May 22, 2026
Chapter 96 — Taking a Walk • Take the Initiative to Save People
After their midday nap, Ling Jingxuan kept his promise and headed out with Yan Shengrui.
It was a rare moment of leisure. To avoid any unwelcome interruptions, the two of them chose the road they had built themselves—the one that ran alongside the stretch of semi-saline wasteland.
Hand in hand, they walked at an unhurried pace, chatting, stopping now and then. It had been over a month, yet this was the first time they’d truly taken in the full view of Ling Family Village.
“If we planted some leafy trees along both sides of the road,” Ling Jingxuan mused, glancing around, “it wouldn’t be nearly as hot in the summer. After dinner, we could even bring the kids out for a walk—digest a bit, get some family time in… you know, proper parent-child bonding.”
July heat was relentless. It didn’t take long before their clothes were damp with sweat. Leisurely as the walk was, the discomfort was hard to ignore.
“If you want that, we can hire a few people tomorrow to transplant saplings from Xiaogong Mountain.”
Yan Shengrui stopped behind a farmhouse, lifting his sleeve to gently wipe the sweat from Ling Jingxuan’s face, his expression full of quiet concern.
“Here—wipe up. Honestly, we might as well have just stayed in bed.”
Ling Jingxuan smiled faintly.
“Not a bad idea. But let’s wait until we start reclaiming land. Labor will be cheaper then. In weather like this, just standing still is exhausting—let alone working. If the workers all go down with heatstroke, am I supposed to treat them one by one?”
There was a teasing lilt to his voice, and Yan Shengrui couldn’t help but laugh. Their eyes met, both smiling.
They were nearing the village entrance when Ling Jingxuan’s gaze flickered with sudden thought. He tugged Yan Shengrui back onto the main road.
“Let’s stop by Old Wang’s place. I need to talk to him about making more jars.”
At the mention of work, Yan Shengrui instinctively frowned—then quickly broke into a helpless smile.
In this kind of heat… there really wasn’t much else to do anyway.
“How many are you planning to order this time?”
He stepped forward to catch up, his voice gentle, his gaze openly affectionate.
Truth be told, he didn’t mind this side of Ling Jingxuan at all. Sure, sometimes he felt a little neglected when work took priority—but watching him plan, calculate, and move with purpose…
There was something undeniably compelling about it.
Especially when he argued with the two little ones—twisting logic into knots just to win.
“I added five hundred to the last order,” Ling Jingxuan replied as they walked. “But since we also ordered bricks and tiles from Old Wang for the house, he hasn’t delivered yet—probably still hasn’t finished firing them.”
He paused, thinking it through.
“I’m considering adding another five thousand. With more hands picking fruit now, we can handle washing and cooking at the same time. Producing several thousand jin within seven days shouldn’t be a problem.”
Talking as they went, they soon reached Old Wang’s stall—
Only to find it empty.
Guessing he might be at the kiln, they headed toward Zhaojia Village next door. Old Wang had married into that village; technically a live-in son-in-law, though the situation was flexible. His wife only had an elderly mother, and the family was open-minded—aside from the eldest child taking the Zhao surname, the rest bore Wang.
Old Wang himself was known as an honest, hardworking man, well-regarded in the village.
Ling Jingxuan and Yan Shengrui had been here once before when ordering building materials, so the way was familiar.
But this time…
Old Wang wasn’t at the kiln either.
After asking around, they learned that his wife had gone into labor—he was at home with her.
Originally, Ling Jingxuan planned to head back, but one of the workers enthusiastically offered to lead them over, saying it wasn’t far. With little room to refuse, the two followed along.
“Ah… nn…!”
Before they even reached the courtyard—a gray-brick, black-tiled siheyuan—a woman’s strained, weakening cries drifted clearly into their ears.
The young man leading the way, and even Yan Shengrui, didn’t seem particularly alarmed.
Childbirth, after all—pain, shouting… that was just how it went.
But Ling Jingxuan?
His brows drew together instantly.
As a doctor, he couldn’t ignore what he was hearing. The woman’s voice was weak—breathless, lacking strength. It had that unmistakable edge of someone running out of energy.
At this rate… she could lose consciousness at any moment.
If he wasn’t mistaken—
This was likely a case of difficult labor.
“Mother, what do we do now?”
In the courtyard, Old Wang paced anxiously, nearly wearing a path into the ground.
“Shulan’s been in labor for a whole day and night—why hasn’t the baby come yet?”
This was their fifth child. It should have been an easy delivery. But now…
Please—anything but an accident.
“Aiya, my good son-in-law, stop pacing!” The older woman snapped, equally frantic. “You think I’m not worried too?!”
The old woman—well into her forties or fifties—was pale with worry. Inside was her only daughter. A whole day and night had passed, and the child still hadn’t been born. Anxiety clawed at her chest.
If her daughter didn’t make it… who would she have left to rely on?
Creaaak—
The tightly shut door finally opened.
A slightly plump elderly woman stepped out. Zhao the elder and Old Wang rushed forward at once.
“Granny Zhao, how is she?”
“My wife—my child—how is she?!”
The midwife’s face was grave. She let out a long, heavy sigh before speaking.
“It’s a difficult labor. The mother has no strength left to continue. I need to ask you now—if it comes to the final moment…” Her voice dropped, heavy as a verdict. “Do you save the mother, or the child?”
Once those words were spoken, it was as good as announcing a death sentence.
Thud—
Zhao the elder staggered, nearly collapsing, caught just in time by her grandchildren. Old Wang wasn’t so lucky—his legs gave out, and he dropped to the ground, eyes vacant.
Difficult labor.
Even in wealthy households, such cases often ended in tragedy. In a place like this… there was no hope to speak of.
It felt as though the sky over the Zhao household had collapsed in an instant.
There were four children already—the eldest in their teens, the youngest barely seven or eight. Poor children grew up fast; they understood enough.
Each of them turned pale.
Whether they lost their mother—or their unborn sibling—it would be a blow too heavy to bear.
“Both.”
The clear voice cut through the suffocating silence like a blade.
Ling Jingxuan and Yan Shengrui stepped into the courtyard side by side.
Old Wang, who already knew Ling Jingxuan had some medical skill, looked as if he’d just glimpsed a lifeline. Scrambling up, he practically stumbled toward them.
“Brother Ling… you—you have a way?”
His dazed eyes filled with desperate hope.
If there were a choice… who would willingly give one up?
His wife. His child.
He didn’t want to lose either.
“There is a way,” Ling Jingxuan said evenly.
“But Brother Wang—you need to understand. There are risks. And after this… your wife will not be able to bear children again. You must think it through.”
He wasn’t someone who meddled lightly—certainly not without reason.
But Old Wang was different.
From the very beginning—when he’d helped fire wine jars without even asking for profit—to now, their cooperation had been smooth, honest. The man was trustworthy.
That was why Ling Jingxuan was willing to make an exception.
As for how he would do it…
That, he had no intention of explaining.
To people of this time, it would sound nothing short of madness.
“No more, no more!”
Old Wang waved his hands frantically, cutting him off.
“With the one she’s carrying, we already have five children. I can’t bear to see Shulan suffer like this again.”
This ordeal had shaken him to the core.
If Shulan really died… who would care for the children? Their whole family would fall apart.
“Wait.”
The midwife suddenly interjected, her tone sharp with displeasure.
“Young man, you claim you can save both—but you haven’t even examined the mother. How can you make such a claim?”
Her lips curled into a faint sneer.
“You should know—if both mother and child die, you’ll be the one thrown into prison.”
She had delivered babies for decades. Never—not once—had she heard of a confirmed difficult labor where both lives were saved.
Whether he truly had the skill or not, she couldn’t allow him to take over.
If he succeeded… who would ever come to her again?
“That’s my concern,” Ling Jingxuan replied coolly, his expression turning colder by the second.
“It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you. Or—do you have a better solution?”
He saw through her instantly.
Self-interest, dressed up as experience—at the cost of human life.
True, he himself wasn’t exactly a saint. But once a patient was in his hands, he would do everything possible to save them.
He would never abandon them halfway.
Someone like her—
Didn’t deserve to call herself a healer.
“What other solution could there be?”
The midwife lifted her chin, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“If you want to save the mother, you use scissors or a blade—insert it and cut the child apart inside the womb, then remove it piece by piece.”
A chill ran through the courtyard.
“If you want to save the child, then while the mother still has breath, you cut open her abdomen and take the baby out.”
She shrugged lightly.
“Other than that—there is no way.”
Such brutal words, spoken without the slightest hesitation.
Everyone present frowned deeply, their expressions filled with unease—even horror.
A full-term child was already a living being.
To cut it apart like that—how was that any different from murder?
And cutting open the mother… only to let her die afterward?
In this world, whether one died naturally or by accident, people still cared about leaving the body whole.
To split her open and let her pass like that—
Wasn’t that the same as denying her even a complete corpse?
“Aunt Zhao,” Ling Jingxuan said flatly, not even sparing the midwife a second glance, “please see this self-proclaimed expert out.”
Then he turned to Old Wang, his tone swift and precise—already shifting into the calm authority of a surgeon.
“Listen carefully. I need one jin of Zuixinhua, four qian each of raw caowu, baizhi, danggui, and chuanxiong, one qian of tiannanxing, and three qian each of shanqiehua and huomahua…”
He didn’t pause.
“Grind them all into powder. Go to the village physician immediately and get them.”
A beat.
“And I need a live sheep. Right now.”
The medicine was for anesthesia.
The sheep—its intestines would be used as sutures.
He was preparing for a cesarean section.
Fortunately, from his past life, he had always been in the habit of carrying surgical tools on him—disguised, repurposed, even weaponized if necessary. After Zhao Dalong had helped forge a set for him, he’d kept them close at all times.
Now, finally—they would be put to use.
“Yes—right away!”
Years of doing business had honed Old Wang’s decisiveness. He didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll get the herbs. Eldest—go to the back and bring out the sheep. Second—escort Granny Zhao home, pay her in full. Third, Fourth—you stay here and listen to Uncle Ling.”
The children moved quickly. After helping their grandmother sit down, they scattered to carry out their tasks.
The midwife shot Ling Jingxuan a venomous glare before leaving, her eyes practically gleaming with anticipation—as if waiting to see him fail.
No one paid her any mind.
“Uncle Ling…”
The youngest, a little girl, tugged at his sleeve. Tears shimmered in her eyes.
“My mother… she’ll be okay, right?”
Her voice trembled.
She didn’t want to become a child without a mother.
Children like that in the village… they lived hard lives. Especially if a stepmother came into the picture.
She didn’t want that. She didn’t want anyone else, just wanted her mother.
Something in her small, desperate expression stirred a rare softness in Ling Jingxuan.
He reached out, gently rubbing her head before crouching down to meet her gaze.
“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice low and steady.
“Nothing will happen.”
A faint, reassuring smile.
“I promise—I’ll return your mother to you, alive and well. And a healthy little brother too.”
In a world where medical knowledge was so painfully limited, how many women had died in childbirth?
If not for the fact that Old Wang had once helped him—without asking for anything in return—Ling Jingxuan might never have intervened.
This wasn’t a place with sterile operating rooms.
No surgical lights. No proper equipment.
Everything depended on skill—and nerve.
One wrong move…
And just like the midwife had said—
He could very well end up paying for it with his life.
Notes:
- Siheyuan (四合院 sì hé yuàn): Traditional courtyard residence
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Translator: LazyHermitGal
Author: LazyHermitGal
A Lazy Hermit Gal wondering in the void and falling into the translation abyss.
