Chapter Three: Division of Labor

“We will accept whatever medicinal herbs you prepare.”

Hearing Zhao Minghua say this, Chun Nuan finally understood: he wasn’t lacking any herbs; he just wanted an excuse to help.

“All right, I will do my best to prepare the herbs and send them to you.”

“No rush. Our cooperation can last a long time.”

The buyer, who made no demands, left.

Chun Nuan remembered this transaction and the kindness shown.

The Xiao family was astonished to see Chun Nuan take out five taels of broken silver from her money pouch.

Who would dare lend them money now?

“This is the deposit from the young master of Baicao Hall for the customized herbs,” Chun Nuan explained to her aunt-in-law. “Use it for now. I will go up the mountain to gather more herbs.”

“Chun Nuan, how can this family rely on you alone?” Aunt Xu wiped her tears. “If you like, your mother and I can go up the mountain tomorrow to gather herbs as well.”

“No need,” Chun Nuan said, recalling the past experience with Chun Yan and Chun Shu; she did not think bringing them along would improve herb gathering or wild vegetable foraging. “Everyone has their specialty. Aunt Xu, I remember you are skilled with needlework. Perhaps you could visit the embroidery shops in town to see if you can help with embroidery work.”

“Yes, yes, I can do embroidery,” Xu quickly added. “Though my skills aren’t as good as your eldest sister-in-law’s, they’re still passable.”

“I can do it too,” Huang said with a sigh. “Now I realize that all the music, chess, calligraphy, and painting I learned before are useless. It would have been better to learn how to wash clothes, cook, and tend the fire like the maids and housekeepers did.”

“Aunt San, you don’t need to think like that. When one door closes, another opens. We will get better day by day,” Chun Nuan reassured her.

“Chun Nuan is right,” the matriarch spoke slowly. “From today on, we must humble ourselves and learn whatever we need. If making embroidery to support the household helps, so be it. We cannot rely solely on Chun Nuan.”

“Warm, my dear…”

“Grandmother, your granddaughter is here.”

“You’ve worked hard,” the old lady said, holding her granddaughter’s hand with deep emotion. “Your grandfather said you were clever from a young age, teaching you herbal formulas, how to identify herbs, and how to take pulses and diagnose. At the time, I opposed it, thinking it was useless for a girl to learn such things…”

Because of this, Chun Nuan had never been her most favored granddaughter.

Also, because Chun Nuan spent so much time in the study and the medicine room, her presence in the household was minimal.

Who would have thought that when the Xiao family faced disaster, it was this granddaughter who helped hold everything together?

Even more unexpected, when the Xiao family had no food and had to dig for wild vegetables, they could only rely on Chun Nuan, who knew herbs well enough to venture out, and even cooking and fire tending were guided by her expertise, as she was familiar with preparing medicinal herbs and kitchen operations.

The pampered family members, without the maids and housekeepers, felt like they’d lost limbs, unable to support themselves.

“It was my short-sightedness,” the grandmother admitted, patting her granddaughter’s hand. “People’s fortunes rise and fall. The Xiao family having you is a blessing amid misfortune. Once this difficult period and your grandfather’s mourning period are over, I will personally find a good husband for you...”

At this, the old lady’s voice faltered.

The disgraced Xiao family, having fled the capital and returned to this impoverished and remote area of Sichuan, had nothing left—where would they find a suitable husband for a granddaughter of marriageable age?

“Grandmother, I promised grandfather I would take care of you,” Chun Nuan said firmly, looking at the women and children in the room. The burden was heavy. “I also promised my uncle and father and third uncle that I would take care of the family. As for my marriage... I do not want to marry just for the sake of it.”

She refused to wed merely to settle.

“Warm…”

The grandmother choked up, and the whole family wiped away tears together.

“Grandmother, please don’t worry.” Chun Nuan could hardly bear their tears. “Chun Ning, Chun An, come with me to town to buy some grain and salt.”

“Sister, we want to go too!” Chun Yan and Chun Shu decided that from now on, no matter what their sister did, they wanted to help and learn alongside her.

“You two have other tasks,” Chun Nuan instructed. “Go back to the small woods where I gather firewood in the mornings and collect more firewood.”

“Then I’ll go with Yanzi and the others to look too,” Huang said hastily. “We can’t let two little girls get lost.”

“That’s a good idea.”

The Xiao family could no longer afford any mistakes.

Chun Nuan took Chun Ning and Chun An to town to buy supplies.

“Do you know why I brought you both?”

“Sister, I know. I am the oldest male in the family now. I have to be like a man and support this household,” Chun Ning said maturely. “Father told me this before he left, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“You will handle family business negotiations from now on,” Chun Nuan said. She was grateful that her younger brother was still half a year away from turning twelve, sparing him from exile’s hardships. But at the same time, he had to bear the family’s heavy responsibilities. “Today we need to buy some coarse grain, some salt, and get a medicine prescription for our eldest sister-in-law.”

“Is she ill?”

Chun Ning and Chun An both grew anxious.

They knew their eldest sister-in-law was expecting a little nephew or niece.

“She’s been exhausted from traveling without proper food or rest, and today’s scare unsettled her pregnancy,” Chun Nuan explained.

So that was the situation.

“Sister, can I do anything?” six-year-old Chun An asked eagerly.

“You’re still young, but your brother Ning needs a helper. From now on, you must follow him closely to learn and observe. Brothers united are strong, understand?”

“Yes, An An understands.”

At the rice shop, Chun Nuan watched as Chun Ning asked the shopkeeper about prices, then decided to buy coarse grain and five jin of fine grain.

“Grandmother and eldest sister-in-law need to eat well sometimes, so it’s good to have some fine grain too,” Chun Ning explained.

“You planned very well,” Chun Nuan praised. Before the Xiao family’s misfortune, her brother had been studying at school with ambitions to become a top scholar. After the disaster and the three generations’ disqualification from the imperial exams, his original plan was doomed to change.

Chun Nuan had worried before, but now it seemed he had grown up overnight.

Buying rice, oil, and salt, the young boy arranged everything neatly. Chun Nuan was deeply pleased.

“Sister, this is Baicao Hall,” Chun Ning said. “There are two pharmacies in town and another called Qianjin Hall. Are we buying medicine at Baicao Hall?”

“Yes.”

When they entered the pharmacy, only an old doctor was present. Chun Nuan recited several herbs she wanted to buy. The old doctor scrutinized her up and down.

“Miss, how about I take your pulse first? Medicine is one-third poison; it’s better not to take medicine if you can avoid it.”

“Doctor, we are here to get medicine for our eldest sister-in-law,” Chun Ning hurriedly explained. “My sister is still unmarried. What are you saying? Have your eyes grown dim?”

The old doctor looked a bit embarrassed.

“I see. However, our owner has a rule: either you bring a prescription from a doctor, or we must diagnose you ourselves before dispensing medicine. We cannot sell medicine just based on your verbal request.”

“Why not?” Chun Ning frowned. “Just prepare one prescription with the herbs my sister named. Why can’t you sell it?”

“Because we cannot dispense medicine without a proper prescription. If something goes wrong, who’s responsible?” the old doctor replied. “Especially for pregnancy medicines—if anything happens, it could mean two lives lost. Baicao Hall will not take that risk!”