☆, Chapter 197: So disgusting it made my leftovers come out.
Zhou Mujiao was providing free medical services along the way. After traveling 300 li outside the capital, she started to fall behind Zhao Yunjing's team. So she simply let Physician Liu stay with the team while she led the others to provide free medical services in each village and town according to the original plan.
With the large group gone, and mostly women, the danger level increased dramatically. When Zhou Mujiao divided the people into three groups, each group was seen by outsiders as delicious prey, lambs to the slaughter.
Qili Village is a village 20 kilometers away from the official road. It has more than 400 villagers and is considered a relatively large village in the vicinity. However, because it is far from the official road and even further from the county town, Qili Village is particularly poor. The grain promotion officers started promoting grain from the villages next to the official road. Therefore, although the promotion officers arrived in Qili Town before Zhou Mujiao and others, they had not yet been able to spare any manpower to go to Qili Village.
The medical team would go to the most remote and poorest places first. After learning that there was a shortage of promotion officers, Zhou Mujiao volunteered to take on the task of promoting autumn planting in Qili Village.
Her promotional method was simple and direct. First, she used the gimmick of free medical treatment to gather all the villagers together, and then she talked about receiving free rice seeds and the fact that the imperial court would provide free support for autumn planting.
The villagers' reaction to the autumn planting was lukewarm, but they became more enthusiastic when they learned that there were free rice seeds to receive. When they heard that the imperial court would provide support, someone asked, "Miss Zhou, you said that if we plant these crops according to your instructions, the imperial court will provide support. What kind of support is it? Is it silver or grain? Let's say grain, because grain can fill our stomachs, and silver doesn't last long!"
"You didn't starve to death even though the court didn't give you any money before, did you? I want money! I can't find a wife without money. I need a wife, I need to leave a lineage for my family!"
"Yes, yes, I need money too! My daughter is getting married next year, and with money I can buy her a bolt of cloth as a dowry! With a dowry, which of her in-laws will dare to look down on her?"
"I need money too! Half of my house has collapsed. With money, I can build a new one!"
"Why build a house and add a dowry! Don't you even ask how much silver the imperial court is willing to give!" The village head of Qili Village stepped forward. "Girl, is this autumn planting you're talking about really ordered by the imperial court? What kind of support does the imperial court provide? How much? You're a young lady who said you came to give us free medical consultations, but now you're talking about autumn planting. I think you're a fraud."
Zhou Mujiao smiled faintly: "The current emperor is benevolent and loves his people like his own children. This autumn planting is being promoted by this year's top three scholars, who are leading the team. The promotion officials have already arrived in Qili Town, but Qili Village is relatively remote and hasn't come here yet. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to Qili Town now to see for yourself. As for what kind of support the court will provide, that depends on whether you can grow the crops and how many you can grow. Eighteen, have everyone line up, we'll begin the free clinic."
Eighteen is eight years old this year. After she no longer had to worry about food and clothing, she began to grow normally. She has a round face and a chubby figure. She wears two buns and has a friendly smile on her face. She is very likable. Even those people in Qili Village who always scold girls as a waste of money can't help but tease her. Eighteen is eloquent and can make everyone smile with just a few words.
She could also conduct a consultation and write medical records. No one could judge whether her handwriting was good or bad. Just like her, every character was round and cute, so everyone looked at her with even more affection.
She's blessed with good looks. Although her clothes aren't brand new, they're without a single patch. She can read and write, and she can also diagnose and write medical records. She's so capable at such a young age. What will she be like when she grows up? Maybe she can become a female physician in the palace and treat the Empress Dowager and the Empress. If she accidentally cures the illness of some noble lady in the palace, she'll be living a life of luxury from then on!
For a moment, everyone looked at Shiba as if she were a gold ingot, and they all thought how wonderful it would be if this little girl were their own.
Eighteen was a sensitive girl. She immediately sensed the change in the villagers' emotions and thoughts. Although she was still smiling and didn't show anything, she had stopped taking pulses and called a man to maintain order.
She ran to Zhou Mujiao's side and whispered, "Sister-in-law, we have to leave immediately..."
Zhou Mujiao frowned immediately upon hearing this, and when she raised her eyebrows again, she met several pairs of greedy eyes. Seeing her looking over, two of them even winked at her, trying to force their way in.
k, she felt so nauseous that she almost threw up her dinner from the night before.
If it were just disgust, she could still bear it, but there were several of them where she could already feel a strong sense of predation. Most of them were laughing and joking, and although they were using their dialect, Zhou Mujiao could guess a lot of it by guessing and calculating.
They were commenting on whether her figure was good enough to have a son, how many sons she could have, and whether she could still make money by seeing doctors after having a son. They also said that she was so beautiful that she shouldn't be monopolized by one family, but should be shared by all the men in the village. They even planned who would be with her on the first and fifteenth of the month, and even discussed how they would forcibly take her home for dinner and then add sleeping pills to her water to make it a fait accompli!
Zhou Mujiao was so angry that she trembled all over!
She didn't want to generalize, but the saying "bad people come from poor and remote areas" has been passed down from ancient times to the present, which shows that there is some truth to it.
But she couldn't turn around and leave! If she turned around and left, those people would immediately swarm up, and she only had two men, Amu and Atu, with her. These two men couldn't hold them off at all, and they weren't familiar with the terrain of Qili Village. Even if Amu and Atu risked their lives to win her and Shiba a chance to escape, where could she run to?
"Amu!"
Zhou Mujiao called out, "Don't just stand there, hurry up and register the information of each household's residents."
Then he called the village headman over and said, "You must be the village headman here. I see that the villagers in our Qili Village are in a difficult situation, and the soil is quite poor, not yet ready for autumn planting. So, you help my people quickly compile a list of the villagers' information. When I get back tonight, I'll go find our promotion officer and ask him to distribute the subsidies to everyone so that they can buy fertilizer to fertilize the land."
"Get the subsidies out first?" the village head raised his voice. "Are you serious or not?"
"I might be lying, but the imperial promotion officer wouldn't lie. Promoting autumn planting is the project that the emperor values most right now. The village head will come to town with us later, and you can ask the promotion officer yourself then."
The village head shouted something at the group of bachelors, and their eyes lit up. Zhou Mujiao felt a chill in her heart because of their eerie gaze.
She pinched her fingers and said, "Alright, you can discuss who will go out with us later. Let's start the consultations now. After we finish today, I'll bring the medicinal herbs in tomorrow and teach you how to decoct them. Also, our Qili Village is too far from the city. If someone gets a sudden illness, they might not make it to the city and will probably die. So, I plan to stay here for a few more days to teach you to identify some common herbs and some first aid techniques. My sister, Shiba, can also teach you to read. Village head, could you help us tidy up two rooms today?"
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