Chapter 9: Repairing the Donkey's Hoof

Yan Yu couldn't continue; she saw her father and mother looking at her with expressions of disbelief.

One was marveling at how amazing their daughter was, and how much she knew!

The other was surprised that in the corners she couldn't see, her daughter had secretly read so much "messy" stuff...

Yan Yu decisively covered her head with the quilt, then quietly opened a small slit to peek at her parents' subsequent reactions.

She was currently a "five-short" (short-statured) child, and for a kid to make such a gesture was quite adorable.

Li Xuemei looked at her cute little appearance and her anger vanished instantly.

She subconsciously touched her own belly.

There was a little life brewing inside...

"Well, compared to what you said, we don't seem to be doing too badly," Li Xuemei said, lost in thought.

Yan Lao'er nodded fiercely.

All that talk of extreme environments, viruses, zombies, mutant beasts, weird phenomena...

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

"Our classification is 'transmigrated into a book,' so does that mean there are other classifications, and other people who are users of this platform..." Li Xuemei's mind wandered.

"Ah! So we are trading with these people?" Yan Yu's eyes lit up. She felt she could do it again; she could probably guess what they lacked and what they wanted.

Li Xuemei pondered for a while and said, "It's not certain yet, but we can probably prepare in this direction."

Yan Yu wrinkled her little nose, and drawing on her experience as a veteran reader of Qidian novels, she said slowly: "Food, water, medicine, various daily necessities..."

"Daughter!" Yan Lao'er sighed, "We're short on all those things you mentioned too!"

Yan Yu:...

Indeed, their family was also struggling on the precarious line of survival.

"How about I go 'borrow' an egg tomorrow?" Yan Yu asked cautiously.

She had been observing for a few days; two chickens should lay eggs tomorrow, and if she took one... it shouldn't matter, right?

Li Xuemei opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't say anything.

"Fine, we have to try. If we can't use it, we'll return it. Borrowing, let's just borrow it for now," Yan Lao'er comforted his wife. "Once we figure out this platform and our lives get better, we won't be shorting Da Ya."

Although the chickens were raised by the family, Da Ya was the one tending to them all by herself. Aside from being a bit prone to crying, the child was so sensible it made one's heart ache.

"Tomorrow I'll go to Dr. Cui's and see if I can get some medicine." Since his daughter was going to "borrow"—no, pick up—an egg, he, as a father, had to work hard too.

"I'll dry the wheat tomorrow and tidy up the house," Li Xuemei said. "Sleep now, we have to get up early tomorrow!"

Yan Yu thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, but to her surprise, after rolling her little head twice, she drifted off into a daze.

Before her consciousness faded, she was still thinking about digging for bugs tomorrow to give the family chickens an extra meal...

...

Dr. Cui used to be an apprentice at a pharmacy in town. His skills weren't enough to run a shop there, but he was more than sufficient as a local village doctor.

He farmed during the busy season and gathered herbs during his spare time, processing them himself.

He didn't charge consultation fees to the neighbors in the surrounding villages, only for the medicine, and even that was a few cents cheaper than the pharmacies in town.

For minor illnesses and pains, the neighbors all came to him.

As a result, his family lived comfortably; he had not only bought a donkey but also built a new cart.

Yan Lao'er left before dawn. By the time he reached Dr. Cui's house, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

However, the entire Cui family was already up, gathered in the courtyard around their donkey.

What was going on?

"Dr. Cui, you're home!" Yan Lao'er called out from outside the courtyard.

"Oh, it's Yan Lao'er! Come in quickly! Why are you here? Is your brother feeling unwell again?" Dr. Cui asked.

"No, no, he's better after taking your medicine. I'm just here to pay for the medicine; I've delayed it for quite a few days, and I feel quite embarrassed." Yan Lao'er strolled into the courtyard and saw many herbs drying on wooden racks, though he didn't recognize a single one.

When he reached them, he offered the small silver pieces.

"What's the rush? We're all neighbors; it wouldn't have been too late to pay after your brother recovered." Dr. Cui spoke politely, but his hand moved quickly, taking the money and tucking it into his sleeve.

The movement was smooth and natural, like flowing water.

"Wait here, I'll prepare a few more doses for your brother. Still two decoctions per dose. After finishing these, he should be about done; he should focus on resting from now on," Dr. Cui said while turning to grab the medicine. "If you can boil him a bowl of meat porridge every day, he'll recover even faster."

Yan Lao'er agreed.

Old Yan had lost a lot of vitality after this illness and really needed to be nourished.

Dr. Cui's wife hadn't even glanced at him before.

But upon seeing the gleaming silver, a smile immediately spread across her face.

"Xiao Gouzi, go bring a stool for Uncle Yan."

"Uncle Yan, please sit and wait a moment." After a moment of hesitation, she turned back into the house to pour him a cup of water.

"Oh, Sister-in-law Cui, don't trouble yourself. I'm not thirsty, I'm not thirsty. I ate and drank my fill at home. Please, go back to your work, I'll look after myself."

In reality, he had just wolfed down half a coarse grain cake with water. In these times, no one had extra rations, and he didn't want to be a nuisance.

"Still being polite? Just take it if I give it to you." Dr. Cui's wife was surprised. Had this Yan Lao'er become so polite ever since his brother fell ill?

Yan Lao'er took it, but didn't drink it, setting it gently to the side, and walked around the donkey.

"This donkey..."

Sister-in-law Cui sighed and said, "Uncle Yan, you noticed it too, didn't you? There's something wrong with the donkey's leg; it can't stand straight."

Yan Lao'er:???

What are you talking about? Isn't it just that the hooves need trimming?

He looked closely at the four hooves.

The hoof shells were a bit long, and to maintain balance, the legs were turned slightly outward.

"It's nothing major, just trim them and it'll be fine," Yan Lao'er said confidently.

He could see that Dr. Cui's family took good care of the donkey; its coat was shiny and it was sturdy.

They probably didn't use it much, fed it well, and it did little work, so the hooves must have grown fast.

"Trim them? Can they really be fixed?" Sister-in-law Cui was pleasantly surprised.

"Donkeys, horses, and oxen—if they don't move much and eat well, their hooves grow fast. They need regular trimming, otherwise, the hoof shell keeps growing longer, the donkey can't bear the weight, and the legs won't stand straight. It's fine. Do you have a sickle at home? I'll trim the hooves for it."

Yan Lao'er thought to himself, what a coincidence.

He had been worrying about how to get on good terms with Dr. Cui.

"You know how to do this?!" It was no wonder she was surprised. Yan Lao'er had always prided himself on being a scholar, looking down on them country folk with his nose in the air.

Ever since the eldest Yan fell ill, he had just learned to speak a few sensible words.

Now he could even do this dirty work of trimming donkey hooves?

She was a bit skeptical that Yan Lao'er was bragging, but he spoke with such authority and seemed so knowledgeable that it was quite convincing.

While she was hesitating, her eldest son had already run off and brought back a sickle, handing it to Yan Lao'er.

Yan Lao'er checked it; it was sharpened quite well.

"Find me a hemp rope."

Xiao Gouzi was also impatient and ran off to find a hemp rope.

He got straight to work. Yan Lao'er first tied one of the donkey's legs; the donkey was very docile and only moved slightly.

Then he grabbed the hoof and went straight at it with the sickle.

Without proper large or small shovels, scraping it bit by bit with a sickle was both laborious and slow.

But given the circumstances, he couldn't be picky; he just had to do it.

What a down-to-earth skill, right~ Haha! A while back when I was stuck at home, my dad was taking care of me—well, actually just dropping off supplies—and he'd pull out his phone to watch various videos every few minutes... I accidentally discovered there were videos on hoof trimming. I don't know why, but I, who usually hate watching videos, ended up watching several in a row. It opened up a new world! From then on, whenever I see a cow, donkey, or mule, the first thing I do is look at their hooves to judge if they need trimming o(*////▽////*)q

(End of chapter)