The small courtyard stood alone halfway up the hillside, with no other houses nearby. It was quiet and peaceful.
Lin Xiaxia had slept soundly the night before. By the time she woke up, the sun was already high in the sky, its warm rays filtering through the paper-covered window.
She stretched lazily and got out of bed. The moment she unlatched the door, she saw Huzi’s mother standing outside with two large earthenware bowls in her hands.
“Sister, what brings you here?” Lin Xiaxia greeted her with a smile.
“I was worried you might sleep in and not have time to cook breakfast. I couldn’t let you go hungry.”
Huzi’s mother walked inside with a cheerful smile.
“I brought you some breakfast from home. Hurry and eat while it’s still hot.”
Huzi’s family lived at the foot of the mountain, and from their home, they could easily see the courtyard halfway up the slope. As soon as Huzi’s mother noticed Lin Xiaxia’s door open, she brought the food over.
One bowl contained thick, golden corn porridge. The other held fragrant scrambled eggs, along with two hearty steamed buns made from a mixture of cornmeal and wheat flour.
“I steamed these buns myself and mixed in some white flour. Try them. They’re much softer than buns made entirely from cornmeal.”
Huzi’s mother placed everything on the table and urged her to eat while it was still warm.
“Sister, I can cook for myself…” Lin Xiaxia said, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Cook what?”
Huzi’s mother gave her a reproachful look.
“You just moved in. You don’t even have all your pots, bowls, and utensils yet. At most, you could boil yourself some plain noodles, and you don’t even have any decent vegetables to go with them. This afternoon, I’ll have your big brother come over and turn the soil in that little vegetable patch in front of the courtyard. We can plant some radishes and cabbages. Once the weather turns cold, nothing tastes better than vegetables you’ve grown yourself.”
“Sister, you’re being far too kind to me. I don’t even know how to thank you.”
Warmth filled Lin Xiaxia’s heart.
“What’s there to thank me for? You saved our Huzi’s life. Isn’t it only right that we treat you well?”
Huzi’s mother patted her arm.
“Now hurry up and eat. I kept the porridge and eggs warm in the pot. They won’t taste as good once they get cold.”
Lin Xiaxia stopped refusing. She picked up a steamed bun, broke off a piece, and ate it with the scrambled eggs.
The eggs were wonderfully fragrant, with the aroma of chopped scallions. The corn porridge had been cooked until thick and smooth, warming her stomach with every mouthful.
She was only halfway through breakfast when footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.
Two figures walked in.
Lin Xiaxia looked toward the entrance and saw an older woman with graying hair. Behind her followed a young married woman in her twenties, her head lowered as she nervously twisted the hem of her clothes between her fingers.
Huzi’s mother also turned toward the pair.
“Auntie Zhou, what are you and your daughter-in-law doing here so early in the morning instead of working at home?” Huzi’s mother greeted them with a smile.
Auntie Zhou, however, was in no mood for small talk.
She pulled her daughter-in-law forward and hurried over, an eager smile on her face.
“I heard that the new educated youth who came to our village is a doctor from the city, so I brought my Fengxia over for you to take a look at her.”
Lin Xiaxia froze for a moment.
The village chief certainly spread the news quickly.
She hadn’t even finished setting up the clinic yet. How had everyone already heard about her?
She quickly waved her hands.
“Auntie, I’m really sorry. I haven’t finished getting everything ready yet, and I don’t have all the medicine I need. I can’t officially see patients for the time being.”
“That’s all right. It doesn’t matter.”
Auntie Zhou refused to give up and gently pushed her daughter-in-law forward.
“Just take a look at our Fengxia first. Even if you can only say something to put our minds at ease, that would be enough.”
Being pushed to the front only made Fengxia more uncomfortable. She lowered her head even further, her cheeks turning bright red.
Huzi’s mother could no longer stay silent.
“Auntie Zhou, you’re really grasping at straws now. Educated Youth Lin said yesterday that she only knows how to treat minor illnesses like headaches and fevers. Your Fengxia hasn’t been able to have a child for five years. How could a young girl like her handle something even the big hospital in the county couldn’t solve? Let’s not make things difficult for her.”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
Auntie Zhou sighed, her eyes turning red.
“We’ve gone to the county hospital so many times. She’s drunk jar after jar of medicinal decoctions, and we’ve spent so much money, but there’s still no sign of a pregnancy. My son is my only child. I can’t let our family line end with him!”
She turned toward Lin Xiaxia, her eyes filled with hope.
“Educated Youth Lin, you came from the city, so you’ve seen more than we have. Please take a look at her. Even if you can only tell us what direction we should take with the treatment, that would be enough.”
Lin Xiaxia looked at Fengxia’s uneasy expression and listened to Auntie Zhou’s pleading words. She couldn’t help feeling some sympathy.
In her previous life, she had learned some traditional Chinese medicine techniques from her master, particularly methods for regulating and restoring the body. She certainly couldn’t guarantee a cure, but perhaps she could identify something the others had missed.
After thinking for a moment, she said to Fengxia, “All right. I’ll check your pulse and see what I can tell from it. I can’t promise that I’ll find anything, so don’t get your hopes too high.”
Fengxia hesitated.
Only after Auntie Zhou urged her did she slowly extend her wrist.
Lin Xiaxia washed her hands, then placed her fingertips over Fengxia’s pulse and concentrated.
Her pulse was thin and weak, indicating that she was somewhat deficient in qi and blood.
Lin Xiaxia then asked about her usual diet, sleep schedule, and daily habits. Fengxia answered quietly.
After releasing her wrist, Lin Xiaxia thought for a moment before saying, “Physically, there doesn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong with you. Your daughter-in-law has already been examined at the hospital, but has your son ever been checked?”
Auntie Zhou’s mouth dropped open in surprise when she heard that the man also needed to be examined.
“What? The man needs to be checked too? Isn’t having children a woman’s responsibility?”
“Having a child involves both husband and wife. It doesn’t depend on the woman alone,” Lin Xiaxia patiently explained.
“The man’s health is equally important. Both of them need to be examined before you can figure out where the problem lies.”
Fengxia quietly spoke up from the side.
“My husband went to the county hospital once before. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with him.”
Neither of them had any apparent problems, yet Fengxia had been unable to conceive for five years.
That was indeed strange.
Lin Xiaxia frowned slightly and asked, “How old was the doctor who examined you?”
A suspicion was beginning to form in her mind.
These days, many older and more experienced doctors had been sent away to the countryside. Most of the doctors left in hospitals were relatively young and inexperienced. It was entirely possible that they had failed to identify a deeper underlying problem.
“It was a female doctor in her twenties. She looked quite young,” Fengxia recalled.
Lin Xiaxia fell silent.
Seeing her expression, Auntie Zhou became even more anxious. She stepped closer, rubbing her hands together nervously.
“Well, Doctor Lin? Did you figure something out?”
Lin Xiaxia raised her eyes and looked at the gray hair around Auntie Zhou’s temples.
Then she suddenly changed the subject.
“Auntie, how old were you when you gave birth to your son?”
Auntie Zhou froze.
Although she didn’t understand why Lin Xiaxia was asking, she answered honestly.
“I had trouble getting pregnant back then too. I didn’t conceive until I was twenty-seven or twenty-eight. I drank all kinds of medicinal decoctions. In the end, it was a prescription from an old doctor that finally worked.”
“Then how old was your mother-in-law when she gave birth to your husband?” Lin Xiaxia asked again.
Now Auntie Zhou was even more confused.
She stared at Lin Xiaxia blankly.
“Doctor Lin, why are you asking about that? What does it have to do with Fengxia having a baby?”
“It might have something to do with it.” Lin Xiaxia smiled.
“Certain physical conditions can run in families, including problems that make conception difficult. Think about it. You had difficulty conceiving back then. Perhaps your husband also had a similar underlying condition, and it may have been passed down to your son.”
Auntie Zhou’s eyes widened.
“What? What does that mean?”