Chapter 43

During their meal, Song Dashan said to Li Mo: “Today in the town, a family came to me and asked me to drive the donkey cart for them.”

Li Mo looked at him, “What?”

Song Dashan swallowed the food in his mouth before responding: “It was a family in town who wanted to visit their relatives in the city and asked me if I could drive them. I didn’t agree with them immediately, and I said I would give them an answer tomorrow. “

Li Mo knew that there must be a reason for Song Dashan to hesitate. So Li Mo looked at him and waited for his following words.

Song Dashan pursed his lips and said, “The city was too far away. If you go there, you won’t be able to come back in a day, and you have to spend the night outside. I don’t mind spending the night outside but leaving you two at home…. how can I not worry? “

Li Mo quickly said: “You can’t just spend the night outside. It’s too unsafe.”

Song Dashan nodded, “Then I will decline this offer.”

Li Mo shook her head, lost in thought.

Song Dashan gently touched Li Mo’s face, “What’s wrong? What are you thinking? “

Li Mo returned to her senses and suddenly said: “Take it! Take this business, go to the city, let’s go together. “

Song Dashan was puzzled. “Why do you want to go to the city with me? What did you think of? “

Li Mo told Dashan what she had in mind. “You said that your legs could be cured in the city, but we haven’t gone to the city’s medical clinic to consult a Doctor. I thought that one day, we would go to the city and ask for the Doctor to cure your leg and ask how much it would cost. Now, we can take this opportunity to go see a doctor in the city. “

Song Dashan did not expect Li Mo to still remember his leg. He had almost forgotten to treat his leg.

Song Dashan pursed his lips and hesitated, “Yes, but..treating leg would be too expensive. We don’t have much money, or…. “

Song Dashan’s words stopped under Li Mo’s eyes. Li Mo was really upset. Song Dashan smiled and coaxed her as he approached Li Mo. He then said softly, “Wife, I won’t say it, won’t say it. It’s my fault. I’ll listen to you whatever you say, okay? “

Li Mo snorted and twisted his arm. “Your leg is the most important thing. What about money? You must heal your legs. Next time you dare to feel sorry for the money, I will ignore you. “

Song Dashan smiled more happily and pulled Li Mo’s little hand. He smiled and said: “I know. Let’s cure my leg. We will go tomorrow for the treatment. I will go to see that family tomorrow, and we will go to the city together. “

Li Mo seriously said: “I think so. Although our current money is far from enough, we can let the Doctor see your leg first and ask the Doctor if you can take medicine or acupuncture. The treatment will be divided into several sessions so that the money can be collected one at a time. If possible, we could ask the Doctor to cure you first and then pay them slowly. “

Song Dashan nodded, “Well, that family will go to the city in two days. We can make plans for the next two days. If we go to the city and don’t have to stay there for a long time, then one night is enough, but if we stay there for a bit longer then, we will probably stay there for two days. We must tell Meizi. They will be worried if they can’t find us here. “

“The only thing we needed to take care of were the chicks at home. We can leave it with Aunt Zhao for two days, and as for Meizi, I’ll take Xiao Bao tomorrow to see his Aunt Meizi, and we’ll be able to tell each other where we’ll be in these two days. “Li Mo said.

Li Mo went to Zhao’s house in the afternoon and told Aunt Zhao about their plan to go to the city to cure Brother Dashan’s leg.

Aunt Zhao hurriedly said: “Don’t worry about the chicks. I promise to feed them well. I will take care of your house, don’t worry, go to the city, Dashan’s leg is more important. “

Li Mo was very grateful and knew that Aunt Zhao would definitely not accept the food for the chicks, so she brought a piece of pastry to give to Aunt Zhao so that Aunt Zhao’s grandchildren could eat it as a little token of appreciation.

After the chicks were taken care of, Li Mo had nothing to worry about, and she took Xiao Bao to visit Meizi the next day.

After talking to Meizi, Meizi was excited, “Great, my Brother’s legs can finally be healed, sister-in-law, you don’t know how strong my Brother was before. Most people can’t keep up with his speed, and he can do everything smoothly. Now, he was dragging his leg. It’s really hard for me to see him like that. I really wanted to see him from the past.

Li Mo nodded, “Don’t worry, your Brother’s leg treatment is the most important thing. We will treat it no matter how much it costs. This time, we will ask for the state of his leg. “

After Li Mo said this, she confessed to Meizi: “We don’t know if we will stay in the city for a few days. There will be no one at home. If you sell out all of your products, your Brother will not be able to buy them for you. You and Tiezi should check if there’s any shortage. You better ask your Brother to bring you some goods tomorrow, so that we won’t delay your business for the time we aren’t home. “

Meizi said, “Every time Tiezi comes back, he always checks if the goods are lacking. I’ve seen what we were lacking. I will tell you now so that he can bring back the goods tomorrow and won’t buy some goods when you are not here in the village. “

Meizi said the few goods that needed to be restocked, and Li Mo carefully wrote them down.

……………………………….

After all of the plans were settled. That morning, Li Mo hugged Xiao Bao and got on the donkey carriage. The family rushed to the town to pick up the family who were going to the city and then rushed to the city together.

The city was really far, so they had to set off at dawn and arrived at the city gate only in the late afternoon.

At the gate of the city, in order for them to enter the city, the officers and soldiers who guarded the city one by one checked the direction of where they had come from. When they saw that there was no problem with Dashan’s company, they let them in.

Li Mo felt the importance of ancient identity for the first time.

The family was very grateful to Dashan for sending their family to the designated place. They left after handing over 150 wens to Song Dashan.

It was already past noon, Li Mo was hungry, and the food for breakfast was already digested. She and Xiao Bao were not really hungry. They ate some dim sum and snacks in the carriage, but Song Dashan was determined to drive the donkey carriage and had no time to drink water, so he must have been very hungry.

“Dashan, let’s find a place to eat first.”

Song Dashan nodded and pulled the donkey carriage to search for food on the street. Xiao Bao also stared at the street intently. His eyes were wide and round, and it took him a long time before he would blink. It was a strange feeling for him, and it was his first time going to the city. The city’s prosperity was incomparable to the town and inevitably dazzled the child’s eyes.

Li Mo didn’t feel much. After all, it was not as lively as modern cities. She was used to seeing the abundance of modern cities. At most, she was moved by the ancient architectural style and other things. She was not surprised.

Li Mo quickly saw a noodle restaurant on the side of the street. After lunch, there were not many customers. The tables were vacant, and they were just in time. It was not crowded even if they sat there.

Li Mo grabbed Song Dashan and pointed to the noodle restaurant. “Let’s eat something there.”

Song Dashan nodded, pulled the donkey carriage aside and tied it, and sat down on the vacant seat in the noodle restaurant.

Li Mo let the boss serve three bowls of shredded pork noodles.

The bowls were all large, and the noodles were as well. Li Mo and Xiao Bao couldn’t even finish one bowl at all. They ate one bowl together. Li Mo specially ordered three bowls, just to let Song Dashan eat more. All he did was physical work, so he needed to be full.

Li Mo asked the boss to give them a small bowl. She divided a bit of the noodles in her bowl to put into the small bowl. She let Xiao Bao eat the small bowl and gave all the remaining noodles to Song Dashan.

Song Dashan saw that Li Mo and Xiao Bao couldn’t eat so many noodles, so after they finished eating, all the noodles were eaten by him.

After Li Mo finished eating, he gave the money to the boss, and the family walked towards the hospital.

Li Mo asked Song Dashan, “Dashan, which doctor did you visit in the city when you came back from the military?”

Song Dashan said, “I have visited many places. Some of them weren’t able to cure my leg, and two doctors said that they could cure me. “One of them demanded too much money, the other offered a more reasonable price, but he said it would cost at least 30 taels of silver to cure it completely. “

Li Mo nodded, “Then let’s go directly to this doctor.”

Song Dashan took Li Mo to this medical clinic according to the route in his memory. The medical clinic was called Ren Shan Tang.

The facade of this medical hall was very large, the scale was not small, and there were many people coming in and out, which shows that this medical clinic had good medical skills. The people were willing to come, which seemed good to the eye.

Li Mo and Song Dashan went in with Xiao Bao, and they found an apprentice-like person and asked, “Doctor, we need consultation for a leg injury. I don’t know which Doctor to look for? “

The Little Apprentice was called “Doctor” by Li Mo. He was so happy that he blushed and said, “I’m not a doctor, I’m not a doctor.”

Li Mo praised: “You may not be a doctor for now, but you will definitely be the same in the future. I just called it out in advance. “

Little Apprentice’s smile deepened even more, and he was especially patient with Li Mo’s questions.”We have two doctors here. If you are here for a leg injury, you can go to Doctor Lin. He is very good at this aspect, and his medical skills are very good. Look, it’s here, but you have to line up and wait until it’s your turn to go in. ” Little Apprentice said, pointing to a room to show Li Mo.

Li Mo nodded, thanked the Little Apprentice, and then went to the queue for consultation.

There were already three people queuing in front. Li Mo and Song Dashan stood behind them and looked inside through the occasionally raised curtains. They only saw a row of cabinets and chairs, but nothing else.

After waiting for about an hour, the first three patients finished their consultation, and it was Li Mo’s turn.

When Li Mo entered, he saw an old man with a half-white beard sitting behind the desk. He saw Li Mo come in and motioned them to sit down on the chairs beside the table.

The old man glanced at Song Dashan’s leg and asked: “Are you to cure your leg? What’s the situation with your leg? “

Song Dashan told the truth: “Before serving as a soldier, I was injured on the battlefield, and my leg was injured. I delayed the treatment at that time, and then it never healed. I looked for other doctors, but they all said they couldn’t cure it.

The Doctor nodded, walked to Song Dashan. He touched Song Dashan’s leg and then pulled Song Dashan’s trousers up to check the condition of his leg.

The Doctor asked about the condition as he watched it. After almost a quarter of an hour, he sat back on the chair and touched his beard, and said, “You hurt your bones. It is not easy to heal it because you have been dragging it for a long time. “

Li Mo asked nervously, “Then Doctor, can you heal it?”

The Doctor pondered for a long time and said: “It would be easier to treat this injury the time you have received the injury. It has been delayed for so long now, and now it is hard to heal it. “

Li Mo caught the key point in the Doctor’s words, and she asked: “Doctor, you mean it can be cured, but it’s just more difficult to cure, right?”

The Doctor glanced at Li Mo with satisfaction and nodded, “Yes, if this injury is treated carefully, it can be cured, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of suffering. The money you would need to spend is not small, and the process would be very painful. Can your family accept it? “

The Doctor saw that Song Dashan’s family was not particularly well dressed. It seemed that the family was not too wealthy. It is a costly thing to treat this leg injury. Most people can’t really treat it, so he must explain it in advance.

Li Mo didn’t have any worries. He just asked, “Then Doctor, tell me the amount. How much silver would it cost for my husband’s leg to be fully cured? “

“Your husband’s leg should be treated slowly, through external and internal application supplemented by acupuncture. After each acupuncture session, I go back and eat half a month of medicine and then come back again to adjust the acupuncture and medicine according to the results. It will take about ten sessions, depending on the severity of your husband’s leg injury, and if the effect is not achieved, we will have to repeat the procedure. “

Li Mo understood what it meant to be treated on a per-visit basis, so she inquired, “Doctor, do we pay money on a per-visit basis? How much for each treatment? “

The Doctor nodded and said yes.

When the Doctor responded, he seemed to anticipate Li Mo’s next question, so he stated flatly, “For your husband’s leg, you need at least two or three taels of silver each time for acupuncture, plus leg ointment, plus half a month’s worth of medicine.”

Li Mo calculated in his heart. According to the Doctor, to treat Song Dashan’s legs, they’ll need at least six taels of silver a month. Now her family can earn two taels of silver a month by relying on Song Dashan. She earns about one or two taels of silver by selling makeup and perfume. It’s only three taels in total, and it’s only half the price, which is not good at all.

However, she now possesses nearly seven taels of silver in her hand. You can treat it twice first and then slowly think of a solution, but the sooner Song Dashan’s leg is treated, the better, and it can’t be delayed anymore.

Thinking of this, Li Mo nodded and said: “Doctor, we will treat him. Please treat him today. “

The Doctor confirmed it: “Are you sure you want to treat it?”

Li Mo nodded, “Yes .”

The Doctor stroked his beard. He instructed the Apprentice outside to prepare things and then asked Song Dashan to lie down on the small flatbed behind the screen and prepare for acupuncture.

After a while, the little Apprentice brought in all the things the Doctor wanted. The Doctor cleaned his hands, then piled Song Dashan’s trouser legs on his thighs, took the silver needles, and roasted them on the fire. Before the needles were inserted, the Doctor asked the Apprentice for a towel for Song Dashan to bite in his mouth. “The process will be very painful. You have to hold back and don’t move. “

Song Dashan nodded, “Doctor, it’s okay, I can bear it. You can just get the needle.” After speaking, he bit the towel into his mouth.

The Doctor saw that he was ready and slowly put the first needle into Song Dashan’s knee.

Song Dashan immediately tensed his muscles. His face had a painful expression on it, his hands were firmly grasping both sides of the bed, and the veins of his hands were exposed, which showed how much pain he was suffering at that moment.

But his legs didn’t move at all.

Li Mo looked at him and couldn’t bear it. Xiao Bao’s tears were about to come down. Li Mo buried Xiao Bao’s face in her neck, not letting him look at his father.

The Doctor took the needle and instructed the Apprentice to apply the pounded ointment to Song Dashan’s leg before wrapping it in white gauze after about a half-hour.

Song Dashan was exhausted, his clothes were all wet with sweat, and his face was also covered with sweat.

Li Mo hurriedly took out her veil and wiped his face, feeling very distressed, “Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot? “

Song Dashan shook his head weakly and said with a strong smile: “It’s okay, just a little tired. That’s it. “

“Young people are good, and they can endure hardship. If they were ordinary people, they would probably be rolling in pain. ” The Doctor said on the side.

After he finished talking, the Doctor went to the desk and picked up a brush to write a piece of paper. Hand it to the little Apprentice: “Give me the medicine according to this prescription.”

Then he explained to Li Mo and Song Dashan: “You can go back today. From now on, your legs should not exert too much force. You need to drink the medicine every day without skipping any day. Otherwise, the effect would not be good. Come back half a month later. “

“Thank you, doctor, and we will trouble you from now on.” Li Mo said to the Doctor.

The Doctor waved his hand.

At this time, the Apprentice brought in a large packet of medicine and handed it to Li Mo, “There are a total of fifteen medicine packets in it. You have to boil one medicine every day and drink it after dinner every day. “

Li Mo took the medicine bag. She took out three taels of silver from her purse and handed them to The Apprentice. Then she bid farewell to the Doctor and helped Song Dashan to walk outside.