TTLJDFL Chapter 17

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Ever since hearing from Li Zhuzi that “ge’ers” (feminine men who could bear children) could also produce milk, Li Jin had been paying attention to the matter.

Just two days ago, he had even given a piece of pork trotters to the village midwife, asking her about ge’ers and lactation.

The midwife himself was also a "ge'er," but he was older and had learned some midwifery skills. When a "ge'er" gave birth in the town or Lin Village, they usually sought him out.

But as luck would have it, on the day Qin Muwen gave birth, the midwife had gone to a neighboring village for another delivery.

Had Li Jin not happened to return to this world at that moment, it could have ended in a tragic loss of both lives.

When the midwife saw Li Jin, he understood that his husband had just given birth.

He wasn’t shy about it, and after accepting the pork trotter, he cheerfully shared many important things to take note of.

"Ge'ers," you see, are weaker in strength compared to men."

"When it comes to feeding and caring for children, they also fall short compared to women."

"That’s why ge'ers are not valued as highly in today’s society."

Li Jin frowned. In his view, regardless of whether someone was male, female, or ge'er, they were all human beings, and there should be no hierarchy where one gender looked down upon another.

However, in this era, the low social status of ge'ers was much like the situation of women in ancient times in his previous world—the reasons were essentially the same.

The midwife, unfazed by Li Jin’s reaction, continued his detailed explanation.

"I don’t need to say much about strength. Everyone knows that ge'ers can’t compete with men in farm work."

"But when it comes to breastfeeding and pregnancy, even though ge'ers can conceive and give birth, their chests lack the storage capacity for breast milk. That means they cannot continuously nurse their children."

Li Jin asked, "So you’re saying ge'ers don’t produce milk and cannot breastfeed?"

He thought to himself, So it was Li Zhuzi who was mistaken. If that's the case, I don't need to worry so much.

After all, even in his past world, women who breastfed improperly could suffer from numerous issues. Some even had trouble weaning their children, especially once they started teething, leading to painful injuries.

The midwife shook his head. "No, no. Lacking storage space for milk doesn’t mean they can’t produce it. Those are two different things."

Li Jin: "...So what does that mean?"

The midwife explained, "Because of their physical condition, ge'ers naturally produce less milk. So as soon as milk appears, the child must nurse immediately. Otherwise, their clothes will get stained."

…At this moment, is clothing cleanliness really the main concern?

"However, in my experience, ge'ers can only produce milk for about a month after giving birth. After that, they need to rely on goat’s milk or find a wet nurse to feed the child."

These were just the basics of breastfeeding. Li Jin also asked some additional questions, such as "Does breastfeeding cause pain for ge'ers?" and "What soups should be made to help recovery?"

The midwife, upon hearing these questions, looked at Li Jin in shock for a long moment. Finally, he gave him a look as if he were seeing him for the first time, before explaining everything in detail.

After getting all the answers he needed, Li Jin thanked him and turned to leave.

The midwife watched his retreating figure and muttered to himself, "It’s been so long since our village had a young man like Li Jin."

The last set of questions Li Jin had asked were things usually only a ge'er's family would care about. As for the husband, most only cared whether the child was fed and whether their clothes got dirty—everything else was ignored.

When Li Jin saw the young man hugging him and crying, he assumed it was due to pain, which led to his earlier question.

But after asking, he immediately felt he had said something wrong.

The young man hadn’t cried that much even when he was in labor—surely, the pain in his chest wouldn’t be worse than childbirth…

The young man was momentarily stunned by Li Jin’s question before shaking his head.

This was his first time giving birth. Back at home, before his father could teach him anything about it, their entire household had fallen.

Before marrying Li Jin, the young man had been like a blank sheet of paper, knowing almost nothing.

Li Jin cleared his throat and said, "The midwife mentioned that you might feel uncomfortable for a while. If you’re in pain, let me know."

The young man was shy but obediently nodded in agreement.

That night, the two of them still shared the same blanket, with the baby sleeping between them.

Lately, though the young man’s body was still weak, he slept a lot. But because of all the rest, he also woke up early.

At dawn, he sensed movement beside him and slowly opened his eyes to see Li Jin already up, holding the baby and feeding him rice porridge.

However, Li Jin’s posture today seemed a bit off—his arm movements were stiff, as if one arm wasn’t working properly.

The young man sat up and said, "Ah Jin, let me hold the baby."

Compared to before, he was now more willing to speak up around Li Jin.

Li Jin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why not sleep a little longer?"

The young man, still carrying the youthful shyness and warmth of his age, held the baby close, his clear eyes shining just like the child's.

He said, "I’ve slept enough. I’m recovering quickly, so I don’t need to stay in bed all the time anymore."

Li Jin didn’t argue. One of them held the baby while the other fed him, and soon, the little one was full and smiling in his father’s arms.

This morning, Li Jin was dressed neatly in his inner clothes, without any wardrobe mishaps.

But the young man’s sharp eyes noticed that Li Jin’s right shoulder seemed slightly swollen.

He glanced at it several times before finally gathering the courage to say, "Ah Jin, your shoulder…"

Li Jin smiled. "It’s nothing, just a bit swollen. It’ll be fine in a couple of days."

He didn’t mention it was from pulling the cart. Given how protective the young man was, always wanting to take on even the smallest chores himself, Li Jin didn’t want to make him worry.

Li Jin didn’t say much, and the young man didn’t dare to ask further.

But later, when Li Jin returned after cleaning up breakfast, he found the young man bracing himself against the wall, slowly walking across the floor.

It was now the fifth day postpartum, and in theory, he could start getting out of bed.

Li Jin didn’t stop him. He simply stood nearby, watching as the young man took careful steps.

The young man was over 170 cm tall, yet he seemed to have a naturally slim build. His jaw was sharp, and he had long, straight legs—there was no sign at all that he had just given birth.

After breakfast, Li Jin went up the mountain to gather herbs, as today happened to be the agreed-upon day with Xinglintang (the clinic).

Since he had been there before, he no longer needed Li Zhuzi to guide him.

Today, he set out even earlier, gathering more medicinal herbs. He even ventured deeper into the mountains and discovered different types of herbs.

Li Jin carefully packed them into his basket, then returned home to sort them out one by one.

Before leaving, he called out to the young man, telling him that the pig trotter soup was in the pot and that he should remember to drink it at noon.

Upon hearing this, the young man hurriedly got out of bed, walked to the doorway, and asked, "What about you?"

Li Jin replied, "I'll eat a couple of buns in town and buy some gifts as a token of respect when I visit my teacher. I haven’t attended class these past few days, so I should offer my apologies."

After some thought, Li Jin washed his hands and changed into a long robe.

This was the same outfit he had worn on the day he transmigrated, likely the best piece of clothing the original owner had.

Before Li Jin could adjust his robe, the young man had already knelt by the bedside. With his slender, well-defined hands—slightly smaller than Li Jin’s—he carefully tied Li Jin's robe sash.

Li Jin’s gaze followed the young man's hands.

Once the young man had finished tidying up his clothing, Li Jin finally snapped back to reality.

…Those were, after all, a man's hands—not as soft and delicate as a woman's.

Li Jin couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, but for some reason, these hands had a strangely calming effect on him.

He said, "I noticed that you've finished sewing those sachets and handkerchiefs. From now on, don’t take on those kinds of tasks anymore, alright?"

The young man was unusually obedient. "Mmm, I'll just sew clothes for Ajin."

Li Jin had already reached the doorway, but upon hearing those words, he felt inexplicably happy. He turned back and gently pinched the young man's cheek.

Seeing the young man’s surprised yet docile expression, Li Jin, now in a great mood, slung his basket over his back and left.

When Li Jin arrived at Xinglintang, the apprentice, Zhou Gui, was struggling to memorize a passage from Shanghan Lun: Tangtou Ge and didn’t even notice his arrival.

"Mahuang decoction treats Taiyang cold syndrome, Ma, Gui, Xing, and Cao form a blend. The exterior…" Zhou Gui muttered, racking his brain.

Li Jin smiled and completed the line for him: "The exterior is solid, no sweat, body aches. A tight pulse, shortness of breath, and chills persist."

Zhou Gui exclaimed, "Yes, yes, that’s it! Mr. Li, you’re here! I'll go fetch my master."

Li Jin replied, "Thank you."

"It's no trouble at all! The herbs you gathered last time were fresh and of excellent age—Master has been talking about you nonstop."

Not long after Zhou Gui disappeared behind the curtain, Doctor Wu emerged.

Today, Li Jin had collected a large haul, and the estimated value came to 630 pennies.

Zhou Gui remarked, "Mr. Li, you recognize medicinal herbs and can even recite Tangtou Ge—do you know how to take pulses?"

Li Jin responded, "I know a little."

Doctor Wu's eyes lit up, and he invited Li Jin into the inner hall for a detailed discussion.

Following him inside, Li Jin was met with a straightforward question: "Mr. Li, do you have any experience practicing medicine?"

Li Jin shook his head. Even if he had experience, it was from his past life. In this body, he had nothing.

Moreover, his medical knowledge was primarily in Western medicine—he wasn’t well-versed in traditional Chinese medicine.

Doctor Wu sighed, seeming to realize he was hoping for too much. The town was small, with only eight surrounding villages.

Having three medical clinics in town was already remarkable. Apart from the two seated physicians in the main street’s medical clinic, both Xinglintang and the other clinic, Baicao Hall, only had a single doctor each.

But… he had urgent family matters.

Still, the owner of Xinglintang had shown him great kindness, so he couldn’t just walk away from his responsibilities.

At this point, finding Li Jin was merely a desperate attempt.

Observing Doctor Wu’s expression, Li Jin was able to piece together his thoughts.

He asked, "Are you looking for a doctor for Xinglintang?"

Doctor Wu nodded. "Yes, but our town is too small, and there aren’t enough people."

Li Jin felt that he couldn’t be of much help. Although he could identify medicinal herbs and had read some basic books on traditional medicine, diagnosing and treating patients was beyond his expertise.

Besides, medicine was not something to be practiced carelessly. Without proper training, one could easily cause harm.

In the end, Doctor Wu handed Li Jin 640 pennies, with an extra 10 pennies added as a long-term cooperation incentive.

After leaving Xinglintang, Li Jin followed his memory of the route and made his way to the general store.

In ancient times, the most common gifts for a teacher’s respect ceremony were cured meat and eggs. Since he had been absent from class, he needed to make amends properly.

Fortunately, he had recalled some of the original owner's study experiences—otherwise, he would have been walking in blind, which would have been troublesome.

Tl Notes:

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