The road is vague

Chapter 8 Flower Festival

the next day.

After washing up early in the morning, Li Mo stood in front of the bronze mirror wearing a gorgeous silk dress and tied his hair according to his master's instructions. He looked at his handsome self in the bronze mirror and felt refreshed. He then went to the bed, picked up the breakfast, feeding and gifts prepared for Xiao Man last night and prepared to leave, but he felt something was wrong.

It was really embarrassing to think that I would be dressed so luxuriously while Xiao Man would be dressed in rags on the beach of the River Temple.

So after a brief thought, he took his previous coarse cloth clothes with him.

He planned to separate from Wang Pan's family after seeing Xiaoman.

"Haha, Li Mo, come up quickly!"

Wang Pan's family actually took a carriage, and it was unknown whether it was theirs.

Although this carriage has no roof and no decorations, it is not something that an average family can afford. Including the horse, it would probably cost at least one hundred taels of silver, and the daily fodder is also not a small amount.

Fortunately, Li Mo and Wang Pan were good friends. He had been to Wang Pan's house as a guest and was very familiar with his family. Therefore, he did not feel restrained and jumped up and got on the carriage.

The carriage continued to move forward amid the shouts of Wang Pan's father.

After Li Mo greeted Wang Pan's mother, brother and sister, he noticed that there was a strange woman in the car. She was about the same age as Wang Pan and he had never seen her before. He couldn't help but be stunned.

"Li Mo, where did you buy your clothes? They look so nice!"

Wang Pan first praised Li Mo's clothes, then noticed Li Mo's surprised look. After realizing what was happening, she smiled and introduced him, "This is my cousin, Wang Qi. She lives in Sanxigou. She came here a few days ago to buy rouge and powder, and my mother asked her to stay to celebrate the Flower Festival with us. She said your age... Ouch."

After pinching Wang Pan, the Queen Mother smiled and said to Li Mo, "Wang Qi is two months older than Pan'er. You two are about the same age. Young people should get to know each other better."

Li Mo heard this and nodded woodenly.

Wang Pan's cousin actually took the initiative to greet him with a smile, "Hello, my name is Wang Qi. I heard from Wang Pan that you are his good friend and a rare genius in Jimintang. You will definitely become the head doctor of Jimintang in the future. Is that true?"

Ever since Li Mo got in the car, Wang Qi kept looking at him with a smile on his face.

Hearing this, Li Mo was also secretly sizing up Wang Qi.

She had a very pleasant voice. She was wearing a flowery skirt, a black bun with a hairpin, and light makeup on her face. She had a beautiful face, a cheerful expression, and was full of energy. Her height seemed to be not much different from mine. She was full of energy, and her spirit was strong and healthy. She didn't look like an ordinary girl from a farmer's family.

"Hello, my name is Li Mo, but I'm not a genius. I'm just appreciated by my master out of pity."

When Li Mo faced Wang Qi, he had some instinctive inferiority complex because of his father's early death. In line with the habit of saying less and making fewer mistakes, he didn't say anything more.

Seeing this, Wang Qi was stunned for a moment, then covered his mouth and smiled lightly, looked into the distance and said nothing more.

Gradually, the road began to become bumpy.

Wang Qi cried out in pain and nearly fell, complaining, "Second Uncle, do we really have to go to the River God Temple? I heard everyone in town goes to Bai'an Dam for an outing, right?"

Upon hearing this, the father driving the carriage smiled and responded, "Although the River God Temple is farther away, it's less crowded and has better scenery."

Wang Qi had no choice but to endure the bumpy ride.

Li Mo sighed that it was great to have a carriage, as the journey was obviously much faster.

Finally they arrived near the river god temple. From a distance, they saw many people walking on the river beach. After the king's father stopped the carriage, everyone took the prepared food and walked towards the river beach.

After the sunset, the temperature rises.

At this moment, the sky is clear, the wind is gentle, and all things are growing. It is a good time to enjoy the spring.

Li Mo, Wang Pan, Wang Qi, Wang's father, Wang's mother, as well as Wang Pan's younger brother and sister, all sat on the grass, enjoying the sunshine, looking very leisurely.

After resting for a while.

Li Mo still didn't see Zhao Siman, feeling anxious, he stood up and said, "Uncle Wang, Aunt Wang, I want to go for a walk."

After hearing this, the Queen Mother was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Young people should walk around more often. Wang Qi has never been here before. How about this, you take her for a walk around the area and come back for breakfast later."

"this?"

Seeing that Wang Qi had already stood up, Li Mo could only say awkwardly, "Okay."

He was considering whether to bring Zhao Siman here. Fortunately, he had prepared two breakfasts, including fried beans and malt sugar.

After saying goodbye to Wang Pan and others, Li Mo took Wang Qi away and searched for Zhao Siman along the riverbank.

Only at this moment did Li Mo realize that he seemed to have underestimated the other person's height before. She was actually a little taller than him, and her youthful makeup attracted a lot of people's attention.

Wang Qi seemed to be accustomed to this and just kept looking at the nearby rocks.

"The mountains here are much steeper than our Sanxigou."

Sanxigou is a famous and prosperous village nearby. Li Mo responded, "Yes, I've been there once. It's indeed much slower than here."

Wang Qi asked tentatively, "By the way, what specialties does your Shanbei Village have?"

Li Mo shook his head and said, "There's not enough land to grow crops, how can there be any special products?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qi gently opened his folding fan, letting out a fragrant breeze. As he walked, he asked, "I heard you're now a traveling doctor at Jimin Hall. Do you have a lot of medical fees?"

"One hundred yuan a month."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qi paused for a moment, a look of surprise on his face.

"Isn't it said that practicing medicine is very profitable?"

Li Mo didn't know how to answer. He was already very satisfied with this, but Wang Qi seemed a little disappointed.

"Do you have any other plans? How long will it take to become a chief physician? My mother said that in Hua'an Town, you need at least fifty taels of silver a year to maintain a decent life. After you have children or move to the county, you will definitely need more..."

Li Mo was stunned when he heard Wang Qi's words.

After searching for a while, Li Mo still couldn't find Zhao Siman. Feeling somewhat disappointed, he took the exhausted Wang Qi back to the campsite. Wang's father and mother had already prepared a sumptuous breakfast. Li Mo looked at the neatly arranged bacon, dried fish, ham, rice balls, greens, pickles, peanuts, hawthorn cakes, a box of exquisite pastry and desserts on the grass. He also took out a number of porcelain bowls and bamboo chopsticks, and a tea set nearby. He couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

In comparison, he only prepared some pancakes, pickled vegetables, fried beans, and malt sugar, which was really shabby.

"Come, Li Mo, have some hot tea."

Li Mo took the hot tea handed to him by Wang's father and nodded in praise.

Wang Panze smiled and said, "I just like eating malt sugar!"

"Let's eat together."

After the Queen Mother finished speaking, everyone happily enjoyed their breakfast. However, from then on, Wang Qi never spoke to Li Mo again.

Time quickly came to the afternoon.

Everyone packed their luggage and prepared to drive back to town.

Because Li Mo still hadn't seen Zhao Siman and had a gift for her, he planned to go back to Shanbei Village before it was too late.

Upon hearing this, Wang's father and mother clearly knew that today's arrangements had failed, so they didn't try to stop them. Instead, they smiled and said, "Well, be careful on your way."

Li Mo strode towards Shanbei Village. The road was full of people returning home after the spring outing. He finally returned to Shanbei Village before the end of the hour of Xu. After standing at the east end of the village, panting and waiting for a while, he saw the familiar thin figure.

"Xiao Man!"

"Brother Xiao Mo!"

Zhao Siman, who was about to chop pig grass, couldn't hold back her tears and cried aggrievedly when she saw Li Mo.

Li Mo was not angry about the other party's broken appointment. He came to Zhao Siman and whispered, "Is it your Third Uncle and Third Aunt that won't let you go out?"

Zhao Siman lowered her head and nodded slightly.

At this time, Li Mo noticed the scars on the back of Zhao Siman's hand. He pulled open Zhao Siman's sleeve. As Zhao Siman instinctively screamed, Li Mo found that her body was covered with bruises and scars, and he immediately revealed an anger that was difficult to conceal.

"Did they beat you?"

Zhao Siman didn't say anything, but Li Mo hated himself for not being able to protect her and for not being able to change anything. The two looked at each other in silence for a long time.

Zhao Siman gritted her teeth, stepped forward tentatively, and leaned on Li Mo's shoulder.

She was thin and only reached Li Mo's chest.

Li Mo's body was a little stiff. After a while, he gently put his arms around Zhao Siman's waist.

"Xiao Man, when I have saved enough for the betrothal gift, I will definitely marry you home and bring your mother home as well. That way, you won't have to be bullied by your third uncle and aunt anymore."

"Ok!"

Zhao Siman burst into tears.

After a while, Li Mo handed the gift he had prepared to Zhao Siman personally, and then said goodbye to her.

Zhao Siman held the clothes, wooden hairpin, fried beans and malt sugar that Li Mo had prepared for her, and said goodbye to Li Mo with tears in her eyes.

After returning home and cleaning up a bit, Li Mo hurried to his mother's grave at night.

Although it was already night, he was not afraid. After bending down to put the wooden hairpin away, he leaned gently against the grave, smiled in the moonlight, and told his mother about himself and Xiaoman. He seemed to hear his mother's laughter.

That's it.

Time passes day by day.

Doctor Zhang left after the Dragon Boat Festival. Many famous people in the town came to visit him and praised him for his medical treatment. Afterwards, Zhang Liming was also taken away by his father, who seemed to be planning to find him a job as an accountant in the police station.

Wang Pan and Jiang Ming continued to study with Dr. Feng.

Ever since that day when he and Zhao Siman secretly decided to spend their lives together, Li Mo has become more diligent and hardworking in Jimin Hall. Every day, he follows his senior brothers around and goes to various villages to make rounds for medical treatment. His experience is constantly improving. After Zhang Dongliang left, he secretly took silk clothes and leather boots to the Chengxin Pavilion Pawnshop to the east of Jimin Hall to inquire about the price.

"A piece of tattered, insect-eaten, rat-bitten clothing, and a pair of sour, smelly leather boots, both aged for months, can be exchanged for two taels of silver. Do you agree?"

Li Mo was furious when he heard this and refused on the spot.

Time gradually came to July. Although Li Mo's days of going out to study with his senior brothers were boring, they were also fulfilling.

this day.

Amid the sound of drizzling rain, occasionally accompanied by crackling lightning and thunder, Li Mo followed Senior Brother Cai back to Jimin Hall.

"How's it going in Clifffall Village?"

Cai Tong sighed.

"This is the fourth family to die suddenly from bleeding from the mouth and nose at night, and they all passed away within two days. Add to that the constant flooding in the Tan River this year, and many families don't know how they're going to get by. Sigh."

Li Mo felt the same way.

The Tan River floods every few years. This year's flood season came half a month earlier than in previous years, and there have been continuous heavy rains. Li Mo has never seen such heavy rain since he was born. He hasn't been back to Shanbei Village for more than a month, and he doesn't know how Xiaoman is doing.

However, Jimin Hall was too busy. There were patients waiting for treatment in nearby villages every day. He really couldn't spare the time and planned to go back after the rain stopped.

Fortunately, Shanbei Village is located at a relatively high altitude, so there is no need to worry too much even if there is a flood.

At this time.

Doctor Nie, one of the three attending doctors at Jimin Hall, walked over with a serious expression on his face. He slowly placed the teacup in his hand on the table and looked at Li Mo standing beside him.

"Over the past six months, you've learned a lot from the brothers at the clinic. You've been diligent, hardworking, and down-to-earth, and have earned a good reputation in the villages. Now we need you. Starting tomorrow, you can practice medicine on your own. You must always remember the teachings of medical ethics."

Li Mo was surprised when he heard this, and immediately said solemnly: "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)