Chapter 15 – The Female Military Doctor of the 1950s

The photo studio wasn’t very large on the outside.

But there were quite a few people lined up inside.

When the four of them stepped into the shop, the old photographer was standing behind a tripod, slightly hunched over. While turning the crank to adjust the focus, he softly reassured the stiff, nervous subjects in front of the lens.

Off to the side, small groups of people stood chatting, each dressed up nicely. Every so often, someone would tug at their clothes or fix their hair.

Clearly, although photography had become more accessible, it was still treated as a serious occasion.

Xu Wanchun was still examining the décor inside the studio when she suddenly felt a hand pat her on the head. She looked up—it was her Master’s wife.

Seeing the little girl glance over, Su Nan rubbed her head again and said,
“We’ll need to wait a bit. Peach Blossom, do you want to tie up your hair?”
She then pointed to a nearby girl.
“Like that—with a red dot on your forehead too.”

Xu Hehua had been feeling a little tense, but now she lit up with interest.
“That’s a great idea! Peach Blossom, let Mama put one on you.”

Xu Wanchun almost made a face. She threw her hands up over her head and her face.
“No! Absolutely not!”

Su Nan had already taken out a tube of lipstick from her bag, but seeing that, she looked regretful.
“Really not even a little? Our Peach Blossom is so pretty—with the red dot, you’d look even prettier.”

Under normal circumstances, Xu Wanchun would have been curious about lipstick from this era. But right now, she wasn’t in the mood at all. Head still buried, she mumbled stubbornly,
“I don’t like the red dot. And I don’t want to tie a bow either.”

“This girl…” Xu Hehua sighed and patted her daughter’s back, clearly exasperated.
“Don’t know what’s gotten into her. She just won’t wear braids.”

Xu Wanchun felt wronged. It wasn’t that she hated braids—it’s that she refused to have a puffed-up bow sticking out of the top of her head. It looked way too childish.

Luckily, the photographer spoke up just then, drawing the adults’ attention away.

Photos were expensive, but Xu Hehua didn’t hesitate. When registering, she not only paid for a mother-daughter portrait, but also for two individual photos.

Cao Xiu and Su Nan didn’t have financial worries, but they weren’t wasteful either—they only paid for two group photos.

The old master worked quickly. After only thirty minutes, it was their turn.

While others were being photographed, Xu Hehua had mentally prepared herself. But once she actually stood in front of the camera, she couldn’t help stiffening all over.

The old photographer was used to this and spoke gently:
“Don’t be nervous, young lady. Just sit in the chair, like you’re at home… Little girl, you stand—yes, right next to your mom.”

Once seated, Xu Hehua took a few deep breaths and smoothed out her clothes, trying to get rid of the wrinkles. Then she forced a smile—but no matter how she tried, it still looked awkward.

Seeing this, Xu Wanchun reached out her hand.
“Mom, maybe you can hold me?”

That suggestion clearly moved Xu Hehua. She instinctively looked to the photographer.

He nodded with a big grin.
“Holding her is fine. What a brave little one you’ve got. Alright—look at me, give me a nice smile… don’t be nervous.”

Off to the side, Su Nan watched the little girl for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.
“I see it now—this Peach Blossom is really steady.”

Cao Xiu looked a bit smug.
“Born to study medicine.”

Su Nan almost blurted out that with Peach Blossom’s calm and composed nature, she could succeed in anything, not just medicine. But thinking of how hard her husband had worked to find a disciple, she swallowed the comment.

The photos would take a week to be developed and ready.

After tucking away the receipt and stepping out of the photo studio, the group headed straight to the cooperative store.

Before 1956, private enterprise was still allowed.

Along the way, shops like distilleries, oil presses, flour mills, blacksmiths, and even inns with names like “Big Cart Inn” dazzled Xu Wanchun. Her eyes darted in every direction, taking in everything with wonder.

She wasn’t just looking at storefronts—she was also observing people.

Compared to the village, the county town was clearly more modern. Beautiful young women in fashionable clothing were everywhere. Very few still wore traditional hairstyles like her adoptive mother.

Naturally, Xu Wanchun seized the chance to once again persuade her mom about the benefits of a haircut.

The cooperative had three floors, though the storefront itself wasn’t all that wide.

Aside from the fabric and candy counters, which were packed with people, the rest of the store wasn’t too crowded.

Women loved shopping—some things were universal, no matter the era.

Xu Hehua stood at the fabric counter, clearly excited but also worried about her daughter.
“Want Mama to carry you?” she asked.

“No, no, you go ahead,” said Xu Wanchun, already backing up toward her master to make her refusal clear through action.

Seeing this, Su Nan turned to her husband:
“You take Peach Blossom upstairs and look around.”

The cooperative had been built recently, and Cao Xiu had only been once before. He didn’t object. Taking his little apprentice by the hand, he led her to the third floor.

The third floor housed the expensive goods.

Radios, bicycles, and watches, for example.

They couldn’t afford any of those. Xu Wanchun only glanced at them curiously, then quietly followed her master around.

She wasn’t joking—she really was super adorable right now. Big round eyes, a perky little nose, rosy lips, chubby cheeks, and a slightly wavy bob—she looked just like a doll. What if a human trafficker snatched her?

Cao Xiu had no idea his little apprentice was in the middle of a self-absorbed crisis. After glancing around, he walked over to the fountain pen counter and asked the clerk to show him a gold-nibbed pen.

“Ninety-two yuan,” the clerk said after checking the price.

Xu Wanchun instinctively touched the 30 yuan in her pocket.

Before coming to town, her adoptive mother had given her that money specifically to buy something for herself.

In her mom’s words: half the money from selling medicinal herbs belonged to her too.

Xu Wanchun had always wanted to get gifts for her mom, her master, and Su Nan—but nothing had quite caught her eye yet.

To be honest, she felt kind of embarrassed. Among all the transmigrators, she might be one of the most useless.

She had considered making something by hand—but alas, she had zero crafting skills.

She couldn’t sew clothes, had no clue how to make snacks, and could barely cook an edible meal.

Apart from studying, she didn’t seem to have any usable skills.

In her previous life, her parents had followed the crowd and enrolled her in extracurriculars—mainly painting and piano.

But those stopped in high school when studying became a priority. Her level was mediocre at best, and now… entirely useless.

Looking at it now, a pen seemed like a perfect choice.

With that in mind, she turned to her master, who was trying out the pen.
“Master, does it write well?”

Cao Xiu handed the pen to her.
“Try it yourself.”

Xu Wanchun didn’t hesitate. She took the pen, studied the golden nib for a few seconds, and then casually wrote a line of text.

Smooth—very smooth.

Seeing her little apprentice clearly pleased, Cao Xiu smiled.
“You like it? I’ll buy it for you.”

“No, I want to buy it for you.” Xu Wanchun pulled out her 30 yuan and turned to the shop assistant.
“I’ll take three.”

The shop assistant was…

So stunned that her smile stiffened a bit. She looked toward the adult for confirmation.
“Comrade, are you sure you want three?”

Cao Xiu nodded politely to the clerk.
“Please wait a moment.”

He lowered his head slightly and looked at his apprentice. “You want to buy that many?”

Xu Wanchun counted on her fingers. “One for Master, one for Master’s wife, and one for my mom—one each.” Then, imitating the soft tone of a little child, she added sweetly, “I earned this money myself. It’s a gift for you, so you’re not allowed to refuse.”

When she formally became his disciple, her master had given her a return gift. In addition to a pile of books, he had placed a 50-year-old ginseng root inside the medicine box.

Xu Wanchun didn’t know exactly how much it was worth, but it had to be several hundred yuan at least.

It felt way too extravagant, and she’d tried to return it on the spot. But her master had absolutely refused to take it back.

A gold fountain pen was nowhere near the value of a ginseng root—but she was still young. There would be time to repay him properly in the future.

Cao Xiu knew his little apprentice had made some money selling medicinal herbs, but he hadn’t expected such a young child to use that money to buy gifts for him and his wife. His heart was touched.

“Alright,” he said, “since this is our Peach Blossom’s way of honoring her master, I won’t say no.”

That was just what Xu Wanchun wanted. She wasn’t good at playing polite tug-of-war. Luckily, neither was her master.

She pushed the 30 yuan closer to the counter and looked at the shop assistant.
“Big sister, I want three gold fountain pens.”

Once the clerk was sure the little girl really wanted to buy them, she didn’t hesitate and started writing up the receipt.

They stayed in the cooperative for two to three hours.

Both women bought plenty of items, stuffing their bamboo baskets to the brim.

By the time they left, it was around lunchtime.

They found a small eatery and ordered a few homestyle dishes.

Once they had eaten their fill, it was time to head back.

It seemed their luck from the morning had run out—Cao Xiu visited several usual contacts but couldn’t find a truck heading their way.

With no other choice, the four of them went to a rental stable, put down a deposit, and rented two horses.

Cao Xiu and Su Nan shared one horse, while Xu Hehua rode with Xu Wanchun.

The roads were rough. Even though the distance was only 30 kilometers, it would take about three hours to travel on horseback.

At first, riding high on the horse’s back felt new and exciting to Xu Wanchun.

She was especially intrigued when they passed two groups of soldiers riding majestic horses—she craned her neck to gawk with curiosity.

But the excitement only lasted about an hour.

Her butt really started to hurt.

By the time they got back to the town and returned the horses, Xu Wanchun was totally drained.

She slumped against her adoptive mother and passed out into a deep, disoriented sleep.

When she woke again, she found herself lying in bed.

She looked around.
Whoa—this was her room.
When had she even gotten home?

“You’re awake? Come on, get up and eat dinner,” Xu Hehua said, scooping up her still-groggy daughter.

Xu Wanchun rubbed her face and quickly got out of bed to put on her shoes.

But just as she stepped out of the bedroom, she turned back, went inside, and grabbed her little backpack.

Seeing this, Xu Hehua scolded half-jokingly, “Why are you bringing your schoolbag to dinner?”

Xu Wanchun didn’t say anything. She simply pulled a slim box from the bag and handed it to her mother.

Xu Hehua instinctively took it. “What’s this?”

Xu Wanchun grinned.
“It’s a gift I bought for you, Mama. You already know 200 characters—you can use the fountain pen to practice writing.”

“A fountain pen? For me?”
Anything involving learning or literacy made Xu Hehua instinctively serious. Under her daughter’s guidance, she carefully twisted the cap off the pen.
Looking at the golden nib, her eyes widened.
“Why does this look like it’s made of gold?”
It looked just like the little gold fish-shaped ingot she kept stashed away.

Xu Wanchun chuckled. “That’s why it’s called a gold pen.”

Xu Hehua was dumbfounded.
“It’s really gold? Then… how much is this worth?”

“It’s not pure gold—it’s probably an alloy mixed with other metals. That’s not the point. Do you like it?”

“I love it!”
How could she not? It was such a good item—sent by her daughter, and gold-colored at that! Xu Hehua was so moved, she felt like crying. But before she could shed tears, she had something more important to ask:
“How much did this pen cost?”

Xu Wanchun didn’t hide it—she told her the price directly. Then, she pulled out the other two pens from her clothes.
“Mom, these are for Master and Mistress. I’m going over to give them now.”

Thinking about how well the couple next door had taken care of her and her daughter, Xu Hehua no longer felt the pain of spending money. She waved her hand, urging her,
“Go, go—it’s only right to show gratitude to your Master and Mistress.”

“I’ll be back soon!”

As Xu Wanchun skipped off, Xu Hehua cherished her fountain pen and quickly returned to her bedroom to find a safe place to put it.

But the moment she opened a drawer, her heart started to ache again.

She had only given her daughter 30 yuan—and those three fountain pens had basically wiped it all out. That meant her daughter probably didn’t buy anything for herself.

This girl’s just too honest.

In the days that followed, Xu Wanchun returned to full-on study mode.

Besides memorizing the Pharmacopoeia, practicing calligraphy with Mistress Su, and collecting herbs, she also followed Master Cao on his house visits.

You could say she was busy from dawn till dusk.

And it wasn’t just her—the whole village was bustling.

From paying grain taxes, to autumn planting, to storing vegetables for winter—no one in Xujiatun had a moment to spare.

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The good news?

As more and more women in the village chopped off their long hair, Xu Hehua finally got her haircut.

Just as Xu Wanchun predicted, 31-year-old Xu Hehua was already quite pretty. With her new hairstyle, she looked even younger—like she’d lost years off her face.

And within just half a month, matchmakers had come knocking several times.

If this were the past, neighbors would’ve had something snide to say.

But not anymore—not since Xu Wanchun became the disciple of Doctor Cao.

In a time when medical resources were scarce, unless you were completely brainless, who would dare offend a doctor?

Not only that—these days, whenever Xu Hehua went anywhere, people would come up and chat with her first.

It wasn’t flattery, per se, but compared to the cold glares and disdain she once endured, life was much better now.

That’s just how people are—so realistic.

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That day was no different. Xu Hehua had just returned home after working in the fields when three or four women came over to visit.

Xu Lanca was as bold and cheerful as ever, jumping straight to the point:
“Hehua girl, is Peach Blossom at home?”

Xu Hehua went inside to fetch two stools and set them out for her guests to sit before replying:
“She’s at her master’s place. What’s going on?”

Xu Lanca said,
“Nothing big—school starts tomorrow, right? I just wanted to ask what time Peach Blossom’s heading out.”

“She starts at eight, so we’ll leave by seven-thirty,” Xu Hehua replied.

Xu Lanca slapped her thigh.
“My daughter, that little mute who can’t fart out a word—she’s dead set against going to elementary school. Still crying at home right now. I figured your Peach Blossom is so capable. I’d like to ask if she could bring my girl along tomorrow.”

The other women quickly chimed in:
“Yes, yes! My brat’s been wailing about not wanting to go either!”

“Mine too! I had to slap him a few times just to get him to sit down.”

“Mine actually wants to go—I’m just afraid he’ll get up to no good once he’s there.”

“Hehua, don’t worry—we’re not trying anything shady. It’s just that our kids all really like Peach Blossom. They want to be friends with her.”

“Exactly! My boy really looks up to Peach Blossom—I’m sure he’ll listen to her. We really don’t mean anything else by it.”

Xu Hehua:
Do you think I believe that?