Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 182: Miss Cao Is an Expert at Collecting Debts
In front of Cao Ying, Mrs. Liu reluctantly wrote a letter by hand and gave it to her.
In the Da Cheng Dynasty, formally recognizing godparents was a very particular affair. After the child was born, one had to choose an auspicious day, prepare lavish gifts, and visit the godparents’ home to formalize the relationship. The godparents would then give gifts in return, host a banquet, and write a formal recognition document to be filed with the Government Office.
Therefore, since Mrs. Liu had agreed to this in front of so many people, she couldn’t go back on her word.
Afterward, Song Lianhe led her into an inner room.
A moment later, Mrs. Liu’s scream echoed from inside—
"AH! Madam!"
Nanny Tian rushed forward in a panic, but Cao Ying blocked her. "No unauthorized personnel are allowed inside while the Divine Doctor is treating a patient!"
They had long grown accustomed to Song Lianhe’s treatment methods. Even Yan Wen and Su Huaqing didn’t so much as glance over.
"What did you do to my lady? If anything happens to her, you’ll be in for it!"
Cao Ying planted a hand on her hip and snapped, "She can’t even handle a little pain? Then she shouldn’t have come to our Medical Clinic! You come begging for our help and then dare to threaten us? What, you don’t want to save that fetus in your lady’s belly?"
"You..."
Nanny Tian was furious, but she didn’t dare say they didn’t want to save the child.
No one knew better than her how important this child was to her mistress.
Before long, Mrs. Liu emerged from the inner room, clutching one of her buttocks as she walked with difficulty.
"Madam!" Nanny Tian immediately rushed over to support her. "Madam, what happened in there just now? Why did you scream so horribly?"
"I..."
Mrs. Liu bit her lip, her face a mixture of pale and red. There was no way she could bring herself to say that the Divine Doctor had just held a bamboo tube, about three inches long and filled with water, with a long, thin needle attached to the other end.
The Divine Doctor had told Mrs. Liu to take off her underpants. Mrs. Liu had turned pale with shock and was about to scold her, but the female doctor had asked with extreme impatience, "Do you want to save the fetus in your womb or not?"
In the end, Mrs. Liu gritted her teeth and took off her underpants...
Just then, the needle was ruthlessly jabbed into the flesh of her buttock. The pain made Mrs. Liu shriek, and her whole body was instantly drenched in a cold sweat.
The Divine Doctor seemed to push the water inside into her flesh, then pulled out the needle and said, "Alright."
And that was how Mrs. Liu had ended up like this.
Nanny Tian went to question Song Lianhe, asking why she had stuck her mistress with a needle. Song Lianhe was washing her hands and didn’t even bother to look up. "Your mistress will need one injection every day from now on."
’She had injected Mrs. Liu with progesterone, a common modern medication used to prevent miscarriages. It was precisely because I’d discovered a plant from which progesterone could be extracted that I’d made a few syringes, thinking the pregnant women here might need them.’
’I didn’t expect Mrs. Liu to be the one to use it.’
"What?!"
Mrs. Liu asked anxiously, "Why do I have to get an injection every day?"
"It’s to save your pregnancy."
Song Lianhe dried her hands. "You don’t have to listen to me. But if you don’t, the outcome will have nothing to do with me."
The female Divine Doctor of the Medical Clinic’s fame was widespread. Mrs. Liu had already burned her bridges, so since the doctor said she could save the pregnancy, her only choice was to trust her!
"Fine! One injection a day it is!"
Song Lianhe handed the needle and the medicine vial to Nanny Tian and explained the procedure.
After receiving the medicine, they were just about to leave when Song Lianhe called out to them, "Please settle the consultation fee."
She then shot a look at Cao Ying.
Cao Ying immediately beamed, her attitude a complete one-eighty from just a moment ago!
"Come, come, Mrs. Song, let’s calculate the bill..."
Cao Ying’s fingers flew across the abacus. After a CLACK-CLACK-CLACK of the beads, she looked up with an even more enthusiastic smile. "Today’s consultation fee comes to a total of one thousand taels of silver."
"A thousand taels?!"
Mrs. Liu cried out in disbelief. A single jab of a needle was going to cost her a thousand taels?
"The General and his wife’s heir is so precious—a little golden bean! Is that child not worth a mere thousand taels? Or is it that... the General’s wife can’t afford it?"
"How could I possibly not afford it!"
Mrs. Liu looked at Nanny Tian, who immediately said with difficulty, "Madam, it’s all my fault. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to bring any silver..."
Cao Ying smiled. "No problem. I can have one of our assistants accompany you to your residence to get it."
Mrs. Liu’s face flushed red and pale. "There’s no need for such trouble. You can go to the Ling Prince Mansion and find my daughter... that is, Princess Consort Ling! Just ask her for it."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie to you!"
"Heh heh, in that case, I’ll have to trouble you to write an IOU, Madam."
"Do you know who I am? I am the General’s wife! What need is there for an IOU?"
"I know you’re the General’s wife. But you’re the one who can’t produce the silver. If you had the money, none of this would be necessary. You came to our Medical Clinic with such a large entourage... One might think you were seeking medical help. But an outsider might assume you had this planned from the start—that you never intended to pay..."
"I’ll write it!" With an ugly expression, Mrs. Liu hastily scribbled an IOU and left with her people.
Watching her retreating figure, Cao Ying clucked her tongue. "Her daughter just got married, and she’s already sending people to ask for money. Isn’t she afraid of embarrassing her? Song Xilan is really unlucky."
Song Lianhe smiled. "With that one in her belly, I’m afraid that in the future, she’ll have to think long and hard just to remember she even has a daughter."
On the other side, Su Huaqing, who had been watching the whole time, snapped open his fan to cover his mouth and whispered to Yan Wen, "She even dares to save her arch-nemesis. Isn’t she afraid of bringing trouble upon herself?"
Yan Wen lifted his gaze, his clear, bright eyes looking toward her. "If she didn’t save her, she wouldn’t be Song Lianhe."
Su Huaqing let out a curious "Huh?" and leaned in to scrutinize him. "Rongbai, you’re not acting like yourself!"
Yan Wen gave a light cough. "Alright, get back to work."
"I mean, I’m a Court-appointed official, for crying out loud! I’m slaving away for you guys like an ox, and not only do I not get a word of thanks, but you scold me like this? This is truly..."
"Doctor..."
"Coming! Sir, what seems to be the trouble?"
In an instant, Su Huaqing threw himself back into his work with renewed vigor. The speed at which his expression changed was enough to astound even Yan Wen.
Cao Ying tucked away the IOU from Mrs. Liu, straightened her clothes, smoothed her hair at her temples, and adjusted the dangling hairpin in her hair. Swaying her hips, she held up a scented handkerchief and waved it at the others. "I’m off to collect the debt! Wait for my triumphant return!"
Su Huaqing cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Our second-in-command is so impressive!"
As everyone knew, when it came to collecting debts, Miss Cao was an expert.
Especially when it came to collecting from a former love rival’s family, it added a little extra fighting spirit for Miss Cao.
Yan Wen looked at Song Lianhe. "Should I go with her?"
"No need. Sister Mei will follow her."
Song Lianhe stretched lazily. "Shopkeeper, we should probably hire a few more resident physicians."
"Mm, I was just thinking the same thing."
’The clinic’s business is getting better and better. I need to make time to research and develop new medicines. The Medical Clinic’s franchising is also in progress. Once the contracts are signed, between the franchise fees and the initial payments for goods, a rough estimate puts it at fifty to sixty thousand taels of silver!’
’This will be our first real pot of gold! I get excited just thinking about it! Most of the silver the clinic has earned so far has been used to purchase medicinal ingredients, so establishing our own medicinal garden to grow herbs is an urgent matter...’
’I’m so capable. When Zhou Cangyan comes back, he’ll probably be completely shocked!’
Zhou Cangyan...
The thought of him immediately made Song Lianhe deflate like a punctured balloon.
Sigh. ’It’s been several days already. Why is there still no news from Yu State?’
’There’s no way Shen Fu’s side has been completely quiet!’
’Or... has he run into danger?’
Sigh. ’Oh, well.’
’Everyone has their own fate. If something really has happened to him, then I’ll just focus on making money and spending it well. I’ll lead the entire Prince Qing Mansion down the path to prosperity. That would be a way of not letting him down, I suppose.’
