The Zhou Family stood agape, staring at Manbao.
It was Old Zhou who, with marginally more experience, pinched and confirmed that it hurt to even touch; only after realizing that she couldn’t exert any strength did he express his doubts, "Broken? How did you fall?"
Manbao tried recalling and found that she couldn’t remember, "Just thudded down and fell."
"Shouldn’t your butt be the one hurting then?"
"I fell face down, and my hand was pressed underneath." Manbao did remember this part.
Unable to be certain, Old Zhou then suggested, "Shall we take her to see a doctor in Dali Village?"
The sun had not set yet, and if they walked fast, they should be able to return by night. If her hand was really broken, there was no need to rush back; they could simply stay overnight at Ms.Fang’s place.
So Old Zhou turned to Zhou SiLang and said, "Didn’t you also take a fall? You take your sister to have a look, it would be best if it’s nothing serious."
Zhou SiLang had no objections and reached out to his mother for money.
Ms.Qian went inside to get the money for him, saying, "Take your wife along with you."
If they needed to stay overnight, of course, it would be better to bring the daughter-in-law too.
Zhou SiLang grew even happier, and after having Ms.Fang quickly get ready, he led Manbao outside.
Limping along, he didn’t walk fast, clearly set on staying overnight.
"You can walk by yourself, right? I don’t fancy carrying you."
Manbao glanced at his rear end and nodded understandingly. Now that her hand was hanging down, it wasn’t hurting at all.
She asked Keke silently in her mind, "Is my hand broken?"
The host’s physical health was still very important. Keke couldn’t scan others, but it could scan the host and report the energy consumption to the main system. After scanning, it replied, "No."
Upon hearing that, Manbao was overjoyed and began striding forward, swinging her hand and at one point even overtook Zhou Si.
Zhou SiLang watched in shock and couldn’t help but say to Ms.Fang, "She’s not tricking us, is she?"
That swing of her hand hardly looked like it came from a broken bone.
Ms.Fang gave him a sidelong glance and retorted, "You think everyone’s like you?"
Back home, Junior Ms.Qian felt somewhat anxious, while Old Zhou calmly poured a bowl of water and sat in the courtyard, slowly sipping it.
Ms.Qian didn’t return inside either and, sitting in the courtyard with him, asked, "Is Manbao’s hand really broken?"
"Most likely dislocated," Old Zhou chuckled. "I had Four take her to get it checked so the old doctor could set it right. Better than her trying to tough it out on her own."
He did have that bit of experience, and mentioning a broken hand was mostly to scare Manbao to prevent her from being careless and to impart some sense of care.
Yet to dislocate by falling out of bed...
Old Zhou frowned and said, "Manbao is quite naughty, how come she’s still so fragile?"
After all, who hasn’t fallen out of bed? It’s not like everyone dislocates on the way down.
Upon hearing his assurance, Ms.Qian relaxed, now confident in his judgment.
Dali Village wasn’t far from Qili Village. The trio only took a few items with them and walked quickly and easily, reaching their destination in a little over two quarters of an hour.
They didn’t go to the Fang residence first but instead headed straight to the old doctor’s place.
The old doctor’s clinic was open though he wasn’t seeing patients anymore, considering it was past dinner time, and everyone was getting ready to go to bed.
But if a patient showed up, he would still see them.
This wasn’t just his practice— even in the county city or the medical shops in the prefectural city, doctors wouldn’t turn patients away unless it was a hopeless case.
Thus, the old doctor came quickly from the backyard to the front hall.
Seeing the three people walk in, his first instinct was to look at Manbao, noting that she didn’t seem ill, before turning his gaze to the hobbling Zhou SiLang to ask, "Took a fall?"
Zhou SiLang was startled, then hastily affirmed, "Yes," but he pushed Manbao forward, "But it’s not me, it’s my youngest sister who needs to be seen, Doctor. Could you check if her hand is broken?"
The old doctor couldn’t help but lean in closer, "You also fell?"
Manbao extended her right hand and explained, "Fell off a bed, landing on my hand."
The old doctor sat up straight, held her hand, and jokingly asked, "You can break your hand by falling off a bed?"
After feeling around and asking a few questions, he laughed and said, "It’s not broken, it’s dislocated. I’ll fix it up for you in a moment."
As he spoke, he wiggled Manbao’s hand, and with a "click" set it right, then retrieved a bottle of medicinal wine from the medicine cabinet, "Here, take this back with you, apply it twice a day, and it’ll be fine in two days."
Manbao twisted her hand a bit, finding it less painful than before, but still slightly sore.
The old doctor wasn’t concerned; he wasn’t some extraordinary healer capable of making a dislocated arm completely fine with just a "click."
After applying the medicine to Manbao once, the old doctor handed the rest to Zhou SiLang, then stared at him.
Zhou SiLang asked softly, "Doctor, how much is my youngest sister’s treatment?"
If it was too expensive, he wouldn’t seek treatment for himself.
The old doctor was accustomed to this, "Your youngest sister is a regular. I’ll just charge for the medicine, thirty copper coins will do."
Zhou SiLang relaxed at once, then felt around his waist and said, "I took a tumble, my backside hurts, and so does my waist."
The old doctor led Zhou SiLang to the inner room for a check-up, and soon he came out to meet Manbao’s eager gaze. He leisurely said, "It’s nothing serious, nothing broken or twisted. It’s just a severe bruise. Rest for a couple of days and apply the medicinal wine diligently, and you’ll be fine."
"Should I get you another bottle of medicinal wine?" asked the old doctor.
Zhou SiLang hurried out from the inner room, already dressed, and said, "No need, no need. I’ll use what’s left from Manbao’s, and we’ve also got some soaked at home."
"Fine, then five copper coins will suffice."
Zhou SiLang was pleased but didn’t immediately take out the money. Instead, he pulled Ms.Fang forward, grinning as he said, "Doctor, could you also have a casual look at my wife?"
The old doctor now couldn’t hide his surprise, eyeing Ms.Fang for a while before asking, "Did you also fall? Where did you hurt?"
Ms.Fang’s face reddened.
"What are you implying, that we can only come to you if we’re hurt?" Zhou SiLang laughed, "I just wanted you to check if my wife might be pregnant."
After calculating the months, the old doctor realized that Ms.Fang had been married for two months already and extended his hand, "Sit down, let me have a look."
Ms.Fang quickly sat down for him to take her pulse.
With half-closed eyes, the old doctor gently pressed on Ms.Fang’s wrist, and after a long while, he switched hands and felt again for quite some time.
The old doctor drew back and announced, "It somewhat resembles a slippery pulse, but it’s still early days. Go back and rest, come back in a month for another check-up, but you should be careful now. Avoid heavy work, especially carrying water and sheaves of wheat."
Zhou SiLang said, "Would our family let our daughter-in-law carry water and wheat sheaves?"
The old doctor merely smiled slightly.
In the countryside, women are usually the ones carrying water, while the physically stronger men rarely do so because of matters of prestige.
Families like the Zhou Family that dictate men should fetch the water were quite rare.