Chapter 2 Aspiring to Study Medicine
After the initial elation, things returned to normal at home, and the eldest uncle's family moved in. The eldest aunt, Huang, also had a maidservant who cooked and served the eldest sister, Miaoyun.
Originally, the family had no servants. Even though Xu Erpeng had money, he was just a commoner and couldn't afford to hire servants. Now that Madam Mei was pregnant and he was a scholar, he planned to hire a servant. However, after the Mei family found out, Madam Mei's maternal grandfather specially sent a servant named Fengniang over.
Feng Niang was around forty years old. She was an excellent cook and very efficient.
With her here, Madam Mei only needs to focus on her pregnancy.
Miaozhen continued her studies as usual. She had been studying at the girls' school run by Yu Xiucai on East Street for a year. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a saying that "boys should avoid pairs and girls should avoid singles," so girls from families with a little extra money would start school at the age of six. Even Miaolian from her third uncle's family was going to start school this year.
Yu Xiucai has excellent handwriting and is skilled in poetry, and he has a good reputation. Moreover, his annual tuition fee is about eighty to one shi of wheat, which is about seven or eight qian of silver, so it is not very expensive.
In the morning, Xu Erpeng took Miaozhen to school. The father and daughter had breakfast at a fish noodle shop along the street. Miaozhen loved the eel noodles there. The noodles were cut into thin, round silver threads, the soup base was delicious, and the eel topping was crispy, which added to the texture.
"Zhenzhen, what do you want to eat for lunch?" Xu Erpeng asked his daughter.
Miaozhen thought for a moment: "Stir-fried water celery with shredded pork".
"Okay, Dad will go back and have Fengniang make it, and bring it to you at noon," Xu Erpeng said.
After finishing breakfast, the father and daughter quickly arrived at Scholar Yu's place. Scholar Yu usually sat in the hall without moving, but today he came out specially: "Friend Xu, great news!"
In the Ming Dynasty, scholars were often called "friends" and students were called "little friends". Previously, Yu Xiucai would call Xu Erpeng "little friend" repeatedly, and now he also used "friends" to address him.
For someone like Xu Erpeng, who had suffered repeated setbacks but maintained a good attitude, although he felt somewhat triumphant, he remained humble. He only exchanged a few words with Yu Xiucai before returning to work on his story.
He had been focused on his studies and was experiencing a creative block when it came to writing stories, but he still had to write even when he was creatively blocked. Only by forcing himself to write could he improve.
After Xu Erpeng left, Miaozhen sat down. There were seven or eight female students in the school, all daughters of merchants from the surrounding area. Yu Xiucai couldn't make a living on the meager tuition fees alone, but fortunately his wife was capable; she knew how to raise silkworms and weave silk.
The Yu family's wife and her daughter wove 120 bolts of silk each year. Each bolt of silk weighs about one tael, so that's 120 taels a year. After deducting the cost of the warp and weft threads (over 70 taels) and the cost of the silk reeling, tools, and wax (five taels), the two of them could still save 20 to 30 taels a year.
Therefore, Yu Xiucai's family was not too bad off.
Miaozhen was also thinking about her future. In her previous life, she only cared about studying. Even her choice of traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture and massage was made by her parents. In ancient times, women from poor families like her did not have much dowry, so they had to have a skill.
Among the women she saw, the most common were those who did needlework, like Yu Xiucai's wife, or female tutors who taught in other people's homes, like her aunt, or those who had traditional medical skills.
Nowadays, there are more female doctors in the Wu region. Although many scholars criticize them, they are still indispensable. If some female doctors are recommended to the palace, their status will be different when they come out again. In other matters, young people are more popular, but female doctors are more popular and more trusted as they get older.
However, nowadays people have a lot of prejudice against female doctors and pharmacists, and gossipy women are often dismissed as low-class.
Well, let's just take it one step at a time.
Last year we learned the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Character Classic, and the Thousand Character Classic. We taught everyone to read and write first. This year we are learning the Classic of Filial Piety, Elementary Learning, Biographies of Exemplary Women, and Instructions for Women. After we finish learning in the morning, Feng Niang brings us lunch at noon. She makes silver fish soup, stir-fried water celery with shredded pork, and scrambled eggs.
This is already quite good food, thanks to his father's increased income, which has improved their lives.
Fengniang ate with Miaozhen and talked about family matters: "Your eldest aunt went back to her parents' home and won't come back. She also said she wants to rent a house outside. Your son-in-law said that your grandparents and your third uncle are taking up their rooms, so why don't we each give them ten taels so they can buy or rent a house?"
"Did they give it to you?" Miaozhen asked.
Fengniang smiled and said, "They gave it to us, and even rewrote the family division document."
Miaozhen said, "Father really is fair in both words and deeds."
"That's right!"
When Miaozhen returned home from school in the afternoon, her uncle and aunt had moved away. A few days later, she heard that her uncle had been recommended by a friend to work as a lecturer at the academy, specializing in teaching the Zuo Zhuan. She heard that he earned three taels of silver a month. She also heard that her aunt was selling needlework on consignment at her uncle's silk shop.
Xu Erpeng was very envious: "The people my elder brother has met in Nanjing are all extraordinary."
“Husband, you’re not bad either. He still borrowed money from you.” From the bottom of her heart, Madam Mei didn’t think her husband was bad either.
Xu Erpeng shook his head: "I'm saving this money for our family to open a shop in the future. How can I lend it to others? Now that I think about it, when I was young and ignorant, the money I lent out was never returned."
Since his marriage, he has given all the money he earned in one year to his parents. One sum of fifty taels was for his younger sister, Si Niang, to buy a spinning machine. Another sum of thirty taels was the money he received when his grandfather passed away. And another sum of thirty-three taels was for his younger sister's dowry when she got married. He secretly kept this last sum.
With this sum of money, which is about one hundred taels, his status in the family will be elevated, and even if he opens a bookstore and moves out on his own, his family won't say anything.
Regardless, he studied until he was nineteen, all thanks to his parents' support.
Scholars fear nothing more than being accused of being unfilial, and every article he wrote was supported by evidence, which everyone knows.
Ms. Mei was aware of all this, as her husband had explained to her that the money they were taking out now was what they could see, but the real expense would be in their old age and funeral arrangements. So she didn't argue with her husband about it.
Xu Erpeng was also clever. He told his parents that it was his private savings and borrowed money, and asked them not to let Mei Shi know. He also asked his parents not to say anything. As a result, Xu Laoguan and Xu Laotai felt guilty when they heard that he went out to repay the money. Sometimes they would give Miaozhen a few coins to buy food.
Children don't know much about these things that adults do. For example, Xu Si Niang was very envious when she saw Miao Zhen change into a new outfit: a bright red silk embroidered cherry-embroidered jacket, with a milky white embroidered cat perched under a banana tree skirt underneath, and a new silk flower on her head.
She immediately started nagging that Old Mrs. Xu should also get one, but Old Mrs. Xu and her husband were already just helping out at their youngest son's shop. They even ate at the third son's house. The third son's wife, Bao, was tight on money. They only helped out in the morning and were only given two or three coins for breakfast. Where would they get any spare money?
Therefore, Old Mrs. Xu said, "Those were made by your sister-in-law for your niece. She's good at her work, so why don't you ask her to make some? Speaking of which, wasn't that cloth a gift to your second brother?"
Xu Si Niang immediately went to find Mei Shi, but before Mei Shi could even speak, Xu Er Peng refused, saying, "You're so inconsiderate. Your sister-in-law is pregnant, how can she help you?"
But Xu Si Niang wanted to ask why she helped Miao Zhen.
Children always want fairness, but some things are inherently unequal. Miaozhen is Mei's own daughter, and it is their responsibility to raise her, but Xu Siniang is not.
My cousin Miaolian was studying at the home of a scholar near my third uncle's tea and snack shop. She had no prior knowledge of literature, unlike Miaozhen, whose parents had already taught her some things before she started school. Therefore, my third uncle had to teach his daughter to read every day after work, sometimes until midnight.
When Xu Erpeng was writing his storybook at night, he could still hear his younger brother's roars.
It is said that when Mei was about five months pregnant, she suddenly lost her appetite and had no strength. First, her feet began to swell, and then her whole body was like that. Miaozhen was very worried. Xu Erpeng first invited a famous medicine woman from far and wide to come and take a look. When the woman heard about it, she took out medicine from her gourd and then tried to give her acupuncture.
Miao Zhen hurriedly said to Xu Erpeng, "Father, you should invite a proper doctor over. Mother is pregnant; how can she be given acupuncture so casually?"
She didn't study traditional Chinese medicine gynecology in modern times, but she had read many medical books such as "Fu Qingzhu's Gynecology" and "The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion" and "The Complete Collection of Good Prescriptions for Women". The medical principles are all interconnected, so she felt it was inappropriate and immediately wanted to stop it.
Xu Erpeng also felt that acupuncture was too mysterious, so he asked the person to leave first and then invited another doctor over. This was a male doctor. Mei was very shy and dared not tell the truth about her condition. The doctor then said that it was caused by dampness.
Miaozhen was getting anxious. When her father returned with the medicine, she saw Fengniang about to brew it and immediately said, "Wait a minute, let me see this medicine."
Madam Mei always spoiled the children, so she asked Fengniang to watch over them, saying only, "You must be careful not to spill it."
Miaozhen opened the medicine packet and smelled it. Sure enough, she said, "Mother, the prescription says to use Atractylodes macrocephala, but this medicine uses Atractylodes lancea instead. Atractylodes macrocephala is for nourishing the fetus, while Atractylodes lancea is for abortion..."
"Really? Doctor Sun is a famous doctor." Madam Mei said suspiciously.
She remembered that her mother, like many women of her time, was somewhat superstitious. She also thought that Zhang Xiaoniangzi of the Song Dynasty had asked a wandering monk to teach her the "Strange Prescriptions for Carbuncles and Ulcers," so why couldn't she?
Therefore, she said, "Last time when I went to Guiyuan Temple with my mother, there was an old monk who wanted to drink water. I gave him a tube of water, and somehow he learned some acupuncture techniques and also some pharmacology."
When Madam Mei heard this, she was shocked. She was amazed that her child had such good fortune. Xu Erpeng, who was writing a book nearby, also heard it. Neither he nor his wife took their daughter's words to heart. He first took the medicine to the Huimin Bureau to have it checked. Sure enough, it was Atractylodes lancea instead of Atractylodes macrocephala. He was so angry that he went to the door and tore down the banner of the prescription.
Fortunately, there are many famous doctors in Wuzhong. Someone from Xu Erpeng's bookstore recommended a very famous doctor surnamed Xue. This time, Mei told him about her symptoms. The doctor said, "This is not a case of dampness. It is just a deficiency of spleen and lung qi. You can use Buzhong Yiqi Tang with some modifications."
A total of ten doses were prescribed. By the fourth dose, Mei was almost fully recovered, and after ten doses, she was completely cured.
After this experience, Miaozhen, who was still hesitating about what to choose, immediately decided to study gynecology so that she could at least treat her mother. You see, she was a reincarnation and was almost entirely raised by Madam Mei, who always carried her on her thin back without ever complaining of the weight.
There are too few real female gynecologists nowadays; perhaps this profession will become a unique skill, just like her father's storytelling.
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