In those lifeless eyes, a faint but tenacious flame finally rekindled.
From that day on, Liu Fen stayed at Su Wantang's house. She was still very quiet, but she was no longer the silent shadow she once was. She devoted all her energy to her studies. During the day, while Su Wantang took care of the children, she would help with the chores she could manage. The rest of the time, she would hold a book, greedily absorbing knowledge, and neatly copying the important content into her new notebook.
Her memory was astonishingly good; she actually managed to memorize most of the burned copy of "Practical Nursing Fundamentals".
A few days later, one afternoon, the opportunity came unexpectedly.
The neighbor's son, Xiaohuzi, had eaten something wrong and was vomiting and having diarrhea, crying incessantly. Mrs. Wang was frantic, her husband wasn't home, and she didn't know what to do.
Hearing the crying coming from next door, Liu Fen hesitated for a long time before finally taking her notebook and knocking on Wang Sao's door.
"Sister Wang, I... I learned some pediatric massage from Dr. Su, which specializes in treating vomiting caused by indigestion in children. If you trust me, could you let me try it on Hu Zi?" Her voice was soft, with a hint of uncertainty.
Aunt Wang was completely distraught, but when she heard this, she grasped at it like a lifeline: "Really? Then... then you should try it!"
Liu Fen took a deep breath and asked Wang Sao to lay the child flat. Following Su Wantang's example, she first carefully observed the child's tongue and complexion, and then stretched out her hands, which were slightly rough from years of labor, and began to massage Hu Zi according to the techniques recorded in the book and in her own notes.
Cleanse the large intestine, rub the Banmen point, and push the four horizontal lines...
Although her movements were still a bit clumsy, she found the acupoints very accurately and controlled the force just right.
Amazingly, when she was halfway through the massage, Tiger, who had been crying uncontrollably, gradually calmed down, hiccuped a few times, let out a long sigh, and the pain on his little face faded considerably.
After the procedure was completed, Little Tiger actually fell asleep peacefully in her arms.
Aunt Wang stared in disbelief, and it took her a while to react. She grabbed Liu Fen's hand, so excited she was almost incoherent: "My God! Sister Liu Fen! You're amazing! It works better than medicine! Thank you so much! Thank you so much!"
As she spoke, she fumbled in her pocket for a while without saying a word, pulled out two crumpled bills, and stuffed them into Liu Fen's hand.
"It's not much, take it! This is what you deserve! If my Tiger ever gets a headache or fever again, I'll have to rely on you!"
Liu Fen held the two banknotes, which together amounted to two cents, her palms burning hot.
This was the first time in her life that she had earned money through her own abilities.
Although it was only two cents, it weighed a thousand times more in her hands than the fifty dollars she received from selling her daughter.
Clutching the two cents, as if grasping the hope of the entire world, her eyes welled up, and tears almost spilled again. But this time, she held them back. She gave Aunt Wang a long-lost, genuine smile.
On the way back to Su Wantang's house, she clutched the two cents tightly, her heart filled with an unprecedented sense of peace and joy. She had even begun to plan that once she had saved enough money, she would rent the smallest house in town, bring her daughter out, and the two of them would depend on each other for survival.
She will rely on herself to usher in a new life. (This chapter has been read. Please click to continue reading the next chapter!)
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