Chapter 90 Ingratiating

To make everyone feel more comfortable, a separate table was set up in the main hall for Li's father, Fang Chengxian, and Xu Jingzhen, and the food consisted of home-style dishes.

Because one person was poisoned and needed an antidote, and the other was a Taoist practitioner, Sister-in-law Li didn't order any special dishes. She just bought an extra piece of tofu and added a tofu soup.

Li Erxiong personally prepared the medicine according to the prescription and even specially asked Fang Chengxian's servant, Duoshou, to watch over how to decoct the medicine.

While the medicine was still warm but not too hot to drink, Duoshou brought it over, and watched as Fang Chengxian took it without hesitation and drank it all down.

After taking the medicine and resting for a quarter of an hour, Li's father got up and took Fang Chengxian and Xu Jingzhen to the room in the front hall that was specially reserved for the patient. Li's second brother had already boiled hot water, and he personally prepared the bath according to the prescription.

Knowing that wealthy families are particular about such things, Li Erxiong unfolded the screen and sat outside with his father and Xu Jingzhen, while only Duoshou went in to accompany Fang Chengxian.

Li's father had already considered Fang Chengxian's weak constitution, so although this medicine was a method of fighting poison with poison, it was still relatively mild. At the beginning, he would observe the body's reaction before increasing the dosage.

So, after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, when the water had become warm, Fang Chengxian's muffled groans of pain were heard from outside the screen.

"Young Master Fang, do you feel pain radiating from your chest to your shoulders and back? Do you feel any tingling, itching, or numbness in your left chest?"

Duo Shou came out and said to Li's father, "Reporting to Doctor Li, I saw that the young master's cheeks were red, there were beads of sweat on his forehead, and he was clenching his teeth. He must be in pain."

"The young man nodded in agreement with what Dr. Li just asked, so Dr. Li must be right."

"If it hurts, just yell it out! Why are you clenching your teeth? What if you bite your tongue?"

As he spoke, Brother Li bypassed Duoshou and went straight in. He looked at Fang Chengxian, whose face was flushed and whose forehead was covered in sweat, and felt helpless. So he took a cloth from the shelf next to him and handed it to Fang Chengxian's mouth. "Young Master Fang, bite on this cloth. It's clean. Listen to my Third Madam. It was boiled in boiling water for half an hour and then dried in the hot sun."

Fang Chengxian knew that if he continued to endure the pain, he would likely only hurt himself, so he readily agreed and bit the cloth.

Fifteen minutes later, Li's father went in to check on Fang Chengxian and felt that Fang Chengxian could still tolerate the dosage, so he told him to come back in five days.

After finally seeing Xu Jingzhen and Fang Chengxian off, Li's father lost interest in going to the front hall for consultations. "Alright, don't cook today, just order some from the street."

This time, the money was paid from public accounts. After Li's mother returned, she went with Li's sister-in-law and Li's third sister-in-law to see the two small boxes that Fang Chengxian had sent that day. They were nothing special; the two small boxes were filled with small silver ingots.

Five hundred taels.

Although it wasn't as much as the gifts Li San Niang received from the Qian and Gao families in the previous two instances, it was still a considerable sum for the Li family.

"Third Sister must have caught the eye of the God of Wealth. Ever since Third Sister started treating patients, how much money has she brought into the family?"

"Sister-in-law, this time the credit doesn't go to me, it's Father's medical fee."

However, it's not actually that much, considering the medicine prescribed by Father is quite expensive. This is just the beginning; further treatment to strengthen the body's foundation will be needed, and then a few hundred taels won't be enough.

"Alright, take this to your second brother. It's the medical clinic's account. If it can't be made public, have your second brother open a separate account."

For dinner, we ate soup noodles ordered from the street vendors, along with roast goose. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Li San Niang played a game of tag with Lu Zhu'er and Xiao Huang for a while, which expended Lu Zhu'er's excess energy. Then, using the extra water that had been boiled that day, she gave her precious baby a good bath, making him smell wonderful.

Dewdrop, being small, had no worries and slept soundly next to Li San Niang.

Li San Niang had gotten up late today, and it wasn't her usual bedtime. She lay in bed unable to sleep, just closing her eyes and thinking about random things.

I realized I hadn't checked the system in a long time. I mentally opened the system and clicked on every part, but Task 5 was still marked as an incomplete gray button.

Li San Niang pondered the system's low profile, wondering why the great god of transmigration had asked her to bring the system with her.

Li San Niang thought of her agreement with Qi Zhi Die to discuss joining the association and how to treat the women of Shi Hua Lou in two days. Her thoughts then jumped to the matter of when to hold a meeting to give a lecture to the Medical Alliance. What to talk about? How to talk about it? What can be said? What should be saved for later?

As she was jumping around, Li San Niang suddenly remembered the system's claim that as long as she opened her own clinic, she could obtain a complete set of obstetrics and gynecology books. She could then gradually expand her services, work with midwives to further improve medical security for women, and take the opportunity to connect with the women's support association she had established, so they could complement each other.

Li San Niang fell asleep amidst these chaotic thoughts, but a lamp was still lit in Li's parents' room.

Mr. Li, who had already lain down, suddenly sat up abruptly. “Hey, this is very wrong, very wrong.”

"What's wrong now?"

Li's mother, who had just finished counting and hiding the silver ingots that her second brother Li had sent, looked at Li's father, who was sitting up again in the middle of the night, with a puzzled expression.

Mr. Li sat cross-legged, facing Mrs. Li, and said, "Today, Mr. Fang and Mr. Xu came to our house for a medical consultation. I had a very pleasant conversation with them, especially Mr. Xu. Apart from the day last month when the Gao family came to our house to praise Mrs. Xu, today is the happiest day I've had in recent months."

Li's mother took her hair down and sat there arranging it. Hearing this, she was even more puzzled. "Isn't this a good thing? Why is it so wrong?"

Mr. Li got up from the bed, walked over to Mrs. Li, reached out his hand, took the hair comb, and helped Mrs. Li comb her hair. “This is really wrong. If you say that the Gao family helped them by chance because of Third Sister’s good fortune, then I understand if they flatter me a few times. Although our Third Sister is certainly capable, for a family of the Gao family to say nice things to a lowly doctor like me, it must be because of their upbringing and gratitude.”

"So?" Mother Li was happy that Father Li helped her comb her hair; it was always a bit expensive to do it herself.

"That's why Xu Sanlang acted so strangely today! If he wanted me to wholeheartedly detoxify Fang Langjun, he should at least say a few good words about San Niang, right? But Xu Sanlang spent the whole time praising San Niang with nice things to say!"

"Oh, maybe they just think praising Third Sister will make you happier. After all, you taught Third Sister since she was a child, and in this line of work, it's always better for the student to surpass the teacher. So, what's wrong with that? Are you jealous of Third Sister?"

Seeing that he couldn't reason with Li's mother, Li's father simply turned her around and said to her, "Girl, do you think this Xu Sanlang has taken a fancy to our Third Sister? Is that why he's trying to curry favor with me?"

Li's mother had never met Xu Jingzhen and dared not say what Xu Jingzhen's purpose was.

Perhaps they were just flattering Li's father so much so that he would help Fang Chengxian detoxify properly?

But what if, as Li's father said, it was for Li San Niang's sake?