Chapter 9

"Xiaodouya! Xiaodouya! Come out quickly, it's an emergency!" Zhao Yan ran back to her bedroom with the little black dog, where there was a partition outside the bedroom, and that was where Xiaodouya lived. Usually, when there was nothing to do, Xiaodouya liked to hide inside and eat snacks. Although Zhao Yan also wanted to eat, she never had the face to ask a little girl for snacks.

Sure enough, Xiaodouya was there. Hearing Zhao Yan's call, she immediately ran out. However, when Zhao Yan saw Xiaodouya, she was almost scared to run away, because Xiaodouya's face was covered with white foam, making her look like a ghost.

"Are you washing your face with soap?" Zhao Yan asked, looking at Xiaodouya's face covered in foam.

Xiaodouya nodded obediently. Heaven knows how much soap this little girl used at once; otherwise, there wouldn't be so much foam.

"Perfect, go wash your face quickly. Don't pour out the water; bring it here, I need to use it!" Xiaodouya's greatest strength was her obedience. Even if she didn't understand, she wouldn't ask many questions. Hearing Zhao Yan's words, she immediately turned and ran back to the room. In no time, she brought the face-washing water, which was already milky white. Zhao Yan believed that the soap she gave this little girl would not last long.

The most effective way to treat food poisoning is naturally to wash the stomach, whether for humans or dogs. This method is effective. Old Suma gave the dog arsenic, but he didn't know how to use it. He mixed the arsenic with egg whites, which undoubtedly weakened the toxicity of the arsenic. After the dog ate the arsenic, it probably took a long time to die. But fortunately, this allowed the little black dog to survive until now.

Washing a dog's stomach is not as meticulous as washing a human's stomach. In her previous life, Zhao Yan had seen a veterinarian wash a dog's stomach with soap water after it had ingested pesticides. The components of soap and soap water are almost the same, so Xiaodouya's face-washing water could be used. Now, Zhao Yan was troubled by how to get the soap water into the little black dog.

In the future, a gastric tube is used to wash the stomach, but where could Zhao Yan find a gastric tube now? Moreover, a gastric tube cannot be too hard; it needs to be flexible, but not too soft, otherwise, it won't reach the stomach. This was a real dilemma for Zhao Yan, as the little black dog was already in a semi-comatose state, and if the stomach wasn't washed soon, it would surely die.

"Xiaodouya, hold the puppy first, I'll go find some tools to wash its stomach!" Zhao Yan handed the little black dog to Xiaodouya and quickly walked into the bedroom to get her backpack, which contained the injections she brought for the gatekeeper, Old Liu, along with ten disposable syringes. These could be used for washing the stomach, but the key was still the lack of a gastric tube.

Zhao Yan searched through the backpack but still couldn't find anything suitable for a gastric tube. She then took out the bundle of clothes and searched through it, but still found nothing. Just as she was about to give up and put the clothes back, a string of keys suddenly fell out of the pocket.

Seeing the keys, Zhao Yan's eyes lit up because she noticed a fish-shaped pendant on them, which was hand-woven from the plastic tubing used for intravenous drips. Looking at the pendant, Zhao Yan couldn't help but feel sentimental. This pendant was a gift from one of her students, who had been sick for half a month. Zhao Yan went to his house every day to give him intravenous drips, and in the end, the student used the plastic tubing to make this pendant as a thank you. Although it wasn't worth much, it was a heartfelt gift from the student.

Although the pendant was important to Zhao Yan, saving a life was more important. So, she took it off, disassembled it, and finally got a one-meter-long intravenous tube. This tube was just the right softness and hardness, perfect for a gastric tube.

Holding the intravenous tube and syringe, Zhao Yan came to the living room, where Xiaodouya was holding the puppy with a worried look. Zhao Yan had her hold the puppy in a standing position, opened its mouth, and slowly inserted the intravenous tube into the esophagus. It was crucial to avoid the trachea; otherwise, it would be washing the lungs, not the stomach. If Xiaodouya's face-washing water entered the lungs, even a tiger wouldn't survive.

The little black dog was very small, about the size of two palms, so the intravenous tube only needed to be inserted a short distance to reach the stomach. Zhao Yan wasted no time, immediately using the syringe to suction out the contents of the stomach, then filled the syringe with soap water and injected it into the little black dog's stomach. The dog's belly quickly swelled, and Zhao Yan used the syringe to suction out the soap water. After several repetitions, the soap water no longer had any other odors, and Zhao Yan was finally relieved.

"Alright, Xiaodouya, go find some egg whites or milk, like goat's milk, and feed the dog later!" Zhao Yan gently pulled out the gastric tube and instructed Xiaodouya.

Xiaodouya nodded and ran off. Zhao Yan carried the little black dog to the bedroom and found a wooden box to make a nest for it. The little black dog was still in a coma, and if it didn't wake up soon, Zhao Yan's efforts would be in vain.

Dogs are associated with the earth element and have a strong life force. Less than an hour after Zhao Yan washed the little black dog's stomach, it started to whimper and wake up. It then vomited some gastric fluid. Although it was still very weak, it knew to look for food, which made Zhao Yan and Xiaodouya very excited. When Xiaodouya placed the goat's milk in front of the little black dog, it actually stuck out its pink tongue and started to lick.

Seeing the little black dog willing to eat, Xiaodouya was almost jumping with joy. Girls generally like small animals, especially this little black dog, which was chubby and fluffy. If described in modern terms, it was "cute," and such a small animal has a fatal appeal to little girls, so Xiaodouya's reaction was not surprising.

Cao Ying had just returned to her room after a busy day, but she didn't have time to rest. Instead, she took out the account book to check the accounts. Zhao Yan had incurred a huge debt, and Cao Ying wanted to pay it off as soon as possible. For the past few days, she had been tallying the assets of the county prince's mansion, selling what could be sold and discarding what couldn't, showing the decisiveness and generosity of a daughter from a military family.

"After selling the animal garden, we can probably get 8,300 strings of coins. Adding the proceeds from the previously sold assets, we should be able to raise about 30,000 strings of coins. This leaves a shortfall of about 33,000 strings of coins. Even if we sell the dowry, there will still be a shortfall of more than 20,000 strings of coins." Cao Ying held a brush and muttered to herself, calculating how to pay off the county prince's mansion's debt. But in the end, she couldn't help but shake her head in frustration. If it weren't for the last resort, she really didn't want to sell her dowry, especially since some of the dowry items were very precious, and her mother had told her to leave them for her future children.

"Marrying someone like Zhao Yan, I would never let him touch me. What future children could there be? Since that's the case, the dowry is useless, and it's better to sell it to pay off the debt." Cao Ying suddenly said to herself, her face showing a determined look, and she then recorded her dowry in the account book.

Just as Cao Ying was recording the accounts, her personal maid, Mixue, came over and whispered, "Your Highness, it's dinner time. You didn't have lunch because you were busy. You must be hungry. Why don't you eat first and then do these things?"

Hearing Mixue's words, Cao Ying felt her stomach rumble. She smiled and said, "Alright, Mixue, go to the dining room and prepare dinner. I'll be there right away!"

"Yes!" Mixue replied and left. Originally, Xiaodouya and Mixue were both personal maids to Cao Ying, but Zhao Yan also needed someone to take care of him, and Cao Ying didn't trust the maids from the county prince's mansion, so she sent her most trusted Xiaodouya to Zhao Yan.

Cao Ying stretched and put away the account book, then walked through the corridor to the dining room. However, just as she reached the dining room door, she suddenly heard Mixue and Xiaodouya's laughter, mixed with Zhao Yan's voice. This made Cao Ying's face turn serious. She didn't like her personal maids getting too close to Zhao Yan, as she knew he was very harsh to servants and would often beat them. She didn't want her family to be mistreated in the county prince's mansion.

Thinking this, Cao Ying quickly entered the dining room. The scene inside made her pause. Zhao Yan was sitting at the table, with the evening meal in front of him. Xiaodouya was holding the little black dog next to Zhao Yan, and her personal maid, Mixue, was holding a small dish, carefully feeding the little black dog some rice soup. Zhao Yan was sitting on the side, smiling and occasionally giving the two girls some pointers, telling them not to feed the dog too quickly to avoid choking it.

Seeing the little black dog in Xiaodouya's arms, Cao Ying was initially skeptical. This little black dog had eaten arsenic and should have been dead after two hours. But now it was alive and well, except for its weak condition, showing no signs of poisoning.

"Fourth Sister, look at this little black dog. It was almost dead, but the county prince and I saved it together!" Xiaodouya, who had sharp eyes, saw Cao Ying enter and immediately ran over to show off her new pet.

Cao Ying had initially suspected that Zhao Yan had brought in a similar dog from elsewhere to deceive her, but hearing Xiaodouya's words immediately ruled out this possibility. The thought that Zhao Yan, whom she considered useless, could actually treat arsenic poisoning was hard for her to believe. Could she have underestimated him before?

Zhao Yan also saw the shock on Cao Ying's face, which made him feel a sense of vindication. For a while, Zhao Yan had been at Cao Ying's mercy, but this time he had turned the tables. He had learned from Xiaodouya that Cao Ying had studied medicine since childhood, though he couldn't understand why a noble lady would study medicine. However, if Cao Ying was interested in medicine, she would surely be interested in his method of saving the little black dog. Now, he just needed to wait calmly for her to ask him.