Sixty-Seven Pharmacology
Yuxi didn't expect that Momo[1] Quan was also interested in Mama Fang's remarriage matters.
Yuxi didn't expect that Momo[1] Quan was also interested in Mama Fang's remarriage matters.
Momo[1] Quan did not beat
around the bush and asked Yuxi directly, "How did you get Mama Fang to agree to
remarry?" The reason why she would ask this was very simple. Women in their 30s could not bear children and usually had no outstanding appearance.
When someone came to ask for marriage, they would surely think that the other party was malicious, except for this case, where the real reason behind
Mama Fang's agreement to remarry must have been because of Yuxi.
Yuxi also didn't expect that Momo[1] Quan liked to gossip,
so she asked, "Why is Momo[1] asking me about this?" This had nothing to do with Momo[1] Quan.
"If you tell me," said Momo[1] Quan, "I will teach you
pharmacology." It was an undisguised temptation.
Yuxi did not know why Momo[1] Quan must know about this. Still, she really wanted to learn pharmacology. "I just told Mama Fang all the
details I could find on Patrol Guard Lian, and then, I told her that if she
could marry into the Lian family, she could be buried in their ancestral grave and
enjoy the family's incense for a hundred years." To put it simply, Mama Fang
didn't have to worry about being a lonely ghost after she married into the
Lian family.
Momo[1] Quan nodded.
Indeed, only for this reason would a 30-year-old woman be tempted. "What
else?" Though, this alone was not enough.
Yuxi felt that Momo[1] Quan
could see through people's hearts. "Also, I told Mama Fang that if the
information I checked were wrong, even if the patrol guard was not a good person or the two children would be unfilial in the future, I would still look
after her when she was old and gave her a proper burial when she died." This assurance had dispelled Mama Fang's last concern and made her decision to remarry. For Mama Fang, if the marriage gave her a poor result, it was no different than her returning to the past. If she did not trust even the patrol guard, would she still trust the children he brought up?
Momo[1] Quan's expression
slightly stirred as she asked, "Now that Mama Fang has remarried, aren't you
worried that your baozi[2] shop won't be able
to make any money?"
Yuxi shook her head. "I opened that baozi[2] shop that day, hoping Mama Fang would have something to do and would not entertain foolish ideas when she was sent out of the residence. She had been taking care of me all my life. If not for her, I would have died when I had that smallpox.
So this time, in return, I hope she can have a good life. Even if her
reputation turns bad, she will at least live well." If one's reputation was compared with one's happiness, naturally, one could say one's happiness was more important than reputation.
Momo[1] Quan was deeply moved, but there was no lack of criticism in her eyes, "You have a hard life before. You seem to have used your jewellery as the capital for the baozi[2] shop. So
how did you have such a large sum of money to buy another estate not long after
that?"
Yuxi's heart tightened, and she pretended to be sincere, "This was the cash
dowry left by my mother to me."
A rare smile appeared on Momo[1] Quan's face. That smile brought goosebumps all over Yuxi's body. "When something happened to the
Ning family, your mother sold all her dowry to save them. So, how could she
leave you with such a large sum of money?" This was a contradictory
statement to Yuxi's previous answer, which meant that Momo[1] Quan firmly believed that
Yuxi had been lying.
Yuxi clenched her fist and pretended to be calm. "My mother left the money. If Momo[1] Quan
doesn't believe it, I can't help it."
Momo[1] Quan said something
that made Yuxi tremble with fear, "Fourth Miss truly has so many secrets."
She could now be sure Ning Shi did not leave any money behind. However,
where Yuxi got such a large sum of money was still a mystery. The most surprising thing was that no one in residence doubted that there was something amiss with the origin of the funds, which showed how well Yuxi disguised herself.
Yuxi was not afraid at this time either, as she countered, "Momo[1] Quan likes to crack a
joke."
Momo[1] Quan uttered another surprising remark to Yuxi, "Fourth Miss, if you want me to teach you pharmacology, it's not impossible. But you must promise me one thing."
Yuxi asked cautiously, "What is it?"
"You will know in the future," answered Momo[1] Quan.
This kind of digging made Yuxi feel very uncomfortable, but she really wanted to learn pharmacology. She would still jump in even if she knew it was a pit. "Momo[1], what you will ask me to do must be within my ability and not against my
will. Otherwise, I can't promise." She would rather not study pharmacology than sell herself.
Momo[1] Quan couldn't help
laughing. "Sometimes I doubt whether you are a five-year-old
child." No adult had been this sophisticated.
Yuxi's heart suddenly burst, but soon she said, "If I was like any other
five-year-old child, Momo[1] would not have noticed me."
Like in her previous lives, Momo[1] Quan probably didn't even know who she was.
Momo[1] Quan agreed very much on this. If Yuxi were not this sophisticated, she would certainly not be in front of her right now. Momo[1] Quan then said, "Since I have promised to teach you, I will do my best to teach you. How much I can teach
depends on how much you can understand."
Yuxi nodded and promised, "I will work hard."
After class, Yuxi went back to her room. It was impossible to hide such a big thing as studying pharmacology from everyone. So, instead of the
Old Lady knowing about this from others, it would be better if she said it
herself.
When the Old Lady heard Yuxi would study pharmacology with
Momo[1] Quan, she went momentarily blank. Then, she asked, "Why do you want to study pharmacology?"
Naturally, Yuxi could not repeat what she told Momo[1] Quan to the Old Lady, "I
think pharmacology will be useful in the future."
The Old Lady's eyesight was like a sharp arrow, staring at Yuxi as if she wanted to see her through. "Is that the real reason?"
Yuxi nodded, "Yes. After studying pharmacology, I will be more aware of whenever I
feel uncomfortable, or at that time, whether I have a headache or a fever. That way, I don't have to be worried."
The Old Lady twisted the Buddha beads in her hand. "If you are not
well, just call a physician." Seeing that Yuxi still wanted to talk, she waved her hand. "Well, I'm tired. You should withdraw!"
Yuxi had known from earlier that the Old Lady wouldn't be so easy to agree,
and when she saw that the Old Lady was driving her out, she politely withdrew.
Old Woman Luo asked strangely, "Why does Fourth Miss want to learn pharmacology
when she's already in perfect condition?" If she wanted to learn some daily
pharmacological knowledge, it wouldn't be a problem, but looking at the Fourth
Miss's stance on the matter seemed like it was a big deal for her to learn pharmacology.
The Old Lady stopped twisting the Buddha beads and wrapped them around her wrist several times. "She keeps in her mind the incident that happened last
year." Although Yuxi did not verbally say so, she knew that Yuxi wanted to learn pharmacology because the incident made her feel bitter with them.
Old woman Luo exclaimed, "That cannot be!"
The Old Lady said with a straight face, "Why not? It doesn't show on her face,
but she remembers everything clearly, deep in her heart."
Old woman Luo did not reply. It was natural for Fourth Miss to bear last year's incident in her mind. The Old Lady called the physician away while she was too sick to move and could only stay in bed. How could she not bear it in her mind? "Old Lady, will Fourth Miss give up if you don't let her learn it?"
The Old Lady shook her head. "No, I guess she'll find someone to
intercede now." Yuxi's temperament would not make her give up easily. She wondered if Yuxi would go to Qiu Shi or Yuchen or perhaps to both of them this time.
To the Old Lady's surprise, Yuxi did not ask Qiu Shi or Yuchen, but Han
Jianming.
Han Jianming was not surprised that Yuxi wanted to learn pharmacology. At that time, she bought many medical books in the bookstore. "Grandmother disagreed with you wanting to learn pharmacology? Why?" It was beneficial and harmless for girls to learn some pharmacology, but pharmacology was a boring subject, and it was hard to find people willing to teach. It was rare that Yuxi was keen on learning it by herself and for someone to be generous enough to teach her. In theory, Grandmother should not have refused.
Yuxi shook her head. "I don't know, so Dage[3], please help me talk to Grandmother."
Han Jianming found Yuxi very interesting and asked with a smile, "Why? Do
you think Grandmother will agree if I intercede for you?"
Yuxi still shook her head. "I'm not sure, but it's much better than
resigning myself to my fate."
Han Jianming nodded slightly. "That's a good point. But are you sure you want to study pharmacology? I heard that studying pharmacology is kind of boring. Can
you stick to it?"
Yuxi told Han Jianming, "I have already memorised half of
Shennong's Compendium of Materia Medica." Since no one ever supported her, she decided not to give up halfway.
Han Jianming looked at Yuxi like he just saw a monster. "If I remember correctly, you are given strenuous homework, and then you have to learn etiquette. How can you still have time to memorise medical books?" Although
he did not care about internal affairs, he knew the general matters of the
state residence.
Yuxi replied, "Time can always be squeezed out if you want to."
Han Jianming looked at Yuxi and, without knowing why, suddenly sighed and
said, "Yuxi, if only you were my didi[4]." If Yuxi was his didi[4], he would undoubtedly be cultivated well and become his effective arm in the future.
Yuxi wittily smiled, "Dage[3], aunt always said I'm her close little cotton-padded jacket!" She also wanted to be born as a son so that others didn't have to control her.
Unfortunately, this was only an 'if'. She was already born as a daughter, an unchangeable fact.
Han Jianming suddenly wanted to sigh when he saw Yuxi smiling like this.
"About your Grandmother, you don't have to worry. I'll convince her. Since you have
decided to study, then study hard."
Yuxi solemnly promised, "Don't worry, Dage[3], I will learn properly and strive to learn all Momo[1] Quan's skills and
knowledge."
It was unclear how Han Jianming persuaded the Old Lady, but Yuxi did not care as long as the Old Lady did not object to her learning pharmacology. Strangely enough, the Old Lady had been kind to her since then.
She couldn't help feeling that Dage[3] would be among the top
two influential people in the residence when he was in action!
Since the afternoon of the next day, Yuxi could see that Momo[1] Quan started to teach her pharmacology instead of teaching her etiquette. She wondered, "Momo[1], don't we have to learn etiquette?"
Momo[1] Quan looked at Yuxi and said, "The best way to learn etiquette is by turning your every word and deed[5], every act and every move[6] into etiquette. Can you do
it?" Yuxi didn't have to marry into the royal family, so her rules and etiquette did not need to be so fine. She was also good at learning them now. It was just enough to correct some shortcomings in her daily life.
While Yuchen was destined to marry into the royal family. Since a family couldn't have two daughters married into the royal family, Yuxi would be married into an honourable or official family. What she had learned now should be enough.
Yuxi remembered Yuchen. Yuchen's words, deeds, and actions were all etiquette and had become templates for other young ladies. She shuddered at the thought of learning etiquette just like Yuchen. She quickly shook her head. "No, thank you. I think I'm fine with how much I have learned till now."
The corner of Momo[1] Quan
lifted slightly, giving her a smiling expression.
Footnotes Full List
- wet nurse
- steamed stuffed bun
- eldest brother
- younger brother
- Chinese idiom: what one says and does
- every action
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi