The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 320

Being able to read and write does not necessarily guarantee victory.

Chunnuan has seen too many armchair strategists.

Some people can talk a lot, but they can't cure diseases.

Blindly following the textbook will lead to serious problems.

True knowledge comes from practice.

Chunnuan has high hopes for these twenty-four girls from ordinary families. Although they started from a low point, they know how to work hard and they have a strong desire to learn. Their future will not be bad.

Not only did it take a month to memorize 202 soup recipes, but it also took a tremendous amount of determination and effort to go from knowing no words to recognizing all the characters.

These girls also had a significant advantage in the herbal medicine identification test.

"I just realized that the saying 'I don't know the difference between the five grains and I'm not physically active' perfectly describes us."

Zhong Xiuxiu felt a sense of admiration for these girls from poor families.

Poverty is not their fault; they were simply born into a bad family and did not have good parents.

If they asked themselves honestly, they had grown up in such families, living in luxury, and had never relied on their own abilities.

More than ten years later, I've become nothing more than a parasite.

This time, the family sent someone to study medicine, but the sisters were all unwilling.

Zhong Xiuxiu was a concubine's daughter and never competed for power in the household.

My aunt was an honest woman. Because her family was poor and she was somewhat pretty, her brother sold her to his household as a concubine.

Becoming a concubine was not her original intention, but she was clever enough to know to live a quiet and unassuming life without fighting or competing.

After giving birth to her daughter, she was content and even felt a great sense of relief: the concubines in the household who gave birth to illegitimate daughters had relatively easier lives. It was different for those who had illegitimate sons; they always tried their best to make their sons successful, and the more they did so, the more the mistress of the house disliked and resented them, and the more unhappy their lives became.

Zhong Xiuxiu thought that it was a blessing from God that the mistress of the house would arrange a decent marriage for her and her aunt, who had been living a quiet life in the courtyard until they reached adulthood.

In wealthy families, daughters' marriages were often arranged, and they were often sacrifices for the family. This was especially true for illegitimate daughters, who were often sent to marry into wealth, becoming concubines or second wives.

Her aunt had told her since she was a child that it was better to be a poor man's wife than a rich man's concubine. A concubine was just a man's plaything, and if the mistress was unhappy, she could be beaten, killed, or sold off at any time.

Little Zhong Xiuxiu secretly vowed in her heart that she would be filial to her mistress, not provoke the legitimate daughters, and quietly wait for the day when she could become a wife in her own household.

Who could have imagined that the Empress Dowager's imperial edict would spark a surge of interest in women studying medicine in the capital?

Wealthy and powerful families would send one of their daughters to study.

The Zhong family was no exception, but what respectable young lady would want to go out and study medicine?

The legitimate daughter didn't come, and the concubine's daughters, especially those with some ability, were unwilling to come either. In the end, all eyes fell on Zhong Xiuxiu, who rarely spoke.

In fact, Zhong Xiuxiu had already decided on this matter, but she knew that the more eager she was to express her thoughts, the less likely she was to succeed.

So she simply waited for the day when this trap would fall into her lap.

Sure enough, when her stepmother asked for her opinion, Zhong Xiuxiu bowed gracefully and said, "Your daughter will obey Mother's orders."

“You are a good person. Once you learn some skills, they will be yours, and you will be able to find a good family to marry into in the future.”

"Yes, thank you for thinking of your daughter, Mother."

If learning these skills really guarantees finding a good family, then why don't the elder and younger sisters go?

However, the stepmother was right about one thing: the skills she learned were hers.

So, amidst the mockery and ridicule of her fellow girls, she packed her bags and went to Chunshan Girls' Academy.

Here, she met many young ladies, but of course, many of them avoided her after learning that she was an illegitimate daughter.

It's as if being born out of wedlock is itself tainted with some kind of ominousness.

She didn't mind!
She had only one thought: to master the skills!
Therefore, she studied very diligently, took notes very carefully, and also made serious connections with people who genuinely wanted to learn skills.

She quickly became friends with a group of poor girls. Chunnuan overheard Zhong Xiuxiu's words and couldn't help but glance at her a few more times.

This girl is very self-aware!
Afterwards, Chunnuan saw and remembered Zhong Xiuxiu's various behaviors: she was someone who truly wanted to study medicine.

Of the wealthy young ladies who had stayed, eight more left one after another.

Chunnuan knew that she could go back as soon as the relationships within their household loosened up even a little.

Of the remaining people, some were too afraid to go back, while others, like Zhong Xiuxiu, were unwilling to return.

With fewer disciples, Chunnuan found teaching less strenuous.

For some ailments like colds and flu, she invited Dr. Chen, a senior doctor in the capital, to explain them.

Chunnuan's main focus remains on gynecology.

On this day, Chunnuan will talk about why many women are unable to conceive.

This topic made these young ladies blush.

But they also knew that this knowledge would be very useful.

Putting everything else aside, Zhong Xiuxiu knew that her eldest sister had been married into the Fang family of the Minister's mansion for more than two years. The young couple were quite loving, but she had not conceived yet, which displeased her mother-in-law, who had already put two maids in her room.

When the eldest sister returned to the mansion, she cried and complained to her stepmother.

Of course, she had only heard about these things; she hadn't seen them with her own eyes.

It wasn't until she returned to the manor from the academy that she overheard her half-sisters whispering excitedly, their faces flushed. She then learned that her stepmother was going to choose one of them to send to the Fang family to serve her eldest sister.

It was called serving, but in reality it was just to give birth to a son for the eldest sister, and the son would be registered under the eldest sister's name.

What's so exciting about that?

Unfortunately, because her brother-in-law was handsome and came from a good family, her half-sisters had already secretly fallen for him.

So when they heard the news, they were overjoyed but dared not show it, and they endured it with great difficulty.

Among them was Zhong Xiuxiu.

The eldest sister was furious at the superficial appearances of everyone, but she was helpless. Rather than let her mother-in-law help her husband take a concubine, she would rather ask her mother to send a half-sister over so that she could control her.

But seeing them like this today, I really feel unwilling.

Finally, we saw Zhong Xiuxiu with a calm expression.

"Has Fifth Sister also reached adulthood?"

Zhong Xiuxiu's heart skipped a beat.

isn't it?
How could it be her?
Yes, the other sisters were not willing to give up either.

"Eldest sister, fifth sister is studying medicine at Chunshan Women's College."

Fourth Sister quickly spoke up, implying that Zhong Xiuxiu shouldn't consider it, but should consider her more.

"Really? That's not bad. It's always good to know a little about medicine," Miss Zhong said calmly. "Unlike us, who are all brawn and no brains and know nothing."

All they wanted was to climb the social ladder!
She didn't say it, but she had already made her stance clear.

This "we" doesn't actually include her.

The sisters weren't stupid; they all understood.

"Fifth sister, it's been a long time since we chatted. Come sit in my courtyard. Since you're studying medicine, you can take my pulse."

Zhong Xiuxiu was really annoyed when she heard this.

But how could I disobey my elder sister?

"Yes." Zhong Xiuxiu lowered her eyes and said demurely, "But elder sister, I am not very knowledgeable and I am afraid I cannot help you. If it is convenient for you, I will go to the academy to consult a teacher tomorrow and make an appointment for you to have your pulse taken. Is that alright?"