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

Chapter 92 Absent-minded
"Sister Wu, Sister Wu..."

Zhu Ling noticed that since yesterday, Wu, who had gone back home, had been absent-minded in her work.

"Oh, young mistress, what is it?"

"Aunt Wu, you've been staring blankly at the wall for a long time, holding clothes in your hands without rubbing or washing them. Is something on your mind?"

"I'm sorry, no, no, I'll do the laundry right away, I'll do the laundry right away."

Ms. Wu was in a great panic.

How could she not have something on her mind?

When she came back yesterday, Da Ya was clinging to her leg, crying so hard she could barely breathe, which made her feel suffocated.

There was also something my mother-in-law once said.

"Da Ya is four years old this year. If she's raised for a few more years, she'll probably grow into a beautiful young lady. The Luo family's third daughter was sent to the sixth master of the Xiao family to become his concubine, and the Luo family's life has improved..."

Wu felt uneasy at her mother-in-law's words.

She was a little scared: what if Daya grew up to end up like Luo's third daughter?
Before, she longed for her daughter to grow up quickly; now, she doesn't want her daughter to grow up. How terrible it would be if her daughter grew up and her fate was no longer in her own hands!
Seeing that Wu was not saying anything but was indeed often distracted, Zhu Lingling had no choice but to go to Chunnuan.

"Oh, so Aunt Wu has been like this since she came back from the Cao family?"

"Yes, I saw that the light in her room was on all night last night and was not turned off until late at night. Today, she was only normal when feeding Yang Ge'er, but she was absent-minded the rest of the time."

Chunnuan was stunned for a moment. If this were a wealthy family in the capital, such abnormal behavior from a servant might mean that he had been bribed and used to do something detrimental to his master.

This is Shu... no, we still need to be wary of people in Shu—the Xiao clan.

After all, they were the ones who expelled their family from the clan, and they wished they could trample them to death on the spot. How could they be willing to see their family buy land and build houses?

What does the Xiao family have that would make others covet them?

The most important thing right now is Xiao Muyang. The child is the heir of the Xiao family. If the wet nurse has really been bribed, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Chunnuan broke out in a cold sweat at the thought.

In fact, Zhu Lingling had also thought of this.

How could a girl from a wealthy family not think of the vital point?

At that moment, Chunnuan went to find Wu, who was still washing clothes.

Wu has been washing clothes since morning until noon. What used to take her half an hour has taken her a full hour and a half to finish.

"Aunt Wu, is it noon yet? What are we having for lunch today?"

Mrs. Wu kept scrubbing her clothes, as if she hadn't heard anything.

"Aunt Wu, Sister-in-law Wu..."

Spring warmth called her repeatedly, and it took a long time to bring her back to her senses.

"Young lady, you were looking for me?"

Ms. Wu herself was a little embarrassed: "You... what did you say? I didn't hear you."

“Aunt Wu, you were introduced by Mrs. Zhao.”

"Yes, I am a distant relative of Mrs. Zhao."

Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to come here as a wet nurse.

"Then let me ask you, are you satisfied with your current job?"

“I’m very satisfied, very satisfied.” Madam Wu said quickly, “The master treats me very well, I eat the same food as the master, my monthly salary is paid on time, and I have four days a month to go back and see the children.”

"Yes, but you seemed distracted after you came back from visiting the children yesterday. If anything happened to you, just tell us, and we won't blame you." As long as you haven't done anything wrong, telling us means you're not a bad person at heart, and there's still hope, so we'll forgive you this once.

"Miss..." Upon hearing Chunnuan's words, Madam Wu's courage suddenly surged: she knelt down in front of Chunnuan with a "thump": "Miss, please, save my daughter..."

She burst into tears after saying that.

"Get up, get up!" Chunnuan was startled and quickly pulled the person up: "What's wrong with your daughter? Is she sick?"

The only patients she can save are the patients.

"No, it's because she couldn't stay in the Cao family anymore. The Cao family are inhuman; they even bully a four-year-old child..."

He then explained his daughter's situation at the Cao family.

"That's really too much. Even tigers don't eat their cubs. Is your man out of his mind?"

It's one thing for others to bully you, but to not only not care about your own daughter but also beat her, to beat your own daughter to vent your anger on others—what kind of logic is that?

“They looked down on Daya because she was a girl. They had said before that they wanted to give Daya away, but I was unwilling. So I came here to be a wet nurse, with the promise that I would earn money and take it back to raise Daya.”

In reality, she used the money she earned to support the entire Cao family, but she couldn't raise her own daughter.

After listening, Chunnuan sighed: "One or two taels of silver a month! If you only raise children, you must raise them very well!"

Ordinary families can't even earn two taels of silver a year, but the Cao family earns twelve taels of silver a year thanks to Wu Shi, yet they still abuse their children. They're not even human!
“Girl, I’m also afraid that when my eldest daughter grows up, they will send her to be someone’s concubine.” Madam Wu expressed her concerns.

Chunnuan thought it was entirely possible; if she was envious of Luo Jia Sanya right now, then she must have had this thought.

"What are you going to do?"

As spring warms up, I can't help but think of my eldest sister.

The gentle woman decided to divorce after learning that she had been hurt and disliked by the Wu family. She never expected that the Wu family would be so cruel and even try to swallow her dowry, which she depended on for survival.

Since the Wu family won't let me live, I'll make sure the Wu family can't live either!
The eldest sister actually filed a complaint with the emperor, sending the entire Wu family to prison. It is said that in addition to being beheaded, they were all exiled to the northern desert.

If Wu had even a shred of courage like her elder sister, she would have divorced him directly and lived a very comfortable life.

"Girl, please, I want to take Daya with me. My Daya doesn't eat much, and she's very sensible and won't cause trouble," Wu said. "She can even help with the fire and take care of the children. She's very sensible..."

Ms. Wu repeatedly emphasized how sensible her four-year-old daughter was, which made Chunnuan feel quite distressed.

The more sensible a girl is, the more suffering she will endure.

Will the Cao family agree?

Chunnuan is not afraid of anything now, except for the Cao family causing trouble.

Raising his child while still fearing his troubles—that's something else.

"They..." Mrs. Wu thought for a moment, "They should agree, right?"

“I have no objection if the Cao family agrees,” Chunnuan said. “But you must be careful and keep an eye on Yang Ge’er. That’s your main responsibility.”

"Thank you, young lady. I will. I will take good care of the boy and do a good job with the housework. Thank you, young lady."

Mrs. Wu was extremely grateful and kept thanking her.

As spring warmed... she had a feeling that things wouldn't be that simple, and that Wu's idea was likely to fall through.

After all, with a child at home, the Cao family could justifiably demand monthly allowances from her.

As expected, Wu was refused when she returned to the Cao family to pick up her child.

"How long do you think you can be a wet nurse? Children will still be breastfeeding at three or five years old," the mother-in-law said. "If you leave Daya at home, you won't have to worry about so many things. Just focus on your job at the Xiao family, and they'll keep you here longer. Bringing you along will only delay your work, and no one will like that."

(End of this chapter)