Chapter 26: CH 26

Cao Zhang caught Mo Yan and started shaking her, “Yan’er, Yan’er, are you ok?”

He touched her forehead; it was scalding! He immediately picked her up and started carrying her to his home. However, he had just left the threshing field when Lu Junming ran up behind him and asked anxiously, “Is she ok?”

“She has a fever. She got caught in the rain in the morning.”

Cao Zhang wasn’t very strong and was out of breath after a while. He was so tired he almost dropped Mo Yan, so he put her down and stopped to rest.

Lu Junming took hold of her instead and started running forwards, but he didn’t know where to go. So he turned back and yelled, “Cao Zhang, where should I go?”

He ran forward to show Lu Junming the way. When he got back, he shouted, “Dad, come quick!”

When they heard Cao Zhang being so anxious, his parents thought something had happened to him and ran out to the courtyard to see if he was ok.

Mrs. Cao asked, “Zhang’er, are you ok?”

He gestured behind him, “I’m fine, but Yan’er is running a fever and just fainted.”

When she heard that her son was fine, Mrs. Cao said, “You shouldn’t have shouted so loudly, you scared me!” After saying that, she turned back and went back inside.

Mr. Cao let Lu Junming carry Mo Yan to his clinic inside his home. By then, she had already woken up, but just had a headache and couldn’t walk properly. He put her down on the bed. Then, Mr. Cao touched her forehead and took her pulse.

“She just caught a cold, probably after being caught in the rain this morning. After all, her body is very weak.”

Mr. Cao said to Cao Zhang as he was getting out his acupuncture needles, “Start cooking the common cold remedy.”

When people in the village got sick, it was usually the common cold or just a heat stroke. Mr. Cao had stocks of the most commonly needed medicine in here. If someone needed help and he wasn’t here, Cao Zhang was responsible for administering it to others.

After a few needles, Mo Yan felt better and wanted to sit up. Mr. Cao said warmly, “Lay down for a bit more! You can go back after having medicine.”

Mr. Cao checked on whether or not the medicine was ready, leaving Lu Junming and Mo Yan in the room. He grabbed her hand and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you got caught in the rain this morning?”

“It had already happened, so what was the point of telling you?”

“You should’ve made ginger soup back home after being caught in the rain. Your body’s too weak, but you don’t care for it enough!”

In her previous life, Mo Yan could drink ginger soup after getting caught in the rain and also get a warm embrace from her mother. However, she could only bear it on her own here.

“It’s nothing much, I just caught a cold.”

Lu Junming sighed and looked at her silently.

“The medicine’s here!” Cao Zhang took the medicine out and placed it on a table near her to cool down. Then, he went to grab a small clay jar and a wooden spoon and also set them on a table.

After feeling that the bowl of medicine wasn’t hot anymore, Cao Zhang put the bowl of medicine by Mo Yan’s lips while Lu Junming helped her out. She accepted it and drank it all in one hearty gulp.

He took back the bowl and scooped something from the clay jar into it with the wooden spoon. Then, he gave it back to Mo Yan, “Honey. If you eat it quickly the medicine won’t taste bitter.”

Pure honey tastes slightly sour when it first enters your mouth, but it has a sweet aftertaste. Mr. Cao used this as an ingredient when making medicine, so it was very high quality.

“Thank you Mr. Cao!”

She was polite as always. Cao Zhang embarrassedly opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything, while Lu Junming secretly smirked at the side.

The Cao family was very close to the school. After the governing official helped Mr. Cao get his table back to the school, he went over to check on Mo Yan.

Immediately after, Mrs. Liang’s voice rang from the Cao family’s courtyard, “Thank you for helping my daughter again, sir. Heavens knows how much stress she’s given you over the years.”

Mr. Cao went out of the room to greet her, “Mrs. Liang, you’re here. Don’t worry about it, I’m just doing what a doctor should do.”

She bowed deeply towards him, “You truly have the heart of a saint.”

Mr. Cao let Mrs. Liang and Mo Ling, who had also came along to check on Mo Yan, inside. She was already up and was about to leave. When she saw her mum, she subconsciously grabbed Lu Junming’s arm.

However, she didn’t immediately start scolding her daughter and just said with a dark face, “Why did you go to the threshing field if you felt uncomfortable? You’re so disobedient!” [1]

Mo Yan lowered her head and didn’t say anything. Mo Ling helped her up as they prepared to go back home.

Cao Zhang grabbed two packets from the room and handed them to Mo Yan, “You’ve already had one dose of medicine. These are the other two doses; take them separately at home.”

Mrs. Liang took the medicine and asked politely, “Young Mr. Cao, you already know what medicine to use to cure common illnesses. Are you planning on following in your father’s footsteps and becoming a doctor?”

Then, Mrs. Cao entered the room, with a handkerchief covering the bottom half of her face, “What’s with all the commotion? Mrs. Liang, my son won’t become a doctor. After all, he has to become an official in the future!”

After saying that, she turned and left again.

“Let’s go! We don’t want to bother people when they’re resting,” Mo Yan said.

When they left the room, Mo Yan realised they hadn’t paid for the medicine and turned back to ask, “Mr. Cao, how much does the medicine cost?”

“We’re from the same village, so it’s twenty dollars per package.”

Mrs. Liang instantly stilled. She looked at the two packages of medicine in her hand and handed them back to Mr. Cao. “Isn’t she better already? So she won’t need any more medicine.”

Cao Zhang handed them back. “She got caught in the rain and there might be some lingering chills, so it’s best to take these two doses of medicine too. It’d be problematic if she had a fever tomorrow as well. I’ve already paid for this, it’s coming out of my allowance.”

“How could I let you?” Mrs. Liang was incomparably embarrassed. Letting Cao Zhang pay for her would seriously damage her reputation, but she wasn’t willing to fish out sixty dollars for the medical fees.

Mo Ling took the medicine and said, “Mr. Cao, please put this on a tab. I’ll repay you in a few days when we sell our medicinal herbs.”

Mrs. Liang followed a few steps behind them and they left, bowing to Mr. Cao in thanks as they got on the road back home.

The three of them walked at the front while Lu Junming stayed behind them. After walking them home, he left and secretly sighed, but didn’t say anything.

Mo Ling put Mo Yan on the kang wordlessly.

After resting for the night, Mo Yan’s fever had subsided the next day. She naturally cancelled her morning run, so it was just Lu Junming running that day.

Mo Ling had woken up early to make breakfast. She cooked some very thick porridge and fried two eggs, which she brought to Mo Yan.

Mo Feng smelled the fried eggs with his sharp sense of smell, but couldn’t find the fried eggs after searching the entire kitchen. When his search led him to the sisters’ room and he saw the bowl of fried eggs next to the kang, he ran back to the courtyard and yelled, “Mum! Mo Yan and Mo Ling are stealing eggs to eat!”

Mrs. Liang was working on the medicinal herbs as she replied, “It’s just two eggs. It’s not like you’ve never eaten eggs in your life.”

“Why can they eat eggs and not me!”

“Because they help earn money! From now on, only the people in the household who contribute can eat well. Otherwise, you can just eat biscuits for the rest of your life!”

Post-edit notes: So that was certainly a chapter! I guess this means we get to see some Mo Feng character development soon?

[1] This must be because of Lu Junming’s reminder towards Mrs. Liang.