The Lucky Farmgirl

Manbao stared at it for a moment and really felt it didn’t look very good.

She immediately called Jiu Lan over and instructed, "Go help me pass a message home today. Have them send in that ointment for removing smallpox marks tomorrow."

That ointment was something Manbao had made back in Xiazhou for the children at Yushan Hall who’d had smallpox. Around New Year they’d gone to visit those children; the ointment had some effect—the pockmarks on their faces had lightened a lot, and some of the shallower scars had even disappeared.

With fewer marks, and given that they were still young, as they grew their skin would stretch and the marks would fade more, too. With Teacher Mo’s help, Manbao had modified the prescription, but unfortunately they’d left in a rush at the time and had only managed to leave a few jars of the revised ointment behind, without staying to see the detailed results.

Manbao mused that she could write a letter to ask Scholarly Senior Brother Yang. If it turned out to be useful, once more people in the capital started getting variolated, this ointment would really come in handy.

Mm, their family could have one more line of business.

After Manbao’s scabs from the pox fell off, she stayed another ten days at the imperial estate. Only after confirming that she was completely immune even when exposed to the smallpox virus again was she allowed to leave.

This time she’d stayed at the imperial estate for quite a while. Old Zhou and Ms.Qian missed her rather a lot; the moment they saw her come back, they grabbed her and looked her over again and again, then sighed, "You’re both officials, so how come Bai Shan can come home every day, but you have to stay out every few days?"

Manbao said, "Once we get through this stretch, it won’t be like that anymore."

Old Zhou asked curiously, "Didn’t you say your vaccine strain has already been tested? Last time the emperor even promoted you."

Manbao said, "That wasn’t a promotion, that was being given a title. It’s good and all, but isn’t it exactly because we’re starting to do variolation now?"

Manbao glossed over it with a couple of vague sentences, then asked, "Dad, smallpox is too vicious. How about we have Lixue and the others get variolated?"

Old Zhou nodded. "Let them, let them. Oh right, your Fourth Brother’s back. He’s always on the road; why don’t we do him first?"

In Old Zhou’s eyes, smallpox was terrifying, but his daughter was formidable; she’d already knocked smallpox flat. Hadn’t the emperor given Manbao a promotion—oh no, a title—for this very thing?

Old Zhou was brimming with confidence about it.

Manbao, however, thought it through seriously. "Fourth Brother is getting on in years; the risk is higher. Still, we can give it a try."

He’d taken the sugar pill as well, so he already had some things in his body to fight the toxins; his risk was still lower than that of an average adult.

Zhou SiLang happened to come back right then. Hearing this at the doorway was like being struck by lightning; he clomped in and asked in disbelief, "Manbao, who did you say is getting on in years?"

Manbao lifted her eyelids to look at him and said frankly, "You."

Zhou SiLang’s eyes went wide.

Old Zhou said impatiently, "Your son’s already old enough for school and you still think you’re young? Go, go, go, change out of those stinking clothes and then come back."

Manbao, however, hadn’t seen Zhou SiLang in a good while. She didn’t mind that he’d just come back from outside; she scooted over a bit to make room for him. "Fourth Brother, sit."

Zhou SiLang sat down on the little stool, and only then did he notice that Manbao and the others were gathered around a brazier. He: ...

He couldn’t help turning to look at the blazing sun outside and said in disbelief, "Dad, it’s June now, isn’t it? What are you doing huddling around a brazier in this heat?"

Manbao poked a taro out from under the brazier to show him and said with a grin, "Eating taro."

She said, "This taro was grown by Eunuch Tong at the imperial estate. When he heard I was plan— cough... going home, he dug up a sackful for me."

Old Zhou hadn’t had taro in a long time either, and he’d been really craving it. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been squatting by the brazier with Manbao in this heat.

Zhou SiLang picked one up; it felt soft, so he patted off some of the dirt, then endured the heat to peel off a layer and took a bite. He praised, "Not bad at all. That Eunuch Tong is really good at growing taro?"

Manbao thought for a moment and said, "I don’t know about that, but he’s probably quite good at training people. He used to be in the palace. Lord Gu is the eldest, and he’s the second."

Zhou SiLang almost sent the taro flying out of his hand, but he quickly steadied himself and asked curiously, "Then how did he end up at the imperial estate?"

Manbao said, "He messed up, obviously. But after thinking it over, I feel like it all came from his illness."

Zhou SiLang: "So?"

"So I’m treating his illness. A complete cure is impossible, but it’s already eased a lot. This taro is his thanks. Oh right, he still has to come find me for acupuncture later. Dad, you need to tell the gatekeeper—I gave him a visiting card. If he comes and I’m not home, have them invite him into the main hall to sit. Don’t slight him."

Old Zhou nodded, and couldn’t help asking, "He only gave you a sack of taro for a consultation fee?"

"No, that’s a gift," Manbao lowered her voice and said, "The consultation fee was a purseful of little gold nuggets."

Old Zhou’s eyes lit up. He thumped his chest and told Manbao, "Don’t worry. If he comes, I’ll be sure to treat him properly."

A purseful of little gold nuggets—how much money was that? In the past, whenever their family’s medical expenses exceeded a string of cash, their hearts ached unbearably.

Old Zhou asked with concern, "What illness does he have? Is it very serious?"

Manbao said, "Pretty serious. The worst of it is probably a cold syndrome. He’s getting old, and all his chronic ailments have flared up again."

Old Zhou and Zhou SiLang both silently felt a bit of sympathy for the man.

Manbao asked, "Fourth Brother, how come you’re staying home so long this time? Third Brother had originally wanted to wait until you got back before returning, but he waited and waited and you never showed up. In the end Grandma Liu found a familiar caravan to send them back."

Zhou SiLang said, "This year’s tea leaves are good. I found two more tea mountains and signed contracts with them. For at least three years, their tea has to be supplied to us, so I was delayed a bit."

He said, "I went back for a look before coming to the capital. Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law have returned home safely and are busy with the summer harvest."

After thinking it over, he said, "If you ask me, you’ve got quite a few office fields in the capital now, and that land is even better than in the village. Why not have Second Brother and Third Brother both move to the capital? I don’t think Eldest can manage so many office fields alone."

"No," before Manbao could say anything, Old Zhou was the first to object. He said, "Office fields are office fields—that’s duckweed, rootless stuff. Who knows when they’ll be gone? The family land, no matter how little, no matter how poor, is still ours. We can’t let it go to waste."

"I’m not saying let it go to waste," Zhou SiLang said. "We can ask the villagers to help plant it. And it’s not that far from the capital to our home—nine or ten days by carriage and you’re there. Just go back once before the busy season."

For Zhou SiLang, who now often went away for two or three months at a time, a ten-day journey really wasn’t worth mentioning.

But for Old Zhou, who stayed put once he got somewhere, he couldn’t understand Zhou SiLang’s ease about it. Nine or ten days—was that not long?

Old Zhou said, "Do you think your brothers are like you, happy to toss themselves back and forth?"

Zhou SiLang choked on that, then simply said, "Then you ask Eldest, Second Brother, and Third Brother."

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