Chapter 76 Chapter 76-Two-in-One A Blessing in Disguise
As soon as the words fell, the voices of the old lady and the medicine boy were heard from inside and outside the house. In an instant, the medicine boy came in with a needle bag. Doctor He took the needle bag and quickly gave the patient an injection. When the old lady came back with the ginseng slices, Doctor He said directly, "Let her hold it in her mouth."
The old woman gently pinched Lin Shuilian's mouth open and stuffed the ginseng slices in.
"Hold it in your mouth and don't swallow it."
Lin Shuilian nodded weakly.
Doctor He looked at the old lady and said, "Boil another pot of water and keep it ready."
The old lady agreed and left in a hurry. Doctor He continued to give acupuncture. Lin Chuntao and Aunt Guizhi stood by, not daring to breathe, just waiting for the doctor to finish the acupuncture.
But before Aunt Guizhi could ask, Doctor He said, "Who is this child of yours?"
Aunt Guizhi quickly replied, "I'm her mother. The child is married. I went to her husband's house today and learned how much suffering she has endured. Doctor, how is she?"
Doctor He sighed deeply and felt helpless when he saw Aunt Guizhi.
"The baby in her belly died a long time ago, but I think it's at least four or five months old. She needs to take medicine to see if she can get the baby out. Otherwise, she'll have to find a midwife to help."
Aunt Guizhi staggered and almost fell to the ground. Lin Chuntao hurriedly grabbed her.
"Doctor, how is the master now?"
"You're hanging on by a thread. What are you going to do?"
Aunt Guizhi felt dizzy and breathless. She clutched Lin Chuntao's arm tightly. Seeing her like this, Lin Chuntao could only ask Doctor He, "How can we make her suffer less and save her life?"
Hearing Lin Chuntao's words, Doctor He looked at her intently, thinking that in this situation, saving her life was good enough, and she wanted to suffer less...
But Lin Chuntao wasn't very old, and the woman next to her was also in a state of panic. He said, "Take the medicine first. If there's no movement in two quarters of an hour, let the midwife help. It will be painful. I'll do my best to save her life."
Lin Chuntao didn't dare to make such an idea. She looked at Aunt Guizhi and said, "Aunt, make a decision."
Aunt Guizhi looked at Lin Shuilian lying there and wiped the tears from her face. "Excuse me, doctor. I'll do as you say! And please show me the way so I can find a midwife."
Doctor He said, "You don't have to go in person. I'll send someone to invite him."
After he finished speaking, Doctor He called another half-grown child to run and ask for the midwife, while he hurried to prepare the medicine. He took out a few pills and gave the dried herbs to the old lady to boil. He showed the pills to Aunt Guizhi.
He specially prepared this pill to help women have miscarriages. After he told Aunt Guizhi about it, the look in Aunt Guizhi's eyes changed when she looked at him. He looked at Lin Chuntao again and saw that she looked normal.
He continued to look at Aunt Guizhi and said, "Take three pills. They will take effect in two quarters of an hour. The fetus is already dead. This medicine can only help her get rid of the fetus. I'll give you the medicine, and you can feed it yourself."
Aunt Guizhi took the pill tremblingly. The dark pill was like a pair of invisible hands, tightly pinching her throat, making it difficult for her to breathe.
"Will my daughter be able to have children again in the future?"
Doctor He shook his head. Maybe there was a chance, but he couldn't guarantee it.
Aunt Guizhi was heartbroken to the point of death, but nothing was more important than her daughter being alive.
The medicine boy asked the midwife to come back quickly. The midwife quickly boiled some hot water and used warm wine to scald the tools. Aunt Guizhi fed Lin Shuilian the medicine, and soon she screamed in pain!
After waiting for two incense sticks, Lin Shuilian rolled over in pain and hung the curtain. The midwife examined her and said to Aunt Guizhi, "I have to help her."
Aunt Guizhi nodded numbly. Lin Chuntao was still standing beside her. The midwife glanced at her and said, "Little girl, go wait outside."
Aunt Guizhi also suddenly came to her senses and pushed Lin Chuntao out.
"Tao girl, go wait outside."
Lin Chuntao was also afraid of this bloody scene. After Aunt Guizhi pushed her out, she sat outside with Pei Ying.
Pei Ying looked at her worriedly and asked, "Are you okay?"
Lin Chuntao breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head, "It's okay."
Pei Ying listened to Lin Shuilian's screams. It was the first time he felt the pain of childbirth so directly, and he seemed to understand Lin Chuntao's words a little better.
It was estimated that another three-quarters of an hour had passed before Lin Chuntao heard the midwife say, "It should be clean now."
Then basins of blood were brought to the backyard.
The old lady in the clinic brought a pitch-black bowl of medicine and asked Aunt Guizhi to feed it to Lin Shuilian, and her life was saved.
The midwife's money had to be given in a red envelope. Doctor He's family had one, which contained sixty-six coins. Aunt Guizhi didn't have any money with her, so Lin Chuntao paid for her.
The doctor prescribed a few more medicines for health maintenance, and charged a total of four hundred and eighty-six coins.
Lin Chuntao looked at Doctor He and asked, "Can we take her back now?"
Doctor He said, "Let her sleep for a while. Wait another half hour. If she's fine, you can take her back."
Lin Chuntao and the others had not eaten yet, and neither had Aunt Guizhi and the others. Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying had helped her a lot, and now she came over to ask Lin Chuntao and the others what they wanted to eat.
Lin Chuntao said, "Aunt, what are you eating? I'll go buy it. You stay with Sister Shuilian."
Aunt Guizhi wanted to say that she would go, but when she turned around and looked at Lin Shuilian lying on the bed, she listened to Lin Chuntao's arrangements. It was difficult to buy food, so Lin Chuntao went to buy a few mutton patties and each person ate one.
He gave the old lady some more money, cooked some corn porridge, and fed it to Lin Shuilian.
Lin Chuntao and the others were waiting outside, and Doctor He was sitting next to them. He looked at Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying, and finally his eyes fell on Lin Chuntao.
First, I bought her mushrooms, then she had a fever and Pei Ying carried her here, and then today.
The first two times were fine, but this time he looked at Lin Chuntao with admiration. She was a girl who had never given birth to a child, but she was calm and clear-headed, especially when he took out the pill. Many people said that he was unscrupulous for doing this, but he just thought that this thing was easy to use and effective.
As a doctor, he can feel at peace as long as he can save lives.
But every time he took out the pill and was about to use it, everyone would look at him in the same way, as if he had killed the fetus in her womb.
"Miss Lin, do you want to study medicine?"
Lin Chuntao's eyes widened at this sudden remark. She looked at the old man in surprise and pointed at herself in disbelief: "Me? Studying medicine?"
Doctor He raised his eyebrows slightly, "Why? You can't?"
Lin Chuntao curled the corners of her lips. She felt that both modern medicine and traditional Chinese medicine were mountains that were difficult to climb.
"I really can't."
She answered bluntly. Doctor He sighed and looked disappointed. Lin Chuntao said, "I can't do any of the three things."
Doctor He shook his head: "You just don't like it."
"I just said it casually. If you don't want to learn it, forget it." He didn't wait for Lin Chuntao to reply before saying, "Come here and let me take your pulse."
Lin Chuntao did not refuse. He quickly went over and sat down. The old man took her pulse and wrote a new prescription for her.
"Drink for a while, it's much better now."
Lin Chuntao nodded and thanked him, "Then I'll take the medicine back with me."
The old man gave her some medicine and told her, "Drink the rest before this."
Lin Chuntao agreed and counted the money.
After Aunt Guizhi fed Lin Shuilian a bowl of porridge, Doctor He took her pulse again and let them go after confirming that there was nothing serious.
When they left the city gate, it was already past 3:00 PM.
Fortunately, Aunt Guizhi brought out the quilt after the fight with Lin Shuilian's mother-in-law, and it happened to be used to cover Lin Shuilian.
Aunt Guizhi led the mule, while Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying walked behind.
"Chun Tao, I'll give you the money when we get home." Aunt Guizhi said as she walked away.
Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Shuilian on the mule cart, her face pale with exhaustion. This matter was just over, and there were still many things waiting for her.
"Auntie, there's no rush."
Now that she is pulling the mule cart with her daughter home, Aunt Guizhi still feels a little scared.
If he hadn't met Lin Chuntao on the way and asked her to take his daughter directly to the county town and wait for her to bring the child home before returning to the county town, he would not know whether he could have saved the child or not.
She was extremely grateful to Lin Chuntao.
Along the way, she was anxious and flustered, but Lin Chuntao was calm and composed. She recalled the disaster that happened to the Lin family. The officials came to arrest people. It was raining heavily that day, and Lin Chuntao was just as calm in arresting her three younger sisters.
At that time, she only felt pity for the sisters. Only now did she realize that the girl behind her, who was younger than her own daughter, was already an adult and could even take on more responsibilities than an adult.
Thinking about her poor daughter again, she felt infinite regret in her heart. The child could not speak, and she and the child's father only wanted to find a good family for her. They never thought of keeping her by their side. That was the family they carefully selected, but they still ruined the child like this.
If I had thought it through earlier, my child wouldn't have suffered so much.
Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying helped send Lin Shuilian to Aunt Guizhi's house.
The women in the village knew that Aunt Guizhi had gone to see Lin Shuilian. Now that they saw her back and in a bad mood, they all looked curiously at the mule cart behind, but seeing that her expression was really not right, they did not ask any curious gossip questions.
Aunt Guizhi pulled the mule cart straight into the house. Seeing her granddaughter lying on the cart, the old lady exclaimed, "What happened? How did it get like this?"
Lin Shan also rushed over from the courtyard wall, pointing at his daughter and gesturing frantically to Aunt Guizhi. Aunt Guizhi's eyes instantly filled with tears as she looked at him. She gritted her teeth and said, "Your daughter was bullied by that beast!"
Uncle Lin Shan was so angry that he turned around in circles. Finally, he grabbed a sickle and was about to rush out, but Pei Ying grabbed him and held him back. He whispered, "Uncle, my sister's health is more important. Let's talk after she gets better."
Lin Shuilian has already been brought home. With her parents around, it would be inappropriate to ask Pei Ying to carry her into the house.
Aunt Guizhi called Uncle Linshan to carry the person in and settle her down. Aunt Guizhi then told Linshan what had happened. When they came out, both the couple's eyes were red. The old lady stood in the yard looking at Lin Chuntao hopelessly. Before she could ask, Lin Chuntao said, "Sixth Grandma, don't worry, Sister Shuilian is fine."
After sending them home, Lin Chuntao and the others were ready to go home.
Aunt Guizhi hurriedly asked her to wait a moment and went back to the house to get some money. She took out six hundred coins. Lin Chuntao said there was no rush and she could give it to her later.
Aunt Guizhi said she had the money handy and asked her to take it back. Lin Chuntao didn't hesitate any longer. She counted the money and found that Aunt Guizhi had even included the money for the cakes. Lin Chuntao took out all the money and only took the money for the medicine and the red envelope for the midwife.
Aunt Guizhi refused to accept it and forced it on her: "You child, you and Xiao Pei have helped me a lot, why should I ask you to pay for the cakes? Take it."
Lin Chuntao ran away without taking it. Aunt Guizhi shouted helplessly: "Why are you running away, girl? I still want to go with you to bring those two children back."
"Aunt, you are busy. We will bring the two children to you later."
Aunt Guizhi shook her head. When she went there, the beast was beating her daughter. The two children were so scared that they huddled in a corner. On the way, she gave the beast to Lin Chunxing to bring back. Aunt Guizhi thought that the children would be worried, so she brought him over earlier.
When they got home, Lin Duoer was playing with the two children in the yard and they already knew people.
Seeing Aunt Guizhi coming, he stood up fearfully and wiped his hands behind him before timidly calling out, "Grandma."
Aunt Guizhi felt very distressed when she saw the child like this. She walked over and pulled the child up, and thanked Lin Chunxing. Lin Chunxing hurriedly said, "You're welcome, Auntie. We had a great afternoon."
Aunt Guizhi looked at the two children, then said to Lin Chuntao, "Chuntao, bring your sisters home for dinner tonight."
Lin Chuntao said, "Aunt, please don't be too busy. Take care of Sister Shuilian first. We'll eat after she gets better."
Mainly, she wanted to thank Lin Chuntao and the others for their help, otherwise Aunt Guizhi would not have the energy to cook today. After Lin Chuntao said that, she agreed.
Since we are so close, we can have a meal anytime and there is no need to rush.
After seeing off Aunt Guizhi, Lin Chunxing asked Lin Chuntao, "How is Sister Shuilian?"
"The baby in my belly is gone." Lin Chuntao said.
Lin Chunxing's eyes widened: "Why?"
Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer beside her also looked at her curiously. Pei Ying went into the house to change clothes. After changing clothes, she came out and took the basin to the river to wash.
After watching Pei Ying leave, Lin Chuntao said to the three of them, "I don't know why, but when we got to the clinic, the doctor tried to save her. He gave her acupuncture and gave her some ginseng to suck on. But the doctor said the baby was already gone."
There are many unexpected events during pregnancy itself. Even with modern medicine, some people have fetal movement one day and no fetal heartbeat the next day. There is no sign and nothing can be done. What's more, in this era, it should not be the first time that Lin Shuilian was beaten like that. It is impossible to say whether she was injured by that beast or by the embryo itself.
Facing her sisters' bewildered looks, Lin Chuntao said solemnly, "You're still young. I wanted to wait until you got married before telling you, but I encountered something like this today, so I have to tell you. Birthing a baby is a great thing, but it also comes with risks. Just like Sister Shuilian today, the baby in her belly died before it was fully developed. Naturally, it couldn't be left in the belly, it had to be taken out. The doctor prescribed medicine and hired a midwife to make it happen. It was as painful as giving birth, and she almost died."
"When you grow up and get married, don't get pregnant and have children if you haven't made up your mind."
Lin Duoer was still young and didn't know much. She only knew that if her sister said no, then she couldn't do it, so she just nodded.
Lin Chunxing must have understood something, her cheeks flushed and she felt a little uncomfortable. Only Lin Chunhe was left as the reckless one. She looked at Lin Chuntao and asked, "Sister, will you grow a baby after you get married? Then does that mean you won't grow a baby if you don't get married?"
Lin Chuntao was stunned. Only then did she realize that sex education was easier said than done.
She should be able to explain Lin Chunhe and Lin Chunxing clearly, but Lin Duoer, should she say it or not?
Just as I was worrying, I heard a shout from outside.
"Duo'er! Duo'er, are you home?"
Lin Duoer heard the shouting and said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, it's Meng Yue calling me."
Lin Chuntao said, "You go."
After Lin Duoer finished speaking, she ran out. Lin Chuntao heard Meng Yue and Lin Duoer say, "I'm going to pick some wild purple fruits. Do you want to come?"
Of course Lin Duoer wanted to go. She was lively and active all day long. Upon hearing this, she ran to the door and said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, Meng Yue and I are going to pick purple fruits."
"Yeah." Lin Chuntao responded and then reminded: "Don't run too far, you have to come back before dark."
"good!"
Lin Duoer ran away, and only Lin Chunxing and Lin Chunhe were left in front of her. She had no more scruples and told them the physiological structure of men and women and how babies are born.
Lin Chunxing's cheeks became redder and redder, while Lin Chunhe's face was stunned and full of surprise.
Lin Chuntao said: "Nowadays, many people don't pay attention to contraception, so they always get pregnant again after giving birth."
"If you don't do that, then you won't get pregnant, right?" Lin Chunhe asked.
Lin Chuntao nodded. "That's true in principle, but it's normal for couples to have an intimate relationship. It's not like they can just avoid pregnancy. There are goat intestines that men can wear and can also be used for contraception."
Lin Chunhe uttered an "eh" sound, and Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I'm just explaining this to you guys, so you can understand it. You're both still very young, so it's fine as long as you know it in your heart."
The two sisters nodded. They had never heard of what Lin Chuntao had just told them. So this is how it was.
But they don’t know, so how does the sister know?
"Sister, what you told us is what mother told you?" Lin Chunxing asked.
Lin Chuntao's expression froze. She looked at the two sisters in front of her. They would live together for a long time in the future. As long as they lived together, they would slowly discover the differences between themselves and them, as well as the people around them.
She remembered that Lin Chunxing had given her the same look several times. She must have had doubts in her heart, but she never asked.
Since she asked today, Lin Chuntao simply thought of a reason.
"no."
Lin Chunxing's expression froze when she heard Lin Chuntao's answer. She only heard Lin Chuntao continue, "When I jumped into the lake, I was on the verge of death and entered a bizarre world. That's where I learned it."
"This isn't a good thing. I can't explain it, and I don't want to tell anyone. You are my dearest sisters. If I had been a little slower that day, I might have gone to the underworld and never come back."
After she finished speaking, the two sisters' eyes dimmed, as if they were back to that day.
Thinking about what happened that day, they could not ask any other questions and just nodded.
Lin Chuntao said, "Don't tell anyone about this, not even Duo'er."
"Okay." The two sisters replied in unison.
After the words fell, the courtyard fell silent. The two sisters were in a low mood. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Don't be unhappy. Aren't we all fine now? This can be considered a blessing in disguise."
"What's a blessing in disguise?"
Pei Ying came back. When he asked this question, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I was just telling my sisters about Sister Shuilian. I wonder what Aunt Guizhi and the others are going to do."
Based on Pei Ying's understanding of this kind of thing, he estimated that in a few days, Lin Shuilian's husband's family would come to the house to make peace and apologize, and then take her back home. Especially those with brothers would feel that a sister who married out should not stay in her parents' home for long.
But Aunt Guizhi has no son at home, so it depends on what they think.
"It depends on what Aunt Guizhi and the others want to do."
Lin Chuntao said, "Aunt Guizhi and the others don't have any children around them. In my opinion, it would be better for Sister Shuilian to stay at home."
Aunt Guizhi's house is in the village, surrounded by people, so everyone will know about any little movement.
Seeing Aunt Guizhi bringing back two children, they all said, "Are these Shuilian's kids? They've grown so big."
Aunt Guizhi managed to respond with a little strength and then took the child home.
At this time, at Aunt Guizhi's house, the old lady went into the house to see Lin Shuilian. Seeing her haggard and weak appearance, the old lady became upset. She ran to grab an old hen and handed it to Lin Shan.
"Go and kill him."
Lin Shan took the old hen and carried it into the house to get a knife. The old lady gave him half a bowl of water to collect the chicken's blood. After taking the blood away, she went to get a pot and took out two eggs. She boiled some water, cracked the two eggs into it, and poached them. When they were cooked, she scooped them into a bowl, then scooped two spoonfuls of honey into it and stirred it, then brought it to Lin Shuilian.
Lin Shuilian gestured a few times, and the old lady said, "Grandma will feed you, you can drink some water."
When Aunt Guizhi came back with the child, her husband was perming chicken feathers and the old lady was feeding Lin Shuilian sugar-coated eggs by the bed.
Seeing the two children, the old lady held the bowl and said to Aunt Guizhi, "I only cooked two. Go and cook two more for the children."
"Grandma, we don't want to eat."
After Tian Hu finished speaking, Zhao'er beside him also said: "Grandma, the aunt fried some for us to eat at noon."
Aunt Guizhi asked, "Have you shared Chunxing's scrambled eggs?"
The two children nodded. "She also fried some meat. She gave my brother and me a lot to eat."
The old lady and Lin Shan were startled when they heard the children's words. Aunt Guizhi said to the two children, "The one who brought you back today is Second Aunt Chunxing, and the one who accompanied Grandma to send Mom to the county town is First Aunt. They are both very good people."
The two children nodded when they heard this, and Aunt Guizhi asked, "Are you hungry? If so, grandma will go and cook. If not, we can eat later."
"Grandma, we're not hungry."
Aunt Guizhi said, "Then you can play in the yard."
After the child agreed, she went into the house to see Lin Shuilian. There was still some sugar water and half an egg left in the bowl. Aunt Guizhi said, "Mother, let me do it."
The old lady didn't argue. She handed the bowl and the small bamboo spoon to Aunt Guizhi, and she stood by and watched.
After Aunt Guizhi continued to feed her two mouthfuls, Lin Shuilian shook her head.
She coaxed, "Then drink two more sips of sugar water."
Lin Shuilian only drank two sips of the sugar water and stopped. She gestured that she was a little sleepy. Aunt Guizhi asked, "Do you have a stomachache?"
"If it hurts badly, tell Mom."
Lin Shuilian shook her head and gestured that she wanted to go to sleep. Aunt Guizhi pinched the corner of her quilt, didn't disturb her anymore, and left the room with the bowl.
The old lady followed Aunt Guizhi, and she still didn't know what had happened to the child.
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