Chapter 30: Wen Mubai Takes Everything Upon Himself

After Wen Mubai returned, the two of them hauled another two cartloads of firewood down the mountain before finally stopping.

“Banxia, is this enough?”

Tang Banxia looked at the neatly stacked pile of firewood in a corner of the yard and nodded. “It’s enough.”

There were only two people in their household; they didn’t need that much firewood. This stack alone would last them a month.

Wen Mubai immediately let out a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground, groaning.

Being a married man sure came with a lot of burdens!

He was exhausted.

At the same time, he was already plotting in his mind, his eyes darting mischievously: “Banxia, gathering firewood on the mountain is too tiring. From now on, just leave this kind of thing to me. You focus on your work as a barefoot doctor, and I’ll handle all the heavy chores at home.”

He patted his chest with a thump, but Tang Banxia only looked at him with suspicion. “Are you possessed?”

Wen Mubai’s smile was the picture of innocence. “How could that be? I just hate to see you worn out. You have so many patients to see during the day; there’s no reason for you to worry about housework too. You have me.”

Tang Banxia was half convinced, half skeptical. “All right, I’ll leave it to you. And the vegetable garden, too.”

“Leave it to me, no problem!” he agreed readily.

Seeing how quickly he accepted, Tang Banxia had no choice but to trust him.

In the blink of an eye, the medical clinic in Guyue Village had been open for half a month.

In this time, Tang Banxia’s reputation among the women had been firmly established.

For good reason: every woman who had visited praised the young Tang’s medical skill, and spread the word to family and friends.

In no time at all, women from other villages came for treatment by name, greatly improving the clinic’s previously struggling finances.

Tang Banxia was pleased with this outcome.

Moreover, she was becoming more adept at her side jobs.

After preparing her first batch of medicinal herbs, she delivered them to the commune pharmacy.

The young man was still at the counter. After inspecting the herbs Tang Banxia had brought, he quickly settled the bill. “Comrade, your skills are excellent. Want to be my apprentice at the pharmacy?”

Tang Banxia was taken aback. “Apprentice?”

The young man, dressed in patch upon patch, sat behind the counter working his abacus. Whatever he looked like, he certainly didn’t resemble a doctor.

Sensing her skepticism, the young man grinned. “Think I’m a swindler?”

Tang Banxia shook her head.

Though she wasn’t born in this era, she had absorbed the original owner’s memories, and knew that anyone who could offer an apprenticeship so casually was no ordinary person.

Being an apprentice didn’t sound glamorous, but if she accepted, she’d become a city resident with a grain ration—something many people desperately wanted.

Still, Tang Banxia refused. “No, I’m fine in the countryside. I don’t plan to move to the city for now.”

The young man seemed to have just been making conversation and didn’t press the matter. He nodded, helped Tang Banxia pack up the next batch of herbs, and said, “My name is Lu Xun.”

Tang Banxia took the basket. “I’m Tang Banxia.”

Now that they had exchanged names, they could be considered acquainted. Lu Xun added, “You have great talent, but it’s clear you’ve never had systematic training. If you can, you should find a teacher to guide you.”

Tang Banxia knew she was self-taught; she smiled wryly. “I’d like that, but where am I going to find a good teacher waiting for me?”

Everything she knew came from watching her grandmother as a child and from her family lineage. Otherwise, how would she dare be a barefoot doctor?

After all, medicine was not a profession to be taken lightly.

Lu Xun scratched his chin, grinning. “If you become my apprentice, I’ll introduce you to a good teacher.”

Tang Banxia was sorely tempted, but after thinking it over, she still refused. “No, I prefer the countryside.”

It was only 1968—the most tumultuous of times—and given her social status, it was safer to stay put in the village.

Teachers might be many, but there was only one life.

Lu Xun didn’t seem disappointed. He just sighed. “Stubborn comrade.”

He turned and took a booklet, tucking it into Tang Banxia’s basket. “My herbs are all top-notch. Don’t mess them up.”

With that, he waved her off and returned to his abacus behind the counter.

Tang Banxia hesitated, but in the end didn’t refuse. She simply bowed. “Thank you.”

She didn’t know where his kindness came from, but she sensed no malice from him, so she let it be.

After all, as the saying goes, “Human nature is innately good.”

No need to always assume the worst of people.

The first batch of herbs had taken Tang Banxia half a month to prepare and earned her two yuan and forty cents. Adding in the ones she gathered from the mountains, she had a total of five yuan and thirty cents.

On the way home, Tang Banxia did her calculations in her head.

With her daily ten work points, her monthly earnings would be enough to support her little household—and at a high income level, at that.

No wonder the elders always said that those with skills would never go hungry, wherever they were.

It was true; old sayings had their wisdom.

She rode the donkey cart home.

As she got off, she looked at the foolish beast’s rear end and her mouth twitched.

The stupid animal had blamed her for the last beating it received; now, every time it saw her, it turned its backside her way, ready to kick. If it weren’t for the fact that it was communal property, Tang Banxia would have skinned it long ago and boiled it into gelatin!

Out of sight, out of mind.

After greeting Hu Jiaguo, Tang Banxia went home.

Once there, she sorted and laid out the herbs from her basket to dry.

“Xiao Tang, you’re back.” Aunt Hu came in from outside. “Our winter melon patch is ready—I brought one over for you.”

Looking at the fresh, plump winter melon, Tang Banxia smiled. “Then I won’t be polite. Thank you, Aunt Hu.”

Aunt Hu beamed, her smile blossoming like a chrysanthemum. “No need to be polite with me. I should be thanking you—if not for you, my old rheumatism would have made me suffer terribly.”

Tang Banxia rinsed the melon and served Aunt Hu a bowl of mung bean soup. “Aunt Hu, you make it sound like we’re strangers. I’m a barefoot doctor—it’s my duty.”

As Aunt Hu drank the cool soup, she looked around the tidy Tang household, her smile never fading. “Xiao Tang, you’ve really changed. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Tang Banxia kept working as she replied cheerfully, “I’m married now. I have to grow up.”

At this, Aunt Hu sighed deeply. “Xiao Tang, you’ve had it tough.”

Such a good girl, but because of her background, she could only marry Wen the Educated Youth.

Back when Xiao Tang was around, Wen at least went to work properly, but lately, with no one to keep him in line, he’d slipped back into his old ways—idling about and making life hard for her husband.

Tang Banxia didn’t know why Aunt Hu said this, but she didn’t expose her, just put on a brave smile. “There’s nothing to be done. Fate plays tricks on us all.”

Hearing this, Aunt Hu’s eyes grew even more sympathetic, and she remembered her own little schemes, feeling a bit guilty.

But she pressed on: “Xiao Tang, I actually have something I need to ask you…”