by N/A
(T/N: Doing anything and everything in a desperate situation.)
Du Xiao Li couldn't help rolling her eyes at Leng Er. Afterwards, she went around them and entered the house. As soon as she entered, she saw Niu Jing sitting by the bedside, and Han Ming Yi lying on the bed with a deathly pale face.
"Grandpa Niu." Du Xiao Li walked to Niu Jing's side.
Niu Jing was in the middle of contemplating when he saw Du Xiao Li. He didn't expect that Leng Er really had her brought here. Recalling how she'd previously saved Han Ming Yi, he said, "Li girl, quickly come have a look. Why is young master still unconscious?"
Leng Yi and Leng Er also walked in at this time. The three of them all stared at her.
"Grandpa Niu, I...." Du Xiao Li wanted to say that last time was only a coincidence, but when she saw the sorrow coming from him, her words of refusal could no longer come out. "Grandpa Niu, is he really important to you?"
"Yes, he's just like a grandson to me." Niu Jing said.
"Is that so." Du Xiao Li sighed and said, "Then alright, I'll try."
With that said, she sat down right where Niu Jing was just sitting, grabbed Han Ming Yi's hand, and lightly checked his pulse.
She actually also knew how to check pulse!
Niu Jing looked to Du Xiao Li's movement in shock, and unconsciously dropped his jaw.
Leng Yi and Leng Er more or less had the same reaction, especially Leng Er, his mouth was wide enough to shove an egg in.
Actually, they originally only wanted to see if Du Xiao Li had any folk remedies that could help Han Ming Yi wake up. Yet unexpectedly, she actually knew how to take the pulse!
After she finished taking the right hand, she grabbed Han Ming Yi's left hand and examined for a while, then asking with a grave expression, "Is he poisoned?"
"Poisoned? Shouldn't be. Our young master only has this twitching disease ever since he was small, he shouldn't have any signs of poisoning!" Leng Er said.
Du Xiao Li casted her gaze towards Niu Jing, and Niu Jing thought for a moment and said, "I've examined his pulse countless of times before, and didn't discover any signs of poisoning in his pulse either."
"He should be poisoned." Du Xiao Li was firm with her judgement. She took out that case of silver needles from her little pouch, found the only needle actually made from silver inside, and stabbed the needle into Han Ming Yi's wrist.
"You...." Leng Er wanted to asked why she stabbed Han Ming Yi, but before his words could come out, he already saw that needle in Han Ming Yi's wrist slowly turn black, "There-, there's poison!"
Du Xiao Li tore a piece of cloth from Han Ming Yi's body, folded it in half, and pulled out the silver needle with the cloth. Afterwards, she had the needled handed to Niu Jing to see.
"He really is poisoned!" Niu Jing saw the black colored needle and said in somewhat disbelief, "Then young master is unconscious because of the poison?"
"I think that might be the case." Du Xiao Li nodded her head, "If my guess is correct, he's been suffering from this poison since he was very small. Furthermore, it's the kind of poison that harms the nerves. Because of the corroding from the poison, his nerves have suffered damage, thus suffering from epilepsy, that is the twitching disease you speak of. And recently grandpa Niu has been treating his body right? Because the poison is still in his body, that's why these external medicines would also harm his body. This might be why he fainted."
"Then we can just treat the poison right? Do you know how to detoxify the poison?" Leng Er impatiently asked.
Du Xiao Li shook her head. It's not like she studied poison before, how can she detoxify the poison? Seeing three disappointed looks, she said, "I don't know how to cure poison, but I can have the poison expelled out of the body."
"You can also cure the poison without knowing what kind of poison it is?" Leng Er said in surprise.
Du Xiao Li saw Leng Er's endlessly changing expression and couldn't help saying, "Why don't you go perform in the Sichuan opera?"
(T/N: In the Sichuan opera there's a 'face-changing' performance, where the performer will cycle through masks.)
"What?" Leng Er didn't understand.
Du Xiao Li was too lazy to explain to him. She looked to Niu Jing, "Grandpa Niu?"
Leng Yi and Leng Er also looked to Niu Jing.
Niu Jing nodded his head and agreed to Du Xiao Li expelling the poison for Han Ming Yi.
Since Niu Jing agreed, Du Xiao Li had Leng Er bring a basin filled with wine, and had her silver needles taken from the case and placed into the basin. Afterwards, she let Leng Yi have all the clothes on Han Ming Yi's body removed, only leaving his underpants.
Just then, Du Xiu Heng finally ran in. He saw Du Xiao Li standing by Han Ming Yi's side, and Han Ming Yi had been stripped naked. He pulled Du Xiao Li over at once and asked, "What are you all doing!?"
"Big brother." Du Xiao Li was just planning on injecting the needle, when she was pulled over by Du Xiu Heng, startling her in the process.
"What are you doing? How can you look at a guy's body?" Du Xiu Heng said angrily, "Grandpa Niu, how could you let Xiao Li do this kind of thing?"
Sweat.....
Du Xiao Li knew Du Xiu Heng had misunderstood, and quickly began to explain, "Big brother, I'm expelling poison for big brother Yi."
"Let someone else do it." Du Xiu Heng said.
"Big brother, if you keep making a fuss like this, big brother Yi's life will be in danger." Du Xiao Li said.
Du Xiu Heng saw that Han Ming Yi's complexion certainly wasn't very good, and then looked to Niu Jing. Finally, he let go of his hand and stood to side.
Du Xiao Li picked up the silver needles that were wiped dry, glanced to Leng Yi and the others and said, "No matter what I do in a bit, don't interrupt me, else your young master will be in trouble."
"Understood." Niu Jing, Leng Yi and Leng Er all replied.
Du Xiao Li took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she felt like an entirely different person. She felt around Han Ming Yi's body, and after finding a spot, she quickly had the needle injected. Afterwards, she slowly twirled it a few times before finally letting go.
Leng Er watched how she had the needle inserted into Han Ming Yi's qihai acupuncture point, and nearly cried out in shock. Then recalling Du Xiao Li's earlier warning, he covered his mouth with his hands.
(T/N: Acupuncture point directly below the navel.)
Du Xiao Li picked up the second silver needle and continued up with her left hand. After determining the position of the second acupuncture point, she used the same speed to stab it in, slowly twirl it, and then let go.
Watching Du Xiao Li insert the second needle, this time, even Leng Yi let out a cold sweat from the shock. The two acupuncture points she picked were both major points in the human body. If there was the slightest mishap, Han Ming Yi's life can be considered ruined.
The third needled, Du Xiao Li directly inserted into the Baihui point. If not for the three of them firmly remembering her words earlier, they would have definitely made a fuss by now.
(T/N: Dead center of the top of the skull.)
After she finished inserting these three needles, Du Xiao Li slightly let out a breath in relief. She successively picked up the remaining needles and inserted them into the other acupuncture points on his body. Compared to her speed earlier, these were inserted much faster. When she inserted the last needle into his right hand, Han Ming Yi's right hand began rapidly swelling.
"Bring over the basin!" Du Xiao Li ordered.
Leng Yi quickly brought over a wooden basin and placed it below Han Ming Yi's right hand. Du Xiao Li took out the dagger from her little pouch, and quickly cut a slit on his five fingers. Black blood flowed out from the cuts on his fingertips.
Ch. 020 – A Foolish Amount of Money
A Foolish Amount of Money
Following the continuously out flowing black blood, Han Ming Yi's complexion gradually improved some. And when the blood slowly turned red, the p
erson who'd been unconscious all afternoon, slowly opened his eyes.
"He's waking, he's waking, young master's waking up!" Leng Er excitedly said.
Hearing Leng Er's voice, Han Ming Yi blinked his eyes and wanted to reach out to touch his own forehead when he heard a clearcut voice, "If you don't want to die, then don't move."
Han Ming Yi's muddled consciousness slowly gathered together, and finally did he realize that he was completely naked with only a pair of underpants remaining. He asked, "Just what is going on?"
"Young master you fainted. The girl is currently expelling the poison from your body." Leng Yi replied.
Seeing that the expelled blood was already more than enough, Du Xiao Li first had the needle on the right hand pulled out. The bleeding slowly came to a stop.
"Really amazing." Leng Er watched how the bleeding stopped and gasped in surprise.
Du Xiao Li diligently had the remaining needles all pulled out too. When the last needle was pulled out and placed into the wine basin, she finally let out a long sigh in relief. She turned to Niu Jing and said, "It's done."
As soon as Du Xiu Heng heard this, he immediately dragged Du Xiao Li out. Leng Yi then quickly went forward to dress Han Ming Yi, while Leng Er cleaned out the blood basin in the room, and Niu Jing explained what had just happened to Han Ming Yi.
Du Xiu Heng originally intended to directly take Du Xiao Li back, but Du Xiao Li said that her sliver needles and dagger were still inside. He didn't want Du Xiao Li to go back in, so they waited outside.
Very soon, Niu Jing came out and looked to Du Xiao Li saying: "Thank you, Li girl."
"In the beginning when mother was sick, grandpa Niu took care of our family a lot. He's someone grandpa Niu cares about, so there's no need to be polite." Du Xiao Li replied. Meaning, if not on your behalf, she wouldn't have done it. "Grandpa Niu, I'll go in first and gather my needles."
"Go then." Niu Jing inwardly sighed. He distinctly felt Du Xiao Li becoming somewhat distant from him, or perhaps should say, she had precautions.
When Du Xiao Li entered the room, Han Ming Yi was already dressed and was currently sitting on the bed, absentmindedly holding a silver needle in his hand. Hearing Du Xiao Li enter, he turned to look at her and said, "Thank you for saving me. Do you have any request?"
"En?" Du Xiao Li turned her head towards Han Ming Yi, not knowing what he meant.
"You saved me, what reward do you want?" Han Ming Yi had the silver needle in his hand handed to Du Xiao Li, and said coldly, "I don't want to owe someone else a favor."
"Is that so? Then give me silver then. I like to be paid in silver." Du Xiao Li said.
"Leng Yi, give her two hundred taels of silver." Han Ming Yi said.
"Yes." Leng Yi took out two silver ingot of a hundred taels each, and handed it to Du Xiao Li.
Du Xiao Li already finished gathering her things and had put on her little backpack. She accepted the silver, looked to Han Ming Yi and said, "Not bad, welcome to continue to look for me next time! Bye!"
Leng Er came in and saw Du Xiao Li putting away the silver into her little backpack and then leaving without turning to look back. He said with a laugh, "This girl really is completely obsessed with money!" Afterwards, he looked to Han Ming Yi and teased, "Young master, just earlier you were completely seen by her. You should have seen Du Xiu Heng's face, so dark that water almost leaked out."
"Leng Er, don't be so disrespectful." Leng Yi berated Leng Er in a low voice.
Leng Er pursed his lips and said, "However, that girl really is impressive. Is she really just seven years old?"
As soon as his words came out, the entire room sank into silence.
Du Xiu Heng borrowed a lantern from Niu Jing's house, and headed back with Du Xiao Li. Although he knew that Du Xiao Li did it for the sake of treating Han Ming Yi's illness, he was still very angry inside. His own little sister having seen a guy's body, how is she going to marry in the future?!
"Big brother, this really is nothing." Du Xiao Li felt the cold air coming from Du Xiu Heng and tried to explain, "Over at our place, this kind of thing is very normal. I've even seen a completely naked one before. Besides, he was still wearing a pair of underpants."
"That is your world. Right now, you are here. You saw someone else's body, in the future where will there still be a husband that is willing to marry you?" Du Xiu Heng said.
"It's even better if no one wants. I can just live with big brother forever." Du Xiao Li said.
The polygamy of this world, she really couldn't accept. But this world wasn't going to change because of her. That's why she could only try to adapt. Since she couldn't accept it, then she'll just choose to watch from the sidelines.
"Nonsense, when you grow up, you naturally need to marry." Du Xiu Heng said with a cold face.
"Alright, let's not talk about this. Big brother, do you want to go school and study?" Du Xiao Li asked.
Once again coming to the topic of studying, Du Xiu Heng still had the same response. With a stiffened body, he shook his head and said, "I won't go."
"Big brother, I know you want to go to school, right?" Du Xiao Li said, "Since you want to go then go. Anyways, we don't lack money at home right now either."
"That bit of money can't be used. Right now, we don't have land, and don't have harvest. That money is our future living expenses." Du Xiu Heng thought of the money Du Fu gave, and his heart moved for a moment. But after thinking about it, he still refused.
Du Xiao Li took down her backpack and opened it for Du Xiu Heng to see. Du Xiu Heng saw the two ingot of a hundred taels of silver each inside and was immediately dumbstruck. He asked, "Where did you get this?"
"That idiot rich boy's medical fees." Du Xiao Li tied up her backpack and slung it across her shoulders again, "I saved him twice, this is the treatment money."
(T/N: Actually the term MC calls him by here means 'someone with more money than sense'.)
"But this much?" Du Xiu Heng somewhat worryingly said, "Is it okay like this?"
"That guy looks like someone who's very rich, so naturally the treatment money is high. Furthermore, he gave it himself, said he didn't want to owe me a favor." Du Xiao Li didn't care if it was okay or not. Besides, she currently lacked money right now, and he has money. Since he gave it to her, why would she not want it. "Now that we have money, big brother you can go study. This money is enough for us to spend for a long time!"
Du Xiu Heng's eyes let out a warm light, seemingly also happy that he can go to school now. But a moment later, it darkened again, and he somewhat dejectedly said, "I still can't go."
"Why?" This time Du Xiao Li was puzzled. Wasn't the money problem already solved now?
"If I go, who's going to take care of you?" Du Xiu Heng said.
Du Xiao Li smiled from the bottom of her heart. She just knew she didn't misjudge him. She looked into Du Xiu Heng's eyes and said with a serious look, "If it's this, then you can greatly rest assured. You know, I'm not a real child after all. Since you like to study, and also want to study, then just properly study. Regardless whether you take up an official post, or become a merchant in the future, studying lots is always a good thing. When you're well off, you can take better care of me in the future."
"But your body is still very small....." Du Xiu Heng said in concern.
"You need to believe in me! Alright, it's decided. Let's quickly go back, I'm already starving." Du Xiao Li said.
After the two went back, the casually made something to eat and then went to rest. Having exhausted all day, Du Xiao Li very quickly fell asleep. And Du Xiu Heng instead tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. His head was filled with the matter of attending school. In the end, he decided to listen to Du Xiao Li's words and attend school. In the future, he will pass the imperial exams with scholarly honor, somehow manage to get an official post, and let her grandly marry off. After he finished contemplating, Du Xiu Heng finally fell asleep slowly.
T/N: An additional chapter will be po
sted later today.
Ch. 021 – A Man with a Very Alluring Smile
A Man with a Very Alluring Smile
T/N: Sponsored chapter! Thank you MajorQuinn, Gilly, and Nancy for sponsoring!
Since the decision was already made, then it should immediately be put into action. The morning of the next day, Du Xiao Li dragged Du Xiu Heng to the county seat.
Because their place was quite remote, and there were rather few literate people, the village didn't have a school. If Du Xiu Heng wanted to study, then he needed to attend the school in the county seat. Taking into consideration that some of the students came from rather remote places, the school prepared living quarters and dining hall. Those that lived far away can chose to live at the school, and every five days they can return home for two days, more or less similar to modern day boarding schools.
That's why if Du Xiu Heng wanted to attend school, he needed to live at school, and could only come home once every half a month. This was also the reason why he was hesitant.
Du Xiao Li directly dragged Du Xiu Heng with her to the school hall. Because Du Xiu Heng had quit midway, at the start of the year, he'd already enrolled. That's why they only needed to hand over some money, and he can thus continue attending class.
After they finished discussing with the scholar of the school, the person in charge of managing students' living arrangements prepared a room for Du Xiu Heng. One room, two beds. Placed on top one of the beds was a neatly folded quilt, and also two sets of wash-worn clothes folded and placed at the bedhead. Looks like the person living together with Du Xiu Heng is also from a not that well off family. However, should be someone that rather likes cleanliness.
They had the quilt they brought placed onto the bed, then found a cloth, wetted it, and had the bed wiped cleaned. After wiping clean the dust, they spread the bedsheets and quilt. When Du Xiao Li was doing these things, she suddenly felt like one of those mothers who'd came to the dorms to send off their children to school when she'd just started attending college.
"Pfft--" When she thought of this, Du Xiao Li couldn't help but let out a laugh.