The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1064 - 143: The Skill of Eating

Chapter 1064: Chapter 143: The Skill of Eating

"There are plenty of places he could be; this kid runs all over the place every day, sometimes in this district, sometimes in that one, and he even occasionally bolts to the outer city. If you want to find him, you’d just have to wait here—today he’s not here, but tomorrow, the day after, he’s bound to show up someday."

Bai Erlang couldn’t help but ask, "But what if he never shows up?"

"Then he must have absconded with the money or been beaten so bad his legs are broken and he can’t move. In that case, you fellas really don’t need to wait."

Three people: ...

Manbao cleared his throat and asked, "Uncle, have you heard about the little miracle doctor?"

"Oh, you came for the stories, didn’t you? If only you said so earlier, I know this story," he laughed, "Whatever news the kid gets, he tells us first, but I think these tales are all paid for by someone to spread, mostly made up. You shouldn’t believe them. If you’re looking for treatment, you should still turn to the old doctors—they’ve got the experience."

Three people: ...

"They say the young master from the State Duke Pi’s household was thrown from his horse, badly injured, and the imperial doctors from Imperial Hospital couldn’t cure him. Then, out of nowhere, this little miracle doctor appears, cuts open the young master’s belly, draws blood from several people to replenish his, and just like that, saves the young master who was close to death." The uncle sniffed disdainfully, "I’ve never heard of saving someone by cutting open their belly, nor drawing someone else’s blood to fill them up. And that little miracle doctor is supposedly just a teenager—Imperial Hospital has so many imperial doctors and they were useless, but they expect a little girl to do the job?"

Manbao couldn’t help but give a thumbs up, "Uncle, you’re really smart, not just echoing everyone else."

"That’s right. That kid hangs around these gardens and outside taverns all day. Any time there’s a poetry or literature meeting, he rushes to the front. As long as people are willing to pay, he’ll praise their writings to the skies. I saw through him a long time ago."

Bai Shan asked, "Where does he usually spread or gather news?"

"Right around here, and a few nearby taverns. If he’s not here, then he must be in another district."

After thanking the uncle, the three of them continued eating while they roamed around looking for the big taverns.

Manbao was very curious whether the people on the street actually believed these rumors, so he asked quite a few of them.

"The little miracle doctor, yeah, I know about her. Just not sure if her treatment is expensive. If it’s not, I’d even think about taking my wife to see her."

"I believe it. The whole town’s talking about it. Imperial Doctor Ji couldn’t heal the young master and got knifed by the Crown Prince. Then that little miracle doctor went and cured him."

"I heard she practices blood transfusion magic, where she draws someone else’s blood and gives it to the patient. I’m just curious, doesn’t that person die?"

"How does the blood even get from one person’s body to another’s?"

The others were very curious too, and crowded around, pushing past Manbao and the others, to engage in a heated discussion among themselves.

Pushed to the outskirts of the crowd, Manbao exchanged a bewildered glance with Bai Shan and shrugged before turning away.

Bai Erlang bought another bag of pastries and caught up with them while eating, asking, "Where exactly are we going to look for him?"

Bai Shan nodded towards the front with his chin and said, "Over there, you see."

Bai Erlang looked ahead and saw Dashan sitting on a rock, vividly relating something, surrounded by quite a crowd.

Manbao pinched a piece of pastry from Bai Erlang’s paper bag and munched on it, saying, "It’s true, if you follow where the crowds are, you’re bound to find him."

The three of them didn’t shout to him; they were curious to get closer and hear just how he was spreading rumors about her.

"All the things being said on the street about the little miracle doctor cutting open bellies, that’s all fake. You shouldn’t listen to them; it’s just rumors creating rumors, you know?"

Three people: ...

Manbao and Bai Erlang both turned to look at Bai Shan.

Bai Shan silently watched Dashan, who was enthusiastically speaking while squatting on a chair, under the gaze of the two.

Dashan took a gulp of water and continued, "What I’m saying is the real deal. I have a friend who is a scholar’s page in the Imperial Academy, and he’s actually classmates with the young genius doctor’s Junior Brother. Do you know where this young genius doctor is from?"

Everyone shook their heads together.

"She’s from Mianzhou, which is very close to Yizhou. Before coming to the capital, this young genius doctor had already been studying medicine with the doctors from Jishi Hall and Imperial Doctor Fan from the Imperial Hospital. You know Imperial Doctor Fan, right?"

"Yes, we know him! We’ve heard about him in the teahouses where stories are told. It’s said he can disembowel people."

"Exactly, and the young genius doctor learned her medicine from them. Isn’t there a saying, ’the student surpasses the teacher’? This young genius doctor is even more skilled than Imperial Doctor Fan. I heard she had treated the little grandson of Lord Ji Xiang in Yizhou City, so the Imperial Hospital in the capital knows about her too."

The crowd nodded in agreement.

Dashan said, "When the young lord fell off his horse, Imperial Doctor Ji said he was beyond help, and Imperial Doctor Zheng also had no confidence, so they had no choice but to call for the young genius doctor. Coincidentally, after she arrived in the capital, she was also practicing in Jishi Hall."

"Is the young genius doctor really that amazing?"

"A prodigy, just think, the young lords who study in the Imperial Academy are impressive, right?"

"Of course they are! They have impressive ancestors, ha ha ha..."

"But the young genius doctor’s Junior Brother, his dad’s not a third-rank official, and yet he was able to get into the Imperial Academy. How impressive is that?"

Realizing that Bai Shan was considered as having passed through thousands of candidates to get in, everyone was momentarily stunned then continuously nodded, "Impressive, very impressive."

"But he’s the Junior Brother, and the young genius doctor is the Senior Sister, so the Senior Sister must be even more impressive, right?"

The crowd thought about it and agreed, "Then did she really draw blood from someone to give to the young lord? The person who was drawn from..."

Dashan lowered his voice, "Do you know whose blood she drew?"

Everyone also lowered their voices, quietly asking, "Whose?"

"It’s the blood of State Duke Pi who knocked the young lord off his horse while playing polo and the young lord himself, and one more," Dashan said with a sense of mystery, "that of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Manbao and the others had at some point squatted on the outskirts of the crowd, listening intently. Even Bai Erlang had to quietly admit to Bai Shan, "What he says is much more interesting than what you said."

Bai Shan had to admit it.

"What’s being spread around now, things like drawing all the blood out of someone to transfuse it into the young lord, that’s all fake. The page of the Imperial Academy student, who is a classmate of the young genius doctor’s Junior Brother, told me that blood can be categorized in several types, each person’s blood is a little different, and it can roughly be divided into four types. You have to find the right kind of blood that matches before you can draw blood."

"There are rules for bloodletting, too. People who are too weak can’t have their blood drawn, and the blood of sick people can’t be used. You can’t take too much at once either. If someone really loses too much blood, you can alternate and draw from several people."

The crowd shivered and asked, "How exactly do you draw the blood out?"

"You just use a knife to cut open the vein, but I’m curious about how they get the blood into another person’s body. Do they make them drink it? What if the person is unconscious and can’t drink?"

Dashan was a bit at a loss. Bai Shan hadn’t told him how the transfusion was done. He hesitated for a moment before waving his hand, "That’s the doctor’s trade secret. Could she tell us?"

"No, no."

"Exactly, so I don’t know either."