Chương 6: With Child

Sun Fuchun was the only physician in Golden Willow Village. It was said that the ancestors of the Sun family had once been physicians in the Imperial Medical Court of the royal capital. But because of one mistake in the use of medicine, they had nearly caused the death of a noble heir, and the direct line was all exiled. As for Sun Fuchun's branch, because it was a side branch, they had luckily escaped to Willow County. In the early years, the Sun family had operated a medical clinic in Willow County.

Later, they were targeted by the followers of that noble heir. Having no choice, they scattered all their family wealth and hid in Golden Willow Village. The reason Jiang Huanyu came to find Sun Fuchun was also the result of thinking hard through the night. He needed to figure out exactly what this hundred-year-old Blood Toad's shed skin was. Why would selling the Blood Toad's shed skin cause him to be targeted by a martial artist?

Through this trip to Sun Fuchun, he finally understood the use of the hundred-year-old Blood Toad's shed skin. Blood Toad shed skin was actually the main ingredient in the medicinal meals of martial arts schools. A hundred-year-grade one was even a rare item that only the children of great families could afford to use. No wonder selling it would make him be watched by martial artists. An ordinary man is innocent, but treasuring a jade ring becomes his crime.

It seemed that this hundred-year-old Blood Toad's shed skin probably could not be taken out and exchanged for money. However, knowing that the hundred-year-old Blood Toad's shed skin could be used to condition the body of a martial artist, and that he also planned to let Stone practice martial arts, there was no need to rush to dispose of this thing. Later, after Stone started practicing martial arts, he would let him eat this thing. That would also save the money needed to buy it.

When Jiang Huanyu returned home, Hu Yufen immediately came up to greet him. Seeing the medicinal herbs in his hand, she asked somewhat suspiciously, "Husband, are you ill?" After last night's clouds and rain, Jiang Huanyu had still been as fierce as always. He did not seem to have anything wrong with his body. Hu Yufen quickly reached out and touched his forehead.

"I'm fine. This is heat-relief tea prepared by Uncle Sun. We'll be plowing and sowing in two days, so I prepared some in advance." Going to find Sun Fuchun was never for the sake of seeing a doctor. But if he had specially gone over to ask about the Blood Toad's shed skin, it would inevitably make people suspicious. Because of this, he had used heatstroke as an excuse and bought some heat-relief tea. Hearing this, Hu Yufen slightly breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Huanyu was the pillar of this family, and the children were still young. If something happened to him, this family would be finished.

"Anu went to Teacher Lu's place?" Not seeing his younger son, Jiang Huanyu asked.

"He went. I personally sent him over. Teacher said Anu would eat lunch there, so we don't need to worry."

"Husband, Teacher Lu seems to really like Anu." Hearing this, Jiang Huanyu smiled. Then his tone changed and he said, "It is that stinky brat's good fortune that Teacher likes him."

"How about this? After noon, help me pack two bags of grain. I'll send them to Teacher as that boy's food ration."

"Teacher may not lack that one meal from him, but we cannot pretend not to know." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Hu Yufen smiled and nodded. This was precisely the reason she had liked Jiang Huanyu back then. Although he was a commoner from a poor and remote countryside, he had broad vision, understood etiquette, and knew worldly manners, making people feel very comfortable. In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

Jiang Wenyan's studies at Lu Zhiyuan's place went very smoothly. The villagers also gradually learned that the Jiang family's second son had been accepted as a student by Lu Zhiyuan, and every one of them was full of envy. That day, the village headman struck the bronze chime. Everyone knew that the time to pay taxes had arrived. The Great Yu Dynasty was currently in its flourishing age.

Apart from the barbarians of the Western Wilderness occasionally causing trouble, it could be considered a time of peace throughout the land. Jiang Huanyu's family had about 4 hectares of fertile land and about 1 hectare of mountain forest. According to the rules, fertile land was taxed at five hundred copper coins per mu each year, and mountain forest at two hundred copper coins per mu each year. Their family needed to pay a total of thirty-two taels of silver. This was the converted tax value.

Of course, they could also directly pay grain as tax. However, Jiang Huanyu did not plan to use silver to pay the tax. Storing grain not only took up a lot of space, but it also required guarding against insects, rats, and moisture. It was very troublesome. It was enough for the family to store one year's worth of food. After paying taxes, the extra would still have to be sold. More importantly, in recent years, the government had also encouraged commoners to offset taxes with grain.

Paying taxes with grain even came with a certain reduction. After the husband and wife loaded the grain, they drove the ox cart toward the village square. With two consecutive years of good harvests, the harvests of the villagers of Golden Willow Village were all decent. The tax-paying process was also very smooth. There were rarely scenes of people unable to pay taxes kneeling and begging, then being beaten by the tax-collecting officials until they cried for their fathers and mothers.

After the taxes were paid, next came the time for summer plowing. Jiang Huanyu found several short-term workers, among them Xi Fu. With the help of short-term workers, plus the family's old ox, the roughly 4 hectares of fertile land were all plowed and sown in a little over ten days. Time arrived in mid-September. After the crops were planted in the fields, there were no major matters left for the year. After finishing everything, Jiang Huanyu prepared to pull all the remaining grain at home to town and sell it.

That day, the husband and wife were preparing to move the packed grain onto the ox cart when Hu Yufen's expression changed slightly. Then she hurriedly covered her mouth and ran to the side to retch. Jiang Wenfeng, who was waiting at the side to follow his father to town to play, saw this and hurriedly ran over.

"Mother, are you all right?" Hu Yufen dry-heaved a few times, but did not vomit anything. Her face was somewhat pale as she shook her head. Jiang Huanyu came forward, supported her, and said, "I'll take you to Uncle Sun to have a look." After hearing this, Hu Yufen rolled her eyes at him.

"You're already the father of two children, yet you still don't understand anything…" Hm? After she said this, Jiang Huanyu was also stunned. Only after quite a while did he react. His face filled with pleasant surprise as he said, "Wife, this is… you're with child!?" Hu Yufen nodded with a somewhat complicated expression. Being pregnant again could be counted as a happy event. But this also meant that before long, there would be another mouth to feed in the family.

The husband and wife had already decided to let Stone learn martial arts. In the future, most of the family's income would be spent on him. If another mouth was added, life would become even tighter.

"Father, with child… what kind of illness is that?" Jiang Wenfeng looked at his father and mother in confusion, somewhat unable to understand. Mother was clearly sick, so why was Father standing there grinning foolishly? Jiang Huanyu touched his son's head and said with a chuckle, "Stinky brat, after some time, your mother is going to give birth to a younger brother or younger sister for you."

"Ah!?" Hearing this, Jiang Wenfeng opened his mouth wide in astonishment.

"Stone, do you want a younger brother or a younger sister?" Jiang Wenfeng tilted his head and thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Either is fine!" The husband and wife looked at each other and smiled. After Hu Yufen recovered slightly, she came to the ox cart and wanted to continue helping carry the remaining grain onto the cart. Jiang Huanyu quickly stopped her and had Stone bring over a stool.

"Don't disturb the pregnancy. Sit down. I'll do it myself." Hu Yufen struggled a little.

"I'm not that delicate. There's too much grain. If you move it all yourself, don't hurt your body." At this time, Jiang Huanyu immediately brought out the manly dignity of the head of the household. He pressed her onto the stool and said with a stern face, "Listen to me. Sit there peacefully." Hu Yufen could not overcome him and could only obediently sit to the side, watching her man carry bag after bag of grain onto the ox cart. After all that busyness, it was already noon.

Hu Yufen picked up a cloth towel and somewhat heartachingly wiped the sweat from Jiang Huanyu's body.

"Husband, rest for a while. I'll go make some food." Jiang Huanyu had originally wanted to rush to cook instead, but Hu Yufen pushed him out of the kitchen house using the excuse that "a gentleman stays far from the kitchen." Left with nothing to do, Jiang Huanyu thought it over again and again, but finally decided to personally make a trip to the Sun family and invite the old man over to examine his wife. First, it was to confirm this happy matter.

Second, it was also to properly condition her body from the beginning. Back when she gave birth to Anu, it had happened during floods. Because Hu Yufen had not properly completed her postpartum confinement, her body had clearly become much weaker than before. By the time Hu Yufen finished making the meal, Jiang Huanyu and Sun Fuchun, who was carrying a medicine box on his back, also walked through the door.

"Uncle Sun."