Fifteen minutes passed quickly. Doctor Zhang swiftly removed the gold needles, and the pain in Master Wang's eyes disappeared, his tightly furrowed brows relaxing.
Doctor Zhang wrote another prescription and handed it to the wealthy man, saying, "Take this medicine, one dose a day. After seven days, we'll see how things go and change the prescription, but you can't stop the acupuncture. If you don't want to die, come find me at this time every day."
After saying that, he was about to leave, but was stopped by Old Lady Li.
"Dr. Zhang, there's one more thing. The eldest son brought a child along, who seems to have caught a cold. Could you please take a look at him as well?"
Doctor Zhang didn't refuse, saying, "Sure, we're already here anyway."
When Master Wang thought of his youngest son, he quickly stood up and bowed deeply to Old Lady Li. He tried to address her, but couldn't find the right words, so he could only say, "Whether I remember her in the future or not, I will always be grateful for your kindness in saving me today."
Grandma Li's eyes reddened, and she tried her best to hold back her tears, shaking her head with a smile, "Knowing that you are alive and without pain, my worries about you all these years have not been in vain. Go, get treatment first, and we'll talk about everything else after you've recovered."
Master Wang bowed again, nodded to everyone in the room, and then led Doctor Zhang toward the wooden house.
Li Lao Er was reluctant to part ways like this, so he hurriedly chased after his older brother. Regardless of whether he could help or not, he wanted to stay with his older brother a little longer.
The youngest son of the wealthy Wang was only six years old. After soaking in the hot spring, perhaps because his body was warmed up, the stuffy nose and headache caused by the cold were relieved. He was now asleep in the inner room of the wooden house.
The husband and wife servants brought by Master Wang were sitting side by side on the kang (a heated brick bed), with one guarding the other outside the room.
They were all delighted to see Master Wang return, as they had been worried that their master might not come back and had wanted to go look for him.
Master Wang nodded to them, then led Doctor Zhang and Old Man Li into the house.
Doctor Zhang picked up the child's wrist to take his pulse, then gently pried open the child's mouth to examine his tongue. Finally, he took out his needle kit, replaced the needles with a new pair, and quickly inserted them.
The child was probably tired from playing in the water and slept soundly. He was in a slight pain, but that didn't wake him up.
Doctor Zhang sat down and whispered to Master Wang, "Don't worry, the child just has a common cold. He'll be mostly better after sweating it out. However, the child is somewhat weak from birth and will need to be recuperated for a year or two. Don't feed him too meticulously; let him play outside and get some sunshine more often."
Master Wang nodded repeatedly and carefully wrote it down.
Doctor Zhang continued, "I'll write a prescription in a bit. Take it home and give one dose a day for three days to get rid of the child's cold. Then we can change the diet to medicinal food and gradually recuperate."
Master Wang stood up and bowed deeply to express his gratitude. Zhang waved his hand, then looked at the sleeping child, whose forehead was already covered with a layer of sweat.
The maid was overjoyed and quickly grabbed a cloth to wipe the child, but the more she wiped, the more water there was. Soon the child looked like he had been pulled out of the water, and his clothes were soaked.
Only then did Doctor Zhang remove the silver needles and leave without looking back.
Master Wang was about to see the child off when the child opened his eyes and said, "Dad, you're back! Come with me to the pond to play. There are so many people there."
"Alright, alright, once you're better, you can go anywhere." Master Wang quickly carried his son to the bathhouse.
The father and son soaked in the hot spring, washing away their sweat as they played. After changing into clean clothes, Li Lao Er and Li Lao San brought over the food and medicine prescription.
Two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and two bowls of rice—it's not some fancy delicacy, but it's prepared to be visually appealing, delicious, and fragrant.
Li Laosan, being honest and simple, said in a low voice, "This is the fourth brother's wife's cooking. Mother said that the child has a cold and fever and cannot eat eggs, so she didn't let him steam egg custard."
Li Lao Er also said, "The servants' food has been brought, so you can all eat well."
Master Wang put the prescription away, took the tray and placed it on the table, then personally saw them out.
The three brothers were all a little cautious and reserved, as if afraid of leaving a bad impression on each other.
Finally, it was Master Wang who said, "Take good care of the old lady. We'll discuss everything after I recover. If I am truly a member of the Li family, I will make amends for the past years. If I am not a member of the Li family, then... we will become sworn brothers, so we can rely on each other in the future."
"Okay." Li Lao Er and Li Lao San felt a lump in their throats, their eyes reddened, and they quickly said goodbye and left.
The middle-aged man who was standing by was completely confused, but he didn't ask any questions.
Master Wang thought for a moment and then gave a few instructions, “Wang Fu, you and your wife are the people I trust most in the family. Don’t say much about what happened today when you get back. If… if Madam asks, just say that you only saw me taking the doctor to examine Cat’s pulse and prescribe medicine, and that you don’t know anything else.”
Wang Fu immediately knelt down on the ground, "Don't worry, sir. You saved my husband and me, so naturally we only recognize you."
Master Wang helped him up, saying, "There's no need to be so nervous. You'll be coming here with me often from now on."
Wang Fu quickly agreed, and the wealthy man went inside to have dinner with the children.
The food was delicious, and Cat Brother ate quite a lot, which also whetted the appetite of Master Wang. The father and son almost finished all four dishes.
As the sun began to set, they prepared to return home.
At the mouth of the valley, only Li Lao Er and Li Lao San saw them off; there was no sign of Li Lao Tai. Master Wang visibly breathed a sigh of relief…
Thirty li is a journey that takes only about half an hour.
At the entrance of the Wang family courtyard, an old woman was already peeking around. When she finally saw the carriage returning, she ran back frantically to report the news.
Master Wang carried his son out of the carriage, and as soon as he entered the second gate, a beautiful woman with a seven or eight-year-old boy came out to greet him.
The beautiful woman appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old; she was none other than Wang E, the only daughter of the Wang family.
In the prime of her life, charming and voluptuous, she wore a silver-red dress, which added to her beauty.
She stepped forward to take her youngest son, and glared at Master Wang reproachfully, "Where have you been? You've been gone all day."
Before Master Wang could respond, Cat Boy exclaimed, "Daddy took me to the hot springs! It was so much fun, and we ate delicious food too. Mommy, you and Brother should go too!"
Master Wang, holding his eldest son Li Ge'er's hand, replied, "I'm taking Cat Ge'er to see a doctor."
Wang E's face visibly stiffened, but she quickly masked it and tentatively asked, "Did you find a doctor? Why did you go to the hot springs again?"
Now they had reached the main house in the backyard. The family sat down, and then Master Wang said, "I heard that there is a newly built hot spring resort, so I was thinking of taking Cat Brother there to soak in it and get rid of the cold. Maybe his cold will be cured. As it turns out, there is a miracle doctor there, and everyone says he is very skilled."
"A miracle doctor?" Wang E chuckled dryly. "Most of those titles are just scams."
“This time it really isn’t,” Master Wang said, looking at her hands twisting the handkerchief. His eyes were unreadable, but he smiled and replied, “I heard that the divine doctor is very skilled. I asked the divine doctor to examine Brother Cat’s pulse and prescribe medicine.”
As he spoke, he took out the prescription. "Have someone take a look. If there's no problem, give it to Cat Brother. This child was born weak. We named him Cat Brother in the hope that he would borrow the nine lives of a cat and grow up safely. Unfortunately, he's not very resilient. Hopefully, he'll get better this time."
Wang E put away the prescription and asked casually, "Now that you've met a miracle doctor, haven't you checked your headache?"
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