Chapter 170 Lower Limit
After seeing Shunzi and Yingniang off, it was almost time for Li Sanniang to finish her shift. After bowing to the doctors, Li Sanniang carried her medical kit and walked out of the clinic with Qiuxiang.
Sure enough, Song Dalang was already waiting at the door with his donkey cart.
"Eldest brother Song, go to Xiang Gui Ji first. I promised my daughter I'd bring some sweets home."
"Hey, Third Sister, sit down, let's go to Xiang Gui Ji."
When I arrived at Xiang Gui Ji, I asked the young waiter, and he recommended a new and very popular type of candy.
Looking at the candied hawthorn, Li San Niang wondered where this person from another time had come from to make this kind of food.
"Third Sister hasn't been here for a while. These are some newly made hawthorn candies. Some are coated with sesame seeds, some are pitted and filled with walnuts, and some are filled with dates. Would you like to try some, Sister?"
As he spoke, the waiter handed a small plate to Li San Niang, on which were scattered a few hawthorns coated with sugar syrup, each with a different filling that the waiter had mentioned earlier.
Li San Niang used a toothpick she had on hand to Qiu Xiang, who was surprised that Li San Niang would give her a date-filled pastry.
Li San Niang took a hawthorn candy ball coated with sesame seeds. When she ate it, she could tell that the hawthorn was wild-grown in the mountains, with a sour taste, but it was sweet and sour with the outer sugar coating.
"how?"
"tasty."
Qiu Xiang couldn't explain exactly how delicious it was, so Li San Niang didn't press her. She turned to the young waiter and said with a smile, "Your family is quick to come up with new ideas. Give me ten of these sesame-coated ones, and three each of these stuffed with walnuts and dates."
Upon hearing that Li San Niang had placed such a large order, the young shop assistant's already smiling face immediately broke into an even wider grin, his mouth practically stretching to the back of his ears.
Finally, when they walked out of Xiang Gui Ji's gate, Qiu Niang snatched all the candied hawthorns that Li San Niang had bought.
When they returned to the Li family, and Song Dalang was about to take Song Xiaoniang home, Li Sanniang handed her a candied hawthorn covered in sesame seeds.
"Third Miss, please don't give it to this girl. We've already favored the lady; how can she be so ungrateful?"
"It's just a candy, why are you so ungrateful? There's plenty of time in the future. Alright, no need to say more."
Li San Niang squatted down and said to Song Xiao Niang, "Thank you so much, Song Xiao Niang, for carrying the dewdrops for me today. You've worked hard. Here, please have some candy."
As a young woman, Song Xiaoniang naturally wanted to eat it, but she looked at Song Dalang first. Seeing that Song Dalang did not object, she accepted the candied hawthorn from Li Sanniang and said, "Thank you, madam. I will come again tomorrow."
Li San Niang patted Song Xiao Niang's head and said to Song Da Lang, "Brother Song, be careful on the road."
After seeing off Song Dalang and Song Xiaoniang, Li Sanniang picked up Luzhu'er, who had come out with them earlier, and asked, "Luzhu'er, were you a good girl at home today? Did you miss your mother?"
Li Erxiong, who had just followed them out, smiled helplessly at Qiuxiang, picked up the medical kit that Li Sanniang had put on the ground, and tried to take the candy from Qiuxiang's hand, but Qiuxiang refused.
Meanwhile, Li San Niang, who was walking ahead, was still teasing Lu Zhu'er, saying, "Ah, so good, you even helped Song Xiao Niang collect medicinal herbs? Did you miss your mother? How much does Lu Zhu'er miss her mother?"
Dewdrop spread her arms to measure a distance, and Li Sanniang touched Dewdrop's nose with her own and asked, "Oh, you miss your mother that much?"
Dewdrop nodded. "Then Mother, will you give Dewdrop some candy?"
Mother Li scooped Dewdrop out of Li San Niang's arms, "My dear Dewdrop, you can eat the candy after you finish eating, okay?"
Li's mother glared at Li San Niang, thinking that she was just causing trouble. It was already dinnertime, and she still wanted to give the child candy. Was she not going to eat dinner?
After dinner, the family gathered in the courtyard to enjoy the candied hawthorns that Li San Niang had brought back. Xiao Si Lang ate quickly and stared at Li San Lang's candied hawthorns. Li San Lang couldn't bear it and wanted to give him the two he had left.
When Li Erxiong saw this, he cleared his throat. Li Sanlang glanced at Xiao Silang with a helpless look before taking a satisfied bite of the candied hawthorn.
Li San Niang also told everyone that when she was on duty today, someone specially asked her to examine her.
After eating two pills, Li's mother put them down and said to Li San Niang, "I've been listening to you lately. When I'm delivering babies for various families, I often mention that you've become a female doctor. I've also told people that you're practicing medicine at the Third Pharmacy in Yongpingfang. I wonder if anyone will hear about this and come to you for treatment?"
“Mother, those who want to come have come. It’s alright, I’ve only been practicing for a few days, I believe things will get better in the future. I asked you to contact the midwives in the various wards, is there any progress?”
Mother Li took a sip of tea to cleanse herself of the sweetness before shaking her head: "I've spoken to all the midwives I know and asked others to help me. But only that young woman from our neighborhood, she agreed, but hasn't come to inquire. I guess the rumors you spread in the city are still having some effect."
"Third Sister, don't be impatient. After you've been practicing medicine for a while, your reputation will naturally spread. At that time, it won't be us inviting them; they'll be begging to come to us."
Li San Niang thought about it and realized that what Li Da Sao said made sense. It was because her status as a female doctor was not high enough, she was not strong enough, and she did not have a good reputation, which naturally made people hesitate to approach her.
After a good night's sleep, Li San Niang has been meditating for half an hour every night before bed. In addition, with the medicine prescribed by her father and Qiu Xiang sleeping next door, Li San Niang has not had nightmares for several days.
Li San Niang hoped that this good sleep could continue, but she also knew in her heart that there was still a knife hanging over her head, and the mastermind behind it would definitely not let her go. Now she just didn't know when they would make their move.
Since she started working, Li Sanniang has been getting up early every day to run around the yard with the four little ones to stretch their muscles.
She was also thinking that once the injuries on her left shoulder and arm were fully healed, she would use the small stone lock that Brother Li had already exchanged for her to practice her strength.
Just like yesterday, I arrived at the clinic entrance a quarter of an hour late.
This morning, Li San Niang didn't see a single patient; she spent the entire morning studying the pharmacopoeia.
However, I did witness a domestic affair.
He was Dr. Li's patient, an old man who had broken his leg, being pushed to the clinic by three young men on a cart.
After examining the injury, Dr. Li advised immobilizing it and allowing the patient to rest at home, and prescribed herbal medicine.
When it came time to pay the bill, the three young men couldn't scrape together the money. In the end, Dr. Li said he would waive his consultation fee and reduced the cost of one dose of medicine, which was just enough to make up the difference.
As the old man was about to be carried out of the clinic, he suddenly said he would not be treated anymore and asked his youngest son to return the medicine he had prepared and take back the copper coins.
These medicine packets, all neatly packaged and mixed together, are impossible to return once they've left the pharmacy counter.
This is standard practice. If medicine packets that have left the medicine cabinet can be returned, how can we guarantee that they won't be mixed with other medicinal materials? And we also can't guarantee that there won't be anything added to the returned medicine packets.
This medicine is meant to be taken orally to treat illnesses and save lives. How could we possibly act so recklessly?
Therefore, the young apprentice naturally spoke up and said that the medicine packet could not be returned.
The old man was about to throw a tantrum and make a scene. His young apprentice was about to go inside to find Doctor Gao to save the day when the old man's eldest son suddenly knelt down in front of him.
With a mournful face and choking back tears, he said, "Father, it's my fault for being so useless that I can't even afford medicine. Father, stop making a fuss. I'll go and earn it, I'll go and earn it. I'll be able to get it, I'll be able to get it."
In the end, the old man was carried out of the door by the young man carrying the medicine bag.
After watching this scene, Li San Niang felt somewhat saddened and thought of a saying: "This is the best of times, this is the worst of times."
Every era will always have a lower class; all we can do is set a good minimum standard.
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