Seeing Lin Jianguo blushing so badly, Jiang's mother stepped forward and pulled him, saying, "Aren't you going to hurry up and leave? Don't delay things."
The women who had been surrounding them dispersed, and Lin Jianguo quickly carried his things to the oxcart, no longer daring to speak. It is said that one woman is equivalent to five hundred sparrows, so this must be several thousand sparrows.
Once the oxcart was far away, the people who had been surrounding her changed their tune: "Hmph, what's with all the arrogance? Look at her, there are several of us here, and she didn't even say hello. She acts like someone owes her money."
"That's right, look at Jianguo, he's so afraid of his wife. You see, when his wife stands next to him, he huddles up like a quail, hahaha."
“She’s not a man at all. If she were my daughter-in-law, I would have slapped her across the face. Look how tough my son is. He can make his wife do whatever he wants, and she wouldn’t dare to do the opposite.”
Others who overheard this scoffed inwardly. "His son is so good," they thought, "he beats his wife so badly she's covered in bruises, not a single good spot on her body. Before the New Year, she couldn't take the daily beatings anymore and tried to drown herself."
Fortunately, she was discovered and her life was saved. Her son was so angry that he hit her with a stick, but he didn't notice and hit her on the head. After that, she became somewhat mentally impaired.
She was a pitiful woman. With no one left in her family, she was no match for their mistreatment. They would often say in private, "She used to be such a good woman, so beautiful and hardworking, and now they've ruined her."
…………
Er Ya was jostled around so much on the oxcart. Every time she rode in the oxcart, it felt like riding a bumpy car, so bumpy that it felt like it could shake the food she had just eaten out of her mouth.
When she arrived at the market, she was incredibly envious of the bicycles people were riding by. She vowed that when she had money, she would definitely buy a bicycle herself.
However, she still doesn't have that much money. Her family's life is only slightly better than before, but it's still not as good as the lives of people in the town. She must work hard to earn money so that her family can live the life of a big city.
Upon arriving at the market, they first had to sell the medicinal herbs they were carrying so they could buy other things. Lin Jianguo led the mother and daughter directly to Qingrentang.
When they got inside, they saw that Old He was seeing patients. Er Ya ran up to him and said sweetly, "Grandpa, do you remember me? We came here to sell ginseng last time."
Old He, who was tidying up the medicinal herbs, looked up and smiled: "It's you, girl! How could I not remember you? You can't find many clever and mischievous girls like you in this town! What? Did you get something good again today?"
Er Ya showed him the medicinal herbs in the basket: "Grandpa, I picked these herbs from the mountain. Do you buy these here?"
Old He picked up a piece of Solomon's Seal, examined it, and found that its surface was soft and smooth, it had no hard core when pressed, and its color was yellowish-white. It was of good quality, so he offered a price of five yuan per jin (500 grams).
Er Ya quickly showed him the Gastrodia elata again. Old He glanced at it and said that wild Gastrodia elata was still very expensive, but the skin was damaged and the size was not very big. Er Ya thought to herself, how could it not be damaged? Those were all dug out one by one by Da Hei with his claws and then put together with his mouth.
Old He offered a price of twenty yuan per kilogram. Er Ya thought to herself that this was much more expensive than the Solomon's Seal she had dug up herself. It was just that this thing had no roots or leaves and was hard to find with the naked eye.
Old He asked the shop assistant to weigh the ingredients. The Solomon's Seal was 20 jin, which cost 100 yuan, and the Gastrodia elata was 11 jin, which cost 220 yuan. He then asked the shop assistant to bring over 320 yuan, which he gave to Lin Jianguo.
Lin Jianguo quickly took it and put it in his pocket. Now he wasn't as nervous as he was at first when he was handling these hundreds of dollars. It's something you have to practice a few more times to build up your courage.
Old He gave Er Ya a handful of dried hawthorn berries to eat as a snack. Er Ya then remembered that Jiang's mother hadn't had her pulse checked by anyone else since the last time she saw the village doctor. So she quickly asked Jiang's mother to sit down so that Old He could take a good look at her pulse. She wondered if there were any lingering effects from the fight.
Old He placed his hand on Jiang's mother's pulse, closed his eyes, and listened carefully.
After about ten seconds, Old He stroked his beard and said with a smile, "The pulse is neither too strong nor too weak, with a steady, calm, and powerful rhythm. Usually, only boys have such a strong pulse."
He looked at Er Ya and said, "Congratulations, little girl. In a few months, you'll have a little brother."
Er Ya jumped around the room excitedly: "Great! I knew it! Mom must be carrying a little brother."
Seeing Er Ya's excited expression, Old Master He's eyes also lit up with a smile. He then looked at Jiang's mother's face and asked, "I noticed that you were quite weak before. Do you sometimes experience abdominal pain and slight bleeding?"
Jiang's mother nodded repeatedly. She had indeed experienced these symptoms recently, but she thought it was because she was a little tired from the last fight and didn't take it seriously.
Upon hearing this, Er Ya became anxious: "Grandpa, will my mother be alright?"
Old Master He patted Er Ya's head: "It's alright. Luckily, it was discovered early. I'll prescribe some mild medicine for your mother to recuperate. She'll be fine after drinking it for a month or two. It's good that you reminded her early and took her pulse, otherwise your mother might have miscarried."
Upon hearing that there was a possibility of miscarriage, Lin Jianguo became extremely anxious and repeatedly instructed Old He to prescribe plenty of good medicine for recuperation, not to worry about the cost, as they had the money.
So, he got another month's worth of traditional Chinese medicine to help Jiang's mother recover, which cost fifty yuan. Even then, Old He gave him a discount. Lin Jianguo didn't care about the cost; his wife and child's lives were more important now.
Old He said to the family, "After you finish this month's worth of medicine, come back again. I'll take your pulse again and decide whether to continue the medicine based on the situation. Don't worry, this medicine will ensure your mother is healthy and gives birth to your little brother safely. It will also help to restore the balance in her body that was previously deficient. Don't worry."
Er Ya was relieved. After thanking Old He, she arranged to come again in a month.
Seeing that it was getting late, I quickly said goodbye to Grandpa He: "Goodbye, Grandpa. We have to go now. Next time, I'll treat you to my mother's delicious cooking. It's so fragrant and tasty."
Old Master He watched Er Ya leave with a kind expression, secretly regretting that he didn't have such a well-behaved granddaughter. His two rascals had given him three more sons. Sigh…
To be continued!
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