Chapter 26 Are you unhappy?
Jiang Shen lay on the bamboo bed, motionless, as if he was asleep.
Jiang Lan tiptoed over, lightly walking, and when she was almost at the bedside, she was startled by a sudden cough.
Jiang Shen opened his eyes and was stunned to see a "stranger" standing beside the bed. After a while, he coughed twice.
Jiang Lan immediately went to the table and poured a glass of water. When she reached out to help him up to drink, Jiang Shen awkwardly and laboriously moved back, his voice sounding a little weak. "Who are you?"
Her eldest brother really doesn’t recognize her...
"Brother, it's me, Lan'er." Jiang Lan pointed to her face again, "Look carefully, it's really me."
Jiang Shen was stunned for a moment, looking at the face, which gradually overlapped with the one in his memory. When he recognized the person in front of him, he was surprised again, "Why are you here?" He murmured, "I think I am hallucinating..."
Jiang Lan was both angry and amused. She stretched out her hand and said, "How about you pinch me, brother, to see if it's an illusion."
Jiang Shen started coughing again out of embarrassment. Jiang Lan quickly patted him on the back, helped him up and let him slowly drink some water, then helped him lie down again, and then walked over to put the teacup on the table.
Suddenly thinking of something, Jiang Shen's face changed, and he almost rolled off the bed in a hurry, "Hurry up and leave, cough... cough..." He coughed again anxiously. Jiang Lan poured another glass of water and just as she came up to him, he waved his hand and knocked her to the ground, "Hurry up and leave!"
Hearing the sound of the teacup falling to the ground, Jiang Lan and Jiang Shen were stunned.
He didn't mean it.
Looking at the fallen teacup, a feeling of grievance instantly surged in her heart. She squatted on the ground, two big tears fell to the ground, and said stubbornly, "I won't leave."
Seeing her crying, Jiang Shen also panicked. He was afraid that she would be infected by him, so he cruelly drove her away.
"Don't cry..." Jiang Shen comforted her clumsily, and didn't know what to say after that.
Jiang Lan sniffed, walked over silently, brought a small bamboo stool, placed it beside the bed and sat down, then continued to remain silent.
Silence spread in the room.
"Is my eldest brother unhappy that I'm here? If it was my third sister who came, he would definitely be happy." She said angrily.
Jiang Shen was stunned, probably not expecting to hear such words. He was also a little at a loss, not knowing how to explain.
In his heart, he treated both sisters equally, but if it came down to selfish motives, he would be a little more inclined towards Jiang Lan.
The first time he saw his little sister sleeping in the cradle, he made up his mind to protect her. The first time she called him brother, he was so happy that he couldn't sleep...
Later, he left home to study at the academy. When he returned home three years later and saw his little sister again, she no longer remembered him and was not talkative. It seemed as if there was an extra layer of estrangement between the brother and sister, and he didn't know how to eliminate it. Later, their relationship became more and more distant.
Jiang Lan suddenly appeared before him today. Jiang Shen was more delighted than surprised, but he was always reserved and used to hiding his joy in his heart. Now that he saw that she had misunderstood, he felt anxious and explained awkwardly but seriously, "I'm not unhappy." After a pause, he added affirmatively, "I am happy."
Hearing these three words, Jiang Lan smiled.
When Jiang Shen saw her smile, he felt happy and a smile appeared on his face.
The strange barrier between the brother and sister seemed to melt away at this moment and disappeared without a trace.
At this time, the door was pushed open again, and an old man walked in. Like Jiang Lan, he was wearing a white scarf, had a head full of white hair, and had a sharp gaze.
She guessed that this person must be Mr. Bai.
"Why is a little girl dressed as a boy?" There was a hint of ridicule in the old doctor's kind voice, giving people the feeling that she still has a childlike innocence.
Seeing that the other party saw through her identity at a glance, Jiang Lan stopped pretending and explained after introducing herself, "I heard that the academy doesn't allow women to enter, so I disguised myself as a man. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you."
"Scholars have a lot of rules, no wonder they are called nerds." Mr. Bai said happily.
Jiang Lan felt that this old doctor was a truly wonderful person and his medical skills must be excellent. She felt relieved and felt that her elder brother would be fine.
After Mr. Bai took Jiang Shen's pulse, Jiang Lan asked about the situation. Mr. Bai said that the pulse was a little stronger than yesterday.
"Senior, how is Zimo?" Jiang Shen looked worried.
Jiang Lan thought that this Mr. Zimo was most likely a close friend of her eldest brother, and the two of them must have similar interests and be able to chat very well.
Mr. Bai said, "He's better than you. He can get up and walk a few steps on his own."
Jiang Shen's expression relaxed and he felt relieved.
Mr. Bai asked Jiang Lan for another favor.
There was a long table under the ancient pine tree in the yard, on which were placed two medicine jars, two pots of water, two cattail-leaf fans for fanning the fire, and two stoves for boiling medicine.
Mr. Bai took out two packets of medicinal materials from the medicine box and put them into two medicine jars, then poured a pot of water into each of them. He asked Jiang Lan to help watch over them. After the water turned three-tenths brown, he could light a fire to boil the medicine, and then go to the room opposite to see another patient, Mr. Zimo.
Jiang Lan had never boiled medicine before, and she didn't know what the color of Sanfense was, so she kept staring at the color of the clear water in the two medicine jars. When Mr. Bai came out, she was still staring.
"Just soak it for a while and then you can light a fire to boil it." Old Mr. Bai walked over and looked at the color of the clear water in the jar, and said amiably. Then he sat down on a stool beside the long table, took out a pen and paper from the medical box, and recorded the diagnosis of the morning.
After finishing writing, Mr. Bai lit the fire in both stoves. Jiang Lan took the initiative to help fan the fire on one stove, while Mr. Bai fanned the fire on the other stove. He taught her to boil it over high heat first, and then simmer it over low heat after the soup boiled.
"You girl have something on your mind."
Jiang Lan was staring at the fire in the stove in a trance. When she heard this, she turned around and glanced at Mr. Bai in surprise. She even wondered if this old doctor was an old immortal who could see through everything at a glance...
"Can you help me see what this is?" She took out a small paper bag from her waist and handed it over. This was the bag of medicine powder that Qing'er had handed to her before. She brought it with her when she came to Zhangzhou this time. She planned to find a doctor in Sangcheng after her elder brother recovered from his illness. When she saw this old doctor today, she felt that he was a trustworthy person and wanted to ask him for help.
After Mr. Bai opened the paper package, he first looked at the color of the powder, then leaned in to smell it. His expression changed slightly. After considering it for a while, he told her that there were seven kinds of medicinal herbs in it, and the properties of each of them conflicted with each other. The toxicity of the seven herbs depended on how they were matched in proportion.
So that's how it is. Her stepmother really cares about her.
"Please keep what happened just now a secret, old man, and don't let my elder brother know about it." Jiang Lan pleaded.
Mr. Bai returned the paper bag to her and pretended to be confused, "What do you know? I didn't say anything."
The old and the young smiled knowingly.
Jiang Lan stared at the fire in the stove, her expression once again lost in thought.
If Zhang had asked Doctor Liu to prescribe this medicine, she would not have openly invited him to her house to treat her. She must have asked someone else to prescribe it. The person who went to get the medicine must be a trusted confidant, probably Tan Xiang. However, her stepmother did not let Qing'er give her the medicine some time ago, and she would not send Tan Xiang to get the medicine in the short term. In this way, it would be impossible to trace the person who prepared the medicine.
When she got back, she'd think of a way to trick Zhang, making her lose her composure and think the drugging was about to be exposed. She'd probably send someone to contact her, and then she could follow the clues and track down the person who had done it...
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