Du family.
When Li Yao arrived, Pang Shi was still sitting in the chair under the eaves.
Her calf was wrapped in a cloth that had already been soaked through with blood. It looked like it was still bleeding. Pang Shi's face was pale, her forehead covered in beads of sweat, but she gritted her teeth tightly and didn't dare make a sound of pain.
Seeing his wife in such distress, Du Jiaqing couldn't help but say, "Dear, why don't we get a doctor to take a look..."
"What's there to look at?" Du Jiaqing's mother, Xu, said irritably, "Hiring a doctor costs money? It's just a small injury, bear with it and it will pass."
Du Jiaqing was an honest man. Since his mother had spoken, he didn't dare mention it again.
"Let me take a look."
Li Yao walked over to Pang Shi and slowly unwrapped the white cloth. A shocking gash over 10 cm long was revealed.
The wound was very deep, the bone was almost visible, and it continued to bleed.
Moreover, it clearly hadn't been treated at all, with some dirty things still stuck to it.
"It needs to be treated immediately," said Li Yao. "Otherwise if it gets infected, you'll lose the leg."
In ancient times, due to the extremely poor medical and sanitary conditions, even a small cold could be fatal, let alone such a serious external injury. Once it got inflamed, just keeping your life would be considered lucky.
"Whether it can be kept or not, what's that got to do with you?" Unexpectedly, Xu didn't accept Li Yao's good intentions at all. "If it wasn't for you wanting to buy herbs, this wouldn't have happened!"
Li Yao's mouth twitched. What did this have to do with her?
Shouldn't the blame lie with you for forcing her to climb the cliff?
"You should leave quickly!" Xu continued. "Our family doesn't need your fake kindness!"
Xu was telling her to get lost, making Du Jiaqing and Pang Shi's faces even more ugly.
Although they'd been like water and fire with Li Yao's family in the past, after the well digging incident, the relationship between the two families had significantly improved. Now Du Xiao Hui even dared to go play at Li Yao's house.
But they didn't expect the old mother to still hold such a grudge, completely refusing another's goodwill.
"Sister-in-law, you should go back," Pang Shi said softly. "I...I'm fine."
"How could you possibly be fine?"
"What's with you?" Xu started shouting again. "Mind your own business! Do we need you to worry about our family's matters?"
Originally, Li Yao didn't want to argue with her, but this old woman was going a bit too far. Her daughter-in-law was injured like this, yet not only would she not get her a doctor, she wouldn't even let others ask about her condition?
She really didn't understand the mentality of this mother-in-law.
Shouldn't a daughter-in-law be considered one's own?
Hadn't she been a daughter-in-law herself before?
Or was it that she'd been mistreated terribly by her own mother-in-law back then, and now wanted to get back at her own daughter-in-law double?
"Fine, I won't ask about it," said Li Yao. "But if it was my daughter-in-law who was injured, I would definitely find her a doctor. When I'm old and bedridden, my daughter-in-law will also take care of me."
Xu suddenly fell silent.
She was already over 50 years old this year. The time when she'd be bedridden and unable to move didn't seem that far off. If her daughter-in-law didn't take care of her then, just imagining it made her feel desolate.
"Mother," said Du Jiaqing, taking the chance to speak up again. "Why don't we just get a doctor..."
"With what money?" said Xu. "If we still had money at home, I wouldn't have made her take such risks today."
With one sentence, Xu revealed the helplessness in her heart.
Du Jiaqing looked at his wife, feeling incredibly anguished, yet completely helpless.
"I know how to treat injuries with herbs," said Li Yao. "If you're willing, I can help."
"Really?" Du Jiaqing was overjoyed. He looked back at his mother, "Mother, why don't we..."
"I don't want to owe her any favors!"
"Mother, look at the situation!" Du Jiaqing finally got angry and shouted, "Fine, fine! If you don't want Sister Li to help, that's fine too. But in the future when you're old, don't blame me for not being filial to you!"
"You unfilial thing, are you trying to anger me to death right now? Why did I give birth to a thing like you..."
"Are you letting her or not?"
With the son completely taking his wife's side, what more could Xu say?
"Let her take a look then. You'll have to repay this favor yourself in the future!"
Having said that, Xu harrumphed and went into the house.
Du Jiaqing sighed lightly, then came to Li Yao and said, "Sister Li, thank you for the trouble."
"It's nothing."
Li Yao carefully examined Pang Shi's injury, sending Da Zhuang back home to fetch wine and herbs, and getting Du Xiao Hui to hurry and boil some water.
"Bear with it, it may hurt a bit."
"Mm."
It wasn't high purity alcohol, but it was still better than not cleaning it.
Once the wound was cleaned, the boiled water was ready. Li Yao put a piece of cotton cloth in the hot water to sterilize it, then applied the crushed mix of a dozen or so herbs to the wound before wrapping it with a white cloth.
These herbs weren't randomly chosen, but rather herbs specifically for treating wounds from her memories. She had used this formula for over a decade with effects comparable to white medicine.
"That's it," said Li Yao. "But you'll need to change the dressing every day. Come to my place to get it changed."
"Thank you, Sister Li."
"We're neighbors, no need to stand on ceremony."
After Li Yao left, Du Jiaqing helped Pang Shi into the house. The couple whispered to each other, thanking their luck that Li Yao was there to help this time. Otherwise even if the leg healed, she'd probably have ended up lame.
"Tomorrow I'll go help out at her place," said Pang Shi. "I can't do any heavy work, but I can still pluck goose feathers. It'll help pay back her kindness a little."
"Mm. Tomorrow I'll go dig herbs by myself, and once we sell them and have money, I can buy you some meat."
"Ah, don't know how we'll get by in the days to come..."
...
Back home, dozens of villagers were waiting for Li Yao to collect herbs!
Herbs were more troublesome than tea seeds, requiring sorting and calculating. Li Yao left this job to the kids.
Da Zhuang was in charge of checking the amounts, Wang Er handled the accounting, while Lao San and Lao Si put away the collected herbs. The family was busy until very late, but the harvest was quite good.
Based on today's amount, they just needed two more days of collecting.
The villagers also left with varying amounts of copper coins, happily going home and preparing to head up the mountain again tomorrow.
...
The next afternoon, Pang Shi came over limping on a wooden cane.
After getting her dressing changed, she joined Liu Sao in plucking goose feathers. Li Yao didn't stop her either, knowing that she would feel bad if she wasn't allowed to do something.
However, the herbs of this world were quite effective. Pang Shi's wound showed no signs of infection.
But directly applying herbs to a wound wasn't very sanitary or effective. Li Yao felt that when she had time, she could process them into a medicinal powder specifically for treating injuries.
It could be kept at home and might even sell for a small profit.
Three days later, new flesh had grown over Pang Shi's wound, and scabbing could be seen around the edges. This was good news.
"You don't need to apply medicine starting today," said Li Yao. "Just lightly cover it with a clean, dry cotton cloth."
"Thank you, Sister Li. If not for you this time, I'm afraid this leg would have become crippled."
"No need to be so polite. These past few days, you and Xiao Hui have also done a lot to help my family."
As she spoke, Li Yao took out 100 copper coins and placed them in Pang Shi's hand. This was payment for when Du Xiao Hui had helped pluck the big goose last time, as well as the mother and daughter's work over the past few days.
"Sister Li, how could I take your money?"
"Take it."
"No, I really can't take this money!" Pang Shi hurriedly tried to give the coins back. "If I took it, how could I still have a conscience?"
"If you don't take it, then don't come to my home anymore."
Pang Shi could only express her deep gratitude again and again, feeling warmth in her heart.
She felt that although Li Yao still had a cold expression all day and spoke curtly, compared to before, she seemed to really have changed.