Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

"Doctor, could you lend me a basin of hot water, a pair of scissors, a clean cloth, and a bowl of strong liquor? Do you have any anesthetic powder?"

"Yes, but Mafeisan (a type of anesthetic) is not cheap."

Doctor Lin instructed his young apprentice to prepare what Jiang Xing needed, while he personally went to fetch the anesthetic powder.

Although the effect of Mafeisan is not as good as anesthetic, it is better than nothing. Sprinkling Mafeisan can at least reduce the calf's pain by half.

Jiang Xing turned the calf's head to the side, first using scissors to cut off the hair around the wound, then using hot water and a cloth to wipe away the blood and grime around the wound. After waiting a few minutes for the anesthetic to take effect, he used a scraper to scrape away the infected, rotten flesh.

Dr. Lin stood by and watched, and couldn't help but gasp. This girl's movements were both steady and efficient.

After cleaning, open the bamboo tube containing iodine, wet a cloth and apply it to the wound.

The calf trembled in pain, biting its lip and letting out a soft whimper, not daring to cry out loud.

"Little Niu, just bear with it." Jiang Xing's voice was very soft: "It won't hurt anymore once it's stitched up."

She threaded the needle, took a deep breath, and began to sew.

The skills she honed in the apocalypse came in handy now. Her fingers were steady, and the spacing between each stitch was roughly the same, without knots, without pulling too tight, and without leaving any gaps.

Dr. Lin watched from the side, his eyes widening in disbelief. This... this was the extraterrestrial suturing technique?

Seven needles.

Seven neat stitches appeared on the back of the calf's head. Jiang Xing cut off the thread ends and asked Doctor Lin to apply the wound medicine from the clinic to the wound and bandage it with a clean cloth strip.

After Jiang Xing finished stitching, he whispered, "Sister, it hurts."

"It's alright, the pain will subside soon. Your sister has already stitched up your wound." Jiang Xing patted his head and turned to Doctor Lin: "Doctor, how much did the wound medicine, consultation fee, and the things I borrowed from you cost in total?"

Dr. Lin did not answer; he was still looking at the seven stitches on the back of the calf's head, his fingers trembling slightly.

"Girl, who taught you this technique?"

"My dad."

"What's your father's name? Where does he trade? My surname is Lin, and he's the owner and doctor of this clinic. I'd like to pay him a visit..."

"My father is dead," Jiang Xing interrupted him. "He died eight days ago."

Doctor Lin opened his mouth, then swallowed back what he was about to say. He remained silent for a moment, then sighed: "The consultation fee, plus the wound medicine and anesthetic, is nine hundred coins."

Nine hundred coins. Jiang Xing touched the five taels of silver she had received from Zhou Shi in her bosom. It was more than enough, but instead of taking the money, she took the medicinal herbs from her basket.

She took out the medicinal herbs from her basket: 371 wild plants, 2 catties of Poria cocos, and 5 catties of Bupleurum chinense.

"Dr. Lin, may I pay with medicinal herbs?"

Doctor Lin took the medicinal herbs and examined them closely.

"This...this is wild Panax notoginseng? It looks so good?" He then picked up Poria cocos and looked at it: "This Poria cocos is also wild, and it's quite old, but the Bupleurum chinense is just ordinary."

Doctor Lin took a deep breath and looked up at Jiang Xing: "Girl, these medicinal herbs would be worth at least five taels of silver if sold in the prefectural city. You're going to use them to pay off the nine hundred coins?"

Jiang Xing quickly did some mental calculations.

"Dr. Lin, how much do you think these medicinal herbs are worth?"

Doctor Lin pondered for a moment: "Thirty-one plants, of excellent quality, I'll give three taels. Two catties of Poria cocos, eight hundred cash. Two hundred cash for Bupleurum chinense, worthless. That's four taels of silver in total."

Before Jiang Xing could speak, Doctor Lin spoke again: "Girl, the way you stitched that wound just now is something I've never seen in my thirty years of medical practice. Can you teach me? If you're willing to teach, I'll buy all these medicinal herbs, give you five taels of silver, and add another ten taels for tuition."

Ten taels of silver.

Jiang Xing's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, but his face remained expressionless.

She thought for a moment and said, "Dr. Lin, I can teach you this technique. But not with the kind of needle and thread I used before, because I don't have that kind of needle and thread anymore. I'll use ordinary needle and thread and teach you a method that works."

Dr. Lin nodded repeatedly: "Okay! Okay! Ordinary is fine too!"

Jiang Xing asked his apprentice to find an ordinary sewing needle, a piece of hemp thread, and a bowl of strong liquor.

She heated the needles red-hot over a fire, then dipped them in strong liquor to cool them down, took them out, and dried them with a clean cloth. The hemp thread was also soaked in strong liquor.

"Dr. Lin, this technique is called the 'needle-boiling and alcohol-washing method.' The needle needs to be heated red-hot over a fire and then soaked in strong liquor. This is called 'disinfection,' meaning it kills any dirt on the needle. The thread also needs to be soaked in liquor. When stitching, the thread goes in from one side of the wound and comes out from the other, with a spacing about the width of my finger. After each stitch, tie a knot, not too tight nor too loose."

She demonstrated it on a piece of pigskin, and Dr. Lin watched intently, mimicking the movements with his fingers.

"Remember, the most important thing is not how well the stitches look, but that nothing dirty gets in. If the wound gets infected, even a miracle can't save it. So you have to burn and soak the needles, wash your hands thoroughly, preferably soaking them in strong liquor, and boil the bandages as well."

After listening, Dr. Lin bowed deeply: "Young lady, how many people could your method save!"

He took out a money bag from under the counter, counted out fifteen taels of silver, five taels for medicine, and ten taels for tuition.

Jiang Xing took the silver and put it in his pocket.

At that moment, the door of the clinic was pushed open.

Two men walked in. Both were in their thirties, dressed in worn-out short browns, with short knives at their waists and leggings on their feet, looking travel-worn. One of them had a scar on his face, and the other walked with a limp.

"Dr. Lin, bring two doses of wound medicine," Scarface said in a hoarse voice.

Dr. Lin went to get the medicine, while the scarred man and the lame man stood at the door waiting, talking in hushed tones.

"Do you think the imperial court can stop this this time?"

"Block my ass! The three northern counties have already fallen, and refugees are pouring south. Aren't we, who were conscripted to defend the cities, just going to be human shields?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down."

"What are you afraid of? This town is remote; we can't fight our way through."

Jiang Xing listened from the side, his hands never stopping, but his ears were perked up.

Scarface added, "I heard that refugees from the north have started fleeing south. Some villages are completely empty, and the government isn't doing anything about it; they can't manage it all."

The lame man sighed, "After this battle, I don't know if I'll come back alive."

Dr. Lin handed over the medicine packet, the two paid, and left.