Manbao and Bai Shan went to Jishi Hall with gifts, and it so happened that Doctor Ji was sitting in the hall, with no patients yet.
Seeing Manbao, he gestured and said, "I didn’t come yesterday either; is your Silang alright now?"
"He’s alright now; his head doesn’t feel as dizzy as before. It’s just that his lower back was kicked several times and is bruised. He feels pain, so he’s lying in bed, not moving," Manbao invited Doctor Ji, "Doctor Ji, my Silang’s arm is fractured, and I’m thinking of setting it tomorrow. Could you help me with it?"
"Is it convenient for you to come to my house, or shall I have someone carry him over here?"
Doctor Ji was delighted and said, "I’d better go there; it’s not far."
Looking up, he saw Gao Clan timidly walking in, so he pointed to the inner room with a smile, "You go inside."
He didn’t mind Manbao seeing patients privately at Jishi Hall because he knew this patient couldn’t offer her any benefit, and it was purely out of her kindness.
Moreover, he was very curious about Gao Clan’s illness and wanted to see to what extent Manbao could treat her.
Mamillary reabsorption has always been a difficult disease to treat, first because many people are unwilling to seek medical help; second, their resources are limited and so is the related medical knowledge they can acquire.
Manbao smiled sweetly at Gao Clan, took her to the inner room for acupuncture, then wrote a prescription. She went to the counter, got five doses of medicine, and handed them over to Gao Clan along with the gifts they brought, smiling, "My Silang is much better today, clear-headed too. He said we owe a lot to Second Brother Chen this time, so he asked us to bring some rice and flour to check on Second Brother Chen and his family. I thought what you need most now is medicine, so I bought you five doses. Take them first, and we’ll see later if we need to change the prescription."
As soon as Gao Clan heard this, she immediately waved her hands, "I can’t accept this, I can’t accept this. They just lent a helping hand. Yesterday, the young doctor already gave us pastries, and you have been giving me free acupuncture. How could I ask for anything from you?"
"Take it," Manbao pushed it to her, and Gao Clan kept waving her hands away. Manbao thought for a moment and then said, "Forget it, you’re weak, and you can’t carry so much anyway. Let’s go with you instead."
Manbao and Bai Shan exchanged glances and moved the items back to the cart, then invited Gao Clan to get on.
Gao Clan wouldn’t consent, but Manbao smiled and said, "The other day, it wasn’t only Second Brother Chen who saved my Silang. There are others we also ought to thank. Originally, we were thinking of letting my Silang go again after he’d recovered, but it takes a hundred days to recover from muscle and bone injuries, and he doesn’t know when he’ll be healed, so I thought I’d go first on his behalf. Please, Sister-in-Law Chen, help us by leading the way."
After hesitating for a while, Gao Clan got on the carriage.
The carriage left for the outskirts of the city and then ventured onto more and more remote roads. Manbao didn’t expect them to live so far out and was startled before asking, "Do you have to walk this far into the city every day?"
Gao Clan responded, "The house that County Magistrate Tang had built for us will soon be livable after a bit more airing out. We used to live in a thatched hut. The elderly said it was too damp and not good for treating diseases, so we moved in as soon as our house was allotted."
The "wasteland" discovered by County Magistrate Tang was divided into several plots, some of which were very far away, requiring half a day’s walk to reach. To facilitate the cultivation of the land, he built houses near the "wasteland."
Gao Clan’s family was lucky to draw land not far from Yizhou City, so the newly built village was also not too distant from Yizhou City.
Gao Clan didn’t think it was too far, but it still took a long time to walk there, and it was very secluded, without even a decent path, all bumpy and rutted.
With his superb driving skills, Daji negotiated this stretch of road, but Manbao and her companions were still jarred significantly. Bai Shan lifted the curtain to look outside and said, "We might as well get off and walk."
Manbao nodded in strong agreement.
The village had just been built, and County Magistrate Tang intentionally dispersed these related vagrants, ensuring that no more than five or six familiar families lived in a single village and never allowing more than ten families, so the village was very quiet.
Some had already started working their allotted land, spreading straw or wheat straw on the fields where winter wheat was planted, in preparation for the looming cold weather.
Others were hoeing the wild grass on the vacant land and loosening the soil a bit.
They knew that even if they loosened the soil and hoed the grass now, by next year, with the spring breeze, it would grow back just as vigorously and be just as tough.
But they couldn’t help themselves.
After wandering for three years, they had regained land, though not much. The sensation of regaining what they had lost made them cherish it deeply.
So, looking at their land, they couldn’t resist touching it, stepping on it, hoeing it.
Chen Erlang had two brothers and their houses were built together, with neighbors to the left and right.
According to Gao Clan, their family originally had five brothers and two younger sisters, but three years ago, during the flood, their elderly and one brother didn’t make it out, while the rest were lost on the road while fleeing.
Though the village was sparsely populated, the arrival of a carriage still attracted quite a bit of attention, with everyone curiously watching.
After getting out of the carriage, Manbao noticed their gazes and smiled slightly, quite accustomed to it; when she was a child, she too would run to see a carriage entering the village.
Gao Clan, fearing they were not used to it, explained, "The village has just been built, and no carriage has ever come here before. Though County Magistrate Tang has visited a few times, he always came on horseback."
Gao Clan invited them inside, then went next door to call her sisters-in-law over; Chen Family’s three brothers all took part in saving Zhou Silang that day.
Their houses were all alike, unlike the houses in Qili Village that had enclosed front yards. Directly upon entering, there was a hall, with rooms on the left and right, all built with mud bricks topped with thatch, but the foundation was made with stones and looked quite sturdy.
However, sitting inside, it was a bit dim, with light only coming in through the doorway.
Manbao only stood inside the house for a moment before picking up a stool and placing it outside the door; she preferred to sit in a bright space, like their house, which had a nice large courtyard.
Bai Shan followed her out.
Gao Clan’s two sisters-in-law quickly came over; knowing that Manbao was an honored guest, they promptly bowed and explained, "The men of the house have gone to gather firewood. Please wait a moment, Doctor Zhou; the children have gone to call them."
Manbao smiled and nodded, and decided to just sit on the stool and chat with them.
Gao Clan brought out a child from a neighboring room.
Manbao glanced over and asked, "Is this your son?"
Gao Clan confirmed, "Yes, he came at a bad time. The family was struggling, and I had no milk at first, nearly starving him."
His condition wasn’t much better now; he was more than a month old but still a tiny, skinny bundle.
Manbao reached out to feel his pulse, but she couldn’t detect anything; she wasn’t good at diagnosing such a small child.
Right, she recalled she had never learned pediatrics.
Most illnesses she saw were mamillary reabsorption and common everyday ailments, and her strength in acupuncture was also due to the extra practice she had with a life-like model, allowing her to figure it out.
Gao Clan watched Manbao expectantly, filled with hope.
Manbao withdrew her hand, remembering her mother’s often said words, "Still, it’s best to eat well, sleep well. As long as the child eats well and sleeps well, then he will grow strong."
Gao Clan was a bit disappointed and said, "But I don’t have much milk..."
Manbao suggested, "Buy a sheep. I have a nephew who also grew up drinking sheep’s milk since he was little. Now, he’s gotten much healthier."
Manbao turned her head to Bai Shan, seeking his affirmation, "Sanshou is pretty good now, right?"
Bai Shan nodded, "The last time I saw him during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he had gained quite a bit of weight."
Manbao then looked encouragingly at Gao Clan, "Buy a sheep that gives milk."