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

Chapter 57 Delivering Medicated Wine

Spring plowing, summer weeding, autumn harvest, and winter storage—this was the first time the Xiao family had planted, harvested, and dried rice seedlings, and the first time they had pounded the golden rice into grains. They all felt that they were capable again.

"Grandma, look how amazing we are!"

"Yes, amazing. Practice makes perfect. You'll be even more skilled at planting crops next year." The old lady was very pleased: "These days, we owe a lot to Nuannuan. You little ones should all learn from your older sister."

"Grandmother, we understand."

"Good, good, good. You are both well-behaved. Grandmother has seen it all. Chun Ning has grown up a lot."

It wasn't that they grew taller, but rather that they grew stronger and darker-skinned, turning the students in the capital into just like the village kids.

Thick skin and tough flesh—that's what it looks like to withstand hardship.

The three daughters-in-law have learned to do laundry and cook, and Chunyan and Chunshu have even mastered the whole process, becoming quite skilled at tasks like picking vegetables in the fields.

The villagers all say, "Don't underestimate a young person's poverty," and the Xiao family certainly won't stay poor forever.

On this day, when Steward Ma led people to collect rent, he looked at the remaining millet of the Xiao family and sighed: "I can only say that the Xiao family is not very good at farming."

But they couldn't refuse to collect rent; this girl was very calculating.

Fortunately, we had a partnership with the master, and the herbal tea business at Yuanqi Tea House was very good, so we could get some dividends every month to supplement our household income.

The master said that if Miss Xiao needs any help, she doesn't need to report back; she should just do her best to help.

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Xiao family gave birth to a son, and Butler Ma also presented a congratulatory gift on behalf of his master.

On the day Xiao Muyang turned one month old, Chunnuan and Wu Shi cooked two tables of banquet together, inviting Mr. and Mrs. Zhang, Mrs. and Mrs. Zhao, and Aunt Luo's family, who gave ten eggs to their sister-in-law during her postpartum period.

"Aunt Luo, why isn't Uncle Luo here?"

"Oh dear, my old problem has flared up again. My knee hurts so much that I can't even walk."

Aunt Luo looked at the small courtyard and asked, "I heard from Chun Ning that your whole family is moving here. Did you buy this courtyard?"

"It wasn't bought, it belongs to Master Zhang's tenants," Chunnuan said with a smile. "I wish I could have bought it."

"You can buy it, you can definitely buy it, your family can definitely buy it."

Aunt Luo looked at how big the courtyard was and sighed: Thinking about the Luo family, three generations have settled here, and all they can do is make their thatched hut bigger with each generation. They never even thought about renting a courtyard in town.

But the Xiao family can do it!

Looking at the guests who came today, Master Zhang and Master Zhao, I, a country bumpkin, have never had the chance to drink tea and eat with them in my entire life. The Xiao family has only been here for four months, and they have already become so familiar with each other.

This is what they mean by "even a starved camel is bigger than a horse"!
"Haha, I'm so lucky, I made it in time for the banquet."

Just as dinner was about to be served, Zhao Minghua arrived with birthday wishes: "Miss Xiao, look what I brought you?"

What did you bring?
Zhao Chengxun and Zhou Shi couldn't stand it: what kind of nonsense was this silly youngest son of theirs making?

Why not just bring a gift and give it to her privately?
"A letter from home, from the capital?"

Chunnuan saw it at a glance and was very happy: "Thank you!"

Zhao Minghua said that they had a caravan going to the capital and could help carry letters. So I wrote a letter and asked them to send it to Qiuyan. I didn't expect to get a reply. Wasn't this much faster than the postal service?

"Was it written by the eldest daughter?"

Upon hearing the letter from home, the old lady immediately inquired.

“Grandmother, it was written by Qiuyan.” “Oh.”

The old lady stopped asking.

The Xiao family was very surprised: four months had passed since they arrived in Shu, and they had not received a single letter from Chunyu.

Chunnuan said she had written a letter to her elder sister, but her sister probably didn't reply because she was in postpartum confinement.

Judging by the time, Chunyu should have finished her postpartum confinement long ago, and this child...

The old lady and Madam Xu were both a little uneasy, wondering how they were doing in the Wu family.
But today we have a happy occasion at home, a banquet to celebrate Yangyang's one-month birthday, so we'll put everything else aside.

Spring warmth was also present; she tucked the letter into her bosom and warmly welcomed the guests.

Since there were no adult males in the family, Chun Ning, Chun An, and Chun Qiang were responsible for entertaining Master Zhang, Steward Ma, and Master Zhao, Zhao Minghua.

On the women's side, there were an old lady and an aunt who were keeping things in check.

The atmosphere at the banquet was quite pleasant, especially among the male guests. Chun Ning was chatting with Master Zhang and Master Zhao, and the two elderly gentlemen listened with great interest.

Master Zhao would occasionally glance at his youngest son.

Zhao Minghua felt that something was wrong, but he politely suppressed his doubts. He would definitely ask his father when he got back what his father thought of him at the Xiao family.
The women said their goodbyes, and Aunt Luo was also getting ready to leave.

Yes, she benefited a lot from today's banquet. Listening to the conversation between Mrs. Xiao, Mrs. Zhang, and Mrs. Zhao, Aunt Luo realized that the difference between her and these ladies was not just money, but more importantly, knowledge and conversation skills. These were things she could never learn in her entire life.

However, seeing that Sanya was on good terms with Chunyan and Chunshu, he had an idea in his mind: he must make sure that Sanya also learns to read and write, so that she doesn't become an ignorant woman like himself.

"It's spring now, so Sanya and I will head back now. Just let us know if you need anything later..."

"Aunt Luo, wait for me, I need to get something for you."

"what?"

Aunt Luo was a little puzzled when she saw Chun Nuan take out a small ceramic bottle.

"what is this?"

“This is medicinal wine,” Chunnuan said. “Aunt Luo, didn’t you say that Uncle Luo’s old ailment had flared up again, with leg and back pain? Let him rub this medicinal wine on his skin at night and continue for a few days to see if it gets better.”

"Spring is here, how much does this cost?"

Aunt Luo quickly reached for her handkerchief, which contained several dozen coins, just in case.

“Aunt Luo, this is medicinal wine I made myself. It’s not worth much, so I can’t take your money.” Chun Nuan stuffed the medicinal wine into her hand: “Take it and give it to Uncle Luo to try when you get back. However, Uncle Luo has been a boatman for a long time, so he should try to change his profession. Otherwise, it will get worse and worse.”

“Who says otherwise?” Aunt Luo sighed. “I was thinking, why don’t we just quit and rent a few acres of land back home to farm? As long as we don’t starve, that’s fine. But he disagrees, saying the children are still young, and there are many expenses to cover, like getting married and marrying off our daughters…”

"Good health is the most important thing," Chunnuan said. "You can try to find other jobs and see if there are any suitable ones. It would be troublesome if your health deteriorated."

"Yes, yes, that's what I think too, Chunnuan, thank you."

"You're welcome. You must continue using this medicinal wine for several days to see its effects."

"Good, good, Chunnuan, you're such a wonderful child."

She was so good to her that she wanted to take her home as her daughter-in-law, but her son was too young... no, he wasn't good enough for her. Such a good girl, she wondered whose son was worthy of her.

(End of this chapter)