Ye Manshu counted the silver coins in her hand again and again, feeling they looked fewer each time.
It had been over a month, yet her savings hadn’t increased at all.
After calculating Cheng Qian’s earnings from teaching, they still had less than three taels of silver left. In fact, not only had the money failed to grow—it had actually shrunk.
Expenses were too high. She had already sent money to Cheng Yi three times, spent some on Cheng Xue, wanted the family to eat better, and even bought floral cloth for her two granddaughters…
Money was hard to earn. Eating shit was hard too… well, she had never actually eaten shit, but earning money was definitely difficult.
Yet if one wanted to make big money without powerful backing, not only would success be impossible, one might even lose one’s life in the process.
This wasn’t the law-governed modern society of her previous life.
The stress was killing her. Ye Manshu felt utterly emo.
She had once thought that as an independent woman from modern society, even if she transmigrated into ancient times, she could still thrive using modern knowledge and medical skills.
Who would’ve thought that the moment she tried to stir up a little wind, someone else would cut her off halfway?
As for making money through medicine—not to mention her—even Physician Li and his son could only barely make enough to support their household.
Making extra money was impossible.
Not only was she worried about money, but every time she looked at her reflection in the washbasin, she felt miserable.
Back then, she had been a youthful beauty in full bloom at twenty-eight.
Who knew that after one transmigration, she would now be thirty-eight, long past her prime, wrinkles everywhere, with plenty of gray hair already appearing.
Ancient people had short lifespans to begin with. Plenty were buried before fifty.
Even if she managed to live to fifty, that meant she only had twelve years left. And very few people here lived past sixty anyway.
She couldn’t afford to give up, yet after struggling for over a month, all she had achieved was barely enough to eat—and even that at a loss.
Dear heavens, thanks so much for this!
What exactly was the point of sending her here?
Sure enough, life had to be full of holes so it could “breathe.”
But she really had spent her money wisely—for better food, for her innocent daughters…
The biggest expense was food.
But wasn’t eating well meant to keep the body healthy and prevent illness? Getting sick cost money too. Better to spend the money on food instead.
Yet she pessimistically realized that everywhere in life was a “blade’s edge.”
And now, another blade had arrived.
Cheng Yuan came running back in panic.
“Mother! Bad news! Wang Lin fell down a hillside and suffered serious injuries. Physician Li said he can’t treat him. They took him to the county, but the clinic said treatment would require at least ten taels of silver up front. Ten taels! Where would we get that kind of money? So they brought him back.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
Ye Manshu no longer had time for self-pity. Even if life had ground her down, she would still fight fate for even half a chance at victory.
She quickly gathered the few common pills and medicinal powders she had made herself.
Especially the wound medicine, and the two jin of liquor she had finally persuaded Li Daoshun to give her. She had distilled it, though she wasn’t sure it had reached seventy-five percent alcohol concentration.
Treating a dead horse as if it were alive.
That household depended entirely on Wang Lin.
They soon arrived at Wang Lin’s home. Cheng Yi was crying uncontrollably, her face pale. Her body had already been weak, and now she looked ready to collapse at any moment. The family’s pillar had fallen—how could they survive now?
Two-year-old Xiaoxiao didn’t understand what was happening and only cried along. The whole house was chaotic.
Physician Li sighed heavily. “Xiao Yi… my condolences.”
When Cheng Yi saw Ye Manshu enter, she called out, “Mother…”
At that moment, she no longer cared about resenting her mother. Instead, when Ye Manshu took hold of her hand, she instinctively leaned into her embrace and sobbed endlessly.
Ye Manshu gently patted her back. “Let Mother look at your husband.”
She walked over to Wang Lin and after only one glance sucked in a cold breath.
Good lord—what had sliced such a huge gash in his abdomen?
Judging by the wound, it had probably been ripped open by a sharp rock.
His intestines had been stuffed back into his stomach and tightly bound to prevent them from spilling out again. He had lost a terrifying amount of blood.
“Hiss…”
Ye Manshu inhaled sharply.
She immediately stuffed a pill into Wang Lin’s mouth and forced some water down with it.
She also had Physician Li perform acupuncture, mainly for pain relief and to stop the bleeding.
“Cousin Uncle, stay here. Everyone else, leave. Cheng Yuan, come help me clean the room thoroughly—especially the bed. Put clean sheets on it, quickly. Strip off Wang Lin’s clothes.”
Cheng Yi trembled violently. “Mother… what are you going to do?”
“Xiao Yi, trust me. I’ll do my best to treat him. If he still doesn’t make it, then that’s his fate. But don’t worry—even if he dies, Mother will make sure you survive.”
For some reason, Cheng Yi suddenly felt that the mother before her was completely different from before.
“Mother… can he really be cured?”
“Don’t ask. I can’t guarantee success, but it’s better than waiting helplessly like this. Take the children outside first.”
Swaying unsteadily, Cheng Yi led the children out.
Wang Jia, Wang Lin’s twelve-year-old younger sister, volunteered to stay and help clean the room and prepare the bed.
Wang Nian, Wang Lin’s ten-year-old younger brother, first helped Cheng Yi outside, then returned to help clean up as well.
Once the room and bedding were cleaned, Cheng Yuan removed Wang Lin’s upper clothing, exposing the injured areas.
Physician Li asked no questions. After all, he had already done all he could.
Managing to stop the bleeding and bandage the wounds had already been his limit.
Ye Manshu had Physician Li wash his hands thoroughly, then cleaned her own hands as well.
“Cousin Uncle, do you know how to stitch wounds?”
Physician Li hesitated. “I… I’ve never stitched one before.”
Wang Jia immediately said, “Auntie, I know how to sew clothes. I’m very good at it.”
“Good. Then stay. Wash your hands completely. Not a speck of dirt is allowed, and clean under your fingernails too.”
Wang Jia stayed behind. Ye Manshu instructed her to prepare clean needles and thread, then disinfected them with alcohol.
Ye Manshu herself wasn’t skilled in surgery, but she understood the principles. She was familiar with organ positions and knew the important blood vessels and nerves. After all, she had studied traditional Chinese surgical medicine before, had taken anatomy classes, and dissecting animals during lab sessions had been common. She simply lacked practical surgical experience.
She needed assistants, and Physician Li and Wang Jia were the best she could hope for.
Because Wang Lin’s injuries weren’t limited to his abdomen.
Ye Manshu stopped worrying about everything else. She instructed Wang Jia to disinfect and stitch the deeper wounds on Wang Lin’s limbs. Otherwise, even slowed bleeding would eventually kill him.
Meanwhile, she focused entirely on the abdominal wound.
She disinfected the area carefully.
She checked whether the intestines had been repositioned correctly, whether there were any perforations, and whether foreign objects had entered the body.
Fortunately, the intestines hadn’t ruptured. There was some debris inside, which she cleaned out before disinfecting the area again. The alcohol visibly diminished.
After cleaning everything thoroughly, she repositioned the intestines properly and had Physician Li press firmly on them to prevent them from slipping back out.
Then she began stitching the wound closed.
Back when she had stitched dissected animals, she had done suturing before.
It was just that she hadn’t practiced in many years, so her hands felt rusty.
Layer by layer, she stitched the wound shut, disinfected it again, and finally used up the last of the alcohol.
Then she sprinkled on the hemostatic powder she had painstakingly made herself. It hurt to use it—after more than a month, she had only managed to make this tiny amount.
Throughout the entire process, Wang Lin never woke up.
Which showed just how serious his unconscious state was.
But the fact that he hadn’t died during the operation meant there was still hope.
In fact, waking up might not have been a good thing. The pain alone could kill him. Although acupuncture had some pain-relieving effect, its effectiveness varied from person to person. There was no guarantee it would work well for everyone.
If it failed, undergoing surgery like this would truly be agonizing.
Wang Jia was drenched in sweat, her fingers trembling. Under Ye Manshu’s urging, she had gritted her teeth and stitched the wounds as if sewing clothing.
But after finishing, she collapsed onto the floor in fright.
“It’s done. Go wash your hands.”
Ye Manshu herself felt utterly exhausted.
Who would’ve thought that after arriving in ancient times, the first thing she’d do would be a major surgery?