By the time the father and daughter dragged the two- to three-hundred-pound wild deer to the city gate, the sky had already turned completely dark.

Fortunately, this wasn’t ancient times with a curfew and city gates that needed to be closed.

Ye Zhoushan often hunted and sold such goods and had frequented the county town many times.

He naturally knew where to get the best price.

After glancing around and seeing no pedestrians, he gritted his teeth and continued dragging the deer.

For money, he was pushing himself to the absolute limit.

Thankfully, his daughter was well-behaved, not crying or fussing all day.

Ye Zhoushan suddenly froze—yes, it had been a whole day, and he hadn’t fed his daughter.

He looked down at the little milk dumpling nestled in his arms, smacking her lips and sleeping soundly. He couldn’t tell if she was exhausted or had fainted from hunger.

Ye Zhoushan felt like slapping himself.

Truly, when dads take care of kids, survival is the only goal.

Gritting his teeth, he quickened his pace.

Outside a peeling solid wood door, he knocked rhythmically a few times.

A young boy ran to open the door, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw Ye Zhoushan and the wild deer behind him.

He hurried forward to help. “Brother Zhou, you’ve outdone yourself! And it’s still alive?”

Ye Zhoushan nodded, panting. “Alive. Deer blood is a precious thing.”

“Is Brother Sanjie here?”

The boy nodded. “He is. To be honest, Brother Zhou, someone came by this morning asking if we had any good stuff.”

“That’s one of our big customers—loaded with money and no real pursuits in life except good food.”

“You can boldly name your price to Brother Sanjie later. He’ll definitely take it.”

“Hey, you little traitor! Have you forgotten who puts food on your table?” an annoyed voice called out from the main room.

The boy made a face toward the room and laughed. “Brother Sanjie, I’m just helping you keep the customer.”

“Look what Brother Zhou brought us this time!”

“If I don’t keep Brother Zhou happy, you’ll be the one crying.”

Ye Zhoushan was both amused and exasperated. The kid was a natural at business, just born at the wrong time.

Hearing this, Brother Sanjie emerged from the room, holding a flashlight.

His eyes also widened at the sight of the live wild deer.

He punched Ye Zhoushan on the shoulder. “You’re something else, kid!”

“Like Maozi said, name your price. I won’t haggle—I’ll take it.”

Ye Zhoushan’s legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, trembling all over from exhaustion.

“Brother Sanjie, you know the market. You set the price. I trust you.”

“But first, get me some food. I’m starving. And some hot water and rice soup—my daughter’s hungry too.”

“Daughter?” Only then did the two notice the small bundle in Ye Zhoushan’s arms. They had thought it was just some item, never expecting a baby tucked inside.

“Brother Zhou, didn’t you say our niece wasn’t due for another two months? How did she arrive so soon?”

At the mention of this, Ye Zhoushan couldn’t suppress his anger. “There were some… complications.”

He didn’t elaborate, and they didn’t ask.

The baby arriving early spoke volumes—nothing good must have happened.

Sanjie told Maozi to fetch some food for Ye Zhoushan while he helped him inside.

“Sit and rest. I just got two bags of powdered milk. Our niece should have milk, not rice soup. No need to let the child suffer.”

Ye Zhoushan hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise. “Thank you, Brother Sanjie. I’ll take both bags. Deduct the cost from the deer.”

Sanjie waved him off. “As her uncle, giving my niece a little welcoming gift is the least I can do. Don’t insult me by talking about money.”

“I may not be some big shot, but I can afford this much.”

Ye Zhoushan and Sanjie had been dealing with each other for almost a decade and knew each other well.

Though Sanjie worked in the black market, he was far from shady—he was a loyal and generous brother.

“Thank you, Brother Sanjie. From now on, any good stuff I find will come straight to you.”

Sanjie laughed heartily. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that!”

Ye Zhoushan quickly ate something and fed his daughter until she was full.

With 500 yuan from selling the deer, along with the soft cotton fabric he’d previously asked Sanjie to source, some powdered milk, and a large red envelope, he hurried anxiously to the hospital.

The wild deer had fetched a high price.

However, items like deer antlers, deer blood, deer penis, and deer hide could all be sold separately—they were rare and valuable goods with high demand but limited supply, so Sanjie hadn’t lost out either.

Usually, the hospital was quiet at this hour, but today, medical staff were bustling back and forth, clearly in a hurry.

Since they weren’t heading in the direction of his wife’s ward, Ye Zhoushan didn’t pay much attention.

When he reached the intensive care unit and saw Ge Xiu keeping watch without leaving her post, and Lan Qingshuang showing no particular reaction, he knew she still hadn’t woken up. At least there hadn’t been any further deterioration.

Ge Xiu was startled by the disheveled state of the father and daughter upon their return.

“What happened? Did you run into trouble? Are you hurt?”

Ye Zhoushan shook his head. “It’s nothing. I met an old traditional doctor today who said there’s good medicine in the mountains that could save lives, so I went to look for it. That’s why I’m back late.”

“Thank you for your hard work today, Auntie. Have you eaten? I brought two steamed buns for you—please have them to tide you over.”

The buns were from Sanjie’s place.

Ge Xiu declined, saying she’d already eaten, but Ye Zhoushan insisted and pressed them into her hands.

“Is Dr. Zhuang around now?” Dr. Zhuang, Zhuang Junliang, was the doctor who had operated on Lan Shuang yesterday and was also her attending physician.

Ge Xiu nodded. “He is. Dr. Zhuang came by during dinner time for rounds and said he’s on night duty tonight. We can go to him if anything comes up.”

“Alright. I’ll trouble you to keep an eye on things a bit longer. I’ll take this medicine to ask the doctor if it can be used.” Although they’d only met briefly, Ye Zhoushan could tell he was a responsible and upright doctor—not someone who would try to take advantage.

Of course, even if he did, Ye Zhoushan was prepared to do whatever it took.

Zhuang Junliang stared at the freshly dug ginseng, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

“You dug this today? You went up the mountain and found it just like that?” Was it really that easy?

Ye Zhoushan lowered his eyes and nodded. “Just got lucky. Dr. Zhuang, can my wife use this?”

Zhuang Junliang took a deep breath. “Yes, she can. Ginseng replenishes qi and blood, which is exactly what your wife needs right now.”

“But look at the reed bowls, the fine lines, and the dense pearl-like nodules—this is no ordinary ginseng. It’s at least a century old.”

“Using it directly on your wife would be a waste, as its full potency wouldn’t be utilized.”

“If you trust me, I can find a skilled traditional medicine practitioner to compound it into pills for her. How does that sound?”

“I—”

“Dr. Zhuang, Dr. Zhuang, quick—”

Before Ye Zhoushan could finish, a nurse rushing over interrupted him.

The nurse leaned against the doorframe, hands on her knees, panting. “Dr. Zhuang, Dr. Yuan from the emergency department says they’re short-handed and asked if you could help.”

“There’s a patient in critical condition.”

Ye Zhoushan recalled the commotion he’d seen when returning to the hospital—it must have been because of this patient.

Zhuang Junliang quickly asked, “What’s the situation? Illness or injury?”

“Injury. A penetrating wound that’s triggered complications.”

Zhuang Junliang had a rough idea and turned to Ye Zhoushan.

Ye Zhoushan hurriedly said, “I trust you, Dr. Zhuang. I’ll leave it entirely in your hands. Please go ahead—I’m fine here.”

“Good, good.” Zhuang Junliang nodded absently as he dashed out.

Ye Zhoushan looked down at his little daughter in his arms. After a full meal of powdered milk and sleeping soundly on the way back, she was now wide awake, her big eyes darting around curiously.

“Good girl, your mom is going to be saved.”

“Ooh, hehe…”

【Baby is amazing, Mommy will be okay.】

The little one kicked her legs happily.

Ye Zhoushan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Yes, you’re amazing—Daddy had nothing to do with it.

You little rascal.