Chapter 10 – The Female Military Doctor of the 1950s

Elopement?!

In this era, such an act was both shocking and rebellious.

In just half a day, Xu Shuigeng and Han Sanya had become the center of gossip in the entire Xujiatun.

Like a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil—it exploded with drama!

Of course, there was one exception: the remote and respected Cao household remained the only place untouched by the chaos.

That entire morning, Xu Wanchun was completely immersed in a sea of knowledge.

She first reviewed the medicinal herbs she’d learned the day before, then began learning processing techniques. By the time she had memorized the first sixteen characters of the Thousand Character Classic, she left for home with her notebook in hand—under the satisfied eyes of her two teachers.

“Taohua really is sharp as a tack.”
Watching the child walk away, Su Nan finally let out the joy she’d been holding in all morning.

She was a woman who loved to study. Though life in a quiet mountain village was peaceful, it was also lonely.

Now that they’d found a naturally gifted student, her heart brimmed with happiness.

Cao Xiu was pleased too, though he remained rational. Perhaps to soothe his wife—or maybe to calm his own excitement—he murmured,
“No rush, no rush. Let’s go steady. We still need to carefully observe her character.”

Xu Wanchun, unaware of her teachers’ high hopes and delight, returned home hugging her notebook—only to find that her mother wasn’t there.

She paced around the house a few times and began to grow uneasy.
Did something happen?

It wasn’t that she was overly sensitive. It was just that her foster mother always worried about her health. She never missed a mealtime.

But now, it was already lunchtime, and the stove hadn’t even been lit.

She also remembered the occasional strange man who’d shown up in recent days. Her heart tightened. Without hesitation, she ran out of the house.

“Taohua?”
Xu Hehua was hurrying home when she saw her daughter’s tiny legs pumping furiously as she bolted toward the neighbor’s house.

Xu Wanchun stopped in her tracks, then turned quickly,
“Mom?!”

“Eh? What’s the rush?”
Hehua reached her and, seeing the relief and joy on her daughter’s face, couldn’t help but chuckle as she ruffled her hair.
“Hungry already? Mom lost track of time.”

“I’m not hungry. Uncle and Aunt gave me snacks. But where did you go? Why are you covered in mud?”
Every time it rained, the village would stay muddy for days. The shoes wore out fast. But her mom looked like she’d gone swimming in a mud pit—it was that bad.

Mentioning it made Xu Hehua sigh. She led her daughter back home while explaining,
“Your older cousin ran off last night with the girl he liked. Your grandma came looking for me about it.”

“Ran off?”
Shocked, Xu Wanchun quickly frowned.
“It’s raining out there! What did Grandma want from you? Just look at you now! Hurry, change your clothes before you catch cold.”

Before her mother could protest, she shoved her toward the kitchen and went to fetch water for the stove.

When Xu Hehua came back, holding her dirty clothes, the water was already steaming.

“Mom, the water’s almost boiling. Get the tub out—you need a hot bath.”

Xu Hehua tried to refuse,
“No need to waste firewood. It’s already summer. I’m not cold.”

But Xu Wanchun wouldn’t listen. Not only did she insist on the bath, she also made her a cup of ginger brown sugar tea.

After the bath and the sweet, warming tea, Xu Hehua felt much more comfortable.

But when she remembered that they had only a couple taels of brown sugar left—and half of it had now gone into her stomach—she clutched her heart and groaned,
“You little brat! Why are you so wasteful?!”

“Mom, I’m hungry—”

“Coming, coming.”
Xu Hehua caught on to her daughter’s attempt to change the subject and grumbled half-heartedly, but her hands moved quickly all the same.

Seeing that her mother no longer dwelled on the brown sugar issue, Xu Wanchun went back to her earlier question:
“Did they find Big Cousin and that girl?”

“Nope. Your Uncle Da organized a whole search party. They turned the entire village upside down and didn’t even find a scrap of clothing.”

Xu Wanchun frowned, “How’s Grandma?”

“What else? She’s been crying for hours.”

Xu Wanchun tugged the corner of her lips, “You should try to talk to her when you have time. Crying like that all the time, her eyes are gonna give out sooner or later.”

“It’s no use. I’ve been talking to her for decades.”
Then Hehua sighed and added, “Taohua, where do you think Shuigeng could’ve gone?”

“How would I know?” Xu Wanchun replied instinctively. But after she spoke, something came to mind. “What if they’re hiding in the Green Mountain? Are there caves there?”

“There are.” Hehua’s face shifted with realization. But then she frowned. “Still, the mountain’s hard to get to when it rains. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Really, it’s all your uncle and aunt’s fault. San’ya’s such a good girl, but they still wouldn’t agree to the match. Now look, chickens and eggs both gone!”

Seeing her mother growing angrier by the second, Xu Wanchun quickly tried to soothe her:
“It’s fine, Mom. Big Cousin isn’t a kid anymore. He won’t let himself starve.”

“These past few years, life’s been better. Even beggars can get by. I’m just afraid they’ll run into bandits—things outside aren’t peaceful these days.”

Having grown up in a peaceful era, Xu Wanchun hadn’t even considered the issue of bandits. She paused for a few seconds, unable to think of a solution, so she simply changed the subject:
“I learned sixteen characters this morning. Aunt said I’m really smart.”

“Really?!”
Just as expected, Xu Hehua’s face lit up instantly. She completely forgot her earlier frustration—her heart and mind now entirely focused on her daughter’s literacy.

Xu Wanchun was happy to humor her mother. She went to the west room and brought back her notebook.

Though Xu Hehua couldn’t read a single word, she gently touched the characters on the page, her expression full of awe.
“Our Taohua writes so well.”

In truth, the writing wasn’t good at all. Xu Wanchun had deliberately written it messily to make it look like beginner work.
“Mom, how about I teach you to read?”

Eventually, she would go to university. Barring any accidents, she would settle in a big city. Her foster mother, who had treated her like a precious pearl, had given her the best care in every aspect. So of course Xu Wanchun had plans to bring her along.

Not just out of filial duty or gratitude—she simply didn’t want her mother to spend her whole life trapped in a tiny mountain village. She wanted her to see the world.

“Wha—what? Me?” Xu Hehua was stunned.

“Of course you. I’ll teach you.”
Xu Wanchun had already noticed that while her mother could be bold and generous in many areas, she was deeply self-conscious and timid when it came to literacy. If it weren’t for keeping up her act as a child, she would’ve taught her long ago.

“No, no, no! I’m too stupid. How could someone like me learn to read and write?”
Xu Hehua panicked and waved her hands. The thought had never crossed her mind. She was 31 years old and had never even dared to dream of literacy.

Xu Wanchun rolled her eyes and cleverly changed her tactic:
“Why not? If I teach you, it’s like I’m reviewing my lessons. That’ll help me learn even better!”

Wait… it can work like that?
Still, Xu Hehua wanted to refuse. But each time she opened her mouth, some buried hope deep inside stopped her.

In the end, she didn’t say anything more. Her palms were damp with nervous sweat.

Wanchun acted as though she hadn’t noticed her foster mother’s hesitation. She picked up a pencil, neatly wrote the Arabic numerals 1 to 10 in her notebook, explained each of them, and then confidently pushed the notebook into Hehua’s hands.
“Well? Isn’t it simple?”

That tiny notebook suddenly felt heavy as a brick. But after listening to her daughter’s patient explanation and silently repeating the numbers a few times in her head, Xu Hehua suddenly felt… maybe it wasn’t so hard after all. Maybe literacy wasn’t some impossible thing, distant and unreachable.

“It really is simple, Mom. We’ll take it slow—just two characters a day, and you’ll know sixty by the end of the month!”
Seeing her mother’s eyes gradually light up, Xu Wanchun knew she’d struck the right chord and quickly poured in the final bit of motivational “chicken soup.”

And sure enough, Xu Hehua was swayed. Clutching the notebook tightly, she said with a touch of excitement:
“Then… then I’ll give it a try?”

“You have to try!” Wanchun beamed.

“But don’t tell anyone yet,” Hehua added hurriedly. “If I can’t learn it, we’ll pretend like it never happened.”

“Okay, I won’t tell.”

“Not even your Uncle Cao and Aunt Su.”

“I got it already!”

——

The next morning, 6:30 a.m.

With her completed homework in hand, Xu Wanchun once again arrived at the Cao household.
This was pre-arranged: from now on, she’d study every morning, six days a week.

The schedule was the same as yesterday—two hours of literacy, followed by two hours of herbal medicine.

When she returned home, brain buzzing with new knowledge, she was greeted by the smiling face of her grandmother.

Wanchun put her schoolbag down in her room and then walked into the kitchen.
“Grandma, did they find Big Cousin?”

Old Madam Xu was practically glowing with joy.
“So you already heard?”

Wanchun hadn’t, but her grandmother’s radiant face told her everything. So she turned to her mother instead.

Xu Hehua was busy sorting through a basket of wild mushrooms her mother had brought.
The recent rain had made them sprout in abundance.

Seeing the confusion on her daughter’s face, she explained:
“Your Big Cousin and that girl didn’t actually go far—they just hid in the Green Mountain for a day and a night. They came back this morning on their own. Those mushrooms your grandma brought? The two of them picked them.”

Then she added, with a mix of exasperation and amusement:
“They’re planning to get married now. Say their reputations are ruined, and no one else would take them anyway.”

Clever move, Wanchun thought. They really pulled the rug out from under everyone.
“Whose idea was it?”

“Shuigeng said it was his.”

Then it was probably San’ya who suggested it.
Resting her chin in her palms, Wanchun grew curious about the girl.
She hadn’t even married in yet, and already the in-laws had turned against her. Would she really have a good life? Would Big Cousin truly stand by her?

“Your mom said you’ve been learning to read?”
Now that her precious grandson was safe, Grandma Xu suddenly remembered to care about her granddaughter too.

“Yup. Half a day every morning.”
Wanchun replied as she helped sort the mushrooms.

Old Madam Xu frowned, puzzled.
“What good is reading? I’ve lived my whole life illiterate, and I’m still doing just fine.”

Fine?
Wanchun wasn’t so sure. Maybe for others it was bearable—but she couldn’t accept being a blind soul trapped in a backwater village for life.

Before Wanchun could reply, Hehua cut in to avoid a direct clash:
“I told her to go.”

Old Madam Xu tried persuasion instead:
“We’re just farmers, dirt people. This life is about working the land. Learning to read isn’t as useful as learning to weave and saving up for a dowry.”

Hehua didn’t want to bring up old wounds, but her mother clearly wasn’t planning to stop.
So she took a deep breath and snapped:
“And reading is useless, huh? Wasn’t it Li Shanhai who ditched your daughter because she couldn’t read?”

That was a death blow.
The old woman faltered and fell silent. After a while, she changed the subject to save face.
“Taohua, your Big Cousin’s getting married tomorrow. Come with your mom. I’ll save a drumstick for you.”

“Thanks, Grandma!”
Wanchun gave her the sweetest smile—though deep down, her curiosity was piqued.

Li Shanhai, huh? The man who dumped his fiancée despite the deep kindness she’d shown him…
Could someone like that really find happiness?