The Pampered Concubine Gu Jiao Niang

Chapter 37: Surgery

The ancient people loved to listen to operas. After all, besides listening to operas, they couldn't do much else, especially the women.

It was difficult to hear operas in the countryside. The nearest opera house was also in the town, and it cost quite a bit of money to get in. The rural people couldn't afford it.

Although the old lady couldn't sing, she could speak, and she spoke quite detailed.

"Where did you hear the opera?" Gu Jiao asked, leaning in.

"I don't remember," the old lady shook her head.

Gu Jiao saw that she didn't seem to be lying, and asked again, "Do you remember anything else?"

"No," the old lady thought carefully.

Gu Jiao: "..."

Gu Jiao then said, "Can you not deceive people like this in the future?"

The old lady thought carefully again and said, "No."

Gu Jiao: "..."

As the New Year approached, Gu Jiao became busy and couldn't keep an eye on the old lady all the time. The old lady occasionally caused trouble, but she could handle it herself and didn't cause trouble for Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang.

Later, Gu Jiao went to the temple again, but the monk in charge of the money had not returned yet. Gu Jiao decided to come back after the New Year.

The academy held another exam before the New Year. It's unknown whether it was affected by the theft incident, but Gu Dashun's performance was obviously weaker, and he dropped to tenth place in the class.

Gu Xiaoshun's grades were stable and still last.

Xiao Liulang rose one place, but this time it was not because he did well in the exam, but because the second-to-last and fourth-to-last were sick and absent, tied with Gu Xiaoshun for last place.

Many scholars in the academy knew about the eight-legged essay that Xiao Liulang wrote when he entered the school, but since then he had never written anything again and his exam papers were mostly blank.

Some people suspected that he had run out of talent, while others suspected that he had cheated his way into the academy.

However, Dean Li firmly believed that Xiao Liulang had talent and did not want to give up on him.

The imperial examination was held every three years, and the autumn examination was coming up next year. If he missed it, he would have to wait another three years.

However, in order to participate in the autumn examination, one had to be a scholar.

Before the Lunar New Year, there was a county-level examination. Dean Li hesitated for a moment and secretly registered Xiao Liulang's name.

At present, Gu Jiao was unaware of all this. The academy was on holiday, and tomorrow was the day Xiao Liulang was to undergo surgery. She needed to ensure she got enough sleep to be in the best possible condition.

Before going to bed, Gu Jiao checked the small medicine box and found that all the anesthesia and injection drugs needed for the surgery were there.

These drugs were not the ones sold in the pharmacies of her past life, but rather drugs from the research institute. Gu Jiao seriously doubted that as long as the research institute did not go bankrupt, her medicine box would be able to be replenished indefinitely.

Well, that's a good thing! Gu Jiao went to sleep happily, and when she woke up, she made breakfast and prepared the medicine for the old lady.

When Gu Jiao brought the medicine to the old lady's room, the old lady hesitated and looked at the pills in the dish and the medicinal soup in the bowl. She frowned and said, "Why do I feel like this medicinal soup can be drunk or not?"

"You're overthinking it. The medicinal soup is just as important as the pills." Gu Jiao said calmly.

The old lady drank the pills and medicinal soup with skepticism, feeling the bitterness made her roll her eyes. She seriously suspected that Gu Jiao was taking revenge on her for her mischievous behavior in the past.

On this important day, Feng Lin wouldn't miss it. He had been waiting at the clinic for a while now, but as the weather got colder, he didn't want to go inside and wait. He ended up freezing outside like a little icicle.

Feng Lin's face darkened when he saw the young couple on the ox cart.

He had the urge to curse at the shameless couple, but he held it in. Xiao Xiong was not at fault; it was this woman who kept sticking to him more and more!

Gu Jiao noticed Feng Lin's calm expression and asked, "Didn't you go back home for the New Year?"

Feng Lin snorted, "My home is so far away. How could I go back?"

Gu Jiao then remembered that transportation was not convenient in ancient times. What could be reached in a day by high-speed rail in her past life could take a month to travel here. Feng Lin might not have even reached home yet, and his New Year holiday would have already ended.

"Oh," said Gu Jiao.

Feng Lin punched the cotton beside him in frustration.

The date had been set in advance, and Wang the shopkeeper and the old doctor were already waiting in the clinic when Feng Lin and Gu Jiao arrived.

The old doctor asked about Xiao Liu Lang's condition after being treated at home for the past few days.

"I have been using the medicinal smoke before going to bed every night," Xiao Liu Lang replied truthfully.

Every evening when he returned from school, Gu Jiao had already prepared dinner and brewed his medicine.

The old doctor nodded.

Feng Lin asked, "Doctor Zhang, is Xiao Xiong's leg almost healed?"

The old doctor said, 'We won't know how it goes until after the surgery.'

'What did you say? Surgery?' Feng Lin was stunned.

Xiao Liulang's eyes also showed a hint of surprise.

Gu Jiao was worried that this situation would arise and had not told them. Surgery was not common in this era and people generally did not accept it. They believed it was only used on the battlefield.

Feng Lin exclaimed, 'Doctor Zhang! You didn't mention this earlier!'

The old doctor would not tell the truth and replied seriously, 'The conditions did not allow it then. But now that the medicine has been applied for a period of time and the meridians have opened up, surgery is possible.'

However, this was a major issue, involving cutting into a person's body. Feng Lin was hesitant and asked, 'Is there no other way besides surgery?'

'Hmm,' the old doctor nodded.

'Can you guarantee success?' Feng Lin asked again.

'I cannot guarantee that,' the old doctor replied honestly, 'If it succeeds, he will be able to walk normally again. But if it fails, he may end up worse than he is now.'

This was also what Gu Jiao had said initially. Even though she was the best doctor in the research institute, she would not dare to make promises regarding surgeries without risks.

Feng Lin backed down. He was a conservative person and did not want to take such a big risk.

But Xiao Liulang casually moved his lips and said, 'Then let's do the surgery. Thank you, Doctor Zhang.'

He agreed so quickly that even Gu Jiao looked at him in surprise.

In fact, even after getting along for so long, Gu Jiao had never really understood him. But just now, she seemed to feel a hint of cold indifference from him.

It was as if... he didn't care at all if the surgery failed.

Was he really so brave, or did he not care about his own life at all?"