Chapter 155: Melon Seed Dividends

In this manner, Miao Suwen and Jiaoyan stayed at the Guo family residence for eight days. Under the meticulous nursing of the master and apprentice, Guo's daughter-in-law recovered quite well. On the eighth day, Jiaoyan personally removed the stitches, and seeing the degree of wound healing, Jiaoyan felt somewhat reassured.

"Aunt Guo, Grandmother Guo, after these past few days, you both understand the methods our master and apprentice used to ensure the child was born safely. This time, Aunt Guo has suffered a severe blow to her vitality, and I am afraid she will not be able to recover in a short while. You must remember above all else: within half a year, she is not allowed to do any heavy labor, and within three months, she must rest as much as possible. Otherwise, we still cannot guarantee her safety." Jiaoyan solemnly cautioned the two women of the Guo family.

Niangniang only began to take food on the fourth day after giving birth, so her milk came in rather late and was not very abundant either. Later, it was Miao Suwen who adjusted the prescription, which finally caused the milk supply to increase. During the first few days, the Guo family's newborn baby was fed at the household of the second brother, and only when Niangniang's milk became sufficient was the baby brought back.

Now Niangniang was barely able to sit up halfway to eat and nurse the baby. Seeing her progress in recovery, everyone felt much more at ease. The old woman of the Guo family was reasonable; although she later learned that Miao Suwen and her apprentice had sliced open Niangniang's belly to deliver the child, despite feeling a bit frightened at heart, she ultimately understood. The old woman also instructed her son and daughter-in-law never to speak of this matter to outsiders.

"Doctor Miao, Lady Jiao, we understand everything. Please rest assured, you saved the lives of my daughter-in-law and grandson. This deep debt is something our Guo family will remember for a lifetime. As for my own daughter-in-law, I guarantee I will cherish and protect her, so you can set your minds at ease," Mother Guo promised repeatedly.

By this time, Jiaoyan was also able to feel somewhat relieved. The most dangerous moment had passed, and as long as they provided careful nursing and care from then on, normally there would be no major problems. "Aunt Guo, you must remember to be very careful in all your movements and avoid making any drastic motions, otherwise the wound could easily tear open again. In addition, you must walk around frequently. Since it is September now, the weather is not yet cold; just walk back and forth a few times a day inside this room, keeping it slow will do."

Jiaoyan gave these instructions naturally out of fear that the internal wounds might adhere together, and slight activity would help with the wound's recovery.

Once everything had been meticulously instructed, Miao Suwen wrote out a medical prescription, telling them to follow it and continue taking the medicine for another month. With every matter attended to, the master and apprentice took their leave from the Guo family. Naturally, Miao Suwen also stated that every two or three days, the two of them would come back to check on the situation.

The Guo family members settled the medicine and consultation fees with Miao Suwen in full. Miao Suwen was not a person greedy for wealth; she only charged for the medicine and did not accept any consultation fee. After all, the Guo family was not that well-off, and Niangniang's childbirth this time had already cost quite a bit. Miao Suwen, possessing a soft heart, only took half of the money, saying the remainder should be kept to buy nourishing goods for Niangniang to build up her health.

The members of the Guo family were naturally filled with boundless gratitude towards Miao Suwen and her apprentice, showering them with countless thanks. Afterward, they had Guo Changhe drive the cart to take the master and apprentice back. Upon returning to the Miao household, Miao Suwen hastily picked up her brush and recorded the entire process of delivering Niangniang's baby, along with the medications used, down to the last detail. This method was their very first attempt, and so much of it was valuable; it had to be put on record for future reference.

Shaoyuan had been guarding the home these past few days and was extremely anxious. Seeing his mother and Jiaoyan return at last, he was naturally overjoyed. "Mother, Yan'er, you are finally back. How is it? Is the patient over there doing well?"

Miao Suwen reached out and ruffled her son's head. "Fine, everything is quite fine. Although it was extremely perilous at first, it turned out well in the end. This time we owe everything to Lady Jiao; if not for her, both mother and child would have perished."

Jiaoyan smiled and shook her head. "I was merely acting on a sudden impulse at the time. The situation was critical, and had we not made a decision swiftly, it truly would have meant two lives lost. Well then, Master, I haven't been home for seven or eight days, and I am indeed quite exhausted from being over there. I am going home to rest now, and I will come back tomorrow."

"Mm, go on home. Your father and mother at home must have been worried sick. Shaoyuan, walk Lady Jiao back and be careful on the road." Miao Suwen was actually thoroughly exhausted herself. Over the past seven or eight days, she and her apprentice had truly racked their brains and exerted themselves to the utmost, not daring to let down their guard for even a moment. Even when sleeping in the middle of the night, they dared not sleep soundly, fearing something might happen to Niangniang.

Jiaoyan departed from the Miao residence and walked back together with Shaoyuan to the Gu family's home. As soon as she stepped into the Gu family's courtyard, she caught sight of Lady Li sitting by the doorway of the room, fixing a fierce and malevolent gaze straight upon Jiaoyan.

Jiaoyan frowned. What was wrong with this old woman again? Why was she looking at her like that? Ignoring Lady Li entirely, she walked straight ahead with Shaoyuan. Upon returning to the western courtyard, she saw Madam Feng hanging clothes in the yard. Jiaoyan had never been away from her parents before, and after not seeing them for seven or eight days, she truly missed them intensely. "Mother, I'm back." Jiaoyan hurried a few steps to her mother's side and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Oh, Jiao'er is back! You girl, you were gone for a whole seven or eight days, and Mother was worried to death at home. I was afraid that if I went to look for you, it would delay your treatment of others, so I just waited and waited at home, and finally waited for my daughter to return." Seeing her daughter, Madam Feng was also beyond herself with joy, bending down to lift Jiaoyan right up into her arms.

"Let Mother look at you. Oh my, why have you lost weight? Didn't you eat well over there? At noon Mother will cook something delicious for you and build you back up properly." Madam Feng felt a pang of deep heartache upon seeing Jiaoyan's somewhat poor complexion and slightly sunken cheeks.

"Mother, I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired, if you let me have a good rest, I'll be fine." She genuinely felt tired; a child naturally required sleep, but over at the Guo family, she could not manage to sleep soundly no matter what, waking up at the slightest sound. Now that she was finally home, the drowsiness hit her in full force.

"Mother, I'm going to go take a nap, don't you all disturb me. Brother Shaoyuan, I won't walk you back, I need to rest." Jiaoyan let out a huge yawn and then went into the room to sleep.

Seeing this, Madam Feng knew that her daughter must have been enduring immense strain lately. "Shaoyuan, Jiao'er is simply too tired. Your mother is probably the same; go back and help your mother with more chores, and in the afternoon I'll make something delicious and send some over to your house as well." Madam Feng called out these instructions upon seeing that Shaoyuan was about to leave.

"Yes, Mistress, don't worry, I understand." After bidding farewell to Madam Feng, Shaoyuan left the Gu family.

Jiaoyan slept exceptionally soundly this time, and did not even get up to eat at noon. Seeing her daughter sleep like this, Madam Feng felt immense heartache and could not bear to wake her up at all. It wasn't until the early afternoon that Jiaoyan woke up on her own, whereupon Madam Feng brought in food and dishes for her to eat a little.

After a good sleep, Jiaoyan felt her spirits vastly improved. She partook of some food casually and then came out to stroll around the courtyard. As she walked, Jiaoyan mentally reviewed the entire process of performing the Cesarean section on Niangniang. Originally, her expertise was strictly in external injuries, and procedures like this were things she had only encountered in theory. Through this experience, Jiaoyan felt there were still many areas she needed to study and practice further.

While Jiaoyan was deep in thought, Qi Jianyuan and his wife, along with Qi Xuemei, came over from the eastern courtyard. "Just now I saw Doctor Miao returning home, and I guessed this girl Jiaoniang would be home too. Sure enough, I was right," Qi Jianyuan said with a smile as soon as he stepped in.

Jiaoyan looked up and, seeing the three members of the Qi family, felt a bit puzzled. "Uncle Qi, why have you all come?"

"To bring you your silver, of course! All the melon seeds have been sold, so the silver ought to be delivered. You weren't home the past few days, so I didn't bring the silver over then," Qi Jianyuan said with a broad smile.

During the days Jiaoyan spent at the Guo family, it had been Shaoyuan who went to the Qi family to deliver the seasonings. Shaoyuan had always helped Jiaoyan with the purchasing, so he was already very familiar with the recipe. The day Jiaoyan had asked Guo Changhe to pass a message to Shaoyuan, it was specifically to remind him not to forget about the Qi family's melon seeds. Fortunately, the melon seeds turned out with the exact same quality as before, and their sales were also excellent. All of the Qi family's stock had already been completely sold out.

Right then, Qi Jianyuan took out his account book and calculated the accounts for Jiaoyan to hear. "We collected a total of 2,600 catties of melon seeds. After deducting all sorts of basic costs and losses, there is still a profit of ten wen per catty of melon seeds. As was agreed upon from the start, this money is to be split evenly between our two families. Therefore, here is thirteen taels of silver; Jiaoniang, you should inspect it carefully." Qi Jianyuan placed both the silver and the account book before Jiaoyan.

Jiaoyan did not bother looking at any account book; she simply gathered up the silver. "Very well, Uncle Qi, I trust you, and I am too lazy to look at accounts. I'll just accept the silver, and I won't concern myself with the rest," Jiaoyan laughed.

"Things will rest at that for this year. Since we don't have any more melon seeds on hand, we can only suspend production temporarily. Next year, our family will definitely plant more of these melons, and quite a few other families have also expressed that they want to plant some. When next year comes, I'm thinking of setting up a workshop exclusively to make these melon seeds. Jiaoniang, do you think this will work?" Qi Jianyuan appeared quite ambitious and full of resolve.

Jiaoyan smiled. "Uncle Qi, although we don't have melon seeds on hand right now, don't we still have sunflower seeds? And raw peanuts too; these things can be made as well. It's just that the recipe needs to be slightly modified, but what comes out will be just as delicious." Jiaoyan truly felt the Qi family members were quite decent people, and moreover, her own family currently needed some incoming silver earnings, which was why she made such a suggestion.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jianyuan's eyes widened immediately. "Oh my, why didn't I think of that? Indeed, isn't that so? Although sunflower seeds might not taste as good as these melon seeds, didn't we all used to eat sunflower seeds in the past? If they are prepared using a similar method, I reckon they would sell well too. Yes, yes, Jiao'er's words make complete sense. Tomorrow I will head into town and discuss this with the shopkeepers of those few houses to see if it's feasible."