Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“It’s better than nothing that I can get temporary relief. I also had a belly ache two days ago. It was very uncomfortable that I couldn’t even sit still!” said Professor Lu with a smile.

“I see, I’ll give you some herbs to try. How long are you going to stay here?” asked Wang Yao.

“Three days,” said Professor Lu.

“I see. I’ll think about it and will deliver the herbal decoction to you after I get it ready,” said Wang Yao.

“You don’t need to deliver it. Call me once the decoction is ready. I’ll get someone to fetch it,” said Tian Yuantu.

“Okay,” said Wang Yao.

Tian Yuantu stopped Wang Yao when he was ready to leave.

“How about having lunch together here?” suggested Tian Yuantu.

“Thank you, but I’ve got errands to run. Shall we catch up on another day?” said Wang Yao.

“Okay, Professor Lu, could you please wait for me for a moment? I’m walking Yao out,” said Tian Yuantu to Professor Lu.

Tian Yuantu walked Wang Yao downstairs.

“Professor Lu is from the University of Hu Cheng Tong Ji. He is an expert in civil engineering. Our organization hired him as a consultant. He came here to provide advice from time to time. I happen to have a very important project here, so I asked him to take a look,” said Tian Yuantu while walking.

“I see, good for you. Well, I’m fine by myself, you can go back to Professor Lu,” said Wang Yao.

Wang Yao drove to Li Maoshuang’s place after leaving Tian Yuantu’s.

“Hi Yao, what is it? Wow! Manually made tea leaves! This is precious!” said Li Maoshuang with a smile after taking the tea leaves from Wang Yao.

“Try it,” said Wang Yao.

Wang Yao also didn’t stay at Li Maoshuang’s place for long. He deliberately left before lunch time and went home straight away.

…

Tian Yuantu and Professor Lu were chatting happily inside Tian Yuantu’s office at Jia Hui organization.

“Your friend is very nice,” said Professor Lu.

“Yeah, he’s also very capable. Let’s try his tea,” suggested Tian Yuantu.

“Sure!” said Professor Lu.

Tian Yuantu took out a tea set and opened the pack Wang Yao gave him. A lovely smell of tea leaves came out as soon as Tian Yuantu opened it.

He took out a small amount of tea leaves and put them inside the teapot. Then, he poured some hot water inside the teapot. The room was full of the nice smell of tea.

“Good tea! Good tea!” said Professor Lu. He was impressed by the smell, color, and taste of the tea.

“Indeed!” Tian Yuantu appraised the tea too. After all, he was an expert.

He took up the teacup and had a sip. The tea was fresh and sweet, and the taste lingered in his mouth for a long time.

“I haven’t had such good tea in ages! It tastes even better than those well-known teas!” exclaimed Professor Lu.

“Would you like to have more tea? I’m just sharing the gifts that were first given to me. Would you like to have some?” said Tian Yuantu with a smile. Actually, Tian Yuantu didn’t mind sharing the precious tea with Professor Lu. But he couldn’t give it all to Professor Lu because it was a sign of Wang Yao being friendly to him.

“Thank you, but you should keep the tea. After all, it was from your friend. But you can ask if I can buy some tea from your friend. I don’t mind the cost,” said Professor Lu.

“Okay,” said Tian Yuantu.

Wang Yao drove home to have lunch and returned to Nanshan hill afterwards. He documented Professor Lu’s condition in a new notebook because Professor Lu was not seriously ill. His problem was not considered tricky because when he didn’t have an episode, he could live like normal people. The treatment was not tricky, either. Wang Yao decided to use Stone flower to dissolve the stones inside Professor Lu’s body and some other herbs to regulate his digestive system and settle the liver.

Wang Yao wrote down the herbal formula he prescribed for Professor Lu. Then, he started to prepare the herbs. The Stone flower was going to be the dominating herb in the formula. Wang Yao hadn’t used all the Stone flowers he purchased from the system last time, and he had all the other herbs available as well. He planned to brew a decoction the next day.

Woof! Woof! Woof! San Xian barked again. Wang Yao went out to check what was going on and found several aphids on his herbs.

Again!

Fortunately, there were not too many aphids. Wang Yao removed those aphids carefully and then touched San Xian’s head gently.

“Well done, tell me once you find pests from now on,” said Wang Yao.

Woof! Woof! San Xian nodded as if he could understand Wang Yao.

Wang Yao looked at those well-grown common herbs which didn’t require special care like licorice roots. Those herbs grew very well with the nurturing of diluted ancient spring water.

Maybe I should start to reap the herbs.

The herbal plants started to get really crowded, which facilitated the spreading of pests.

Wang Yao had reaped some herbs to exchange for reward points previously. He still had quite a lot left. Some herbs could be used directly, while some had to be dried and processed first.

Wang Yao decided to keep some herbs for himself, use some to exchange for reward points, and keep the rest to get seeds.

Reaping herbs required care and attention. Wang Yao knew he shouldn’t rush and needed to plan carefully. He listed all the herbs he had planted, and by the time he had finished, it was close to dusk.

Time passed so quickly! Wang Yao noticed it was already dark outside. He packed away everything, locked the door of the cottage and said goodbye to San Xian before going home for dinner.

Wang Yao was surprised to find his family had a visitor when he arrived at home. It was someone he knew well.

“Hi, Uncle Wang,” greeted Wang Yao.

“Hi, Yao!” It was Wang Fengming who Wang Yao visited and saw the other day.

Wang Yao thought Wang Fengming came to look for his father, but he actually came to thank Wang Yao.

“Have you taken all the herbs I gave you?” asked Wang Yao. He found Wang Fengming looked better, and his eyes were brighter.

“Yeah, it worked really well!” said Wang Fengming with a smile.

Wang Fengming doubted the effect of the herbal decoction in the evening when Wang Yao delivered the decoction to him, so he only took a little. He felt slightly better before he went to bed, so he took a little more the next morning. Wang Fengming felt much better in the afternoon. His body was lighter, and he was less tired. Therefore, he continued to take Wang Yao’s decoction and asked his wife to take some as well. After another night’s rest, Wang Fengming no longer felt tired, and his stomach ache had reduced too. His wife also felt better. They were surprised that Wang Yao’s decoction was so wonderful.

He decided to visit Wang Yao to express his gratitude.

“You are always welcome here, but please don’t worry about bringing anything next time,” said Wang Yao while he was looking at the fruits brought by Wang Fengming.

Wang Yao knew Wang Fengming and his family well. Unlike Wang Yide, Wang Fengming was a nice and honest person, so he was willing to help him.

“Okay,” said Wang Fengming.

“I’ll give you two more doses of herbal formula tomorrow. Let me know if it works well. By the way, please don’t share the dose with your wife. Your wife is much healthier than you,” said Wang Yao.

“Sure, I’ll remember it.” Wang Fengming nodded.

“Uncle Wang, please don’t tell anyone about the herbs I gave you,” said Wang Yao.

“Sure.” Wang Fengming didn’t know why but he didn’t ask.

“Uncle Wang, I’m like Mr. Li, the barefoot doctor living at the other side of the village. I don’t have any medical qualifications. I trust you and your wife, but not some people. They will use it to attack me.” Wang Yao didn’t mind explaining to Wang Fengming why he had to keep his medical skills in secret.

“Don’t worry, my wife and I won’t tell anyone,” promised Wang Fengming.

Wang Fengming turned down the invitation for dinner from Wang Yao’s parents. He said he already had dinner and left after a short while.

“What’s wrong with Fengming?” asked Zhang Xiuying after Wang Fengming had left.

“He was too exhausted, depressed and furious. His emotions disturbed his meridians and damaged his internal organs. He was seriously ill,” said Wang Yao.

“That bad?!” Wang Yao’s parents’ faces stiffened.

“Fengming and his wife are good people,” said Wang Fenghua after some silence.

“I know. What should I do, Dad?” asked Wang Yao.

Wang Yao was eating slowly and silently. His parents didn’t talk much either.

Ding! The sound of a phone notification broke the silence. Wang Yao took out his phone and found that it was Tong Wei. He glanced at his parents, then walked away into his own room.

“Hello, Tong Wei?” said Wang Yao.

“Hello, how are you?” Tong Wei sounded very nice on the phone. Her voice was like the running spring in the hill, and the birds’ singing.

“I’m good; I’m having dinner with my family at the moment. How about you?” asked Wang Yao.

“I just came home,” said Tong Wei.

“Back to Lianshan?” asked Wang Yao.

“Yes, when are you available?” said Tong Wei.

“The day after tomorrow,” said Wang Yao. He was going to brew decoctions the next day.

“Okay, shall we catch up the day after tomorrow?” asked Tong Wei.

“Sure,” said Wang Yao.

After Wang Yao had hung up the phone, he found his mother was looking at him strangely.

“Why are you looking at me like this, Mom?” asked Wang Yao.

“Who did you talk to on the phone? Why don’t you want me to hear your conversation?” said Zhang Xiuying.

“I was talking to my old schoolmate,” said Wang Yao.

“Which schoolmate? Male for female?” asked Zhang Xiuying. Wang Yao found his mother became very alarmed every time he mentioned the word “schoolmate.”

“I was talking to Tong Wei. I was just asking her if she was available to come here the next few days. Don’t you want to meet her?” said Wang Yao. He also wanted to try dating Tong Wei.

“Great!” said Zhang Xiuying excitedly.

The phone call made the whole family happy. Wang Yao went back to Nanshan hill straight after dinner. His mother was still talking about Tong Wei when he said goodbye to his parents.

Wang Yao went back to his cottage to prepare the herbs for the decoctions he was going to brew the next day. He needed to brew decoctions for Master Xu, Professor Lu, and Wang Fengming. He estimated that it would take him half a day to complete brewing all the decoctions.