While Gu Jiaojiao wasn’t a particularly famous doctor, her pulse-reading skills were quite impressive.
Her master ca from a line of physicians who had tended to the health of nobility and were especially well-versed in gynecology.
Not only had Gu Jiaojiao learned everything her master knew, but she had even surpassed her teacher—the student had beco the master.
She decided she might as well take her own pulse.
Her pulse was faint and thready, and her body felt sowhat frail. It wasn’t a major issue, just a weak constitution. Nothing that a good period of recuperation couldn’t fix.
This was all thanks to the drowning incident her cousin had arranged for her.
To create a plausible reason for her infertility, her predecessor’s stepsister had pushed her into the river. It was winter, and the girl couldn’t swim. That was how her health had been ruined.
As expected, every single one of her cousin’s plot points served a purpose—all to make Gu Jiaojiao’s life more miserable and her death even more tragic.
Too bad for her cousin, but that plan was dood to fail.
Gu Jiaojiao wrote out a prescription for herself. Seeing the ink was still wet, she blew on it a couple of tis.
The prescription was for a gentle formula to nourish her body. She would only need to take it for a while to recover.
The only problem was that she didn’t have a few of the required herbs and would need to buy them at a clinic.
She wasn’t in any hurry, though.
She hadn’t decided whether she wanted to get pregnant yet anyway. Her current physical condition simply gave her more ti to think it over.
Just as Gu Jiaojiao put the prescription away, a knock sounded at the door.
She put on her cotton-padded jacket, walked over, and opened the door.
Outside were Chen Xiaoli and Yu Fangfang.
Gu Jiaojiao saw Yu Fangfang’s belly, as round and bulging as a giant waterlon, and quickly stepped aside to let her in.
"Please, co in, you two."
Chen Xiaoli helped Yu Fangfang inside, followed by four children.
Three of them were Chen Xiaoli’s, and one was Yu Fangfang’s.
Chen Xiaoli had two sons and a daughter: her eldest son, Da Hu, was fourteen; her younger son, Er Hu, was twelve; and her youngest, a daughter nad Xiao Ni, was ten.
Yu Fangfang’s eldest son, Da Wa, was the sa age as Little Tiger—twelve years old.
The children were very polite. As they ca in, they sweetly called out, "Auntie."
Gu Jiaojiao imdiately smiled and said, "Perfect timing! Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang are in their room working on so Lu Ban Locks. Why don’t you all go join them?"
The Lu Ban Locks were so toys Leng Yuan had handmade for the two children.
She had told Leng Yuan that Xiao Yang had a gift for math, so Leng Yuan gave him a small test and got a good sense of his aptitude and skill level.
After that, he made several Lu Ban Locks for Xiao Yang. For Sweet Girl, he created a few toys similar to the jigsaw puzzles of a later era. They weren’t exactly puzzles, but rather a large model composed of hundreds of small components. Each piece varied in size and orientation, and a single wrong move made it impossible to complete.
Even Gu Jiaojiao found it difficult when she first saw it.
For the past two days, aside from their writing practice with her around noon, Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang had been completely absorbed in their room, puzzling over the things Leng Yuan had made.
Sweet Girl had three models in total but hadn’t managed to assemble a single one yet.
Xiao Yang had eight Lu Ban Locks and had only managed to solve one so far.
The three boys’ eyes lit up when they heard this.
There weren’t many toys in the countryside. The most exciting gas they had involved tossing beanbags or playing with pebbles. The ntion of novel toys imdiately piqued their interest.
They said their thanks and went to find Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang.
Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang’s room had originally been one large room, and the brother and sister shared it.
This was normal in a rural village.
Most families didn’t have many rooms, so young siblings often slept together.
Gu Jiaojiao, however, felt this wasn’t right.
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