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

Chapter 79 The Xiao Brothers
"Who do you think you are? Do you really think you can treat patients? You're spouting nonsense and treating human life like dirt." Having her sore spot hit, Madam Liu was extremely anxious: "I don't care who invited you, get out of here right now."

Its voice was shrill, and its appearance was ferocious.

Seeing this scene from the side room, Master Zhou frowned.

"Of course I'll leave, but it's because I'm paid to do what I'm supposed to do. Since I've taken on the job of treating you, I'm only obligated to cure your illness."

Chunnuan wanted to advise her: When a woman goes too far, it's not necessarily a good thing.

"It's best for people to learn to avoid prophecies. You keep saying you're sick, in poor health, and won't live long," Chunnuan said calmly. "Anything you say that's bad for you is considered a premonition, and it will come true afterward. If you're still stubborn and don't listen to my advice, and continue to make up for it like this, you will get what you want."

"you……"

Madam Liu was furious. What did this woman mean by that?
"You want to use your poor health as an excuse to keep Master Zhou here, which is understandable. But you shouldn't have kept taking all sorts of supplements and lying in bed all day. This has seriously damaged your health..."

In order to cling to Master Zhou, Chunnuan completely disregarded Liu's inner thoughts and directly exposed the lie, all so that Master Zhou next door would know the truth.

"Shut up and get out of here."

Unable to bear it any longer, Liu screamed again and then dramatically fainted.

Spring warmth is both funny and infuriating; this time, she wasn't faking it, she was genuinely dizzy.

"Someone come here..." Chunnuan called out, and with a wave of Zhou Qiye's hand, Azhuang released Liu's old woman and maid.

Chunnuan pinched her philtrum to wake her up.

"You all better serve them well."

Anyway, it's none of her business anymore.

As I stepped out of the inner courtyard, I saw Ah Zhuang.

Chunnuan looked left and right, wanting to see what was going on with the big tree she had recently embraced, but she didn't see Master Zhou.

"Miss Xiao, let me take you home."

Huh? You just let her go like that? What's wrong with being so decisive?

"Seventh Master said that you should put the winter clothes you want to send to the northern desert at the merchant's shop at Xiao Family Wharf and just give your name."

"Okay, thank you."

First, she thanked Master Zhou for keeping his word; second, she thanked Azhuang for taking her home.

When Chunnuan returned to her courtyard, her aunts and the others rushed around her, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"Aunt, Mother, Aunt, Sister-in-law, have you finished making the winter clothes for the northern desert?"

"It's done. We specially stuffed a lot of cotton inside to make it thicker. It's a bit heavy and there's a lot of it, but it'll be warm..."

"It's alright, pack everything up and we'll send it to the dock tomorrow."

"Can it really reach their hands?"

"can."

Master Zhou once said that if he cured Liu's illness, he would protect the Xiao family. For a merchant who travels all over the country, going to the northern desert to find someone should not be a problem.

"That……"

Xu hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"Aunt, please say what you want to say. We are family." Chunnuan knew what she wanted to say.

“Nuan Nuan, do we still have any loose silver? Can we exchange it for silver notes and sew them into our clothes?” Xu said, “Their lives in the northern desert must be much harder than ours…” When their home was raided and they were exiled, all their good clothes were confiscated. Each person’s bundle only contained a few pieces of clothing, and they couldn’t take any winter clothes with them.

The officials cursed, "You're being exiled, not going on a family visit or to enjoy yourself. You'll have to carry it yourself and walk fifty miles every day. If you think you can manage, then carry it..."

Exiled to the northern desert, walking fifty li (approximately 25 kilometers) every day was a very real situation for those who used to travel by horse-drawn carriage or sedan chair. They had no choice but to give up their bulky winter clothes.

“Aunt, I’ve thought about this too.” Chun Nuan took out some loose silver: “Sew these into the corners of the thick winter clothes.”

"Silver notes..."

“Silver notes won’t do; they’ll become worthless if they get wet,” Chunnuan said. “I’ll sew them in a corner and tell my brother when I write to him.”

"In case your letter..."

"Don't worry, my brother and I have our own secrets, they won't be able to tell."

On the day of parting, Chunnuan made a special agreement with her twin brother that important information would be hidden inside their letters, and they would read them in this unique way so that outsiders would not be able to see it.

"That's fine, that's fine."

I found a few heavy winter coats and sewed the silver pieces into the corners. You couldn't feel them when you pinched them; they were indeed very safe.

Chunnuan, along with Chunning, Chunyan, and Chunshu, each carrying a large bundle, went to Xiaojia Wharf and found Zhou's Goods Store.

"You're Miss Xiao, alright, alright, Seventh Master instructed us to inspect one shipment first, register it, and show you their signed receipts after we deliver it..."

Chunnuan checked everything with the steward, and the last thing she found was a letter home.

"This must be handed to my family member personally."

Chunnuan not only brought winter clothes, but also made some medicine for her family, including medicine for colds and fevers, coughs and phlegm, bleeding, and frostbite...

The family was separated into three places: they were concerned about their eldest sister in the capital, worried about their brother in the northern desert, and trying to make a living in Sichuan.

After Chunnuan delivered the winter clothes to the caravan, she began to look forward to news from the northern desert.

In the northern desert, the Xiao family members returned from work, completely exhausted, yet they still had to cook.

The two rooms were their shelter.

When they first arrived, they really didn't know anything. They cooked rice until it was undercooked, kneaded dough until it was as hard as a rock, didn't know how to cook vegetables, and didn't know how to wash clothes...

In short, the men were in a very sorry state.

It's because this is the northern desert, and everyone here is the same kind of person, so no one looks down on anyone else.

The family living next door, surnamed Ma, were exiled from Jiangnan more than ten years ago. Because they had been rained on themselves, they were willing to hold an umbrella for others and took the initiative to teach the Xiao family survival skills here.

Things like when to go to the market to buy the cheapest things, where to chop firewood; how to slack off at work without being whipped by soldiers...

The Xiao family was naturally extremely grateful to them.

After more than a month of learning and experimentation, I'm finally able to make do with what I have.

In the past, the hand that used to hold a pen was not only used for work, but also for sewing and mending.

“I remember my mother saying that people in the countryside are very frugal. They would wear new clothes for three years, then wear them for three years, and then mend and patch them for another three years. Now we are going to experience that kind of life firsthand.”

"Yes, three times poor and three times rich, but never old age." The three brothers sighed, "I wonder how Mother and the others are doing in Shu?"

"Going back to Shu should be alright, since there are clansmen there to take care of us."

(End of this chapter)