The two of them were not very close, so Tian Cai didn't dare to ask him in person, but she still took the matter to heart.
Tian Cai inserted silver needles into Liu Fang's body one by one. Some of the acupuncture points were right on the bruises. Liu Fang would shudder when they were inserted. After she inserted the last needle, she softly asked, "I didn't ask you something just now. Have you ever had a miscarriage before?"
Unexpectedly, Liu Fang was stunned when he heard this. The yellow and black face lost all its color in an instant, and fear filled his dark eyes, as if the secret he had been hiding was exposed to the sun.
Then, she seemed to see the pointing eyes of the people around her, as well as the disgusted and disdainful expressions of her husband and mother-in-law, and she felt cold all over.
After a long while, she seemed to wake up suddenly, looking at Tian Cai with pleading eyes. Suddenly, she grabbed her wrist tightly, and whispered with trembling lips, "Please, please——"
"I won't tell anyone else," Tian Cai's voice drifted into Liu Fang's ears. It was clearly just an ordinary sentence, but it made her feel like a drowning person grasping at the last straw, giving her hope of survival. "If I wanted to tell anyone, I would have told them just now when your sister-in-law and Aunt Guangxia were here."
Liu Fang came to her senses and understood what Tian Cai meant. This matter was still a secret, her own secret.
Her throat seemed to be choked by something. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. After a long while, she said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, Doctor Tian."
Tian Cai nodded, said nothing, pushed her hand away, stood up, closed the curtain, and went out to get the medicine.
Liu Fang, who was left alone on the examination bed, seemed to come back to life and was breathing heavily.
It took her a long time to feel the sensation of acupuncture. When she calmed down completely, she could clearly feel a numbness and swelling at the needle insertion site, and a faint heat current rose from her lower abdomen and was transported to various parts of her body, making her feel that her usually cold body seemed to be a little warmer.
"Hu——"
Tian Cai listened to the sound coming from behind the curtain and shook her head. Whatever experiences had happened before had nothing to do with her. There was no need to go out of her way to inquire about other people's scars. Anyway, she was just a doctor. She could just prescribe medicine according to Liu Fang's condition. However, Tian Cai decided to write down the case records in her own medical record book.
Half an hour later, the first acupuncture treatment was over.
When Liu Fang came out after getting dressed, Tian Cai had already put the medicine bag on the table. She had just explained the method of boiling the medicine to Wu Danniu. During this period when Liu Fang was living at her parents' house, it was Wu Danniu who boiled the medicine for her.
"How is it, Xiaofang? Do you feel anything?" When Wu Danniu saw someone coming out, she hurried forward to ask.
Liu Fang hesitantly said, "I feel like my body has warmed up a lot. Sister-in-law, feel my hand. Is it not so cold anymore?"
After hearing this, Wu Danniu reached out and grabbed one of Liu Fang's hands, feeling it carefully. "It seems to be warmer than before. I told you, Doctor Tian is very good. If anyone in the village has a headache or fever, come to her and she will cure the disease immediately! Just relax and take good care of yourself at home. Only when you are in good health can you consider having children. Besides, you are only in your twenties, and those who marry late will have children at this age. What are you afraid of? Or are you afraid of that old woman from the Cui family?"
Liu Fang seemed reluctant to talk about this topic in public. She didn't answer Wu Danniu's words. She turned around and bowed to Tian Cai, "Doctor Tian, thank you so much!"
Tian Cai said gently, "It's nothing, this is what you should do. Go back and take good care of yourself, take your medicine on time, and be careful not to stay up late."
Wu Danniu took Liu Fang away with many thanks. Li Guangxia chatted with Tian Cai for a few more words and left soon after.
In the next few days, Wu Danniu brought Liu Fang here for acupuncture every day. After these few days of treatment, Liu Fang's complexion improved visibly, at least the yellowness on her face disappeared.
Wu Danniu was so happy that she didn't know what to say. Every time she came, she would bring something for Tian Cai, sometimes two eggs, sometimes a basket of wild vegetables. She was also very enthusiastic and insisted that she accept them, which made Tian Cai scared when she saw her.
In return, Tian Cai prepared a bottle of pills for Liu Fang, which were nourishing and warming, to replenish her depleted physical foundation.
After coming here more often, Tian Cai also learned about Liu Fang's situation from Wu Danniu.
Ultimately, it was the older generation's preference for boys over girls. The education she received since childhood made her willingly work like a slave at home. Later, she obeyed her mother's wishes and got married. The man's family was not of good character either.
Liu Fang was honest and kind, so she was always exploited by that mother and son. None of her sisters-in-law liked her, and she was often bullied by her husband's family.
It is said that Liu Fang had a very good skill in weaving. The cloth she wove was fine and smooth, and was famous for its quality. Her husband's family got a loom. During the day, Liu Fang had to go to the fields to earn work points. When she returned home at night, after eating and cleaning up, she had to go back to the house to continue weaving. She would weave until midnight and could only sleep four or five hours a day. This kind of life lasted for six years.
After hearing this, Tian Cai thought it was no wonder that she couldn’t get pregnant. If she went to bed at midnight every day, how would she have time for sex?
"Doctor Tian, do you think this child is stupid? I told her not to be so capable when she goes to her mother-in-law's house, but she just wouldn't listen. You know everything and can do everything, so just lay this foundation. These jobs will be yours in the future. You get used to it, and if you don't do it one day, your in-laws will think it's your fault. It's not like there are people who care about you in your parents' home. Who will care about you there?" Wu Danniu said angrily. When she talked about the grievances her sister-in-law had suffered over the years, she really couldn't finish talking about it for three days and three nights.
"What about the three sons of the Cui family? They have three sisters-in-law, and the other two are not dead. They let them do everything. I went to argue with that old woman Cui, and you know what she said. She actually told me that it was all Xiaofang's consent, that if she married into their family, she would be their daughter-in-law, and asked me, an outsider, to stay out of the Cui family's affairs. I was so angry that I wanted to grab the old woman's hair and slap her twice!"
"But I dare not. If I really hit her, I would feel satisfied, but Xiaofang would still suffer. My own child is living under someone else's control. If Mrs. Cui is angry with me, her sister-in-law, she will definitely take it out on Xiaofang. I don't know how she will be tortured after I leave!"
"Her in-laws won't let Xiaofang come back. It's been six years since she got married, and she rarely goes back to her parents' home. She doesn't even come back once a year. They're afraid she's taken something from the Cui family to support her parents. They search her every time she comes back. If she's missing anything, they suspect her. This makes Xiaofang even more afraid to go home."
"Look at the wounds on her body. They were all caused by that beast Cui Wenchang. What kind of man would beat his wife? Only an incompetent coward would do that. Xiaofang is stupid and thinks she did something wrong, so she got beaten. Doctor Tian, tell me, this child was obviously not like this before. Why is she so stubborn now? Is there some disease in her brain that we don't understand? Otherwise, why has she changed so much!"
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