TTLJDFL Chapter 37

Previous | Table of Contents | Next

After Xiao An left and returned home, he muttered to himself, “I feel like I forgot something…”

His family was considered well-off in the village. They had a spacious house and a large courtyard—much more luxurious than Li Jin’s home.

It wasn’t until he saw the fans drying on the windowsill that he suddenly remembered—he had originally gone to tell Awen about the fan!

But he had gotten distracted by the mirror in Awen’s hands.

And then… he had never gotten back to the original topic.

That night, as usual, Xiao An’s husband stayed over. After their intimacy, he rested a large hand on Xiao An’s stomach.

“You and Li Jin’s husband get along so well—why haven’t you learned from him?”

Xiao An was still drowsy and didn’t quite understand. “Learn what? I just learned how to make fans.”

“Learn to have a child.”

Xiao An thought to himself—he wanted to! But after trying for so long with no success, it was really disheartening.

Feeling a little more awake now, Xiao An turned to his husband and asked, “Have you ever seen those really nice, bright, and clear bronze mirrors with floral carvings on the sides?”

His husband replied, “They sell those in town. Why? Do you want one? They’re about one to two hundred wen. I can work for a few days and buy one for you.”

Xiao An was stunned.

A mirror costs that much! He would have to do needlework for half a month just to afford one!

And Awen’s mirror—it was even more beautiful, more delicate.

Xiao An thought for a moment and asked, “What about the ones carved with cranes and colored designs? How much would that be?”

His husband answered, “Four to five hundred wen. I’ve seen people buy them before, though not with crane designs.”

Xiao An now understood. He was truly moved—Li Jin really doted on Awen.

Four to five hundred wen! That was a month and a half of his needlework wages.

Awen had finally made it through the hardships of the past.

Xiao An said, “I don’t need such expensive things. The mirror at home is good enough—it’s all I need.”

After a pause, he added, “Let’s save some money. If Da Lang wants to study in the future, we can send him to town for school.”

Da Lang was the son of Xiao An’s husband’s first wife. He was seven years old this year.

Xiao An had an honest and sincere heart, so the whole family liked him.

His husband said, “Studying won’t do much good. If we had a lot of children, then maybe we could send one to study.

“But we’re farmers—we can’t afford to have high expectations. If we don’t farm, the whole family won’t have anything to eat.

“Even someone as well-educated as Li Jin still has to fetch water and tend to crops every day.”

Xiao An thought about it and realized it made sense. If there was only one child in the family, they would have to juggle both studying and farming, which would be too exhausting.

===

When Li Jin returned home, he saw that the mirror had been neatly placed inside the storage cabinet by the young boy.

Li Jin asked him why he didn’t put it on the windowsill—it was the perfect size to fit there.

The boy replied seriously, "The windowsill is easy to bump into, but the storage cabinet is big, so it fits just right."

Li Jin chuckled, wanting to tell him that a bronze mirror wouldn't break.

But seeing how carefully the boy treated the mirror, he suddenly felt a bit sorry for him.

This child must not have had many nice things before, which was why he cherished a small mirror so much.

Of course, if Li Jin had known that the boy had secretly eaten the nearly wrinkle-free pumpkin bun he had wrapped the other day, he might have felt even more heartache.

After finishing his push-ups and taking a bath, Li Jin returned to the room to find that the boy had left the oil lamp lit, waiting for him to sleep together.

Li Jin locked the door, blew out the lamp, and lay down on the outer side of the bed. "Why didn’t you sleep first?"

The boy’s voice was soft and drowsy, "I wanted to say 'sweet dreams' to you."

Li Jin froze, his body stiffening, unsure of how to react.

It wasn’t until a long time later, when he heard the boy’s steady breathing, that he finally responded, "You too, sweet dreams."

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt like the boy’s head was tilting more and more… until it finally rested on his shoulder.

Yet, Li Jin thought that the feeling wasn’t bad at all. Accompanied by the sound of cicadas chirping outside, he indeed had a peaceful night's sleep.

Early the next morning, Li Jin went to his teacher’s study, wrote down the classical texts he had memorized yesterday, and laid them out on the ground to dry.

After Chen Xiran finished reciting his own lessons, he would help check Li Jin’s work, which also served as a review for himself.

Although Mr. Song appeared to be very strict, he actually cared deeply for the students he valued.

It seemed that he had already heard about what happened at Xinglintang the previous day.

He even praised Li Jin in front of Chen Xiran, saying, "You know when to take action and when to let go—good!"

Li Jin felt a little embarrassed. He figured Mr. Song was referring to how the original owner of this body had been infatuated with a top courtesan, yet acted so cold toward her yesterday. Mr. Song probably thought he had completely moved on.

Feeling guilty, Li Jin admitted, "Student understands his mistake."

Mr. Song said, "Food and lust are human nature. Why feel guilty? However, a scholar’s refinement is not found in brothels but within himself—keep that in mind."

Li Jin nodded. "Student will remember."

At noon, Li Jin went to Xinglintang for lunch. When he saw an unexpected guest sitting at the table, he didn’t feel surprised at all.

He had started to notice a pattern—Xinglintang’s apprentice, Zhou Gui, must be an excellent cook. Yesterday, it was Shopkeeper Song who had shown up; today, it was one of the enforcers from Piaoxiang Courtyard.

Calling him an "enforcer" was just because Li Jin didn’t know what else to call him.

Doctor Wu was momentarily taken aback but soon composed himself.

He said, "A guest is a guest. Let’s have a meal together."

Since the man had already sat down, it would have been awkward to drive him away.

After they finished eating, the enforcer took out five taels of silver, pushing two taels each toward Doctor Wu and Li Jin, and one tael toward Zhou Gui.

"This is a token of appreciation for the three of you. Thank you for not making a big deal out of yesterday’s situation."

Li Jin immediately understood—Piaoxiang Courtyard had already found out about the top courtesan’s pregnancy.

Naturally, they also knew that she had visited Xinglintang the previous day. Li Jin had clearly detected a pregnancy pulse but had said nothing, preserving the courtesan’s reputation.

As the enforcer was leaving, he even apologized to Li Jin. "I used to beat you up before, Li Dafu. That was my fault. Please don’t hold it against me."

Li Jin: "…It’s all in the past."

So, the original owner of this body had been beaten up for the courtesan? That was pretty pitiful.

The enforcer then asked, "Doctor Li, I have one more question. Yesterday, you said syphilis could be cured—is that true?"

Li Jin replied, "It depends on the case. If the infection is caught early and the patient follows a strict regimen of medicine, it can be completely cured.

But if the infection has persisted for about two years, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do."

The man thanked him again, saying, "We may have to trouble you in the future, Doctor Li. Please don’t hold it against us."

Li Jin returned to his spot and resumed his medical practice for the day.

Nothing particularly unusual happened today, but since the town was small, news spread fast.

It was only Li Jin’s second day sitting in consultation at Xinglintang, yet Li Zhuzi, who sold firewood on the main street, had already heard about it.

After selling his goods, Li Zhuzi left his ox cart under a worker’s watch and walked over to see for himself.

Sure enough, he saw Li Jin diagnosing patients.

Li Zhuzi couldn’t help but recall how, just a while ago, he had sprained his ankle near the riverbank, and Li Jin had casually snapped it back into place.

Back then, this guy had modestly claimed he only knew "a little bit" about medicine.

But now, even Doctor Wu from Xinglintang was consulting him about medical matters!

Just as Li Zhuzi was about to leave, Li Jin also finished his consultations for the day and was preparing to go home.

He spotted Li Zhuzi’s back and quickly called out, "Brother Zhuzi, are you here to buy medicine?"

Li Zhuzi waved his hands. "No, no. I just heard from the neighbors that a young miracle doctor from our village was practicing medicine at Xinglintang. I figured it had to be you, so I came to check it out."

Zhou Gui efficiently packed up Li Jin’s medicine basket. In a while, when Doctor Wu left, he would have to start learning from Li Jin.

He had already noticed that although Li Jin was young, he truly had real skills.

After thanking Zhou Gui, Li Jin left Xinglintang alongside Li Zhuzi.

It just so happened that Li Zhuzi was also heading back to the village, so they traveled together.

Li Zhuzi asked, "You’re heading back so soon?"

Li Jin sat on the bumpy ox cart, answering, "In July, I only work an hour a day. If I get home too late, I’d worry about my husband."

Li Zhuzi sighed, "For a man, providing for the family is the most important thing. If you’re that worried about him, I can ask my wife to visit your house more often to help out."

Li Jin appreciated the kindness but still replied, "I need to watch over him myself to feel at ease."

He was momentarily stunned after saying this and added, "He's still young, taking care of Baozi alone—I really can't feel at ease."

Li Zhuzi, a typical countryside man, chuckled and said, "You're only eighteen yourself, the same age as your husband. Don't use his young age as an excuse.

"I know that people your age are at the stage where you love being affectionate. Hurry up and give Baozi a little brother, then you'll truly have a successor."

Li Jin's face flushed red. Sitting on Li Zhuzi's ox cart, he looked at the fields on both sides of the road, where the wheat had already been harvested, leaving only short stubble behind, and pretended he hadn't heard anything.

Li Zhuzi said, "I was your age once—I understand everything."

Li Jin finally forced out a sentence through clenched teeth, "Can we not talk about this topic?"

Li Zhuzi laughed heartily, assuming that young people were just shy. Once they got older, they would become as thick-skinned as him.

Li Zhuzi continued, "You young newlyweds are full of energy. Haven't you noticed? The ones sitting outside their doors in the evening, eating and chatting, are all people my age or older."

Li Jin replied, "I rarely go out after dinner."

He really hadn't noticed.

Li Zhuzi said, "Exactly! That's the point. The people around your age in the village also stay inside after dinner. Newly married, and still can't get enough of sticking to their wives."

Li Jin thought to himself, expressionless—he and Wenwen were completely pure. Why did the villagers always think in such a strange direction?

Casually, he said, "Wenwen's health still isn't good, he can't..."

Li Zhuzi interrupted, "You can use your hands."

Li Jin: "???"

This level of conversation was suffocating.

After all, he and Wenwen had only just started exchanging 'sweet dreams' at night. Before that, they even had Baozi sleeping between them!

In the end, Li Jin stiffly changed the topic.

"Zhuzi-ge, do you always come back around this time?"

Li Zhuzi said, "Lately, yes. We can go back together—it’s faster."

That was exactly what Li Jin wanted. If he had to walk such a long distance every day, his leg muscles would soon become incredibly strong.

But he had no intention of developing legs like a gymnast’s. If he could take the ox cart, he definitely would.

Li Jin said, "Thanks, Zhuzi-ge."

Li Zhuzi simply patted his shoulder and said, "No need to be polite."

Li Jin had a feeling that Li Zhuzi's "no need to be polite" was more in response to his 'helpful' suggestion about using hands.

Li Jin thought to himself—he really couldn't assume ancient people were innocent. In this era, without electricity or the internet to provide distractions, their nights consisted of only one thing: sleeping.

Of course, one 'sleeping' was a verb, the other was a noun.

Previous | Table of Contents | Next