On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Jin Shanyao, accompanied by two cubs and a cartload of yellow paper ingots, went to pay respects to Meng Hongzhong and Wen Jingshu.
Fearing it would start a wildfire, she drew a circle on the ground and covered it with her Spiritual Power.
Two little children knelt before the grave, burning paper money and wiping away tears. "Father, Mother," they said, "I'll take the exam next year. I'll come back to tell you the good news when I pass."
Meng Anzhi threw the gold ingot into the fire. "Mother, I'm learning medicine from my aunt now, and I can already treat many minor illnesses, so don't worry about me. If you don't have enough money, come to me in a dream, and I'll burn more for you."
Jin Shanyao stood before the grave, unsure what to say. After a long pause, she managed to stammer, "Everything's fine."
After the worship ceremony, the three returned to the Meng Household, cleaned the house thoroughly, and Jin Shanyao to cast a layer of Spiritual Power, ensuring the house was clean and dust-free.
She found Old Woman Li and paid her five taels of silver a year to look after the house.
They then approached the village head, wanting to rent out the Meng Household's five mu of farmland.
The village head knew the location of Meng Household; the land was fertile and would surely yield a high yield of potatoes, so he stayed there and signed a ten-year lease.
Ten years from now, Meng Anci will be fifteen years old, and he will have the final say on whether to keep or leave the family.
After finishing their business in Little River Village, the three of them boarded an oxcart and returned to the county town.
New Year's Eve arrived in the blink of an eye.
Qing He and Qing Yang got up early to clean the house, while Lu Chi chopped firewood and swept the yard.
Jin Shanyao was picking vegetables with her two children in the west wing.
The west wing was about fifty square meters. Inside, there were four rows of wooden troughs filled with spinach, cucumbers, green beans, and other vegetables. The room was filled with the warmth of spring, a stark contrast to the cold winter outside.
"Auntie, can I have this cucumber?" Meng Anzhi asked, holding up a tender green cucumber.
"Okay, be careful when picking them, don't damage the seedlings," Jin Shanyao. Every day, she would infuse these vegetables with Spiritual Power, and at the same time, she would also cover the outside of the house with another layer of Spiritual Power.
She also stored some autumn vegetables, but they ate cabbage one meal and potatoes the next, which made the children's faces turn green. So she built a house to grow her own.
They asked why vegetables could grow in winter, Jin Shanyao uniformly replied that as long as the temperature was high enough, the vegetables could survive.
Pasting Spring Festival couplets, cutting paper-cuts, stewing meat, preparing vegetables—before evening even arrived.
"Auntie, what do you think of the dumplings I made?" Meng Anzhi asked, holding up the deflated and shriveled dumplings.
Jin Shanyao rolled out the dough, "Oh my, I didn't expect my darling to make such beautiful dumplings!" Before she could finish speaking, Meng Anci pressed her for an answer.
"And what about me? Are the dough balls I pressed round or not?"
Jin Shanyao examined An Ci's hands intently for a while before saying, "Hmm, I must say, Anci's little hands are perfect for pressing dough."
Meng Anci chuckled, Lu Chi also wanted Jin Shanyao to praise him. This was his first time making dumplings, and the first two dumplings he made had burst open with filling. The ones he was making were the best.
Qing He saw through his thoughts and laughed, " Gouya, you learn things so fast! You got the hang of making the third dumpling."
Lu Chi frowned. "My name isn't Gouya."
Everyone looked at him upon hearing this. In the past three months, although Lu Chi had been joking around, he had never brought up his background, and everyone tacitly refrained from asking.
Lu Chi placed the wrapped dumplings on the bamboo steamer rack, picked up a wrapper, and continued wrapping. "My name is Lu Chi, Qin Luchi."
Qin was his mother's surname, and Lu Chi was the name she gave him on her deathbed. He didn't want to give it up. Qing He and Qing Yang exchanged a glance and shouted, " Qin Luchi!"
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci also chimed in, "Master Qin."
Jin Shanyao rolled out the dough, watching everyone laugh and joking, and couldn't help but smile. The water boiled, the dumplings were added, Qing He cooked the dumplings, and Qing Yang stir-fried vegetables.
Once the dumplings were ready, the vegetables were almost cooked as well.
They sat at a table without distinction of master and servant, six people, ten dishes, five plates of large dumplings filled with pork and cabbage.
Jin Shanyao took out red envelopes and handed them to Qing He, Qing Yang, Lu Chi, saying, "You have three days off for the New Year. Buy whatever you want."
Qing Yang held the thin red envelope in her hand. It wasn't copper coins or silver; it was a bank note. The smallest bank note from a money exchange was ten taels, which represented two years' harvest for a farmer.
Qing Yang pulled Qing He to kneel down and express her gratitude, but Jin Shanyao stopped her.
Lu Chi held the red envelope, somewhat bewildered. New Year's money? A little girl was actually giving him New Year's money.
Lu Chi used to want to walk eight hundred times a day, hoping to get rid of the poison as soon as possible, but after he was actually cured, he didn't want to walk anymore.
Where is he going? Home? It seems he has no home.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, Jin Shanyao took the children back to their house to stay up all night.
Outside, snowflakes were falling heavily, while inside, the kang (a heated brick bed) was warm and cozy. Jin Shanyao and two chubby little guys lay on the kang, their faces covered with cucumber slices.
Meng Anci secretly picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.
With a snap... his aunt and sister both looked over, and he stammered, holding the cucumber slice.
"Hey, isn't this vegetables? Why are we putting vegetables on our faces?"
Meng Anzhi rolled her eyes at him, peeled a slice of cucumber off her face, and stuck it on Meng Anci's face.
"Don't move around. I heard from the lady at the cosmetics shop that cucumber slices are good for moisturizing the face."
Meng Anci had a cucumber slice in her mouth but dared not chew it, for fear of being beaten by her older sister.
"For hydration, a bath is so much better. Soaking your whole body in water is much better than applying cucumber slices."
Jin Shanyao thought Meng Anci's words made sense and looked at Meng Anzhi.
Meng Anzhi warned, "Auntie, you're not allowed to move either, or the cucumber slices will fall off."
After saying that, she closed her eyes contentedly, her little feet swinging back and forth, "Boiling water in winter uses up a lot of firewood, but we can still eat these cucumber slices after they're done."
Jin Shanyao recalled the cucumbers planted in the side room; there seemed to be three left, which, according to Meng Anzhi's method of pasting, would last at most two days.
Crunch... Meng Anci ate another piece.
Well... I've said too much. I'll just post this for a day at most.
After the New Year, everyone got busy. Lu Chi spent his days reading with Meng Anci in preparation for the preliminary examinations in the spring.
Meng Anzhi followed the Jin Shanyao and organized the cases she had read, then studied and memorized them.
Qing He and Qing Yang went home for the New Year, and it's said they came back crying. Jin Shanyao didn't ask, as everyone has their own destiny, and she shouldn't interfere too much.
Just as the Lantern Festival lanterns were put away, Meng Anci school, Anzhi Hall also officially opened for business.
That day, just as the two opened the door, a young man walked in. He sat down in front of the Jin Shanyao and hesitated before speaking.
"Doctor, you said last time that I had heart problems and told me to come and have a checkup."
Jin Shanyao suddenly remembered who he was and laughed, "Put your hand on the pulse pillow, let me see."
The man did as instructed. Jin Shanyao her finger and placed it on his wrist. The pulse was steady and strong, unlike the rapid pulse she had experienced when he fainted in the street.
He asked doubtfully, "Have you had any recent episodes of your illness?"
The man blushed. "Yes, once."
"Tell me in detail," Jin Shanyao her head. When encountering a difficult case, she couldn't help but take it more seriously.
She held her pen in mid-air, watching the man stammer for a long time, his face turning red, without uttering a single word.
Jin Shanyao, thinking the other party was avoiding seeking medical help, urged, "Speak."
Startled by her icy voice, the man snapped out of his thoughts and blushed.
"Yesterday... yesterday I went... to propose marriage, and later... in the grove... she bit me."
Jin Shanyao heard it intermittently, "What bite?"
She bit me, and I passed out.
Jin Shanyao's eyes widened. Being bitten by a dog was no small matter and could not be taken lightly.
Where did it bite?
The man was too embarrassed to speak, thinking to himself, "Doesn't this girl know shame? I've already made it so clear, why is she still asking where to bite? He has a heart problem, what does it matter where he bites?"
But fearing it might delay treatment, he reluctantly pointed to his mouth.
Jin Shanyao forward, curiously approaching the man, "I didn't see any teeth marks?"
"Young lady, do you even know how to treat this?"
Upon hearing this, Jin Shanyao became displeased.
You can question my character, but you can't question my medical skills.
She's read more medical books than he's lived, and seen more animals... well, never mind.
Jin Shanyao her brush and quickly wrote down a prescription, then slammed it on the table, saying arrogantly, "Go and get the medicine; one dose of herbal decoction will be enough."
The man happily accepted the money, paid the consultation fee, and turned to leave the shop.
With a light Jin Shanyao. "A little rabies? It won't faze her."