After speaking, Lin Xiang recalled a scene written in the book.
It seemed that Lin Yun was punished by Mrs. Lin because he didn't want to matchmake Wen Siyuan with the original protagonist. He went out to work the next day with injuries all over.
His wounds got infected and inflamed, and neither mother nor daughter cared whether he lived or died, causing him to almost die on the sickbed.
After this incident, Lin Yun completely lost hope in his family, and stopped caring about the mother and daughter's affairs, silently focusing only on his own tasks.
"Brother, you're sick! No way, you can't work anymore."
Lin Xiang snatched the hoe from Lin Yun's hands.
Lin Yun felt some discomfort but didn't think it was serious. Usually, he'd push through and get over it.
But hearing Lin Xiang's concerned words warmed his heart, and he unconsciously tucked the bread into his chest, reassuringly saying, "I'm fine. You should head back..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Yun's vision went dark, and he fell to the ground.
Lin Xiang: ...
Trying to act tough, but unfortunately, the plot won't allow it. If you're meant to be sick, you're gonna be sick!
A man came over from a distance.
"You guys are slacking off! Stop wasting time!"
Seeing the little notebook in the man's hand, Lin Xiang knew he was the team scorekeeper whom the novel mentioned, named Liu You.
He went to elementary school with Lin Yun.
Back then, Lin Yun gave the scorekeeper job to Liu You, so they had a good relationship.
Quickly went to seek help.
With the help of several villagers, they carried Lin Yun back to the Lin Family.
Seeing Lin Yun in such a condition, Liu You immediately knew the Lin mother and daughter duo had tormented him again. He kindly wanted to give them a piece of advice, but before he could speak, he heard Lin Xiang shouting loudly at her mother next door, "Mom! My brother's so sick now! Don't say anything to him! By the way, Mom, do we have money at home, where is it?"
Liu You thought to himself, what's gotten into this girl today?
While pondering, Lin Xiang came out, "Brother Liu, my brother's sick; I'm wondering if your family has any anti-inflammatory medicine?"
The novel mentioned that Lin Yun's infections were caused by working with injuries, leading to inflammation, and he burned with fever for three whole days. It was Liu Pei who brought disinfectant and anti-inflammatory medicine that finally allowed Lin Yun to recover.
Liu You shook his head, "No, you can check at the health office."
At the health office, treatment only costs the medicine money—getting disinfectant and anti-inflammatory medicine requires at least twenty cents.
Twenty cents can buy about two pounds of rice.
Mrs. Lin heard that the money Lin Xiang asked for was to buy medicine for Lin Yun and immediately tightened her grip on the money in her hands, "You want to treat your brother? He's so strong, what illness could he possibly have? He might even get better tomorrow! Spending money for this, what for?"
If Lin Xiang hadn't read the novel, she might have believed Mrs. Lin's words.
During this era, getting sick could easily lead to death. The novel's protagonist only survived thanks to the protagonist's halo.
"Mom, just give it to me! If my brother lies down for a day, he won't be able to work for a day, wasting time for nothing. If the delay extends to a few days, these twenty cents would inevitably be spent!" Lin Xiang directly snatched the money wrapped in floral cloth from Mrs. Lin's hands, turned around to ask Liu You about the location of the health office, and ran off.
Mrs. Lin yelled, "You don't need that much money for the health office!"
Liu You reasoned earnestly, "Granny Lin, the girl makes a good point; your family relies solely on Lin Yun for labor now, and the girl doesn't like working. If Lin Yun takes longer to recover, won't you end up paying the money?"
Mrs. Lin pouted, "Who says I'm paying the money? That silly girl doesn't know what's gotten into her today, single-mindedly told Smartie Liu about her brother's illness. Think Smartie Liu wouldn't help?"
Liu You: ...
You've really got an eye for calculation. Your abacus beads are practically bouncing onto my face!
*
Lin Xiang ran quickly.
She was eager to gain favor, the sooner she maxed it out, altered the original protagonist's ending, the sooner she could return.
Because she saw those working in the fields in the morning with bugs and leeches crawling on their legs! Seeing that made her heart tense—it was the tough life for rural folks in this backward era, but she couldn't bear even a day of such suffering!
The mountain roads were winding, but fortunately not hard to traverse; Lin Xiang just wasn't familiar with the terrain, taking over an hour just to find a small health office.
Upon arrival, she heard an argument.
"The town sells anti-inflammatory medicine for 8 cents per tablet; why the hell are you charging 15 cents here? Are you heartless or not!"
"Go buy from the town, then! Anyway, I charge 15 cents per tablet here; take it or leave it, doesn't matter!" The speaker was Huang Laizi from the village, in his twenties, who didn't enjoy working in the fields and liked opportunistic scheming.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiang suddenly recalled a scene from the book.
When Liu Pei delivered medicine to Lin Yun, a friend of hers offhandedly told Lin Yun.
They said there was no anti-inflammatory medicine left at the health office, with all the medicine held by Huang Laizi. He waited outside the health office as the stock ran low before new deliveries arrived, raising prices for sales.
The anti-inflammatory medicine originally priced at 8 cents per tablet was forcefully sold by Liu Pei at 30 cents; Lin Yun didn't want to owe Liu Pei, and only after going to work in town was he able to pay back those 30 cents.
Now Lin Xiang quietly counted the money in her hands, totaling 2 dollars and 38 cents.
So poor.
But Lin Xiang knew this was the Lin family's savings; during this era's countryside life, food was distributed annually based on work points. The Lin family lacked labor power, barely able to keep their stomachs full regularly; these two dollars still came from Lin Yun's last opportunity at doing work.
Having started from scratch in the real world to attain a mansion life, Lin Xiang naturally knew that the less money she had, the more she needed to use it wisely.
Contemplating for a moment, she tucked 2 dollars and 10 cents into her pocket, held the remaining 28 cents in her hand, and then entered to find the doctor.
"Doctor, my brother's sick, I want to get some medicine."
"Sick? Is it serious? Should I come to take a look?" The barefoot doctor immediately asked.
"No need, I just want some disinfectant and anti-inflammatory medicine!" Treatment at the health office didn't cost money, only the medicine, but asking the barefoot doctor to visit required paying a 20% home-visit fee.
The most crucial point was, most barefoot doctors in the countryside came from barefoot doctor training classes, only mastering basic medical knowledge, unable to tackle major illnesses, and potentially causing fatalities.
"Disinfectant, 8 cents." The barefoot doctor handed Lin Xiang a bottle of red medicine and two cotton swabs, "Anti-inflammatory medicine hasn't arrived; only when the vehicle reaches town tomorrow will it be available. If you're urgent, you can find Huang Laizi; he still has a few tablets."
While speaking, he pointed towards Huang Laizi near the entrance.
Huang Laizi was still debating with a couple holding a child; the words exchanged were harsh, but Huang Laizi wasn't budging.
Lin Xiang plastered a smile on her face and approached, "Brother Huang! The doctor said you have anti-inflammatory medicine here, could I trouble you to sell me two tablets? I have the money!"
Without waiting for Huang Laizi to quote a price, Lin Xiang earnestly presented two dimes, "I understand it must have been challenging for you to acquire the medicine, but this is all the money I have. Could you kindly sell it to me? If the deficit is significant, after my brother recovers, I'll ask him to go work to earn money and pay you back!"