Chapter 45 - I don’t know how to Read

The Fourth Born heard Lu Jiao and in lightning speed, turned to look at the First Born.

The First Born pursed his lips and went to the corner of the bed. He shoved his hand between the bed padding and the frame and searched. Soon, he found a set of paper, brush, and ink and brought them to Lu Jiao.

“Here you go.”

These were daddy’s stuff. Before, he was afraid the evil woman would throw them away so he hid them.

Honestly, the First Born was still worried that she would throw this stuff out. But since this evil woman has been nice these days, he decided to give them to her. If she dared to throw them out, he would ignore her for the rest of his life.

The First Born silently made a series of decisions.

Lu Jiao lit up at the sight of the paper and brush. She took them over and placed them onto the little broken table in the middle of the room. She then fetched some water to mix with the ink, and readied herself to write the prescription.

Once the brush and ink were all ready and she was ready to start writing…

She blinked, stunned. As she stared at the blank sheet of paper, she couldn’t write out a single character.

1

She didn’t know how to write traditional Chinese. She didn’t even know how to read them so how was she going to write an entire prescription?

Inside the east bedroom, everyone stared at Lu Jiao. They were all curious as to why she was so desperate to find writing utensils just to end up not doing anything with them.

Xie Yunjin asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Jiao thought of the injured Xu Duojin and gritted her teeth. She looked over to Xie Yunjin, “You know Xu Duojin? He got bitten by a ringneck snake.”

Xie Yunjin’s expression changed and his tone turned heavy, “How’s he doing now?”

Brother Xu was a good friend. When Xie Yunjin first got hurt, Brother Xu visited with lots of food. At the time, Xie Yunjin was half conscious and thought he heard Brother Xu say things like, “Going up the mountain to hunt” and “Selling the meat for money for medicine”. Who knew he would get hurt today?

The more Xie Yunjin thought about it, the colder the air turned.

Lu Jiao thought about it. If she told him that she knew how to treat snake venom, what would he think of her?

But the situation didn’t allow her to lie. So she explained, “I ran into him at the foot of the mountain so I helped him contain the poison. His life isn’t in danger anymore. I just need to write him a prescription.”

Xie Yunjin listened to her and raised an eyebrow. His gaze was eerie and dark.

Lu Jiao noticed it and her brain worked hard. What could she say now to complete the lie? Before she could say anything however, Xie Yunjin spoke, “Then, hurry and write the prescription.”

Lu Jiao carefully shot Xie Yunjin a look. That was it? He wasn’t suspicious?

Probably because the priority right now was to get the prescription.

With a rather bitter smile, Lu Jiao said to Xie Yunjin, “I can’t really read, so I don’t know how to write.”

This surprised Xie Yunjin and shock flooded his face.

This woman carried much confidence with her and it was obvious that she was well educated. Now, she was telling him that she didn’t know how to write?

How come he found that hard to believe? But if this woman knew how to write, why would she pretend that she didn’t?

Just then, Lu Jiao whispered, “I can read some. But most I can’t understand.”

The original host’s mom taught her some and she herself knew some. However, that knowledge wasn’t enough to write out an entire prescription.

On the bed, Xie Yunjin had regrouped his feelings and calmed down. Right now, he was mostly worried about the snake poison, not whether or not this woman could read.

“Hand over the writing utensils. You speak and I write.”

Lu Jiao was worried, “Can you move enough to write?”

Xie Yunjin clenched his teeth, “Bring it over.”

Lu Jiao knew that the snake venom couldn’t afford to wait and very soon, someone would come to get the prescription from her. So she better get the writing done and start treatment as soon as possible.

So she picked up the writing utensils and walked towards the bed.

Xie Yunjin pushed himself to turn his body and started writing while lopsided.

Lu Jiao told him all the ingredients, “Lotus stem, 10 grams. Wild chrysanthemum, gentian, arisaema, tendrilleaf fritillary bulb, parsnip, white aconite, raw licorice, 3 grams each. Aristolochia root and bunge auriculate root, 4 grams each. Raw rhubarb, 6 grams. Whole scorpions and centipedes, 10 each. Boil everything in water before eating. Morning, afternoon, and night – three times a day.

Xie Yunjin only got through half the list before his expression started to look unbearable. His hand was shaking badly and couldn’t even hold the brush properly. Lu Jiao could tell he was experiencing headache and dizziness and quickly ordered, “Stop and take a break.”

Xie Yunjin rejected the idea and ended up writing the whole list. Then, his body quivered and he collapsed.

The quadruplets surrounded him and started to shout, “Daddy!”

Xie Yunjin had been eating well and taking the good medicine along with the spiritual stream water. Therefore, despite his headache and dizziness, he didn’t pass out. After breathing deeply a few times, he recovered quite a bit.

Seeing the four little ones were worried, he weakly turned to look at them, “I’m okay.”

Lu Jiao checked him out and decided he was okay. So she put back the writing utensils.

She thought the Xu family would send someone over right away for the prescription. However, nobody came.

Lu Jiao was surprised but soon realized that it was because those people didn’t trust that she helped treat the poison. It was very likely that they sent the wounded to the city to get emergency treatment.

Lu Jiao put away the prescription and went to cook dinner.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to save him. It was those people who didn’t want to trust her. She had done everything she was supposed to do and owed the Xu family nothing.

Lu Jiao went to cook dinner and gave a task to the four little ones.

“Give the rabbit to brother Xiaobao.”

The Second Born volunteered, “Mommy, I will go.”

Lu Jiao smiled at him. The children were not scared of her anymore and started to reveal more and more of their unique personalities. She wondered what would happen in the future.

Lu Jiao glanced at them, “You guys go together. Remember to be polite. You know what to say when you get there?”

The four little ones nodded, “We know.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

Since the family didn’t lack meat these days, the four little ones didn’t feel too bad giving up the rabbit. The Second Born held the rabbit and the four kids walked their way to the Second Grandma’s house.

Since the two were neighbors and so close to each other, Lu Jiao wasn’t worried.

Due to the hot weather, she decided to make cold noodles for dinner. Cucumber with cold noodles, chives with eggs, and a plate of chopped-up braised pork.

Once she was done, the four little ones returned.

Of course, they brought back Lady Zhao and Xie Xiaobao.

When Lady Zhao saw Lu Jiao, she appeared embarrassed, “I can’t keep on eating the meat you give us.”

Xie Xiaobao was grinning on the side, “Third aunty, where’s the seasoning you mentioned? Can we have some?”

Lu Jiao said yes and took over the bowl Lady Zhao had in hand. She went to the kitchen and poured them a bowl of seasoned braising juice.

“Add some water and let it boil. The longer you boil, the softer and more flavorful the meat.”

“Okay, I got it.”

Lady Zhao then leaned in and whispered to Lu Jiao, “Did you know? Xu Duojin was bitten by a snake today and his family sent him into town to get treated. I wonder how he’s doing?

I heard he was bitten by a ringneck snake. Normally, those bitten by that snake die or become paralyzed. How unfortunate for the Xu family!”