The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Something to Strive For

A few days ago, Erya suddenly came down with a high fever that wouldn’t break. With Ji Mingfang’s case as a recent memory, Ji Xuelan didn’t dare call on a traveling doctor again.

Ji Liansong borrowed a flatbed cart and pulled Erya to town on it.

When the family property was divided, the eldest branch had received their rightful share of land and property, but no money whatsoever. Granny Kang had shut down any discussion with a single sentence: "The family’s money is all spent."

Ji Liansong took the money from the last two times he’d hauled lumber at the start of the year, which he hadn’t yet turned over to the family. After paying the doctor’s fee, he had next to nothing left—only enough for half a prescription of medicine.

What good would half a dose of medicine do?

Seeing his granddaughter’s face flushed red with fever, Ji Liansong swallowed his pride, knelt, and pleaded, promising to raise the money and bring it back as soon as he returned to the village. He only hoped the doctor would treat her first.

Ji Xuelan, who had come along, also cried and begged.

But the doctor refused to budge. He said his clinic wasn’t a charity, and that country folk like them could take on a debt but could never repay it. If they were sick, they might as well go home and endure it.

The father and daughter were driven out with Erya. They had no choice but to ask around for a clinic with lower fees or a kind doctor who would agree to extend credit.

Someone pointed them toward Yide Hall, and there, they met Ji Huan.

"If you hadn’t covered the cost of her medicine, Erya wouldn’t have gotten better so quickly. And that one tael of silver, I—I’ll definitely earn the money to pay you back as soon as I can..."

After the doctor at Yide Hall treated Erya, he didn’t ask them for a single cent; he just pointed at Ji Huan.

Ji Liansong tried to give the few copper coins he had left to Ji Huan.

Not only did Ji Huan refuse it, but she also untied the money pouch from her waist.

The pouch contained nearly one tael of broken silver, her earnings from copying manuscripts for over half a month. She had just settled her accounts at the bookshop and gave it all to Ji Liansong.

Ji Liansong just assumed it was leftover money from selling vegetables before the new year. How could he spend his own niece’s money?

However, Ji Huan’s single sentence—"Just consider it me paying you back, Uncle"—silenced all his refusals.

Ji Xuelan, not knowing the context at the time, was puzzled as to how her father had managed to save silver right under Aunt Kang’s nose.

It was only after returning home and asking for details that she learned Ji Liansong had only given Ji Huan ten cents to begin with.

This made Ji Xuelan feel even more awkward about the situation.

Ji Huan had had such a hard time after leaving the family, and their branch hadn’t helped at all. How could they have the nerve to accept this repayment from her? The one tael of silver and the covered medical fees must be returned, no matter what.

Ji Huan waved her hand.

"Please, don’t take it to heart. I’m good friends with the doctor at Yide Hall, and he didn’t charge me afterward, so there was no cost to cover. He waived your fees out of his own compassion as a doctor."

She paused for a moment before adding, "And as for the one tael of silver, there’s even less need to worry. The money Uncle gave me back then, and that half-bag of dried sweet potatoes, truly helped me a great deal."

After learning that the eldest branch had separated from the main family, she had been looking for an opportunity to repay the kindness she had been shown.

When the eldest branch moved out of the Ji Family home, she didn’t visit immediately.

Aside from not wanting the villagers to think that she and Ji Liansong were "forming a faction" to oppose the old Ji family residence,

it was also because she had an instinctive aversion to the original owner’s relatives, even though she could interact calmly with other villagers.

Besides, just showing up unannounced to repay a favor would seem rather cold and impersonal.

Although that was her truest thought—for her, accepting another’s goodwill for nothing in return was a burden.

Meeting at Yide Hall was a coincidence.

But in all fairness, her decision to help wasn’t just to repay a debt of gratitude; it was also because of Ji Xuelan.

Back when Mrs. Wei had just given birth to the body’s original owner, Aunt Kang had forced her to do manual labor before her month of postpartum confinement was even over.

As a new mother, Mrs. Wei was completely overwhelmed and often ended up holding the wailing infant—the body’s original owner—and crying right along with her.

Ji Lianbai was working at the carpentry shop in the county town most of the time, and Mrs. Wei wouldn’t tell him about her grievances, choosing to endure it all by herself.

At that time, Ji Xuelan was only five or six years old. She liked her pretty and gentle-spoken Second Aunt, so she would often sneak over to help Mrs. Wei look after Ji Huan.

Of course, these were not the original owner’s memories; she had been too young to remember things at that age.

By the time the original owner was old enough to form memories, Ji Xuelan had become an "adult" in Aunt Kang’s eyes, capable of doing more chores. She was ordered around all day with no spare time, so she and her cousin naturally drifted apart.

Mrs. Wei had told the original owner all of this.

Mrs. Wei had said, "...Your cousin was the one who taught you how to walk. You lazy girl, even after you learned, you refused to walk by yourself. But your cousin spoiled you, carrying you on her back everywhere she went, as if you were growing right off of her... You must never forget your cousin in the future."

In the years before her marriage, Ji Xuelan had already become a miniature version of Yang, and after she married, her spirit dimmed even more.

She was only five years older than Ji Huan and now just in her early twenties, yet she was already a mother of three. The wind and frost of time and sorrow were already etched into the corners of her eyes.

Fortunately, she was ultimately different from Yang.

As a mother, she dared to fight and resist for her children, even daring to risk everything she had.

Ji Huan felt both sympathy and respect for such a woman. Even without Mrs. Wei’s parting words, she wouldn’t have minded lending a hand.

"If you really can’t accept it, then just consider it my contribution to help the children get stronger. Daya and Erya are malnourished, which has weakened their immune systems and is why they fall ill so often. You need to build up their strength properly."

As Ji Huan spoke, Ji Xuelan studied her the entire time.

The more she looked, the more this younger cousin seemed like a complete stranger.

Beyond her increasingly striking features, it was mainly her personality.

’In the past, she was even more timid than I am, so how has she become so capable?’

’Her posture is ramrod straight, and she speaks in a slow, deliberate manner. She seems so spirited, and she gives off a certain... indescribable feeling...’

"How could I possibly do that? No... I have to pay the money back."

She was grateful to Ji Huan from the bottom of her heart, but ever since being sent away by her husband’s family, she was determined to support her daughters with her own two hands.

Ji Huan understood her cousin’s feelings after a moment’s thought and no longer insisted, saying only that there was no rush and that they could discuss it again when her finances were less tight.

Sure enough, an expression of relief washed over Ji Xuelan’s face, and she quickly smiled and nodded.

"By the way, what do you plan to do with your three acres of wasteland? Will you plant sweet potatoes, or save space for corn? My dad wanted to ask, but he was afraid... If you’ve made up your mind, he and Ming Fang can go prepare the land for you."

Her remark at Yide Hall about repayment had made Ji Liansong think that Ji Huan wanted to draw a clear line between herself and everyone in the Ji Family. Thus, even though he wanted to help, he hadn’t dared to visit her.

The real reason Ji Huan had been so direct back then was that she wasn’t good at the customary back-and-forth of polite refusals and just wanted to settle the matter quickly.

"I have other plans for those three acres, so I won’t need to trouble Uncle."

Fearing that sounded too blunt, Ji Huan added, "Your family has several acres of your own to tend to; you wouldn’t have the time anyway."

Ji Xuelan sighed. "That’s true. Sanyang still can’t be left alone, so I have to stay home and can’t be of much help. The work in the fields falls to Mom, Dad, and Ming Fang."

’Ji Mingfang? He’s working in the fields?’

Noticing her surprise, Ji Xuelan smiled and said, "Ming Fang is a little slow, but he’s very motivated. No matter how tired he is each day, he always comes home happy."

Ji Huan smiled. It seemed Ji Mingfang had truly recovered.

"So, do you all have any plans for the future?"

Although the eldest branch had been allotted eight acres of land, it was all low-grade, making it difficult to support a family of seven.

"Once the fieldwork is done and Sanyang is weaned, my mom will stay home to look after the children, and I’ll go to town to find work. Washing clothes for others or working in a workshop—anything will do. My dad is planning to work at the kilns, and Ming Fang wants to go too, but the family hasn’t agreed..."

Even though these were all difficult jobs, a light shone in Ji Xuelan’s eyes as she spoke of them, making her seem like a completely different person from her former, somber self.

The happiness of the poor is often that simple. Sometimes, just having a goal to strive for is enough.

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