This was the first time Ah Mian had heard this story. She hadn't been exposed to much entertainment, so even though it was a very simple tragedy, she was still very saddened by it.
Instead, I kept wondering why she jumped into the lake.
Meng Jing said, "How would I know? That's how it's portrayed in the play."
The next day, when A-Mian went into town, she went around to the side of the teahouse and listened without spending a penny.
Today's storyteller was telling the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. She arrived just in time, having only just begun the first episode, and listened with great interest. She listened to this for three or four days straight, and one day when she returned home, her eyes were swollen like walnuts, looking quite pitiful.
"How could it end like this? They all died, and then they turned into butterflies."
"Who wrote this play? Why can't they have a happy ending? If I knew that person, I would throw several big stones at his window."
Amian sat on the wooden stool, holding her head in her hands, "'In heaven, we wish to be birds flying wing to wing; on earth, we wish to be branches of some tree.' Meng Chijian, do you even know what love is?"
Meng Chijian, chopping firewood, smiled wryly at the words: "I don't understand, explain it to me."
She stammered for a long time before finally saying, "Anyway, it's a really dramatic thing. People jump into the lake one minute, then cry and laugh the next, and then both of them die and turn into butterflies! Never mind, you wouldn't understand even if I told you, it's really touching."
A-Mian couldn't explain it clearly, so she simply stood up, shuffling along in her half-finished straw sandals, and went back to the inner room for a nap.
As I was sitting on the edge of the bed, I suddenly saw a pair of exquisitely woven straw sandals.
She took it out and saw that it was decorated with a few small flowers. She tried it on her feet and found that it was the perfect size.
Amian was so happy she was practically rolling around on the bed for a while before finally settling down to sleep.
A few days later, when she went to town to sell vegetables, she heard about the county magistrate's daughter again.
That was a woman named Mo Man.
"Sigh, I really don't know what's wrong. Could it be that I've been possessed by an evil spirit?"
"Who knows, there might be water ghosts in that lake..."
Mo Man was a very polite woman who had been a vegetarian for many years. After being rescued, she changed her usual crying and whining nature and could not live without meat at every meal!
At first, they ate fish and chicken, but gradually they started eating lamb and pork.
What else could this be but being possessed by an evil spirit?!
It is said that a ritual was quietly held at the magistrate's residence. The shaman danced energetically for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, and Mo Man remained unfazed even when he was sprayed with a mouthful of chicken blood.
Amian actually met this extraordinary person near a pharmacy not far from the street corner.
Mo Man was very fair-skinned and quite tall, but she was still rather thin.
Unlike other young ladies who ride in carriages past people like Ah Mian, she sat in a makeshift shed, her face covered with a strange-looking white cloth.
The white cloth had two thin strings sewn on, which could be hung behind her ears to cover her nose and mouth.
Next to her was a huge piece of paper with four large, flamboyant characters on it.
Four or five burly servants stood to the side.
It was quite a spectacle, and no one knew what she was selling at her stall, but no one dared to approach.
Amian mustered her courage and asked, "What words are written on this paper?"
A servant glanced at her and replied listlessly, "It's a free clinic for women."
She had heard of free clinics.
In theory, the duties of a county magistrate include maintaining public order, educating the people, and improving their livelihoods. Therefore, if the autumn harvest is poor, the city will organize porridge relief, and if the harvest is even better, they will hold free clinics in conjunction with pharmacies from time to time.
These free clinics were just makeshift sheds, open to the elements, so only men would go there. Even if they didn't take any medicine, it was good to hear the doctor say a few words.
I've never heard of women providing free medical consultations.
Women often face greater difficulties when seeking medical care, as doctors are men. Married women, in particular, are reluctant to undress in front of strange men, no matter how strong the local customs may be.
Not to mention the many times when even talking about them would make one feel extremely ashamed.
Amian's mother was like that. When she was little, her mother often had chest pains and said, "It feels like there are small stones inside." But how could she tell the doctor about such an illness? Besides, even if she did, there probably wouldn't be any cure.
Later, my mother started coughing frequently, even coughing up blood, and eventually she even had difficulty breathing.
Thinking about these things made A-Mian feel weak all over and she couldn't even eat. She thought aimlessly that if her mother were still alive, she would definitely bring her to see this, even if those servants looked so fierce and menacing, she wouldn't mind being beaten up.
"Has Miss Mo lost her mind?! Being a doctor is not child's play; we mustn't let someone die!"
"That's right. I've never heard of her studying medicine before. If she really wants to do good deeds, she should donate some incense to a temple!"
This is the talk of some prominent people in the city.
"What's going on here? So many white cloths, whose family is holding a funeral?" This is someone who can't read.
"Mother, Mother, I'm scared, I'm scared of the fierce-looking servants..." A child cried and pulled his mother away when he saw the fierce-looking servants.
In short, Mo Man's first free clinic didn't even have a single patient after a whole day.
But when she took off her mask, her face showed no regret or frustration, only calm.
This is perhaps the basic skill that comes from being a doctor for ten years.
Mo Man's story is quite simple. She was born into an ordinary working-class family and was the only daughter in the family. Only her maternal grandfather had worked as a barefoot doctor. After taking the college entrance examination, she applied for medical school and began her long medical career.
Contrary to popular belief, she wasn't particularly interested in people, but rather in the act of healing itself. Moreover, she always wore a sour expression that seemed to say, "Keep away, strangers, and acquaintances!"
Therefore, she felt somewhat out of place in life, and despite being middle-aged, she was still unmarried and had only average relationships at work.
In the eyes of the patients, Mo Man's appointments were always hard to get, and she didn't seem to have a kind heart; she was rather aloof.
No one knew that Dr. Mo enjoyed listening to mindless novels during his commute.
What about those stories like "My family bullied and humiliated me in my previous life, but now that I'm reborn, I'm going to take back everything that belongs to me"?
What kind of story is this: "On the first day my real daughter arrived at my house, my fiancé wanted to cut out my heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys to save her"?
Although the doctors and surgeries in the show are completely unbelievable, Mo Man thinks it's a very interesting pastime.
She looked remarkably calm and composed.
In reality, he was screaming inside—
Do you know how hard it is to get an appointment with me outside?! A regular outpatient appointment costs 90 yuan!! And now that it's free, nobody's coming!!
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