Chapter 105 With the local earth goddess watching over you while you seek medical treatment at the temple, you can rest assured! ...
Why would someone seek medical treatment at a local temple?
Yao Xiaoyu looked at the incense burner in the center, then at the traditional Chinese medicine doctor taking pulses and asking questions on the left, and the Western medicine doctor using instruments to ask questions on the right, and felt that the scene was somewhat incongruous.
“Our place is poor, but the temple is spacious, with a roof to keep out the rain and walls to shield us from the wind.”
The village chief's answer was impeccable, but Yao Xiaoyu still felt something was off, especially when she saw that the doctors were ready, but no patients had arrived for a long time.
I'm going out for a walk.
No one was in a hurry since there were no patients. Both the Chinese and Western medicine doctors were organizing the patient cases they had encountered in the past few days—whether it was called medical records, logs, or something like that. Yao Xiaoyu wasn't a professional medical worker and didn't know their names, but everyone was busy, and she felt a little out of place being idle, so she decided to go out for a walk.
Maria glanced at Yao Xiaoyu, and seeing that Xiaobaihua remembered to bring Tao Xiaoxiao, she didn't say anything. The battle in the last village had already proven the bodyguards' fighting ability. Their side also had a large number of people and Lin Lang guarding them, so they weren't afraid of anyone causing trouble.
It was time to work in the fields, so there weren't many people to encounter on the road. After walking for a while, Yao Xiaoyu felt dizzy from the sun and turned back to a large tree not far from the temple gate. She leaned against the trunk to cool off. The tree must have been very old, as its trunk was very thick, completely covering Yao Xiaoyu and Tao Xiaoxiao, along with their clothes.
The sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Yao Xiaoyu, having recovered, took a breath and was about to explore the surrounding area when she heard the chattering of a group of children. It seemed to be coming from... behind her!
The sweat that Yao Xiaoyu had produced instantly turned into cold sweat. She turned her head very slowly, only to find that the tree trunk was still a tree trunk and had not turned into the shape of a child. Yao Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief, her thoughts detaching from the realm of mystery and turning to another, more common conjecture.
She peeked out from behind the tree trunk and saw a group of children peering into the earth god temple. The youngest was still in a basket on his back, and the oldest was only eleven or twelve years old. She hadn't seen the children earlier because of the angle.
With her fear completely subsided, Yao Xiaoyu's ears were finally able to receive information normally again. The children's conversation jumped around quite a bit, and Yao Xiaoyu slowly pulled her head back, silently listening to the children's chatter. She had a premonition that the questions raised by the village chief could be answered here—
"The village chief said these are doctors who don't charge for their services, but why are they in the temple?"
Some children asked questions out of curiosity, but most people’s attention was focused on a few Western doctors, especially Anna and Jenny.
"Wow, look at that person's hair, it's different from ours, it's yellow."
Er Gou looked at Anna in surprise. There were also people on their side who didn't have enough to eat and whose hair turned yellow, but that kind of yellow was like withered grass. This woman wearing light-colored clothes had a lot of flesh on her face, and her hair looked like the winding rays of sunlight.
White coats were a tradition that gradually formed after high-temperature disinfection was implemented in 1965. However, Jenny and others only realized when they came to China that pure white symbolized funerals here, so they changed to wearing light-colored clothing for work.
"And that red-haired one, whose eyes are different from ours, they're green and blue."
Liu Niu Niu was referring to Jenny. Their mother was a blonde, blue-eyed beauty. Anna inherited her blonde hair and her father's green eyes, while Jenny had her father's red hair and blue eyes. These color combinations are actually quite common abroad, but for people who have never left their small village, they are truly astonishing.
"Are they demons? My dad said that when he was walking on a mountain path, he saw a green-eyed man beckoning to him and saying he would take him to find gold. But he was going to eat him. He knocked the man unconscious with a hoe, and the man fell to the ground and turned into a wolf."
Sanni asked somewhat timidly. Girls her age usually do housework at home, but this village has a large population and little land, so there is little to do and no handicrafts that can earn money. Children are more likely to cause trouble at home than help, so it's better to send them out to be with other children, at least it will be quieter.
"Will we be eaten? Waaah—I want my mom—"
The little stone in the basket was confused and only heard the words "eat him." It immediately burst into tears, and the older child quickly put down the basket to comfort it.
When the children here can walk, their older siblings will put them in a basket on their backs and carry them around with them. Once they can keep up with their own pace, they won't need the basket anymore. It's unclear when this custom of carrying children on a basket was passed down, but everyone does it this way.
"Don't be afraid. The village chief said that we have a local earth goddess in our village. As long as we don't leave the village, evil monsters can't get in at all."
Little Stone was a bit of a show-off, and after being coaxed for a long time, he cried even harder. Finally, Liu Niu Niu couldn't stand it anymore and pinched Little Stone's mouth to mute him. Kids know best how to persuade other kids, and Little Stone listened and stopped crying.
He was mainly afraid that Liu Niu Niu would beat him up.
Liu Niu Niu is the only one in her family. Her grandmother had three sons, and the sons married and had six more children. Liu Niu Niu is the youngest and only girl in the family. Because she is rare, she is precious to her family. In two more years, her feet will be bound.
They value practicality here. Bound-footed wives are not as popular as those with naturally bound feet who can do housework. However, wealthy families prefer girls with small feet. If a family binds a girl's feet, it means that the child will be pampered and will marry into a family with a good life where they can eat meat every day.
No one could see how much Liu Niu Niu was loved at home, but when she heard that her feet needed to be bound, she suddenly realized that this was a unique kind of pampering.
Although the country has now transitioned from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the farmers do not feel that there is any difference from before: landlords are still masters, taxes still need to be paid, football matches are still held as usual, and the countryside continues to experience sunrise and sunset as always, as if it has never changed since ancient times.
"So they're good monsters then?"
Sihu pretended to understand and stroked his non-existent beard like his grandfather. Ershui, unable to bear seeing his nemesis so smug, immediately started to sing a different tune.
"What is this strange monster doing here?"
Sihu's face turned red, and he couldn't speak. Suddenly, he remembered the village chief's words, and a flash of inspiration struck him:
"I understand, they're here to accumulate merit!"
The word "merit" was new and immediately attracted the children's attention. The conversation, which was about to end, continued. Yao Xiaoyu's mouth twitched in the back. She seemed to understand why this village, which seemed conservative and xenophobic, could accept doctors like them who had both Chinese and Western medicine.
Tell them the place is big enough to do whatever they want, and the house is sturdy enough to shelter them from the wind and rain; tell the non-superstitious people in the village that a kind doctor from the city is coming to provide free medical care, and they should seize the opportunity; tell the superstitious people that there is a local earth goddess watching over the temple, and that the monsters are only coming to accumulate merit and will not eat people.
With such a knack for selective reporting, no wonder he could become the village chief!
However, now that she knew the reason, she wasn't worried about no one coming—everyone was just watching.
Now all the medical team has to do is wait, wait for the first person to come and try it out, and then there will be a steady stream of patients.
Yao Xiaoyu walked a dozen steps in the opposite direction from the children, then turned and walked towards the dilapidated temple, pretending that she had just returned. Hearing the footsteps, the children ran away as fast as sparrows. Most of them looked a little flustered, but a few watched Yao Xiaoyu with curious eyes as they walked away.
"You're back."
Maria beckoned to Yao Xiaoyu, who smiled at the doctor and took out her notebook to organize her inspirations from the past few days.
Although she didn't want to admit it, during the few days she stayed in the village, one idea after another popped into her head. However, due to a certain vacation and slacking-off mentality, she preferred to daydream rather than put pen to paper.
When Yao Xiaoyu wrote the first word, her hand, which hadn't held a pen for several days, felt a little stiff. She frowned, forced herself to continue writing, and unconsciously became completely immersed in the words. When she put down the pen and moved her wrist, she realized that there were already patients in the temple.
"The people here are really like shrews; once one takes the lead, they all pop up one after another." [1]
Dr. Maria sighed quietly and quickly joined the line of patients. Once the patients were certain they were truly getting treatment for free, they multiplied faster than threads multiplying, and even with all the doctors on duty, a long queue still formed.
Later, Yao Xiaoyu learned that in every village that had been notified in advance, people from nearby villages would come to see the doctor. However, this village was more remote, and the people were afraid of the foreign faces. It wasn't until the first brave person stepped forward that they rushed over.
The medical team also stayed in the village for three days. Yao Xiaoyu no longer acted as a medicine boy. Instead, she experienced everything with the children, from catching snails to weaving grass rings. She experienced what other people's childhood was like. Because of the sugar water, she was even crowned the big sister by the children. She jumped around and made a lot of noise.
Yao Xiaoyu doesn't have any idea about making up for her childhood. Although she lived in the city as a child and didn't participate in these activities, it doesn't mean that her childhood was monotonous. As an only child spoiled by her parents, she had no shortage of friends or love and didn't know what boredom and loneliness were.
In addition, with the help of her financial resources, Yao Xiaoyu also tried planting crops such as potatoes and peanuts, experienced the processing of rice into milled rice and wheat into flour, and observed and tried a series of common farm activities such as curing bacon and making kimchi.
Although it's not the season for planting and processing, Yao Xiaoyu doesn't have high expectations. She just wants to practice planting in a small plot of land and process half a kilogram of rice or wheat to get a feel for it. The main thing is to enrich her resource library so that she won't make the silly mistake of planting white rice as seeds in the ground in the future.
In the 21st century, this series of farm work experiences would cost at least several thousand yuan, but now you can get everything for a few dollars. Although it also comes with a series of scary screaming services such as being stung on the neck by a stinging caterpillar and having leeches suck your legs, modern writing focuses on authenticity. You have to try it yourself from beginning to end. Just the fact that you can make a few chapters just by grinding flour can be written. And it is definitely not the kind of writing that readers will think is fluffy. [2]
Three days passed in a flash. Yao Xiaoyu, the eldest sister of the Yao family, packed her luggage, said goodbye to the tearful children, and headed to the next place with the medical team. On the bumpy carriage, she recalled the days. Yao Xiaoyu herself did not know how she managed to plan her time. She was able to grasp the material of farm life, the beauty of childhood, and still have time to see the real people in the temple.
Many people had similar illnesses to those in the previous village, but two people left a deep impression on her. She didn't know if it was a coincidence, but the two people had different illnesses, one male and one female.
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Author's note: A little postscript: Liu Niu Niu's feet were not bound afterward, and she went to school.
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[1] Shrew: pronounced the same as "Qu Jing" (渠精), the classic character is the nearsighted mouse mother in Black Cat Detective. Wherever she goes, the shrew mother will string her children together head to tail. Mary used this to describe the successive arrival of patients.
[2] The price for the farm work experience was what I saw two years ago. From clearing the land to harvesting rice and cooking, the whole set cost about a thousand yuan. I'm not sure if it has increased or decreased now, but overall, the price Yao Xiaoyu offered should be quite reasonable.
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