Chapter 70: Repaying the Proprietress in the Future
Lin Sanniang asked Convoy Guard Mu to fetch a bowl, then carefully poured out the contents of the bamboo tube.
Convoy Guard Mu and Lin Daniang stared intently at it, looking somewhat anxious.
This medicine looked extremely thin. It didn’t resemble an ointment; instead, it looked like maltose, flowing down in a thick, dense stream. It was vastly different from the ointments sold at the clinic.
Lin Sanniang estimated the portion and poured out a quarter of the tube. According to the young mistress’s terms, this was $50\text{g}$.
Lin Sanniang said, “The young mistress said she looked over this formula, and it’s the same as the one the doctor prescribed. It’s just that the method of preparation is different. This medicinal syrup is thinner; one tael of this syrup is equal to one mace of the ointment. Drinking this much every day will be enough.”
The syrup clung to the walls of the bowl, flowing down slowly, making it difficult to drink for the moment. Lin Daniang’s children brought over hot water, poured it in to flush the syrup down, swirled it until it was mixed evenly, and cradled the bowl to hand it to Lin Daniang to drink.
Lin Daniang held the bowl with her children’s assistance, taking small sips. The moment she drank it, she couldn’t help but gasp in surprise, “Sanniang, is this truly an ointment? Why does it taste just like sugar water?”
It was sweet, practically sweeter than honey. Yet the taste of motherwort was indeed potent, even stronger than the medicinal pills rolled by the doctor.
Lin Sanniang smiled. “The medicine at the young mistress’s place is like this; most of them are sweet and pleasant, entirely unlike our decoctions. But I tried it myself—when I was burning with that fever, I only drank two doses before the fever mostly broke. Give it a try.”
If nothing else, as the sweet ointment traveled down into her stomach, Lin Daniang felt a warm glow spread throughout her entire body. She didn’t feel instantly cured upon drinking the medicine the way Lin Sanniang had, but smelling the motherwort aroma of the ointment filled her heart with immense peace.
Lin Sanniang handed both bamboo tubes over to Convoy Guard Mu. “I begged the young mistress for medicine, and she gave me eight days’ worth, saying to drink this first. If it works well, she will give me some more next time. If anything feels amiss after drinking it, we still need to fetch a doctor in time.”
Utterly unwilling to let her family toil for her sake any longer, Lin Daniang said hurriedly, “It feels very good as I drink it. This medicine is definitely excellent.”
Lin Sanniang smiled and said nothing. Although this medicine was kindly given by the young mistress, it was also something she had earned through her hired labor. In the future, if the young mistress summoned her to work again, she would simply use more care and exert more effort. By relying on her own hard work, she would bring hope to her loved ones.
Over on this side, Convoy Guard Mu inquired about the cost of the medicine. “I can smell that the medicinal aroma of this syrup is exceptionally rich; presumably, it used a vast amount of herbs. I wonder how much the medicine costs.”
Convoy Guard Mu felt happy at this moment, yet he was also somewhat anxious. He was happy that Lin Daniang’s medication was secured, and that there was an additional two days’ worth of doses compared to what they had originally planned. If the medicine was effective, according to the doctor’s words, she could be nursed back to health much better, offsetting all her past physical deficits. He was anxious because a medicine this excellent surely wouldn’t be cheap. He didn’t know how much money it would require.
Lin Sanniang smiled as she brought out the fabric and grain.
“You don’t need to worry about this. The young mistress accepted those two strings of beads, saying she liked them immensely. Not only did she give us the medicine, but she also gave us this grain and this cloth.”
Lin Sanniang didn’t dare bring out all the supplies. Although the young mistress was generous and viewed these things as merely normal wages, Lin Sanniang knew in her heart that it was only because the mountain estate was extraordinary. Brought out into the Daliang Dynasty, these supplies were truly rather shocking.
Just those two tubes of medicinal syrup—an eight-day supply—would cost eight taels of silver at the clinic. For an ordinary household, throughout the entire year, assuming no illnesses, no tax increases, no floods, droughts, or locust plagues, and a normal harvest… they might be able to save two or three taels of silver. Eight taels of silver? For an ordinary household, it meant either losing the entire family estate or facing an incurable disease.
If she brought out all that fabric along with the refined rice and refined flour on top of that, she was terrified it would frighten Lin Daniang and Convoy Guard Mu. Therefore, Lin Sanniang only took out ten catties of the old rice and two catties of the fabric scraps.
Lin Daniang had already seen these fabrics before. She still speculated in her heart that some wealthy employer must have taken a fancy to Lin Sanniang, which was why they were willing to give so many excellent things in exchange for two strings of beads. Having the intention to facilitate a match between her bitter-fated third sister and the kind-hearted employer, she was rather pleased to see it happen.
But Convoy Guard Mu was dumbfounded. “Two strings of beads exchanged for all these things? Together with the medicine?”
“Yes, together with the medicine,” Lin Sanniang recalled Jian Xingxia’s demeanor and said. “The young mistress looked as though she liked them quite a bit, saying the items were remarkably good, and she even gifted one string to a noble guest at the estate right on the spot.”
Hearing this, Lin Daniang broke into a laugh. “You silly girl. If she truly liked them, she would surely have kept them all for herself. The moment you delivered them, the master… cough, the young mistress, right? She could casually give it away to reward someone, so she probably just liked them average, and only said they were good out of respect for your feelings.”
Lin Sanniang was rendered speechless. Given the young mistress’s kind heart, such a possibility wasn’t entirely out of the question.
Convoy Guard Mu also chimed in, “Aye, those beads aren’t large, so they weren’t originally worth much. Furthermore, they suffered some bumps and scratches during transport, so the merchants deemed them flawed. The shop had them left over, which was why they gave them to us as reward money.”
Lin Sanniang said, “But the young mistress and her noble guest said these were small-leaf red sandalwood bracelets.”
“They are made of sandalwood, but they aren’t overly precious either. I saw the merchant selling bracelets that were larger and had a better sheen than this, and they only fetched ten taels of silver a string. Ours are so small, plus a few beads were damaged from the bumps… I estimate that selling them for two or three taels would be about right.”
But the ointment Lin Sanniang brought back was worth far more than the price of two strings of beads.
So that was the actual price… Lin Sanniang thought to herself. Fortunately, she hadn’t brought out more things; otherwise, Convoy Guard Mu and Lin Daniang would definitely harbor suspicions.
Sure enough, once Convoy Guard Mu finished speaking, he roughly calculated the value of these resources and felt that their side had taken a massive advantage.
“We shall accept this medicine, but this grain… with grain prices so high nowadays, this grain alone is worth quite a bit of money. And this fabric—we must have taken too much.”
Neither Lin Daniang nor Convoy Guard Mu was willing to accept them, telling Lin Sanniang to return the items.
“Once my illness is cured, we will work hard to earn money and make up the price difference for the ointment. Do not owe others too much of a favor.”
First, Lin Daniang was worried that the employer Lin Sanniang spoke of had misjudged the price of the bracelets and consequently given too much, causing a kind-hearted person to suffer a loss. Second, she was also worried that the employer “miss” Lin Sanniang mentioned was a pretext. In case someone truly had his eye on Lin Sanniang and used this opportunity to subsidize her, if they accepted it like this, it would cause Lin Sanniang to be looked down upon.
Looking at the earnest expressions of her sister and brother-in-law as they urged her to return the supplies and promised repeatedly to make up the medicine money, Lin Sanniang felt a wave of bittersweet emotion, deep gratitude, and above all, a profound sense of relief…
So this was exactly how the young mistress had felt when she first looked at her back then.
Lin Sanniang set the supplies down. “Set your hearts at ease. The young mistress knows the price of these things; she gave them to me after calculating them seriously.”
Seeing that her sister and brother-in-law were still worried, Lin Sanniang thought about it and said, “How about this: if you genuinely wish to express your thanks, whenever Brother-in-law encounters any good items in the future, don’t take them to exchange for cash first. I will deliver them to the young mistress for her to take a look. Sister’s needlework skills are excellent; once your body has fully recovered, I will give you fabric, and you can make two outfits for the young mistress according to the measurements I provide, how about that?”
Today, the young mistress had been highly fond of the clothes she wore, complimenting them several times.
