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"Brother, how many days until you can come back?" Qi Yuan urged, "You need to hurry and take over for Yu Chunmiao on the mountain."
With his eyes closed, Qi Yuan replied, "I’ll be back in seven days."
Xiao Carpenter was a well-known figure. Although he had completed his training, to the outside world, he was not considered fully qualified until he had worked a full day. He had persevered for so long; he had to hold on for these last seven days.
On the day for changing the bandages, Yu Chunmiao washed her hands and volunteered to help Qi Chong with his dressing. Watching Yu Doctor bandage him was much easier than how she wrapped the legs of horses.
She unwrapped the gauze, removed the splints, and cleaned the old medicine. The dark Bone Paste inside had dried significantly and turned into clumps. She gently blew on the wound and peeled it open piece by piece, revealing Qi Chong's fair and tender little leg.
Chen Ruolan saw her son's twenty-centimeter-long wound for the first time and covered her mouth, nearly bursting into tears.
Yu Chunmiao rolled up her sleeves and compared her arm to his leg. "Qi Chong, your leg is even whiter than my hand! No, I need to make it darker."
Qi Chong chuckled softly, successfully stopping his mother from crying.
Qi Rong handed over the medicine jar while Yu Chunmiao carefully applied the ointment onto his calf with a bamboo stick. When it came time to wrap the gauze, she instructed Qi Rong to lift Qi Chong's leg slightly. Skillfully, like wrapping a horse's leg, she started from the ankle, pressed down one end of the gauze, and quickly rolled it up layer by layer.
Before long, a neatly wrapped bandage appeared around Qi Chong's calf.
Chen Ruolan watched in astonishment. Not only was this daughter-in-law not foolish, but how did she know so much? She could read, recognized Apple Snails and Banxia, knew how to draw toilet blueprints, and could also wrap gauze.
"Yu Chunmiao, have you learned this before? How did you wrap it so well?" she couldn't help but ask.
Yu Chunmiao thought for a moment before answering, "When Yu Doctor treated my leg, he taught me." After finishing her answer, she secretly sighed in relief as Qi Chong glanced at her.
She took out a splint and placed it alongside Qi Chong's calf. After wrapping two circles with an additional piece—four splints in total—she finished and found it even prettier than Yu Doctor's work.
Finally, she used scissors to cut the end of the gauze in half and tied a lovely bow near his thigh.
Qi Rong set down his brother's leg and praised her, "Sister-in-law is really clever; she can do such beautiful work after just one lesson from Yu Doctor."
Yu Chunmiao’s words deceived both her mother-in-law and younger brother but did not fool Qi Chong. However, for now, he had no intention of probing further.
Yu Chunmiao went up the mountain for another three days. Fortunately, Qi Yuan returned every night; she didn’t have to run into town. Every morning he carried a basket to sell goods and returned at night to hand over the money to her. Whatever was lacking at home was also bought by Qi Yuan, allowing her more time each morning to run up the mountain.
With more time available, she could dig more and save more money.
After calculating her expenses over six days for food and drink for the family, she had saved nearly twelve taels. The money for two treatments was sufficient; she felt much more at ease.
On the morning of the fourth day, she gave Qi Yuan six taels of silver and asked him to bring back medicine for the next treatment that evening while also reminding him about rice and flour for their meals.
Qi Yuan accepted the silver and said, "Alright! Today is my last day of work; I won't be coming back tonight."
He had some reservations about Sister-in-law managing money at first but had grown increasingly respectful towards her in recent days as he observed how caring she was towards his elder brother and how she took care of their mother when she coughed at night.
Yu Chunmiao held the medicine bowl, and Qi Chong said, "How about we skip the Painkiller this time? I’m not in pain."
Upon hearing this, Yu Chunmiao immediately knew he was lying. How could he not be in pain? She shook her head vigorously. Even if he thought so, and even if she thought so, their mother certainly wouldn’t agree. When he glared at her with those eyes and raised his eyebrows, she felt a chill run down her spine. She wasn’t going to say anything to him. Besides, today was the day her second brother was coming back, so there was no need to worry.
That was just an excuse; others might fear Yu Doctor, but she did not. However, she knew that if she were to say in front of the real Yu Doctor that they shouldn’t buy Painkiller, he would genuinely be angry.
Moreover, the cost of Painkiller should be minimal; the expensive items were likely the Sheng Gu Yao.
Qi Chong looked out the window and said, "How about we skip it today? I think it’s going to rain."
Yu Chunmiao found this reasonable and decided not to go out today.
The decision to stay indoors proved correct. Shortly after noon, accompanied by a rumble of thunder, heavy rain began to pour down. She simply boiled some hot water and washed her hair thoroughly.
Qi Rong entered the elder brother's room carrying a bucket of hot water and said, "Sister-in-law said she would wash your hair later and asked me to take down the headboard."
Qi Rong set down the bucket and began dismantling the headboard. Before long, only a frame remained at the top of the bed.
With her hair half-dry, Yu Chunmiao casually tied it up and entered the room. She instructed Qi Chong to lean his head out over the bed frame while she placed a stool under a basin of water. She then untangled his hair and sat beside him, pouring hot water over his head with a ladle.
As Qi Chong looked up, he could see Yu Chunmiao's delicate face clearly. The damp strands of hair clung to her fair neck, and the light illuminated her smooth skin, revealing her soft features. Her slightly translucent earlobes resembled flowers nourished by morning dew, making one unable to resist wanting to pluck them.
Qi Chong’s throat involuntarily moved as he reached out to touch her earlobe, gently pinching it.
"Ah!" Yu Chunmiao exclaimed playfully, covering her ear and retreating. It tickled!
Startled by her reaction, Qi Chong quickly withdrew his hand, feeling tense as if he had turned into a wooden board.
"I'm sorry! I can't explain what just happened," he thought to himself as he acted on impulse.
Yu Chunmiao reached out and playfully tugged at Qi Chong's earlobe. "Is it ticklish? Is it ticklish?"
Qi Chong caught her mischievous hand and said, "Alright, Yu Chunmiao, spare me this time."
Though it was ticklish, it was quite fun—fun that would have to wait until his leg healed.
Yu Chunmiao covered her mouth with a smile and said, "Considering your current condition as a disabled person, I’ll let you off this time. Otherwise, I would have to tickle you under your arms."
Releasing her hand, Qi Chong replied, "Just saying that makes me feel ticklish already. But don’t worry; if I ever make you angry in the future, you can tickle me as much as you want—I won’t resist."
His underarms were indeed his weak spot; even when they were young, his two younger brothers could only exploit that vulnerability.
In the afternoon, as the rain gradually stopped, Qi Yuan returned home in the evening with two baskets filled with rice, flour, meat, vegetables from home, along with his woodworking tools.
Watching him carefully put each tool back into the storage room made Yu Chunmiao curious as she picked them up one by one.
Qi Yuan introduced each item: "Sister-in-law, what you’re holding is Mo Dou; this is Chang Pao; Short Plane; Round Plane; Line Plane; Slot Plane; La Drill; Ban Drill; Yao Zhuan; Qian Zhuan; and this pile is Chisel. This is Zhi Ju; Horizontal Saw; Hawk Saw."
Yu Chunmiao picked up a Qian Zhuan and asked curiously, "So just by pulling this string can you drill a hole?"
Qi Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, what do you want to drill?"
Yu Chunmiao shook her head and replied, "Nothing, I'm just curious. I've seen carpenter tools in my grandmother's village when I was a child, but I've never seen handmade drills before."
"Isn't an electric drill nice? You can change the bits anytime," she thought.
Qi Yuan chuckled and said, "Once my brother's leg is better, I'll make you a set of furniture. Everything else in his room is fine, but the bed is old and too small. I learned quite a few styles from my master. I'll find some twisted willow trees on the mountain and make you a big one."
Suddenly, a vivid image appeared in Yu Chunmiao's mind of her and Qi Chong lying on a large, sturdy bed together. "I'll bring your brother his medicine," she said, feeling her cheeks flush.
In the kitchen, Chen Ruolan was pouring medicine into a bowl.
"Yuan Er, are you sleeping with Qi Chong tonight or with me?" Yu Chunmiao asked.
She froze for a moment. The dramas had deceived her—where was the ancient modesty? One person said the bed was too small while another pushed her toward her son's bed.
Well, it wasn't impossible; perhaps her mother-in-law was eager for grandchildren. But Qi Chong's leg was still injured—did they want her to take action?
"I'll sleep with my mother," Yu Chunmiao said firmly.
Chen Ruolan nodded seriously, "That's right; the current bed is too small and too old. Just moving around makes it shake and creak."
"Yuan Er, Yuan Er," Qi Chong called out, "It's time for me to take my medicine."
Yu Chunmiao snatched the bowl of medicine before anyone could say anything else; she feared her mother-in-law would start giving her an impromptu lesson. She understood everything already.
The weather had been clear for two days, so Yu Chunmiao didn't have to go up the mountain; she stayed home to cook, prepare medicine, and wash Banxia.
It was still early in the day when Qi Yuan and Qi Rong returned.
Qi Rong entered his brother's room just as Yu Chunmiao was trimming his toenails.
Looking dejected, Qi Rong said, "Brother, Sister-in-law, we couldn't find any Sanbu Tiao; we dug at that cliff."
Yu Chunmiao replied, "After two treatments, we still have about eight or nine taels left in hand. With what you brought back today, we can manage for two more treatments. We just need one more treatment; let’s think together about what we can sell."
Qi Chong pondered for a moment and said, "Looking at the sky, it looks like it might rain. Qi Rong, do you remember those two mushroom spots on the back mountain?"
Qi Rong smacked his forehead and exclaimed, "Right! Dad took us there! One bamboo fungus spot and one Red Mushroom spot. The Bawei Restaurant in Qingstone County buys them regularly."
Yu Chunmiao swallowed hard and asked, "What did you say? Red Mushroom? Red Mushroom stew with chicken—its flavor is simply out of this world!"
In modern times, a pound of wild Red Mushrooms could sell for hundreds or even a thousand dollars per pound because they couldn't be cultivated artificially; only wild ones existed. Unfortunately, most of what was available in the market were dyed fakes. After leaving the village, she had never tasted the authentic ones again.
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