Chapter 19 Chapter 19 The bustle on the river, fishing for the New Year...
Gu Wen and Gu Youan, father and daughter, both felt that they should get along well with the Zhang family. A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Having a great doctor nearby is something they could never ask for.
The twenty-first day of the twelfth lunar month this year is the winter solstice. Two days before the winter solstice, Gu Wen and his wife took their eldest daughter to Songjiang City.
The family of three rested in Songjiang City for one night and returned the next afternoon with two full baskets on their backs, including a basket of frozen sea fish.
Mrs. Du selected three sea fish, asked Gu Wenqing to deliver two to the Tian family, and she personally took one to the Zhang family.
Mrs. Du was a good talker, and women have a lot to say to each other. When Mrs. Du went to Zhang's house for the first time, she and Zhang Shinan's wife, Mrs. Liu, hit it off right away.
Mrs. Du sent a sea fish over, and Mrs. Liu gave her a bowl of homemade soybean paste in return, saying that homemade soybean paste is delicious and is great for stewing fish, stir-frying, or making soup.
Don’t underestimate the soybean paste. The soybean paste made by Liu’s family contains a lot of salt. Salt is very valuable here, and a bowl of soybean paste as a return gift is not cheap.
The two families had contact because of this, and since they lived close to each other, Mrs. Du went to the Zhang family twice, and when Mrs. Liu was free, she would come to the Gu family to talk with the half-made cloth shoes.
When Liu came over, Du was naturally very happy. The two of them sat together and talked. One made cloth shoes and the other mended clothes. They talked and laughed, and half the afternoon passed.
In the evening, when Liu returned home, Du personally saw her off to the door. After they had left and closed the courtyard gate, Du came back and said, "Your Aunt Liu has a miserable life. She was exiled when she was pregnant, lost the child on the way, and then suffered injuries. Apart from the older one, she hasn't conceived another child in all these years."
"Mom, how old is Aunt Liu's eldest son? What's his name?" Knowing that the Zhang family consists of three people, Gu Youan had only seen Aunt Liu.
"My name is Zhang Yinshan. I'm fifteen this year, one year younger than your brother."
In other words, the eldest son of the Zhang family was ten years old when he was exiled. At that time, Zhang Shinan, as an exile, had to open up wasteland, take care of his wife who had recently suffered a miscarriage, and look after his ten-year-old son. Just thinking about it makes one feel very difficult.
"Isn't Uncle Zhang the imperial physician? There must be a shortage of doctors in Songjiang City. Why doesn't he go out to treat patients?" Gu Wenqing felt that being a doctor would definitely make his family live better than farming.
"Your Uncle Zhang himself is unwilling. I guess he's still feeling uncomfortable about the exile."
Gu Wenqing felt bad. Although he had problems, it could make his family live a better life. Why should he suffer with his wife and children?
Knowing the situation of the Zhang family, Gu Wenqing suddenly lost interest in the Zhang family.
No matter what Gu Wenqing's attitude towards the Zhang family is, a person's ability will not be any different because of anyone's underestimation or overestimation.
In the middle of the night, Tian Dalang anxiously ran to Gu's house and knocked on the door.
"Who's knocking at the door?"
"Uncle Gu, it's me. My mother just had a sudden and unbearable abdominal pain. I came to ask Auntie if there is any way to treat it?"
Gu Wen and Mrs. Du suddenly woke up and quickly got up and put on their clothes.
Mrs. Du kept shouting, "Oh no, oh no!" Abdominal pain could be a serious matter. After hearing what Tian Dalang said, Mrs. Du concluded that it was an emergency and was afraid that she would encounter difficulties.
Gu Youan also got up, put on his cotton clothes quickly and ran to the kitchen.
Gu Wenqing hurriedly shouted, "What are you doing?"
Gu Wen hurried to the yard and opened the door. Tian Dalang came in and said anxiously, "My mother complained of stomach discomfort this afternoon. I thought she ate too much at lunch and didn't take it seriously. But suddenly the pain came back in the middle of the night. She was holding her lower right abdomen and sweating from the pain. Aunt Du, do you have any solution?"
"You silly boy, I only know some common herbs. How can I cure this disease?"
Tian Dalang's eyes suddenly turned red. He turned and walked out, saying, "Aunt Du, please go to my house and tell my father. I'll go to town to get a doctor."
Gu Wen hurriedly stopped him: "Why go so far? We have a doctor in our village."
"Whose family?" Tian Dalang anxiously grabbed Gu Wen's arm.
"Our neighbor Zhang family, Zhang Shinan was originally the imperial physician of the Imperial Hospital. He must have a solution."
"That's great, it's absolutely great! Uncle Gu, I..."
"Don't worry, I'll take you to the Zhang family to ask for help."
Gu Wen took Tian Dalang to knock on Zhang's door. At this time, Gu Youan ran out with medicine for abdominal pain in his arms, as well as a box of gold needles.
As soon as Mrs. Du saw the golden needles, she knew they belonged to An An's grandmother. She quickly said, "You don't necessarily need them. Even if you do, Zhang Shinan should have them."
"Zhang Shinan was exiled here and has avoided being a doctor these years. I don't think he has any." Gu Youan stuffed the golden needles into her mother's hand and said, "This set is a spare set at home. Take it, just in case you need it. The medicine may not be suitable for the symptom. If there is no other way, please find another way to give it to Aunt Bai."
Bai had been very good to her along the way, and Gu Youan didn't want Bai to die due to lack of medical care and medicine.
Gu Wenqing carried his dressed sister out. When Mrs. Du saw him, she scolded him, "It's so cold in the middle of the night, why did you bring Axuan out? If she catches a cold and gets sick, your father will beat you."
Gu Wenqing was just about to help Axuan put on her clothes when Axuan suddenly sneezed. Gu Wenqing hurriedly carried his sister into the house.
Mrs. Du took the needle and put it in her bosom, and also put the stomachache medicine in her pocket. "You go into the room and sleep, I'll lock the door from the outside."
"Okay, when Aunt Bai gets better, come back and tell us."
"knew."
Gu Youan returned to the room, took off his coat and went to rest on the kang. Axuan rolled into her bed and yawned: "Sister, what happened to Aunt Bai?"
"Aunt Bai is sick."
"Aunt Bai needs to take bitter medicine."
As long as it can cure the disease, taking bitter medicine is no big deal.
Gu Wenqing frowned: "Even though the Zhang family doctor is an imperial physician, they don't have any medicine. Even if they can figure out what the illness is, it's hard to treat it."
"We have medicine at home."
"Those herbs that mother picked on the road?"
Gu Youan glanced at him and said, "Don't despise the herbs I found for you. You caught a cold a few times on the road and it was cured by drinking the medicinal soup I cooked for you."
"I don't mind, I'm just worried that the few herbs we have here and there aren't enough."
Gu Youan pulled the quilt over Axuan's shoulders. The family didn't have all the herbs, but there were still some in the space. After Grandma passed away, the family's Chinese medicine clinic closed, and the herbs in the clinic hadn't been processed; they were still sitting in the medicine cabinet.
A few days ago, she needed star anise to cook, but there was none at home. When she went to the medicine cabinet to get the star anise, she looked at the other herbs in the cabinet. They were all in good condition, not damp or infested with insects, and had a strong medicinal smell.
Probably because of the magical space, Gu Youan found that the things placed on the first floor seemed to be able to stay fresh. The taro placed in the kitchen upstairs had already shriveled and sprouted, but the taro placed on the first floor was still as fresh as when he first brought it home.
She put the oranges and tangerines she picked from the trees in the backyard into boxes and placed them on the first floor to keep them fresh.
This space is really a treasure, but it's a bit narrow. The house covers a total area of only 200 square meters, so it can't hold much things.
As I was thinking, I fell asleep unknowingly. I was suddenly awakened in the middle of my sleep, as if I heard some noise outside.
Gu Wenqing sat up and hurried out. He was relieved to see that it was his mother who came back.
Mrs. Du urged, "An An, help me look for it. I remember we had some rhubarb at home, but I can't remember where I put it."
Gu Wenqing said, "Mom, there's no need to call An An, I'll go find it for you."
Mrs. Du told him to go and rest: "I don't need you."
Gu Youan got dressed and went to the kitchen with her mother. As soon as they entered, Mrs. Du closed the door and said anxiously, "Doctor Zhang said your Aunt Bai has an intestinal abscess. She just gave her an acupuncture treatment. Doctor Zhang wrote out a prescription for red vine, dandelion, raw rhubarb, phellodendron, and Sichuan magnolia. Do you have any of these?"
"These medicines are common, they must be available. How much do you need?"
"No need to weigh, just grab whatever you want. Doctor Zhang will naturally know how much medicine is needed for a dose. If we weigh it and give it to him, it will be difficult to explain."
"good."
There was no paper to wrap the medicine at home, so Mrs. Du found a few small sacks to pack the herbs and sent them to the Tian family. It was almost dawn when they arrived.
Gu Wen and his wife came back around noon and said that Bai's condition had improved and she was saved.
"Doctor Zhang is worthy of being taught by the Divine Doctor Zhang. At that time, your Aunt Bai was in so much pain that she was sweating all over and even vomited. Doctor Zhang gave her a few needles, and after a while, your Aunt Bai said she felt much better."
"I took the medicine over, and Doctor Zhang carefully prepared two prescriptions. I drank one dose in the morning and one in the afternoon. The pain was gone. When we came back, your Aunt Bai was asleep."
Mrs. Du sighed: "People with ability are different. Our family is young and weak. We need to make friends with the Zhang family in the future."
Hearing that Aunt Bai was fine, Gu Youan also breathed a sigh of relief.
Bai's illness this time was serious. Even though the pain was gone, Tian Qingde had to press Bai on the kang for three to five days before allowing her to go out for a walk.
After Bai got better, the two brothers of the Tian family went hunting in the back mountain. They found several frozen pheasants and rabbits in the snow cave and gave one to each of the Zhang and Gu families.
When Tian Erlang came to deliver the pheasant to the Gu family, Mrs. Liu was also there. She smiled and said, "The Little New Year is only half a month away. The Ping'an River ahead is already frozen solid. According to the old custom, people from the town and our village will go to the river to dig holes and cast nets to catch fish. This way, everyone can have some meat on their table during the New Year."
"That's great, when are you going?"
"Just wait, the village head will come to inform us."
In the north, the Little New Year falls on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month. On the 20th day of the 12th lunar month, the village headman beats drums and gongs to inform each family that they are going to Ping'an River to catch fish. Every family needs to contribute, otherwise they will not get any fish.
They were just waiting. The entire Gu, Tian, and Zhang families came out, some carrying buckets, some carrying sacks, and some carrying backpacks.
Axuan was sitting in the backpack and laughing, but Mrs. Du slapped her and told her to cover her mouth to prevent her from breathing in the cold air.
Zhang Yinshan, the son of the Zhang family, was walking with the two brothers of the Tian family. Gu Wenqing went over to greet him. Zhang Yinshan smiled reservedly and didn't say much. His temperament was somewhat similar to that of his parents.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
"Fishing!"
The surface of Ping'an River was full of people. The men were digging holes in the ice and sorting out fishing nets. None of them were afraid of the cold and were willing to work hard.
The women did not get involved. Some of them watched from the shore holding their children, while others gathered with acquaintances to chat and laugh, with accents from all over the country, and the conversation was very lively.
A few brave children were playing on the lake. They were small and because they were wearing thick clothes, they all looked bulging, so they didn't feel any pain when they slipped.
Three children were pushing and shoving each other over there, and one of them slipped and fell. If the adult who was digging the hole had not been quick, the child would have slipped into the ice hole.
"Whose naughty child is this!"
“I don’t care!”
The child's mother came out from nowhere, scolding and beating the child. The child started crying loudly, and her voice was so loud that everyone around could hear his cries.
Mrs. Du turned to Mrs. Liu and said, "This kid deserves a good beating. He fell into an ice hole in this freezing weather and still managed to survive?"
Ah Xuan raised her head and chest and said, "Mom, I won't make a fuss. I'm a good boy."
Liu and Bai burst into laughter and said that the child was extremely cute.
Gu Youan also laughed, feeling very happy. This is how the New Year should be.
Have a happy and lively new year, pray for the health and well-being of the whole family, and look for other things next year.
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