CMWKSD -Chapter 59 Jiu Yue Treats a Villager’s Child’s Hand

Outside the courtyard, the village head’s daughter-in-law came stumbling toward the Ji household, crying as she clutched her youngest son in her arms.

Along the way, many villagers saw her. The child’s arm hung limply at his side, and he couldn’t even cry anymore.

Old Chen—also known as the village’s barefoot “doctor”—wasn’t truly a doctor at all. When he was young, he had followed a Daoist from a temple and learned a few rudimentary tricks. After that, he’d relied on those scraps of knowledge to make a living. Over time, he convinced himself he was a real physician and began looking down on the villagers.

Yet because he styled himself a doctor, and the villagers didn’t dare offend him, anyone with a headache or fever still had to go to him.

After all, compared to doctors in the city, Old Chen charged much less. He was somewhat useful—minor ailments were usually fine—but anything more serious wouldn’t do. For those, one still had to go to the city.

So when he saw the village head’s daughter-in-law running toward the Ji household with her child, he hurried after her. “I’ll take a look at the child!”

The woman froze for a moment and instinctively held the child tighter. “I… I…”

Before she could finish, the village head’s son rushed over, took the child, and ran straight toward the Ji courtyard.

Old Chen followed closely behind, grumbling, “You young people don’t know any better. That Ji Erwa’s wife—how old is she? How could her medical skills be better than mine? If you don’t let me see your son, his hand will be ruined!”

Those words happened to reach Ji Yiqing’s ears as he opened the courtyard gate. Behind him trailed a dark mass of villagers.

After all, no one ever rested properly after meals—any hint of excitement would spread through the entire village.

The village head’s son and daughter-in-law didn’t care about anything else. Holding the child, they rushed into the courtyard. “Please, save our son!”

Taking advantage of Ji Yiqing’s distraction, Old Chen squeezed straight into the courtyard. He had heard that Jiu Yue’s medical skills were good, while he himself was only a half-baked practitioner.

His family farmed land and could make a living, but who would make money? With Jiu Yue here, who knew if she’d steal his business? He couldn’t allow that to happen.

Seeing a crowd flood into the courtyard, Jiu Yue’s face darkened. Ji Chaomian had just finished his rehabilitation exercises. Hearing the noise outside, he hurriedly pushed the door open and, leaning on the wall, made his way out—afraid that Jiu Yue and Ji Yiqing might be bullied.

Instead, the villagers who rushed in saw Ji Chaomian standing upright, and one gasp followed another. “Dawa—you can stand up now?!”

As they spoke, the village head’s daughter-in-law was about to kneel before Jiu Yue. The child’s crying had grown so weak it was nearly gone.

Ji Yiqing stepped forward and shielded Jiu Yue behind him. “If you have something to say, then say it. Don’t kneel at the drop of a hat.”

Old Chen snorted coldly. Without caring that the village head’s son was holding the child, he reached out to grab the child’s limp arm. The child let out a sharp scream.

The village head’s son immediately pulled his child away. “What are you doing?!”

Old Chen chuckled awkwardly. It was just a minor dislocation—set the bone and it would be fine. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to set bones.

“You’d better go to the city,” he said. “A child’s hand can’t be delayed. Don’t believe every rumor you hear—don’t treat just anyone as a miracle doctor!”

Jiu Yue poked her head out from behind Ji Yiqing. When Ji Yiqing lowered his gaze, he saw her fluffy little head.

Hearing Old Chen’s voice, Jiu Yue raised her brows at Ji Yiqing. He said quietly, “It should be something wrong with the child’s hand.”

Old Chen continued his sarcastic mockery—saying Jiu Yue was too young, too inexperienced, her mouth still smelling of milk. And besides, she was a woman.

In Great Qi, women already held a low status. The overt and covert ridicule made Jiu Yue annoyed.

She cast Old Chen a cool glance. He had been talking animatedly, saliva flying, but under that look, he unconsciously shut his mouth.

Jiu Yue walked over to the village head’s son and reached out to touch the little one in his arms. To be honest, she really didn’t want to touch him.

The child was filthy from crying—his face smeared with snot, drool, and tears, all mixed together. His clothes were stained with who-knew-what, black patches here, yellow patches there.

But the child was only one or two years old. Filthy was filthy—so long as she didn’t touch too much, it was fine.

As Jiu Yue laid hands on him, the noise in the courtyard gradually died down. Everyone wanted to see just how good the medical skills were that Ji Dahai and Su Ruo praised to the skies.

With a light touch, Jiu Yue immediately felt that it was a dislocation. This kind of dislocation required almost no skill at all.

Jiu Yue happened to be eating snacks. She was still holding a piece of white cloud cake between her fingers. She tipped her chin at the village head’s son. “Hold down his good hand.”

The man was unconsciously cowed by Jiu Yue’s presence and did exactly as she said.

Jiu Yue took a step forward with the white cloud cake in hand. The little one stared at it without blinking.

She shook the cake lightly. “Want to eat it?”

The child sniffled, tears and snot wobbling. “Eat…”

Jiu Yue extended the cake. With one hand held down, the child could only reach out with his dislocated arm. As he did, Jiu Yue twisted upward.

The child lifted his hand and grabbed the white cloud cake.

Jiu Yue released it smoothly. Being so young, the child immediately started eating happily.

Jiu Yue clapped her hands. “That’s done. You can go back now.”

Everyone: “……”

What did you do? And that’s it?

Old Chen was even more stunned by this completely unorthodox treatment. He shoved aside the people crowding in front of him and reached out with his rough hand, grabbing the child’s arm.

Only then did he realize… it really was fixed.

But clearly… clearly Jiu Yue hadn’t done anything—she’d only handed the child a piece of white cloud cake.

The village head’s son and daughter-in-law gaped.

This… this works too?

Ji Chaomian and Ji Yiqing exchanged a look. Well, it seemed that there was no way to hide Jiu Yue’s medical skills anymore.

After what they’d just seen, those who didn’t know would probably spread it into something downright miraculous.

Afraid of rumors, Ji Yiqing quickly said, “This is just one kind of treatment method.”

To be honest, he didn’t understand it either—why handing over a piece of white cloud cake made the child’s limp hand instantly better, without even a cry.

Seeing everyone in the courtyard staring at her in shock, clearly unwilling to leave unless she explained, Jiu Yue—rarely in such a good mood—offered an explanation.

“A child’s bones are fragile. Just now it was a dislocation. I had him lift his hand to set the bone back. But don’t try this randomly yourselves. You don’t understand children’s bone structure or alignment. Even if you learn this method, you might not be able to set it correctly.”

The crowd was beyond mere shock now. Learn it? With what could they learn? This was something they couldn’t possibly learn at all.

The village head’s son and daughter-in-law repeatedly thanked her. The daughter-in-law took out silver from her bosom. “This is the consultation fee. I don’t know if it’s enough?”