Chapter 128 Handwritten Booklet
Xiaomei was taken aback, and after a moment she asked somewhat shyly, "Then, can I just study medicine and not go out to practice as a doctor?"
Xie Wanniang didn't care. "Sure, you can do what I do and make money by collecting and processing medicinal herbs."
Upon hearing this, Xiaomei immediately felt relieved.
She looked at Xie Wanniang with an unprecedentedly resolute and bright clear gaze, "Then I will learn. I am not afraid of hardship, nor am I afraid of spending a long time."
Suddenly remembering something, the little girl became nervous again, "It's just... I... I can't read..."
Xie Wanniang smiled and said, "Then let's learn. Learning to read is much easier than learning medicine."
Since Xiaomei's main purpose in studying medicine is to treat the external injuries that her brother may suffer in the future, Xie Wanniang plans to compile all the knowledge she has about external injuries and first aid into a booklet and teach it to Xiaomei little by little when the opportunity is right.
Of course, she wasn't just doing it for Xiaomei. Jiang Yuan had already made up his mind to join the army, and she was compiling this knowledge mainly so that Jiang Yuan would have a better chance of survival if he encountered danger.
She decided to do it right away, since she was currently experiencing a period of burnout in her embroidery and had nothing else to do except go into the mountains.
Xie Wanniang felt it was more meaningful to spend time organizing these things.
She took out her brush, ink, paper, inkstone, and a simple charcoal pencil that she had specially made. As she recalled the past, she wrote and drew carefully and neatly.
As her adoptive father Xie Daoheng said, she was actually not a person with much artistic talent. Whether it was writing or painting, the evaluation of her finished products could be summarized in four words: neat and easy to recognize.
Praising her calligraphy and painting in this way is no different from praising her as a person for having a "good appearance and a healthy complexion." Both are polite but casual compliments because there are no outstanding merits to be found.
However, Xie Wanniang didn't mind this. She genuinely felt that it was already quite good if she could learn the practical skills that she found useful.
One cannot have everything, nor can one force oneself to be perfect in every aspect.
For her, writing and drawing are not art but skills. As long as they receive a neat and easy-to-read evaluation, that is enough for her.
For the next two months or so, Xie Wanniang either followed Jiang Yuan up the mountain or stayed at home, guiding Xiao Yang, Chen Yuan, and Xiao Mei in their studies while organizing knowledge about external injuries and first aid.
She kept busy like this until the autumn harvest season, at which point Xie Wanniang readjusted her daily schedule.
Before the harvest began, Xie Wanniang not only finished writing the booklet, but also made a new copy with Jiang Yuan. Of course, the illustrations on both copies were drawn by Xie Wanniang, a task that Jiang Yuan couldn't do.
After Xie Wanniang re-examined and confirmed one of the copies, Jiang Yuan entrusted a reliable person to secretly send it to Zijing Pass.
The other copy became Xie Wanniang's ready-made teaching material for teaching Xiaomei, Jiang Yuan, Hao Yu, Atai, and Xiaoyang.
What was supposed to be a small, one-on-one class became unexpectedly lively because of the four students Xie Wanniang hadn't planned for.
Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu wanted to learn because they deeply realized the value of this booklet. Atai and Xiao Yang were just following the trend; since Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu wanted to learn, they also actively followed suit.
Whether you're herding one sheep or five, it's all the same. Xie Wanniang didn't mind having a few more students in her little classroom, so she readily agreed to their applications to study there.
Of course, their small classes won't have many opportunities to be held before the harvest is over.
Everything must give way to the autumn harvest, and Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan will continue to help Zijing Pass procure food and supplies this year.
Fortunately, the imperial court was indeed working hard to govern the local areas and restore people's livelihoods. After the national treasury had money, most of the military supplies that the border troops should have received in the past but had not received for many years were finally sent over.
Hao Yu estimated that they should be able to completely divest themselves next year, and wouldn't even need to help procure this small portion of grain and fodder this year.
Perfect timing! He'll be free of worries then, and he can take his wife and children to Yi County, which is closer to Zijing Pass and Jiangyuan.
Leaving aside the uproar caused by the booklet sent to Zijing Pass among the military doctors, let's just talk about Xie Wanniang, Jiang Yuan, and others who, like everyone else in the village, were busy with the autumn harvest.
Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan didn't own much land. After Jiang Yuan stayed for a few days, Chen Zhao and his brothers finished clearing out the land under their names and distributed the grain and straw that they were entitled to to them.
For a long time afterward, Jiang Yuan helped Hao Yu.
As for Xie Wanniang, Chen Shi, and other female relatives, they were only responsible for drying the grain and straw, as well as preparing three meals a day.
Because Chen was still pregnant, Xie Wanniang and the others dared not let her do any physical work. Apart from sitting in the courtyard, weaving cloth and watching the grain spread out to dry, she was only allowed to help Xie Wanniang and the others a little while they were cooking.
Unlike Xie Wanniang, who not only went to the small hill at the end of the village every other day to catch rabbits and pheasants to bring back for everyone's extra meal, but also led Xiaoyang, Xiaomei and Atai to work hard every day to turn over and dry grains and straw.
The dried grains and straw were mostly moved to the warehouse or woodshed by her, Jiang Yuan, Hao Yu, Atai, and Xiao Mei.
Although Hao Yu couldn't lift heavy objects with one hand, he could put the grain sacks on his shoulder and tuck the bundled straw under his armpit, so it wouldn't stop him from helping with physical labor.
After working from dawn till dusk for almost a month, everyone finally managed to safely bring back all the crops, which were harvested at slightly different times of the year, to their homes.
Although everyone had gotten darker and thinner, they were all in surprisingly good spirits.
Last year and this year, for two consecutive years, everyone has not encountered natural disasters such as drought, floods, locusts, or hail. Every year has been a year of bumper harvests, and every year the imperial court has reduced taxes and levies. With surplus grain and money in their homes, people's faces naturally show more hope and smiles.
Even Xie Wanniang, who had long asked brokers to help her find a suitable estate but had not received any good news, became more forgiving of the slow progress of things because of another bumper harvest.
Unlike the other families in the village who kept all their land and cultivated it themselves, Xie Wanniang, Jiang Yuan, and Hao Yu had no crops left to harvest. So after drying all the grain and straw, they busied themselves with other things.
Purchase a specified amount of grain and fodder for Chang Yao, go into the mountains to gather herbs, hunt, collect mountain goods, and harvest seasonal vegetables such as cabbage, radishes, and winter melons for winter storage, and continue to dry vegetables, pickle sauerkraut, and make salted vegetables...
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