Chapter 9 – The Female Military Doctor of the 1950s

Coming to an era where everything was scarce, the only real sources of joy for Xu Wanchun—aside from her adoptive mother—were the surrounding mountains and wilderness.

Mountain winds rustled, pine trees whispered. Xu Wanchun sat on the back seat of the bicycle, eyes half-closed, basking in the raw, untamed essence of nature.

As they approached the foot of the mountain, Dr. Cao parked the bicycle at a nearby farmhouse before they started climbing.

True to his reputation as a seasoned traditional Chinese doctor, it didn’t take long before they stumbled upon usable medicinal herbs.

No—more accurately, in the eyes of a true traditional physician, these green mountains were filled to the brim with medicine.

The real question was: can you recognize it?

Xu Wanchun once again marveled, “Indeed, there is gold within books. The ancients did not lie.”

In just one hour, she had not only absorbed valuable knowledge, but her small basket was nearly full—every herb in it worth some money.

“Are we still identifying new herbs today?”
After teaching her about ten different medicinal plants—their growth habits, harvesting seasons, and methods—Dr. Cao figured that was plenty for a beginner to digest. He turned to look at the little girl.

Xu Wanchun had an excellent memory, but she also understood that trying to chew too much at once would only lead to failure. After thinking it over for a few seconds, she confidently replied,
“I can learn five more.”

Dr. Cao didn’t say much—just nodded, satisfied, and led her further up the mountain.

As they passed a shaded slope, a patch of orange-yellow upright stalks came into view.

Dr. Cao crouched down and asked,
“Know what this is?”

Xu Wanchun followed his lead and squatted down beside him.
“Is it gastrodia?”

“Correct.”
Pleased with her answer, Dr. Cao continued to explain:
“But it’s not the right season yet. Summer is when gastrodia reaches its peak medicinal quality. When you encounter this kind of situation, it’s best to make a note and return later.”

As he spoke, he took a palm-sized notebook and pen out of his pocket and started scribbling notes.

Once finished, he stowed them back into his pocket, but after a brief pause, his brow furrowed.
“Not knowing how to read won’t do. Starting tomorrow, your aunt and I will teach you.”

What a surprise!
Finally, she could break free from her illiterate disguise. Xu Wanchun was thrilled and sincerely grateful.
“Thank you, Uncle Cao!”
And she meant it—genuinely, deeply thankful.

Dr. Cao raised his broad hand and gave her a pat on the head, his expression serious.
“Don’t thank me yet. If you slack off and fail to complete the tasks your aunt and I give you, pretend I never said anything about teaching you.”

Oh, she wasn’t worried about that at all. If she had any redeeming quality, it was her determination to study. Plus, she already knew how to read—she just had to pretend to learn from scratch.
“I’ll work hard,” Xu Wanchun promised, full of confidence.

A studious child was always pleasing. Dr. Cao nodded in approval.
“Alright, let’s go a bit deeper into the mountains.”

Though remote and a bit dangerous, the heart of the mountain range still held many treasures worth exploring.

Naturally, Xu Wanchun followed without hesitation.

—

Meanwhile…

“Nan-jie, looks like it’s going to rain tomorrow.”

It was past 4 PM. Xu Hehua, out for the third time to wait for her daughter, ran into Su Nan and casually brought up the weather.

Su Nan looked up—the clouds were indeed heavy. But unlike Hehua, she didn’t work the fields and didn’t know how to read the sky, so she asked,
“It won’t rain today, right?”

Xu Hehua shook her head.
“Probably not… Oh, look! They’re back, they’re back! Nan-jie, Dr. Cao and my Peach Blossom are back!”
Overcome with excitement, she even tugged at Su Nan as she hurried forward.

—

Worried about her daughter, Su Nan chuckled at Xu Hehua’s anxiety, but was happy to tag along.

Dr. Cao came into view, riding his bicycle at a brisk pace. In just a moment, he was right in front of them.

“Mom!”
As soon as the bike came to a stop, Xu Wanchun was scooped off the rear seat by her mother.

After carefully inspecting her daughter and confirming she looked energetic and well, Xu Hehua finally relaxed and turned to thank Dr. Cao.

He waved it off, signaling it wasn’t necessary. Then he pointed to a small basket tied to the back of the bike and asked the little girl,
“Are you taking these herbs home to sort yourself, or will you come to my place tomorrow morning and work with me?”

This was clearly another learning opportunity. Xu Wanchun’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“I want to work with Uncle Cao!”

Satisfied, Dr. Cao nodded.
“Then I’ll take all the herbs back with me.”

“Okay! Thank you, Uncle!” she beamed.

Seeing the girl still so full of energy, Dr. Cao finally turned and headed home with his wife. Just as they were about to step into the courtyard, he remembered something and turned back to call out,
“Seven o’clock tomorrow morning!”

Xu Wanchun responded just as loudly,
“Got it!”

“How was it today? Worn out?”
Though she asked the question, Xu Hehua had already decided her daughter must be exhausted. She didn’t even let her walk, carrying her straight into the kitchen.

Truthfully, she was tired. Even an adult would be wiped out after a day trekking through the mountains—let alone a scrawny little girl like her. But in front of her mom, Xu Wanchun didn’t pretend otherwise. She wrinkled her nose and admitted,
“A little. But it’s way better than last time. I mostly worked in the morning. In the afternoon, Uncle Cao had me sit and rest. He didn’t let me do anything.”

That finally put Xu Hehua’s heart at ease. Dr. Cao clearly had a strong sense of boundaries—her worry had been over the top.

She couldn’t help it. In this era, child mortality was still high. Just thinking of her little Tiedan…

Her thoughts drifted again. She really ought to find some time soon to visit him.

“Peach Blossom, are you hungry?” she asked, voice now softer.

“A little,”
Xu Wanchun replied. Her adoptive mother set her down, but instead of flopping over to rest, she ladled some water and washed her hands.

Hehua opened the cupboard and took out two chestnut cakes she had prepared earlier, handing them over.
“Have a snack first. I’ll start making dinner. Oh, tell me—how did Dr. Cao teach you?”

Xu Wanchun was more than happy to share. She grabbed a little stool and sat beside her mother, nibbling her pastry as she recounted her day:
“That mountain range is huge, but Uncle Cao walks around like it’s his own backyard. He knows exactly where everything grows.”

Xu Hehua chuckled as she chewed the piece her daughter handed her.
“Well, of course. He’s been roaming those mountains for over ten years. Not just him—most folks in the village are pretty familiar with the terrain.”

Fair enough. Xu Wanchun nodded and changed the subject.
“Oh right, we also passed by the area near my parents’ graves.”

As she stuffed more firewood into the stove, Xu Hehua looked up.
“What a coincidence. Did you stop to pay your respects?”

Xu Wanchun shook her head.
“No. I just said hello in my heart.”

After all, Dr. Cao had already devoted his entire morning to her. She didn’t feel right asking for more of his time. But going up the mountain alone as an eight-year-old? Not happening. There’d be other opportunities.

Her adoptive mother chuckled.
“Thinking of them in your heart is enough.”

She paused, then added cheerfully,
“Oh, I have good news. I traded for two grape seedlings with your Aunt Lancao. Planted them right in front of the east wing. Want to go see?”

Of course she wanted to—fruit! But she still asked,
“How much did you trade for them?”

Knowing her daughter’s follow-up was coming…

Seeing her daughter frown at the thought of what the grapevines cost, Xu Hehua playfully poked her forehead.
“It’s just a few jin of sorghum. Grapes are the kind of thing you can eat for years once they grow.”

It still stung a little… but when her mother put it that way, it did sound like a good deal.

Brightened by the thought, Xu Wanchun quickly skipped out of the kitchen and eagerly ran over to the eastern wing to see the new plants.

Not even a minute later, she came back and plopped down beside her mom.
“It’s just two sticks? Can they really bear fruit this year?” They looked so tiny.

“Nope, they’re still saplings,” Hehua replied. “Don’t expect anything this year. But if we take good care of them, we might get a small harvest next year.”

Fair enough. At least it gave her something to look forward to. Then Xu Wanchun remembered the wild fruit trees on the mountain.
“Mom, how about we transplant a jujube tree? Or an apricot tree? Even wild cherries would do!”

“Craving fruit now, are you?” Hehua teased.

“I am!” she admitted without shame. “Let’s plant fruit for every season, that way we’ll always have something to eat!”

Just thinking about it made her mouth water. The food options here were so limited—it was hard not to crave something sweet and juicy.

Since her daughter wanted it, and it wasn’t all that hard to do, Hehua readily agreed.
“Alright, but we’ll have to wait for autumn. Cherry trees aren’t like grapes—you move them now and they probably won’t survive.” She was already making a mental list—maybe they could find a pear tree too and line the house front and back.

The next day.

A spring thunderclap startled Xu Wanchun awake.

She sat up, stretched her aching limbs for a moment, then drew back the blue floral curtain made of coarse cloth to peek outside.

Dawn hadn’t fully broken yet. There wasn’t enough light to see the rain, but she could hear the soft patter of scattered droplets.

She was tempted to lay back down, but just as she got under the covers again, she heard faint sounds coming from the main room.

Her mom was already up?

There was no clock in the house, and she didn’t want to be late on her first day learning with Dr. Cao. So she ditched the idea of sleeping in.

She got out of bed and carefully felt her way through the dark.

When she opened her bedroom door, a warm orange glow met her eyes.

“Did I wake you?” Xu Hehua was holding an oil lamp in one hand, shielding the flame with the other as she prepared to head out.

Xu Wanchun quickly trotted over.
“No, I’m already awake. Not sleepy anymore. Mom, what time is it?”

Hehua could only give an estimate.
“The rooster’s already crowed—it’s past four. Why don’t you go back and sleep a bit longer? I’ll wake you when breakfast’s ready.”

“I’ll stay up. It’s the first day learning to read with Uncle Cao—I want to get there early.”

“Read? What reading?” Xu Hehua blinked in confusion.

Ah! She must’ve forgotten to mention it last night. She had been exhausted. Xu Wanchun hurriedly explained,
“Uncle said we’re not to bring up paying for lessons—he won’t take money. And he said once I start going to school, he won’t teach reading anymore.”

This was… incredible! Dr. Cao and his wife were even willing to teach her daughter to read? That was a huge kindness! It had to mean he was seriously considering taking her in as a student.

Xu Hehua was so thrilled she didn’t know what to do. She spun around in place a few times before blurting out,
“We can’t let them teach for free. Okay, we won’t talk about money, but I’ll steam some meat buns. You take them over as a token of appreciation.”

She dashed straight to the kitchen, not even bothering to put on her raincoat.

Xu Wanchun grabbed a straw rainhat, both touched and amused, and followed her. Just as she was thinking how she needed to work even harder to earn money…

Her foot slipped.

“Ah!” she yelped as she landed hard on her backside.

The moment she hit the ground, Hehua—who’d already rushed into the kitchen—spun around and came racing back. She lifted her daughter with practiced ease and carried her back toward—

Inside the main hall, Xu Hehua immediately asked with concern,
“How is it? Did you get hurt?”

It didn’t actually hurt that much—just embarrassing. Xu Wanchun reached back to feel the muddy water on her backside, her expression one of quiet despair.
“Mom, we should go bring back a few crates of stones from the base of the mountain and lay a path through the yard, okay?”
She really wasn’t used to these muddy village courtyards when it rained.

Around 6 a.m.

Dressed carefully by her mother and armed with a mountain of reminders, Xu Wanchun arrived at the Cao household carrying a bag of fluffy, meaty white buns.

Cao Xiu, who had just finished his morning martial routine, glanced at his watch and saw that she had arrived half an hour early. He was clearly pleased and gave her a warm smile.
“Perfect. That gives us a half hour to test what you remember from yesterday.”

Before Xu Wanchun could even sit down—

Meanwhile…

Though still worried about her daughter, Xu Hehua hadn’t let herself sit idle.

After tidying up the house, she started weaving fabric at full speed.

As long as Taohua was willing to study, she’d sell everything she had if that’s what it took to support her.

Fortunately, she was still young and not afraid of hard work. As long as she wove an extra bolt of cloth each month, their savings would keep growing.

She worked nonstop for two to three hours. When she finally stood up to change the weaving thread, she took a moment to stretch her sore neck.

Then she smacked her forehead—Oh no!

She’d forgotten to buy paper and pens!

They already refused to accept tuition, so how could she shamelessly expect them to provide writing supplies too?

The more she thought about it, the more anxious she got.

It was still raining outside, so it was inconvenient to go all the way to town.

Instead, she went into the main room, fished out two jiao (20 cents), threw on her straw raincoat, and decided to go ask Grandpa Tun if she could trade for some supplies.

The muddy road was treacherous, but her mood was good—at least her child was studying.

She hadn’t expected, however, to run into her mother halfway there—muddy from head to toe and looking frantic.

Hehua’s smile vanished. Her brows drew tight as she rushed forward, worried.
“Ma, what happened? Why are you covered in mud? Did you fall? Are you hurt?”

Xu Wangshi looked more slumped than ever, and the tears were already streaming freely. She clutched her daughter’s arm tightly, and after a few trembles, finally managed to choke out—

“Shui… Shui Gen and Sanni’er—what do we do? Shui Gen ran off with San’ya!”