The head of the Mu family

Chapter 12 Seizing the Opportunity to Begin Seeing Patients

The next morning, the four girls got up first, and Shen Huai and Qian Shao lingered for a moment before getting up as well.

Wu Ya's family still drank coarse corn porridge and ate black steamed buns.

The four girls were eating in the yard.

Wu Ya's parents cooked another bowl of rice porridge and boiled an egg. When Wu Ya's mother heard the commotion, she quickly came over and waited at the door with the bowl in her hand.

Seeing this display of power, Shen Huai couldn't help but sigh inwardly:

The servility ingrained in the hearts of the poor in the old society!

Alas! It's truly pathetic and helpless!

Good morning, Auntie!

Qian Shao pushed open the door and saw this scene.

"Good morning, good morning, miss, have your breakfast~ Hehe~"

Wu Ya's mother stood there, holding a bowl and eggs, speaking somewhat awkwardly.

Although he wanted to, he didn't dare to touch Qian Shao, afraid that his rough hands would damage the expensive-looking fabric of her clothes.

"Auntie, you're too kind. You don't need to prepare breakfast for Shao'er anymore."

Shao'er and her younger brother, along with the two younger brothers from the Qin family, were having their meal at the temple.

Wu Ya's mother and the four maids were stunned again:

I heard orioles singing again early this morning!

Seeing that the group was stunned again, Shen Huai quickly chimed in:

"Okay, Sister Shao, you go have your breakfast first. I'll come find you after I finish eating."

After saying goodbye, Qian Shao left. Only after she turned the corner outside the courtyard and disappeared from sight did Wu Ya's mother and the four maids turn away.

Wu Ya's parents gave the white rice porridge and eggs to Gou'er.

Seeing that Wuya thought for a moment, he gave her a small piece of egg and a little bit of white rice porridge.

Since Baozhu was born and the harvest was bad, Wuya has not received any special treatment.

But seeing Wuya interacting with the city girls today, Wuya's parents gave her a share too, while the other four girls didn't get any as usual.

Wu Ya's parents: What if this child could go to the city and become a head maid for a young lady in the future?

Then Baozhu won't have to worry about finding a wife~

Shen Huai sighed.

I took a spoon and gave each of the four girls a spoonful of rice porridge, and also gave them a tiny bit of egg, just enough to fill a tooth gap.

None of the four girls dared to accept it, but Shen Huai forced them to take it.

They took the special treatment that Wuya had received from her family for granted.

The four girls felt that the fifth girl was the most successful in the family. Without the fifth girl, they dared not imagine how hungry they would be.

Later, Wuya lost her special treatment, but today her parents gave her a share again for some reason.

Wuya can eat, but they wouldn't dare.

Chapter Nine: A Chance Encounter Leads to Medical Practice

On this day, Shen Huai and several children were studying the Three Character Classic in the yard.

A woman carrying a baby boy on her back burst in.

He was shouting "Help!"

The woman's obviously worn-out long shirt and trousers swayed on her withered body. Her face, supported by her cheekbones, was covered with a layer of dust, and her hair was completely unkempt, flying wildly in the spring breeze.

Upon entering and seeing the children in brocade robes, he clearly hesitated for a moment.

She turned around and carried the child, then ran towards Uncle An, who was sunbathing.

He knelt down with a thud:

"Please! Doctor Gao! Save my dog, please!"

Amber was startled and immediately stood up from his chair to move aside, waving his hands repeatedly as he said:

"I am not Dr. Gao!"

Doctor Gao and my master have gone up the mountain to gather herbs; they won't be back for several days!

Upon hearing this, the woman immediately hugged her child and sat on the ground, bursting into tears.

Hearing the heart-wrenching cries and looking at the child, Shen Huai felt a pang in her heart.

I went over to take a look, and the child seemed to have a high fever. The woman also looked unwell.

"Auntie, is this little brother running a high fever and vomiting everything he eats?"

Upon hearing this, the woman repeatedly said yes, yes.

Looking up, she saw a four- or five-year-old child talking to her and asked in confusion:

How did you, a little kid, know that?

Shen Huai thought to himself:

Forget it, if this child has a high fever and goes to town, things might get complicated. I'll just find something to do for myself!

So he said:

“Auntie, I’ve been following Dr. Gao around every day and have learned a little bit.”

The little boy is delirious from the fever; if he doesn't get treatment soon, he might become mentally impaired.

Would you like me to give it a try?

"Make sure your little brother feels better first, then you can go to town to see a doctor."

The woman looked at the child in her arms and remembered what the village elders had said:

'The child is dying. Even if he survives with this high fever, he might become mentally disabled.'

It would take another half day to get to town, and then I thought:

Although the child in front of us is young, the symptoms he described are basically correct. We might as well give it a try, even if we have no other choice.

"Young doctor, please, please save my son!"

"Okay, I will do my best!"

Uncle Amber, could you please put the chair next to the table inside the door?

"Auntie, please sit down in the chair with your little brother and wait for me."

As they spoke, a group of people entered the house.

Shen Huai opened Doctor Gao's medicine box, took out a pulse pad, and carefully took the child's pulse.

"It must have been from being frightened and catching a chill that caused him to start having a fever yesterday at noon, right?"

I have some medicine here, I'll get you some.

You can put your little brother on the kang (heated brick bed), there's a medicine pot over there, you can start a fire and boil it yourself.

First, soak the medicine for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, then boil three bowls of water down to one bowl. After taking the medicine, let the little brother sleep here for one or two hours.

After waking up, I fed my little brother some rice porridge and a boiled egg.

If you don't have an appetite, you can crush the egg yolk and mix it into the porridge.

"Once your brother can get up, you can decide for yourself whether to stay here and watch over him, or go to town to find a doctor to take a look."

As he spoke, he kept grabbing the medicine and handed it to the woman.

The woman immediately took the medicine and brewed it as Shen Huai had instructed.

At noon, Uncle An took several children to have lunch next door.

Shen Huai kept wiping the child's forehead, armpits, palms and soles with a warm water cloth.

The physical cooling method probably made the child feel better, and he fell asleep immediately after taking a bowl of medicine.

When Uncle and the others returned after eating, they brought the woman two cornbread buns and some pickled vegetables sandwiched inside.

Qian Shao brought Shen Huai a steamed bun and a boiled egg, which she probably saved from her own meals.

Shen Huai took the steamed bun and gave the boiled egg to the woman.

The woman looked at the steamed buns and eggs, and began to sob, suppressing her sobs.

The woman placed the eggs aside.

After finishing the steamed buns, I went to the temple next door to borrow some rice and used the stove I had just used to boil medicine to cook some rice porridge.

After finishing his steamed bun, Shen Huai went back and ate some unpalatable cornbread.

Otherwise I'll get hungry!

After we finished eating, we continued to practice writing on the ground with sticks together.

The woman stood to the side watching the porridge, curiously observing the children in their fine clothes.

Uncle Amber and the woman began to chat casually:

"Where are you from, madam?"

"Oh dear! Uncle, I don't deserve to be called 'Madam'."

I'm from the neighboring village of Laishui, about five or six miles away.

Shen Huai: What's wrong with that? People in water-scarce areas like to include the word 'water' in their village names?

"Oh! It must have been tough carrying that baby all the way here!"

Who else is in the family? Where's the child's father?

"Ah! It's a long story~"

My body is weak; I gave birth to four daughters before, but none of them survived except for my eldest daughter.

My husband thinks I'm useless, but thankfully I had a dog, otherwise I'd be too ashamed to show my face in public!

The dog isn't feeling well either.

My man! He...

Sigh! It's not his fault, it's my own fault for being so useless!

"Alas! We're all unfortunate people~"

Don't worry, the child will be fine soon after taking the medicine.

Shen Huai: Yet another 'dog'...

Then the two of them chatted on and on, talking in hushed tones about many everyday matters.

Before we knew it, it was already late afternoon.

When Shen Huai went in to check again, the dog had woken up.

Shen Huai took his pulse and felt his forehead and carotid artery, and breathed a sigh of relief that the fever had subsided.

After the child drank a large bowl of warm water, the convulsions stopped.

After a while, at Shen Huai's prompting, he ate the porridge and eggs, and his energy immediately returned as soon as he finished eating.

The mother dog held her puppy, crying and laughing with excitement.

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Shen Huai asked Gou'er's mother:

"Should we go to town to find a doctor? Gou'er is much better now."

Or we could rest for the night and make it to town tomorrow.

"No need! No need! Please have the young doctor prepare the medicine."

Thank you, little doctor, for saving my dog's life!

Please calculate the consultation fee, and also the steamed buns for lunch and the child's porridge and egg.

The woman choked back tears of gratitude.

"Ten cash for consultation, five cash for herbal medicine, and no need to pay for food."

You're lucky today; the food you're being given is by these kind-hearted young ladies and gentlemen from the city.

You also need to take two doses of medicine; two coins will suffice.

Because of the two prescriptions, only the one I'm giving you isn't available this season; the other four can be found on the ridges of fields and by the river.

I'll tell you how much of each you collect, and you can decide what to do with it when you get back. It'll cost seventeen coins in total.

"Young doctor! Only seventeen coins? Only seventeen coins?!"

Thank you, thank you, and thank you all, young masters and ladies. Auntie is deeply grateful for your kindness.

He was about to kneel down as he spoke.

Shen Huai was so frightened that he jumped up, and Uncle An quickly helped him up so that he wouldn't kneel down.

Shen Huai: What's with this kneeling?!

The dog had already gotten off the bed and was curiously looking at the city people.

This child, who has never seen a child dressed so well before, stood there sucking on his index finger, staring blankly at them.

Dog's mother gave the money.

Shen Huai told her how much of the other herbs to pick and when to take the two doses of medicine.

Then he saw the person out the door, and the woman left, thanking him profusely.

"Little Wuya, why don't you just get her the medicine directly, or give it to her for free? It's only a few coins."

As soon as Shen Huai entered, Qian Shao asked.

Seven-year-old Qin Song was also curious, and the other two, whether curious or not, were also looking at Shen Huai with innocent eyes.

Shen Huai knew she meant well and was acting out of compassion, so he sighed and was about to explain.

"Young Miss, Wu Ya won't get her the medicine; she'll have to gather it herself."

It's because poor families save every penny they can.

The reason we don't give away medicine is because~

You haven't seen it, but in this whole area, seven or eight out of ten households are like this, so pitiful!

"How could I possibly help everyone like this, my kind young lady!"

Uncle An looked outside the courtyard wall and continued speaking.

Qian Shao and Qin Song listened and thought about it, and immediately understood, and sighed.

In the days that followed, when people came to see the doctor...

Shen Huai would show it to those who were willing, and wouldn't interfere with those who weren't.