Shen Ruoxi secretly thought that the Original Owner's mother's paralysis was caused by nerve circuit damage due to anger. She had no sensation from the neck down, and all her muscles had atrophied. Even if the nerves were repaired, it would take a lot of time for rehabilitation.
The method to treat the Original Owner's mother is simple: acupuncture combined with medication. The difficulty lies in the fact that the medicinal herbs she needs are extremely precious and require a large amount of silver taels to purchase.
Furthermore, her paralysis cannot be delayed any longer, otherwise, the muscle atrophy will become too severe, and rehabilitation will be useless.
If the medicinal herbs cannot be gathered within three months, the Original Owner's mother can be considered beyond saving.
This family is extremely poor; even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice. Saving the Original Owner's mother is too difficult, too difficult.
Zhang Laifeng smiled and comforted Shen Ruoxi, "Doctor Shen said you have good talent, and Mother also believes you can learn medicine well. Ruoxi, study hard, and one day you will be able to cure Mother."
Shen Ruoxi showed Zhang Laifeng a gentle smile, such a kind mother. "Mother, I will work hard."
Zhang Laifeng nodded with a smile. "Mm."
"Let me take Father's pulse again." Shen Ruoxi walked toward Shen Da. "Father, please extend your arm for a moment."
Shen Da's expression was somewhat unpleasant. His already sallow face looked even worse with an angry expression. "Shen Ruoxi, are you learning medicine just to mess with people?"
Shen Ruoxi stood by the bedside, her slender figure standing perfectly straight, carrying a hint of pride. She stated firmly, "I learn medicine to cure illnesses and save people, not to harm them. Father, please rest assured."
Shen Da looked Shen Ruoxi up and down. Since yesterday, his daughter seemed to have changed. This change was positive, but he feared Shen Ruoxi was deceiving them only to do something worse.
"Shen Ruoxi, swear to heaven that if you are deceiving us, you will be struck by lightning."
In ancient times, swearing oaths was taken very seriously. Once a person swore an oath, they had to abide by it, or they would suffer retribution.
Shen Ruoxi let out a breath, raised her hand, and swore, "If I, Shen Ruoxi, deceive everyone, may I surely be struck by lightning."
Shen Da's expression softened, and then he extended his hand. "Take your time, no rush."
Shen Ruoxi reached out to take Shen Da's pulse.
She sighed inwardly. Shen Da was also agitated. The anger had damaged his liver, leading to complications. His kidneys were also problematic, causing him to feel weak, experience difficulty breathing with any movement, feel extremely tired, have body swelling, and discomfort in his lower back...
Curing Shen Da also required good medicinal herbs, but he could recover by taking medicine. Maintaining a cheerful mood while taking the medicine would speed up his recovery.
Shen Ruoxi thought to herself that the next step was to save money diligently. As long as there was enough money, saving both of them would not be an issue.
The only thing requiring attention was that their illnesses could not be delayed too long, or even medicine would be useless.
Shen Ruoxi said, "Father, I need some time to study your pulse condition as well."
She had just started learning medicine and had already diagnosed an illness that even the Barefoot Doctor couldn't see. Wouldn't that be strange?
Changes needed to be gradual; she couldn't change too much at once. Plus, the female lead was watching, so she needed to act as cautiously as possible to avoid giving anyone leverage.
Shen Da didn't entirely trust Shen Ruoxi. Medical skills weren't that easy to learn; otherwise, his elder brother would have cured them already. Although he didn't believe it in his heart, he still encouraged her verbally, "Then take more time to study medicine and try your best to cure your mother."
Shen Ruoxi nodded. "I will work hard."
...
Coming out of her parents' room, Shen Ruoxi saw Xu Qinglan lingering under the eaves. "Sister-in-law."
Xu Qinglan was filled with confusion at that moment, unable to figure out why Shen Ruoxi would so generously give so much money to her mother.
Her thoughts were temporarily set aside upon seeing Shen Ruoxi. She placed the money bag into Shen Ruoxi's hand. "My mother gave me the money you gave her. I won't take your money; please take it back."
Shen Ruoxi was slightly surprised. She looked down at the money bag, realizing Xu Mu truly doted on her daughter. "If the money is given to you, you should keep it; you don't need to give it back to me."
She placed the money bag back into Xu Qinglan's hand. "I will work hard to earn money and make life better for everyone."
If anyone else had said this, it would have sounded sensible, but when Shen Ruoxi said it, it felt very strange. Xu Qinglan stared blankly at Shen Ruoxi, momentarily forgetting what she was doing.
Shen Ruoxi didn't say anything more and turned to leave the house.
She originally had eleven silver taels and 700 Favorability Points. After giving ten silver taels to Xu Mu, she spent 100 Favorability Points, leaving only one silver tael and 600 Favorability Points. That wasn't enough for ten taels of silver; she needed to find a way to earn more silver taels.
She had planned to continue reading medical books in the afternoon, but now that she needed to earn silver taels, that wouldn't work.
Shen Ruoxi walked along the small path in the village, looking at the picturesque little village, contemplating where to go next.
Favorability Points +20.
Favorability Points +20.
Favorability Points +10, cumulative Favorability Points 650.
Shen Ruoxi smiled; the Favorability Points had increased again.
Just then, a conversation drifted over—
"Granny Zhang at the end of the village is celebrating her sixtieth birthday today. Her daughter-in-law and son are busy in the County Town and haven't returned yet. I wonder if they forgot or if they are tied up."
"And Uncle Wang, his son died serving in the army, and his wife died afterward. Now he is all alone too."
"Alas, there are so many elderly people living alone in the village. The young ones are busy and have no one to look after them. It just gets sadder the more you think about it."
"There's nothing to be done. Once you're old and useless..."
Listening to their words, Shen Ruoxi secretly thought that she could focus on the empty-nest elderly in the village. First, it would make them happy, and second, she should be able to gain some Favorability Points—killing two birds with one stone.
If she really couldn't earn enough silver taels, she would go to the County Town tomorrow morning to look for opportunities.
With that thought, Shen Ruoxi strode toward Granny Zhang's house, and as she passed the Barefoot Doctor's house, she didn't forget to greet them.
...
Granny Zhang's house.
Granny Zhang only had one son. Her son was a Shopkeeper in a Restaurant in the County Town, her daughter-in-law washed dishes at the restaurant, her grandson studied in the County Town, and her granddaughter learned needlework. They rarely returned to the village.
After her husband passed away, Granny Zhang usually lived alone. She had enough to eat and drink, so her life wasn't bad; what she lacked was spiritual companionship.
When Shen Ruoxi arrived at Granny Zhang's doorstep, Granny Zhang was planting vegetables in the courtyard. "Granny Zhang."
Upon seeing Shen Ruoxi, Granny Zhang's expression darkened. "What are you doing here?"
The Original Owner had once stolen Granny Zhang's Eggs. Granny Zhang remembered it clearly and wished she could hit Shen Ruoxi a couple of times.
Shen Ruoxi quickly explained, "Granny, I came to apologize. I was young and ignorant before. I apologize to you now, and I won't steal things again in the future."
Granny Zhang found the words pleasant to hear and softened her expression. "It's best if you can reform. Remember what you said today, and don't cause trouble for the villagers again."
Shen Ruoxi responded obediently, "I understand." She walked toward Granny Zhang. "Granny, your legs aren't convenient; let me help you plant vegetables?"
Granny Zhang waved her hand. "It's the busy farming season. You should be helping your family. Planting a few vegetables here is no big deal for me; I can do it slowly to pass the time."
Those words reminded Shen Ruoxi that she had one mu of paddy field and one mu of land.
The paddy field was for growing rice, and the land was for growing Corn. At this time, Corn wasn't like modern corn grown for pigs and livestock; it was all staple food.
Originally, there were three mu of fields and three mu of land, but to clean up the Original Owner's mess, many fields and lands had been sold off, leading to the current predicament.
These past few days, Xu Qinglan and the others had been transplanting rice seedlings; the Corn hadn't been planted yet.
Perhaps she should go plant the Corn herself?