179 Lots of Patients here for Free Healthcare
Lu Jiao’s head hurt. It wasn’t that she wasn’t willing to treat the villagers, it was that everyone started to come to her no matter how mild the illness was.
She had her own life and she was busy.
Other than taking care of Xie Yunjin and the four little ones, she had to teach Xie Erzhu how to keep leeches. In addition, she had to read and learn how to write. The only lucky thing was that Baohe Tang hasn’t needed her for consultation lately.
Lu Jiao asked the two women, “You are…?”
The two women walked over, “Scholar’s wife, we are here from the Daliu Village. We heard you are a great doctor. Please examine my daughter-in-law. There are a lot of bumps on her neck and upper body. We went into town a few times but she never got better.”
The younger woman nervously stared at Lu Jiao.
What more could Lu Jiao say at this point?
“Come in then.”
She then remembered Lady Ruan and smiled at her, “Mom, help me clean up the kitchen. Feed the dogs then clean their den.”
Lady Ruan’s face dropped right away and she stared at Lu Jiao with anger.
This b!tch might as well go climb into the sky. How dare she order her mother-in-law around?
Before Lady Ruan could unleash her anger, Lu Jiao said to the two women, “This is my mother-in-law. She came here today to help me around the house since I’m so busy. She’s a great person.”
That one statement stifled Lady Ruan and she had to swallow back the curse she was about to spit out. Her anger rose to her throat and it felt stuck.
Lady Ruan continued, “Mom, take a break after you’re done all that. Don’t exhaust yourself. Once you are rested, you can water the vegetable garden for me then tie up the chopped firewood.”
Lu Jiao then led the two women into the room. Behind her, Lady Ruan’s eyes grew black but she didn’t dare to curse out loud.
Lu Jiao brought the two women to the west bedroom.
“Show me what’s wrong.”
Lu Jiao gestured for the young woman to untie what was around her neck. The woman anxiously untied it and revealed her skin. Lu Jiao knew what it was right away. It was a skin disease, named nummular eczema. It was considered a fungal infection.
After Lu Jiao examined her neck, she said, “This is a skin condition that is easily treatable. The tricky part is that this disease always manages to come back.”
The older woman nodded, “Yes, we got some medicine in town and she got better after using it externally for a while. However, the redness and itch returned quickly. My two granddaughters got infected as well.”
The younger woman appeared anxious as the old woman told the story.
Lu Jiao scanned the old woman, “It’s not a serious illness, it’s just highly infectious. The infection targets those who are weaker. Those healthy would not catch the infection.
I will write you a prescription. Use it to wipe yourself down every day for at least a month. You need long-term medicine for this illness and you cannot stop.”
The older woman asked, “She’ll be cured once she uses this for a month?”
Lu Jiao nodded, “She’ll be fine. Give her good food. For her to get this disease means her health was compromised.”
Lu Jiao glanced at them and said, “Wait up. I will go write you a prescription.”
The two of them thanked her profusely, “Thank you, scholar’s wife. Thank you. You’re such a good person.”
Lu Jiao’s lips twitched. If she knew treating people for free would end up troubling her this much, she would’ve charged for her services.
If she charged for consultation, there would be a lot fewer patients looking for her.
She didn’t want to charge anything before because doctors here normally charged twenty to thirty tokens per consultation. She felt like that amount was spare change and that amount of money didn’t matter to her. Who knew her free service would result in so much work for her?
Lu Jiao went to the east bedroom, a little frustrated. There, Xie Yunjin was studying.
Since he’s been getting better and better, he started studying in addition to teaching children how to read. He planned to take next year’s exam and needed to retain all the knowledge he learned.
When he saw Lu Jiao enter, he looked up and found her in a bad mood.
Xie Yunjin thought Lady Ruan had annoyed Lu Jiao. He put down his book and asked caringly, “What’s wrong?”
Lu Jiao shook her head and went to write the prescription.
Lately, they’ve been sharing the same desk and Lu Jiao was used to it. She naturally sat by Xie Yunjin and took a brush for herself.
Xie Yunjin watched her write and seemed to have realized something.
Lu Jiao was in a bad mood because people continued to come to her for treatment.
Though Xie Yunjin and Lu Jiao haven’t been together for too long, he knew this woman was scared of trouble at times. These days, lots of people come to her for consultation and she must be out of patience now.
Xie Yunjin suggested, “If it’s becoming too much, then start charging money. If you charge a high price, there would be a lot fewer people looking for you.”
Lu Jiao sighed, “If it’s a patient who’s truly sick or injured, I have no complaints. But do you know who came to me yesterday? One person ate something bad and was having diarrhea, one person scraped his knee, one person with a scratched face after getting into a fight, and one person who had a slight cough.”
Lu Jiao was speechless by the end. The people coming to her now had illnesses that didn’t need a doctor’s intervention. Since she was free of charge, everyone came to find her. Didn’t they know that she was busy?
Lu Jiao vented a bit then waved her hand, “It’s okay. I’ll wait a while and see.”
She remembered how she was going to separate from Xie Yunjin soon. Once she leaves this village, she will not so easily reveal her whereabouts.
Lu Jiao headed outside with her prescription. Behind her, Xie Yunjin thought it over. He should talk to the leaders and ask some children to guard the village. Out of all the people who were here to find Lu Jiao for treatment, they should allow those severely ill in. Those with non-serious illnesses should go to the doctor in town.
Lu Jiao went back to the west bedroom, “Here’s the prescription. Put the medicine in alcohol and soak it for a while. Then use it to wipe the parts of your body that are infected. After a month, the illness should go away.”
The two of them thanked Lu Jiao and Lu Jiao walked them out.
Right behind them were two elders. These two people came from her mother’s Apricot Flower Village. Since they were older, Lu Jiao technically should refer to them as her aunt and uncle.
When those two saw Lu Jiao, they acted as such.
“Jiaojiao, you sure made it now. You even learned to treat illnesses? Your uncle’s legs have been hurting. Hurry and examine him! Hurry and provide him with relief!”
“One of my legs hurt here. It feels numb and I can’t fully extend it. Hurry up and cure me. I’m in so much pain. Ahh, treat me fast.”