Fields of Gold

Chapter 202 – Unmentionable Illness

It might be due to the environment or her mood, but with the addition of the nourishing soups that her goddaughter prepared for her every day, Lady Fang, who had unwittingly stayed at Dongshan Village for three months, felt that her health had gotten a lot better. Many of the minor female health illnesses that she had in the past seemed to have disappeared since she started living in Dongshan Village.

Her skin had gotten more fair and smooth, and she appeared several years younger. Last time, the county magistrate’s wife said that she didn’t look like someone who was thirty-four or thirty-five but instead appeared to be under the age of thirty! Dongshan Village was seriously good place to nourish oneself ah!

Fang Zizhen firmly believed that Xiaocao was their lucky star. Ever since he ate the food cooked by Xiaocao, he felt that even the best chef in the world couldn’t compare with his daughter’s cooking skills. Furthermore, after his wife came, his filial daughter had begun to prepare medicinal meals for them. His daughter’s medicinal meals were much more effective than the prescriptions given by those imperial physicians and famous doctors!

After being on the battlefield for many years, he had gotten many internal injuries. In the past, he would experience bone-piercing pain during cloudy days, when he caught a cold, or when he was too tired. After being nurtured by his daughter, even when he took a cold bath in the cool pond, he would only feel refreshed and didn’t feel anything else at all. His daughter said if he nursed his health for a period of time, his old wounds and illnesses could be cured and perhaps… hehe, he could give her a younger brother.

Ahem! The matter of giving birth to a child depended on the heavens. Though he said that everything depended on fate, he always felt that life wasn’t perfect without a child of his own. He was especially mindful of this matter because he was the reason that his wife wouldn’t have any children to bury her when she died in the future, which also made it hard for him to lift his head in front of many of his colleagues.

A fortune teller had once said that he had a lot of setbacks in his life, but there was always someone to help him turn the calamities into blessings. If… his daughter could cure his unmentionable illness, she was truly his noble benefactor ah!

However, it wasn’t that he didn’t believe in his daughter. She had studied medicine with the village doctor for a period of time, so she should be capable of preparing medicinal meals to nourish one’s health. Even the imperial physicians were unable to cure his infertility, which he had gotten after years on the battlefield. His daughter was only ten, so could she be better than those old imperial physicians whose hair and beards had gone white?

But, his daughter wanting to help him nurse his health was a display of her filial piety. He must support and cooperate unconditionally, and never show a look of doubt, so as to avoid making his daughter sad.

Therefore, Fang Zizhen and Lady Fang happily enjoyed the medicinal meals personally cooked by Xiaocao every day. The medicinal meals prepared by Xiaocao didn’t taste like herbal medicine at all and actually tasted very good. So, they ate it very readily.

After planting the sweet potatoes in their family’s fields, Xiaocao was very idle with nothing to do. The work at home had been divided among the family. Yu Hang was still responsible for collecting the marine goods for the Zhou Family’s condiment factories with Third Uncle. Xiaolian went to the docks every day to sell braised food, while Madam Liu was in charge of the vegetable garden and housework. Her father, Yu Hai, either helped his wife tend the vegetable garden, or at the invitation of his close friend, Liu Shuanzhu, went out to the sea to catch some valuable fish to improve their meals and subsidize the family. Although the family no longer lacked the money that he earned from selling fish, he still really enjoyed his original profession.

In this way, Yu Xiaocao was the only one in the family with nothing to do. Therefore, when she found out that her godfather was unable to father children because of his old wounds, she focused all her attention on her godparents’ health. She strived to get a younger sibling by next year.

Mhm… Little Shitou was already six years old. It wasn’t a bad idea to have another soft, little bun in her family. Alright! Due to this single thought by their daughter, Yu Hai and Madam Liu were also forced to join in on drinking herbal soups every day.

Although Yu Xiaocao wasn’t very confident in her own medical skills, she was full of confidence in the little divine stone. Back then, without the little divine stone, it would have been very difficult to save his life, let alone his leg. Her godfather’s infertility wasn’t innate, but instead it was an injury left from the battlefields. Compared to when her father got bitten by a bear, this matter was simply a piece of cake.

As a result, she eagerly devoted herself to cooking medicinal meals every day. Although she had the little divine stone as her cheat, in order to make it more effective and to pull the wool over other people’s eyes, she specially went to town to discuss her godfather’s pulse with the famous physician, Doctor Sun. They worked together to come up with the most helpful prescription for his body.

Doctor Sun had an extremely deep impression of the Yu Family, especially the little girl in front of him. She had been ill since she was in the womb, which was the most difficult to treat. She should have been bedridden and relying on medication for survival. Moreover, even with the best medicine, she wouldn’t be able to live past the age of ten. However, look at her now. Not only did she have a healthy glow on her face and was alive and kicking, but she had also seriously studied medicine.

Next, he had to mention the little girl’s father. At that time, half of his body had nearly been destroyed by the bear. Even if he severed the leg at that time, it would still be very hard to save his life. But now? Not only did he keep his life, but his leg was also fine. He traveled between Dongshan Village and the town every day in a swift and vigorous manner, looking very spirited!

There was also this little girl’s mother, who had been left with a chronic illness because she didn’t get to properly recuperate during her postnatal confinement period. In addition, she had suffered years of exhaustion and malnourishment, so she had been left with many health problems. The most crucial thing was that, according to his diagnosis, the wife of the Yu Family already had initial symptoms of tuberculosis. During this era, it wasn’t very easy to treat tuberculosis. Moreover, it was not only contagious, but people could also die from it! But, look at her now. After recuperating for a period of time with his prescription, all her health issues were gone, and even her tuberculosis was cured! He almost thought that his medical skills weren’t very good and misdiagnosed her!

Not to boast, but his, Sun Zhongqiu’s, medical skills would be considered top-notch even if he entered the Imperial Hospital. Perhaps not up to ten thousand of patients, but he had definitely examined thousands of patients and had never been wrong. However, it was only for the three members of the Yu Family that all his diagnosis turned out to be wrong.

Could it be… that the Yu Family were blessed by the gods? Or was there a way to bring the dead back to life? Then again, the Yu Family were just ordinary fishermen. If they really knew some method of resuscitation, how could there be no news over the years? In this case, it could only be said that the Yu Family was probably blessed by the deity of luck, and thus they were not fated to die ah!

The ancients held more awe and revere towards demons and gods. Although Doctor Sun was a physician, he was still unable to break away from these conventional beliefs. As a result, regarding Yu Xiaocao’s consultation, he did his best to help her. During their discussion, Doctor Sun couldn’t help but be astonished by Yu Xiaocao’s unique views on some medical practices.

Xiaocao only had some superficial knowledge on medicine in her previous life, but there were endless methods to stay healthy online, which was something that she had also studied for a period of time. Many health care techniques of later generations were the results of thousands of years of studies. It was no wonder that even Doctor Sun, who was a famous doctor, had great admiration for her!

After a period of discussion, Doctor Sun’s attitude towards Xiaocao had also changed unconsciously. Sometimes the treatment plans that Xiaocao suggested weren’t quite mature enough, but it gave him a lot of inspiration. Thus, every time Xiaocao came over, Doctor Sun would personally receive her even if he was busy.

This made his disciples and their students very puzzled, ‘With Teacher’s (Teacher’s teacher) medical skills and fame, even when noble lords and officials from the capital came, he still looked cold and indifferent. What is so special about this little girl to make Teacher (Teacher’s teacher) treat her differently?’

In order to treat her godfather’s old illness, Yu Xiaocao often traveled back and forth between Dongshan Village and the Tongren Medicine Hall in town. On this day, Xiaocao drove her donkey cart and galloped on the flat and broad official road. There were actually some benefits with Imperial Prince Jing constructing a mountain manor on the West Mountains because they at least made the road from Dongshan Village to town much better than before. Especially the section of mountain road that passed through the West Mountains, she no longer felt like she would puke out her guts from the bumpiness of the road.

Xiaocao had to make at least seven or eight round trips a month on this mountain road, so she had long been familiar with this road. After being raised by her, this donkey, named Little Gray, had become full of intelligence. It didn’t need anyone to guide it and could reach home from town by itself.

Sitting cross-legged on the donkey cart with her head bowed, Yu Xiaocao couldn’t help but laugh out loud when she thought about what Doctor Sun said about her godfather’s medical case. After three months of her hard work, her godfather’s body had finally been regulated to become vigorous and fierce… cough cough… Forgive her for using the wrong words! However, it was true. Doctor Sun said that her godfather’s old disorder had been cured and he would have children sooner or later!

During these past three months, her godparents had treated her even better than they would treat their own biological children. Her father often grumbled sourly, “Old Fang has done everything that a father can do, and thus I, the real father, have become a mere ornament.”

Her godmother took care of her in every way possible, from her clothes to her shoes and socks. She sewed them herself and never asked other people to help her. Not only was her godmother keen on dressing her up, but she would also teach her some rules and etiquettes of noble young ladies… This couple wished that they could just dig out their hearts and give them to her. The only thing that she could do for her godparents was to help them recuperate their health so that they could give birth to a blood-related child to make up for the regrets in their hearts.

Her godparents may say that they didn’t have much hope, but she could clearly feel their desire and anticipation for a child. Since she said that she could cure Godfather’s unmentionable illness, her godparents didn’t distrust her because she was a child, but actively cooperated with her instead. They also had more vitality and liveliness in their speech and behavior than before.

Yu Xiaocao was thinking about the silly smile on her godfather’s face when he heard that he could have his own children… Suddenly, Little Gray gave out a warning-like neighing. The donkey cart shook violently and Xiaocao almost rolled off of the cart.

Little Gray usually pulled the cart in a very smooth and stable manner. This had never happened before, so what was wrong today? Xiaocao raised her head and prepared to check out the situation, but a sense of danger emerged in her heart.

Two dark shadows darted out of the nearby mountain forest with gleaming long swords in their hands and rushed straight towards her. Yu Xiaocao was rather agile and quickly rolled off of the cart. The long swords slashed on the cart, leaving a two deep marks. A drop of cold sweat dripped from the corner of Xiaocao’s forehead. If she had moved slightly slower, then the long swords would have landed on her small body instead of the cart. They were seriously trying to kill her ah!

Yu Xiaocao’s heart beat violently and even the color on her face had changed. She looked at the clothes on her body. It was rather plain and simple ah! She had never exposed her wealth in town, so it was unlikely that they were killing her for her money!