The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1090 - 169: Support (Extra - for the reward from the reader "Autumn")

Chapter 1090: Chapter 169: Support (Extra Chapter for the reward from the reader "Autumn")

Old Zhou went around the village wearing his clothes, despite it still being autumn, and worked up such a sweat that he returned home and called out, "Four, your wife’s given birth, when do you plan on going to the capital?"

He was thinking of Manbao, and even if he couldn’t go to see his precious daughter in the capital himself, having Four go to take a look would be nice.

Zhou SiLang came out cradling his second son, trying to lull him to sleep, and responded, "Dad, it’s still early. We’ve just put the harvest into the granary, and we haven’t collected the privet seeds, raw ginger, or aged ginger yet."

He said, "This year, the village has a lot of raw and aged ginger. Since I’m going to the capital anyway, I might as well take some with us. Wulang mentioned that buying vegetables and such is expensive there; if everything is pricey, then ginger and yams must be, too. We won’t go empty-handed, and that way, the trip won’t cost as much."

"Would you dare to carry so much on the road alone? You know how far it is from here to the capital," Old Zhou said. "You could get robbed even on a day’s journey to Yizhou City."

Zhou SiLang: "...Who said I was going alone?"

Old Zhou then worriedly said, "If Third Brother and the others are going too, the expenses on the road will be too much."

Zhou SiLang: "...Dad, I have friends. I’ll travel with them."

"What friends?"

"Just a few from Yizhou City, one’s called Sanzi. They don’t have land, mainly do hard labor and beg. After I invited them over last time, they did a few jobs for me, quick and efficient. I’ve settled it with them; they’ll accompany me to the capital. I’ll cover their food and lodging on the way, and once we reach the capital, they can look for work themselves."

Zhou SiLang added, "Isn’t the capital crowded? Even begging there will yield more than in Yizhou City."

Seeing his father frown, he quickly added, "This was Manbao’s idea, actually."

Old Zhou opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word. After a while, he murmured, "Really, it’s good enough to sell things in Yizhou City, why go through all that effort? The capital is so far..."

Ms. Qian and Ms. Feng returned from the vegetable garden and, hearing him mutter, asked, "What are you talking about?"

Old Zhou grumbled, "Nothing much, just that Four’s trip to the capital will cost a lot. Do we still have money at home?"

He fretted, "The last crop of wheat this year didn’t sell well. When Five and the others went to the capital, they took all the money from home..."

Ms. Qian, not too concerned, said, "Although we earned less, we still made money. It’s enough for them to hit the road. When it gets colder, we’ll pack some dried food and strips of meat at home. They can cook it on the road and won’t go hungry."

"Once they reach the capital, money won’t be an issue. The restaurants have opened up, no way they’ll starve."

Old Zhou, not wanting to discuss this any further, asked, "What should we bring for Manbao?"

"The new clothes are done and have been taken to the capital by Old Madam Liu. When Four goes up, let Eldest’s wife make some of her favorite pot meat and fish to bring along."

Seeing him still silent, Ms. Qian softened her tone and said, "Don’t worry, Manbao knows not to mistreat herself. Ever since she was little, she’s been the biggest foodie in our family. In the last few years, she practically bought all the meat at home; she won’t let herself go hungry."

Old Zhou: "I just worry whether she can really meet the emperor this time. If she can’t, what will she do, as someone who won’t turn back until she hits a wall?"

Ms. Qian: "I’m not afraid of her hitting that wall. I’m just worried that the wall is too hard and will crack her skull."

Old Zhou’s mouth fell open.

"So what’s the use of being shocked now? You can’t help her in the capital. Instead of worrying, you’d be better off composting more, preparing to plant winter wheat. We need to grow more crops, turn them into money, so we can help out when the children need it."

Old Zhou silently went back inside to change his clothes, then dragged Zhou SiLang, who was interacting with his son, out to compost.

Zhou SiLang looked utterly dejected—back to work after just two days of rest.

Shao escorted Manbao back to Changqing Alley. Manbao took out paper and pen from her medicine box and wrote down a prescription, saying, "This is a recipe for an ointment. Take it to Shopkeeper Zheng and ask if he can make it."

Shao took the prescription, glanced at it, folded it, and tucked it away in her chest before agreeing.

Manbao, with her basket on her back and holding her medicine box, cheerfully headed home.

Daji greeted her at the door, took the medicine box, and said, "Miss Man, let me take you on your medical visits from now on."

"No need; the pharmacy has a carriage."

Daji insisted, "Since the young masters are at school anyway, let me pick you up and drop you off. Even if it gets late, Liu Gui will go to pick up the young masters; it’s not bothersome."

Seeing Daji so insistent, Manbao nodded and said, "Alright then, tomorrow afternoon I still need to make a trip to State Duke Su’s residence for a consultation."

Daji agreed.

Manbao didn’t go to the study to read but returned to her own room. She pulled out her casebook and recorded Second Madam Cheng’s case, then took out a sheet of white paper and began to write her treatment plan.

She had many ailments, and indeed, many women who have given birth have these in more or less the same ways.

These illnesses could be major or minor, but they didn’t seem very severe among her current patients. Manbao believed she could treat them, but when she actually lifted her pen to write, she realized there were many aspects she was unsure about.

For example, she knew they needed exercise to help recovery, but what kind of exercise...

Manbao scratched her head, only managing to write down a rough idea, and then logged into the system to contact Teacher Mo about it via email.

Fortunately, Teacher Mo was free that afternoon, available online.

They discussed complications related to childbirth. Teacher Mo consulted some colleagues and researched, chatting with Manbao, "Your area has so many cases stemming from childbirth. We don’t have such issues here, so I can’t provide a perfect treatment plan just now."

Manbao expressed her understanding, "I’ve only read about it in books. I remember seeing one about postnatal correction in the encyclopedia... Oh, that’s wrong. It’s about your ancients, not mine."

Teacher Mo, knowing her true age: ...

He massaged his forehead and said, "Manbao, don’t talk like that. In front of you, I hardly feel like you’re my ancestor."

After extensive research by the teacher and student, Teacher Mo consolidated colleagues’ opinions, combined with their findings, and they finally came up with a decent plan.

Manbao had Teacher Mo review the plan, and after dinner, not having the chance to chat with Bai Shan and the others, she returned to her room to learn the corrective exercises from the videos that Teacher Mo had found. After all, she was going to teach others the following day.