Chapter 37 : Impossible to Admit Mistakes

If you just mention it without evidence, people may not believe you. It would be better if you have a token. But if you truly can’t find it, then that’s a different story.

Mother Xiao thought it was a feasible idea, and this was the only option they had at the moment.

In the yard, Xiao Lanlan stood at the door of her eldest brother’s room. Xiao Yi was inside guarding the room. She hesitated for a moment before walking in.

Xiao Yi was in the process of changing the handkerchief on the young man’s forehead when he saw his sister enter.

The person under the quilt was naked, without any clothes on. When Xiao Lanlan entered like this, Xiao Yi quickly pulled the quilt up, leaving only the young master’s head and face visible.

“Why did you come in? This isn’t the place for you. It’s late, go to bed.”

Xiao Lanlan was not yet engaged, and there was a clear difference between men and women, so Xiao Yi wouldn’t allow her to stay.

“Third brother, I just wanted to ask if his fever has gone down and if he needs any help.” Xiao Lanlan answered quietly, but her eyes were secretly glued to the person lying on the bed.

“It’s not as hot as before. I can handle it here, no need for your help. Besides, it’s not your turn to take care of him. Why are you worrying about this, you’re a girl! Go back and rest!”

Xiao Yi didn’t think too deeply about it, he just waved his hand and asked her to leave.

Xiao Lanlan pouted but reluctantly left.

The next morning, Mother Xiao invited the old doctor for breakfast and then sent him back to town. Jiang Sui, Xiao Hechuan, and Xiao Lanlan went back to the place where they had found the young man the previous day to search for any other items that might belong to him.

However, they found nothing.

The three of them searched almost the entire mountain stream but didn’t come across anything.

Another person took a stick and searched the fallen leaves on the ground, fearing he might have missed something. He even went near the pond to check, but still found nothing.

When they returned, Mother Xiao saw the expressions of the three and knew that there was no hope. Perhaps the young master was afraid of losing his possessions when he went up the mountain, so he didn’t wear them.

If they couldn’t find them, then they couldn’t. But they still needed to go to the county and give it a try. This young man hadn’t woken up yet, and they didn’t even know his name. This was a serious matter.

Because of this, Xiao Yi was delayed for another day and didn’t set out for the county until the morning of the third day.

He didn’t dare to delay any further and went straight to Jishantang.

The staff at Jishantang received him warmly. He explained the situation directly and asked if they had a second son. He mentioned that the second son had accidentally fallen off a cliff and had been rescued by their family. He had broken his ribs and legs, and he asked them to send someone immediately to treat him.

When the clerk heard this, he asked, “Second Young Master?” Could it be the Second Young Master he knew?

But the second young master had just been there not long ago and was fine. How could he have gone to such a place? And how could he have fallen off a cliff?

Though the clerk was very suspicious, he still went in to report it.

Xiao Yi sat on the steps at the door and waited for a long time before the clerk finally came out.

Xiao Yi stood up quickly, only to hear the clerk say

“Big brother, you must have made a mistake. Our second master is at home and hasn’t gone anywhere. You’re trying to deceive us. Go away. Why are you accusing us?”

The clerk looked displeased, and Xiao Yi was a little confused. His mother and fourth brother’s wife had recognized the young man right away, and they had heard others refer to him as the Second Young Master.

But this guy said that their second master was staying at home, which meant there indeed was a second master, but they were wrong. So, what went wrong?

He was a little confused and couldn’t figure it out, but before coming here, his fourth brother’s wife had told him that if they didn’t believe him, he could just ask Doctor Jiegu to come back, and she would pay for the consultation.

“Then I don’t know. My mother said that she had seen your second master, so she recognized his face. She said it was impossible for her to be mistaken. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do. So, please ask your bone-setting doctor to come with me. We’ll know when we get there.”

The guy from Jishantang looked at Xiao Yi with disdain, always thinking that he had bad intentions. However, Jishantang didn’t allow them to cause trouble in foreign affairs, otherwise, he would have scolded him to death.

When the clerk heard that Xiao Yi wanted to directly ask their bone-setter, the clerk said unhappily

“You can ask our bone-setter to go with you, but we have rules. You just said you’re from Baima Town, which is far away. County doctors require an advance consultation fee for going out. The farther they have to travel, the higher the cost. Especially the bone-setter from our Jishantang, his bone-setting skills are unmatched by ordinary doctors. He charges ten taels of silver for a consultation. The additional consultation fee depends on the severity of the injury. The excess will be refunded, and the shortage will be supplemented. Can you take out ten taels of silver?”

This rule has always been in place, and the clerk wasn’t lying to him. Traveling for consultations wastes time and has many uncertainties, which is why they require an upfront consultation fee.

In addition, bone-setting is a specialized skill, not just taking a pulse and prescribing medicine, so the fee is higher.

When Xiao Yi heard this, he was shocked. Ten taels of silver? So much?

Jiang Sui had only given him five taels, which was far from enough!

When the clerk saw Xiao Yi’s embarrassment, he knew he couldn’t come up with that much money. So, he shrugged and suggested

“Why don’t you go ask somewhere else? There are other bone-setting doctors in the city. Their skills may not be as good as the doctors at Jishantang, but they’re better than nothing.”

Anyway, he had a very bad impression of Xiao Yi, so naturally, he wasn’t going to treat him kindly and was very dismissive.

Xiao Yi could tell from his expression that he was being looked down upon. Although he felt aggrieved, he thought he was here on business, so why argue?

So Xiao Yi turned around and left, planning to go to another pharmacy to hire a bone-setting doctor. Five taels of silver was a lot of money, and he was sure he could find one elsewhere.

It’s just that the quality might not be as good as Jishan Hall’s, but at least he would get someone back to treat the person and not delay him.

Little did he know that just as he left, a young man in gorgeous clothes appeared. He looked somewhat similar to the second young master, but not as handsome and gentle as him. This man looked more heroic, with eyes that gave people an elusive feeling, revealing calculation.

He looked at Xiao Yi’s receding back, a gloomy expression rising between his eyebrows.

Xiao Yi quickly arrived at another pharmacy and ran into two fierce-looking men coming out.

He didn’t think much of it and went straight in to see the doctor.

The doctor in the pharmacy seemed to be frightened by something. His face turned pale, and sweat began to ooze from his forehead.

When he heard that Xiao Yi was there to ask him to set bones, he took several steps back, trembling as he asked

“You… you want me to go with you to fix bones?”