Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder — I Rise to Female Lead Through Hard Work-Chapter 42: Uneasy

There was no stove, but Yi Roujing noticed a makeshift stove in the room. Fortunately, the roof of the house was broken, otherwise, if you lit a fire inside, people wouldn’t realize they were being poisoned.

Yi Roujing lit the fire, scooped some water from a small jar, and put it on to boil. The suppressed coughing sound in her ears never ceased. When the water boiled, Yi Roujing used a clay bowl with a small broken corner to pour the water and brought it to Mr. Qi. She waited for it to cool before feeding it to him. The coughing eased a little.

"Thank, thank you." Mr. Qi’s voice was hoarse and weak as he expressed his gratitude.

"You should lie down for a while."

Yi Roujing had just helped him lie down when she saw Ding Anmin tiptoeing in, looking like a thief.

Ding Anmin opened the quilt, and several packets of traditional medicine wrapped in kraft paper rolled out. She breathed a long sigh of relief, "Almost ran into someone and got caught. That would’ve been terrible for me."

"I’ll fix you some malted milk when we get back." Yi Roujing said.

"Grumble—"

Yi Roujing turned to look, and Ding Anmin waved her hands repeatedly, "It wasn’t me."

Mr. Qi, lying under the warm quilt, felt a bit embarrassed, "Sorry about that."

"I brought a pancake with me." Ding Anmin pulled out a white flour pancake, thinking it might come in handy, but mostly because she couldn’t bear to see others so pitiful. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Soak it in the water I boiled earlier." Yi Roujing pointed, and Ding Anmin went to work while Yi Roujing opened the packets of traditional medicine, selecting what she needed.

Xia Xingchen’s stepmother had someone prepare the medicine; though it was randomly chosen, it was still medicine. Among them, several were quite suitable. She picked out Ephedra and Schizonepeta, and also found Licorice and Platycodon, although it wasn’t complete, it was a good start.

She selected three packets, roughly estimating the quantities by feel, combined the four kinds of medicine, added a large bowl of water, and then started cooking it on the little stove using the same pot in which she had boiled water. There was no other vessel available there for cooking.

The pancake soaked in warm water, expanded to the amount of a full bowl. Ding Anmin helped Mr. Qi sit up, and he devoured it quickly. After finishing, his eyes turned red, "I, cough cough... haven’t eaten, cough cough... something like this in so long."

"Mr. Qi, please rest." Ding Anmin helped him lie down. By then, the air was filled with a medicinal scent, and Ding Anmin frowned slightly before stepping outside to stand vigilantly at the door, watching the surroundings.

When the water in the pot boiled and turned brown, Yi Roujing turned the fire down, letting it simmer for another quarter of an hour before pouring out the medicine, only collecting the broth. The light brown liquid, poured out in full, amounted to only half a bowl.

Yi Roujing placed the bowl of medicine next to the bed and asked, "Mr. Qi, do you want to drink it?"

"I’ll drink, cough cough..." Mr. Qi coughed several times but then stopped; it was a rare moment of comfort for him these days. "Truly, thank you, young ladies, both."

"You should wait for the medicine to cool before drinking it, Mr. Qi. We’ll be going now." Yi Roujing got up to leave. "The residue in the pot can be boiled two more times. Drink it three times a day. There are three wraps of medicine in the kraft paper; if it helps, continue to brew them."

Yi Roujing sorted and wrapped the usable medicines separately.

Mr. Qi struggled to sit up, "I don’t even know the young ladies’ names."

"I’m Yi Roujing, and this is Ding Anmin." Yi Roujing responded candidly.

"This great kindness today, I, Qi Tiande, shall remember." Mr. Qi declared solemnly.

Yi Roujing was stunned for a moment, Qi Tiande, the name... But she didn’t linger on the thought and nodded, leaving with Ding Anmin.

"Mr. Qi is so pitiful." Ding Anmin sighed. "At such an old age, with no family at his side, and suffering from ailments, oh—"

Qi Tiande, Yi Roujing sighed inwardly.

"Let’s bring him some more food in the evening." Yi Roujing suggested, now that they knew, she had to find a way to take care of him.

"But..." Ding Anmin hesitated, "It wouldn’t look good if someone saw us."

"We can just do it discreetly." Yi Roujing shrugged it off.

"Alright." Ding Anmin had noticed, Mr. Qi had hardly any food, only some dried wild vegetables, a few sweet potatoes, and potatoes with no fine grains at all.

Upon their return to the small hillside, Jie and Xia Xingchen were busy cutting pigweed and wild vegetables, and they joined in.

"Sister Roujing, Sister Anmin, is Mr. Qi alright?" Jie looked up, his small face was thin with large eyes, not looking very healthy, slightly yellow; Yi Roujing noticed his liver might not be well.

Yi Roujing stepped forward to feel Jie’s pulse; indeed, his liver wasn’t in a good state. After examining his tongue coating closely, she concluded he needed gradual conditioning.

"Jie is being treated with medicine from Elder Ren." Ding Anmin explained, pulling Yi Roujing aside, "The more I think, the more scared I get."

Yi Roujing was puzzled, "Scared of what?"

"The medicine you brewed for Mr. Qi... won’t it harm people?" Ding Anmin’s concern deepened in her eyes, "Ah, I shouldn’t just let you mess around like that."

"Don’t worry, I’m not foolish. I wouldn’t let anyone take medicine if I wasn’t sure." Yi Roujing clicked her tongue, "We’ll check tonight, then you should be reassured."

"But I can’t be at ease now." Ding Anmin paced back and forth anxiously.

"Then you can go watch over Mr. Qi." Yi Roujing rolled her eyes.

"Right, right, you’re right." Ding Anmin put down what she was holding and ran back, "Don’t forget to cut my pigweed too."

Yi Roujing watched Ding Anmin’s back, filled with disbelief; she was just speaking casually, how did it turn serious?

"Where’s Anmin going?" Xia Xingchen came over to ask.

"She’s afraid I’ll accidentally kill someone with the medicine, so she went to keep an eye on him." Yi Roujing joked about herself.

Xia Xingchen blinked, then laughed, "Anmin’s personality is just like that, but I trust in you, big sister-in-law."

"You’re starting to think for yourself." Yi Roujing turned back with a serious critique, "It’s a good sign."

Xia Xingchen laughed, "No wonder Anmin used to dislike you, your tongue is quite sharp."

"I’m just very honest."

"Hahaha—"

"What are you talking about, making you so happy?" Jie looked up with a smiling face.

"Open your mouth." Yi Roujing went over and squatted down to face Jie.

Jie felt a bit strange, but complied by opening his mouth. Yi Roujing peeled a piece of milk candy and popped it into his mouth. Jie’s eyes immediately lit up, "It’s candy, so fragrant and sweet."