Sun Caiping was speechless after being scolded, and whispered, "My husband is right."
Sun Miao'er sighed, realizing that she was probably the only one willing to give this woman another hand. It seemed she was on the verge of being beyond redemption. She hoped that a few days of isolation with Jiang Yutao would help her see herself clearly.
Jiang Yutao couldn't stand the environment of Fushui Village. At noon, he packed his bags, hired a car, and left Fushui Village. Before leaving, Sun Caiping followed the car all the way to the village entrance, and repeatedly told Jiang Yutao to make sure he ate and drank well.
Jiang Yutao was clearly getting impatient, so he ordered the driver to crack the whip, and Sun Caiping only got a shovelful of dust.
Sun Miao'er stood far behind. As soon as Jiang Yutao left, Sun Caiping seemed to have lost her soul and didn't even know what to do.
"Auntie, there's a market day today, why don't we go for a stroll?" Sun Miao'er walked up and took Sun Caiping's arm. Why bother for a man?
But she knew that some people would never be able to let go of their inner conflicts.
Sun Caiping's unfocused gaze remained listless as she stammered, "The market? I'm not going, I still have to..."
Sun Miao'er saw through her thoughts at a glance and interrupted, "We're just browsing, we don't necessarily have to buy anything. Besides, we'll be seeing a doctor in a few days, we can't go empty-handed. I'll go to the market and see if there's anything good to bring back for the doctor."
"That's fine, that's fine." Without Jiang Yutao, Sun Caiping was like someone who had lost their backbone. She did whatever Sun Miao'er said. "Getting better is the most important thing."
When she arrived at the market, it was much more lively than in the past. Many of the vendors were unfamiliar faces, and she had no idea when so many outsiders had come to Fushui Village.
"Uncle, there are so many people today, where did they all come from?" Sun Miao'er stopped in front of a straw weaving stall, which displayed some straw grasshoppers and dragonflies. She thought that Xiao Ning and Xiao Man would definitely like them, so she decided to buy a couple.
My uncle was weaving a praying mantis in his hand. He glanced up and said casually, "They've started fighting in the west. Where else could they have come from? They must have fled from the north! Right now, it's only the south that's relatively peaceful."
War has broken out? Sun Miao'er's heart skipped a beat. War has already started? The Prince of Wei's rebellion is a fact. It remains to be seen whether the rebel army or Emperor Chongyuan's army will win.
The path the master took has no turning back.
"Alright, thank you, Uncle. I'll take these two." Sun Miao'er paid the money and continued walking forward with Sun Caiping.
When they arrived at a stall, they found it selling poetry and prose books for children's early education. They thought that Xiao Ning and Xiao Man would be starting school in a couple of days, so it would be good to buy some.
Sun Miao'er kept glancing at Sun Caiping's expression, but she remained unmoved, as if the commotion outside had nothing to do with her. "Aunt, Grandma said that you loved reading the most before you got married. Take a look and see if there's anything you want to read. Consider it your niece showing her filial piety as a junior."
Sun Caiping glanced down at the poetry books, then turned her neck like a wooden statue, her smile bitter and stiff. "What are you looking at, poetry books? A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. At this age, your eyesight is failing you..."
Sun Miao'er picked up a few books at random. Sun Caiping's words shocked her greatly. What kind of torment had Sun Caiping, who used to be so studious and self-important, suffered to become so decrepit and frail?
She had always thought that a marriage between equals would be a loving one, with the two of them adorning themselves with makeup, composing poems, and displaying their deep affection. However, Sun Caiping was completely transformed, her inner self was worn away, and she was left with only an empty shell struggling to stay afloat.
Sun Caiping's visit to the market was extremely disappointing, and she showed no sign of being willing.
Sun Miao'er took her home and asked Grandma Sun to take good care of her, while she went to the medicine shop alone.
The tall ginkgo tree at the entrance of the medicine shop, which was only yellowed leaves when I last visited, has now fallen sparsely, with only a few withered leaves still hanging firmly on the tree. The fallen leaves spread on the ground like a brocade carpet, rustling as you step on them.
The door was covered in cobwebs, and no one had been here for a long time.
Sun Miao'er pushed open the wooden door, the sound of which was particularly clear in the empty space. Before, every time she came over, she could see the busy indigo figures in the yard, but now, they were gone.
She sat down in an open space, feeling quite sad. Herbs were still drying in the yard. Thinking of that night at the Wang family's house, her master had suddenly appeared. He must have left in a hurry and hadn't even had time to collect the herbs.
The herbs in the bamboo sieve had been neglected for a long time and had become deformed from the sun. She stared intently at the herbs, trying to find something out from those silent and motionless plants.
And so they remained locked in a stalemate with the herbs, as if time itself had stood still.
“Master, you can’t use herbs like this.” She reached out and touched the dried herbs, but as soon as she touched them, the herbs crumbled under the weight.
She used to think that reminiscing about someone by looking at objects was a ridiculous thing to do, that longing was time-consuming and painful, and that it was all in vain.
It seems that she is also trapped in longing and unable to extricate herself. If her master were still alive, that would be good.
She chuckled, recalling that it was here that her master had said, "If you have nowhere to throw away your longing, then find a way to relieve it right here." So this was the taste of longing.
Sun Miao'er stood up, picked up the bamboo sieve, and poured out the useless herbs, shaking them onto the ground. Since they had been delayed because of her, she would dry a new batch.
After all, her master's mantle was now being passed down to her, and she couldn't possibly disgrace her sect. She was adept at both healing people and animals.
She went into the inner room. A thin layer of light dust covered the table. The moment she opened the door, dust rose up and made Sun Miao'er sneeze a few times. The prescription on the table was only half written.
She casually picked up a medical book for reference, a copy of the "Pharmacopoeia," and on the empty wooden chair, that familiar figure seemed to appear before her eyes.
Walking further in, she saw so many books on the shelves that she didn't know where to begin.
Fortunately, while learning weaving techniques, she had already mastered the art of reading books. Her master was a perfectionist, so she boldly guessed that the books were all categorized.
Sure enough, those who talked about medicine gathered in one place, and those who diagnosed illnesses gathered in another. After tireless efforts, she finally found a book about heart disease in the vast sea of books.
The opening line is: "A mental illness requires a mental cure, and the one who tied the knot must untie it."
Sun Miao'er sneered. This was a joke at her own expense. It turned out that famous scholars of the past were quite good at keeping people in suspense, and they would talk about philosophy before writing a medical book.
She flipped through the book, trying her best to find symptoms similar to those in Stockholm, but while there were similar ones, they were not specifically described.
The general idea is to help the sick person recognize themselves and rediscover their true self; the rest is up to her to figure out.
How can we help Sun Caiping recognize that she is not Jiang Yutao's appendage, but exists as an independent person?
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