Early morning.
Jiang Mianmian wakes up.
After washing up, she bounces into her elder sister's room first thing.
Her brother-in-law has already gone for his morning exercise.
He's building his strength together with her elder brother and father.
Since her brother-in-law's sword kept getting knocked out of his hand by her elder brother, he switched to practicing with a knife.
His knife practice is becoming fierce and imposing.
Jiang Feng still prefers the sword, slender and graceful, killing cleanly and neatly, unlike the knife which cuts in chunks, splattering blood and flesh, so messy...
Jiang Mianmian comes over early, carrying a book.
She sees her elder sister just getting up to wash.
She reads aloud from the book in her elder sister's room.
She's determined that the baby in her sister's belly should hear it. The comfortable future of their little aunt depends on you, so start learning from the womb, and you'll surely be smarter later.
With this mission, she reads with even more enthusiasm.
Jiang Yu listens to the reading as she washes up. Her stomach feels quite good, she hasn't been vomiting much lately, and her appetite has increased.
Although she speaks without filters, people who speak without filters also don't hide their sweet words.
Every day she speaks directly to Elder Brother Meng: "Darling, you're so amazing. Darling, I like you so much. Darling, your cooking is so delicious, I ate an extra bowl today. Darling, you're so good to me. Darling, you're so knowledgeable. Darling, you're wonderful..."
Jiang Mianmian feels inadequate in this respect.
Her elder sister is truly impressive.
Many people start by saying: "I speak directly, so bear with me, don't take offense."
Then they only say things that people dislike.
But her elder sister is different. She speaks directly, she directly scolds people, and she also directly speaks words of love.
It makes her brother-in-law dizzy with happiness. He's been at his father-in-law's house for three years and has never blushed, always happy every day.
Jiang Mianmian thinks her elder sister's direct way of speaking plays a big role in this.
It's worth learning from.
Speaking directly can directly point out faults, but can also directly say "I love you." One must be more direct.
After Mianmian finishes giving prenatal education to her future niece or nephew, nodding and shaking her head, she goes with her elder sister to have breakfast.
After breakfast, Jiang Mianmian leisurely drinks a cup of fermented black tea.
She strolls around to change into a neat outfit for going out.
Recently she likes white robes, tied with a belt, her long hair in a ponytail, looking very pretty.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Jiang Mianmian even feels a desire to have a daughter. Girls are so beautiful, from childhood to adulthood.
At seven or eight years old they're also cute, in between growing up and not growing up, with fluffy hair.
Her skin is very fair, partly because she's careful about physical sun protection, partly thanks to the Spirit Spring, and partly due to genetics. Her father is very fair, even without sun protection, as if he can't tan.
Wearing small boots, she takes Pangya out to distribute medicinal porridge.
Outside the mansion, the fallen tiles and collapsed beams have all been repaired, and the upturned stones on the roadside have been flattened.
Usually, such repairs are prioritized for the nobles and officials.
The houses of the poor commoners, even if completely collapsed, can only be dealt with slowly.
After all, they can't let the lords see the squalor before their eyes, as it would make the work seem inadequate.
It's fortunate that it's summer, so even without houses, people won't freeze to death.
But summer is also not good, as corpses gather and easily lead to plagues.
When Mianmian arrives with Pangya, she immediately spots Zhang Kuibiao. His large frame, squatting in the corner, looks like a tent.
Seeing them come, Zhang Kuibiao stands up to help with the work, without saying a word.
After finishing the work, he squats to the side again.
As the medicinal porridge starts cooking, people in the square spontaneously form a line, and people from other areas also come.
It's getting a bit hot, but fortunately, the queue isn't crowded.
As long as no one cuts in line, even if the queue is long, everyone is willing because it's fair. Hope is right before their eyes, they just need to wait for their turn.
But once someone cuts in line, the people behind easily become upset because of the unfairness.
With Zhang Kuibiao squatting there, basically no one cuts in line.
He helps maintain order, so he doesn't need to queue repeatedly and is given porridge as a work meal.
It's just one meal, but he honestly squats here every day.
Jiang Mianmian goes to ask him some questions.
"How did they let you out?"
"That gang turned out to be the one that was stealing and killing in nearby villages recently. The officials said I did a public service by eliminating them, so they released me."
"You killed twenty-seven people in one night. You could make a living anywhere. Why insist on guarding this place?"
"I've never seen any noble family truly give out rice, medicine, and food to fill stomachs. If such families are bullied by evil people, this world is finished. So I, Zhang Kuibiao, will guard this place."
He looks like the biggest villain on the scene, with a fierce and evil appearance.
He has killed before, his clothes still stained with blood, his face full of murderous aura.
People around keep their distance. Anyone who might have thought of causing trouble behaves themselves.
After speaking, he squats back at the side of the queue, watching everyone like a hellhound.
Jiang Mianmian oversees the porridge distribution while continuing to display her "Treat Illnesses and Save Lives" sign.
Perhaps because the yamen runner with the severed finger she treated last time was too frightening, no patients have come for many days.
Jiang Mianmian can only wait helplessly. She can't ask her father for help with this every day.
Fortunately, today Old Nine from the yamen is due for a dressing change.
As the first and only patient so far, Old Nine doesn't need to queue or register when he comes. He sits directly in front of the young lady.
He stretches out his thickly bandaged finger.
He's actually very afraid, doesn't dare to look or touch, but it doesn't hurt.
Jiang Mianmian gently unwraps the outer hemp cloth. The hemp fabric, raw hemp, is breathable and similar to gauze, just a bit harder.
Old Nine closes his eyes, turns his head to his shoulder, not daring to look.
It doesn't hurt, but he's still nervous, his arm shaking.
Since it's just a dressing change, Mianmian didn't take him into the small room, just doing it outside.
Old Nine thinks it doesn't hurt much, so it probably hasn't rotted. He didn't even have a fever when he went home, so it should be fine. After losing a finger, things are inconvenient, but at least he has connections in the yamen. He and his wife have already discussed that they can do something else in the future.
Jingzhou has been prosperous these past few years, one can make a living doing anything.
Doing it himself would certainly be more convenient than outsiders, at least with official connections, getting permits and such would be easier.
Old Nine prepares himself mentally, but still doesn't dare to look when the outer bandage on his finger is being removed.
Then he hears the people around exclaiming "Ah!"
One after another.
It scares him so much his whole body trembles, and he can't help but turn to look.
He sees his finger intact, just a bit swollen and red, as if it had been pinched in a door, but complete and attached to his hand.
That finger is actually bright red, the color of flesh, not black. It hasn't rotted, hasn't festered. If not for the thread on it, one couldn't tell it had been severed at all.
Yamen runner Old Nine is so shocked he bows his head to look, as if looking at someone else's hand, utterly unbelievable.
He instinctively wants to move it but is held still, unable to move.
"I'm changing your dressing and fixing it in place. If you want this finger to recover like before, it will take at least three months. A hundred days to heal tendons and bones. During this time, do some light work. Don't use force with this hand. Come back to see me in ten days."
Yamen runner Old Nine, with his dressing changed and finger rewrapped, is still dazed and incredulous.
This finger is actually still there? And not just for decoration, it can actually be used.
At home, he had already cried three times with his wife, children, and parents.
Worried that he would be useless in the future.
But, but, his finger is actually still there.
Old Nine bursts into tears, kneeling on the blue brick ground, kowtowing heavily three times.
"Young Miss, your great kindness and virtue, I, Chen Ajiu, will never forget. If there's any errand, please command me."
Jiang Mianmian waves her hand and says, "Treating illnesses and saving lives, you need to pay. Last time I didn't charge, but this time for changing the dressing, I have to charge. This surgery was quite difficult, so it won't be cheap."
Yamen runner Old Nine, tears mixed with laughter, says, "Of course, of course."
Even if it meant selling everything he owned, he should pay. Over the years, his family's savings should be over a hundred taels. If it's not enough, he'll find a way to get more. He must pay in full. He thought even the greatest immortal couldn't save this finger, but unexpectedly, the young miss had reattached it for him, and it seems usable.
Jiang Mianmian calculates her consumption. Actually, the most valuable thing, the Spirit Spring, is priceless.
But with experience, it won't be like this in the future. She still charges according to market price: consultation fee, surgery fee, medication used. She writes out a long list, calculates, and the total comes to one tael and two silver.
Jiang Mianmian hands the bill to him.
Old Nine, the yamen runner, had prepared himself to lose everything. Now that his finger had been reattached, the young miss had said it was very expensive. A suite at the young miss's inn cost a thousand taels per night, yet unexpectedly, this procedure only cost one tael and two wen of silver.
Old Nine cried and laughed simultaneously.
Jiang Mianmian said, "Since you're my first patient and were referred by my father, I'll give you a discount. Just pay one tael of silver. I can't go any lower than that; I'm really not making a profit. Those instruments and materials are very expensive."
Jiang Mianmian calculated the cost very seriously.
Because medical fees were life-saving money, they had to be calculated precisely.
Of course, she couldn't treat patients for free. Without charging, she wouldn't be able to continue her practice.
For any endeavor to last long-term, it needs to at least generate a small profit to sustain one's livelihood. Only then can one continue doing it.
She calculated carefully, explaining each item to Old Nine, the yamen runner.
The ugly, burly man Zhang Kuibiao squatted to the side, listening and nodding. In his eyes, the young girl before him suddenly rose to an infinitely higher status.
Even higher than when she was distributing porridge that day.
Perhaps just slightly lower than the honorable magistrate.
Or maybe even on the same level.
...
