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

Wang Yao went to the town center again in the afternoon to complete some paperwork. However, he couldn’t find anyone in the local government department office. He waited for a while, but still, no one came even when it was almost time for everyone to go home. Fortunately, Wang Mingbao’s father came.

“Hello, Yao, how come you are here?” asked Wang Mingbao’s father.

“Hello, Uncle, I’m here to get some paperwork done,” said Wang Yao.

Wang Mingbao’s father took a look into the office but didn’t see anyone. He immediately realized what was going on. He took out his mobile and made a phone call. In less than ten minutes, two people ran into the office from outside. Both of them were sweating.

They were followed by a third person.

“Where have you been?” asked Wang Mingbao’s father seriously.

“We just went to run some errands,” said one of the three men.

“What things were so urgent to make all of you leave the office? Weren’t you aware that you should stay in the office during working hours?” said Wang Mingbao’s father.

The two officers couldn’t argue.

“Help this gentleman with his paperwork right now!” commanded Wang Mingbao’s father.

“Sure! Sure!” said the two officers.

Both of them nodded immediately.

“I’ve got other things to do. Call me if you need me,” said Wang Mingbao’s father.

“Okay, thank you very much,” said Wang Yao.

The two officers were extremely efficient. They helped Wang Yao complete his paperwork in less than five minutes.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” said one of the officers.

“That’s alright. Thank you,” said Wang Yao.

He knew that the apology was not sincere. The two officers were probably cursing him on the inside.

“See you later,” said the other officer.

The two of them watched Wang Yao leave.

“Shit! Who was that guy?” asked one of the officers.

“I know him. Secretary Yang spoke to him when he was inspecting our work last time,” said the other officer.

“Really?!” said one of the officers.

“What do you think? He and our mayor are from the same village,” said the other officer.

“I hope we won’t be punished,” said one of the officers.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think so,” said the other officer.

Wang Yao had completed all the paperwork. It meant that from this moment he had obtained the right to use the land and cottages on that piece of land at the south side of the village. Of course, if he wanted to build more cottages on that piece of land, he would still require approval from the town government. He had to comply with the land planning in the village, although there wasn’t any plan yet. After all, the village was isolated and small and not like those big cities.

The iron gate was still locked. The keys had been missing for a long time.

Wang Yao squashed the padlock and clack! The rusty padlock was broken by Wang Yao.

Creak! The sound of the gate opening grated Wang Yao’s ears.

The courtyard was not small. It was around 30 meters from east to west and 20 meters from north to south. The courtyard was full of weeds, some of which were as tall as over one meter.

I should clear this place up, then get someone to do some land planning for me.

Then Wang Yao returned to Nanshan hill. He took out his pen and started to sketch on a piece of paper. He stopped from time to time to think while sketching and didn’t stop until the middle of the night. After sketching on several pieces of paper, he finally had a basic idea of what he planned to do with the land.

It was nice and sunny the next day. San Xiao recovered well after eating the food mixed with herbs. He was able to run on the hill again.

A car went into the village in the morning and then parked on the south side of the village. A couple got out of the car. The man was skinny and didn’t look well while the woman looked pretty and elegant. The two of them walked along the path in the hill after getting out of the car.

“Maybe he’s on Nanshan hill now,” said the man.

People in the village had gotten used to those visitors who always stopped at the village first, then went up to Nanshan hill. All of them drove luxury cars.

“What do they go to Nanshan hill for?” murmured one of the villagers.

No one knew, but all the villagers were speculating.

“They probably went to buy herbs from Wang Yao,” said a villager. This was the reason most of the villagers could think of and was the only reasonable explanation. Only a handful of people knew that Wang Yao could treat diseases in the village.

The couple stopped after walking around a small hill. They sat down under a big tree to take a break before continuing to walk. By the time they have arrived at Wang Yao’s cottage, both of them were short of breath, especially the husband, who was also sweating on his head.

Wang Yao walked out of the cottage after hearing San Xian’s barking. He saw the couple standing next to the herbal field.

“Yuantu?!” said Wang Yao.

He was surprised to see Tian Yuantu and his wife.

He was shocked that Tian Yuantu had lost so much weight in less than one month. He guessed Tian Yuantu had lost at least ten kilograms. His eyes were dark, no longer as bright as before.

“What happened to you?” asked Wang Yao.

“Well, long story!” said Tian Yuantu.

“Please come in.” Wang Yao immediately invited Tian Yuantu and his wife into the cottage. He made them a pot of tea.

After sitting down, Tian Yuantu told Wang Yao his purpose of visit.

Diabetes?

Wang Yao was shocked.

Diabetes was called Dispersion-thirst in Chinese Traditional Medicine. The symptoms included dryness, fever, wearing and tearing of one’s vitality, and damaging of Yin energy. At the initial stage of the illness, a diabetic patient often felt very thirsty and hungry all the time. He or she often looked skinny. Tian Yuantu was showing all the initial symptoms of diabetes. Treatments using Chinese Traditional Medicine approach were reducing fever and dryness, enhancing Qi and nurturing the Yin energy.

“Let me take a look at you,” said Wang Yao.

He checked Tian Yuantu’s pulse.

Tian Yuantu had an airy, stringy pulse, which indicated that he had heat toxins inside his body; he was lacking Yin energy. His Yin and Yang energies were imbalanced, and his meridians related to the internal organs were blocked, especially the ones related to his liver.

A person would be ill if his or her Qi and blood couldn’t run smoothly in the body.

“Come here and lie down.” Wang Yao pointed at the bed.

“You want me to lie down?” asked Tian Yuantu in surprise. However, he still followed Wang Yao’s instruction.

Wang Yao gave Tian Yuantu a massage. He massaged Tian Yuantu’s acupuncture points following the meridians to unblock the meridians. He pushed, pressed and rubbed on Tian Yuantu’s body repeatedly.

“How do you feel now?” asked Wang Yao.

“Hmmm, I feel much better,” said Tian Yuantu who was lying on the bed. He felt he was not that tired after Wang Yao had given him a massage. His body was no longer as heavy as before.

“I didn’t expect you know Chinese Massage!” said Tian Yuantu.

“I just know a little bit,” said Wang Yao with a smile.

“You are at the initial stage of diabetes. I’ll prescribe a formula for you. Take it regularly, and your blood sugar should be well controlled,” said Wang Yao.

Diabetes was a tricky illness to treat. A person’s blood sugar level was closely related to his or her lifestyle and diet. Wang Yao couldn’t guarantee that he could cure diabetic patients given his current ability. After all, he hadn’t been a Traditional Chinese Pharmacist for a long time. He was still green.

“Okay, thank you,” said Tian Yuantu.

“You are welcome,” said Wang Yao.

Wang Yao prescribed a formula for Tian Yuantu and then wrote down the precautions he needed to take, especially the ones related to lifestyle. He wrote everything down in details, and double checked to make sure he hadn’t missed anything before giving it to Tian Yuantu.

“These are the precautions you need to take in relation to your diet and lifestyle,” said Wang Yao.

“Thank you. How much should I pay you?” asked Tian Yuantu.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Wang Yao as he shook his hand.

They had known each other for a long while, and the formula Wang Yao prescribed to Tian Yuantu didn’t contain any licorice roots.

“Try to get all the herbs from Li Maosheng, who will find you the high-quality wild herbs,” said Wang Yao.

“Okay,” said Tian Yuantu.

“Come back in a week. I’ll check you again,” said Wang Yao.

He was going to ask Tian Yuantu to design a cottage for him on the land he just bought. However, he decided not to worry about it for now due to Tian Yuantu’s poor health condition.

He walked Tian Yuantu and his wife down the hill. He felt moved as he watched them walking together.

I think they will be with each other until life ends.

The weather in June was like a child’s face, which could change anytime.

It started to rain in the evening. It was dribbling at the beginning, then the rain got heavier even and continued into the next morning.

Wang Yao sat in front of the window looking at the rain. There was a curtain made of water between the sky and the earth.

The flow of water was increasing in the creek near the herbal field.

The pond in Wang Yao’s herbal field was also full of water. The water overflew the pond and ran into the creek next to it.

The rain came in time.

It hadn’t rain for over a month. The rain was good for the plants and herbs in such hot days.

What is this?!

Wang Yao walked out of the cottage with an umbrella and looked up at the sky.

He was in the Spiritual Gathering battle array at the moment and noticed that the air and rain were coming from different directions to where he was. If he was looking at the herbal field from the top of the hill, he would find that it was particularly foggy around his herbal field, and he wouldn’t even see the trees.

Is it because of the battle array?

The rain had spirit.

However, some herbs didn’t like water.

Wang Yao stood in the rain. He closed his eyes to feel the humid air surrounding him, to feel the spirit of the rain. Then, he gently pushed out with his palms, as if there was an invisible wall made by air between his palms. The drops of rain were pushed away without even being touched. Then he pulled his hands to attract the drops of rain towards him. The rain started to gather around his hands.

Wang Yao pushed and pulled his hands over and over again in the rain.