Chapter 4: 4.第4章 剖尸产子

Flipping two copper coins in her hand, Gu Baiyu looked at the basket of wild vegetables hanging from her arm and let out an almost inaudible sigh.

More than half a month had passed since that small disturbance. Knowing full well that without a healthy body, even the grandest ambitions were meaningless, Gu Baiyu was determined to nurse this frail physique back to health. Using her reputation of having become a doctor through long-term illness, she utilized the Traditional Chinese Medicine knowledge she had learned from her grandfather in her previous life to prescribe her own medicinal regimens, enduring the pungent, bitter taste as she drank bowl after bowl of herbal medicine.

Once she had restored her body to a reasonably good state, she took the opportunity to treat the villagers on the manor, treating it as a way to supplement her income.

However, the people living near the manor were, after all, honest farmers who relied on the weather for their livelihood; their income was meager, and what they could give Gu Baiyu was even less. At this moment, the two copper coins flipping in her palm and that basket of wild vegetables represented her entire medical fee for the day.

This could not continue. If she wanted to survive properly, she had to earn more money.

Taking advantage of the momentum, she sat by the banks of the Suishui River that surrounded the manor, staring blankly at her own unfamiliar reflection in the clear river water.

Her slightly open peach-blossom eyes looked as if she were half-drunk, and her dark, distant-mountain eyebrows were slightly furrowed by the melancholy in her heart. Beneath her sharp, delicate nose was a small, red pair of lips. Her long-term frailty left her unadorned face pale, and her waist-length hair appeared somewhat dry and coarse.

The Gu Baiyu reflected in the water was not a peerless beauty, but with the lively aura of a young girl in her prime combined with the cold, detached temperament Gu Baiyu naturally exuded, she appeared to be a lovely, blossoming young woman.

It was just that Gu Baiyu herself could not yet fully adapt to this youthful face. Though she was clearly in her thirties, she had suddenly swapped into such a bright and youthful appearance. Walking through the fields, Gu Baiyu always felt an unspeakable sense of awkwardness, as if she were unearnedly taking advantage of this body.

"Well then, I shall live a better life for you," she said solemnly to the delicate face in the water. Standing up and brushing the dust from her skirt, she prepared to walk home.

The disturbance from half a month ago had forcibly pushed her, who had intended to live a low-profile life for a while, into the eye of the storm. Although no one had come to cause trouble during her convalescence, Gu Baiyu knew clearly that her actions that day must have reached her father's concubine. Although there had been no movement so far, the sea is always calmest before a storm; Gu Baiyu had to remain vigilant and act discreetly to prevent the other party from taking advantage of her vulnerability.

However, the thing Heaven loves most is to act contrary to human wishes. The more Gu Baiyu tried to keep a low profile, the more trouble came knocking at her door, forcing her to step forward.

As she looked up to see Chaxin running toward her across the field ridges, Gu Baiyu couldn't help but look up at the clear, cloudless sky, silently cursing the joking heavens.

"Miss, Miss, you must go see... go see quickly..." Running until she was out of breath, Chaxin stopped in front of Gu Baiyu, clutching her chest. Following behind her was an elderly, anxious farmer; the moment he saw Gu Baiyu, he burst into tears, his lips moving for a long time without being able to utter a single word.

"Chaxin, what happened at Uncle Wang's house?" Having seen all kinds of dangerous situations in her past life, Gu Baiyu had long since cultivated a composure that remained unshaken even if Mount Tai collapsed before her. Looking at the two panicked and anxious people before her, she immediately judged that it must be someone from the Wang family.

"Miss, Sister-in-law Wang just fell into the river. Although she was rescued, her breath is very weak, you..." Chaxin's breath had just stabilized as she spoke rapidly to Gu Baiyu, but before she could finish, Gu Baiyu interrupted: "Where is she? Take me there immediately!"

"This way, this way." Hearing Gu Baiyu's command, Uncle Wang, who had just caught his breath, immediately led the way.

With hurried steps, Gu Baiyu's dark eyebrows furrowed slightly. The Wang family's daughter-in-law was over eight months pregnant; if she had fallen into the river and the rescue was not timely, a single mistake could lead to the tragedy of one corpse and two lives.

Thinking of this, Gu Baiyu's pace quickened, but she was ultimately a step too late. Before she even reached the woman's side, Gu Baiyu's ears were filled with the heartbroken wails of the Wang matriarch. She rushed to the woman's side and reached out to check for breath, but the soaking wet body had already lost all signs of life.

She knelt and attempted several rounds of chest compressions, but the woman's stiff, cold body announced her death to Gu Baiyu. Looking down at the high, protruding abdomen, which seemed to have stopped moving as if giving up the struggle, Gu Baiyu's heart tightened. She turned to Wang Guisheng, the Wang family's only son, who was squatting nearby weeping bitterly, and said, "What are you crying for? Do you still want the child or not?"

"The child?" Stunned by Gu Baiyu's sudden question, Wang Guisheng stopped crying instantly. He looked at the serious Gu Baiyu in confusion, not understanding the meaning behind her words.

"The sister-in-law is beyond saving, but the child's life is still worth a fight. If you want to save the child in her womb, hurry and bring me a clean sharp knife and some needle and thread!" Without a hint of emotion in her expression, Gu Baiyu spoke coldly to the stunned son. Turning back to Chaxin, who stood behind her, she continued, "Chaxin, find a cloth to surround me and the sister-in-law to clear away the onlookers."

"Yes, Miss."

Having grown accustomed to Gu Baiyu's sudden decisiveness over the past half month, Chaxin followed her orders without question, executing them efficiently. In a moment, she had cleared the surrounding crowd and found a clean oilcloth to cordon off Gu Baiyu, the Wang son, and the already cold body of the Wang daughter-in-law.

"Give me the knife."

Her voice was calm and devoid of ripples. Gu Baiyu pressed her left hand against the woman's high, protruding abdomen, measuring the exact position, then took the sharp knife from the son with her right hand. With swift, decisive movements, she cut open the high abdomen, the tip of the blade carefully avoiding the bleeding flesh to slice accurately toward the uterus.

Watching Gu Baiyu's indifferent expression and her efficient, clean technique, the kneeling son was struck dumb with shock. He subconsciously opened his mouth to say something, only to find he could not make a sound.

A loud cry pierced the sweltering air, startling everyone who had been waiting anxiously.

Gu Baiyu turned around and extended her blood-stained hands, placing the premature baby boy into the arms of the still-shocked son. She said calmly, "You go out first; the child needs care." Then she turned back, wiped her hands clean, threaded a needle, and lowered her head to continue the suturing.

It was only after he walked out of the temporary shelter made of oilcloth, clutching the crying child, that the son finally recovered from his shock. Looking down at the crying yet full-of-life child in his arms, he turned around and fell to his knees before the oilcloth shelter with a heavy *thud*.

"Thank you! Thank you, Eldest Miss! Thank you for saving my son! Thank you for preserving the only lineage of our Wang family! We shall never forget such great kindness! Thank you! Thank you!" Holding the newborn, the son continuously kowtowed toward Gu Baiyu inside the shelter, tears of excitement overflowing his eyes and falling upon his prematurely aged face.

The Wang family members guarding nearby suddenly realized what had happened and knelt together outside the oilcloth shelter, offering endless thanks to Gu Baiyu.

"Matriarch Wang, please stand up. I am just a junior; how could I deserve such a great ceremony from you?" Having finished the stitches, Gu Baiyu walked slowly out of the shelter, bending down to support the matriarch's arm. She turned to Chaxin and said, "Chaxin, why haven't you helped Uncle Wang and the others up?"

"Child, thank you so much. Our Wang family only has this one sprout. If it weren't for you... if it weren't for you..." Supported by Gu Baiyu, the matriarch burst into tears, gripping Gu Baiyu's arm tightly, unable to finish a single sentence for a long time.

"Matriarch Wang, please don't say that. I was merely doing what I could. Please go back now; taking care of the child is more important." Pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the tears from the woman's face, a trace of emotion finally appeared on Gu Baiyu's consistently calm face. After a few more low-voiced words of persuasion, she finally withdrew amidst the Wang family's endless gratitude.

"Miss, you were truly divine just now! That sister-in-law was clearly dead, yet you actually managed to make her give birth to the child safely." Following closely at Gu Baiyu's side, Chaxin's bright almond eyes were wide as she stared at her, her delicate face full of admiration.

Only the son had entered the oilcloth shelter; Gu Baiyu's method of performing a cesarean section had been seen only by him. Chaxin, who had stayed outside with the others, naturally did not know the details; she simply thought Gu Baiyu had used some kind of magic to allow the woman to give birth safely.

"Miss, did you hear? Everyone is calling you a 'Divine Doctor'!" Unfazed by Gu Baiyu's silence, Chaxin—who was long used to it—continued to chatter away. Recalling the scene of everyone's praise, the thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl was overjoyed. She shook Gu Baiyu's arm and asked, "Miss, Miss, what kind of magic did you use just now? Can you teach me too?"

Taking in Chaxin's excited appearance, a nearly imperceptible smile flickered across Gu Baiyu's pale face. She silently thought about the term "Divine Doctor" that Chaxin kept repeating, calculating whether she could use this momentum to earn more silver. However, she said nonchalantly, "What I used just now wasn't magic, but a cesarean section."