The Madam had actually given Li Xiaoxiao a reward? When Mama Mao found out, she smiled. “Looks like you’re quite lucky. The Madam hasn’t been in such a good mood to hand out rewards in a long time. Take it.”
Li Xiaoxiao casually stuffed the money into her waistband.
A few days later, Li Xiaoxiao felt that the dull tightness in her chest still had not gone away, so she had no choice but to ask, “Mama Mao, if I want to see a doctor, where should I go?”
Mama Mao was taken aback. “See a doctor for what? Are you feeling unwell?”
Li Xiaoxiao explained, “Wasn’t I swept away by the flood before? My chest hit a huge rock. It still feels dull and painful, so I want to go to a medical clinic, have it checked out, and buy some medicine.”
“You hit a huge rock in the water? How long ago was that?”
Li Xiaoxiao thought for a moment. “More than a month ago.”
More than a month, and it still hadn’t healed?
Mama Mao had plenty of experience with these things. An injury that remained unhealed for this long was likely to leave lasting problems. She wiped her hands. “If you want to see a doctor, go to Huichun Hall on East Gate Street. The physician there is pretty good. When Master first came to Miyang County and was ill for a while, he had Doctor Xie from Huichun Hall come to the residence to examine him.”
She looked at Li Xiaoxiao’s complexion. The little girl’s skin was somewhat dark, and her lips were a little pale. She did look rather unhealthy. But then again, she had been at the residence for several days, and every day she could fill two large vats with water in less than half an hour, on top of chopping enough firewood to fill half the room. She certainly didn’t look like someone who was sick. It was probably nothing too serious, right?
After thinking for a moment, she added, “If you’re worried, you should still go see a doctor. Get a couple of prescriptions and boil the medicine to drink. If you want to go out, report it to Granny Qi. If she agrees, then you can go.”
Li Xiaoxiao agreed and went to find Granny Qi.
When Granny Qi heard that she had hit a large rock in the water and wanted to see a doctor, she did not make things difficult for her. She even gave her twenty large copper coins and instructed Liu Zhi to accompany her out.
“Just go to Huichun Hall and find Doctor Xie. Our Master has always gone to him when he was ill. I’m worried you won’t know the way, so have Liu Zhi accompany you.”
Liu Zhi was at the age when little girls loved going out. When she heard that she could leave the residence, her eyes immediately lit up.
“Grandma, I know the way. I’ll take Sister Xiaoxiao there.”
When Yingchun heard that Liu Zhi was going out, she gave her some money. “Help me buy a few rolls of colored thread from the needlework shop. I want white, red, and green.”
Before long, Concubine Luo’s maid Xiumei and Eldest Miss Meng Liniang’s maid Baoqin also came over. One wanted to buy a few handkerchiefs, while the other wanted to buy some soap for washing her hair.
Before they had even left, Liu Zhi already had a pouch full of money tucked into her arms.
Li Xiaoxiao: …
Liu Zhi happily memorized everything the various older sisters wanted her to buy, then turned to Li Xiaoxiao. “Let’s go.”
It was as if they were mainly going out to shop rather than to see a doctor.
Li Xiaoxiao followed Liu Zhi out of the magistrate’s rear residence. After turning into a secluded alley, the sounds of bustling activity suddenly reached them, with one cry from a street vendor after another.
Liu Zhi was very excited. Like a little sparrow, she chattered nonstop.
“Sister Xiaoxiao, if we go along this street, it’ll take about fifteen minutes to reach East Street. That’s the busiest street in the whole county. They sell all kinds of things there. Huichun Hall is there too, and the thread, handkerchiefs, and soap the sisters asked me to buy are all on East Street as well. They’re not far from Huichun Hall!”
Li Xiaoxiao’s eyes were practically not enough to take everything in. She looked left and right, interested only in food. She wished she could buy and taste every unfamiliar thing she saw.
Seeing how hungry she looked, Liu Zhi couldn’t help swallowing as well. “Sister Xiaoxiao, do you want candied hawthorns too?”
Li Xiaoxiao was already drooling as she stared at the roasted meat at one of the stalls. “I want this roasted meat.”
Seeing the two little girls staring at the roast meat on his stall and drooling, the owner immediately called out, “Come, come, come! Fresh and juicy roasted meat, only eight wen per skewer. Little girls, would you like two skewers?”
Liu Zhi was already quite sensible and knew that eight wen for a skewer of meat was not cheap at all. The owner was probably trying to take advantage of the fact that they were both young. She was just about to refuse when Li Xiaoxiao beside her had already said, “Two skewers, please.”
The owner immediately handed the two freshly roasted skewers to Li Xiaoxiao. “That’ll be sixteen wen.”
Li Xiaoxiao took them and bit into one immediately. Her eyes widened. “Wow, this is so good!”
She had been in this world for more than a month, and this was the first time she had eaten meat! The meat in this world was actually so delicious and fragrant!
Liu Zhi almost jumped. “Sister Xiaoxiao, this meat is too expensive! Why did you buy two skewers?”
Li Xiaoxiao glanced at her, then reluctantly held the other skewer out toward her. “Do you want a bite?”
The skewer weighed two or three liang and had been roasted until it sizzled with oil, with sauce brushed over the top. It smelled unbelievably good.
She was used to eating alone, and ordinarily, she would never have been willing to share such delicious meat with anyone else. But who could blame her? She had been eating her fill at the magistrate’s residence these past few days. Since she was no longer hungry, she couldn’t be too stingy with the little girl who had accompanied her out to see a doctor.
Although Liu Zhi vaguely felt that Sister Xiaoxiao had been cheated, she was still very young herself. Besides, ever since she had followed her grandmother to Miyang County, she had been eating meat less often than when she was in the residence in the capital.
When the skewer was brought to her mouth, she couldn’t resist opening her mouth and taking a piece. She instantly forgot that the meat had been overpriced. “Mmm, it’s good.”
The two of them stood by the roadside, taking turns eating, and finished both skewers.
Liu Zhi’s little mouth was greasy with oil, but once they finished, she suddenly remembered what had happened. She firmly refused to let Li Xiaoxiao take out any more money to buy a third skewer and instead forcefully pulled her forward.
“If my grandma finds out you spent so much money on meat skewers, she’ll definitely scold me.”
Li Xiaoxiao could only reluctantly give up on the meat stall, but her eyes were immediately captivated by other food. The baked cakes at this stall looked good, the glutinous rice cakes at that one looked delicious too, the osmanthus cakes here smelled so good, and the mung bean cakes there looked good as well…
By the time Liu Zhi finally brought her to Huichun Hall, an hour had already passed. The two of them had eaten until their stomachs were round, and only then did Liu Zhi suddenly realize how much money Sister Xiaoxiao had just spent.
She had come out to see a doctor. How had she managed to spend so much money before even seeing one?
Liu Zhi asked timidly, “Sister Xiaoxiao, how much money did you spend just now?”
Li Xiaoxiao still had a piece of candied hawthorn stuffed in her mouth. “Mmm, was it seventy-five or seventy-eight wen?”
Liu Zhi burst into tears. “Waaah, you spent that much?”
She cried so hard she could barely contain herself.
Her grandmother had told her to bring Sister Xiaoxiao to see a doctor, but before she had even brought her to Huichun Hall, she had somehow let Sister Xiaoxiao spend so much money!
Li Xiaoxiao was so startled that she almost dropped the candied hawthorn in her hand.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
Liu Zhi sobbed as she wiped away her tears. “Wuu wuu wuu, if Grandma finds out you spent so much money, she’ll beat me to death.”
“I didn’t spend your money. Why would your grandmother beat you?” Li Xiaoxiao asked in confusion.
“Grandma told me to bring you to see a doctor, but we haven’t even started seeing the doctor and we’ve already spent this much money.”
Li Xiaoxiao was even more puzzled. “But you didn’t spend it. Why would she hit you?”
Liu Zhi said fearfully, “My grandma will think I didn’t take good care of you and let you waste all that money.”
Li Xiaoxiao suddenly understood. “Isn’t that easy? Just don’t tell her.”
Liu Zhi froze. Don’t tell Grandma? If she didn’t tell her, then… she really wouldn’t have to get scolded.
She asked quietly, “What if she asks?”
Li Xiaoxiao said unconcernedly, “If she doesn’t ask, then don’t say anything. If she really does ask, just put the blame on me. I’m not your grandmother’s granddaughter, so I’m not afraid.”
Liu Zhi immediately relaxed her tightly wound nerves. But thinking about how she had also eaten along the way with Sister Xiaoxiao, she decided that if Grandma didn’t ask, she wouldn’t say anything. She would never take the initiative to sell out Sister Xiaoxiao.
But they had been out for quite a while. After entering Huichun Hall, there were still two patients waiting ahead of them. Liu Zhi tugged at Li Xiaoxiao’s sleeve and pointed toward the busy shop diagonally across the street.
“Sister Xiaoxiao, wait here. I’ll go to the needlework shop across the street first to buy the things for the sisters. I’ll come back as soon as I’m done.”
Li Xiaoxiao looked at the distance to the needlework shop. It wasn’t very far. “All right, go ahead. If you run into any bad people, call me. I’ll come save you.”
Liu Zhi said brightly, “That won’t happen. Our Miyang County is very safe.” With that, she skipped away.
Li Xiaoxiao stayed in line at Huichun Hall.
She waited for less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense before it was her turn. The doctor examining her was an old man with grizzled white hair, his eyelids almost drooping shut, and his hands were dry and withered like dead vines.
Remembering what Mama Mao had said, Li Xiaoxiao asked him, “Are you Doctor Xie?”
The old man lifted his heavy eyelids slightly. “I am. Where does it hurt?”
Li Xiaoxiao gave the same explanation.
“I hit a large rock in the flood. It was more than a month ago, but my chest still feels dull and painful, so I came to see whether it’s serious.”
Doctor Xie placed his fingers on Li Xiaoxiao’s wrist and carefully took her pulse.
He examined her left hand for a while before switching to her right. The longer he felt her pulse, the more deeply his brows furrowed. After a long while, he opened his eyes.
“This injury of yours… is very serious. Your pulse is weak and floating, its rhythm irregular in strength and timing, and your qi and blood are stagnant and obstructed. This is a severe condition.”
Yet Li Xiaoxiao was sitting perfectly well right in front of him, with crumbs of pastry still stuck to the corners of her mouth. It was obvious she had just eaten something, and she looked full of energy too. Strange indeed!
The old physician carefully examined Li Xiaoxiao’s complexion, his brows furrowing even more deeply.
“Strange. Your pulse indicates a severe condition. With symptoms this serious, you should be bedridden and unable to get up. Yet why are you still able to appear no different from an ordinary person?”
Li Xiaoxiao’s hand unconsciously tightened slightly. So her injuries were actually this serious? No wonder she had been left with only a little surface-level strength.
“Can it be treated?”
Doctor Xie’s brows knitted tightly. He had taken this kind of pulse many times and knew how to prescribe medicine for it, but the patient’s mental and physical state was completely at odds with what her pulse indicated. He actually did not dare prescribe anything rashly.
“Wait a moment. I’ve been a physician at this Huichun Hall for more than thirty years, and I’ve never felt a pulse like this before. Let me fetch the shopkeeper and have him examine you as well, to see whether I’ve made a mistake.”
He got up and went to the rear courtyard of the pharmacy. A moment later, he returned with a middle-aged man who was covered in the smell of medicinal herbs.
“This is our Huichun Hall’s shopkeeper, Shopkeeper Tong. Shopkeeper Tong has practiced medicine for nearly twenty years and has considerable expertise when it comes to the use of medicinal herbs.”
Shopkeeper Tong had already heard Doctor Xie describe the strange fact that Li Xiaoxiao’s pulse condition was completely inconsistent with her symptoms. He cupped his hands toward Li Xiaoxiao.
“Doctor Xie has been practicing medicine at our Huichun Hall for nearly thirty years. His medical skills are superb, and he has never misdiagnosed a pulse. Let me examine your condition as well and see whether my findings differ.”
With that, he gestured for Li Xiaoxiao to hold out her hand.
Li Xiaoxiao extended her hand, and Shopkeeper Tong placed his fingers on her wrist. He closed his eyes and carefully listened to her pulse. The longer he listened, the more tightly his brows furrowed.
Then he gestured for Li Xiaoxiao to switch hands. After listening for quite some time, he said in bewilderment, “This… how could this be?”
Li Xiaoxiao’s heart sank halfway to her stomach. “Am I going to die?”
Shopkeeper Tong waved his hands repeatedly. “No, no, no, it’s just…” He gave Doctor Xie a troubled look, not daring to draw a conclusion lightly.
Doctor Xie placed his fingers on Li Xiaoxiao’s wrist again and listened for a while. His brows drew together more and more tightly.
“How strange, how strange. Judging by this pulse, you shouldn’t even be able to stand, yet why are you still so full of energy?”
Shopkeeper Tong nodded as well. The conclusion he had reached from her pulse was the same as Doctor Xie’s.
Li Xiaoxiao already had a rough idea of what was wrong with her body, and she also knew that this injury could not heal on its own.
“It’s fine, Doctor. Just treat me as a serious case and prescribe me a few doses of medicine. I’ll go home and decoct them.”
How could Doctor Xie and Shopkeeper Tong dare prescribe medicine recklessly? To be honest, if Li Xiaoxiao had been carried in here right now, with a pulse like this, they could immediately have prepared the medicine and poured it down her throat. But she was currently bright-eyed, energetic, and full of vitality.
Medicine for treating a severe condition could save her life if it matched her condition, but if it did not, it could very well take her life. How could they possibly dare prescribe it?
Shopkeeper Tong could only say, “There are no limits to the study of medicine. In all my decades of practicing medicine, I have never encountered a condition like yours. I dare not prescribe medicine rashly. I’m afraid you’ll have to seek another physician’s expertise~”
Li Xiaoxiao was stunned. “Huh? There’s really no treatment? Shopkeeper, I think I can still be saved…”
…
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