Chef Hua
Chapter 77: Episode 62: Can It Be Cured? Part 2

Chapter 77: Episode 62: Can It Be Cured? Part 2

Looking back now, it was fortunate that her parents had arranged her marriage before they died. Otherwise, once she reached the age of marriage, who knows what kind of things Hua Dashan might do. You see, when Hua Xiaomai was at home, she couldn’t do anything. After not seeing her for two years, she inexplicably developed excellent cooking skills. This makes it obvious what kind of treatment she must have received from Hua Dashan! If it weren’t for utter desperation, this little sister of mine wouldn’t have embarked on such a long journey to seek refuge with her married older sister.

After marrying Jing Taihe, her husband was gentle and kind, and her life had improved by more than just a notch compared to before. Hua’s second wife thought that her hard times were over. But who would have thought that she would end up with the "unable to conceive" issue?

As memories surfaced in her mind, Hua’s second wife couldn’t help feeling sad. She quickly sniffed and showed Doctor Xing a smile that was uglier than crying, "Life, ah, we are just ordinary people, who hasn’t faced some hardships?"

"Hmm," Doctor Xing nodded. "Indeed, it’s somewhat tricky. Constant hard work, even with a good body, cannot withstand such strain, attracting too much coldness. Over time, your body has become chilled and, coupled with the stagnant blood that I detected from your pulse just now, it’s truly not easy to conceive a child under these circumstances."

Hua’s second wife’s heart sank sharply and she pursed her lips, "I knew it would be like this, no matter, thank you anyway." She stood up to leave.

"Tsk, I haven’t finished speaking, what’s the rush?" Doctor Xing also stood up, "Though it’s difficult, it doesn’t mean there’s no hope at all."

...

Hua Xiaomai sat idly in the large hall of the medical clinic, occasionally turning her head to peek in the direction of the inner hall.

How come Hua’s second wife and the venerable doctor haven’t come out yet?

The medical knowledge of this era, although it can’t compare to where she lived in her previous life, surely wasn’t completely helpless with infertility, right? Moreover, the doctor with an aura of an immortal seemed to be quite capable!

"Buns, freshly baked, steaming meat-filled buns!"

Outside the clinic, a street vendor loudly hawked his buns. Hua Xiaomai turned her head and stared at his whole setup for a while, pondering in her mind. Suddenly she heard the sound of footsteps, turned her head, and saw Hua’s second wife and Doctor Xing walking out one after the other.

"Doctor, how is my second sister?" She hurriedly walked up to them, first tentatively asking, then looked at Hua’s second wife’s face, and seeing her eyes reddened, she exclaimed in surprise, "You’ve been crying?"

"Are you sick? Why would I be crying?" Hua’s second wife was very stubborn, gifting Hua Xiaomai with a huge roll of the eyes.

The venerable doctor slowly walked behind the table, swiftly wrote a prescription, and handed it to Hua’s second wife, "Treating your condition will require a lot of time. Take this prescription for a while, and come back after a month. At that time, I will take your pulse again to see if the medicinal herbs need to be adjusted. Repeat this process, and after a year, there should be some effect."

"A year?" Hua Xiaomai couldn’t help exclaiming, "That long?"

"Nonsense!" the old immortal rolled his eyelids and shook his beard, "The body isn’t ruined overnight. Do you think you can cure it in ten days or half a month? Just go back and take your medicine properly! Hmph, not to boast, but this illness, only I can treat it. If my prescription doesn’t work, you could search the whole world in vain!"

People often say "old in age, young at heart," and only at this moment did the calm old doctor show a hint of childlike petulance. Hua Xiaomai wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to, so she quickly agreed with nods and thanks, accepting the prescription, and paying the consultation fee. Then she and Hua Ermu went to the city’s pharmacy to gather the medicines and hurried back to Fire Knife Village.

On the way home, Hua Ermu was mostly silent, with Hua Xiaomai walking four or five steps behind her, full of thoughts. Finally, she quickened her pace, caught up, and tugged at Hua Ermu’s sleeve.

"Erjie, does Doctor Xing mean that your illness can be cured, right?"

Hua Ermu looked up at her: "I can’t be sure, but anyhow, after seeing him today, I feel a lot more relaxed. I was always anxious before, thinking of delaying as long as possible since I’m still young. But this can’t go on forever. I will definitely take the medicine Doctor Xing prescribed on time, and even if it doesn’t work after a year, I’ll have no regrets."

She seemed to have genuinely brightened up quite a bit, like she had shed a heavy burden, and with a change of tone, she smiled and said, "But little sister, you really enjoyed pretending to be sick today, didn’t you?"

"I wasn’t pretending to be sick at all!" Hua Xiaomai retorted defensively.

"I may not know medicine, but I’m not a fool. Don’t think I can’t see through you," Hua Ermu said with a smile, her tone very gentle, "Next time you dare to do this, I’ll break your leg."

Hua Xiaomai felt a chill run down her back and involuntarily shivered.

When they returned to the Jing Family courtyard, it was already dark. Jing Taihe paced back and forth at the entrance, and upon suddenly seeing Hua Ermu and Hua Xiaomai walking in from the western end of the village, he quickly went to meet them, repeatedly asking, "You’re back? Is Xiaomei all right?"

"She’s fine, just overly tired from the past few days." Hua Ermu briefly responded, then suddenly frowned, reached out, and rubbed his face, "What have you done to yourself, you’re all blackened?"

Jing Taihe grinned sheepishly, "I thought you might come back late, so I decided to start cooking. But that stove, it’s really not the same as the forge in my blacksmith shop; I’m not too good at using it..."

"Leave that to me, Erjie. You go and chat with your husband in the yard," Hua Xiaomai winked at Hua Ermu, tossed the bag of medicines onto the table, and ran into the kitchen.

Hua Ermu then shared the events of the day with Jing Taihe in the courtyard.

Learning that his wife’s infertile condition might still be treatable, Jing Taihe was overjoyed. Normally reticent, he was chatty and all smiles at the dinner table that day.

With such a good atmosphere, Hua Xiaomai seized the moment to strike while the iron was hot and also said with a smile, "Erjie, brother-in-law, I have something I’d like to discuss with you—I want to follow in the steps of Granny Sun from Guzi Village, to set up a little food stall in our village too." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)