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The next day, as Yingbao was indoors scraping the skin of tuckahoe, she suddenly heard someone outside shouting, “Is Jiang Sanlang home?”

“Indeed.” Jiang Sanlang went out and saw two government officers standing outside the gate. He was taken aback, then quickly saluted them, “May I ask what official business brings you here?”

An officer pulled out a thick envelope from his bag and handed it to Jiang Sanlang, “This is a letter from the government. This year the county medical bureau is admitting students for medical training. Someone recommended your daughter, Jiang Yingbao, to attend. We have been sent to deliver her admission notice.”

Jiang Sanlang received the letter, somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that his daughter’s reputation had brought the recruitment poster from the county medical bureau all the way to her?

How could that be possible?

“Please come inside, officers. Have some tea to take a break.” Jiang Sanlang quickly invited the officers into the hall, instructing his wife to prepare two bowls of egg tea.

The officers didn’t decline, making themselves comfortable in the hallway.

Yingbao, who heard everything clearly, was surprised.

Her dream had actually come true.

But so what? She had decided not to go! What could anyone do about it?

Who was so bored they would recommend her to attend the county medical bureau?

Going to school there simply meant becoming an attendant at the county medical bureau and working just like she did at Doctor Li’s pharmacy.

However, once in the medical bureau, she would have the option to take an examination in the prefecture city and be selected to enter the Imperial Medical Bureau.

But she didn’t want to become an Imperial Physician, so why bother studying there?

In a short while, Chunniang prepared two bowls of sweet egg soup, even adding a few red dates to it.

“Please, officers, help yourselves.” Chunniang placed the sweet egg soup on the table beside the officers.

The officers graciously thanked her with a smile: “Thank you for your efforts.”

Having finished their sweet egg soup, the officers took their leave.

Yingbao opened the envelope. Inside was her name, birthplace, age, admission date, among other things.

Jiang Sanlang asked hopefully, “Baobao, when do you plan to go?”

“I won’t!” She had no intention of going to the county medical bureau.

“Why?” Jiang Sanlang was confused.

Yingbao: “We’re not short on money, so why should I go?”

Frankly speaking, medical practice was also a way of earning money. Since they had enough money, it wasn’t necessary for her to practice medicine.

Moreover, if she joined the medical bureau, it wouldn’t change her family’s status at all. So why should she mingle with those female protagonists in stories?

Furthermore, medical students were subjects to the Imperial Court. What if one day she was summoned to join the military as a physician? That wouldn’t be good.

Chunniang, standing aside, nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Baobao has already been an attendant at Doctor Li’s pharmacy for half a year. If she went to the medical bureau, it might just be more of the same. We don’t rely on Baobao to make a living through medicine, so it doesn’t matter if she goes or not.”

Seeing that both his wife and daughter were against the idea, Jiang Sanlang sighed. “Alright, I just wonder who sent this letter and if it could be declined.”

Although Yingbao didn’t know who sent the letter, she was sure it wasn’t Wu Daozi.

She didn’t know any ranked officials in the county government other than the county Prefect. How could someone possibly recommend her for admission?

Doctor Li? He was now a physician at the Imperial Medical Bureau in Beijing with his grandson, so he might have the qualifications to recommend students. But he was far away in Beijing, and as a newly enrolled Imperial Physician there, he wouldn’t do this without her knowledge.

Well, whatever, she was not going either way.

Yingbao handed the letter to her father and continued scraping the tuckahoe. After peeling its layer off, she cut it into pieces and set them out to dry.

Once they were dried, she planned to use the tuckahoe to make some tuckahoe cakes, and she could also use it to make porridge every day.

Tuckahoe has a balanced medicinal property that can both supplement and purge the body. Not only does it induce diuresis and infiltrate dampness, but it also strengthens the spleen and calms the mind. It’s usually combined with atractylodes, Chinese yam, ginseng, licorice, and alisma in formulas.

As February approached,

The saying goes, ‘On the second of February, dragons raise their heads,’ hence this day is also known as ‘Dragon Head Festival’.

Each household began making dragon-beard noodles, dragon cakes, and dragon-eye wontons, and offerings were made to the local gods of soil and grain to pray for a bountiful year.

It was also on this day that villagers would shave the heads of their infants.

Chuchu gave her daughter a peach-heart haircut, which left a tuft of hair shaped like a peach at the forehead and another small tuft at the back of her head.

This time of year was the perfect time to eat wild vegetables. Everywhere in the wild field and ridges, there were tender shepherd’s-purses, which were delicious for wrapping dumplings and cooking soup.

Chen Zhao brought his younger brother to ask Yingbao to join them in picking shepherd’s purses to make dumplings in the evening.

Yingbao was just about to go to the wild field to pick some herbs, so she happily agreed.

The three of them and a dog, carrying baskets, sauntered out of the village.

The early spring sunlight warmed their bodies with a gentle heat.

Xubao tightly gripped his sister’s hand. His walking felt steadier, and he often turned his head to giggle at Yingbao.

However, he wasn’t willing to talk much. Whatever others said to him, he would only respond with nods or shakes of his head.

Chen Zhao was particularly concerned about her younger brother. Ever since Chu Man kicked Xubao into the water, she kept him by her side at all times.

“Wow! There are so many shepherd’s purses here!”

When they arrived at a wild field, Chen Zhao was astonished by the abundance of shepherd’s purses.

Yingbao wasn’t surprised. This was the wasteland her family had purchased. They had slightly reclaimed it and planted a lot of shepherd’s purses and bitter herbs seeds, followed by irrigating the land with pond water.

The irrigated wild vegetables and herbs grew rapidly and she along with Sister Dani occasionally came here to pick them.

Chen Zhao was delighted. Different varieties of Shepherd’s Purse were dug, shaken free of soil, and stored in the basket.

After Yingbao had dug half a basket of Shepherd’s Purse, she found some bitter herbs to put in the basket. This was not just edible, but also had strong anti-inflammatory effect. For instance, boiling and drinking it can effectively cure pharyngitis, dysentery, cold fever, and chronic bronchitis.

After Chen Zhao finished digging up Shepherd’s Purse, she didn’t rush home, but wandered around and collected some dry branches to use for firewood.

Xubao also helped his sister pick up dry branches, running around without feeling exhausted. He seemed like two different people from his previous life.

The siblings seemed to have become more sensible since losing their mother.

Yingbao glanced at the two of them and then continued to look for other edible wild vegetables.

Xiaohei ran around everywhere, and suddenly he seemed to find something and started barking vehemently.

“Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!” Xiaohei barked while sprinting towards the distant woods.

“Xiaohei!” Yingbao immediately chased after him.

Xiaohei ignored her calls, charging straight into the woods.

Chen Zhao had to take care of her brother and couldn’t keep up with Yingbao’s pace. Anxiously stomping her foot, she shouted “Hey! stop running around! Come back quickly!”

This was a desolate woodland, frequented by wild boars and wolves. For a few year old child to enter alone was very dangerous.

As Yingbao chased Xiaohei into the woods, she saw him barking intensely in one direction, even his dog tail was standing up.

“What happened?” Bai Bao looked over and suddenly saw a deer flash past.

Yingbao was shocked as it reminded her of her Youyou, which she had raised for several years.

Calling out hesitantly into the forest, she called, “Youyou! Youyou!”

After a while, a tall stag slowly walked out of the forest and stood a short distance away, looking at Yingbao.

When Yingbao noticed the remains of the strap on its back, she almost burst into tears: “Youyou! You’re back.”

She took out some shiitake mushrooms and pushed it towards Youyou, saying “Here, for you to eat.”

The stag slowly approached and licked Yingbao’s palm.

After a bite, it looked at her and continued to lick.

Yingbao gently stroked its head with her other hand, saying softly “Let me cut off the strap on your body, okay?”

She feared that if she startled Youyou, it would run off again. If the left-over strap is not removed, it might accidentally injure it.

After all, they had not seen each other for several years and she did not know whether Youyou was still fond of her.

Youyou lifted its head, silently observing Yingbao for a while and then gently rubbed against her with its head.