Chapter 29: It Seems Like Everything Is Developing in A Good Direction

Zhou Xiaoju didn’t know what Jiang Nian was thinking. She couldn’t help but speak up for her, “But your medical skills are really good. Everyone around here knows that. Every time, you cure the illness with just one dose of medicine. Besides, who goes to see a doctor and asks the doctor to guarantee that they won’t get sick after taking the medicine? Isn’t that just asking for trouble?”

Jiang Nian gave her a look, and she shut up sheepishly.

The woman felt embarrassed and left with a dark face.

There were two other patients in the yard, a man and a woman, both middle-aged.

Jiang Nian asked them, “Are you still seeing me?”

“Yes,” the woman spoke first. They had come all this way, they couldn’t just leave without seeing her, or go to town instead, could they?

They would see first, if it was good, they would see her, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t.

The woman had been stung by a wasp on her arm. She had been stung before, and it wasn’t a big deal, but this time, after two or three days, her arm swelled up, and the stung area started to rot, with a hole the size of half a fingernail.

Jiang Nian applied medicine to her and charged five cents, which she paid with four eggs.

The woman didn’t know if the medicine would cure her, but it felt cool and refreshing when she applied it, and the burning sensation was gone instantly. It was quite comfortable.

The man’s condition was serious. He had a lump on his chin, and it was getting bigger and bigger, about half the size of a finger. He also had one on his arm and one on his leg.

According to his description, the lump had been there for over a year. He had even gone to the city hospital for two surgeries, but it would grow back in other parts of his body soon after it was cut off. Plus, his family wasn’t wealthy, so he just let it grow.

But because of the lump, he had been ridiculed a lot. Some people with bad intentions said that he must have done something that violated the laws of heaven, so he got this incurable disease.

He came all this way this time because he heard from others that there was a female doctor in Zhoujia Village who was very skilled in medicine, and her fees were also cheap. He came with the hope of a desperate man trying anything.

Jiang Nian prescribed him medicine for half a month and told him to take it first and come back for a checkup in half a month.

After sending them away, Zhou Xiaoju asked her, “I don’t understand. Why did you let that woman ruin your reputation? Your medical skills are really good.”

“Whether my medical skills are good or not is not something you say with your mouth, but something you prove with facts. And you have to understand, she’s the one who’s sick and needs me, not me begging her. If you believe me, you see me, if you don’t, you don’t. It’s not a big deal.”

Zhou Xiaoju lowered her head.

Jiang Nian said again, “I answered your question, but I don’t like people questioning my decisions.”

Zhou Xiaoju’s heart skipped a beat, “Sorry.”

Because Jiang Nian was too kind to her, she had overstepped her bounds, even though her intentions were good.

Jiang Nian asked her to stand against the wall for half an hour every morning, and she found a rope for her to jump two hundred times a day.

Zhou Xiaoju thought at first that this was a punishment for her, until Li Rui came over a few days later and casually said, “Little girls should stand up straight. That way, they look more energetic and prettier than before.”

Then she realized, and she was secretly delighted.

It wasn’t a punishment for her, but to make her stand up straight.

Zhou Xiaoju had been a little hunched over, after all, she had been doing heavy work since she was young, and it was normal for her back to be a little bent.

She just didn’t know what the skipping rope was for.

Half a month later, Jiang Nian adjusted her bones and opened her back, and asked her to start practicing her posture.

After all, she was someone who stayed under her nose all day long. It wasn’t good for her to be hunched over and timid.

Little girls should be pretty, it’s pleasing to the eye.

Besides, Zhou Xiaoju’s arrival was very much to her liking. She was capable and meticulous. Now, except for going up the mountain to collect herbs and seeing patients, she could handle all the other chores, which made Jiang Nian feel much more at ease.

Zhou Xiaoju was also very satisfied with her current life. She no longer had to work herself to the bone like before. Although Jiang Nian had a lot to do, things like drying and processing herbs, washing clothes, and cooking were relatively easy. They just took time, but she could learn a lot. Cooking could improve her culinary skills, and processing herbs taught her a lot about pharmacology. This was a great help to her.

Besides, Jiang Nian had many books in her room, which she could borrow to read. If she didn’t understand something, she could ask Jiang Nian. Occasionally, when Jiang Nian was away, she could ask Li Rui.

He was also a very good big brother. It was just that when he learned her real age, his expression cracked for a moment.

That’s when Zhou Xiaoju realized that they all thought she was only thirteen or fourteen.

Actually, she was sixteen. She was just short and malnourished, which made her look like a little sprout that hadn’t grown up.

Jiang Nian also prescribed some medicine for her to nourish her body, and she paid for it with work points.

Her physical condition was really not good. She had been severely depleted at a young age. It was a good thing she was living with Jiang Nian now. If she had continued like before, she might not even be able to have children in the future.

Besides, overworking her body at a young age could lead to a short life.

Sometimes, Zhou Xiaoju couldn’t help but think that she was so lucky.

It was just that this luck came after her mother, the person she wanted to protect most, died.

Now, when she thought of her, she no longer felt sad.

After all, she was so heartless, she didn’t even have the courage to take them with her. She cruelly abandoned her and her younger brother, who hadn’t grown up yet.

Sometimes, she thought, if she could live like this forever, it would be great.

Li Rui raised twenty ducks. As he had expected, he only needed to herd them in the morning and evening. There were fish, clams, and snails in the river, which could all be food for the ducks.

It was just that the clams and snails needed someone to pick out the meat, which was a bit time-consuming.

After the busy farming season was over, they started making mud bricks to prepare for adding to the intellectuals’ building. Li Rui had pestered the village head for several days before he got the right to live alone, just like Jiang Nian.

Of course, he had to pay for it himself. He built a house and a large shed next to the pond where he raised ducks.

He had a plan. There were many mountains and forests here, so there was no shortage of firewood. He planned to build a fire in the shed in winter. As long as he maintained a certain temperature, the ducks could continue to lay eggs.

Although it was time-consuming, winter eggs were expensive.

Zhao Heiping’s literacy class was also going well. It was just that most of the students now were children, who learned faster and were more relaxed.

The adults went for a while, but they had to work on the farm and do housework. They were tired and felt that literacy was useless, so they stopped going.

Occasionally, when Village Head Zhou went to the cooperative to attend a meeting, he would praise the new intellectuals in the village.

Although they might not be as good at farming as the villagers, they each had their own ideas, and they dared to think and dare to do. They were all doing quite well. This year, none of the intellectuals had become a burden on the village. Instead, they had brought them many conveniences.

Zhao Heiping and Niu Aixiang had borrowed some grain from the village, but their literacy class had taught the children to read. There was a difference between those who had been to school and those who hadn’t. They spoke eloquently, one principle after another.

Village Head Zhou wasn’t like ordinary people who lacked knowledge. He always felt that it was better for children to learn knowledge than to be ignorant.

Jiang Nian came back from outside and found her house in disarray. The herbs in the yard were scattered on the ground, trampled all over the place.

The black cat was lying motionless at the door, its head drooping to the ground, with a pool of blood that had turned black.

The tabby cat was lying beside it, meowing, and occasionally licking its fur.

Seeing Jiang Nian come back, the tabby cat looked up, meowed sharply, jumped towards Jiang Nian, and paced anxiously around her feet.