Chapter 5: To Treat or Not to Treat?
Old Mrs. Bai looked troubled. "But I’m a bit tight on money right now. I can’t afford that ginseng. Is there another medicine we can use?"
Doctor Lu thought for a moment, then said, "We could use adenophora root. Although its effects are much weaker, it’s still better than a common tonic, and the price is significantly lower."
Old Mrs. Bai was overjoyed. "Yes, yes! Let’s use the adenophora root then."
Doctor Lu took out paper and a brush from his medicine box, quickly wrote a prescription, and showed it to Old Mrs. Bai. "This is the prescription for Zhao Lan. Take a look. If there are no issues, I’ll head back to prepare the medicine."
Neither Old Mrs. Bai nor Liu were literate. To them, the prescription was indecipherable; they couldn’t recognize a single character.
Liu gave an awkward laugh and handed the prescription back to Doctor Lu. "Doctor Lu, we can’t read, so there’s no point in us looking at it. Just tell us how much it will cost."
Doctor Lu took the prescription. He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the reluctant old woman before speaking slowly, "The consultation fee is one tael, and the medicine is three taels, for a total of four taels of silver. If you’re truly in a difficult spot, you can owe me the one-tael consultation fee for now, but the cost of the medicine must be paid upfront."
"What? Four taels of silver?" The old woman shot to her feet, aghast. "Four taels just to treat an injury? That’s daylight robbery!"
Doctor Lu didn’t appreciate that remark. His expression darkened instantly. "In that case, you’re free to take her to a clinic in town. See if you can find one that will treat her for only four taels of silver."
It was unclear who it was, but someone in the crowd of onlookers suddenly shouted, "She’s that badly hurt, and you can get her treated for only four taels of silver? That’s really not much! Last year, my cousin caught a cold, and he spent a full three taels at the town clinic just for a few doses of medicine. Zhao Lan is injured this badly—if you take her to town, you won’t get her treated for less than tens of taels!"
’Tens of taels? It would be simpler to just kill her.’
When Old Mrs. Bai saw Doctor Lu packing his medicine box to leave, she rushed forward to stop him. With an apologetic smile, she said, "Doctor Lu, I just spoke without thinking. Please don’t hold it against an old woman like me."
Doctor Lu couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. He just gave her a sidelong glance and asked, "So, are we treating her or not?"
"Yes, yes, of course we’ll treat her," Old Mrs. Bai replied with a forced laugh. ’Her heart ached as if it were being sliced. She had saved this money her entire life, not even willing to spend it when her own third son had been injured in a fall. And now, she had to waste it on these two jinxes. Just you wait. I’ll get back every bit of silver I’m forced to spend on you today.’
Doctor Lu nodded. "Fine. I’ll go back and prepare the medicine. Have the silver ready."
With anyone else, he might not have been so insistent. But Old Mrs. Bai’s stinginess and shamelessness were notorious in Huangtuo Village; he had to be on his guard.
As Doctor Lu slung his medicine box over his shoulder and turned to leave, Bai Zhi hurried forward to stop him. "Doctor Lu, my mother’s arm is broken! Could you please set it for her before you go?"
Doctor Lu froze. ’Her arm is broken? How did I not notice?’
He turned, squatted down beside Mrs. Zhao, and examined her arms. Her right arm was swollen and covered in clear wounds. He had glanced at the injury earlier but had assumed it was just another superficial wound like the rest and hadn’t looked closely. He never expected it to be a real fracture. ’Strange,’ he thought, ’how did that girl, Bai Zhi, know it was broken?’
He turned to get a splint and bandages from his medicine box, his eyes sweeping coldly over Old Mrs. Bai and Liu. "You really don’t hold back, do you? It’s lucky this blow landed on her arm. If it had been her head, you’d probably be in jail right now."