Chapter 6

Because her mind was preoccupied, Xu Wanchun only glanced at the photo twice before handing it back to Auntie Su.

Once they got home, after helping her foster mother sort out the goods they had bartered for, she brought up the possibility of selling medicinal herbs.

Xu Hehua was putting corn stalks into the stone trough of the donkey shed. When she heard her daughter talk about gathering herbs to sell, she didn’t immediately refute her for being just a little child. Instead, she threw the question back:
“Everyone knows herbs are worth money, but in every village at most one or two families make a business out of it. Do you know why?”

Xu Wanchun, of course, knew:
“Because they can’t recognize the herbs.”

She hadn’t expected her daughter to actually know. Xu Hehua patted her on the head:
“That’s right. And even if they can recognize one or two kinds, they don’t know how to process them, or tell good from bad. So… do you still want to gather herbs?”

In these times, whether learning medicine, blacksmithing, or carpentry, one had to formally apprentice under a master. Outsiders couldn’t figure it out on their own.

In past years, plenty of people had envied Doctor Cao for making money from medicine.

Some thick-skinned folks followed him around to learn how to gather herbs, but the pharmacy refused to take their stock.

They said the quality was inconsistent, and that the herbs hadn’t been properly processed.

Quite a few tried, but not a single one succeeded. All they did was waste time they should have spent on farm work.

Later, some even thought of sending their children to be Doctor Cao’s apprentices.

Doctor Cao responded by hauling out a massive medical text, saying they first had to memorize it. Only if they proved to have talent and the stamina to endure hardship would he even consider taking them in.

But most of the village kids couldn’t even read. Forget memorizing books—they couldn’t even tell the front from the back of a page.

The only ones who knew a few characters gave up within two days.

So, some money… really was destined to be earned only by those who could.

Xu Wanchun didn’t know about these failed attempts in the past. She said plainly:
“I know over a dozen herbs, and I also understand how to process them.”

Plop! Xu Hehua set down the ladle she had been about to use to draw water, startled:
“How do you know that?”

Xu Wanchun replied:
“I watched Doctor Cao whenever he processed herbs.”

Xu Hehua was a clever woman. She couldn’t read a single character, but she had plenty of survival wisdom. Very quickly, she connected the dots. Lowering her head in disbelief, she asked:
“So all those times… you ran off next door, it was to learn the herbs?”

Xu Wanchun didn’t want to lie to her foster mother. She nodded honestly:
“Mm. I want to make money and help you support the family.”

Is this child… thinking too much? Or maybe… too clever for her own good? Xu Hehua’s feelings were complicated.

Seeing her foster mother remain silent, only watching her with a complicated look, Xu Wanchun grew uneasy. She forced herself to call softly:
“Mom?”

Snapping back to herself, Xu Hehua didn’t reply right away. Instead, she poured another scoop of water for the donkey. Only after leading her daughter back into the main house did she say seriously:
“Mother won’t oppose this. But in such a short time, can you really recognize over a dozen herbs?”

“Really. Maybe I just like it… after seeing them a few times—”

“…and then I just understood,” Xu Wanchun rambled vaguely.

“Do you like it?” Xu Hehua asked thoughtfully. “Do you want to study medicine under Doctor Cao?”

She had always worried that her daughter’s frail little body wouldn’t be able to endure the hardships of farm work.

But in the countryside, children could do little else besides farm.

Now her daughter said she liked herbs, and she was this clever. If she could pick up even a bit of Doctor Cao’s skills, it would be enough for Taohua to live on in the future.

Thinking this way, Xu Hehua felt… maybe this road was actually feasible?

Xu Wanchun hadn’t expected her foster mother to think so boldly:
“Would Doctor Cao even be willing to take on an apprentice?”

“He probably wouldn’t oppose it,” Xu Hehua replied, and repeated Doctor Cao’s conditions for taking students.

“I can’t read either,” Xu Wanchun reminded her. What’s more, she wasn’t optimistic. She always felt that Doctor Cao simply didn’t want to take apprentices. After all, even without literacy, someone could still be taught. She didn’t believe that in the entire village there wasn’t a single child who was clever and hardworking enough.

That was true—her own daughter was also illiterate. Xu Hehua didn’t press the matter further, but she did tuck the idea of apprenticeship into her heart:
“Your mother was just saying. Let’s not worry about apprenticeship for now. But about selling herbs—have you mentioned it to Doctor Cao yet?”

Xu Wanchun shook her head:
“Not yet. I thought, if you agree, I’ll go tell him honestly.”

“Both in reason and in courtesy, this has to be said. If he doesn’t want you making money off this, then we’ll drop the idea. Anyway, I’ll raise you.” Xu Hehua was just a rural woman, but she still had her bottom line. Thinking of this, she slapped her thigh:
“I don’t have other business this afternoon. Once Doctor Cao comes back from his house calls, we’ll bring some things over.”

Naturally, Xu Wanchun had no objections:
“Okay!”

---

The mother and daughter were both people of action.

But plans never keep up with changes.

That afternoon, after waiting a long time and still not seeing Doctor Cao return, Xu Hehua picked up a few sesame cakes and half a jin of pork from the market and took them to her parents as filial gifts.

She had originally planned to bring Taohua along—since they were relatives, it would help deepen affection.

But remembering the old lady’s previous intentions, she changed her mind and went alone.

Unexpectedly, she had been gone less than twenty minutes when a noisy crowd suddenly rushed into the house next door.

Worried that Auntie Su might suffer a loss, Xu Wanchun locked up her own house in a hurry and ran over.

Once inside the yard, she squeezed to her auntie’s side and learned the situation: Liu Dahe from the village had gone into the mountains to hunt and had the bad luck of running into a wild boar. Its tusk had pierced straight through his calf.

“Isn’t Doctor Cao home?” Old Xu Jingjun, who had sprinted over upon hearing the news, was sweating heavily from anxiety.

The others, looking at Liu Dahe whose lips had gone pale from the pain, were also frantic, shouting over one another:

“Where did Doctor Cao go? I’ll run and fetch him.”

“Yes, yes—Dahe’s lost a lot of blood. Waiting like this isn’t an option!”

“Otherwise, should we just send him to the town clinic?”

“No… not to town,” Liu Dahe gritted his teeth and refused. The town clinic wasn’t a place ordinary folk could afford to go. He had eight children to feed, and the whole family couldn’t scrape together two silver dollars—that money had taken a long time to save.

Xu Jingjun understood Liu Dahe’s difficulty. He turned to Su Nan, who was rummaging through the medicine cabinet, and asked:
“Sister Su, where did Doctor Cao go?”

Without even lifting her head, Su Nan answered:
“He went to Zhao Family Village on a house call.”

Zhao Family Village was ten li away from Xu Family Village. Everyone’s hearts sank.

Despair spread across Liu Dahe’s face.

Xu Jingjun managed to stay calm. He knew Doctor Cao’s wife also understood medicine; whenever women in the village felt unwell, they went to her.

But he wasn’t sure if she could handle external injuries. If she couldn’t, they would have no choice but to forcefully carry Liu Dahe to town—they couldn’t just watch him bleed out.

Thinking this, Xu Jingjun pressed further:
“Can you treat him, Sister Su?”

The room full of a dozen men fell silent at once, watching Su Nan with a mix of doubt and hope.

By then, Su Nan had already pulled out clean cloth and pressed it against Liu Dahe’s wound to stop the bleeding, checking whether the bone was damaged. She only spared two words in reply:
“I can.”

After saying this, she thought for a moment, then rolled up another piece of cloth and told Liu Dahe to bite down on it.

Ideally, she would have used raw chuan wu (aconite root) or cao wu (wild aconite) pounded into a paste to numb the wound, which would make treatment far less painful.

But those herbs could easily burn the skin or even cause poisoning. Her medical skill wasn’t as advanced as her husband’s, and she wasn’t confident about controlling the dosage. Better to forget it—even if it meant the patient would have to endure some pain.

With that in mind, she turned to the village elder:
“I can’t step away—I need someone to decoct the medicine. The wound must be cleaned.”

“I’ll do it, just tell me what,” Xu Jingjun responded at once.

Su Nan said:
“Thirty grams of honeysuckle, ten grams of dandelion, boiled in four bowls of water until one bowl remains. Bring it to me.”

Although Xu Jingjun was literate, he had never prepared medicine before. He tensed up instinctively, stammering:
“Wh-what? Sister, say it again.”

This was the simplest formula, meant to disinfect the wound. After all, there were no tetanus vaccines in this era.

Saving lives is like fighting a fire—without hesitation, Xu Wanchun, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up:
“I’ll do it.” She grabbed the balance scale and rushed straight to the drawers where honeysuckle and dandelion were stored.

But since she wasn’t tall enough, she dragged a stool over, climbed up, and reached.

Then, to everyone’s astonishment, she weighed out the honeysuckle and handed it to Su Nan for confirmation:
“Auntie, this is correct, right?”

Su Nan was completely stunned. She muttered subconsciously:
“…Correct.”

Once reassured, Xu Wanchun tipped the honeysuckle into a small basket and went on to weigh the dandelion.

When Su Nan confirmed once again—

Once she confirmed the measurement was correct, Xu Wanchun carried the herbs straight to the kitchen.

Xu Jingjun came back to his senses and narrowed his eyes:
“Sister Su, I’ll leave Dahe in your hands. I’ll go help Taohua decoct the medicine.”

By now, Su Nan’s expression had returned to calm. She nodded slightly:
“Thank you.”

=

Fortunately, Liu Dahe’s bone hadn’t been injured.

Including the time it took to boil the medicine, the whole treatment was completed within half an hour.

Just as they finished, Doctor Cao returned. He checked the wound again, confirmed there was no problem, prescribed some external anti-inflammatory and hemostatic medicine, and reminded them that if a fever developed, they should call him immediately.

After the crowd carried the patient away in a noisy procession, only Doctor Cao and his wife remained in the room with Xu Hehua and her daughter.

Xu Hehua had returned only a few minutes earlier than Doctor Cao, so she had no idea about her daughter’s “remarkable achievement.” She was planning to take the child home first, then come back later with gifts.

But before she could even open her mouth to excuse herself, Su Nan bent down toward the little girl and asked gently:
“Taohua, can you tell Auntie how you came to recognize medicinal herbs?”

Doctor Cao was puzzled:
“What?”

Su Nan quickly explained the situation to her husband, and was rewarded with the same astonished expression.

Xu Hehua also turned to look at her daughter, stunned… this wasn’t how things were supposed to go at all.

“When Doctor Cao was processing herbs, I asked him about them.”

Earlier, Xu Wanchun had stepped forward because it was a doctor’s duty—yes, she was only an eight-year-old child now, and yes, her original reason for studying medicine in her past life had been just to secure a respectable job. But ten years of training, and the oath to save lives, had already been carved into her very bones.

Still, she wasn’t reckless. She had already prepared an explanation in advance.

Meeting their gazes, Cao Xiu froze for a moment, then vaguely remembered:
“Hmm… yes, she did ask about a few herbs before… Taohua, you really remember all that?”

Although it felt embarrassing to show off, Xu Wanchun had no choice. She braced herself and answered:
“I remember all the ones I asked about.”

Cao Xiu still wasn’t convinced. He pushed up his glasses and asked:
“Which ones do you remember?”

Xu Wanchun trotted over to the medicine cabinet, pointing one by one:
“This is astragalus, this is angelica dahurica, aconite, coptis, licorice…”

Seeing the little girl correctly identify each drawer of herbs, the Cao couple finally believed she truly remembered them.

Still, the two of them weren’t quite as shocked as Xu Hehua. After all, their own son, Cao Jingliang, was also exceptionally bright.

But as scholars, they naturally cherished talent. Su Nan looked at the still-stunned Hehua and gently persuaded with a smile:
“Taohua is an exceptionally clever child, sister. You mustn’t let her gifts go to waste.”

Xu Hehua knew her daughter was clever, but not this clever. Hearing this, she nodded repeatedly:
“I was already planning to send her to school this September.”

Su Nan was clearly delighted:
“She should study, yes. Only by studying can one understand reason and change one’s fate. Who knows, if this child ever passes the exams and—”

“Go to university, and sister, you’ll truly be the envy of everyone.”

University student?!!

Xu Hehua’s breathing quickened, and she quickly waved her hands:
“I don’t dare think about it, don’t dare at all!” It really was beyond her imagination—getting into college was incredibly difficult. But if… just if…

Xu Wanchun…

Seeing her foster mother floating away in excitement, Xu Wanchun had no choice but to cut in:
“Doctor Cao, Auntie, may I collect herbs and prepare them to sell?”

“You want to sell medicinal herbs?” Cao Xiu sounded surprised, though not entirely.

Xu Wanchun nodded:
“My body isn’t strong, raising me costs too much. I don’t want Mother to work so hard.”
Then she added:
“If you don’t agree, just forget I asked.”

Moved to the point of tears, Xu Hehua quickly explained:
“This child has said the same at home before. Sister Nan, don’t feel pressured—we truly mean it. If it’s inconvenient, we won’t do it.”

Su Nan exchanged a glance with her husband, then smiled and lightly tapped the little girl’s nose:
“This is something you learned on your own. If you want to sell, then sell. Just bring them here first, and Auntie will help our Taohua check them, all right?”

The truth was, neither she nor her husband were the overly warm-hearted type. But this mother and daughter were good, decent people. Within their power, as neighbors, it cost nothing to lend a hand.

Especially since the pair could have gone straight to selling herbs without saying a word—but instead they asked first. That attitude alone was touching.

Before asking, Xu Wanchun had been only eighty percent confident. She hadn’t expected such a kind response. Her overly large eyes, made bigger by her thin face, blinked rapidly as she forced back the sting of tears. Finally she said sweetly:
“Thank you, Auntie, thank you, Doctor Cao.”

“What a good child,” Su Nan pretended not to notice the tears and softened her expression:
“Our Taohua is such a sweet girl.”

Doctor Cao also dropped his usual stern demeanor with outsiders and said warmly:
“Call me Uncle Cao.”

Xu Wanchun’s eyes lit up:
“Thank you, Uncle Cao!”

Xu Hehua secretly wiped at her eyes, then smiled:
“I’ll go home to fetch some gifts.”
Saying this, she didn’t wait for anyone’s reply—she turned and bustled out the door.

=

The next morning.

The sky was just beginning to pale.

Mother and daughter had already risen.

They had agreed to go up the back mountain to gather herbs, and on the way, to visit Lijia Village to pay respects to the original parents of this body.

So, after breakfast, they packed offerings, some dry food for lunch, and led the donkey out.

When they set off, the two rode the donkey along a quiet, secluded path.

As for herb-gathering, the two of them decided to keep it to themselves.

Not because they were stingy, but because if the villagers found out, they might trouble the Cao couple.

It was kindness on the Cao family’s part to help—how could they repay it with ingratitude?

But unexpectedly, even though they chose such a remote route, just as they neared the mountain’s base, they still ran into a villager.

From a distance, Xu Hehua squinted and tugged on the donkey’s reins:
“Taohua, doesn’t that look like your eldest cousin?”

Xu Wanchun had only met her eldest cousin once, during the family’s warming banquet, but her memory was sharp. She stared for a while and then nodded firmly:
“Yes, that’s Eldest Cousin.”

“What’s he doing here so early in the morning, at the back mountain?”

This place was two or three li from the village. Xu Hehua frowned, dismounted, and had just planned to call out—when suddenly, from a distance, a slim figure came running over.

Xu Wanchun instinctively lowered her voice:
“Mother, is Cousin here to meet someone he’s courting?”

Xu Hehua gave her daughter a light knock on the forehead:
“Little child, what do you know about courting?”

How could she not know?

Doctor Xu (in her previous life) rubbed her sore forehead, thoroughly indignant. She’d seen it all before!