Chapter Four: This Bitterness Is Something She Can't Endure Even for a Day!

After finishing speaking, Lin Xiang recalled a scene from the book. It seemed that Lin Yun, unwilling to meddle in the match between Wen Siyuan and the original owner, was punished by his mother. Despite his injuries, he went back to work in the fields the next day.

His wounds became infected and inflamed, but his mother and sister neglected him, almost causing his death in bed.

It was after this incident that Lin Yun completely lost faith in his family and stopped caring about his mother and sister’s affairs, silently focusing only on himself.

“Brother, you’re sick! No, you can’t keep working.”

Lin Xiang snatched the hoe from Lin Yun’s hands.

Lin Yun felt unwell but didn’t think it was serious; he thought it would pass with time as usual.

Yet, hearing Lin Xiang’s concerned words warmed his heart. Unconsciously, he tucked the steamed bun into his coat to comfort her, “I’m fine, you should go back…”

Before he could finish, his vision darkened, and he collapsed.

Lin Xiang: ...

He wanted to be strong, but the story wouldn’t allow it. If the plot says you get sick, then you must get sick!

Not far off, a man approached.

“Why are you dawdling? Get back to work!”

Seeing a small notebook in the man’s hand, Lin Xiang recognized him as Liu You, the recording officer of the brigade, mentioned in the novel.

He had attended elementary school with Lin Yun.

Originally, Lin Yun had handed over the recording officer duties to Liu You, so they were on good terms.

She hurriedly sought his help.

With the assistance of several villagers, they carried Lin Yun back home.

Liu You, seeing Lin Yun’s condition, immediately suspected that Lin Yun’s mother and sister had been harsh with him again. He wanted to admonish them, but before he could speak, he heard Lin Xiang shouting loudly at her mother, “Mom! Brother is this sick! Stop blaming him! By the way, Mom, do we have any money at home? Where is it?”

Liu You thought, strange… has this girl changed today?

Just then, Lin Xiang came out and said, “Brother is sick. I want to ask if you have any anti-inflammatory medicine at your place?”

The novel mentioned that Lin Yun’s wounds became inflamed because he went to the fields with injuries. He had a fever for three whole days until Liu Pei brought disinfectant and anti-inflammatory medicine, which finally helped reduce the fever.

Liu You shook his head. “No, you should try the health clinic.”

At the health clinic, medical treatment only required paying for medicine. Disinfectant and anti-inflammatory drugs would cost at least twenty cents.

Twenty cents could buy nearly two pounds of rice.

When Lin Yun’s mother heard Lin Xiang wanted money to buy medicine, she immediately clutched her money tightly. “You want to pay for your brother’s treatment? He’s so strong; what illness could he possibly have? Maybe he’ll be fine by tomorrow! Why waste money like that?”

If Lin Xiang hadn’t read the book, she might have believed her mother.

In this era, illnesses were often fatal. The male protagonist in the novel survived only because of his special circumstances.

“Mom, just give it to me! If my brother lies down for a day, he can’t work that day. That’s wasted time. Even if it costs a few days’ worth of twenty cents, it’s worth it!” Lin Xiang snatched the money wrapped in a floral handkerchief from her mother, asked Liu You for directions to the clinic, and ran off.

Lin Yun’s mother shouted, “You won’t even need that much at the clinic!”

Liu You patiently reasoned, “Mrs. Lin, the girl is right. Lin Yun is your only laborer now, and the girl doesn’t like to work. If Lin Yun’s illness drags on, you’ll end up paying anyway.”

Lin Yun’s mother sneered, “Who says I’ll pay? That foolish girl must have taken the wrong medicine today. She told Liu the village cadre about Lin Yun’s illness. How could Liu ignore it?”

Liu You: …

Your scheming is so loud I can hear it in my face!

*

Lin Xiang ran swiftly.

She was eager to increase her favorability points—to fill them up as soon as possible to change the original owner’s fate and return earlier.

That morning, she had seen people working in the fields with their legs crawling with bugs and leeches. Seeing this, she felt a chill. Life in the backward countryside was hard, but her suffering was that she couldn’t even eat for a day!

The mountain path was rugged but not difficult to walk. The only issue was that Lin Xiang was unfamiliar with the route. Finding a small health clinic took her over an hour.

As she arrived, she overheard a quarrel.

“The anti-inflammatory medicine costs only eight cents a pill in town. Why do you charge one and a half cents here? Isn’t that just heartless?”

“Then buy it in town! Here it’s one and a half cents a pill—you can buy it or not!” The speaker was Huang Laizi, a man in his twenties from the village who disliked hard work and preferred to make money through clever schemes.

Hearing this, Lin Xiang suddenly recalled a scene from the book.

When Liu Pei brought medicine to Lin Yun, a woman close to her mentioned that the clinic had run out of anti-inflammatory medicine. The drugs were in Huang Laizi’s hands; he waited outside the clinic during the shortage to sell them at a markup.

Originally eight cents a pill, Liu Pei had paid three dimes. Lin Yun didn’t want to owe her, so he later worked in town to repay the thirty cents.

Now Lin Xiang quietly counted her money—two yuan, three dimes, and eight cents in total.

Truly poor.

But Lin Xiang knew this was the Lin family’s savings. In those days, rural areas relied on work points to receive grain at the end of the year. The Lin family had little labor power and barely enough to eat. The two yuan had come from when Lin Yun had a chance to work to earn money.

Lin Xiang had also built her life from scratch in the real world, eventually living in luxury. Naturally, she knew that when money was scarce, it had to be spent wisely.

After some thought, she pocketed two yuan and one dime, holding the remaining twenty-eight cents tightly in her hand as she entered to see the doctor.

“Doctor, my brother is sick. I want to get some medicine.”

“Sick? Is it serious? Do you want me to check him?” The barefoot doctor immediately asked.

“No need, I just want some disinfectant and anti-inflammatory medicine.” Treatment at the clinic was free, only medicine cost money. Having the barefoot doctor visit meant paying an additional 20% service fee on the medicine cost.

Most barefoot doctors had only basic training and couldn’t handle serious illnesses. If they tried, they might even cause harm.

“Disinfectant costs eight cents.” The doctor handed Lin Xiang a bottle of red medicine and two cotton swabs. “The anti-inflammatory medicine hasn’t arrived yet. It will come with tomorrow’s delivery from town. If you need it urgently, go see Huang Laizi—he still has some pills.”

He nodded toward Huang Laizi, who was still arguing with a couple holding a child outside. The quarrel was heated, but Huang Laizi stubbornly refused to give up the medicine.

Lin Xiang put on a bright smile and approached. “Brother Huang! The doctor said you have anti-inflammatory medicine. Could you kindly sell me two pills? I have money!”

Before Huang Laizi could quote a price, Lin Xiang earnestly offered twenty cents. “I know it’s been hard for you getting medicine all the way here, but this is all the money I have. Could you please sell me these two pills? If it’s too little, once my brother recovers, I’ll make him work and pay you back!”