As one could well imagine, Ye Xiaohua had already worn her tongue out and expended a great deal of effort just to convince Qin An and Chun Yue, let alone convincing the parents of the young master of the Qin family.
Fortunately, Chun Yue was a personal maid whom Madam Qin trusted implicitly, and Qin An was the housekeeper of this grand Qin residence, always carrying out his duties diligently and without error. Although the Qin couple did not want to make a joke out of their son’s life, right now, their child—who was only a few months old—had already been suffering from dysentery for several days.
The baby, who was originally fair and plump, now had a sallow little face completely devoid of vitality, and was even passing blood in his stool. When the couple heard Chun Yue describe how remarkably Ye Xiaohua had stated the young master’s condition, they were also slightly taken aback.
“Can you really do it?” Qin Shuhe drew in a sharp breath, asking solemnly as if he were placing a wager on something.
Ye Xiaohua really wanted to roll her eyes unceremoniously, but that would be too impolite. She merely replied in a cold voice, “I have already come here. If you don’t believe me, then there is nothing I can do. I will just miss out on earning a bit of silver, but the young master of the Qin family… well…”
Qin Shuhe looked at the young girl in front of him. The composure in her eyes far surpassed her age, and her gaze was clear and honest, not looking at all like she was lying. He considered himself well-traveled and experienced with countless people, yet he could not detect a shred of panic or cowardice on her face.
Perhaps…
“The young master’s life is a life, and my life is also a life. In my eyes, they are exactly the same, with no distinction between noble and lowly. Therefore, if I didn’t possess the proper skill, how would I dare take on this job for your Qin family? I have small courage, so I wouldn’t dare trade one life for another.”
Qin Shuhe looked at the little girl in astonishment. What a fine ‘human lives have no distinction between noble and lowly.’ She actually possessed quite a bit of backbone. Given her calm and self-assured demeanor, he might as well let her examine Huai’er. If she was a fraud, she would eventually give herself away.
With this, Qin Shuhe no longer hesitated. “You have small courage? Girl, I see your courage is actually quite big!”
Ye Xiaohua did not let Little Douzi follow her inside; instead, she entrusted him to Chun Yue. She chatted with Chun Yue for a few moments, noting that while the maid had a bit of a temper, she was still a decent person.
Ye Xiaohua followed Qin Shuhe into the room and washed her hands first. The Qin family was truly wealthy; even the basin for washing hands was made of silver. It seemed she was going to make a tidy profit this time.
Let alone a small child, even a seven-foot-tall man would become like a soft-shelled shrimp after passing stool for several days, needing to hold onto walls just to walk, or worse, having absolutely no strength left to stand.
The little guy kept his eyes tightly closed at this moment, looking quite lifeless, and the wet nurse had just finished changing his diaper. Seeing her son in this state, Madam Qin wept softly. Looking at her heartbroken expression, she wished nothing more than to suffer this torment in place of her son.
Seeing this situation, Ye Xiaohua—remembering that they were both mothers—couldn’t help but think of her own cheap mother and could only chuckle inwardly.
After wiping her hands dry, Ye Xiaohua walked over to the bedside to check the pulse of the swaddled young master, Qin Huai. Watching her proper and orderly posture, Qin Shuhe felt a few more ounces of trust grow within his heart.
The little guy kept his mouth tightly shut, making it impossible to see the state of his tongue coating. He was still small and couldn’t understand human speech anyway, so Ye Xiaohua had no choice but to pinch him slightly. This triggered a reaction, and the young master wailed loudly. At a glance, it was clear he had quite a fiery temper and had been so coddled by his family that he couldn’t take the slightest grievance.
“What are you doing?” Madam Qin looked at Ye Xiaohua angrily, her face filled with displeasure.
When the little guy cried, he opened his mouth wide, though it was all thunder and little rain, and he was quite feeble. However, Ye Xiaohua also managed to see the state of his tongue coating at this moment, and she was finally completely certain; it was undoubtedly the condition she had described.
“Master…” From beginning to end, Madam Qin didn’t quite believe in Ye Xiaohua. But since the one who called the shots in the Qin family was Qin Shuhe, she was currently complaining to her husband as if she had caught Ye Xiaohua red-handed.
However, Qin Shuhe saw that Ye Xiaohua was peering into Qin Huai’s small mouth, her eyes darting left and right, so he raised his hand to quiet Madam Qin’s voice.
Since the illness had already been confirmed, the next step was treatment. At this point, Ye Xiaohua recalled the silver needles she used to carry everywhere in her past life. But on second thought, the Qin family had a large business and estate, so a set of silver needles shouldn’t be a problem.
“I need silver needles.” Ye Xiaohua turned her head to look at Qin Shuhe.
Qin Shuhe felt that this girl was truly remarkable. It wasn’t a request; she was straight up asking him for them directly. Not many people before him dared to speak this way, dictating what they wanted or didn’t want.
However, though Qin Shuhe thought about many things, he only answered with a single word: “Good!”
Ye Xiaohua didn’t know what method Qin Shuhe used. He definitely didn’t have these kinds of things in his household, yet they were brought over very quickly. She opened the case to look; although they weren’t as comfortable to handle as her own set from her past life, they could manage to be used.
When it came to treating illnesses and saving people, the only question was whether one’s medical arts were genuine or fake; there was no such thing as whether silver needles were easy to use or not.
Madam Qin felt a shiver run through her just looking at those long silver needles. Holding the child, she murmured softly to Qin Shuhe, keeping her voice pressed very low, but her expression already made it clear that she still did not trust Ye Xiaohua.
Ye Xiaohua sterilized the silver needles and turned back to look at the couple. She could tell that even if Madam Qin was reluctant, she still listened to this Master Qin. “Can I administer the needles now? Or do you feel you can wait a bit longer for another physician to arrive? But if that’s the case, I’m afraid the young master will face a few more dangers and suffer a bit more torment.”
“How about we wait a bit longer?” Madam Qin asked tentatively.
Qin Shuhe looked down at Ye Xiaohua. “Do you know the consequences?”
“Of course. Although I don’t like being threatened, it seems that if I don’t accept your threat, I won’t be able to get things done.” Ye Xiaohua glanced faintly at Qin Shuhe, meeting his gaze without the slightest hint of dodging.
The corners of Qin Shuhe’s mouth quirked upward, and the heavy gloom on his face gradually dissipated. “Begin.”
“Master…” Madam Qin fiercely protected the child in her arms, not wanting to let Ye Xiaohua draw near.
Ye Xiaohua could understand her feelings, and the mother’s deep love for her child also made Ye Xiaohua overlook her lack of trust. A mother does everything for the good of her child; this kind of protection and worry was something she had never experienced in either of her two lifetimes. She wasn’t angry, but merely very envious of the brat in the swaddling clothes.
Originally, she had wanted to explain to Madam Qin, but Qin Shuhe spoke first. “Madam, letting a child treat Huai’er, I know you think I’ve gone mad, and I also think I’ve gone mad. But think about it, Huai’er has been in this condition for several days. The physicians in the town have pretty much all seen him, and he has taken quite a lot of medicine, yet there is no sign of improvement. The little girl said they treated him incorrectly; perhaps they really did treat him incorrectly.”
“But…” Madam Qin looked at Qin Shuhe, then looked at the small and skinny Ye Xiaohua. She still couldn’t bring herself to hand her child’s life over to her.
“Don’t worry. If anything happens to Huai’er, the two small lives of her and her brother will be gone.” Finally, Qin Shuhe turned his head to look at Ye Xiaohua again, a sharp gleam shooting from his eyes, carrying a heavy tone of warning. “She isn’t stupid!”