

After traveling together, they had developed a thin friendship.

They got off the train amidst the crowd. The fresh air hit their faces, and they instantly felt revived.

Looking up from the crowd, they realized that they were in a field, not at the station.

Jianglin City was still a long way away. For convenience, they had set up a temporary station here.

A middle-aged man was shouting in the crowd, “Those going to Zhoujia Village, please come over here…”

“Here…” Niu Aixiang was exhausted. As soon as she heard someone calling, she waved her hand and went over, supporting Zhao Heping and not forgetting to call the other two over.

“You… are you the educated youth going to our Zhoujia Village?”

“Yes, we are. You must be here to pick us up. We’ll be in your care from now on.” Niu Aixiang said politely.

Village Chief Zhou looked at the two couples in front of him and couldn’t help but frown.

The beautiful girl (Jiang Nian) looked delicate and pampered, not someone who could do farm work.

The one with a cheerful smile (Li Rui) seemed a little slow.

When his gaze landed on Niu Aixiang, he felt a little better. She looked decent.

But the one she was supporting (Zhao Heping) was clearly a sickly man!

“Sigh!” Village Chief Zhou sighed heavily. “Come on, put your luggage on the oxcart. Walk from here. It’s not that far from our village. You four can walk. I’m the village chief of Zhoujia Village. You can call me Village Chief Zhou or Uncle Zhou.”

Of course, calling him Uncle Zhou was more intimate. Niu Aixiang looked at Zhao Heping with concern and pleaded with Village Chief Zhou. “Uncle Zhou, it’s like this. Zhao Heping got injured before coming to the countryside, and he had a fever on the train. It was thanks to Jiang Nian’s medical skills that he was saved. But he’s still a little weak. Can… can he ride on the oxcart?”

Village Chief Zhou’s expression turned even worse. He had guessed right. He was indeed a sickly man!

But when his gaze fell on Jiang Nian, he was a little surprised.

She was a young girl who knew medicine. That was rare.

However, here came a few more people who were just here to eat. Life in the village was already difficult, and it would probably be even harder in the second half of the year.

“Get on.”

Jiang Nian’s two large sacks took up half of the oxcart. Fortunately, the things she had stuffed inside were soft, so Zhao Heping could lean against them.

Along the way, Village Chief Zhou introduced them to the situation in the village.

There were currently two old educated youth in the village. There were originally two more, but one had a broken leg and was sent back to the city on medical leave, while the other had found connections to return to the city.

The educated youth’s house wasn’t big. It could barely accommodate two educated youth, one male and one female. The other two could only temporarily stay with villagers for now. They would expand the house for them after the autumn harvest when things were less busy.

There was another purpose, which was to tell them that life in the village was difficult, so those who were capable should try their best to return to the city if they could. The village wouldn’t stop them. They would definitely send them off with drums and gongs.

After all, the village’s resources were limited. They couldn’t even take care of their own villagers, let alone a few outsiders taking up resources.

Although educated youth came to the countryside under the banner of building the countryside, the newly arrived educated youth were delicate and pampered. They didn’t do much work and complained a lot. The village had to make sure they didn’t starve. It was a real headache.