Chapter 26 Su Yunting's consciousness cleared amidst the swaying as he went to the doctor…
Su Yunting regained consciousness amidst the swaying. He heard two men's hazy voices. Once he was fully conscious, he recognized one as Qiu Yuruo's grandfather and the other as his cousin, Su Huai.
Only when a pair of hands pulled the blanket up over him, confirming that she was there, did Su Yunting feel at ease.
Among the adult men in Sujiazhuang, Qiu Yuruo could only trust Shuncai and his son, and Su Huai.
In terms of relationships, Shuncai's family and his own family were closer, but when they went out, neither he nor his son could be as useful as Su Huai alone.
So yesterday, Qiu Yu took the grain from Old Man Su and, along with Yun Che, prepared generous gifts and went to Su Huai's house, asking him to accompany her to the county today to see Su Yunting for treatment.
Su Huai was a sensible man in the village and had helped many villagers with their business trips to the county. Moreover, his family was well-off, owning both a mule and a cart, so there was no need to find another vehicle when asking him for help.
Old Man Qiu used to send his eldest son to the county to take the exam in his younger days. In recent years, it has been Uncle Qiu's turn to accompany the eldest son. The two of them are not unfamiliar with the situation in the county.
Uncle Qiu and Su Huai were both familiar with the route to the county. They took turns driving the carriage. Uncle Qiu was driving this time. It was still chilly outside, so Old Man Qiu invited Su Huai into the carriage to talk.
Qiu Yuruo and Yun Che sat quietly most of the time. When they heard them talking about well-known doctors in the county, Qiu Yuruo trusted Su Huai more than Old Man Qiu, so she asked him, "Brother Su Huai, which doctor is the best to find for Yun Ting's condition?"
Su Huai: "Dr. Zhang from the east of the city once cured two patients who were in a coma."
Qiu Yuruo turned to Old Man Qiu and said, "Grandpa, let's go to Doctor Zhang's place."
Su Yunting is a son of the Su family. If Qiu Yuru lets the Su family make the decision, Old Man Qiu thinks it's not wrong and nods in agreement.
The journey was bumpy, and the mule cart took a full two hours to reach the county.
Upon arriving at Dr. Zhang's Huichuntang clinic, Su Huai and Uncle Qiu carried Su Yunting out of the car. When the shop assistants saw the patient in this condition, they came out and directed them to carry him inside.
Dr. Zhang, an elderly doctor in his sixties, first inquired about the patient's condition upon seeing the unconscious Su Yunting.
Qiu Yu asked Yun Che to answer the doctor's questions, which was also the main reason why she brought Yun Che along, given that there were enough people available.
After asking the questions, the doctor carefully took the pulse and didn't stop until quite a while later.
Qiu Yuruo quickly asked, "Doctor, how is he?"
Dr. Zhang: "If he had been brought here when he first fell into a coma, I would have been 60% confident that I could wake him up. But now, I'm not so confident anymore."
As soon as the doctor finished speaking, everyone's anxiety subsided by half.
Su Yunting, who had always remained clear-headed, was prepared for the doctor's conclusion. In his previous life, when Doctor Zhang first examined him, the conclusion was even less optimistic than it is now.
However, the current situation is different from that of my previous life. My family is in dire financial straits, and the burden of paying for my medical treatment is simply too heavy!
Thinking about the changes that would happen to his family later, Su Yunting began to feel conflicted.
If I see a doctor first, and I can wake up before the New Year, that would be great. But what if I don't wake up?
No one knew his inner turmoil.
The Qiu family father and son, along with Su Huai, all looked at Qiu Yuruo. Su Yunche was so nervous that his breathing became heavy.
The doctor meant there was little hope of waking up, which was actually pretty much what Qiu Yuru had predicted.
Whether Su Yunting can wake up or not doesn't really affect Qiu Yuruo, who has never seen him when he's lucid.
But the three little ones in the family have a really strong hope that their eldest brother can wake up.
Qiu Yu brought Su Yunting to see the doctor so that they wouldn't have any regrets in their future lives.
Therefore, regardless of whether the doctor is confident of curing the disease, it is necessary to observe.
However, she didn't ask the doctor to prescribe any medication right away. Instead, she first inquired about the treatment plan and, most importantly, the cost of the medication.
The doctor wasn't sure if the diagnosis would be good, but he was sure it wouldn't be bad.
After listening to the doctor's treatment plan and the cost of the medicine, Qiu Yuruo finally chose the medicine that cost five taels of silver per month.
She wanted to choose something cheaper, but judging from the doctor's tone, the medicine at this price point still had a slight chance of waking him up; anything cheaper would only maintain his current condition.
The unconscious Su Yunting was indeed handsome and easy to take care of, but he was once such an outstanding person, having passed the imperial examination at the age of eighteen.
An eighteen-year-old scholar who passed the imperial examinations is nothing special among aristocratic families, but for an ordinary person with no connections to pass the examinations before the age of twenty, it is truly exceptional.
He was Yun Che's older brother, and he originally had a bright future. Qiu Yu Ruo still hoped that he could wake up.
She had done her best, but all she could give him was medicine that offered even the slightest chance of waking him up.
When Su Yunting heard her decision, he thought to himself that the weather was about to get cold, and if she started taking the medicine now, she would definitely be reluctant to rest easily in the future in order to ensure the benefits.
The thought of having to set up a stall at the village entrance in the dead of winter made Su Yunting feel a pang of sadness.
At that moment, he was no longer conflicted and only hoped that she could have less hardship.
I hope she can say: "Prescribe some medicine to maintain your health first."
However, Qiu Yuruo chose the treatment.
Su Yunting felt a pang of sadness and bitterness in his heart, and he could already picture her struggling to pull the cart in the cold wind.
In his helplessness and pain, his consciousness gradually faded, and he had to fall back into a coma.
...
As the weather gradually turns colder, fewer and fewer merchants travel along the official roads, and the turnover of food stalls also gradually decreases with the drop in temperature.
As winter approached, the cold wind howled, and few people could be seen on the official road.
Even if Qiu Yuruo really wanted to make money, she wouldn't set up her stall on days when the market wasn't open.
It's not entirely because of low sales volume. Even in cold weather, as long as you set up a stall, you can still earn some money in a day.
If Qiu Yu chooses not to set up a stall anymore, it's mainly because the village entrance in winter sometimes gives people a feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.
Money is important, but life is more important. If we encounter a bad person, we'll just be handing our lives over to them.
Therefore, once the winter month begins, Qiu Yuruo will no longer set up her stall unless the market is open.
Su Yunting has been taking the medicine for two months, and he has spent all the ten taels of silver he had earned.
Fortunately, I didn't miss out on making money in these two months. Even though the food stall business wasn't as good as it was around the time of the autumn harvest, I still had 200 taels of silver in my hands.
Qiu Yuruo plans to only set up her stall during market days this month, which is five days a week, and she can only set up her stall for six days a month.
There are patients in the family who need medication, and Qiu Yuruo is thinking of sending Yunche to school next year. Her two younger sisters are well-behaved and cute, and Qiu Yuruo doesn't want to make them feel too wronged.
Qiu Yuruo felt that Che's going to study was just as important as Su Yunting's medical treatment.
A young man's time cannot be wasted too much. If Yun Che can pass the imperial examination and become a scholar before he turns twenty, then regardless of whether Su Yunting can persevere, Yun Che's scholarly achievements will bring better and better fortune to his family.
Even if he doesn't pass the exam before he's twenty, after studying for so many years, it would still be easy for him to find a decent job.
Whether it's taking medicine or studying, it all requires money.
So Qiu Yuruo was thinking about how to make enough money in these six days.
People who buy meat sauce and various pastries are still a minority, and even fewer are willing to eat a bowl of noodles outside during the winter months.
After thinking for a whole day at home, Qiu Yuruo finally came up with a food suitable for selling on market days: stew.
In modern society, you can find stewed dishes sold at construction sites, markets, and densely populated residential areas.
I can make stew myself, and as long as the price is set right, I don't have to worry about selling it.
...
The next day, when Qiu Yuruo saw people on the road around noon, she went to town to buy ingredients and started making stew when she got back.
It wasn't even dinnertime yet, but the neighbors could smell the rich aroma. They wondered whose family was cooking so early, and why it smelled so good!
Then they heard Su Jingshu calling from outside the door: "Is anyone home?"
The neighbor opened the door and asked, "What's wrong, Jing Shu?"
Su Jingshu handed her a basket, saying, "My sister-in-law made a stew and brought you a bowl to try."
Neighbor: "Oh dear, Yu Ruo finally gets a few days off, and she's doing something nice by thinking of us!"
Su Jingshu smiled and said, "Please keep it and see how it tastes. If you like it, you can add a stew to your food stall when the market opens in the future."
Six families lived in this alley, and the only one who had a good relationship with my family was Aunt Shuncai's family.
Ever since Qiu Yuru opened a food stall at the village entrance, she would often ask Su Jingshu to give some leftover bone broth to the neighbors, which improved the neighborhood relations by more than a little bit.
Now, when Qiu Yuruo and Su Yunche set up a stall at the village entrance, if anything happens at home, Su Jingshu can just call out at the door and the neighbors will come out to help.
People often cook something delicious and send some to our family.
Qiu Yuru made a stew today, and Su Jingshu brought it over. The neighbor didn't stand on ceremony anymore, accepted the stew, cleared out the bowls, and then saw Su Jingshu to the door.
When delivering things to the neighbors, Qiu Yuruo always had Su Jingshu deliver them, while she took Su Yunche with her to deliver things to other people's homes.
The first family to send the pastries was the clan chief's family, followed by the families who regularly bought them, then Su Huai's family and the families who often helped him. Finally, he sent a bowl to each of the two families in the village who had lost their breadwinners.
We delivered to more than a dozen families, and the remaining amount was just enough for our own family to have two meals.
The simmering fire at the bottom of the pot kept the stew at a gentle boil, and the aroma was irresistible when it was served. The stew contained meat, cabbage, tofu, eggs, and glass noodles. Served with soft, fluffy steamed buns, I felt that eating this was even more blissful than eating pure meat.
Winter makes people hungry quickly, and Qiu Yuruo and the other three are all growing. Except for the little sister who was full after one bowl, Qiu Yuruo, Su Jingshu, and Su Yunche all had a second bowl.
...
The day of the market finally arrived, and Qiu Yuruo set up her stall early in the morning.
As usual, she first simmered the bone broth, and even with the addition of stewed vegetables, Qiu Yuruo was not prepared to give up selling noodles.
Now that it's cold, the bone broth can be stored. Even when she's not at her stall, she'll still put the bone broth on the stove to simmer. So now the bone broth is quite old, and it smells wonderful as soon as you turn on the heat.
I added water to the bones I bought yesterday, brought it to a boil, and then simmered it slowly, which didn't delay the preparation of the stew at all.
The food stall has been open for several months, and those who frequently go to the market and are willing to spend money know that the noodles here are delicious, so there are always people coming and going, even in the morning.
While eating noodles, Qiu Yuruo noticed several bowls on the stove, each containing meat and tofu. She was cracking an egg into the bowl in front of her.
An old man asked her, "Young lady, what are you doing?"
Qiu Yuruo smiled and replied, "Grandpa, I'm making stew."
Looking at the ingredients on the stove and thinking about Qiu Yuruo's cooking skills, the old man decided to go to the market to try it. If it was delicious, he would bring a bowl back for his wife as well.
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