"Hurry, get some vinegar!" the Old Lady shouted.
Bai Banxia's mother dropped her bowl and chopsticks, rushing out like a gust of wind. In the blink of an eye, she returned carrying a jar of vinegar.
The Old Lady took the jar and poured a few mouthfuls down the Old Master’s throat, but instead of helping, the Old Master's face turned even redder. He looked as if he was trying to cough but couldn't, his breath completely caught.
"Sanlang, go and get Doctor Xu quickly," Bai Shan said, realizing something was wrong.
Sanlang responded and ran out.
Bai Banxia’s brow furrowed tightly. From the sound of it, he wasn't choking on a fish bone; he was choked by phlegm. She feared they couldn't wait for a doctor.
She stepped forward to support the Old Master and secretly activated the Divine Doctor System. As expected, the system quickly provided an answer: it wasn't just thick phlegm clogging the trachea; there was also a small bone fragment lodged on one side of his windpipe.
"Get away! You jinx, haven't you caused enough trouble already? Nothing good ever happens when you're around!" The Old Lady shoved Bai Banxia hard, cursing through gritted teeth.
Bai Banxia didn't bother arguing with her and said, "Grandpa is choked by phlegm. We have to make him spit it out, or he'll suffocate. We can’t wait for the doctor to arrive."
"Daughter, is that true?" Bai Tian had noticed over the past two days that his daughter had become more capable—so much so that he almost didn't recognize her. Looking into her clear, dark eyes, he felt that it must be true.
"Father, we can't delay any longer. I'll take responsibility if anything happens." Seeing the Old Master having even more difficulty breathing, Bai Banxia didn't care about anything else and pushed the Old Lady aside.
She raised her hand and pressed several acupoints on the Old Master’s back, then suddenly struck his back firmly.
"You dare hit your grandfather? You unfilial thing!" The Old Lady’s eyes turned red as she lunged to hit Bai Banxia, but Bai Tian hastily used his body to shield his daughter.
"Cough, cough…" The Old Master coughed violently twice, and a glob of thick phlegm was spat out.
Everyone looked and saw that the phlegm was tinged with blood.
"Oh my goodness, this money-loser has hit her grandfather until he’s spitting blood! How unfilial, how unfilial! You wretch, you might as well kill me too!" The Old Lady cried and screamed in distress.
The second uncle, Bai Shui, pushed Bai Tian and said crossly, "Third Brother, look at the daughter you raised. She hit Father until he spat blood."
Bai Tian stumbled and nearly fell. Once he regained his balance, he didn't bother with Bai Shui and leaned in close to the Old Master. "Father, Father, are you feeling better?"
Bai Shui wanted to push him again, but the Old Master raised a hand to stop him.
"I can finally breathe properly," the Old Master said. His voice was raspy, but he sounded more energetic than when he first sat at the table, and the flush on his face was slowly fading.
The Old Lady breathed a sigh of relief. "Was it really phlegm?"
The Old Master nodded. "I couldn't get it out, and I couldn't speak. I almost lost consciousness. I feel much better now."
"But this is only a temporary fix. It treats the symptoms, not the root cause. It will happen again in a few days," Bai Banxia said at an inopportune moment.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside. Sanlang had brought Doctor Xu.
Doctor Xu was welcomed into the room, and the Old Lady hurried him to check the Old Master’s pulse.
"He was choked by phlegm. Fortunately, it was spat out. It's nothing serious. Just take some phlegm-resolving medicine and rest," Doctor Xu said.
Bai Banxia shook her head inwardly. Doctor Xu hadn't discovered the bone fragment in the Old Master’s trachea. However, she didn't blame the old doctor for lack of skill; the Old Master had too many ailments, and without the Divine Doctor System, it would have been extremely difficult to find that tiny fragment.
When the Old Lady told Doctor Xu what Bai Banxia had done, Doctor Xu frowned and said, "If you don't understand medicine, you shouldn't act recklessly. It was just a stroke of luck that it was coughed out. What if you had caused an injury?"
"I told you it was just a blind cat hitting a dead mouse. Stay away from your grandfather from now on." The Old Lady glared and tried to kick Bai Banxia, but Bai Tian quickly blocked her. As a result, his leg took the kick from his mother, and he cried out in pain, grimacing.
"Oh, my dear mother, my leg is going to break!" Bai Tian rubbed his leg while secretly winking at his wife and daughter, signaling them to leave quickly to avoid further scolding.
The Old Lady was instantly distressed again. "Oh, my precious boy, are you alright? Sit down and rest. Why did you block for that money-loser? She’s thick-skinned and isn't afraid of pain."
Precious boy… Bai Banxia couldn't help but shudder. She decided to go back to her room for some peace; she couldn't help the Old Master remove the bone fragment for the time being anyway.
However, thinking of the Old Lady’s comment about being "thick-skinned," Bai Banxia felt a bit sad.
Her predecessor had been honest and simple since childhood. She didn't run or cry when beaten, fearing it would make things difficult for her parents. Even when bullied by the village children, she didn't dare tell them for fear of making them sad.
But Bai Banxia knew it had hurt. She hoped the girl had been reborn into a good family to live a peaceful and smooth life.
Over the next two days, Bai Banxia went up the mountain every day to pick and process herbs, taking the opportunity to build her physical strength. While resting, she used a special finger technique to massage various acupoints on her body, regulating the physical issues caused by her predecessor taking the wrong medicine as a child.
She also used a reflection in the water to look at herself. She found that her current appearance was very similar to her past life, just a bit rounder. Once she lost weight, she would probably look exactly like her former self.
Thinking this way gave her even more motivation to lose weight; she was more accustomed to her own face.
Seeing that she had saved up some medicinal materials, she made an excuse to go out and carried the herbs to the town.
She quickly found the pharmacy from her predecessor's memory. However, she was cautious and decided to ask about prices first.
"Shopkeeper, how much is the Sanqi?" she asked, looking at the Sanqi on the counter. Its quality was mediocre.
The shopkeeper quickly sized her up. Seeing her shabby clothes, he said indifferently, "Do you only want Sanqi? Do you have a prescription?"
Bai Banxia understood. This shopkeeper was either dishonest—quoting prices based on a full prescription—or he looked down on her because she looked poor and didn't want to bother explaining.
She did look quite pathetic. Because she was so fat and cloth was expensive, she hadn't had new clothes for years. Her outfit was modified from her father's old clothes, heavily patched and faded to a pale white.
"The doctor suggested a dietary therapy—Sanqi stewed with chicken," Bai Banxia replied.
The shopkeeper thought for a moment. "Twenty wen per liang."
"Then, do you buy herbs here?" She pulled out the processed Baizhi to show him.
"So you came here to make money off me." The shopkeeper rolled his eyes. "These herbs aren't worth much. A Fat Girl like you wouldn't know how to process them; you've made a mess of it. Forget it, I'm soft-hearted. I'll give you twenty wen for the lot."
"You truly are a great benefactor, but I can't take advantage of your kindness. I think I'll keep them for my own use." After saying that, Bai Banxia turned and left.
What a joke. Mediocre Sanqi was twenty wen per liang, yet he offered only twenty wen for her entire basket of herbs? Did he think they were cabbages? Or did he think she looked easy to cheat?
Behind her, the shopkeeper spat. "I don't know where this shabby pauper came from. No worldly experience, yet she’s got a layer of fat despite being so poor."
Bai Banxia turned back and glared at him fiercely. Fine, she would remember him. It was one thing to be dishonest in business, but to be a snob and launch personal attacks was another.
But why was earning money so hard? At normal prices, these herbs would be worth at most a hundred wen. A thousand wen made one tael of silver, and an acre of land cost anywhere from seven or eight taels to over a dozen. It was going to be hard to save up to become a small landowner.
Forget it, one step at a time. With the Divine Doctor System in hand, why would she worry about food and clothing in the future?
Thinking this, she suddenly smelled a heavy scent of blood. A tall, thin man approached from the opposite direction. He was walking fast, but his footsteps were somewhat unsteady.
This person was severely injured!