Chapter 010: Bestie and Green Apricot

"Mom, father and elder brother should not apply hot water now, but instead use cold water pull the blood stasis, or else it would be worse and hard to disperse." Bai Ruozhu originally thought to use ice cubes, but considering they probably don't have any in the house, she instead suggested cold water as they have well water.

"Ah? Is that so?" Lin Ping'er only knew to treat injuries by applying hot towel where it hurts, this is how people did it in their countryside.

"We use cold water today to prevent the blood from clotting further, after a day it can be treated with hot water and massaged. I know how to massage, I will do this for father and elder brother tomorrow to promote blood circulation and release stasis." Bai Ruozhu was a dentist in her previous life, but she followed her grandfather and learned Chinese medicine from a young age, let alone massage, she is also familiar with acupuncture.

When Bai Ruozhu was poor and Chinese medicine was in decline, she studied dentistry to make her family live better. She even got her master's degree in the United States, saved money to open a dental clinic in her country, but she did not expect to transmigrate to this world due to an accident, it can be said that twenty years of hard work returned her to where she started from.

Lin Ping'er opened her mouth, she wanted to ask Bai Ruozhu how she knew these things, but she quickly thought of the last time when they were steaming fish. Bai Ruozhu said that Chang Sheng taught her, so these must also be taught by Chang Sheng.

Although Chang Sheng was a bit dumb after being rescued by Bai Yihong, and didn't remember his past, many times Chang Sheng knew things that the villagers didn't know.

"What Ruozhu said makes sense, I've read something like this in a book before. If Ruozhu hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have thought to apply it." Bai Zepei said thoughtfully, "Mom, you rest, I will go draw the well water."

The previous Bai Ruozhu was a rural girl, but after all, she was the granddaughter of a scholar's family, and she had also learned to read and write with her brothers. It wasn't until then that Lin Ping'er remembered that her daughter liked to read her second brother's books, as she was a smart child, no wonder she knew these principles.

Bai Zepei brought well water very quickly, Lin Ping'er wet the cloth and applied it to Bai Yihong and Bai Zehao's injuries. Fortunately, they were both swollen without broken skin.

They visited the old mansion earlier as a family, and Lin Ping'er sighed, ran to the kitchen to cook, and Bai Ruozhu also followed her to help.

"Ruozhu, don't take your grandpa's words to heart." Lin Ping'er said while cutting vegetables.

Bai Ruozhu responded, "Mom, I didn't take it seriously, I just feel bad for dad."

Lin Ping'er sighed, tossed the chopped vegetables into the pot, "Your father will be fine tomorrow, he has been getting used to it over the years. Your grandparents are biased. They made your uncle study and your father worked like an ox, but still ate the worst food. Isn't he used to it now?"

Lin Ping'er hummed again, "If it weren't for us separating from them, our family would still have to suffer. What good did they do? Could they eat as well as they do now?"

Bai Ruozhu knew her mother was just grumbling and laughed in agreement, "Did dad eat worse than an ox?"

Lin Ping'er laughed, "No, at least she ate cooked food, not grass, but the food wasn't as good as our pigs."

Bai Ruozhu could not help but laugh out loud. Lin Ping'er pays a lot of attention to raising pigs. In order to sell them at a good price, she ensures that the pigs are well fed. But if what she said reached Bai Yihong's ears, he would definitely choke on it.

While the two were joking, there was a knock at the door, a little girl's cheerful voice rang out: "Ruozhu, I'm here to see you!"

It was previous life's little sister Fang Guizhi, who grew up playing with the previous life. When the previous life was pregnant, she often came to see her, brought her small toys for entertainment. She was a lively and warm-hearted girl.

Bai Ruozhu had a good impression of Fang Guizhi and hurriedly greeted her with a smile at the door.

"Guizhi, you're here. I haven't seen you for a few days." Bai Ruozhu said with a smile. Due to her present condition, she could not go to see Fang Guizhi, so it was Fang Guizhi who often came to see her.

"Don't mention it, it's the busy season these days. My mother kept me doing chores at home and didn't let me go out. How about you, are your injuries serious? I wanted to come and see you a few days ago, but got caught by my mother when I sneaked out and was scolded. It was not until today that I finally found some free time." Fang Guizhi said unhappily and pouted her lips.

Bai Ruozhu could imagine the situation that Fang Guizhi was talking about. Fang Guizhi's mother and Lin Ping'er were both known to be strong women in Mountain Village, but the difference was that Lin Ping'er was strong but very good to her family and her children, whereas Fang Guizhi's mother, Fang Zhou, wouldn't spare her daughter at all and always made her daughter do heavy work. She spoiled her son to an extent that even the neighbors couldn't stand it.

Fang Guizhi always envied Bai Ruozhu when she came to Bai's house. Lin Ping'er also pitied Fang Guizhi, a sensible girl and often gave her some good food, so Fang Guizhi had a good relationship with the Bai family.

"Ruozhu, take Guizhi to talk in the room, don't stay here and get choked." When Lin Ping'er saw her daughter's friend, a smile appeared on her face.

Bai Ruozhu wanted to help Lin Ping'er cook, but it wasn't right to let a guest help, so she took Fang Guizhi to sit in the room.

"These apricots are good, they're sour, you must like them!" As Fang Guizhi spoke, she lifted the cover off of her basket, revealing the green apricots inside. Bai Ruozhu felt her teeth tingling from the sight. But she was in her month with her child pushing against her stomach, and her appetite wasn't good. Eating something sour could be appetizing, but she knew not to eat too much.

"Why bring so many? I can only eat a few. You keep some of them, so as not to waste." Bai Ruozhu only took out two handfuls of green apricots as she spoke.

But Fang Guizhi put the basket on the table and laughingly said, "What wasteful? I can't eat these because they're too sour. Moreover, when my apricot tree's fruit ripens, it falls all over the place. We can't eat them all, and many are left to rot. Many people in Apricot-tree Village plant them, and we can't even give them away."

Upon hearing this, an idea struck Bai Ruozhu...

"Is it wasted every year?" She asked hurriedly.

"Yes, your house was built later, the apricot trees haven't fully grown. Otherwise, you'd know." Fang Guizhi explained.

"Then why don't you turn the apricots into apricot preserves? Although they can't be used as a staple food, it's still a nice snack. Perhaps you could sell them at the market." Bai Ruozhu wasn't sure if apricot preserves were common in the town, as her previous life rarely went out and didn't much care about these matters. So she had little information and didn't dare make absolute promises.

Fang Guizhi brightened up noticeably at the idea, "How are preserves made? I love fiddling with little things like this. Let's make it together, shall we?"

Bai Ruozhu nodded quickly, "We can try to make some green apricot preserves first, and when the apricots are ripe, we'll make yellow apricot preserves."