“Your foot is this serious, how can you not see a doctor!” Su Laotou was almost hopping with frustration.
“If we lose money, we can earn it again, but what if we lose our health? You were the one who said that yourself this morning.”
“I didn’t say that.”
No matter how Su Laotou tried to persuade her, Wu Pozi stubbornly insisted, “I said I’m not going, and that’s final.”
She was as unyielding as a rock in a latrine—hard and foul.
Su Laotou was at his wit’s end. He had tried reasoning and pleading, but the other party was utterly unreasonable.
In truth, solving this issue was simple: all it took was money. Wu Pozi’s stubborn refusal to see a doctor stemmed from her reluctance to spend money. The family was destitute, with no source of income. If it were him with the injured foot, he would likely be just as unwilling to go to the Yiguan.
Indeed, that was exactly what Wu Pozi was thinking. With eight mouths to feed, they were barely surviving on their meager food supplies—their lifeline. How could she bear to use the family’s survival rations to treat her leg?
“I’m not going to die from this. Alright, you two, stop making such a fuss. When Si Ya and Fifth Girl come back and see this, they’ll think something terrible has happened.” Wu Pozi frowned, clutching her foot.
“But…” Chen Shi looked worried. Su Laotou said,
“If you won’t go to the Yiguan, can we at least ask Liu Pozi to take a look?”
Wu Pozi fell silent, which was taken as agreement.
Liu Pozi was the barefoot doctor of the surrounding villages. Whenever someone in the village had a minor ailment, they would ask her for a couple of doses of medicine. However, she only handled small issues like colds and fevers. For anything more serious, she would advise going to the county Yiguan. The villagers were well aware of this, and over time, it became common knowledge: minor illnesses were treated by Liu Pozi, while serious ones required a trip to the Yiguan.
This was why Chen Shi and Su Laotou had been reluctant to seek out Liu Pozi initially. There was no point in asking someone who couldn’t help, only to owe them a favor in return.
Sure enough, when Liu Pozi arrived and carefully examined Wu Pozi, she said, “You’ve taken quite a fall. I suspect your bone is broken. You need to go to the Yiguan.”
Her words sent a jolt of fear through everyone, especially Wu Pozi, who panicked.
“How could it be broken? Elder Sister Liu, are you sure? I just feel a little pain. No, wait—it doesn’t even hurt much now. Could you check again?”
Liu Pozi wasn’t offended by this. Instead, with a grave expression, she examined the injury once more.
“No mistake.”
Wu Pozi’s hopes were dashed, her face pale.
“So, you’re saying you can’t treat it?”
“I can’t treat it here. You need to go to the Yiguan.” Liu Pozi nodded. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help, but she truly couldn’t. Her medical skills were learned from her father, who had been determined to pass them on to his nephew. As a result, she had only picked up the basics. While she could handle minor illnesses, a broken bone was beyond her ability. Moreover, it seemed Wu Pozi’s bone was dislocated and would need realignment.
She voiced her thoughts aloud, “This is no minor injury. You must get it treated. If it worsens, it’s not impossible that you might never walk again.”
Hearing that his wife was so severely injured and needed bone realignment, Su Laotou’s face darkened. Still, he politely said, “Alright, thank you for coming.”
“Qingshan’s mother, see her out.”
Seeing this, Chen Shi quickly said, “Auntie Liu, let me see you out.”
Saying “see you out” was actually a euphemism for paying the consultation fee. Of course, villagers typically gave two eggs for house calls without prescriptions, and Chen Shi was no exception. She had taken advantage of a quiet moment earlier to fetch two eggs from the house and held them in her hand.
“Thank you for making this trip, Auntie.”
In the main room, Chen Shi handed the eggs to Liu Pozi.
Liu Pozi took a sip of the water Chen Shi had poured for her and said, “We’re all neighbors here, no need for such formality. Keep the eggs.”
She wasn’t claiming to be a saint – she simply had a favorable impression of the Su family. While others in the village disliked them, thinking Wu Pozi was too shrewish to deal with, Liu Pozi felt differently. This was because when they were younger, Wu Pozi had once helped her berate her ungrateful husband, earning Liu Pozi’s lasting gratitude.
Moreover, she had only come to take a look without providing any real treatment – how could she accept payment?
“That wouldn’t be right,” Chen Shi insisted. Not one to take advantage of others, she didn’t take Liu Pozi’s refusal at face value, assuming it was merely polite courtesy.
“I said no means no, put them away quickly.” Liu Pozi placed the eggs on the table and stood up to leave.
Seeing she genuinely wouldn’t accept them, Chen Shi said, “If you won’t take the eggs, at least stay for a simple meal before going.”
Liu Pozi’s only son was a scholar now studying in the county town, leaving her alone in the village year-round. With frequent visitors seeking medical consultations, she often forgot to eat proper meals. Hearing Chen Shi’s invitation, her stomach indeed felt empty. Though she knew she shouldn’t stay, Chen Shi continued,
“There’s nothing fancy – just ordinary home cooking.”
“And it’s such trouble for you to cook for yourself back home.”
These words struck a chord with Liu Pozi.
Seeing the dishes already on the table – just simple fare like Cold Cucumber Salad, eggplant with string beans, and one unidentifiable dish – Liu Pozi finally agreed.
It was only when the rice was served that Liu Pozi felt uneasy seeing the full bowl of white rice.
The grains appeared to be new harvest rice, likely from this year’s crop. She knew ordinary families like theirs rarely ate plain white rice – maybe only a few times a year during New Year or after harvesting new rice. Normally they cooked rice mixed with wild vegetables, corn, sweet potatoes and beans. Since rice was always prepared according to headcount, if she ate this portion, what would the family have?
Liu Pozi quickly said, “An old woman like me can’t eat this much. Put some back.”
Without waiting for Chen Shi’s response, she started scooping rice back into the pot.
“Auntie Liu, what are you doing?”
Seeing Liu Pozi about to return nearly all the rice, Chen Shi hurriedly stopped her, though only about one-third remained in the bowl.
“This is plenty,” Liu Pozi declared, pouring tea water over the rice before starting to eat.
She first picked up some eggplant – older folks preferred softer foods.
To her surprise, the first bite made her pause. “This eggplant is delicious! How did you make it?”
Completely different from ordinary eggplant, it was tender and fragrant – so delicious she couldn’t stop eating after the first bite.
Then Liu Pozi picked up another piece of cucumber. Unexpectedly, the cold cucumber salad had become exceptionally flavorful after sitting for a while, making it so spicy that Liu Pozi quickly took a sip of water from her rice bowl. But after drinking the water, she couldn’t resist finishing the rest. There was no other reason—it was simply too appetizing with rice. She ended up eating several pieces in a row.
Only then did she turn her attention to the final dish. She couldn’t tell what it was at first glance, but when she tasted it, it was fragrant and spicy with an exceptionally tender texture. Paired with green peppers, it was delicious!
Even Liu Pozi, who had attended many lavish banquets, was completely won over by these simple dishes.
She finished her rice in just a few bites. Of course, such a small portion couldn’t possibly fill her up—it was more of a symbolic gesture.
However, because of these dishes, Liu Pozi regretted having returned so much rice earlier. Had she known they would be this delicious, she would have shamelessly eaten it all.
What a miscalculation…
Moreover, it surprised Liu Pozi that this dish was actually made from river mussels. Could river mussel dishes be this delicious? It seemed she could try making them herself when she got back.
After the meal, Liu Pozi left but returned shortly after, bringing some herbs for pain relief and reducing bruising, which she asked Chen Shi to apply for Wu Pozi.
“Your mother-in-law is stubborn. You should persuade her more—she really must see a doctor.”
Liu Pozi had heard that Wu Pozi refused to go to the Yiguan, so she brought these herbs. But the herbs were useless—the injury was to the bone.
Chen Shi repeatedly expressed her thanks upon hearing this.
Inside the room, Wu Pozi remained stubborn, refusing to go to the Yiguan and forbidding Chen Shi and Su Laotou from fetching a doctor.
By the time Su Li and Su Tao returned, the three were still at an impasse.
“Go and persuade your grandmother. Her foot is injured like this, and we’ve said she must go to the Yiguan,” Chen Shi said under the eaves when she saw her two daughters return, not noticing why the basket they had taken was missing.
After understanding the situation, Su Tao and Su Li quickly said, “Mother, don’t worry. We’ll go persuade Grandma.”
With that, they entered the room.
“No one can persuade me. I said I won’t go, and that’s final,” Wu Pozi insisted, her face contorted in pain.
In these times, there were no painkillers. Seeing Wu Pozi’s expression, Su Li knew she must be in unbearable pain.
After all, her grandmother Wu Pozi was an exceptionally strong-willed old woman. If she hadn’t been in excruciating pain, she would never have shown such an expression.
“Grandma, please go. Look, your foot is swollen like a steamed bun,” Su Tao said worriedly, sitting by Wu Pozi’s bedside.
“Si Ya is right,” Su Laotou chimed in from the side.
“No… going…” Wu Pozi squeezed the words out through gritted teeth.
Su Tao grew somewhat angry. “Grandma, why are you so disobedient? You always tell Fifth Sister and me to be obedient, yet you’re even more stubborn than we are!”
Seeing the tears welling up in her granddaughter’s worried eyes, Wu Pozi’s hardened heart softened a little. Still, she stubbornly changed the subject.
“Did… did you see your father and the others? How… how are they?”
“Father and the others aren’t dying for now, but you, Grandma, with your foot so badly injured, are about to be in agony to death,” Su Tao said sadly.
…
Wu Pozi was left speechless by this.
“You… you unlucky child, how can you curse your grandmother like that?” Wu Pozi said weakly. Though she was scolding Su Tao, there was no anger in her eyes—she knew her granddaughter was concerned about her.
Over there, Su Li had been listening for a while and finally understood that Wu Pozi was refusing to go to the Yiguan because of money. To avoid delaying Wu Pozi’s treatment, she quickly mentioned how she and her fourth sister Su Tao had earned money by selling wild jujubes that day.
“That’s right, Grandpa, Grandma, we earned quite a bit of money. Look.” Su Tao took out the money they had made that day as she spoke, and Su Li did the same.
Wu Pozi, Su Laotou, and Chen Shi were all stunned at the sight.
“This… this is really the money you earned?”