Chapter 9: Nothing Poisonous

The people in the room looked at each other.

“Should we call a physician?” Song Jinsheng asked weakly at the door. “If we’re calling a physician, I’ll go to Sanli Po to invite Physician Li now.”

Li Dahei from Sanli Po was the only traveling physician in the nearby villages. It would take about half an hour to go and return.

The distance was neither far nor near. However, if a physician came, even if you didn’t get any medicine, the consultation fee of fifteen copper coins was unavoidable. Even if you did get medicine, you’d have to go to town to get it the next day.

The consultation fee wasn’t too high, but for families that weren’t well-off, it was still difficult to afford. Therefore, many people would endure their illnesses.

Song Jinbao and Zhao Qiao’e didn’t speak, leaving the decision to Song Jinyuan.

Song Jinyuan looked at Liu Xiangyun with some concern, then remembered what she had said earlier.

“Can I trust Tang’er?” He then said, “Regardless of the consultation fee, I want to believe her this once.”

Over the years, although Song Yuntang always missed the Lin family, she had never spoken carelessly in front of the Song family.

He believed in Song Yuntang’s character and that she wouldn’t joke about his brother’s wife and child.

Song Jinbao nodded. “Let’s help Xiangyun back to the room to rest.”

Zhao Qiao’e quickly helped Song Jinyuan, supporting Liu Xiangyun back to their room.

…

Song Jinsheng came to Song Yuntang.

“Tang’er, are you really sure about your sister-in-law’s condition?”

Song Yuntang, who was sharpening a branch to make charcoal pencils at the door, didn’t look up. She blew off the wood shavings.

“Didn’t I say, if you don’t trust me, you can find another physician.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you.” Song Jinsheng knelt in front of her. “We’ve never seen you treat anyone before. When did you learn this?”

She couldn’t have learned medicine before she was thirteen, could she?

At least in the three years since she came to the Song family, they had never seen her treat anyone. Even when she was sick, she would find a physician from outside.

“I secretly apprenticed under a master and learned a little. It’s nothing special, but it shouldn’t be worse than those traveling physicians.” Song Yuntang answered calmly, showing no sign of guilt for lying.

Song Jinsheng raised an eyebrow. “So confident, huh?”

“Without this confidence, I wouldn’t rely on medicine to make money.” She looked at Song Jinsheng. “Second Brother, do you know where I can find some sand?”

Song Jinsheng was taken aback. “There’s some by the well where we usually fetch water. How much do you need? I’ll get it for you.”

“A small jar will do.”

“Wait for me.”

Song Jinsheng took a jar with a large crack from the corner and ran out of the courtyard.

Song Yuntang found the smallest jar in the kitchen, filled it with fine sand, then buried the sticks one by one in the sand and put it in the blazing stove.

“Tang’er, what are you doing?”

Watching Song Yuntang’s actions, Zhao Qiao’e couldn’t help but ask.

“Making charcoal pencils.”

The wood she chose was dense; burning it directly would be wasteful. Although making charcoal pencils with jars and fine sand was more work, the carbonization would be more thorough and even, making it smoother to write with and less prone to breaking.

Zhao Qiao’e had never seen this method before. She only knew that wood burned in the stove could be used for writing; Zhuzi and Zhuangzi had practiced calligraphy with charcoal in the past.

However, she didn’t say anything. Her daughter’s emotions had been unstable these past two days, so she let her be.

…

Liu Shi was sent back to her room and woke up in less than half an hour. Fortunately, she was physically fine, only feeling a little dizzy. No one dared to let her get up.

Following Song Yuntang’s suggestion to improve her nutrition, Zhao Qiao’e made Liu Shi two poached eggs and added the last few remaining vegetables to her egg soup.

This meant that Zhuzi and Zhuangzi wouldn’t have any eggs today, and the family would only have thin porridge for dinner.

However, the two brothers were understanding and didn’t say anything. Their sister-in-law was pregnant and needed to supplement her nutrition, so her health was more important.

After dinner, it was already getting dark.

Song Yuntang had planned to go to the private school to talk to Xu Qingye about his illness, but it was almost dark. In this backward era, it was not appropriate for an unmarried man and woman to be seen together, so she decided to go the next day.

After washing up, she changed into the fine cotton clothes she had bought in town, a beige cross-collared top with a dark blue skirt.

The new clothes felt comfortable on her skin, the cotton material breathable and absorbent.

After a busy day, she felt tired and soon fell asleep.

In the dead of night, Song Yuntang heard some faint noises.

The countryside at night in summer was different from the Lin mansion. There were always noises from time to time, sometimes frogs, sometimes dogs, and sometimes cicadas. Song Yuntang was half-asleep, thinking that her father and brothers were home, so she didn’t pay much attention and turned over to sleep again.

When she woke up, she found several large mosquito bites on her arm, itchy and painful.

“Did you get bitten by mosquitoes last night?”

At dinner, Song Yuntang asked Song Jinsheng.

After staying in this house for two days, she had gotten slightly closer to Song Jinsheng.

Song Jinsheng shook his head. “No. Mosquitoes have to take a detour when they see me.”

Then, remembering that he had thick skin and his sister was delicate, he asked, “Were there mosquitoes in your room, Tang’er?”

Song Yuntang touched her arm, which was covered by her sleeve. “Yes. When I go to the mountains to pick vegetables later, I’ll look for some mugwort to smoke out the mosquitoes.”

Liu Xiangyun was pregnant and was already uncomfortable; she couldn’t go to the mountains to pick vegetables. Song Yuntang knew more vegetables, and she might be able to pick more.

Hearing this, everyone looked at her in surprise.

“You’re going to the mountains to pick vegetables?”

Song Jinsheng, who was closest to her, touched Song Yuntang’s forehead. “Are you delirious?”

Song Yuntang helplessly brushed his hand away. “I’m fine.”

“No,” Song Jinsheng looked at her, frowning. “Do you even know what wild vegetables look like?”

Song Yuntang twitched her lips.

The previous Song Yuntang might not have known wild vegetables, but someone who had worked with medicinal herbs for nearly twenty years couldn’t possibly not know them.

“Whatever I pick won’t be poisonous.”

After saying this, she went to the kitchen, picked up the tongs, and took out the jar from the stove.

The people eating in the main room looked at each other, apprehensive about Song Yuntang’s last sentence.

After a long while, Song Jinbao spoke seriously.

“Second, follow Tang’er later.”

“Okay.” Song Jinsheng nodded without hesitation.

Song Yuntang took out the carbonized charcoal sticks and came to the main room, her gaze falling calmly on Zhuzi and Zhuangzi.

“I need a piece of paper.”

Only these two brothers were studying, and only they had paper. However, they used it sparingly, only taking it out when their teacher assigned homework. They usually kept it like a treasure, practicing calligraphy by dipping their brushes in water and writing on wooden boards.

Zhuzi and Zhuangzi looked at Song Yuntang blankly, then at their mother, unsure whether to give her the paper.

“Not at all?” Song Yuntang replied lightly. “If not, then forget it.”

She turned to head back inside to find something to use as paper when she heard Zhao Qiao’e urging her two younger sons, “Didn’t you hear your sister needs paper? What are you standing there for?”

“Oh.”

Zhuzi and Zhuangzi, confused, returned to their room and brought back a piece of paper for Song Yuntang.

She didn’t use the whole sheet but folded it in half and then again, cutting it into six equal parts. She laid one piece on the table and used her charcoal pencil to write down the prescription for the medicine to protect the fetus.

Her handwriting flowed like water, strong and vigorous. Even someone who hadn’t studied could tell that such skill didn’t come easily; it required considerable hard work to develop.

The first time the others saw Song Yuntang write, their expressions were filled with surprise and awe.

Zhuzi stood beside her, reading aloud what she had written.

“Raw earth, angelica, white peony, eucommia bark charcoal, yellow medicine, and melted donkey-hide gelatin, each four qian; cooked earth, Chinese angelica, and yam, each five qian; red peony and burdock, each three qian; astragalus, one tael; and reed root, four taels…”

The more he read, the more shocked he became.

“This is a prescription?”

This sister had been in the Song family for three years and hadn’t seemed to do anything serious. How had she suddenly learned to treat illnesses?