Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 682 - 635: Hope (2)

Pulling the mother and child back from the brink of death, the family was very attentive to Li Yuzhu’s instructions.

When she said not to touch the child, no one did.

The mother worried the child would be hungry, but Li Yuzhu told her that a tube was connected to the nose to deliver some milk, so the child wouldn’t go hungry.

She reassured several times that the child would be fine before the mother relaxed.

The family was grateful to Li Yuzhu and actively inquired about the consultation fee.

Li Yuzhu surveyed the family’s situation: this was not a wealthy household, the young man had no father, only a mother and an old grandmother, and even the mother-in-law dressed plainly.

By rights, she should charge ten taels for the consultation, but she only accepted one tael of silver.

The young man and his family thanked Li Yuzhu profusely.

Having taken care of the patients, Li Yu En urged Li Yuzhu to return home, as it was already getting dark.

Li Yuzhu was worried about the infant and was reluctant to leave.

"How would that work? How could anyone live here? Even Yuanxiu wouldn’t be at ease," Li Yu En shook his head.

The family only had two rooms and a kitchen.

The old grandmother and the man’s mother lived in the kitchen, while he and his wife used the bedroom.

Staying there would indeed be inconvenient for Li Yuzhu.

"I’ll take the child with me; the child must be watched day and night for five days, otherwise, it would all be for naught," Li Yuzhu said to the young man’s mother, "Whoever from your family would like to come with me to look after the baby, we have plenty of space at my house, one more person staying won’t be an issue."

The family had no objections to sending an adult with the child.

The young man’s mother quickly agreed.

Only the mother was very concerned about the child.

The family comforted her for a while before she consented.

The younger man’s mother found a slightly larger basket and placed the baby inside.

She then took the child and accompanied Li Yuzhu and Li Yu En back to the Li house.

As for the midwife, Li Yuzhu told her to come to the Li Mansion early the next morning to learn some midwifery skills.

This was a relative of the Magistrate’s family, and besides, she was learning medical skills. Having witnessed the seemingly lifeless brought back to life, the midwife was extremely impressed by Li Yuzhu’s medical skills and agreed readily on the spot.

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Li Yu En did not understand Li Yuzhu’s actions, "Third sister, your medical skills are so good, why give them to that midwife for nothing?"

Li Yuzhu smiled gently.

Yes, why?

In the past, when she had just arrived in this era, she would have been very stingy with her medical skills, for they were her means of making a living.

But now she was not lacking money and would not lack it in the future.

At this time, women lacked good midwives.

Her own ability was limited, and she couldn’t help more women.

So, she decided to pass on her skills so that other midwives could do what she couldn’t.

She shared her thoughts with Li Yu En.

Li Yu En looked at Li Yuzhu and exclaimed, "Sister, you are so generous."

Li Yuzhu smiled slightly.

Li Yu En was still young; when the time came for childbirth, they would understand how invaluable a good midwife could be.

When a woman encounters complications in childbirth and has no good midwife to help save her life, such despair is crushing.

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Mu Yuanxiu and Li Xingsheng returned to the Li Mansion and were both shocked to learn that Li Yuzhu planned to establish a midwife training academy.

Mu Yuanxiu was mainly surprised by how restless Li Yuzhu was.

Li Xingsheng shared the same thoughts as Li Yu En, unable to comprehend Li Yuzhu’s actions.

Li Yuzhu possessed unique medical skills, yet chose not to pass them only to a main disciple, but to those she did not know.

Li Yuzhu cast them a glance, "You are men, how could you understand a woman’s perspective?"

If it were any other medical skills, or those dealing with affluent ailments, she wouldn’t pass them on so freely, but childbirth concerns the lives of two.

The hopelessness of watching life slipping with no chance of survival is something Mu Yuanxiu and Li Xingsheng, as men, wouldn’t understand.

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The next day, the midwife indeed arrived at the Li Mansion.

Li Yuzhu gave her a booklet and began explaining modern birthing methods to her.

At that time, the profession of midwifery was taught through apprenticeship and had no formal training system.

Aside from examining fetal positions and cutting umbilical cords, they knew nothing else.

The master would deliver the woman, and the apprentice would watch.

With enough observation, one would start practicing themselves.

If the pregnancy was good, the delivery would go smoothly.

If not, one could only rely on fate.

Of course, there were those with great aptitude who surpassed their teachers and could reposition fetuses.

This midwife was one of those who surpassed her teacher.

There were not many problematic cases in her hands, although she feared encountering difficult births, which could ruin her reputation.

The childbirth of the woman from the previous day almost tarnished her reputation.

At first, upon meeting Li Yuzhu, she thought little of her, assuming she was just a boastful young lady, but it turned out people couldn’t be judged by their appearances.

This young lady had saved both mother and child, and the methods she shared today were more practiced than her own master’s.

In addition to instructing this midwife, Li Yuzhu asked her to invite more peers to attend.

The midwife, mindful of Li Yuzhu’s relation to the Magistrate and wary of not pleasing her that Li Yuzhu might stop teaching her new methods, happily agreed to find people.

By noon, in compliance with Li Yuzhu’s request, the midwife brought ten colleagues over.

The newcomers ranged from young to old.

The younger ones were in their twenties, and the oldest was over seventy.

Seeing Li Yuzhu, they all wore expressions of disdain.

However, due to her status, though they did not take her seriously, they remained outwardly respectful, listening to what Li Yuzhu had to say.

Li Yuzhu noticed the perfunctory tone in their speech and knew they looked down on her.

Who could blame them, given her young age?

The youngest of them was still ten years her senior.

To ensure they remembered the new birthing methods, Li Yuzhu devised a plan.

After her explanation, she questioned each one of them.

Faced with Prefect Lou’s daughter-in-law and two government officials seated nearby, none dared to be perfunctory anymore; they all perked up and paid attention to the birthing techniques.

Just like with the midwife, Li Yuzhu gave each of them a booklet.

The booklet contained illustrations of a baby in the womb with explanatory text.

Several of the older ones couldn’t read, but they could understand the pictures, and with their extensive experience, picked up on what Li Yuzhu pointed out.

After listening earnestly, they began to secretly admire Li Yuzhu, as she addressed situations they had encountered before but didn’t know how to handle.

Thanks to Li Yuzhu’s guidance, they had a breakthrough.

That night, two of them received jobs to assist in deliveries.

The situations they encountered were not ideal.

One of them successfully delivered by following Li Yuzhu’s methods with difficulty.

The other was unsuccessful in the end and had to call for Li Yuzhu to assist.

This was a breech birth.

The assisting woman, the youngest, only twenty-five years old, had never encountered a breech birth before and was too scared to continue after determining the baby’s position.