“Keep your voice down—they’re back,” someone whispered, nodding toward the village entrance.
Not far away, a dark, thin old man was pulling a flatbed cart. On it lay a tattered straw mat, beneath which a human-shaped lump of bedding could be seen.
“Fifth Uncle Cui’s wife is back… is she any better?”
“What did the doctor say?”
Even though they already knew the answer, people still asked with concern. Cui Laowu responded numbly, his eyes red and swollen, like an old ox pushed beyond its limits.
Qin Laidi stepped forward and looked at the woman on the cart. Her face was so thin it was almost skeletal, and her bulging yellow eyes stared blankly at the sky.
From what the villagers described, she should have jaundice, which wasn’t uncommon in rural areas with poor hygiene and medical conditions. But something was strange—her complexion wasn’t the usual yellow. It wasn’t orange, nor the smoky shade typical of jaundice. Instead, it was dark—blackish with a hint of yellow.
The villagers exchanged glances: if her face had turned black, it meant her days were likely numbered.
Laidi moved closer for a better look and confirmed her suspicion.
Even with her experience seeing many unusual illnesses, her heart sank. When jaundice turned black, it was an extremely rare sign of malignant progression.
“Scared you, didn’t it? Go home,” Cui Laowu said dully, lowering his head as he pulled the cart forward. He slowed down carefully, afraid of jolting his wife, especially over uneven ground.
It was clear he was a considerate man. Qin Laidi felt a bit more goodwill toward him and hurried after him.
“Uncle Wu, her condition looks like jaundice. Didn’t the hospital say how to treat it?”
“At first, the doctor said it was jaundice. They drew blood and even did some ultrasound in the city hospital. They all said it was jaundice. She took a lot of medicine for it—but instead of getting better, it only made her worse…” Cui Laowu wiped his tears. A man might not cry easily, but he had endured too much.
The greatest pain in the world was watching a loved one slowly approach death while being powerless to stop it.
Laidi thought: if it had been treated early as jaundice, it would have worked. But now that it had progressed to black jaundice, continuing the same treatment was useless. In recent years, traditional medicine had been suppressed, and many doctors either left or switched methods. Few could recognize black jaundice, which delayed proper treatment.
Cui Laowu still had four children. The eldest was already married, but the youngest was only four. If their mother died, their lives would be miserable.
“Uncle Wu, I studied medicine for a few years under Doctor He. Do you remember him?”
Cui Laowu stopped. “Last year, I asked him to treat your aunt. She improved for a few days, but she felt it cost too much and stopped taking medicine…”
Laidi exhaled quietly and improvised, “I remember. Before he left, he was still concerned about her condition and taught me the treatment.”
Cui Laowu froze. “Really?”
“It’s true. Let me check her pulse. If what I say matches what he said, you’ll know I’m not lying.”
The women nearby gathered, curious but doubtful. After all, Laidi had always been mischievous. Even if she seemed more mature lately, they still worried.
“Laidi, treating people isn’t like treating livestock. Don’t fool around.”
“That’s right—if livestock die, you lose money. But a human life isn’t a joke.”
Cui Laowu had already lost hope. The doctor had told him to take her home and let her eat whatever she wanted. But this was his wife—he couldn’t give up the last sliver of hope.
“Alright… go ahead.”
Cui Fifth Aunt lay still, eyes closed as if asleep. Laidi gently held her wrist, checking her pulse first on the left, then the right. Her focused expression resembled Doctor He so much that even the skeptics hesitated.
“Uncle Wu, did her illness start right after giving birth four years ago?”
“Yes…”
“At the beginning, were her bowel movements extremely foul-smelling?”
“Hey, who doesn’t—” someone interrupted.
“I wasn’t asking you,” Laidi said calmly but firmly.
Silenced, the woman backed down.
“Yes, very foul. Even after half an hour, it still smelled.”
Laidi nodded. “In the second year, did her stool turn black?”
“Yes.”
“After taking Doctor He’s medicine, did it turn yellow again?”
“Yes.”
“And recently, she hasn’t had a bowel movement for seven or eight days, right?”
Cui Laowu was stunned. They hadn’t mentioned this. She must have determined it from the pulse.
“Yes! It’s been seven days. She keeps saying her stomach is bloated but can’t pass anything.”
Laidi nodded. This was classic black jaundice. If untreated, it could progress into severe abdominal swelling, cirrhosis, or even liver cancer.
She reached under the blanket and examined the abdomen carefully, focusing on the liver and gallbladder.
After five minutes, she exhaled in relief. There were no obvious signs of tumors yet.
Cui Laowu, following her expression, cautiously asked, “Tell me honestly… how many days… does she have left?”
Everyone held their breath.
Laidi frowned.
He misunderstood immediately, tears streaming down his face. “It’s okay… just say it. The doctor said maybe four or five days… if she eats something nutritious…”
He crouched down, burying his head in his knees, shoulders trembling silently.
“Her illness can still be treated.”
“What?!”
“Don’t joke about this!”
“The city doctors said she only has days left—what can you know?”
Ignoring them, Laidi looked straight at Cui Laowu. “Trust me. It hasn’t progressed to liver cancer yet. There’s still hope.”
He hesitated—but the words “liver cancer” struck him. The chief doctor in the city hospital had mentioned it too. And Laidi had diagnosed everything accurately just from the pulse.
Maybe… she really had some skill.
“How do we treat it? Quickly—give me a prescription. I’ll go to the city tomorrow!”
“Why wait? Go now!” someone urged.
But Laidi shook her head. “No need. The medicine is in the mountains.”
“What medicine?”
“There’s something in the mountains that can save lives?”
“Ginseng?”
“Dandelion,” she said calmly.
The crowd erupted.
“That wild vegetable we eat in spring?”
“That can cure illness?”
Laidi continued steadily, “Its medicinal name is dandelion. It enters the liver meridian, clears heat, detoxifies, protects the liver, and benefits the gallbladder… Wait and see. Within half an hour, she will have a bowel movement.”
Cui Laowu’s eyes lit up. The doctor had said that if she didn’t relieve herself, she might only last two or three days. If results could be seen in half an hour, why not try?
“Eldest! Second! Go now!”
His sons rushed off to the mountains.
Soon, they returned with dandelion. It was old and inedible, but boiled into a dark green decoction. They fed it to her.
No one left. Even as night fell, everyone stayed, checking the time repeatedly.
“Do you really believe her?” someone muttered.
“Then leave if you don’t,” another retorted.
Time passed painfully slowly.
Laidi, however, remained calm, observing the Cui household.
Suddenly—
“Quick! She needs to go!” came a shout from inside.
“Hey, what time is it?”
“Twenty-eight minutes—not even half an hour yet!”