Chapter 642 - 333: Doctor Yun is Also Pregnant?

Chapter 642: Chapter 333: Doctor Yun is Also Pregnant?

Gazing at the delicate clusters of Yingtao nestled among the green leaves, Yun Ying saw that most were a glossy, translucent yellow. Only a few were tinged with a blush of red, shining like agate, but none were fully ripe. She couldn’t resist any longer. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached for a blushing one, pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, and wiped it before popping it into her mouth.

Juhua felt a pang of pity for the fruit being picked before it was ripe. When she caught sight of the handkerchief in Yun Ying’s hand, she almost laughed out loud. "Tell me," she asked, amused, "are you supposed to be a man or a woman? Dressed like that, yet you’re carrying an embroidered green handkerchief in your sleeve. It’s not just that it doesn’t suit you—it doesn’t even match your coarse-cloth clothes. I’ve never met anyone as strange as you."

Yun Ying felt the sweet-and-sour juice trickle down her throat, a wave of comfort washing over her. She didn’t have time to reply, too busy spitting out the pit and picking another fruit to pop in her mouth.

Juhua noticed that quite a few had fallen into the grass below. Some had been half-pecked by birds before they dropped, while others had withered from worms and fallen on their own. She sighed. These things were difficult to care for, much more so than peaches. Putting up a scarecrow in the garden hadn’t been much help, either.

Seeing that Yun Ying was still eating, Juhua said, her heart aching for the fruit, "Miss Yun, isn’t that enough? If you just wait a few more days, they’ll all be red and so much sweeter. If you’re really craving something sour, you’d be better off gnawing on a big peach—the peaches are almost ready, too."

Yun Ying’s own cheeks were starting to feel numb from the sourness, so she stopped. Letting out a breath, she said, "I feel much better. If I start feeling sick again, I’ll pick a peach to eat."

She saw Juhua walk into the vegetable garden and bend over a row of amaranth to pull up some of the red stalks, so she went over to help.

Juhua pulled a few handfuls, then straightened up with effort, resting a hand on her lower back to catch her breath.

Yun Ying frowned. "Can’t you stop busying yourself with all this? I’ve noticed your mother-in-law doesn’t ask you to do any chores, and Zhang Huai dotes on you. Why do you insist on always being so busy?"

Juhua offered a small smile, her gaze sweeping over the neat rows of vegetables in the garden. "I like keeping busy with this," she told her. "Otherwise, what fun is there in just sitting at home? Even if we hired someone to wait on me, I wouldn’t like it. I prefer planting a few vegetables, having things to do. As long as it’s not too tiring, I don’t mind."

She looked at Yun Ying again and said, "I can guess what you were doing when you went out this time, but I don’t know what I could say to persuade you otherwise. Let me try an analogy. We all love these vegetables—green or red, they’re both beautiful and delicious—but we absolutely hate manure. We find it stinky and disgusting..."

Yun Ying shot her a look. "Don’t tell me you don’t find it disgusting. I wouldn’t believe you."

Juhua laughed. "I’m not a fly, so of course I don’t like it. But whenever I stand here in the garden, it doesn’t bother me. When Huai Zi is spreading the manure, I like to watch from the side—which plants get a little more, which get a little less. I see exactly how they look a few days after being fertilized."

Yun Ying pressed her lips together, feeling the Yingtao she had just eaten churning in her stomach.

Juhua smiled. "Don’t feel sick. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. This is just my own experience. I find that when you grow vegetables with your own hands—from planting the seeds, to watching them break through the soil and sprout, to seeing the seedlings grow taller day by day—it’s a completely different feeling. You become deeply invested in how watering and fertilizing affect them. And when you see how lush and vigorous they look the very next day after a dose of manure water, you really don’t find it disgusting anymore. You just start to worry if there’s enough manure in the pit for all your vegetables."

Seeing Yun Ying lost in thought, Juhua said no more. She went to pick some water spinach and chop down a few stalks of lettuce.

Yun Ying followed behind her and reached out to take the large Lanzi. As they walked along the furrows, she saw that some vegetables, like the water spinach and lettuce stems, were lush, green, and ready to be eaten. Others, like the Huang Gua and peppers, were still just seedlings. And some, like the garlic, were already past their prime.

She found herself murmuring aloud, "I started practicing medicine with my father when I was very young. His skills were brilliant, so all I had to do was follow his instructions to earn people’s praise. I never traveled alone like my senior brother, digging for my own herbs and developing my own prescriptions. I either gathered herbs with my father—who knew the growing habits of every plant intimately—or we simply bought them from an apothecary. I’ve never wanted for money; my father was the one who always treated it like dirt. Now that I think about it, I’ve never truly acquired or created anything with my own two hands, the way you described. It’s only natural that I can’t understand the kind of toil and joy you speak of."

Juhua heard her muttering to herself but didn’t reply. ’Her father is gone now,’ she thought. ’From now on, she can only rely on herself. Everything will be different. I hope she can handle it.’

That afternoon, Big Mouth Zhao’s wife, Guizhi, went into labor, but it turned into a difficult birth. Seeing basin after basin of bloody water being carried out of the room, he lost his composure and frantically ran to find Qin Feng. However, Qin Feng had gone to Xiatang Market to make arrangements for the apothecary shop, so Yun Ying accompanied Big Mouth Zhao to the Zhao family’s home.

Having been in Qingnan Village for several days, Yun Ying was now a familiar face to everyone. Moreover, she had cured many of the local wives of their chronic gynecological problems, so people were gradually beginning to believe her medical skills were on par with Qin Feng’s.

But even though she was a doctor, when it came to childbirth, no one believed an unmarried young woman could possibly know what to do. Thus, her arrival was met with surprise. The midwife was especially displeased—was this girl trying to steal her livelihood? So, with a sour expression, she blocked Yun Ying from getting near the bed, muttering unpleasantries like, "She’s never even carried a child herself, and she thinks she can deliver one?" The words made Yun Ying tremble with rage.

Her face was grim as she stood by the door, watching the busy women. She didn’t say a word, nor did she retreat. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets or monthly passes on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)