Chương 7: Chapter 7 Cultivating Yang Xi

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However, at this moment, he could only feel heartache, and not the slightest whimsical thought could arise.

He gently patted Yang Xi's back, allowing her to cry, to vent, and quickly her tears soaked the front of his chest.

In the past year and a half, Yang Xi had borne burdens that someone her age should not have to bear. In fact, she desperately needed a strong chest to lean on, but her maternal family, which should have been her support, constantly pressured her to remarry instead—just to get another dowry, becoming a burden to her.

Because of this, Yang Xi was particularly averse to her maternal family; each mention of them wearied her heart, and she was reluctant to speak more on the topic. Over the past year and a half, she had only visited once.

Yang Xi's heart had been stifled for a long time, always bottling it up inside, rarely revealing it in front of others, and becoming self-pitying in the quiet of the night.

Now, lying on Liang Jingxian's chest, she vented everything, and her heart felt surprisingly unburdened; soon after, she gradually stopped crying.

Seeing this, Liang Jingxian gently coughed and said, "Ms. Xi, don't cry anymore. I am a doctor, after all. What illness does your father have? If I cure him, everything will be fine, won't it?"

Yang Xi, embarrassed, sat up from Liang Jingxian's embrace, wiped her tears, and forced a smile, "Thank you, I'm alright. My dad has severe rheumatism, he's been paralyzed at home and we've spent a lot of money, but it just can't be cured, and it's getting worse."

Even though Liang Jingxian's medical skills seemed miraculous, Yang Xi still felt that if even renowned doctors from big hospitals couldn't help, Liang Jingxian would certainly be unable to do better.

"Alright, no worries. Xiao Xian, please drive me back. I have to come back later to collect the fishing trap."

Liang Jingxian knew Yang Xi resisted talking about this topic and didn't say more, nodding and responding, "Okay, Ms. Xi, if you have any difficulties, let me know anytime. If you're short on money, I'll think of a way to help you."

Yang Xi felt warmth in her heart, smiling through her tears, "Then, I thank you in advance."

Watching Liang Jingxian drive in front of her, for some reason, Yang Xi suddenly felt exceptionally safe, as if she wouldn't be afraid even if her family did come.

Liang Jingxian drove steadily ahead, his determination to lead Huang Liang Village to prosperity growing ever stronger.

In fact, including Yang Xi, all their problems ultimately came down to poverty. If the Yang Family and Liu Can's family had money, these troubles would naturally disappear.

He also began to plan in his mind how to lead everyone out of poverty and towards wealth.

...

When Liang Jingxian brought Yang Xi back home, Xiao Long and Xiao Feng had just woken up. The two children were particularly clever; even without seeing their mother when they got up, they didn't fuss but instead brushed their teeth and washed their faces obediently. Upon seeing Liang Jingxian, they even sweetly called him 'uncle.'

Liang Jingxian smiled and said, "Very good, tonight I'll buy you something delicious." After bringing home the catch and having breakfast, he took his basket and went up the mountain to pick herbs.

By the time he returned, it was midday. Just as he arrived home, he heard Aunt Pang from next door hurrying over, saying, "Xiao Xian, my old man got bitten by insects. His leg is covered in big and small bumps, and it looks awfully nasty. Please, come and have a look quickly."

"Let's go. I'll take a look," Liang Jingxian replied, without even setting down his basket, and followed Aunt Pang.

"These insects really are too poisonous." Liang Jingxian frowned; Grandpa Hu had only gone to weed the vegetable garden and ended up getting bitten.

His legs, from the knees down, were covered with dozens of bumps, big and small, densely packed together. If someone with a fear of clusters saw this, they'd likely faint.

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Apart from the swollen spot on his leg, the old man had already fallen into a coma, his lips still slightly moaning.

"Aunt Pang, take these few herbs, crush them together, especially save the juice, and then bring it to me," Liang Jingxian said after taking the herbs he had just picked out of his basket and handing them to Aunt Pang. He then took out several silver needles, sterilized them, and inserted them into the old man's leg, containing the toxins. Once Aunt Pang brought over the juice, he applied it evenly over the leg.

After more than ten minutes, the swelling on the old man's legs had gone down by more than half. Moreover, he had also regained consciousness and seemed much more spirited.

Liang Jingxian removed the needles and said, "Aunt Pang, Grandpa Hu is fine now. I'll give you two more prescriptions of herbs—one batch is to be boiled down from five bowls of water to one. The other, after two hours, you grind up and apply to the leg like I just did. By tonight, Grandpa Hu should be completely healed."

Aunt Pang breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for having a village doctor so convenient. "Xiao Xian, we really owe you big time. If not for you, I really wouldn't know what to do. By the way, how much do I owe you? I'll give you the money."

Liang Jingxian waved his hands hurriedly: "Stop, please, Aunt Pang. How could I take your money? Just lend me the tricycle for a couple more days, that's all."

"That's no problem, take it. When I need it a few days later, you can give it back to me."

After returning home, Liang Jingxian immediately started making fragrance pouches to repel snakes, insects, rats, and ants. Many people bought such pouches, but they were not very effective. They barely worked at home and were completely useless when working outdoors.

"Liang Jingxian, look at me, I've got more than twenty pounds of crayfish here," Yang Xi proudly said, carrying two buckets over to him just after he had ground the herbs into powder and was about to start sewing the pouches.

"Not bad, not bad," Liang Jingxian smiled, pleased to see her as happy as a child and complimented her before asking, "Ms. Xi, I have two tasks for you, are you up for them?"

"What are the tasks?" Yang Xi put down the buckets and leaned in to ask.

"One is to help me sew these fragrance pouches. I've prepared all the herbs; you just need to put them in the cloth bags and sew them up," Liang Jingxian pointed to the heap of herb powder and continued, "Here's enough to make about fifty fragrance pouches. If you sew them for me, I'll pay you five yuan, and I'll also give you three for free."

This task only involved filling the pouches and sewing them shut, which was not very difficult.

"Okay, I can do that. But what are these fragrance pouches for?" Yang Xi didn't have much else to do, and since Liang Jingxian had been so helpful to her, she would have done it even without pay.

"Wearing the fragrance pouch will keep snakes, insects, rats, and ants at bay. When you go to set your fishing trap, just wear one and you won't need to wear such thick boots," replied Liang Jingxian.

He filled a prepared cloth bag with some herb powder and added, "Give one to Xiao Long and Xiao Feng as well. They'll be protected from mosquitoes and can sleep more soundly."

"Oh, that's a good idea," she agreed.

Liang Jingxian then offered, "The other task is about handling the crayfish. I'm getting busier with tasks piling up—gathering herbs, cooking crayfish, and dealing with this and that—so I've had no time to process these crayfish. I'm thinking of handing the job over to you, paying one yuan for every pound."

One yuan per pound didn't seem like much, but the process of cleaning, de-veining, and removing the gills didn't take too much time. Today, there were nearly fifty pounds of crayfish at Liang Jingxian's home, which amounted to almost fifty yuan already.

If it were for a month, that would amount to one thousand five hundred yuan.

Not only in Huang Liang Village but even in the whole Xiushan Town, that was no small sum of money.

These tasks inevitably required help, and Liang Jingxian had a simple idea. He wanted to first familiarize Yang Xi with the work and train her, so when production expanded later, other villagers could join, and Yang Xi could become a team leader. This would allow her to earn some extra money, and he could save a lot of trouble.

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