The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 212: Chapter 212: Where to Stay is a Problem

The two of them went to the vagrant’s hovel together.

After taking the vagrant’s pulse, Xin Ziqi gently rolled up his sleeve. He pressed the injured area, carefully observing the man’s expression, before finally removing the gauze to examine the wound.

He found that the injury was well under control. It hadn’t continued to fester or worsen, and the joints in the man’s hand and ankle were not as stiff as before. This was proof enough of how meticulously Ji Huan had cared for him these past few days.

’But doesn’t this also mean that Ji Huan predicted this and was just waiting for me?’

Ji Huan, without batting an eye, didn’t answer Xin Ziqi’s unspoken question directly. "Your timing is perfect," she said. "His inflammation has mostly subsided, so it’s a good time for the surgery."

Faced with such a brazenly confident denial, there was nothing Xin Ziqi could do.

Besides, what if Ji Huan had intentionally plotted this? In the end, she hadn’t forced him. He had willingly taken the bait.

"You’re planning to do it... here?" Xin Ziqi asked, surveying the inside of the hovel.

Compared to last time, it had clearly been tidied up. But the place was so crude to begin with; cleaning could only do so much.

Reattaching a tendon is no small matter. The patient needs to rest and recuperate properly afterward, and this place was obviously unsuitable.

Moreover, while the vagrant himself was wearing a relatively clean set of old clothes from Widow Xie, it couldn’t hide the strange odor emanating from his body, nor his filthy, matted hair.

"He needs a clean environment, and the patient himself must also be kept clean. Otherwise, the wound could easily fester..."

Ji Huan knew Xin Ziqi was talking about infection, and of course, she understood the importance of patient hygiene and a sterile surgical environment.

When it came to personal hygiene, Ji Huan had a headache of her own.

When she debrided the vagrant’s wound, she had already done her best to wipe down the small area surrounding it.

’But I can’t be expected to give the vagrant a full-body wash, can I?’

It wasn’t a matter of modesty.

As long as you saw the other person as a patient, embarrassment didn’t enter into it. Besides, after all her years as a doctor, she’d seen plenty of bodies; it was nothing special.

The problem was, the vagrant was huge. She simply couldn’t manage it on her own.

If she brought water to the hovel to wash him, the space wasn’t enclosed—it would feel almost like being out in the open. Although her place was remote, it wasn’t completely deserted. What if someone happened to walk by...

And the vagrant was so filthy—how many basins of water would that take? Just changing the water would be exhausting.

Plus, with the lingering chill in the air, she was worried he’d get clean only to come down with a fever. That would really be trading one problem for another.

As for the surgical environment, achieving a completely sterile, dust-free state was impossible right now, but it had to be clean at the very least.

This was the difficult problem she’d been wrestling with lately.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered bringing the vagrant to her own home. She had plenty of empty rooms, after all. She could just put him in one in the backyard and ask him to leave once his injuries healed.

But the vagrant’s face and the injuries on his body were a constant reminder to Ji Huan: even if he wasn’t a dangerous man, he was certainly a troublesome one.

Just having the vagrant nearby made her uneasy, let alone bringing him into her home.

She couldn’t risk bringing a wolf into her house or inviting disaster upon herself and Dabao.

Xin Ziqi could see her dilemma, but he mistakenly assumed she was afraid of village gossip.

’It makes sense,’ he thought. ’Although she has established her own household as a woman, making marriage difficult, it’s not entirely impossible for her to marry in the future.’

Taking in a strange man was indeed improper.

"Aren’t you on good terms with the Hu Family? What about sending him there?"

Hu Liang often went to Yide Hall to buy spices and also relayed messages for Ji Huan. Over time, Xin Ziqi had become familiar with the Hu Family.

Ji Huan shook her head. "I know you’re concerned about my reputation, but don’t forget, Aunt Xie is a widow."

Life is hard for a widow. Even if she kept her doors shut, there would be no shortage of people weaving malicious rumors.

Just sending shoes and clothes had earned her a few sour remarks about "false kindness" from the narrow-minded. If she brazenly brought a grown man into her home, who knew what kind of storm it would stir up.

Widow Xie’s reputation had only just started to improve recently. She couldn’t give people another chance to sling mud at her.

"That was thoughtless of me."

Xin Ziqi furrowed his brow in thought for a moment.

"I could take him back to Yide Hall, but given his current condition, it’s best not to move him too much or jostle him."

That was precisely Ji Huan’s concern. Otherwise, all her previous preparations would have been for nothing.

Besides, the vagrant’s injuries had been left for too long. It would be difficult for him to make a full recovery through surgery alone. He would need a great deal of physical therapy afterward, and if he stayed in Dafeng Village, she could monitor and guide him at any time.

"How about this: you go back and prepare everything today, then come back tomorrow. I’ll figure out what to do with the vagrant."

Xin Ziqi readily agreed. "Then I’ll come over as early as possible tomorrow."

In truth, he was already champing at the bit, wishing he could sprout wings and fly straight back to Yide Hall to study that anesthesia formula.

Ji Huan had written down the required dosage for each herb, as well as the decoction method, holding nothing back.

Xin Ziqi was moved, but at the same time, secretly puzzled.

If this formula was proven to be effective, its value would be immeasurable.

The entire medical world would be shaken. The glory and fame it would bring were things an ordinary physician could only dream of achieving in several lifetimes.

It was no exaggeration to say that compared to the old bell doctor who existed only in folklore, the person who developed a true anesthetic would be recorded in the annals of history, their name passed down for eternity.

Xin Ziqi knew exactly what this formula could bring him.

Glory in life, a good name after death, and even the reverence of the entire medical world.

Not that he cared about any of that.

He just couldn’t understand why Ji Huan would so casually give him such an unparalleled, miraculous formula and tell him to use it as he pleased.

’Does she trust me that much?’

After some deep thought, Xin Ziqi came up with a possible reason.

’Perhaps this is what Ji Huan meant by... a deeper collaboration between them?’

’In that case, I must be exceptionally careful. I cannot allow there to be the slightest mistake with the anesthetic.’

Before leaving, he reminded Ji Huan not to forget to ask the vagrant for his opinion.

They had been so focused on discussing hygiene and the environment that they had forgotten to ask the most important question.

After seeing Xin Ziqi off, Ji Huan thought for a moment. Instead of immediately returning to the hovel, she went to the village chief’s house.

"You want to move the vagrant to the place where Dabao’s grandfather used to live?" the village chief asked, stroking his thin mustache with a look of astonishment.

Ji Huan nodded, not mentioning the plan to perform surgery on the man.

She only said that the vagrant was staying near her house, which was inconvenient for her coming and going. If they drove him to the village entrance and he died, it would not only be bad luck, but they would also have to find people to carry the body to the burial mound.

Since Dabao’s grandfather’s house was empty anyway, letting the vagrant stay there for a while shouldn’t be a problem.

Logically speaking, after Dabao’s grandfather passed away, the house should have belonged to Dabao.

However, now that Dabao was registered under Ji Huan’s household, according to the Great Zhou Law, the house no longer had anything to do with him.

This was why Ji Huan had come specifically to ask for the village chief’s permission.

"Well..." The village chief hesitated.

Agreeing would be against the rules.

But disagreeing... well, it was true the empty house served no purpose.

Many villagers had seen the state Dabao’s grandfather was in when he died. To this day, everyone took a detour around that piece of land, believing it to be unlucky.

Besides, it was just a two-room adobe house on a tiny plot of land. It wouldn’t sell for much, and now that it had the reputation of being a "haunted house," selling it was out of the question.

And Ji Huan was right. If the vagrant really did die, it would be a huge hassle.

"Fine, let him stay there," the village chief said with a wave of his hand, giving his permission.

After thanking him, Ji Huan went straight to the Hu Family’s home.

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