The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 3 Division of Labor
"We'll buy whatever medicinal herbs you process."

Hearing Zhao Minghua's explanation, Chunnuan understood: he didn't lack any medicinal herbs; he was just looking for an excuse to help.

"Okay, I will do my best to prepare the medicinal materials and send them to you."

"No rush, our cooperation can last a long time."

The buyer, who had no demands, left.

Chunnuan remembered this deal and the favor she had done.

The Xiao family members were all surprised to see Chunnuan take out five taels of silver from her purse.

Who would dare lend them money?
"This is the deposit for the medicinal herbs ordered by the young master of Baicaotang," Chunnuan said to her aunt. "Use it for now, and I will go up the mountain to collect more herbs."

“Chunnuan, how can this family rely on you alone?” Aunt Xu wiped away her tears: “How about your mother and I go up the mountain to gather medicinal herbs tomorrow?”

"Let's not do that." With the precedent of Chunyan and Chunshu, Chunnuan didn't think that bringing them along would make it easier to gather medicinal herbs and dig wild vegetables: "Everyone has their own expertise. I remember that my aunt is best at needlework. We can go to the embroidery shops in town and ask if they can help with some embroidery or something."

“Yes, yes, I can embroider too.” Xu said quickly, “Although I’m not as good at needlework as my sister-in-law, it’s still passable.”

"I can do that too." Huang sighed with emotion: "Now that I think about it, all those things I learned before, like playing the zither, chess, calligraphy and painting, were completely useless. It would have been better to learn how to be a maid, a servant, do laundry, cook, and tend the fire."

"Third Aunt, there's no need to think like that. There's always a way out. We'll get better every day."

“Chunnuan is right.” The old lady slowly said, “Now that we have come this far, we should humble ourselves, learn what we should learn, and do some needlework and embroidery to supplement our family income. We can’t rely on Chunnuan all the time.”

"Warm and cozy."

"Grandmother, your granddaughter is here."

"You've had a hard time." The old lady sighed, stroking her granddaughter's hand. "Back then, your grandfather said you were intelligent. He taught you to recite herbal formulas, identify medicinal herbs, and take pulses to diagnose illnesses from a young age. I was against it at the time. I thought it was useless for a girl to learn these things..."

Therefore, Chunnuan has never been her most beloved granddaughter.

Because Chunnuan spends most of her time in the study and pharmacy, she has a very low profile in the household.

Who would have thought that when the Xiao family encountered misfortune, they relied entirely on this granddaughter for support along the way.

What was even more unexpected was that when the Xiao family ran out of food and had to dig for wild vegetables, they could only rely on Chunnuan, who could identify medicinal herbs, to come out of the mountains. Even cooking was done with Chunnuan's guidance, all because she was skilled in processing medicinal herbs and was very proficient in the kitchen.

The pampered people, without their maids and servants, were like good people suddenly missing limbs, unable to support themselves for a time.

"Grandma was shortsighted. People go through three periods of poverty and three periods of wealth before they reach old age." She patted her granddaughter's hand. "The Xiao family is fortunate to have you amidst misfortune. Once we get through this ordeal and your grandfather's mourning period is over, Grandma will personally choose a good husband for you..."

At this point, the old lady couldn't continue speaking.

The Xiao family, burdened with guilt, returned to this remote and impoverished area of ​​Sichuan, far from the capital. With nothing to their name, where could they find a good husband for their granddaughter of marriageable age?
"Grandmother, I promised Grandfather that I would take good care of you." Looking at the room full of women and children, the burden was really heavy: "I also promised my eldest uncle and my father that I would take good care of the family. As for my marriage... I don't want to settle for someone else."

Marrying for the sake of marriage is not what she wants.

"Warm..."

The old lady choked up, and the whole family wiped away tears.

"Grandmother, please don't worry." Chunnuan couldn't bear their tears any longer: "Chuning, Chun'an, come with me to the market to buy some grain and salt."

"Sister, let's go too." Chunyan and Chunshu decided that no matter what their sister did in the future, they would help her and learn from her.

“You two have other tasks,” Chunnuan said. “Go to the grove where I was looking for firewood this morning and go find some more.” “Then I’ll go with Yanzi and the others to look for firewood,” Huang said quickly. “Don’t let the two little girls get lost.”

"Alright."

The Xiao family can no longer afford the slightest mishap.

Chunnuan took Chunning and Chunan to town to buy things.

Do you know why I brought you along?

"Sister, I know I'm the eldest son in the family, and I have to support this family like a man." Chun Ning was very sensible: "Father told me this before he passed away, but sister, I don't know what I'm supposed to do?"

“From now on, you’ll be in charge of all the family business.” He was very fortunate that his younger brother, Chun Ning, was still six months shy of his twelfth birthday, thus avoiding the hardship of exile. But at the same time, he had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family: “Today I need to buy some coarse grains, salt, and medicine for my elder sister-in-law.”

Is my eldest sister-in-law sick?

Chun Ning and Chun An were both very nervous.

They knew that the eldest sister-in-law was pregnant with a nephew or niece.

"She was exhausted from traveling and didn't eat or rest well. Coupled with today's fright, her pregnancy is unstable."

Oh I see.

"Big sister, is there anything I can do for you?" Six-year-old Chun'an asked eagerly.

"You're still young, but your brother Ning needs a helper. From now on, follow your brother Ning and learn from him. Brothers working together can overcome anything, understand?"

"Okay, An'an understands."

When they arrived at the rice shop, Chunnuan watched Chunning ask the shopkeeper for prices the whole time, and then she decided to buy coarse grains and five catties of fine grains.

“Grandmother and eldest sister-in-law need to eat better, and it would be good for them to eat some refined grains occasionally.”

Chun Ning explained it this way.

"Your arrangements are very reasonable." Before the Xiao family's misfortune, the younger brother had always been attending school, and his goal was to become the top scholar in the imperial examination. After the incident, three generations were barred from taking the imperial examination, and Chun Ning's original aspirations had to be changed.

Chunnuan was a little worried before, but now it seems that he has also grown up overnight!

Buying rice, oil, and salt—the young boy arranged everything meticulously, which was very gratifying to see in the spring.

"Sister, this is Baicaotang. They say there are two pharmacies in town, and the other one is Qianjintang." Chun Ning asked, "Shall we buy medicine at Baicaotang?"

"Yes." When Chun Nuan entered the pharmacy, there was only an old doctor inside. Chun Nuan named a few herbs and said she wanted to buy medicine. The old doctor looked her up and down and said, "Young lady, you... how about I take your pulse first? All medicines have some toxicity. It's best not to take medicine if you can avoid it."

"Doctor, we're getting medicine for my elder sister-in-law." Chun Ning was anxious. Her elder sister was still a young, unmarried woman. What was the doctor saying? Was he really getting old and blind?

"I see." The old doctor was also a little embarrassed: "However, our employer has a rule that we either need a prescription from a doctor to fill out the medicine, or we need to examine the patient and fill out the medicine ourselves. We cannot sell medicine that you mentioned verbally."

"Why?" Chun Ning frowned. "Just prepare one dose based on the few medicinal herbs my sister reported. Why can't it be sold?"

"Because we can't get medicine from afar, who will be responsible if something goes wrong?" the old doctor said. "Especially since it's a medicine to prevent miscarriage, if something goes wrong, it would mean the death of both mother and child. Our Baicaotang will not take that risk!"

(End of this chapter)