The boy had finished examining one "patient" and, seeing that the remaining "patients" had all run out, he got up and came out as well. Seeing his mother squatting down to take the man's pulse, he couldn't help but coldly remind her, "Mother, in these days there are neither famines nor floods. A grown man like this suddenly falls down at our doorstep for no reason. Could he be trying to scam us?"
The man's lips twitched even more violently. Judging from those two voices, they were two little brats.
Why are you so sarcastic?
He was just running out of money for food and couldn't bear to spend his last bit of silver. He was so hungry that he lay here for a while.
The woman placed her fingertips on his pulse, released them after a moment, and then pulled the two children into the house, saying, "Qianqian, you were right, they really are trying to scam us. We don't need to pay them any mind."
The man thought he had met a living Buddha, but upon hearing this, his vision went black and he was about to faint completely.
But the next sentence made him sober up a bit more, "Wanwan, you did the right thing. You can't just pick up any patient. What if you pick up an ungrateful wretch..."
Then, with a "bang," the door slammed shut.
The women, realizing what was happening, went to knock on the door again, saying, "Hey, we haven't taken your pulses yet today!"
Of course, taking a pulse isn't important; what's important is getting some good fortune.
A woman's voice drifted over, "It's a day off today, let's go up the mountain to gather herbs."
Several aunties and old women, their faces darkening, immediately found a target for their anger, unleashing a torrent of abuse on the man lying on the ground: "What are you doing, you big, burly man, trying to stage an accident?! Get out of our fishing village right now!"
"That's right! You ruined the Divine Healer's mood, preventing us from even getting a share of the good fortune! You heartless bastard!"
"Pah! You have perfectly capable hands and feet, yet you don't go looking for work, instead you come here to cheat and swindle?! Did your mother not have a brain when she gave birth to you?"
A thought flashed through the man's mind: the divine healer's wife? Could he perhaps share in her good fortune?
He dared not faint again, so he quickly opened his eyes, his hands groping aimlessly in the air, his voice hoarse, "Where...am I? I...I...Aunties, please have mercy...I'm blind..."
"Pah! Who would believe that!" An auntie kicked him directly. "Even the miracle doctor couldn't tell you were blind, and you're trying to scam me?!"
The man quickly pulled out the last bit of silver from his waist. "No, no, my old ailment has really flared up again, and I can't see... I'm not trying to scam you. Could you ladies please give me a drink of water with this little bit of silver?"
This is the last bit of money I have left for food rations, and it hurts so much...
The aunt's eyes lit up, and she snatched the silver, biting it. "Hey, it's real! You just want a sip of water, right? Okay, you wait!"
Out of the corner of his eye, the man saw the woman quickly stuff the loose silver into her sleeve and turn away.
The remaining three aunties also came over, "Look at you, you're a tough guy. Do you still have any money? We have some sweet potato porridge at home!"
"Auntie has dried fish at home!"
"Get out of my way, all of you! What are sweet potato porridge and dried fish? I have white rice at home!"
Man: ...
The auntie who came first had already filled a ladle with water. "The water's here! Make way, everyone!"
The man was so drunk he almost fainted, but he managed to recover and slowly groped for the long stick on the ground. "My walking stick, where's my walking stick?"
The kind-hearted aunt shoved an indescribably ugly, withered branch into his hand. "Is this it?"
The man nodded frantically. Luckily, he had broken off a branch from a nearby tree to use as a walking stick when he came over, fearing he wouldn't be able to hold on.
Unexpectedly, this prop came in handy.
He stood up, leaning on his cane, his eyes glazed over, but his attitude was sincere. "Auntie, I'm not here to scam you. I just heard there's a miracle doctor around here, and I'd like to have my eyes checked... Please help me out!"
The auntie, having just received his money, was very enthusiastic. "Oh, I say, you've come to the right place! You wait here, I'll go talk to the miracle doctor!"
The man nodded with immense gratitude.
The other women, seeing that there was nothing for them to do, dispersed.
The aunt knocked for a long time but couldn't get the door of the bamboo house open. She came out and said regretfully, "Young man, the mother and her two children probably went out the back door to go up the mountain to gather herbs. They're not home right now."
The man then found a tree, slowly sat down, and said, "It's alright, I'll wait for them here."
The aunt nodded and said, "Alright, let me tell you, our miracle doctor wife is the kindest person. When she comes back, you should tell her about your eye ailment. Just now, who wouldn't think you were trying to extort money? Don't blame the mother and her two children for being so cautious."
The man's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Auntie, where's the child's father? Oh, I came all this way, and I have a chronic illness, so I was hoping to stay for a few days... If there's no man in your household, it really won't be convenient for me..."
The aunt immediately started gossiping, "It's true... There are no men in her family. It's really inconvenient for a rough guy like you to come all this way to see her for treatment if you stay there."
"Her husband?"
"Wouldn't he have died long ago?"
The man said, "Didn't you all say you were coming to share in some good fortune? If she was truly blessed, how could her husband have died?"
The aunt choked, then said, "Ahem, you don't understand. What we want isn't the good fortune of that miracle doctor's wife, but the good fortune of her son! I won't say anymore, you wouldn't understand anyway."
After thinking for a moment, she added, "In my opinion, you should go back first. The three of them often go up the mountain to gather herbs, and they're gone for ten days to half a month at a time. They might do it again this time. Come back and check on them in a few days!"
The man was taken aback and quickly asked, "Why does it take ten days or half a month? A woman with two children... wait, how old are those two children? I wonder if they can endure going up the mountain for ten days or half a month?"
His aunt just treated it as casual conversation, saying, "They're only five years old. Those two kids are lucky. The three of them have always been like this; I've never seen them get into any trouble!"
The man asked for some more information before thanking him profusely and leaving.
He pondered for a moment: a woman with two children, widowed, the children five years old... Oh, he forgot to ask, were both children five years old? Twins? Or one older and one younger?
What's with the name? Money? Bowl? That's so tacky, like someone who can't afford to eat.
Regardless, the child is already five years old... so he's probably not the person he's looking for.
He limped slowly out of the village.
...
A nearby town is called Xiangnan Town.
A horse-drawn carriage slowly drove up to the back door of a clinic and stopped.
The driver was a young man of medium height. He jumped off the carriage first, then lifted the curtain and helped a chubby boy jump off, followed by a girl.
Then he climbed back onto the train carriage, and when he came out, he was carrying three bundles in his hands.
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